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THAT RIGHT HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN, IN lEFLY TO HIS ' ' Letter to a noble lord, •1 it "*1 ,•»■--.* ji' W. ON THE SUBJECT OF HIS PENSION. >« %■ m-' 'ife-' By M. C. BROWNE. «* DICSKB V»IRUM (^UID VETA-; >»» #' ^4 -r " Penixoni, whkhReafon to the Worthy gave, *• Add frcih Difljonour to the Fool or Knave." v* *■#. J?' I .. 1. ■ ■ ' "A Ckangel'wg is roHTFOCRiTK j ** Tor what he is, he fhewi you at firft fight." LONDON : TIIKTED FOR D. WALKER, NO. 128, HOIBORN HILL; ^H, D. SYMONDS, PATER-NOSTER-ROW; ANJ) J. RIDGWAY, YORK STREET ST. , , JAMES's SQUARE. i> t796» ,5*. ■ ■»■■** ./*.■-,;. ,- -t(,': ■*■'*?■».•; J*' =!-=r^»ii>«i5 ■I A ::! \ > JU «, V *Sr»» f - • -t J* .; •!\'.;T:.i^-^'" { •' .;*. < - V. i V of* . 1 • *. . '-.i... t%r «* '^J (, 4. ,:.x '% f" t , , ^U^ .•* •• 1 » V * 1,1 n U" r ' I .d.i'I-' ^ -*« T^ ■Wifl Bwr ff- I: T O THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EDMUND BURKE. in siHj /» :.:.'■' jL H0tJ6tt perronally a flrangcf and tiffknown to you, I fliall not make you any apolbgy for this addrefs. You have publicly avowed, in your "Letter to a Noble Lord/* receiving a penfion of a very enormous amount ; and with that niode^ ajfurance which has uniformly attended you from the firft outfet of your po- litical career, you have pleaded at the bar of the public, that the fervices you have rendered this ** your adopted country,* ' as you are pleafed to term it, well merit not only that remuneration, but even much more. As every individual in this ill-ftarred country is in fome degree more or interefted in your penfion, as forming a grofs ,VJiii.l penfion, irticlft %: f I' r 9 ( 2 ) article in the fyftem of profligate ai^l prodigal expenditure unexampled in former periods, and unknown, even hcrcy till the prefent day — I Ifliould think myfelf deficient in that particular duty which every good citizen owes his country, did I not take up my pen to deny your aflertions on this fubjed, and to tell you, Sir, and the public, thofe reafons which induce me on this point to differ fo widely in opinion with you. In your Letter we are favoured only with your own afTertion of thofe fervices, and your ow-n ap- preciation of their merits and worth : In deliver- ing my humble opinion as oppofed to your's, I will take a curfory view of your whole political life — I will flightly trace the general line of your condu6V, ard, taking the liberty to make fuch comments and obfervations as may occur to me from time to time in the courfe of the tafk I have undertaken, will leave the public to form an im- partial judgment on the whole of the cafe, and finally to decide whofe opinion of your fervices, and the reward allotted to them, is the beft founded— your's or mine. So much, Sir, for this intrufion of my fenti- ments on your time and patience — In regard to the public I own myfelf in very different circum- flances, and it is with no fmall degree of diffidence and anxiety that I now venture to requefl its at- tention, its candour, its patience, and its libe- •**"'^^ ■""■"■■ ■■ ^ '■'■' rality. '■■\ *aBiiir^'. ( 3 ) rality. Many pens, I have no doubt, are at this moment employed in the fame ta/k, guided by perfons of genius and talents far Tuperior to what I can pretend to. I have therefore to in- treat thofe wlio may think proper to read this book, to look upon it with an eye of lenity ; on this ground, that in the affairs of the common- wealth the fentiments of the meancft capacities may fometimes be of fcrvice to the general good ; and in order to encourage every individual to con- tribute his mite to the common flock, the proof of good indentions fhould be allowed to compenfatc for deficiency of ability ; and zeal for the public fcrvice, to fuperfede the fafcinating blandilh- m«nts of flowery periods and fplendid didion. Non omnia pojjumus omnes — and he who voluntarily flands forward, in the hour of public calamity and general delufion, to llrip hypocrify of its cloak, and deception of its veil, though he may not do it with the hand of a mafler, is certainly entitled to *' fland in fomc rank of praife'* for doing that which he would have done better if he could. >• When I refleft on the high ground you. Sir, have long occupied in the republic of letters— that you are complete mafler of thtfubiime and beautiful in the Englifh language, and, in addition to thofe, even of the vis elegantia ofBiLLiNs- GATE itfelf— I tremble lefl I fhould be accufed B 2 of \u .'/ .1 I li $ ( 4 ) of incxcuf;iblc Icnicrity in daring to cuter the lifts of argument with fo renowned and redoubted a champion. But I confole myfelf with the idea, that fo long as I takcfd^ for the bafis on which to ftand — rcafon as the banner under which to combat — and, truth as the goal which is to termi nate my courfe, I need not fear to wage war with mifreprefentation, exaggeration, and falfehood, though cloathed in all the dazzling garbs of the moft brilliant eloquence. I would therefore proceed immediately to the main fubjed of this epiftle, did 1 not deem it neceflary to apologize as briefly as poflible to the Duke of Bedford for the ufe I may in the courfe of it be obliged to make of his name. Thrown by fortune at fo great a diftance in life as to make it almoft impoflible to be perfonally acquainted with him, I fliould certainly, in point of decorum between man and man, have abftained, if 1 could, from the fmalleft mention of him ; but, as he is fo deeply impHcated in the whole of the letter to which I mean to reply, it is not in my power to avoid it. I beg leave however in this place to aflure him, that I entertain the higheft refped for his talents and his virtues j that I wifh I was in any degree capable of bellowing on them that eulogium they fo abundantly merit ; but that not being the cafe, I hope his Grace will have the goodnefs to attribute the failure to my deficiency of ability, and not of inclinationi '' '''" ' Having I ( 5 ) Having prcmifed thus much, I haflcn with plealure to the field of adion, and hope, before I quit it, to leave my adverfary prodratc. But before I advance further, and in order to clear the way as we go, I entreat permiffion of my readers to (late here once for all the />r/;/a/)^/ point of the argument on which we are at illlie. You, Sir, have aflerted, " that your firvices to this cowUry deferve the remuneration bejlowcd on them by the PENSION you receive** — this I deny. This is the main quedion, and it is on your ozvn merits alone that it can be fairly tried. The very modeft com- parifon you, Sir, have drawn between thefe merits, and thofe of the illuftrious Houfe of Russell; and in which, ading both as judge and juror, you have ingcnuoufly obtained both a verdid: and the judgment of the court in your favour ; to- gether with feveral other matters contained in your Letter, are merely collaterals, which I (hall from time to time ufe in elucidation of my argu- ment as occafion may require. ; I And now, Sir, as the facetious Count Hamilton fays in his Fairy Talcs, " Je commencerai par le commencement^ ft vom phis.** — I will take you up in the year 1766, when you firft appeared in public and in Parliament, as the confidential and private fecretary of the Marquis of Rockingham, then juft appointed first lord of the treasury. , . You I , /:' ( 6 ) You were then member for Malton^ and t!ic pen- fioner of that noble Lord, whom alone you reprc- fcnted in that borough ; {or his LordOiip then did, and Earl Fitzwilliam now docs, how i Hate whom he plcafcs to reprcfent him therein. You were not long before returned from the Jefuits College at 5/. Omers, and were introduced to the notice, and recommended to the confidence of the noble Marquis by Mr. Fitzherbert, a gentleman of great goodnefs of heart and luavity of manners, but a ftaunch roman catholic. I hope my readers will cxcufe my being thus par- ticular, as I can affure them more depends upon it than at prefent may meet the eye. '\i h I did imagine, when I wrote the beginning of the foregoing paragraph, that by fetting out with you in your firft entry into the Houfe of Com- mons, I (hould at leaft have begun with the be- ginning of your fervices to this nation j but acci- dentally cafting my eye on p. 27 of your " Letter to a Noble Lord," I perceive you aflert, '* that you had earned your pen/ton before you Jet foot in St, Stephen*s Chapel." Bravo! Sir; you have done well ;— the man who deals in aflertions, and de- pends on them for proofs, (hould always take care to make them round ones. You have clenched the matter here, and I candidly acknowledge that you have deprived me of the power of contradid- ing you by fads — I can only fay ^fofttivelyy that if you ( 7 ) you Inul performed fvich fervicfs before that period, they muft havcbcenymv//tTi'/V¥ /■;; i • ( 10 ) ■ • tlilnk it tails in with my laft conjedure — At firft 1 * ■ I did not clearly comprehend it, becaufe lap- 1 plied it only to the fervices you think you have I • performed fince you came into Parliament ^ , and 1 n ^ m in fo doing T confcfs I coincided in opinion with his Grace of Bedford — " that you had obtained too much ;" but after giving full weight to the fevcral words in the paflages which I have, to avoid repetition, marked with Italics, I am in- clined to believe, that you refer to iomefecrei ex- ertions, or fervices, or facrifices — which having made, you may now be entitled to fay you had " earned your penfion before you fet foot in St. **• Stephen's Chapel,** — and which might not be " more than a fufficient reward for what mere ** anhnnl life muft indeed fuftain, but never^can " in/pire.** I fliall now. Sir, quit the fubjed of your earn- iiigs " before you fet foot in St. Stephen's Cha- ** pel" — and beg leave to pay my refpefts to you, at the time you were firft feated there. In the letter to which I am now replying (p. 27) you inform us, " that the firji JeJJion yon fat in Parliament, ** you found it necejfary to analyfe the whole commer- ** cial, financialy conflitutional, and foreign inter efls of " Great Britain and its empire,'* Let us fee to what end and purpofc* ; : . - 1 ■ ■' i fi , H { n ) If I miftake not, your virgin eloquence was firft employee], In that Houfe of true and genuvie purity y in fupport of the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Acl, pafled the year before under the aufpices of Mr. Grenville, the anceftor of the prefent " ahle, vigorous^ and well-informed states- man," of the fame name, " to be connefted with whom you deem fo great a diftindion.'* — Mr. Grenville oppofcd the bill with great fpirit, exertion, and effect. Mr. Pitt fupported that meafure of the Rockingham adminillration, tho* he at the fame time politely told General Conway, and the other members of it, in the Houfe of Commons, that he could not give them his con- fidence. That great ftatefman paid a haiidfome compliment to your maiden fpeech, which I be- lieve it really merited. I am only forry, for the interefts of this country, that you, and the party to which you belonged, did not profit more by the excellent political precepts he that day deli- vered. The admlniftration, of which you. Sir, formed a part, was defirous of repealing the American ilamp adl, but ftill aflerted the right to tax the colonies, who were at that moment, as Mr. Grenville declared, next door to an open rebellion on account of it. Mr. Pitt gave a decided reprobation of the ftamp adl, which was pafled at a time v/hen he was confined to his bed, in account of tl and precarious hciilth, anticipated what he might faj on a future C 2 day, pi 1 - ( I^- ) day, that was fpccdily cxpcAcd to be appointed to confider th6 flate of the nation with refped to America. *' I will (faid he) only fpeak to one *' point, the point of righf. It is my opinion " that this kingdom has uo right to lay a tax upon *' the colonies. The Americans are the fons, " not the baftards, of England. Taxation is no " part of the governing or legiflative power, *' The taxes are a voluntary gift and grant of the " Commons alone. When, therefore, in this " Houfe, we give and grant, we give and grant '* what is our own. But, in an American tax, " what do wc do? — We, your Majefly's Com- ** mons of Great-Britain, give and grant to your ** Majefty — what? — our own property? No, " We give and grant to your Majefty the pro- " perty of your Majefly's Commons of America. " — It is an abfurdity in terms. I would fain *' know by whom an American is rcprefented *' here ? Is he rcprefented by any knight of the " fliire in any county of this kingdom ? Or will *' you tell him that he is rcprefented by any rc- *' prefentative of a borough — a borough which, ^' perhaps, no man ever faw. — This is what is " called the rotten part of the conjlitiition. It cannot " continue a century. If it does not drop, it " mufl be amputated,"— To this fage advice a cleafearwas turned, and the bill pafled, with a refervation and affertion of the right to tax, the colonies. Had Mr. Pitt's advice been taken, and i ( >3 ) and the {lamp a<5l repealed unconditionally and without referve, you, Sir, and your colleagues in office, might all have delerved penfwns of your country. But you loft the golden opportunity, which never returned ; and that lofs involved in it (elf the fubfequent lofs of the colonics. Mr. Grenville, in pafTing the fiamp ad, had ftruck a deadly and poifonous arrow deep in the fide of America. The wound it occafioned was too re- plete with fmart and anguifli to be patiently en- dured by her free-born fons. Rebellion was on, the point of breaking out, when the Rockingham adrttiniftration undertook to heal the wound, and repair the breach it had made; but, inftead of probing the wound to the bottom, and expelling the irritating particles which lay there — it ap- plied in the repeal a cataplafm which almoft in- ftantaneoully fkinned it over, but which left the virus of the diforder underneath, to rankle and corrode, till it ftiortly after broke out with ten- fold violence. Hi f a a I On the 14th March 1769, Mr. Trecothick produced a reprcfentation from New Torky which he moved might be brought up. It was couched in modeft terms, but denied the rigk of Parlia- ment to tax them. On that occafion, you. Sir, obfcrved, there might be, and was, a proper me- dium ; but that we had an undoubted right to tax America! — Now, Sir, mark what followed.— -The Americans, (■.h U\ I 1 ( 14 ^ Americans, finding this claim of r/V/j/ perfiftcd in, took the alarm. Mr. Delaney of Maryland, and Mr. John Dickcnfon of Philadelphia, twj gen- tlemen of firil-ratc abilities, took up their pens to warn their fellow-citizens of the fnakc in the grafs, which was ready on the firfl occafion to dart forth, and (ling them to the vitals. The Rockingham adminiftration, and their bill of repeal, with the refervation of the right to tax, became more deteflablc in their eyes than Mr. Grenville's ftamp a(5i with the pofitive tax itfelf. The Americans each day felt themlclves more fore, and " hifrci Uiteri lethalis arundo " refounded from one end of the continent to the other. 1i il^l. Perhaps, Sir, you may be at fome lofs to gucfs why I go fodeep into this well-known bufmelsat j;ref.^nt. — I w-ill frankly tell you. It is my inten- tion to flicw, that, from your firft entrance into political life, you have conftantly made ufe of your fplendid talents, not to enlighten the pub- lic, but to dazzle and dupe it, as beft anfwered your own private })urpofes, or thofe of the party leaders under whofe banners you engaged. — You lleadily fupported the principle of our right to tax America ; and the baneful confequences of luch fupport will prefeiltly apjx;ar. This country had, for many years antecedent to the American war, been fplit and divided into parties i ( ■.' ) parties ; the partlzans of each of which vvarnity and zealoufly fupported the political fentiments and opinions of their feveral leaders. A very few years after the difmiflal of the Rockingham adminiftration, Lord North relumed the idea of Mr. Grenville, oi' taxing America, in wliich idea he found himfelf fandioned by the authority of the Marquis of Rockingham and his adherents; and the Tea Act became the prelude of all the mifchiefs which followed. It is true, that Lord Rockingham, and his adherents in both houfes, yourfelf among the reft, oppofed this deftrudtive meafure ; but the peopky on whom your repeated and forcible declarations of the t'igbi had made a deep impreflion, were not to be perfuaded, that, poflefhng the right, they ought not to enforce it. They were even then heavily opprelled with taxes ; and being made to believe, that, if America was fubjedled to taxation, iheif burdens would be alleviated ; the war in the beginning, odious as it was to every feeling and enlightened mind, was as popular as it was unjuft. But the argument was calculated aJ captandum, and a majority of the people was completely duped by it. The me- lancholy circumftances attending this abominable attempt to tax the Americans, is too well known, and even now too feverely felt, to require any further comment y and my chief reufon for in- troducing it at all was, to afk you, if your obfti- nate affertion of this right to tax the Americans is :.j I h i\ iH It I T? ( i6 ) is one of the claims you have on this country for your prefent penfion ? , Jl ! t;\)-)f/." Ik We are now arrived at the commencement of the American war, when, in open defiance of the very right you had previoufly To flrenuoufly con- tended for vou entered upon the moft vigorous and detcrm..icd oppofition to Lord North's en- forcing it. In the hinguage you conflantly ufed, you alternately reforted to wit, irony, farcafm, and virulence — you charged the noble Lord with '* /;/- dignity and vilenefs in forming contrails with the Piincclings of Germany, whom you were pleafed 'to ftile Traders inhnmanjicjloy — You cenfured him in the feverefh terms for " ftifpending the Habeas Corpus A£i, which you faid would enable the Mi- nifter to cut down the fence of liberty y and enflave everi Briti/Jofubje^t.'" — You took notice " of the zealoi the noble Lord, and the warmth of his bofom for the public weal. You fuppofed it to be that zeal^ warmth^ and ardour, that had induced him to aflift, if not devife, the raifing of men without the knowledge of Parliament, and by that means to ad: unconflitutionally " for the good of his country. ^^—^ You lamented, tli it this country Ihould be re- duced to the poor dependence of hopes and pray- ers, the arms of old women ; and that a Britifti Mi- nifler, inflead of ading theftatefman, and timely exerting the flrength of the nation, (honld dwindle into a Priefi^ and pioufly offer up his ■ ' ' ■/ ^ ....,-,..... prayers ::."r. ( «7 ) prayers for tlie falvation of his countr}'. You threatened liim with impeachment, and cliargcd him with making an itifamous lean,'' Let the dif- pafilonate reader ferioufly confidcr thefe fcveral charges j let him compare the feveral circum- (lanccs above enumerated with thofc which have occurred during the progrefs of the prefentyw/? and neceJfarywdLX ; and he will be inclined to think, that this is only the fecond part of the fame tune. Scarcely one of them is not applicable to the three laft glorious campaigns ; yet the Minifter of the prcfent day is your magnus Apollo. Such arc the wonderful changes wrought by the powers of a penfion ! But flill all the foregoing abule of Lord North did not obtain you one. I could enumerate a vaft deal more, but I am really Tick of it. You travelled in the fame track througli the whole of that ill-fated war, eternally baiting and purfuing him, and befpattering him continually with the filth of a foul mouth, till at length you hunted him from his high ftation, and the intereft and connexions of the Marquis of Rockingham brought you once more into the elyfmm of adminiftration. i Soon after this event took place, a melfagc from his Majefty was communicated to the Houfe of Commons, ** recommending to them the con- fidcration of an effetrlual plan of cecommy through all the branches of the public expenditure-— a re- ■\.,. , D gulation •■•si ( i8 ) H i! I filiation of the civil cflablinimcnt, &c. and tic liring their affi (lance towards carrying the (:\m^ more fully inlo execution." The melFagc having been read — you, Sir, congratulated the Houfe, and llie kingdom, on the happy jcra, when his Majefly, freed from that fecret and injurious counfel which Hood between him and his people, now fpoke to them in the pure and rich benevolence of bis ozvn heart. The meflage they had jufl: heard was the genuine tflTufion of his Majefly 's paternal care and tendernefs for his fubjcdls. It was what good fubjedls deferved from 3igood king; and every man would rejoice and blefs the day, when his Majjfty, reftored to the dignified inde- pendence of his elevated fituation, was able to fpeak to his people in the language of his own heart ; to participate in their fufferings ; to praife and reward them for their fortitude. It was the BEST OF MESSAGES, TO THE BEST OF rEOPLB, FROM THE BEST OF KINGS. . .;..>, , After this brilliant harangue, culled with care from the mofl beautiful border in the garden of the fuhlime and beautiful^ the credulous people of this country begin to flatter themfelves with the idea that the hour of oeconomy and retrenchment was atlafl arrived. This was one of the topics, among others, on which you had dcfcanted, with your ufual warmth and vehemence, in your oppo- lition to Lord North. You were inceliantly charging ^.' ^ ( -9 ) charf^ing him with extravagance .incl corruptiou^ the one the natural confcqucncc of the otiicr. To pHKlucc all the inRances of it in my power would take up more both of my time nnJ paper, than will fuit the bouiKJary of an cpilUc like the pre- IVnt : I will therefore content myfelf with one or two. In the year 1777, on a motion for paying the King's debts, you treated Lord North with un- ufual afperity, and faid,"that the time ofbring- " ing in of this demand was full Qi indecency and " impropritty ; that when wc were going to tax " every gentleman's houfe in England, even to *' the fmalleft domcftic accommodation, and to ** accumulate burthen upon burthen, nothing but " a fcrvility of the Houfe, and a thorough confi- *' dence in it, and an experience in our carelefs- " nefs with regard to all our affairs, could make " our miniflers defperatc enough to tell us, /'/ is " infuch a time we have not provided ftiffic tent ly for ** thefplendor of the Crown.''' And in the year 1 782, " You did not wonder his Lordfliip was at a lofs " about nezv taxes ; for what frelh burthen could " he add to this unhappy Nation ? We were al- " ready taxed if we rode, or if we walked -, if we " ftaid at home, or if we went abroad ; if we were " mafters, or if we were fervants ; if we drank " wine, or if we drink beer ; and in fhort we were <* taxed In every poflible way," You had alfo car- D a ried m ( ao ) • ried a rrfolution olthcHoufc, ** tlial tljc tnJIueHcr *' ot' tlK' CuowN had increafedy was iiurcnjin^^ and '* OK^hl to be t^o/;/<^feem to have had a very fmall place in your head, except from the mouth outwards. It is true, you had more confideration for the dif- grace of the nation ; and as tlicrc is no difgrace which operates more powcrfuily on the minds of men than that of poverty, in order to take away the odium of that, in the plenitude of your oeco- nomy, and, according to your own words juft be- fore quoted, in a time of the decpeft national dif- trefs, an additional falary of 20ocl. a year was added to the place of Chancellor of the Dutchy, and beflowcd upon one of thofc who had been a fliort time before loudefl in his endca- vours i ^1 m I t it MM ( " ) vours to annihilate ii entirely. Such was the con- Jiji enr J vjh'ich marked your conduct when in and out of office ; and this is the Bill of Reform which you, with all your natural and acquired modcfty, have fmce enumerated among other matters to prove, that what you had engaged to do out of office, you had performed when in it. You fay ir p. 9 of your Letter, that *' you fufpe^fl the " Duke of Bedford has never learned the Rule of " Three in the arithmetic of /)o//V>'and^^/£'." If the above be the refult oi your Rule of Three, I hope in Go«l his Grace will ever remain a ftranger to 'it. " The calculations of vulgar arithmeti ," the data and principles of zvhich are fixed and det ermine d^ but which you feem to have always fo thoroUc',hly dcfpifed, will always prove more honourable and advantageous to him, than Xht changeable, terpver- fating, camelion figures, with which you calculate and make up your fums in the arithmetic of po^ licy and ftatc, as you are })leafed to define it. Hitherto, Sir, I have only fhcwn what you left UPxdone by this Bill : I will now tell you what you did by it ; but before I do this, let me call to your rccollcdion, that the grand and leading fea- ture of it feemcd to be tha reftrainingof the pow- er o^ the Crown with regard to pen/tons. You feem to call a cenfure upon the Duke of Bed- ford, as being mifcakcn on this head, when his ' ■ Grace i-i i-( ( »3 ) Grace mentioned your penfion In the Houfo of Lords; for you fay (p. lo), ** His Grace is " pleafed to aggravate my guilt, by charging my acceptance of his Majcfty's grant as a de- parture from my ideas and the fpirit of my " condud with regard to osconcmy. If it be, my ** ideas of occonomy were fidfe and ill founded; " but they are the Duke of Bedford's ideas of ** CKConomy I have contradided, and not my " own. If he means to allude to certain Bills " brought in bynie," Sc . ;. - ... '^ , r ^ I believe there can be little doubt but his Grace alluded to the very Bill I have jufl above men- tioned. The moment I read that -part of his Grace's fpeech in the papers, the allufion flruck mc moft forcibly as a very pointed one ; and, iot fpite of your moJe^ and delicate mention of what you are pleafed to call his " few and idle years,'* would have convinced me, if I had not long be- fore been perfectly convinced of it, that his Grace has not either been idle or wiGbfervant, ' ■ ■ . ' ! In order to confufe the fubjed; as much as poflible, you have artfuDy blended the whole of your bills ; but that fhall not drive me out of my regular courfe. My mention of this bill came in the dired line I had laid down to mv- felf, in tracing the political adions of your life as nearly as pofTiblc, as they followed each other. Your 1; ( I ; ( »4 ) "Your pefijlon J Sir, is the mod immediate objcdl of my confideration ; and with your other bills at prefent I have nothing to do. You fccm to think this bill, among all the others, your chef d*ceuvre ; and if your pcnllon does not fly dircdly in the face of it, then my judgment deceives me in the grofleft manner. • •.., • .. And here, Sir, that thole who read this book may be enabled to form a fair judgment between us, I will give fome of the moil ftriking of the general heads of the a(^, with fome occafional obfer vat ions on them, and the whole of the claufes relating to penjions^ both public and fecret ; for you know. Sir, there are provifions even for fecret penjions contained in it. The following \% the title : ' • ' ^ > , . :. ,; • \ \ . ,r ;:!' i^ii - 22d year of Geo. III. c. 82. An Ac t for enabling his Majefty to difchargc the debts contraAed upon the Civil Lift revenues, and for preventing the fame from being in arrear in the future, by regulating the mode of payments out of the faid re- venues, and by fupprefling and regulating certain offices therein mentioned, which are now paid out of the revenues of the Civil Lift. i ift in ( ^5 ) ifl Claufe enacls, that from the pafling of tlic adV, certain offices, therein fpecified, (hould be fupprefTcd. Obf. Among thefe is the office of third fe- ' cretciry of Jlate, or fecrctary of flate for the colonies, lat Jy revived in tiie perfon of the Duke of Portland* 2. Any fimiiar office hereafter eflabliflicd, (hall Be deemed a new office ■> Obfi The Duke of Portland's is therefore a new ojfice, created by the prefcnt Admi- ■ . niflration, ift defiance of this Ad of Par- liament. ^. Commilliohers of the treafury to pay all tiioney due on the civil lift on or before July ioth, 1782. Obf. If this claufe meaiis any thing, it muft he, that in future all money due on the civil lift fhould yearly, and every year, be •■ paid on or before the 20th ^ -Jy in each ' year. Yet, in the Very teeth of this ac^t, the civil lift is now in the feventh quarter ■^ irt arrear ; and the fervanls, tradefmen, clerks, &c. belonging to the royal houfe- hold, who are paid out of the civil lift, in the utmoft diftrefs and difficulty ! " Qi. What are the laws, when \\\.t great chufe "';•• to break through them ? -^ •'-' ^^ A. Cobwebs, it would feem. E ^.The Ill It: i|. // W: ( 26 ) 5. the Court of Vergc^ or the Green Clcth, with all its lawful jurirdidion and powers, prefcrved. , 6. His Majefty's buildings to be under the di- reftion of a furvcyor or comptroller, to be ap- pointed by his Majefty. ij. The royal gardens, ditto. Obf. Two places of patronage and emolu- ment, either created or renewed, and fane- tioned by a bill of reform and retrenchment. 1 1. Clerko, &c, in the royal palaces, to be paid monthly. Obf. Seven quarters in arrcar fliews forcibly what regard is paid to this a6t. 12. No new works in his Majefty*s parks, &c. above a limited fum, to be i^ndertaken, without an order from his Majefty. Obf. It would feem by this claufe, that a fpecial ad: of Parliament is neceflary to prevent the fervants of his Majefty from taking liberties from which the common law of the land effedlually guards every private gentleman. , The above iarc the general heads of the bill, which 1 deem it neceflary to notice till we come .. - ' ^ ^: f . ■ . to tl (C <{ , ( ^7 ) to the penfion claufe, which A ^^^c 17th, and which 1 trsLnknbeverl/afJm.X 17. " And for the bet A regulating of the granting " ^f penjionsy and thf prevention of abufe or excefs " therein^ that fr^n^* and after the 5th day of April, 1787^ no penfion exceeding the fum of 300I. a y^ar ".all be granted to or for the ufe of any one perfon ; and that the whole amount ** of che penfions granted in any one year fhall ** not exceed 600I. ; a lift of which, together with ** the names of perfons to whom the fame are granted, fhall be laid before Parliament in twenty days after the beginning of each feffion, " until the whole penfion lift fhall be reduced to ** 90,0001. ; which fum it fliall not be lawful to " exceed by more than 5000I. in the whole of all " the grants j nor fhall any peniion to be granted " after the whole of the faid redudion, to or for " the ufe of any one perfon, exceed the fum of *' 1200I. yearly, except to his Majefty*s Royal " Family, or on an addref^ of either ^Houfe of ** Parliament." ({ << * ! Nothing can be more explicit th^n the fore- going claule— the recital in the beginning puts it beyond a doubt. It was made for the better re' gulating of the granting ©/"Pensions, and the pre- vention of abufe or excefs therein. It is general in its meaning — it does not fay, penfions payable oyt Ea ' oi \ I' It ' i •\ ( ^3 ) of the civil '//?, o.out of the foui- and a half fu are as yet en- titled to rank as one of the ^oy^^ Family, I am ftill to learn. >i ; :.;.;t In what refp.d tl^n has the Duke of Bedford, '* your youthful Confor," as you are plealcd tocall him, miflaken in the lead the idea of your oeco- nomy, when he faid in the Houfe of Lords, fpeak- ing of your p: nfion, *' thai: it was a departure ^*from your ideas, and thefpirit of your condud?** in none whatever. No rational, im[>artia' mind can hcfitatc a moment to decide upon thefubjciftj if it could, vour own juftificatiun of the bufmefs would clear tliC matter up at once. You pretend, that in this famous Reform Bill, you had in con- templation the civil liji alone. — " The penfion ** lift'* you fay, " was to he kept as afacred fund ; ** but it could not be kept as a conftant open ** fund, fufflcient for growing demands, if fome ** demands could wholly devour it. The tenor of '^ the adt will Oiew that it regarded the civil lift «* only, the reduAion of which to fome fort of ef- « timate was my great objed. No other of the " Crown funds did I meddle with, becaufc they ** had not the fame relations. This of the four and ^* a half per cents, did his Grace imagine had ef- ^* caped mc, or had cfcaped all the men of bufi- \ m '■' ii II Ij I \ ( 30 ) •* nefs who ^^q(\ with me in thofe regulations ? ** I knew that Vich afund exiftcd, and thatpenfions " had been alwa>r, granted on it before his Grace *♦ was born. Thi. fund was full in my eye j ** it was full in the cye.of thofe who worked with " me : it was left on pi'nciple j on principle I *Jdid what was then done » and on principle, ** what was left undone, was om'4:ted.** The grand " principle** you feem to Iwve had in view, was, to humbug the nation j but likt, many oihtx ambi'dexters who have gone before you. Sir, you have overfliot the mark, and humbug d your- fclf. ** The penfion lill: was to be kept as a fa- " cred fund ;" — tru_', and for that purpofc it was limited and rtflrifted in the manner prefcribed by the ad ; no more than the lum of 300I. a year was to be granted to any one pcrfon, and 600I. in the whole. It is an undeniable fa ...k ( 3' ) •* the letter regulating of the granting of penfwnSy arid ** the prevention of abufe or excefs therein, that ** from and after the 5th day of April 1783, no ** penfion exceeding the fum of 300I. a year, fliall •* be granted," &c. Can any thing be more evi- dent, than that thcfc words comprcliend allpen- fwns within the power of the Crown to grant, out of what fund foever they might be payable ? If they did not, the words ought to have run thus ; ** and for the better regulating of the granting of " penfions," payable out of the civil lifl, ** and the " prevention of abufe or excefs therein," &c. If there were two penfion lifts, and two funds out of which penfions were fpecifically paid, an adl to regu- late thepenfions payable out of one fund only, would not affed: or extend to thofe paid out of the other ; but where there is only onepenfion lift, though there were a dozen feparate funds provided for the pay- ment of thofe penfions, any ad: diredly enading a reftridion upon penfions ^^w^r^a/Zy, muftincluclcall the funds equally alike, unlefs there is fome fpe- cial exception or refcrvation made j and in order to exclude the four and a half per cents, from the operation of the ad I am now alluding to, it would be neccflary that fome fuch provifo as the following fliould appear in it, viz. " Provided al- " ways, that any thing in this ad: contained, fliall "not extend, or be conftrued to extend, to any ** penfion payable out of the four and a half per ' " cents. , ■ : '/■• h- ( 3- ) ** cents, or any other fund appropriated to i\\6' " payment of pcnfions, favc and except the civil * liftaforefaid." I! i f.t But there is one other argument which fccms to me to put this matter beyond nil pofTihility of doubt. Some fliort time before this a6t was in- troduced into the houfe, a refolution had palled, that the influence of the Crown had increafedy was increajingi and ou^bi to be dimiyiiJJjed. The finances of the country were at that time reduced to the lowefl ebb ; and this bill, T always underflood, was intended to operate in a two- fold way, not only as a meafure of oecononjy, and retrenchment of the expences of the nation, but of the power and influence of the Ciown. It, then, pcnfions are a powerful engine in the liands of the Crown in the way of influence y and a burthen on the people in that of expence, and there arc two fcparate funds appropriated to the payment of penfions, how is the nation benefited in its favings, or the Crown reftridted in its influence, if, when it is tied up from granting penfions beyond fuch an amount from the civil lift, it is pofTcfTed of an ad libitum to make them chargeable upon the other ? — You have confelTed, *' that the four and a half per ** cents, fund was full in your eye ; that it was ** left on principle ; that on principle you did •* what was then done ; and, on principle, what •* was i 33 ) ** was left undone, was omitted."— « You have fincc accepted a pciilion, amounling to more than three times the funi aUovved by your own ait ; and have thereby proved that your chief aim was to dupe the pt;oplc, and enrich yourfclf.— Oli, Edmund ! Edmund ! " out of thine owii mouth will I judge thee!" " ' '' ° ■■ M.J ^^u .\Hi no ^> 'I,. .■.,,• .^l>) - . But ftill this four and a half percent, fund was not the only ftrmg you had to your b )w in this famous reform a6t. On an emergency, theni was a claufe for fecref pcnfions, which, on a very forlorn hope, might be laid hold of : and let mc tell you. Sir, it is more than fufiocded, for I have heard it frequently affcrted, that you received a fccret penfion a confiderabletime before the pre- fent one was openly avowed. As I have never had further proof of it than aflTertions, I candidly acknowledge that it ought not to have much weight ; nor (hould I have mentioned it at all, but that I am convinced the public in general do not know there is fuch a claufe in the ac^, and merely to lliew that fuch a thing was pofTiblc. On Friday next, the motion of the Earl of Lau- derdale on this fubjedl is to come on in the Houfe of Lords ; and perhaps fomcthing may then tranfpire, which will confirm or invalidate the fufpicion altogether. • .'• "> r r, v'-i r'\_«!';Ia hj '^.^ .\-r.S \ , ! I I i I «c ft ( 34 ) As I have particularly mcntionrd this claufc, and mean to draw an inference and deduction from it in favour of what I have faid on the Four and a Half per cents, fund, I will beg leave to infert it verbatim from the Statute Book. It is the 21 ft, and fays — " High Treafurer may return into the Exchequer any pcnfion, without the name of the penfioncr, on taking the following oath : ' " I /I. B. do /weary that according to the heft of my knowledge^ belief ^ and information^ the penfion or pcnfionSi or annuity or annuities t returned with- out a name by me into the Exchequer ^ is or are not, dire^ly or indirectly y for the benefit y ufcy or behoof of any Member of the Honfe of Commons y or, fo far as I am concerncdy afliicabky dire5fly or indirectly y to the purpofe of f upper ting or procuring an intereft in any place returning members to Parliament, €< €f *t €C CC <( 'a / I' < i .1 if w I '( i(> ) Old Bailey Soi icjtor with a blulh of the derp- •cft dye. So much, Sir, for your cvafive juftifica- . tion of your penfion, as iffuing out of the Four and a Half per cents, and not the Civil Lift — fo unworthy of what you once were. Ir is a dangerous thing to tread on hollow ground, and an unpleafant one to defend a bad caufe. You, Sir, I fear, labour un- der both thefe Jifadvantages at prefent, and I am forry for you. You appear, indeed, to be " a de- folate old man" in every thing but malignity ; for, however robuft, vigorous and magnificent your reafoning faculties might once have been on poli- tical fubjedls, they appear at this moment to be fo warped, perverted, and debafed, by exifting cir- (umjiances, as not only to partake of the nature of gas, but, to ufe your own words, of very " mem- phetic gas '' indeed. , ... ■ ..j'x.^ .^ .. But to return to your political, career, from which I have been drawn afide by the obferva- tions 1 found it neceffary, as to time and place, to make on your Reform Bill— I think I left you. Sir, juft feated in the place of the la:e Mr. Rigby, of jocund and feftive memory — that ?? to fay, <« Paymafter-Generalf the Forces.*' You fay. Sir, (p. II.) that " You found an opinion common through all the offices, and general in the pub- lic at large, that it would prove iinpofTible to reform and methodize the c5ice of Paymajler- ". General It « cc "Hi' ♦^. iilf't^" Ji'-if'"/'./ in. [O ; ( 37 ) " General. You undertook ir, however ; and fuc- " cecded in your undertaking." It may be fo. I candidly confefs I am ignorant whether you did or not, and I will give you the reafon why I am (o, I had at that time read your Bill of Reform j and it appeared to me fo grofs a delufion (though I had no conception it was fo excenfive as you have in your letter Ihewn us you iniendc J it fliould be) — and the people appeared to be lb completely gul- led by it, that I became fick of attending to your meafures any further. Indeed there was one cir- cumftance immediately relative to the office of Paymafter-Gcneral, which banilhed all idea or hope of Reform from my mind. Immediately after your being appointed to that ftation, a feri- ous charge was brought againft two of the princi- pal Clerks, for peculation and other malpractices in office j and fo ftrongly was it fupported, that fcarcely an individual out of the Houfe of Com- monsj who read the account of it, did not believe it true. Notwithftanding which, you determined to keep them in their places. This ralh refolve was taken advantage of by your opponents in the Houfe, and fuch language addrelfed to you as would have made ^n imprefllon on a lefs refined underftanding. In that never to be forgotten and fcandalous defence, the whole Houfe— hear me. Sir! it is true— the whole Houfe coughed you down ! Fadls, Sir, have onlv two tendencies : 'midni^^-'^- ,"■■:_ "''^'''. they I fi f ( 38 ) they can only fupport fafts, or cxpofe falfchood : the whole Houfe coughed you down !— At that perioi, your Ciceronian confcquencc forfcok you : you funk into the Pijcatory Orator j and, with arms a-kimbo, faid, " Gentlemen, you all know where I am to be found !"— Here, Sir, " the gall'd jade did wince" indeed ! But you. Sir, perfifted to the lafb; and they would in all likelihood have continued in their ftations, had not their feelings been more fufceptible than your's — the one cut his throat, and the other abfconded — which relieved you from your dilemma, whether you would or no. As the one made atonement for his tranfgreflions by his death, and the other may have fince done x) the fame by a fincere repentance for 'his mifdo- ings, I have forborne to mention their names, in pity to the feelings of their relatives and connec- tions. It appeared, however, fomewhat curious to me, that the man who pretended to cleanfe the Augaan ftable, fhould make ufe of fuch inftru- ments for the purpofe. I faw clearly, that the old proverb * was ftroiigly in your favour — but as 1 was dubious, from the .complexion of your Bill of Reform, whether you intended to prevent others from profiting by their fkill in the manoeuvres of office, or to take the benefit of it entirely to yourfelf, I gave up the point in defpair, and dc- ^■{•"^Mv ''■ .u '■■■'« "i"- ibfi'i? * ^*' * "^^''f '^ ^^'^'^ ^ Thitf' •?'>'- \ termined I ( 39 ) tcrmined to trouble myfelf no more with any of your pretended plans of reform. ,-; n: /. . , . , [, ,i.t.4 ■f My opinion of you as a public political Leader was now lb fixed, that your fubfcquent aftions made a very different impreffion on me to what they did on others. I beheld with a trifling /«r- fri/e your coalition with Lord North, who, in the mi^il of all your opprobrious philippics, I al- ways thought, thc]ioi1e.fteft man of the two— and 1 determined in my own mind never to trouble my head in future about what you either faid or did, wh^nan accidental circumftartce, which I cannot avoid mentioning in thjs place, occurred to awak- en fufpieions, which had long before been faintly imprefled ,on my n^ind, and which fubfequent events have fmce very ftrongly confirmed. As this circumftance has ferved me as a clue to unra- yfctthe mydery of f^me part of your late extraor- dinary conduft, and as it may do the fame to fuch of my readers as may itt it in the fame light as I do, I flatter myfelf I fhall be excufed for requcfl- ing their attention to it. •_ ,, . ., . ,._ .. nsi'i *• t V. i-.r - In the fpring of the year 1784, and during the fitting of Parliament, I happened to be at Bath ; and one day calling on a lady of great and delerv- ed celebrity in the literary world, v/hom I had the honour occafionsilly to y\^\t Jans ceremonies the ^ . ; . ufual I I i ! t , ( 40 ) iifual compliments of the day were ho foonerpaf^ fed, than, with her accuftomcd frank and cafy po- litencfs, fhc aflced me What news ? — To avoid the repetition of be faid, znd Jhe faid, I will give the converfatibn as it pafled, fuppofing the lady t6 be y/. and mylelf B, .J .it .„J,w.. ■^... S^-l^lt k sf tn .1 f^ ' jf. Have you read the papers to-day, Sir? B, I have. Madam. -^. Is there any thing particu- lar or extraordinary in them ? B. Nothing very particular. Madam— though there is one faft af- fcx-tet ''Vi''h appears to me extraordinary, becaufe Ihavem heard fuch a thing hinted at in the moft diftant manner before, y^. Pray, Sir, what is it ? B. Why, Madam, feveral of the papers pofitively fay, that Mr. Burke is mad j and that feveral of his late fpceches have been fo wild and incoherent, that his friends tremble for him when- ever he gets up to fpeak. yf. (after a ihortpaufe) I fhall be forry if it proves true j but I fhould not be furprifed at it. B. (with fome eagernefs and furprife) Pray, Madam, how fo ? J. I have long been in habits of intimacy with his neareft con- nexions, and know him very well. He is a man of ftrohg paflions, and of an uncommon irrita- bility of nerves : he has been thwarted and difap- pointed all his life — I mean, his political life ; and what is more, he has been uniformly and continu- ally afting in direft oppofition to his ov/n/eelingSy and to his oy^njprivaU opinions j I can eafily, therefore, conceive, »■ ' . ( 4« ) Conceive, that fuch a man, as he gets into years, may be fubjeft to fome little derangement in his mental faculties j and as he is now fore from the various baitings he has had both in and out of the Houfe on the fubje6l of the coalition, I fhould by no means be furprifed if there was fome truth in the report. B. You have given me a piece of information, Madam, of which I had no concep- tion : but can you really fuppofe, that Mr. B. was not fincere in his iiipport of the Marquis of Rockingham, and his meafurcs ? ^. I am a- fraid not. B. Don't you fuppofe him to be a (launch Whig? y^. I have great doubts j Mr. B. was educated at the Jefuits College at Sf. Omer's. You know their leading principle is to fide with any party that is likely to put power in their hands. Lord Rockingham having been his firft patron, and having never while in Adminiftra- tion conferred on him any place or penfion that could render him independent of his patronage, feems to have conftrained him to a line of conduct which appears to be direft — but from his vehe- ment and rancorous oppofition to every meafure of indulgence propofcd to be extended to any dcfcrip- tion of Dijfenters except the Roman Catholics, though fupported by his neareft and mofl: inti- , mate friends, has given ftrong reafons to fufpeft that he would adl much more congenially to him- felf with the Tories ; and I have heard it more than once hinted at in circles of no mean autho- G ritv. 1 il ,1 t 3 1' mtv< I ii.-i i| ( 42 ) rity, that he would have been provided for, and made independent, long ago, if thofe under whom he a6bed could have trufted him as they would have wilhed to do. B. You fcem to fuppofe, then, Madam, that Mr. B. is a fecret favourer of the Roman Catholic Religion I ^. Early impref- fions are not eafily eradicated ; and there have been fame circumftances — — /' ' At this moment, company being announced, the converfation broke off — I left Batl\ very foon afterwards, and have never had the pleafure to fee the lady fmce. — The information, however, wasta nie newj and from the fources from which I knew the lady derived it, I thought it important. On leaving her houfe foon after, I went immediately home, and committ^ ' 't to paper. It has enabled me to account for veral of your anions fmce, which otherwife would have puzzled me: and as I fliall have occafion to touch upon thofe in the fequel of this epiftle, I thought it would not be amifs to give my readers that fort of clue which I had fo very accidentally met with. I will, there- fore, now quit the digreflion, and once more ad- vert to the public part of your political courfc. There is one part of your boafted fer vices, on which you fcem to value yourfelf moft, which it is by no means ix.y intention to pafs over — but they have occupied fo great a length of time, and •^ your / ( 43 ) your feveral exertions on this fubjcdt have been made at fuch various and diihmt periods, that I have been obliged to confider them as milcclla - neous, and to throw them together the Hrft con- venient opportunity that might occur. In glan- cing my eye this moment over p. 27, your men- tion of them meets my view, and I will therefore take notice of them in this place. Indeed, as they ended, in parliament, at the time of the coalition, I am not very far out of tlie regular order I have endeavoured to purfue. In that page you remark, " that the fervices you are called to account for, are not thofe on which you value yourfelf the moft. If (fay you) I were to call for a reward (which I have never done) it fhould be for thofe in which, f»r fourteen years without in- *' termifllon, I fhewed the moft induftry, and had " the leaft fuccefs ; I mean, in the affairs of India. They are thofe on which I value niyfelf the moft J moft for the importance; moft for the; " labour J moft for the judgment 3 moft for con- " ftancy and perfeverence in the purfuit.'* cc »^j— and I therefore fear your claim of " reward" from that quarter would not be admitted. However, as you " va- lue yourfelf moft" for what you did refpefting " India affairs," I will lay before my readers, to convince them of the verfatility of your genius, a fpecimen of your exertions on each fide of the queftion, and leave them to form their own con- clufions of what your ideas muft be of conjijlency^ veracity J and principle. ■# (C cc (( (C On the 17th December, 177/, you declared, that you would oppofe any meafure that might prove fubverfive of thofe rights which the Eaft India Company not only enjoyed by charter, but "juhich they had bought j that the learned coun- fel at the bar had fo fully gone through the Company's *' Company's rights to appoint fupervifors, and fo ably dated to the Houfc the neceflity of luch appointments, as to liave left convidlion on the mind of every gentleman who retained the leaft particle of parliamentary independence, and the leafi regard to national faith. You conjured the " Houfe by all that was either.dear or facred, to <* recoiled the noble intrepidity of their brave an- " ceftors, and how they would have a^eti if any «' minijier in their time had dared to have tukl them, " that the India Company were in a ftate of adlual " bankruptcy, and on the brink of ruin, when he " himfelf was the caufe of it. In fhort, confider- ing that the Government annually received from the Company one million net money, /or ^«- *' tieSi cuflomsj and excije, you thought no bill fhould " be ajfentsd to, which might at all aJf'etJ their re- '* 'venue'' . . ■ .- retence could they talk of the facrcdnefs of chartered rights, who had broke through chartered rights in India in innumerable in- ilances ? You were on your legs more than two hours. As you had been three years employed in ftudioufly endeavouring to make yourf mailer of the fubjedl, and had not during tl*^- time taken up the attention of the Houfe upon the affairs of India, you hoped you ihould be heard with patience while you difcuffed the neccffity of the prcfent bill, and convinced the Houfe, that if they had any regard for the fafety of our territorial acquifitions in India, and the revenues derived from thcn.—any regard for the hap- pinefs and fecurity of our Indian fubje61:s, or any regard for the national intercll and honour, not a moment Ihould be loll in paffing it into a law/' . .,': y-r"^/.:'' '■'.-;'.--; ■ '^ So is ( 49 ) So much, Sir, for your labours on Kuft-IndiA affairs — Having Hated your public conduct relat- ing to thcmpro and con. I will leave them witluiut any further conuuent : only this, that however me- ritorious and dcfcrving of reward they might be in your own cftimation, they were long overlooked by thofc who at length advifed your remuneration ; and had not certain events, which I Ihall by and by take notice of, intervened, and you taken the part in them which you have fo vehemently done, I believe you might have waited for your penfion till doomfday. I cannot, however, entirely quit the fubje<5t without mentioning your chirgcs againft Mr. Haftings. As they were countenanced and fup- ported by a majority of the Houfe of Commons, and have fince undergone a thorough in ve (ligation in an impeachment before the Lords, I fhall fay nothing as to the charges themfelves. I will only call to your mind how necefT ry it is for every man to keep in view that grand and leading moral maxim — " Do unto Gibers as you would they jhould do unto you.'' In the letter to which I now reply, you fay (p. 7.) alluding to your defence of your pen- fion — " I put myfelf on my country. I ought to •* be allowed a realbnable freedom, becaufe I Hand " on my deliverance j and no culprit ought to " plead in irons." True, Sir i and there is ano~ ther maxim in the law of England, which fays, H *' that I , ' ( io ) " that every man charged with a crime is to be ac- " counted innccent, until he is convicted of the " fame." A golden rule, and ought never to be departed from. But in your condud of the charges as one of the managers, you loft fight of it altogether j you loaded that great, but unfortu- nate and much-injured gentleman, with'thc black- eft ana moft virulent abufe that malevolence could fuggeft, the imagination conceive, and the tongue convey? — you painted him, and you treated him, not as if he was " on his deliver ance^*^ but as if he were a(5tually 'proved to be the moft atrocious crimi- nal that ever exifted. And after all ut was ac- quitted by the highcft tribunal in the kingdom, and the greateft part of the nation fympathized with him in the joyful, and to him honout-able event. I have no intention to pay any compli- ment to Mr. Haftings in this place, ar your ex- pence — He needs it not — ihe many late honour- able and grateful teftimonies cf the approbation of his employers, by the payment of his law ex- pences incurred by the impeachment, the remu- neration of hio fervices by a moft liberal annuity, &c. &c. fpeak more emphatically in his favour, than any feeble praifes in the powtr of my pen to bellow. I only take notice of it to ftiew that you ought '' to mete to others out of the fame meafurc from which you would wiih to have meted to your- Idlf :" and if, therefore, in the courfe of this re- ply, I fliould ufe any terms of afperity wiiich you mar ( 5« ) may think too fevere, I refer you fo the fituation of Mr. Haftings j and, if ever you 'ind any of your feeling, hurt, though it fhould be only your vaniiy, requefl you to recoUec!:!;, that you have in that in- Ilance, as well as many others more recent, fet the example — and defiie you to remember him. I to )U irc jr- >u ay We now come to a molt important period in- deed, not only in itfelf and its confequences, but alfo frr.i^i the very aftive, and I may fay principal pare you have played in it : In which you appear to have aSfed in your true chara^er — to liave fpoken the genuine fentiments of your heart, without even the thinned veil or the fmalleft particle of referve : In which you have totally either forgotten or re- canted all the great leading political opinions of the former part ofyour life— and, not fatislied with all this, adopted others diametricall) oppofite to themi and in the fhort and fleeting fpace of four or five little years, have a6led upon them with a facility, a fpirit, and an energy, as if you had im- bibed them with your alphabet, and praftifed themi invariably, through every advancement of increaf- ing knowledge, from that moment to the prefent. You have quitted alfo— it is wonderful to tell- but it is not more flrange than true— the earlieft friends, companions, and fellow travellers in your political journey — men by whofe fide you invaria- bly coincided in c nnion, and maintained the ardent H 2 combat \, p ( J2 ) ,combat of political and legiQativc warfare for many a year— men, among whom, though one was e- fleemed the Nestor-— another theAjAX — a third the Ulysses — and the fourth the Achilles— jo« were generally allowed to be the Cicero of the Phalanx— men of whom you fpeak in your letter as " of high place in the community,** and of whom, fpeaking of an earlier period than I am nowallu ding to, you fay — " It is fome confolation to *' me, in the cheerlefs gloom which darkens the ** evening of my life, that with them I commenced " my political career, and never for a moment, in " reality, nor in appearance, for any length of time " was feparated from their good wilhes and good " opinion.'* *' Chearlefs gloom" indeed ! And how came you at laft to feparate from them ? — Let the French re- volution tell — let your pen/ton declare. If your opinions on the principles oUiberty had been always ftncere — the French revolution could never have in- fpired you with different fentiments to thofe which animated the bofoms of your beft friends on the fame event taking place. You would have re- joiced in the refledion, that 25 millions of human beings, after a feriesof feveral centuries ofoppref- five, bloody, and vindidive tyranny, had at length er ^ncipated themfelves from the voracious jaws Oi 1 devouring defpotifm, and fliivered their tre- mendous Ihtickles againft the heads of their op- preflbrs. ( « ) preffors. Your eye would have fparkled with * joy, and your bofom heaved in tranfport, at the idea of the gigantic evil of which they had rid them- felves. Is it poflible to conceive that a fincere friend to liberty in England could have one ferious apprehenfion on his own account becaufe the French people had obtained their freedom ? It is an abfurdity in terms that docs not merit a mo- ment's confideration. )ur lys |re- lan ff- ;th tws Ire- )p. )rs. How then are we to account for your fo fuel- ^tn defedion from the party you had fo long la- boured with in the fame vineyard, and enlifting yourfclf on the oppofite fide of the queftion ? — I fee but one way to anfwer this, and that is, that you were ntvtx fincere in your original profeflions, but only waited a proper opportunity to throw your- felf with effeft into the oppofite fcale. And lo ! there is one moft irrefiftably prefents itfelf To Jecure their political liberty, th' French faw no way that was in any degree likely to fucceed but by re- ducing within certain limits the power of the church— and to this they feduloufly and efTeiflually applied themfelves— they attacked and overturned the power and ufurpationof the Behemoth, vlio held them in a more dreadful fubjedion, and ruled them with a rod of iron more difficult to be broken, than all the combined powers of their temporal ty rants, manifold and imperious as they were. They threw off the yoke which had fo long domineered over mmmmmar H a ( S4 ) over their minds as well as their bodies— they rejec- ted the fupremacy of the Pope, and aboliflied the jurifdiftion of hisapoftolic vicars — They humbled the pride, and reduced the fwollen and overgrown revenues of the bifhops and fuperior clergy, who did nothing at alii and divided it more equally a- niong the inferior orders, who had all the fpiritual labour devolved on their fhoulders, and were fcarcely able to obtain for themfelves and families the mcejfaries of life, from the ftipends they for- merly enjoyed. Be pleafed to obferve, Sir, I am only relating fafts— and I will not refort to more of thefe than is neceffary to elucidate my fubjeft. In a word, the the power of his holinefs the Pope was overturned completely in France, and , , " Hinc illae lacrymae." , ,- In a fhort time after, your " RefleSfions on the French Revolution*' appeared ; and it is needle fs for me to mention with what unparalleled virulence you attacked it in all its parts. It is not my intention to dwell upon the fubjedl further than to obferve, that great care was taken by you, in that publica- tion, to alarm the minds of the Nobility, and Com- moners of fortune, in this country, that as the fupe- rior orders and privileges were aboliflied in France, if great care were not taken, the fame game would inevitably be played over again in this country. An alarm artfully ipread, and at a proper feafon, is lid IS (. ss ) is but too apt to take an extenfive efFecl j and, I am forry to fay, it did fo h' :e: the arijiocracy very generally fell into the fnare : parties who had before been as oppofite in their natures and qualities as oil and vinegar, were ft ?n to mix and blend together moft cordially j and before the fer- ment which occafioned this was allowed to fubfide, almoft all the grand bulwarks and barriers of the Conftitution were cither overleaped or laid pro- ftrate. : A WAR was necejjaryy to anfwer and forward the projedts and purpofes of certian individuals. To extend the alarm, and give it as many ramifica- tions as poffible, was now the plan : the friends to reform were one and all cicnominated republicans and levellers ; and thefe terms were ultimately French- ified into Jacobins. Societies for the proteftion of " property and liberty," as Iz was termed by their promoters, were attempted to be inftituted in every part of the kingdom— headed by men who clearly evinced by their every progreflive ftep, that they wiilied to eftablifh dejptijm under pretence of avoiding anarthy. But all this was not fufficient : Pamphlet was oppofed againft pamphlet— fociety againft fociety : the fcales were nearly equally poifed : and the ma- jority of t)ie people feemed by no means ripe for encountering the heavy and inevitable expenccs of a war. In order, therefore, to introduce this bloody and expenfive trag«dy with better cffc6l, it was thought advif- ,/« I Ji w> ( s^ ) advifeable to precede it with a ferious prckide on the theatre of St. Stephen's, dating the neceffity zndjujiice of it — the danger of longer poftponing it, and the moft pofitive aflurances that it would laft only one year. The prelude was feveral times performed with great efFcdt before tolerable full houfes J the intereft and importance of the fub- jed drew thither feveral who were not in conrtant habits of attending fuch exhibitions; and thole .who could not gain admiflion were obliged to con- tent themfelves with fuch of the prominent fpeeches as were detailed in the daily prints, and the feve- ral comments and criticifms thereon. In thefe the management of the fcene was highly extolled : two very celebrated aftors alternately reprefented the bowl*y which decorum forbade the introduction of in reality iand you, Sir, it is univerfally allowed, brandifhed the dagger with a grace and dexterity never before equalled. At length the refolution was taken — the prelude was withdrawn™ the tra- gedy was declared to be ready for reprefentation. — Heralds were difpatched abroad to proclaim it and in a few fhort weeks, " Bellum! horridum Bellum /" refounded from Ihoi-e to ihore. We are now. Sir, I believe, arrived pretty near the period when the idea firft fuggefted itfelf to cer- tain perfons, that your many eminent fervices lately performed, merited fome "reward." Places • The contents of which had fent them rteling to dif- charge their important duties in that Theatre. there ( 57 ) there were none j— thofe of your quondam aflc- ciates whom you had alarmed into the determina- tion of deferting, like yourfclf, all the principles on which they had plumed and prided themfclves from their entrance into life ; which had heredita- rily defcended to fome of them with their titles and eftates, through a long line of anceftry ; and with thofe principles to tear themfelves from the neareft and deareft friends of their early life, in or- der to coalefce with men whom they had repeatedly declared enemies to the con/iifu/ion-—eT\cinks to the intereftifaithy and honour of the nation— un- worthy of their confidence, or that of any one clfe —I fay. Sir, of places, thofe your brother apojlafes had filled up all which could be fpared from the family compaSi^ A penjionj therefore, was the only remuneration at that time in their nower to offer —and a'penfion, let me tell you. Sir, is, in the opinion of many men as well as yourfclf, a very pretty thing— to confolc a man " in die cheer- Icfs gloom which darkens the evening of his life," when he looks around in vain for " thofe men of high place in the community," with whom " he commenced his political career," and enjoyed the brightnefs of its noon, but from whom he has as cffe6lually feparated himfelf, as if he had al- ready taken his departure to " That undifcovered country, from whofe bourne ** No traveller returns." I At n \- (I *.. I, •( 53 ) At length, then, wc are arrived at the period when the pcnfion is not only bedewed but avowed. Curiofity is on tiptoe to know the amount — and, on inquiry, it is found to exceed beyond all reafonable meafurc the higheft fum allowed as the extent of a penfion, by that very Aft of Parliannent which goes by the name of " Mr. Burke's Bill of Reform'* — and of which you have made fo many vain and Idle boafts. In the courfe of attending his duty in the Houfc of Peers, the Duke of Bedford, in mentioning the deplorable ftate of the finances, and the profufc expenditure of the trcafures of the Nation, adverts to this penfionof your's as far' ex- ceeding the bounds of oeconomy and moderation. This roufes you in the midft oi your jiretended k- clufion from the world ; and produces a letter to fome noble Lord or other j but whether he re fides on earth, in air, or fea or ficies, we are left to guefs ; however it is no matter — we have got by it what you call a defence of your penfion— and if you had addrcfled it to your barber it would have done jufi: as well. I dare fay he is fome fuch honeft facetious fellow as my Lord Mayor's, and perhaps, if the truth was known, might have given you the fame ■ early intimation of the grant of your 'penfion, as the TG7ifor of his Lordfliip did of his fmallyZ/Vtf of the .,u;; Loan. •::^'.7 ',- . Had you confined yourfclf to mere Billingfgate abufc of the Duke of Bedford, or even his innocent anceftors. ( J9 ) anceftors, who never could perfofjalfy have offended you in the exercife o{ their duty—it might prcperly have been matter of filcnt contempt in his Grace, and of laughter to your readers, at feeing tl^.e petu- lant irrafcibility of one who calls himfelf " a dejclaie eld man.'* But the rancour and malignity of your intention ap})ear fo plain from the firll page to the end of it, that it is evident, the defence of your pen- fion is a mere (lalking hoife to cover a bafe aflafTi- nating attack on one of the moft amiable and vir- tuous ciiarac^lers in the kingdom, -v) . , r the rs, I have already apologized to his Grace for the mention I may make of his name. I have no authority to do fo— but I claim a right which I am determined to exercife, though I fhould be forry to offend him in fo doing ; inafmuch as every individual is deeply intereftcd in the prefervation of the fame, the honour, and the welfare of an /"/- lujirious and indctendent Senator. Hail to the ge- nius of Hen rv the Eighth, I fay, and his " im- moderate grants," as you call them, " to hisGrace's firft anceftor :" — they were not the mere impulfes of caprice from " a tyrant to his favourite," as you are pleafed to r^nk them. I rather view them as the rich and diftinguiiliing gifts of an all- feeing and all powerful Ruler, who, for his own wife and infcrutable ends and purpofcs, having thought proper, for a time, to countenance one of thofe fcourges of mankind, called a tyrant— -in his be- J2 neficent ( 6o ) neficcnt mercy, infufcd into his heart to bcftow on the founder of an iilulbious family, fuch a portion of the Crown lands, xs fliould operate and fcrvc, in the hands of hivs virtuous defccndants, us a mound to check the pride and ftop the flagitious progrcfs of tyrants in future. 1 I '.J • 11 I appeal to the annals of the Englifh hiftory, In fupportandjullificationof my idea. The pure pa- triotic blood of the illuilrious Russeli,, Hied by the hand of a fubfequent Tyrant, is flrong in its behalf, as " proof of Holy Writ." The pla- cidity of his countenance, both before his murderous execution, and after, when, with favagc cruelty, it was, ^s the law dire^s, held up to public view ; the fight of the bl.ocd of that great and good man trickling from the fcaffold, firft roufed the torpid feelings of" a dcbafcd and degenerate people j" and from his allies rofe a flame, the brightncfs of which lighted the rifing patriots of that day through the dark and dangerous paths they had to tread in their courfe towards the glorious Revolution which took place in 1688. Since that memorable period, the illuftrious Houfe of Russell have invariably fupported the fame glorious principles of freedom for which their anceftor bled j and I have not the fmalleft doubt but that the great majority of the people of this country, will give the prcfent noble inheritor of the title full credit for pofle fling all the ■■..-. r i :; r; ".ll invalu- ( 6i ) invaluable virtues of his forefathers, till by fome ad -»f hisowri he (hall prove the contrary. . » ^ Your attack upon his Grace, it is mod clear, is intended to cut like a two-edged fword, both ways. By the liril you wilh to infmu.itc into the minds of the people a jcaloufy of ifj/'w— -and by the fecond, to make liis Grace dijh'itjlful o{ his country ■ men. In the very rtrft page you couple liis naiuc with thatof the Dukcof C)rleans, wliom you have held out as a principal agent of the French revo- lution—thereby meaning to infmuate a fimilarity of difpofition in two of the richell fubjeds in their refpedlive countries. You fliortly afterwards fay— - " It would be abfurd in me to range myfelf on the fide of the Duke of Bedford and the Correfpond- ing fociety"— thereby infinuating that the Duke of Bedford is either a member of, or fomehow or other conne<5led with that fociety— and fliortly after you have the aiTurance, on the merejauthority of your own impudent afTertion, to accufe them of being revolutionifts. • As to his Grace, it is evident from your own iii^wing " that you have not the honour of his per- fonal acquaintance"— a clear proof he did not deem you worthy of it, orhe without doubt might have enjoyed it long ago— and as to the Corre- fponding fociety, you may make yourfelf perfeflly eafy-— they would not fuffer any fuch perfonage " to range himfelf on their fide,"with their know- if.;. i' H 'f Ih ( 6a ) lejgc anJ'confcnt— It is a rule of the focicty, that each candidate fliall, before he is admitted a mem- ber, bring an honcji man who is known to them to vouch for his charaflcr- --Indeed, Sir, your range, if you nude it, would be in vain. As to his Grace's connexion with the fociety, I believe it is \nreality as much as your own, and no more---IIi.s Grace's opinion of the views of the fociety I only know from his public declaration? in Parliament. The fociety 's opinion of his Grace 1 believe to be as favourable and refpeilful as his numerous good qualities fo abundantly deferve. _ ' ■ Of his peifonal virtues, even you, Sir, feem to be fo thoroughly perfuaded, that you dare not ven- ture to attack, himfelf, and are therefore obliged to go back for centuries " to vex the fepulchre," and endeavour, to tarnifh the honour of his anccftor in his Ihroud. But you fail even there. You with to reduce his Grace's anceftor to a level with your- fclf— ;-and to raifeyour paltry penfionto an equi- valent value with his " incredible grants" (as you call them) from the Crown : forgetting, either will- fully or ignorantly, that the one was an eftate in fee-fimple to his heirs— the other a mere gratuity for life to the party obtaining it. You fay, his Grace's anceftor was a Penftoner as well as you— This alfo I deny— he was a grantee of the Crown, of Crown lands to him and his heirs for ever ; which lands, no matter bow aquiredj were, at the time of the grant, the undoubted, a^tcil fnperty of ( 63 ) of the Grantor, as much as the Crown itfclf was ; for by the fame right that he poflc fled one, he held the other. You arc the grantee of a pcnfion for life, or perhaps lives ^ iflliing not out of the pocket of the grantor, but out of the pockets of an in- duitrious and impoveriflicd people. 1 do not deny that his prefent Majefty has as good a right by tlie laws of the land to gram your p( nfion, as Henry "^^III. had to grant his Crown lands— he certainly has that right— -and beyond that, the comparifon holds no farther. His Grace is not, as you fay, " a young man with old pcnfions,"— though you arc certainly ** an old man with a very young penfion,'* or pcnfions, if you have them. ''» ;' t( ilS in. \ty Why will his Grace," you fay, (p. 39,) " by attacking me, force me reluftantly to compare my little merit with that which obtained from the Crown thofe prodigies of profufe donation, by which he tramples on the mediocrity of humble and laborious individuals." One would think Tome Daemon of pcrverfion was fitting at your el- bow, and hoodwinked your underftanding, or you never could advance fuch palpable incongrui- ties and mifreprefentations. In the firft place, I deny that his Grace did " attack you." In mea- ti >ning your penfion, he only attacked adminiftra- tion for their lavifli difiribution of the public mo- ney, in an hour of the ,decpeft and wideft ational dllhefs. His Grace, nor any one elfe, could ever mean to convey acenfurc upon you, for accepting what ( 64 ) what had been given. He might not lee fo clear as you fcem to do, that you " merited that and more ;" but it was an attack on the minifter, which his duty as a lord of Parliament fuggefted to him to make, and not on you. • . < As to his " trampling on the mediocrity of hum- ble and laborious individuals," I believe no man ■was ever more undeferving of fuch a charge. I have already declared, as you have, that I have not the honour to be perfonally acquainted with his Grace— but that is not neceflary to know the cha- ra6^er of a man in his elevated ftation in fuch points as that. There h too much envy and ma- lignity in the world to dart tii'^ir envenom 'd fhafts at fuch high and noble game, if he could even for one moment give them occalion. One folitary inftance of fuch a bafe ufe of fuperior fortune would damn his fair fame for ever, and plant a cor- roding fling in his bofom-— which all " the ocean of the royal bounty" in which you fay " he plays and^ folics," could never aflfuage or compenfate. Fie, fie ^intemperate and indifcriminate railer ! He is as farfrom fuch a charai^er as " thou from Her- cules." I have made an enquiry of a lady who was born at Wooburn, and who has had opportunities of feeing his Grace from his earlieft infancy ; and from her information I learn, that "the fuavity and urbanity of his manners can only be furpafled by the opennefs and philanthropy of his heart, and that his eafy and unaffeded politenefs reflcft a luftre on his h:gh and diftinguifhed rank. But ' ( «i ) But to return back to his Grace's anceftor ; for, much as you undervalue him, Sir, I by no means fee any reafon to turn my back upon him. As you have raked up his aflies, I am determined to fee how they will bear the fifting. In page 41, you tell us, '* The firft peer of the name, the firft ** purchafer of the grants, was a Mr. Ruffel, a " perfon of an ancient gentleman's family," fwell, I am glad you allow that) '' raifed by being a mi- " nion of Henry the Eighth." As to the minion we have only alfertion ; but to proceed— " As there generally is fotne refemblance of cha- " rav!ler to create thefe relation*^, thc/avountewa.s in ♦* all likelihood much fuch another as his majler.'* Why fo, my good Sir ? — Do you call this logical or fair rcafoning, to draw your inferences from likelihood, when you are about to flur the charac- ter of a man who has been dead upwards of two centuries ? Let us try the matter a little clofer. Bifliop Cranmer Vvas a very great /^wm.v of this fame Henry the Eighth ; and yet, I believe, that evenyoii. Sir, will not venture to liiy, that he was ir any refpedl like his mafter ; on the con- trary, he checked him in feveral inflances, when no one elfe durft even hint an oppofition to his brutal and overbearing will. And pray. Sir, why might not this be the cafe with Mr. RulRl ? If you havo no authority to vouch that he was like his mu-ter but likelihood of analogy, you K ought i':: 1 i) x ■. , ■ ' if ( 66 ) ought to blufh at having made the fuppofition : if you have any fuch autliority, you ought, in juftice to your readers, to have produced it, to enable them to form their opinion onjuft and fair grounds. (( The firft of thefe immoderate grants was not " taken from the ancient demefne of the Crown, ** but from the recent confifcation of the anci^at '* nobihty of the land." Pray, Sir, what do you mean by the ancient demefne of the Crown, and the ancient nobility of the land ? Was not all the ancient demefne of the Crown, at the time of the landing of William the Norman, taken from our Saxon anceflors by cotifiJcatioHy profcription, and executions^ bloody as the bloodied of Henry the Eighth ? Did not the land at that period flow with rivers of blood ? And fuch blood ! — Oh ftiame! where is thybluflb ? — Was not the ancient demefne of the Crown, then in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the fame which the Norman Baftard ufurped from the heirs of the Confeflbr ? Did not the anceflors of the ancient nobility, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, acquire their ef- tates by confifcation? "What fort of fluff are " your dreams made of," when you produce this by way of argument ? If you wanted to throw an odium on his Grace of Bedford's original title to his eflates, you have aimed the fame blow at the cflates and titles of all the ancient nobility in the kingdom, and even on the Crown lands them- felves. . i 67 ). fdvc5. You talk of revolution! (Is j — if thereareany fuch, which I do not believe, could the bittereft enemy to the prefent order of things have given them a more feafible argument on which to ad- vance ? For heaven's fake, leave off writing upon politics: count your heads sindisLy your prayers, and prepare yourfclf for a better Hate ; you appear to forget the rcgularorder of this. ** The lion, having fucked the blood of his " prey, threw the offal carcafe to the jack all " in waiting." I fuppofe we are to underftand by this, that the penfion or grant was the offal carcafe, and the punfioner the jackall. I can draw a logi: ' ; ^dudlion from this : All penjioners are jackalls.'-'i^ilmuhd Burke is a penjioner : Ergo, Edmund Burke is a, jackall. Really, Sir, you have made very pretty company of yourfelf. »■, i( This worthy favourite's firft grant was from *' the lay nobility. The fecond, infinitely mi- ** proving on the enormity of the firft, was irom ** the plunder of the church." " Aye, there's " the rub" — there's the *' enormity " of Mr. Ru^eW. -^Tbe plunder of the church! Oh facrilege ! —But pray, Sir, What church zvas this f — The church of Rome. — Oh damnable herefy ! Here the cloven foot once more appears. You, Sir, are as fubjed to the prejudices of education as i5ther men, I am fure you need not be told Yk,% what i m ( 68 ) what was the grand teft Lycurgus u^ed for demonftrating the force of it, by bringing two whelps out of the fame bitch, differently brought up: ar.d I'liicing before them a greafy c^i/h and a live hare. The one that had been bred to hunt- ing, immediately ran after the game ; while the .other, whofe kennel and fchool had been a kitchen, prefently fell to licking the' platter. You diredtly charge the anceftor of the Duke cf Bedf(jrd with being a ciiurch robber. I will thus far ad Hi it j he was one, with the majority of the nation, that would not fubmit to be educated in the trammels and hallowed corruptions of papal policy, with all its appendages of cheat and dclu- fion — ftrait-laced fubmiflion— marts of indul- gence — ir'aikets of fupcrftition, cankerous blotches and excrefcinces. They had juft learned to laugh at int^rditls and fufpenJionSf denunciations , ag- gravations, excommuniciltons^ and thundering bulls, which for fo many centuries hsidjeeced them even to the confijeation of their laft (hilling. It is ad- mitted, I fay, that they had not then the fear of toe-kijfing HOLINESS before their eyes ; and tho* I cannot admit fo rude a word as rob, I will own, they certainly did lejjen and ciu off St. Peter's PATRIMONY. ■ ... " In truth, his Grace is fomewhat excufablc " for his diilike to a grant of mine, not only in ** its quantity, but in its kind, fo different from hij tx,. I- -•Tannmimfm { 69 ) *• his own.** I can fee no ** excufe ** for his Grace's dijlike of your grant, but the candid one which he gave when he mentioned it, which I have dated before, viz. " that in a time of deep national diflrcfs, like the prefent, be regarded the enormous amount of it as a profufe expendi- ture of the public money." — In any other refpedt it is impoflibie to conceive he could entertain the lead diflike to it : for I have no doubt he would have adtcd in the fame manner, let the grant have been conferred on whomfoever it might. " " Mine was from a mild and benevolent fove- " reign ; his from Henry the Eighth." — Mild and benevolent, indeed, Mr. Burke ! but you did not always thus exprefs yourfelf ia thofe terms. There was a time, and that time is flill frelh in the memory of moft men in the nation, when, to ufe your own language as applied to yourfelf-— there was inded a time when " the ftorm had not gone over," but lay heavy on your royal mafter, *' when he lay like one of thofe old oaks which the hurricane had fcattered around him, flripped of all his honours, torn up by the roots, and proftrate on the earth," — when he was ^^ JJjorn indeed! and to the very quick," — when the dif- penfmg hand of an all-wise and all-merci- ful Providence had vifited him with the mofl; affli9 i V KV rm i\ W ( yi ) It was my intention here to have quitted the Tubjeft of the Duke of Bedford's anceftor, as I perceive nothing that follows, the authority of which docs not depend upon yourown modeft af- fertion, and the burthen of which is the diffident comparifon you make between ^o«r merits and his ; refpedling all which I think, and doubt not, the impartial and candid reader has by this time pretty well formed his judgment. But looking back a few pages, I perceive one particular paf- fage that had before efcaped me, and which, in point of modefty and liberality of fentiment, out- does even your ufual outdoings. In p. 38, you fay — " In private life, I have not *' at all the honor of acquaintance with " the noble Duke. But I ought to prefume, " and it cofts me nothing to do fo, that he abund- " antly deferves the efteem and love of all who " live with him. But as to public fervice, why " truly it would not be more ridiculous for me " to compare myfelf in rank, in fortune, in «* fplendid defcent, in youth, ftrength or figure, " with the Duke of Bedford, than to make a pa- " rallel between his fervices, and my attempts to " be ufeful to my country." I fliould think. Sir, it would not be fair to fet againft ^^ fervice s^'' " attempts to be ufeful." — But fuppofing it was be- tween p«r " fervices'* and his — If you have really performed any fervices, it cannot be fuppofed . that ! .t '>/ by hearty as is the cafe with many of our Parliamentary or.itors. — No, Sir, it was a reply j and that in anlwer to two of the mo(l//. What I have ob- *' taincd was the refult ul no bargain— the pror :. _.- " dudion , ( «5 ) " duAion of no intrigue-^'' foh fie, Mr. Buvke ! to talk of thefe things at your age!) — ** the refult of no compromife, the effed of no folicitation. The firft fuggeflion of it ** never came from me, mediately nor im- mediately, to his Majefty, or any of his Minifters. I was entirely out of the way of ferving, or of hurting any ftatefman, or any party, when the Minifters fo generoufly and fo nobly carried into effed the fpontaneous bounty of the Crown. Both defcriptions " have aded as became them. When I could no longer ferve them, Minifters have conii- dered my fituation. When I could no longer hurt them, the Revolutionifts have trampled on my infirmity." — I Ihould be glad to know who thofe are you ftyle Revolutionifts, whom you accufe of having trampled on your infir- mity ? — I am afraid you are fomewhat in the fituation of the Knight of Z/^M<««r^<3, whofeZ)«A cinea del Tobofo exifted only in his own bewildered imagination. You feem to be equally as much enamoured with xhtRevoliitiomJIs, who I believe are about as eafily^^o be found as the pQQvlek Dulcinea, ft K (t it tt tt tt t( ;:lio.is on th^ French Revolution tisat is not a dirc^ contra- tiidtion ofyourllirin tlic " Thoughts on the prrfent D:fcontcntSy' and others of your earlier produc- tions ; To that all thole who vvifh to be guided by your judgment, muft be at a \o(2> to determine which to bd'irje as that which h really VLnd/iinJu' mentally the true one. If it be admitted that you were once a man of great ymv/r^', it a!)pears to vac that your labours, inflcad o^ fcrvices to tlie age in which you live, or to pofterity, muft be produc- tive of the deepcll injury -, for, taken together, they will exhibit a huge and monftrous mafs of deformity, confiding oi fe If- inter ejlcd cuiniin^ — hy- pocritical, time-lervl!i2 terpi-verfitiou — ending, at Talti. in the mod barefaced and unqualified npcjlcicy that ever lifgraced and blotted the page fif hiflory, in the r. ccrded annals of the moft cor- rupt and deg-nei. nations which have in point of time precc ied us, *' iVlonllruni 1 horrendum ' lnr''*me ? infj;cns I" * ' 1 Hatter myfelf, alio, that I have Ihewn, more forcibly than you have fliewn to t! c contrary, that the original ancedor, i^i point of title 1 me in, of the iiludrious Ilouio ot Kuss l, did not re- ceive his " proful'e grants," as you call them, from h'wi!i:; the pander, or fninion, ot Jacka/', of N ' tha \ . . I IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) Ji 1.25 ■ 30 "^^ US 1^ ■ 141 US u Ij^ 2.5 2.2 2.0 ■ Pholngraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. U580 (716) tTlUSOS iV 1 \ L-C^ s> rv -«i. 6^ ■h. '■ t ( 9° ) that ravenous lion, Henry VIII.; but that the fair prefumptlon is, he was a man of fupcrior virtues and abilities, with a fufficient fkill and knowledge of the human heart to ward off the jealoufy cA' the tyrant whom he ferved, by dextroufly giving way before, and footh- ing his paffions, without feeding or exciting them — and by exerting that (hare of diflimula- tion, and feeming acquiefcence to his will, which mud be nccejary, and which neceffity ex- cufes at leaft, if it does not ftridly and morally juftify, in his condutft towards fuch a capricious monfter, whofe lavage will was the only law and tenure by which all or any of his fubjeds, even to to the very highejl, held their honour, their proper- ties, their liberties, and even their lives. Bifliop Cr ANMER was one of the befl of men, in point of morality, piety, and every other Chriftiaa virtue ; and yet he contrived fo to demean him- felf as to outlive his tyrannical maftcr, and all his inordinate appetites, without ever being accufed, or even fufpcded,C>f adminiftering to any of them, except that of overthrowing the monftrous power of thatdefcendant from the who re of Babylon, his Holiness the Pope. For two centuries, the honour of the firft ////<^/i anceftor of the Houfe of Russell has lain undifturbed in the tomb, till you thought proper " to vex the fepulchre;** »nd drag it forth, for the purpofe of llabbing it through ( 9" ) » through the fiiroud. Had you proved your ma- jor, it would not have added a jot to the ftrcngth and fupport of your own argument ; for if Henry VIIT. or evjn his prcfent gracious Majefty, had beftowcd five hundred other unmerited penfions, and a thouland times more exorbitant than your's, it would be no excufe for your's, if that was not deserveJ^ or if that were fpecifically too large. But againft the merits of Mr. Russell you have produced nothing but furmife and conje«flure, backed by your own aiTertions, the credibility of which, after what I have fhewn, I leave entirely to the Jury. With regard to tlie prefcnt PofTeiTor of the honours and virtues of the Houfe of Russell, I will only add, that, if there ever had been the fmallcft blemifh in the title of his firft anceftor to the " rewards" he obtained, his Grace derives from a (lock wliofe title is the bed founded, and whofe honours will never facie — the great and never to be forgotten Lord William, who on the fcaffold expiated with his/j?