But the drift of what he said, with increasing force and frequency, was clear. Despotism ought to be fought at home as well as abroad. The press was bought. The Ministry was inefficient and corrupt, supporting a mob of “court-sycophants, parasites, pensioners, bribed-senators, directors, contractors, jobbers, hireling-lords, and ministers of state”. The Civil List was a form of factional bribery, supported by money raised from excessive taxation. The upstart nouveau riche, fattened by the war, threatened the rights of the King and the liberties of the people. Only a free Britain could resist
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