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23 WEST MAIN STREET

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(716) 872-4503

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A LEAF' '^mt$S'^%

OUT OP •

BU RKE'S BOOK.

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BEING

AN EPISTLE

r-if - '■•'- TO ' >>/^:'.

THAT RIGHT HONOURABLE GENTLEMAN,

IN lEFLY TO HIS '

' Letter to a noble lord,

•1

"*1 ,•»■--.* ji'

ON THE SUBJECT OF HIS PENSION.

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By M. C. BROWNE.

«* DICSKB V»IRUM (^UID VETA-;

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" Penixoni, whkhReafon to the Worthy gave,
*• Add frcih Difljonour to the Fool or Knave."

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.. 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.

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THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

EDMUND BURKE.

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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'

( 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

.'/

( 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

( 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. ;

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

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<fj, andas
fiich, I fliould fuppofe, would have been paid for
at the time. If they were not, and were really (o
important as then to merit the well earned penfioii
you have fo lately received, I muft acquit the
prefent Minifters of" prodigality' — the intcrcft of
the firft year's income would, by that time, have
amounted to far more than the principal fumyou
now annually receive, and they have certainly
m vde a faving bargain for the nation. But they
arc celebrated for their wonderful regard to juf-
tice in paying off the old /cores of former admini-
ftrations, as Colonel Fullarton, the executors
of the late Mr. Oswald, &c. &c. &c. can un-
deniably teftify.

Still, Sir, however, we cannot help afking our-
felves the queftion — When were thefe fervices
performed r— What was the nature of them ? And
how arc we fure they are of the high value at
which this gentleman himfelf appreciates them ?
Secret as they were then^ and have ever fince been
kept — they certainly. Sir, come within the fcope
oi your capacious knowladgc. You fo«/<7 without
doubt, tell us, if you wouldy ty^ry article]of which
they confifted in the lump ; but as you have not
been pleafed to da fo, you have forced us into
the ample field of conjecture, in the wide ranges
of which I fear moft of your rc.iders, as well as

myfelf.

( '

( 8 )

myfelf, will be puzzled in no fmall degree before
they can form a conclufion to their liking. I
will only hazard a few gueflcs ; and if! fail, I hope
the want of penetration will not be too ftrohgly
charged on me for not being able to developc fo
deep and intricate a fubjc(5t. ''-

Perhaps, Sir, as you had left your native land,
and done this country the honour to " adopt
hes'* you thought in point of gratitude fhe was
bound to pay the expences of your education—
and as you were then young and polTeffed of a
brilliant and lively imagination, you might take
credit for a confiderable deal ; and knowing the
ftrength and fullnefs of the well ftored magazines
you then poflefled, you might conceive you had
actually earned a penfioh at that moment, from a
thorough convidion in your own mind, of the
eminent and important fervices you were deter-
fnined aheYW2iYdi to perform for her benefit. I
bcfeech you, Sir, and iry readers, not to laugh
at my conjedure : more extraordinary things have
happened before now ; for fervices a5iually per-
formed, though bearing a high eftimation in the
mind of the doer, have more than once been
found as inadequate to the reward conferred on
them as the ideal ones I have juft been men-
tioning. — On the other hand, you might have
ftruggled againft fo many ** compmi^ious vifitin^t
rf nature ,'* before you could refolve to facrifice

( 9 ) .

all the inbred prejudices of your early life, in
order to qualify yourfelf for a feat in St. Stephen's,
that you might not only fay you had earned the
penfion you have fince received " before yo'i fet
foot in it," but to go ftill farther, and add, that
no fum could be equivalent to the exertions and
facrificcs you had then made. On recolledion,
you have fome where exprefled the fame idea in
much better terms : I will therefore do you all
the" juftice in my power by giving it in your own
words.

" His Grace" (you fay) " thinks I have ob-
" tained too much. I anfwer, that my exertions,
•* zvhatever they have been, were fuch as no hopes
" of pecuniary reward could poflibly excite ; and
*' no pecuniary compenfation can poflibly reward
^^ them. Btt\wcen money 2ind fuch ferviceSy if done
" by abler men than I anv, there is no common
*' principle of comparifon : they are quantities incom-
" menfurable. Money is made for the comfort and
" convenience of ^«/w«/ life. It cannot be a re-
** ward for what mere animalli^e mull indeed fuf-
" tain, but never can infpire. With fubmiffion
" to his Grace, I have not had more than fuf-
" ficient.'*

\ 1 • * . '

\».

■Mi-yA

When I firlt read the aV ve paffage, I thought
it fomewhat paradoxical ; but on a more mature
and deliberate confideration and perufal of it, I

C think

>¥

/■;;

•

(

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 ^

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 ,

{ 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,

- ( 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

( >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.

a
a

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

( 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.

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

:.j

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.

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 )

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

( ao ) •

ried a rrfolution olthcHoufc, ** tlial tljc tnJIueHcr
*' ot' tlK' CuowN had increafedy was iiurcnjin^^ and
'* OK^hl to be <lim'nuj7jt!(iy

T ihii k it ncccH'iry to remark alfo, tluit before
you cauic into adminillntion, y.)ii had ;;ivcii
the brv)adc(l liints as to tlie extent ot" the acco-
nomv rcciuiCLc tol)C (jbllrwd, and the retrench-
ments vvl'.ieh ouHit to be made. You even ob-
tairied leave to bring in a bill, and produced one
accordingly, in which v.as a ctaule to aboHOi the
dutchy ot Lancaller, as not only ulelclL in itf-.H',
but a moil enormous burthen upon the peoph\^ntX
a diforace to tlic nation. From all thcfc fymp-
toms of a dilpofition to tcconomy, great expcdla-
tions were Ibvn'cd — your f^art'fans gave out, that
ir would be produclive to the nation of a faving of
three or four hundred timuiand a year ; and a ge-
neral joy feemed to [.v-rvade the great body of the
people, who made thenill Ives certain of your car-
rving this bill into effecl, wlien you came into
ofiice.

This was high'y incrcaled, after the glowing de-
fer ipi ion you had given of the pure and rich benevo-
Unce of his Miijejh's hsarty teeming witli paternal
care and tcridernefs, and participating in the fuf-
ferings Oi the l;»jl of fubje^s. Wei', Sir, you arc
now fnugly ieaiedin the place of the facetious

Mr.

( *I )

Mr. Ri;;by, and at Icn^tli come down to tiie
Houfc witli your Bill oi Rtforiii ; vvhk h bi ing
road, behold, parturiunt montes! this new Bill
of Keform was not even the fliadow of a fliadc
to that which was ori^jnally intended: many
of the otlices conijjlaincd of as uJcUfs in the firO,
were taken no nc^tice of in the fccontl ; amongft
the reR, the Dutch y of I^ancastkr ; and on
tiiis idle and frivolous plea, ihat the people of the
county of LiincaJIer wcndd not confcnt to part with
tlie DuTCHY, becaufc they looked upon it as a
particular privilege. What, Sir! gratify the inhabit-
ants of a fiiigle county with a bauble called a pri'
vtlegCy which was, according to your own words, a
burthen on tlie whole people^ and a clijvrafe to the
nation ! Bluih, ucconomifl:, biudi ! — The burthens
of the/>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

t it

( " )

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

(

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.

ift

( ^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|.

( 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

, ( ^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

It '

•\ ( ^3 )

of the civil '//?, o.out of the foui- and a half f<er •
cefi/s. or any other ti^c] . it is clearly intended tp
iucliuJj rt// pen/tons zuh^tfocvcr. It redr'u^s the
granting of any one penfrvi to a larger amount
than 300I. a year, or more than two to that
amount, or fix of lool. or tweKf; of 50I. ; for it
exprefs y fays, the whole muH nou exceed 600I. •
It requires a lift even to that extent, together
with the names of the pcrfons to whom the fame
are granted, to be laid before Pariiament tvienty
days after the beginning of each feffion, until
the A'holepenfion iiftfliail be reduced to 90, cool,
which fum it fliall not be lawful to exceed by
more than 5000I. in the whole of all the grants ;
nor fliall any penfion, to bo granted after the whole
of the faid reduclion, to or for the ufc of any
one pcrfjn, excetd. ihe fum of 1200I. yearly, ex-
cept his Majefty's Royal Family, or on an ad-?
drefs of either Houfe of Parliamjnt. ,7

Now, Sir, if you can even prove to me, that
fmce the palling of the above ad, the penfion lift
is reJiire.1 to 90,0001. and that no more than
^ccoi in the z^hole of all the grants have been
added to it, ft'.ll your penfion is diredly in the
teeih and d'^fiance of your own aft ; for as it is
4000I. a year, it amounts to more than three times
as much as the highefl fum allowed by that act to
be granted to any one pcrfqn, except the Royal
I amily, or on an addrefs of either Houfe of Par-
liament.

( »9 )

Hament. That no acidrefs of that na)^'^ ^*s ever,
been moved, much Id's carried in y^'i^r Houfe, I
A-ill be bold to afTert \ and that />u 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-

'■' ii

( 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<fl, that there
is but one pen(i^<n lift, (hough there are two
funds, it feems, out of which penfions are paid.
That this BID, .n its general tendency, chiefly re-»
lated to the civil lifl, there can be no doubt ; but
that any diflindtion was intended to be mad? be-
tween penfions payable out of the civil l"ft,
and penfiuns payable out of the four and a half
pev ' vjnts.i the moll ridiculous idea that ever en-
tered into the brain of man. What are the lead-
ing words of the claufe ? — Mark, Sir-^ " And for

Vi>

...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.

, ■ : '/■•

( 3- )

** cents, or any other fund appropriated to i\\6'
" payment of pcnfions, favc and except the civil
* liftaforefaid."

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 '^.^

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I I

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( 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,

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" SO HELP ME GOD."

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. \

And the 2 2d claufe cnads, '* that on taking the
faid oath, the penfion or penfions, annuity or annu-
ities aforefaid, fliall be paid at the Exchequer, to
the order of the High Treafurer, or Firft Com-
iniflloncr of the T reafury, for the time being, and
his receipt fliall be accepted and taken as an ac-
quittance for the fame." ' «"''*'' ^' '''* '

'V-

Now, Sir, on reading this claufe, we fee no rc-
ftridion as to the amount of this fecret penfion :

pritnd

( 3J )

frimdifacii it would appear, that it might amount
to any fum in the plcalure of the Crown to bcftc-w ;
but doubtlefs, in conltru<5lion of law, it would be
held to be (Iridly confonant to, and within the
fcopc ^f the foregoing claufe, which regubtrs the
limitation of pcnfions. In like manner, without
mentioning at all the Four and a Half per cents,
fund, it certainly extends to it ; and though no
provifion was antecedently made, authoiizing/,'-
cret pcnfions to be paid out of that fund, this acl
would efre<!T"ually do it ; for there is no maxini in
liw more clear than this — that vvlierc Parliament
has created an old fund, out of which pcnfions
were to be paid generally j and afterwards an adl
paflTcs the Legiflature, which regulates the limita-
tion of pcnfions in general terms— the new law muft
completely affeft, bind and controul the old fund,
unlefs it contains fome cxprefs provifion to the
contrary. To ^ay, therefore, that your penfion,
by being paid out of the Four and a Half per cents,
fund, and not out of the Civil Lift, docs not fly
direflly in the very teeth of your fo much boaftcd
bill of (economy and retrenthmenty when, by your
own confeflion and avowal, it amounts to more
than three times the fum that a£l allows to be
granted to any but the Royal Family, or on an
Addrefs of cither Houfe of Parliament, is not
only a barefaced and impudent aflertion — but it is
fuch an alTertion, retting upon a fubterfuge and a
quibble, which would fuffufc the cheek of an

1 ■:

F 2

OiD

t >

'a
/

I' <

.1 if

'( 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

"Hi'

♦^. iilf't^" Ji'-if'"/'./

in.

; ( 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

( 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

( 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 !

, ( 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
t

3 1'

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ii.-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.'*

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It
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I have not the fmalleft doubt of your " labour,
your conftancy and perfeverence," to obtain any
objed on which you have once fet your heart. I do
not difpute your " induftry" — but I have fuch an
opinion of your "judgment," that I am not at
all furprifed at your want of" fuccefs :" — nor can I
by any means guefs to whom you could look for
r . G % reward

, ,!

■'\t

I']

( 44 )

reward in this cafe—the India Company, or the
Crown— You have fo alternately fupported the
rights of the one againft the interference and con-
troul of the other, and vice ver/a, that to which
of them (if you were inclined to do fo) you could
" apply for reward," Iproteft lam at a lofstoguefs.
It is true, indeed, your laft efforts were made, and
vigoroufly too, in favour of the Crown — the Com-
pany, therefore, it may be prefumed, would not
be eager to " reward" youj and unfortunately the
Crown would not accept the controul over the
Company's affairs on your terms— a back-ftairs in-
terview had convinced fome folks that it might be
had on more advantageous <>»^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.

■#

((

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

( 45 >

*' 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'' . . ■ .-

On the 23d of March, 1772, on the motion for
reftraining the India Company from dividing more
than fix per cent, on their capital, you faid,
" you intended to prove the following propofi-
*• tions : ...

:he

1. " That the Eafl-InJia Company were not be-

fore the Houfe. ; . . • ' .

2. " That if ever they were there, they had been

brought before the Houfe by force, fraud,
* . and menaces.

' ' ■ ' '. 3. « That

( 46 )

" That the treaty between Government and
the Company was, on the fide of the former,
iniquitous in every part of it.

** That with respect to the territorial
ACQiJisiTioNS, not one Lawyer i with a " rag

OF A gown upon his BACK, OR A WIG WITH

ONE TIE," M given it as bis opinion, that the
right to thefe pojjeffions was vejiedin the Crown ^
and not in the Company,
" That the French Eaft-India Company, un-
der a defpotic government, was in a better
fituation than the Englifh Eaft-India Com-
pany, under a government which pretended
to liberty.
** That with refpeft to the mode of condu(?l-
ing it, the French Government was angelic^
compared with the Englifh.
** That the very vote then about to pafs, was
fuch an infiingement upon chartered rights,
as the fpirit of Englifhmen could not brook 5
and fuch a violation of the conjlitutiony as
might indeed be paralleled, but could not be
exceeded in the annals of any country, how
defpotic foever."

Refpefting the French Eaft India Company,
you faid, that when they were in a deplorable
fituation, the King took their debts upon him-
felf, and has fince punftually difcharged them ;
that in the worft of times he had permitted them
to divide /x'^ per cent* and that he and his mi-

*' niftsrs

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( 47 )

niftcrs had a«5led, compared with our K ing and his
minifters with refpcdl to their Fall India Com-
pany, like angels ; and that the French Faft India
Company had flourifhed more in a land of def-
potifm, than the Eriglilh Faft India Company
had ever done in a hind of boaflcd liberty; but
our lihrty confided in boajihig only, and was
imaginary. What, faid you, arc you about to
do? Are you not going to invade the rights of
the Company as invellcd in tliem by charter?
Have you fuch an authority by the Conjlitution ?
No ! Are you not going to alTume it? Yes !—
Are you not going, as my noble friend (Lord J.
Cavcndifh) has obferved, to Jeize the executive
power, and 'illegally to deprive the Dire£Iors of the
Company of their rights ?

In the years 1780 and 1781, you ftill perfevered
with the fame vigorous eloquence and bold afler-
tion, to defend the chartered rights of the Company
—But, •

On Monday, December ift, 1783, you feemed
to fee things in a different light—" A great deal
" (you faid) had been thrown out about the viola-
^' tion of charters and the rights of individuals.
«' The bill then before the Houfe you confidered
** as the magna chart a of Indoftan. It was of more
" importance than ten charters of the Eaft India
** Company, and demanded the carneft attention

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«
f(
<c
((
((
it

€(
it
€(
<C

( 48 )

ofthc f loufc. You tlcfcndcd the taking the con-
titiuancc of the admiiiiftration of the Company's
affairs out of tlic hands of the Court of Direc-
tors i andfaiii, after what was pall, and the con-
fcquences, fomc of which you had fliortly
touched on, it would be an acft of lunacy to con-
tinue the government of the territorial acqui-
fitions, and the management of the territorial
revenues, any longer in the Company's own
hands. The Eaft India Company had for-
feited their trufts in various inilances j and with
what >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"^/.:'' '■'.-;'.--; ■ '^

( 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

irc

jr-

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

( 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

( 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,

lid

(. 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-

,/«

( 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

*.. 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-

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 •

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.;.

H 'f

( 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

( 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. ''» ;'

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.

»■,

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

( 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;
affli<Sillg difeafe and infirmity s ,when every heart

li'i

i^ -I
i

.. *■

( 70 )

in the kingdom, fave one^ throbbed with forrow-
fiil and fympathetic impulfe for his unfortunate
fituation j at that awful moment of the deepeft
domeftic woe, regardlefs of the feelings of his
numerous and afFedionate family, dead to every
•fentiment of Charity^ of P/Vy, or Humanity, you
appeared in your plac^'in a certain aflembly, and,
with all the favage cruelty and brutality of a
fiend, exultingly exclaimed, that " the Al-
** MIGHTY, in his vengeance, had hurled him
/* from his throne." Gracious God! "Can
** there be fuch men, and have they peace of
** mind ? " — *' To a nunnery go—to a nunnery

<<c

go— go-go

It pleafed, however, the fame omnipotent Be-
ing, who has the difpofal of all events in his
hands, Jto commiicrate his melancholy fituation;
to pour the healing balm into his wounds, and
to comfort and make whole his broken fpirit.
He unexpectedly and almofl miraculoufly reco-
vered, to the unbounded and univerfal joy of a
brave, a. generous, and a loyal people. He reco-
vered to exercife the firft attribute of his Lord
and Saviour, Kht forghencfs oi injury. He is now,
even \n your eye, " a mild and benevolent fove-
" reign." He is indeed! How wonderfully can
a penjion foften and dulcify the acrimony of the
moft " accidulous" difpofition !

r. V - V3 >9 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

«(

that his Grace's HiQuld be equal to your'sin number,
as he has not lived half your years — but the pro-
mifc he has given by the early difplay of abilities
but feldom equalled inperfons of his Grace's age,
are very ftrong proofs indeed, that his years,
though " few," have not, as you are plcafed
to couple the words, been ** idle." — In boqft"
jng, he is by no means your equal — but in per-
formance, I have every reafon toprefage that his
real ^* fervkes'* will fir furpafs all your " at-
tempts," as you very j jftly ftylc them.

After this, you add, "It would not be grofs adu-
lation, but uncivil irony, to fay, that he has any
public merit of his own to keep alive the idea
** of the fcrvices by which his vaft landed pen-
** fions were obtained." I think, when the candid
reader feriouily perufes the above, and confiders it
for a moment, he will allow, that more confum-
mate vanity, more infolentboafting, more ungen-
tlemanlikc behaviour, and faife aflertion, never
were huddled together into the fmall fpaceof four
lines. I have feen fo much of your determination
to (lick at nothing, right or wrong, to carry your
point, that I fliall henceforward ceafe to wonder
at any thing you do or fay. The Duke^of Bed-
ford's " merits'* fpeak fufhciently for themfelves,
without the aid of a trumpeter : Your's once. Sir,
did the fame ; and there needs no flronger proof
of their being niofl lamentably in their wain, than
that your own dear felf Ihould be obliged to ftand

forward

( 73 )

forward to toll their paflfing knell. It is only ne-
cellary for me to call tu the rccolledionof my read-
ers, his Grace's firfl I'pccch in Parliament, to fet
this matter in the cLarcd point of view. It was
not fludicil and written in the clofet, and after-
wards ^>'>/ 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//</'//t', and by
no means the moft inelegant reafoncrs, in the Up-
per Hou.'b — Peers who were hackneyed in the
ways of men, and the wiles of politics : one of
them had particularly d.ftinguh'hed himfclf botn
for literary abilities and diplomatic excellence.
To encounter two fuch champions, and that wiih
fuch decided fuperiority of eloquence and argu-
ment as to bear away the palm from them in the
moft undeniable manner, was a proof of public
" merit," or ratlicr a public proof of merit, and a
ready difplay of talents, wlilcli would not have
dif2:raced i\\Q. fnblime 2iW<X beautiful 'm\'izm\z eflavs
of even the pre-eminent Edmund Barke. It is
true, his Grace's talents were alwaysundera chec*;
andcontroulof that diilldcincc and modeily whic:\
never fail to attend real merit aad ability^ bui
which you. Sir, were never troubled with. Educa-
ted from your infancy to play tlie part of a Loya-
LA, you were early taugiit that there was nothing
fo difgraceful as being defeated in obtaining the
point you aimed at, be it what it might. Trained,
like a Sivifs, to combat only for pay, you darted

L your

. *

■l.f

ij'

( 74 )

your fcruthil/ing glances arouTJ ; and tin* plianT ,
eafy Nobleman, whole vanltv or ambition fe-
cJucc'd him to ] ut l.imfclf at tlic head ola party,
but wlio w.'nt-'.l a mouth-piece in the Houfe of
Cominons, to lay what cither nature or dcfedive
education ii. id rendered impolTible in himfclfto
pronnilgate in the JToufe of Lords, was the objeft
at which you aimed. On the death of that amia-
bh?, but too ar[)iriirg man, the Marquis of Rock-
ingham, you found yourfelf cad upon the wide
world : you pcifcdly undcrflood the fitua-
tion and conned ion of all parties ; and on a re-
comwitre, his Grace of Bedford, then in his mino-
rity, was the only hope you had left. Earl Fitz-
william, who fucceeded toth- cftates, though not
the title, of )^our original p..tron, was too much
attached to the fliining ore, to barter it away, as
his prcdeccflbr had done, for moonfliine oratory
in another quarter. When, therefore, his
Grace fo auHiiicioufly broke the ice, and fhcwed
that he was capable oi Jpeaking for bmifelf^your
liopes in oppo/itiou were at an end, and you loft no
time in throwing yourfclf into the arms of admi-
niflration, whofe views and plans were fo exadly
congenial to your o^x'n. The Duke of Bedforcl
is, as you are plcafed to term him, ** a Levia-
" THAN," in the path of the arbitrary projeds
which you muil citherrelinquiih altogethcr,orcar-
ry thiough at every hazard: No wonder, therefore,
that the apojiates and picnfioners of the day fhould

( 75 )

h£ fct on to defame and depreciate his Intrinfic
worth.

" My meritSj' you proceed, *' v\luitcvcr they are,
** arc original an 1 [)cr{Vniali 1)1.. are derivative."
You have taken the Hb^^rty, Sir, to abufe the
Duke ol" Bedt'ord'i* uncell.rs without mercy: but
you arc djtcnniacd lie Ihall not be able to retaliate
upon you ; for you have exprel^ly declared, that
you never had any. Your merit- orio^inaied in your
own peribn : you might be created^ it icems ; but
you were neither born nor begotten — for you
draw l:he line of dillinclion between the merits ot
his Grace and youricif, by exprefsly declaring that
" his were derivative i" which implies that your's
were not, and therefore, as you lay, original :\x\^
perfonal. According to this account, you never
had a father—or, if you hatl, he was tofally defti-
tute of all merit whatever ; for you aiVert, you
were the original founder and poircflbr of that
qiiality, in all your family — that it was perfonal'm
yourlelf, and the Duke of Bedford had anceftors,
fxom whom you allow he derived his merits.
What a complete mixture of jargon and nonfenfc
is here !

Such ridiculous trafh defcrvesonlyto be thrown
into the fire. It is Inferted along with your fe-
cond abufive edition of the French Revolution,
I3;erely to draw off the reader's attention from the

J^ 2 confidcratidn

( 76 )

confulcration of youT main point, whicli '\s your
pt'itJioH. But 1 think 1 have iulHciciuly Ihcvvn this
in its truccolours, and will not now waftc anymore
time about it. I will tlicrctbrc proceed to your
challenge of a trial — in whicli you f.iy, ** you
" claim nut the letter, but the j'pijit of the old
'* r.ngliHi law; that is, to be tried by yo\n Pfers.'*
Alv/ays a friend to thcTRiAL by Tur v, I Ihould
be glad to fee this carrie 1 into execution ; but
there fecms to be afmah impediment in the way .♦

Tour Pkers can only be penjiontfrs and apojiates :
like a foreigner who is tried criminally, who has a
rigiit to fix of each party of foreigners andofper-
fons ot this country — that is, half and halfj but
if you are indu'gcd with a trial by your Peers,
being both a penfioner and aj)c)ll:ate, your Peers
are ail men who are intercfled in the caufe ; be-
fore (ucli a tribunal you will be lure to be ac-
quiited.

But what is very extraordiniry, is, that you pofi-
tlvely accufe the DukeofBctiford of bcinga"/)^«-
_^o/Jtr," and yet * ' challen^^ekimas n Juror to pajs upon the
*• the merit of y our ferviccs\* and here again you have a
coinc-oif : As a penjioier, he is fo far your Peer;
but as you are an apofuitc alfo, and his Grace never
fwerved from the grand political opinions which
he is not alhamed to lay ** he derived from his mu
*< cefors^' there the comparifon lofes half its force,
. ■ . • . and,

( 77 )

and, according to your own account, he is only
hal/yvur Peer.

You have artfully introduced the French Re-
volution, once more, to fhc notice of the public;
and you have vomited forth againfl it, aiid all
who are concerned in it, fuch a vclume of abufc,
as fills up tilt; greatelt part of your letter. This
will certainly take olT the attiMition of your readers
from the chief point they ought to keep in view,
which is your penjiony and whether you deferved it
or not. In like manner you endeavour to prove,
without any other authority than yourown afler-
tion, that there are focieties in this kingdom,
whofe members enlcrtain revolutionary princi-
ples ; and, uiider a feigned pretence of wi filing
well to the Duke of Bedford, you audacloufly ad-
vife him " to employ his great wealth in oppoilng
and crufliing rebellion ;** as if there was a doubt
he would not do fo. You then endeavour to alarm
his mind by diredly accufing certaiiv perfons,
whom you call Revolutionifts, with " looking
** at his G.ace and his laadcd poflefllons,"
as an objafl at once of " curiofity and rapacity ;**
and from thence you run on into fuch a length of
ill founded accufation, i^jat it is impoflible to an-
fwer the whole in lefs th m a folio volume ; and
it is needlefs and nugatory to follow you through
a train of fuch rancorous mifreprefentation and
falfehood. The Duke of Bedford has too found

( 78 )

an ur/Jerflandlng, to be duped by fuch a wretch-
ed, far-fetched argument, e-veii fuppofing it came
from one he rcfpci^led ; but from fuch a fufpici-
ous quarter as " Dagger Burke," his inelf;ible
contempt is the only natice he can or ouglit to
treat it with.

Fearing, however, lefl I may forget, as I am
now, I hope, drawing near to a conclufion, to
mention one paiiage of your letter which does
not come within the fcope of any of thofe points
in which we fo widely differ in opinion, I cheer-
fully declare it to be fuch, that if I found myfelf
infenfible of its merits, or difpofed to withhold
from it my poor tribute of praife, I fhould de-
fpile myfelf fo long as I live. I need not {'aj', I
fhould fuppofe, it is that which relates to your
Son. That alone would be fufficient to cnfurc
celebrity to your book, as a literary performance j
and does equal honour to your heart and head.
It is a compofition of the foftefl touches of na-
ture, heightened by tiie brightefl. poliib of art —
the embalment of honour, virtue, and filial
piety, in a rich and magniiicent maufoleum of
paternal iiiFed-ion. It feizes the feelings, and
arrefts or rouzes them at its will. It is a blazing
meteor, ifTuiug directly from the burning mint of
feniibility, which carries its flame in its fplendid
train, and, with the fwift and irrefiftible force of
the elt;^ric fii*e, darts into the bofom, and pe-

nf-trate

( 79 1

nctrates deep into the inmoft reccfles oF the
heart.

Lte

laimediately after thi'j paffiigc, Sir, you pro-
ceed with a long (Iring of moil violent and viru •
lent invedive againft fomc perfons whom your
imagination, ever fruitful, dcfcribes as Revolu-
tionifts, and " learned profelibrs of the Rights
" of Man ;" and againft thofe you affedl to
warn the Duke of Bedford, as if he had even
encouraged any fuch princi[.!es. You tell him,
that " they have defigns againft his lands in their
contemplation of an Agrarian Law — and of his
numerous fpacious manfions, for the purpofc of
pulling them to pieces, in order to make gun-
powder." Not a fmgle circumftance which has
come to your knowledge as having liappcned in
France in che courfe of the Revolution, 'j it,
with all the folemn aflurancc of affertion for
which I have repeatedly Ihewn you are fo dex-
trous and daring, you have atTimilaLed to fome
perfons in this country, who, I believe, never had
exiftence but in your own crooked and diftem-
pered imagination, a;id from whofe machinalions
you predict, if not flrictly watclied, the downfal
inevitable of this happy government. Tiiough
it is in the fix.th page of your letter tliat you
mention the Corrcrj:)onding Society, and I do not
recoiled that you fay a word of them aftervvarvis
by name, it is eafy to perceive that }'ou meiui to

ailiidc

i««lpi

't'l

li .»»'

r 80 )

allude to them. And is it not aflonlfliing, that
bccaufe they have advocated the caiifc of Parha-
mentary Reform, that tbcy are tlicrefore to be
accufcd, on no other ground but wild and ?"x-
travagnnt aiT:rtlon, with having defigns to over-
turn the Government, and eifctt a Revolution ?
This is a fliamcful procedure. I'he friends to
Reform, in this country, will, I am bold to de-
clare, be found the befc and moll fincerc friends
to the Conftitutlon, and to ti.e wclibeing of the
Conimonwealll',. Is it not a nK)cking circum"
fiance, and Rrongly defcriptive of the depravity
and degeneracy of the times, tJi.it the moft vir-
tuous men, both in and out of Parliament, are
every day branded with the odious appellation of
being enemies to the Government, merely be-
caufe they point out and execrate the numerous
abufes which have crept into it ? Yet fo it is,
that, for doing this, they are held up as objefts
of terror to fuch noble perfonages as the Duke
of Bedford : but 1 am. convinced hb Grace pof-
feflVs a mind ♦'oo noble, liberal, and manly, to
be duped and led aftray by luch bale and dtteft'
able artifices.

*' Am I lo blame," you aik, *' if I attempt to
' pay his Grace's hoftile reproaches to me with
a friendly admonition to himfelf ? Can I be to
*' blame for pointing out to him in what man-
ner he is likely to be afFeded, if the fe6t of the

'* Canibal

((

.( <■ )

** Canibal Phllofophers of France fliould profe-
" lytize any conficierable part ot" the ptOjlc,
" and, by their joint profelytizing arms, (hoiild
" conquer that Government to w'uch his Grace
'* does not fecm to me to give all the fupport
** his own fccurity demands ? Surely, it is pro-
" per that he, and that others like him, Ihould
" know the true genius of this fed. ; what their
" opinions are ; what they have done, and to
*' whom ; and what iif a progaoitic is to be
*' formed from the difpofitions and anions of
** men) it is certain they will do hereafter. He
ought to know that they have fworn affiftaRce,
the only engagement they will ever keep, to
" all in this country who bear a rclemblance to
" themfelves, and who think as fuch, that the
whole Duly of Man confifts in deftruftion. They
are a mifldlied and diiparaged branch of the
*« Houfe of Nimrod : They are the Duke of
" Bedford's natural hunters ; and he is their na*
" turalgame."

<<
«(

I will appeal to the good fenfe and candour of
liis Grace the Duke of Bedford, and of my
readers in general, if they ever beheld a more
precious morceaux of idle, incoherent and ridicu-
lous rhapfody, than the above. It is intended
to be applied to every one, it is evident, who
differs in opinion with the fage writer and his
immaculate aflbciates. It fpeaks of paying " his

M Grace's

.^\

i.K:i

( 82 )

Grace's hodllc reproaches to you with a friendly
admonition to himfclF." Friendly, indeed ! —
the friendrtiip of the Wolf to the Lamb ! But
what does it mean except to alarm ? If there are
any fucli dreadful, mifchievous, wicked creatures
in this country, why not point them out ? Let
them be accufed, and, if found guilty, puniflied
as their crimes defervc. But no ; that will not
do : that has been tried, and, with all advan-
tages of Ipies and informers, a train of learned
lawyers fuch as before were never arrayed toge-
ther, with the mo^ defe^live memories in many of
the principal witnefles produced in exculpation
of the accufed parties, their innocence flione
bright and confpicuous through the ** clouds of
witnejes'* produced againft them, and triumphed
over all the deep malignity of their bafe and fallc
accufers. The fame game of obfcure inuendo
and dark infinuation is ftill to be kept up, backed
by aflertions as bold as though the fads were
proved beyond a poffibility of doubt. For a
taik like this I know no agent more fit and capa-
ble than you. Sir , and if the prefent^//^ and ne-
cejfary war goes on much longer, I know no one
fo likely to earn a penfion, if the old-eftabliflied
maxim of " Divide et impra^^ is neceffary to be
enforced cither by threats or pcrfuafions ; and if
the power of fiflion fliould be wanting, your in-
ventive genius will never fail to raife wind-mills

t-hcaded Rovalift in

plenty, to keep every

play—

( 83 )

play — when Republicans and Levellers, known
only in your own fertile imaginations, are no where
clfe in reality to be met with.

There is flill one pafTage, Sir, in your letter,
which I cannot take leave of you without making
fome obfcrvations on. It fi:ands in p. 45, a num-
ber once highly celebrated in this country, and
runs thus : *' It was my endeavour, by every
** means, to excite a fpirit in the Houfe where I
had the honour of a featj fbr carrying on, with
early vigour and decifion, the moft clearly juft
and neceflary war that this or any nation ever
" carried on ; in order to fave my country from
the iron yoke of the power and pride of France,
under a rule which appeared in the worft form
" it could alfume, and from the more dreadful
contagion of its principles ; to prefervc, while
they can be preferved, pure and untainted, the
ancient, inbred integrity, piety, good nature
and good humour of the people of England,
from the dreadful peflilence, which, beginning
** in France, threatens to lay wafte the whole
** moral, and, in a great degree, the whole phyfi-
cal world, having done both in the focus of its
moft intenfe malignity.'* If your pretenfions
to your penfion were before equivocal, they are
now proved to be valid and praifc-worthy beyond
a pofTibility of doubt. To a nation fo overflow-
ing with wealth as this is, with fuch a flourilhing

it.

trade

( 84 )

trade rrnd mo'lerite taxation, what could be more
advant.igcoiij than a vigorous, bloody and ex-
penl: .*e war? jfohn Eu/i\ you know, is a beaft fit
toc;'rr/ burtlicn ; and if wc d'd not load him
heavily now and ^hen, he would get lb fnt and
fau y, there would be no bearing him. Dot^ior
Sangruio'i, rcg m. n was a very good one, after all j
** B'.^eding, and plenty of water," either warm or
co'.l, is an excellent remedy for taming fpirit»
that are too proud and haugnty. The Engliih
people are never fo happy as when tliey are at
war- to much buille, noiie and parade — " pride,
pomp and circumftance;"— all the neceJJ'ciries of
liie at fo reujcnable a price ! Zounds, Sir ! if it was
not for a war now and then, the majority of the
people would kill thcmfelves with over-eating
and irvdig'flion. The man who advifes zvar\n a
commercial country bketh's, muft be an admirable
fritMid to it. Hail, therefore. Sir, to your little
fnug pcnfion of 4000I. a year! you certainly have
** earnecr' it nobly.

Bvfv^re I finally take my leave of 5'ou, I wifh
to pay attention to what you fay in regard
to the mcKle of obtaining it. Your words are,
*' In one thing 1 ran excufe tk« Duke of Bed-
*' ford tor his attack upon me and my mortuary
*' penhon. He canm t jcadily comprehend the
" tranla:tion he condenm>. 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,

My gratitude, I truft, is equal to the man-
•^^ ner in which the benefit was conferred," &c,
p. 6. If (as you layj you have heretofore ob-
tained the admiration of the public, you have
in this inftance a triple claim for humility^ modejly^
and taciturnity. The public will moft certainly

applaud

( 8« )

applaud your grateful humility^ in firft acknow-
ledging it to be the ** fpontaneous bounty of your
Sovereign," and, in the fame breath, modefily
challenging it as a merited right ; and afterwards
clofing the fentcncc with the political gag in
your mouth, that you might not inform them
on what fervices you grounded your modeji
claim.

But I believe 1 can account for the reafon of
your obtaining this fame penfion ** majked.^*—^
That it was *' the production of no intrigue,*'
I much doubt ; but as for the afking for it at
the moment, there was no occafion. Your fa-
mous dagger fcene had made fuch a deep im-
preflion on the Treafury Bench, that they had
ever afterwards a watchful eye on you : feveral
times they attempted to keep you down ; but
in vain — till you fo often let the cat out of the
bag, they were afraid of lofing her : the Chiltern
Hundreds were therefore propofed and accepted— r
the grant of the penfion made out— and you
found yourfelf as fnug and happy at Beacons-
field, as when you formerly enjoyed the munifi-
cent bounty of the Marquis of Rockingham, or
the good-natured afliftance of the fimple but
friendly Lord Verney....:. .. . .. . .... .. . ;

Before I conclude,! have to apologize to the pub-
lic for having folongtrefpaffed on their attention

{ 87 ) : '

and patience. They are, on the prefcnt occafion, a
legal and cotijlituthnal H i g 11 C o M m 1 s s i o n C o u R t 1
who are, in forming the awful Tribunal before
whom " you have put yourfelf on your deliver-
ance," to ad in the double capacity of your
Jurors and your Judges. After having deter-
mined on their i;fr^/^, they will pafs fentence ac-
cording to the refult of it ; and neither you, Sir,
nor I, can have any thing to fear from their can •
doufy th^xx liberality y or their jitjice. Thequeftion
is contained within a very narrow compafs — with-
in ** a nut-fhell," as the grave and reverend
Sages of the Law exprefs themfelves. The
chief point in iflue between us, is this : You
liave boldly and unequivocally afTerted " your
" claim to a penfion, in confideration of your
" long znd laborious services, rendered to the
" PUBLIC*' I have denied your claim ; and the
proofs 1 have adduced in fupport of my argu-
ment, are mofl of them drawn from the volume of
thofe very ferviccs of which you boaft fo highly. In
bringing them forward, I may have exprclied my-
felf with warmth ; but I hope amitruft that I have
not zvittingly^wiljully, I am certain, I have not —
endeavoured to deceive or mijkad that Court and
Jury for which I fliali ever entertain the higheft
and moil unbounded refped, and to whofe deci ■
fion I fliall always bow with the greatefl ku-
mility and deference. I have endeavoured to keep
in view the excellent advice of the Poet, to " no-,

thing

••n

;\ t\

W ,:J

1
\

{ 88 )

thing extenmtey nor fot down aught In ma/iie/*-^
1 have producctl /^/t/j, where facU arc to be met
with ; and have never dej)endcd on conje(fturcs,
but where the naiureof tlie cafe would not admit
of flronger proof. I think I have pretty clearly
macUj it apparent, that, however laboriaus your
lifejiiay have been, thole labours have been uni-
formly and unremittingly employed for the
advancement only o^ party tHtcrcJls, and never for
the ^reat leading hiWre/Is of the commwiity or Na-
tion at large; and that you arc yourfclfthe
only individual in the kingdom who has been be-
nefited by them, and that by the very pen/ton
which is the fubject matter in dil'pute. 1 have
ihewn by fads which are moll of them on record,
that your political condud in the Houfe of Com-
mons, is a tiUlie of contradidions fo grofs and
glaring, that there would be no occafion to put
the public in mind of them but from the differ-
ent and dillant periods in which they feverally
took place, and the fluduating and revolving
ilate in which fociety continually exifts. Son^c
of the important events fpoken of, have paflcd
within the memory of aimofl all who are capable
at the prefent moment to form a judgment of
them — many more, at fuch diflant periods as to
make them unknown to a majority of the pre-
fent day. I have therefore ftated them fairly,
and often without a fmgle comment. The nature
•f this reply would not admitofit, or I would have

( 89 )

fhewn, that your lit.:rary labours nre aqually atl-
verfc and contradictory to cacli oilier in every'
fundanichtul prbiciiie: There is fcarcely a len-
timcnt or opinion in your Refle>;: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

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IMAGE EVALUATION
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23 WEST MAIN STREET

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(716) tTlUSOS

L-C^

-«i.

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'■ 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?<r^ 3/Whis oppo-
fition to the will of a tyrant : And in my mind,
he is well entitled to the thanks of his country^
for the part he took in mentioning your penfion
■ in the terms he did— but miich more lo for the
decided and manly manner in which he has from
the firft oppofed the late obnoxious Bills, which
have in fome mcafure broken down the barriers

N 2 eftablifhed

..■^■■

7f¥*-,.

;,«S«^

" ( 9^ ) •

cftabliflicd at the Revolution againfl the in-
croachmentsof future tyrants, if any fuch Oiould
ever attempt to raife their fnaky heads in this
country. In doing this, he has dearly evinced,
that the fame patriotic r})irit warms his heart and
animates his mind, as fo amply filled thofe of his
glorious and immortal forefather. His Grace
flands in need of no praife of mine, but I owe
him a large debt of gratitude, which I have en-
deavoured in ])art to repay by this acknowledg-
ment of my fenfe of his eminent fervices to his
country in that virtuous ftruggle ; and by this
public promife I now make, that I fliall always be
proud in beftowing my feeble aid to defend his
charader from fuch bafe and pitiful attacks as
have lately been made on it.

I hope I fliall be excufed for entreating, in as
few words as poffible, that awful Tribunal to
which I now addrcfs myfelf, to make allowance
for any incorrcdlnefs, or even more weighty de-
fed, they may perceive in the (lyle and manner in
which this epiftle is written.— It is literally and
truly a work of fix days ; and I fljall be jul'l able
to reft from my labours on the feventh.

Before I finally clofe, I fhall beg leave to ftatc
my humble opinion of the intrinfic merit of your
Letter, to which this is a Reply. Your former
work, " Reflexions on the French Revolution,'' is

generally

4:' ■ •

• 'li:

( 93 )

generally allowed to be a rancorous, but vivid
buril oifplendid infanity^ ifluing from a mind
that had once been richly ftored and highly
luminous— 'Your " Letter to a Noble L^rd,"
fliews the rapid decay of that mind, and
its powers. It is chiefly compoied of un-
gentlemaniy,/)^)/o«^/invedlive — In politics, men-
tally imbecile — In fome p;irts, foaring above all
precedent for gioflhcfs — but in none orthogra-
phically beautiful, except in the reflc<flions on
your departed Son— -replete with the coward phi-
lofophy of a heart panting for a refloration of
the deception and hypocrify of good Old Mo-
ther Church, and trembling at the idea of a
bugbear of your own creative fancy, for the fecuri-
ty of that national tenure by which you hold a
mortuary t as you call it, gifted to you in the ago-
nizing flruggles of an adminiftration, infolent
and prodigal in the extreme, and long fmce dead
to all the principles of virtue !

I am, Sir, &c.

M. C. BROWNE.

-^,■^1?;^