he had undoubtedly,--many of us remember them; we are this day
considering the effect of them. But he had no failings which were not
owing to a noble cause,--to an ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate
passion for fame: a passion which is the instinct of all great souls. He
worshipped that goddess, wheresoever she appeared; but he paid his
particular devotions to her in her favorite habitation, in her chosen
temple, the House of Commons. Besides the characters of the individuals
that compose our body, it is impossible, Mr. Speaker, not to observe
that this House has a collective character of its own. That character,
too, however imperfect, is not unamiable. Like all great public
collections of men, you possess a marked love of virtue and an
abhorrence of vice. But among vices there is none which the House abhors
in the same degree with _obstinacy_. Obstinacy, Sir, is certainly a
great vice; and in the changeful state of political affairs it is
frequently the cause of great mischief. It happens, however, very
unfortunately, that almost the whole line of the great and masculine
virtues, constancy, gravity, magnanimity, fortitude, fidelity, and
firmness, are closely allied to this disagreeable quality, of which you
have so just an abhorrence; and, in their excess, all these virtues very
easily fall into it. He who paid such a punctilious attention to all
your feelings certainly took care not to shock them by that vice which
is the most disgustful to you.

That fear of displeasing those who ought most to be pleased betrayed him
sometimes into the other extreme. He had voted, and, in the year 1765,
had been an advocate for the Stamp Act. Things and the disposition of
men's minds were changed. In short, the Stamp Act began to be no
favorite in this House. He therefore attended at the private meeting in
which the resolutions moved by a right honorable gentleman were settled:
resolutions leading to the repeal. The next day he voted for that