Cowper replied to him with immense applause, and seems to have completely refuted him.

Some of the Tory orators had employed what was then a favourite claptrap.

Very great men, no doubt, were concerned in this business.

But were the Commons of England to stand in awe of great men?
Would not they have the spirit to censure corruption and oppression in the highest places?
Cowper answered finely that assuredly the House ought not to be deterred from the discharge of any duty by the fear of great men, but that fear was not the only base and evil passion of which great men were the objects, and that the flatterer who courted their favour was not a worse citizen than the envious calumniator who took pleasure in bringing whatever was eminent down to his own level.

At length, after a debate which lasted from midday till nine at night, and in which all the leading members took part, the committee divided on the question that the letters patent were dishonourable to the King, inconsistent with the law of nations, contrary to the statutes of the realm, and destructive of property and trade.