"He would never, consent that America should be independent. The idea he ever entertained of the connection between both countries was, that they should have one friend, one enemy, one purse, and one sword; and that Great Britain should superintend the interests of the whole, as the great controuling power. That both countries should have but one will, though the means of expressing that will might be different, distinct, and varied. He contended, that all this might have, been procured not long since; and he still retained strong hopes that it could be effected, and that, too, without measures of blood. It was once optional, and still possible; and he would never adopt any scheme which would go to dissever our colonies from us; for as soon as that event should take place, then, added his lordship emphatically, "the sun of Great Britain is set, and we shall no longer be a powerful or respectable people, the moment that the independency of America is agreed to by our government!""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from IrelandPeople from DublinUniversity of Oxford alumniWhig (British political party) politicians
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the House of Lords (5 March 1778), quoted in The Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, Vol. XIX. Comprising the Period from the Twenty-Ninth of January 1777, to the Fourth of December 1778 (1814), columns 850-851
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Petty%2C_2nd_Earl_of_Shelburne
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne KG PC (2 May 1737 – 7 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Anglo-Irish Whig statesman who was the first home secretary in 1782 and then prime minister from 1782 to 1783 during the final months of the American War of Independence, in which he negotiated the Treaty of Paris with the United States. He succeeded in securing peaceful United Kingdom–United States rel
37 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne →
Related Quotes
"I endeavoured to distinguish the real ties by which America might be supposed to hold to this country, in order to ob…"
"'Tis you, Sir, alone, in everybody's opinion, can put an end to this anarchy, if any thing can. I am satisfied your o…"
"After the dismission of the present worthy chancellor, the seals would go a begging; but he hoped there would not be …"
"My lords; it is extremely evident, whether we commence a war with Spain, or tamely crouch under the insults of that h…"
"He condemned, in general, the madness, injustice, and infatuation of coercing the Americans into a blind and servile …"
"He considered the earl of Chatham yet as the greatest ornament of the two Houses, in which he had shone with such unr…"
"The conduct, temper, and apparent disposition of the present ministers, were so strongly marked with infamy, weakness…"
"He would tell him what he meant by carrying the English constitution to America, and establishing it there, was the r…"
"Deprived of America, we must sink into a petty state, when compared to some of the great powers on the continent. Hol…"
"I felt attaching the name of rebellion hastily, and traitors, to the Americans, and comparing them to the Scots at De…"