he had taken no part in the machinations of which his father was
justly or unjustly suspected, spoke in this debate with great
warmth against Duncombe and for Montague.

A few days later, the bill of pains and penalties against
Duncombe passed the Commons. It provided that two thirds of his
enormous property, real and personal, should be confiscated and
applied to the public service. Till the third reading there was
no serious opposition. Then the Tories mustered their strength.
They were defeated by a hundred and thirty-eight votes to a
hundred and three; and the bill was carried up to the Lords by
the Marquess of Hartington, a young nobleman whom the great body
of Whigs respected as one of their hereditary chiefs, as the heir
of Devonshire, and as the son in law of Russell.

That Duncombe had been guilty of shameful dishonesty was
acknowledged by all men of sense and honour in the party to which
he belonged. He had therefore little right to expect indulgence
from the party which he had unfairly and malignantly assailed.
Yet it is not creditable to the Whigs that they should have been
so much disgusted by his frauds, or so much irritated by his
attacks, as to have been bent on punishing him in a manner
inconsistent with all the principles which governments ought to
hold most sacred.

Those who concurred in the proceeding against Duncombe tried to
vindicate their conduct by citing as an example the proceeding
against Fenwick. So dangerous is it to violate, on any pretence,
those principles which the experience of ages has proved to be
the safeguards of all that is most precious to a community.