Page:Substance of the speech of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, in the House of Lords.djvu/32

 pregnable manner. If useless and of no avail, this part of the act is an exposure of the folly and absurdity of Parliament. It is a mere piece of waste paper, and serves to commemorate the weakness of the legislature. But, my Lords, I have too great respect for the proceedings of a British Parliament to entertain for a moment such an opinion. In acts framed and passed by the collective wisdom of the British empire, by whom every consequence is fully weighed, it would be a libel on Parliament to suppose that it could pass a Clause without some specific object in view. The object, my Lords, was certainly the protection of the right of the trader, acknowledged and established for time immemorial. I confess, my Lords, my astonishment at the presumption of the men calling themselves the Sierra Leone Company. They audaciously appear at your Lordships Bar, and arrogantly insinuate, that you are incapable of deciding on the merits or demerits of an important case of