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Tous les autres exempiaires originaux sont filmAs en commenpant par ia premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminent par la derniire pege qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur ia dernlAre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols -^ signifie "A SUIVRE". ie symbols Y signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tsbieaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un <*eul ciichA, 11 est film* A pertir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de geuchc. A droite, et de heut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ie mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 V M ^ 1 :*• ^i 'ft-KT','"' ■ > P.*^-; >•.■'.„- $.■ h h i 4 I >» /p^-'.V-i).-' '': «■ 4'V- y v: ^ T> ^. BETTER TO THE MARQUIS OP LORN, ^C. ^f , [PW« 0». SM/iu^ and Sixpence.} «i i: / .-*•« /#'• ia^»w^ k I "\ '\ '*H '"K \ '■#■ LETTER \ TO THE MARQUIS OF LORN, ON THE PRESENT TIMES. BY DONALD CAMPBELL, Esq. 0/ BarbrecL TO WHICH IS NOW PRCFIVEO, An attack on the saii? LETTER, WITH An answer to the SAME. THE SIXTH EDITION. " Nothing ixtenuate^ nor fet down aught in malice." LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. CHAVASSE, NO. 10. DORSET STREET, PORTMAN SQpARE. 1798. »■! I I ». I ",11 ■[^« i Wm ii iip pm Wi^^^pw^wwi 'vnnpMiinpiip \ f \ V \- ^\.\l ■,' I" 1 i l''l'L. a'_Ai- i -j [ HL ^W!gf"CT m i i»UJU ' wu f* TO THE EDITOR. " Edinburgh, March 27, 1 798, *' In this free country, Mr Elditor, it is ** fo natural for differences of ppiajon to " arife upon political fubje<^8, thaj lye con*" " fider it as a thing of couffe j as liftle are " \vc furpriled to f?e political combatant? V HAVING neither time nor inclination to enter into the endlefs warfare of a newfpapcr, I am induced to adopt this modo of anfwering, once for all, the attack made upon the following Letter in the Morning Chronicle, by a perfon who dates liis letter from Edinburgh, and figns himfelf ** A " Friend to the Fair Sex." In order that the nature of my defence may be better undcr- ftood by thofe who have not read that attack in the Chronicle, I think it expedient to ftat^ \X : it runs thu$-r- ;j**w J i \ ' I .4 ( v. ) " lafh with all their wit thofe wlio embrace " an oppofite party. Tliis is all very fair. " a the argument is bad, the wit may be ** keen, and the ridicule entertaining In " the lifts of conteft, fcarce any weapons •* are forbidden, provided the champion exer- " cifes them only againft thofe who refufe to " acknowledge his opinion to be juft, or per- ** tinacioufly deny the perfedions and merits " of his political principles. " Kven in this age, however, when chi- " valry has fo much decayed, I hope the ** privileges of the fair fe?f are not to be " quite abrogated. A lady ought always tc " be treated with refpe*mmittmim 3ri- hu as ( vli ) " trads to India, addreffing hlmfclf to a (fci-* tain Marquis. " This Gentleman, not contented with the men againft whom he has a rpK;en, de- scends to calumniate a lady of high rank, in a ftylc of (currility fo vulgar and dil^ull- ing, as was never lieard even in London out of the purlieus of IVillingfgate or St ** Giles's. Unfortunately, the attack is Co adroitly managed, as not to fall within the letter of the law ; it comes therefore pro- perly under your province. Exclulive of the malignity of the attack, it is a violatioa of good manners, wh'ch are neccfl'a v in focicty to lupport good morals : he fo good then. Sir, as to expvcf's your indignation againll this fcandalous outrage ; — draw it forth to public view ; — afk the writer what can be his motive for fuch condud:, and " tell him that if he does not recant, he de- ferves no quarter from any man who is, like me, " A Friend to the Fair Sex.*^ ti (( i( C( t( «t 4( (( it it <( In anfvvcr to this, I lent the following let- ter to the Morning Chronicle : « Maf «^p^ I llll W Ilfcl i N ( viil ) *• Mr Editor, " It is a misfortune peculiar to the great to be furrounded by a hoft of parafites, pandars, and fycophants, who will do more homage to a peer, for a fmile, than to their God, for falvation ; who think it a reproach to their underllanding to lofe the moft tiivial oppor- tunity of teftifying their fervility, and in the indifcriminate lull of their hearts will profti- tute their fpirit, their honour, and their con- fcience, to any and every bribe — to a nod- to a fmile — to a fortune, or to a dinner : like ivy, they kill and fap the column to which they cling, and, to ufe the words of Junius, are the worft enemies of their friends ; inter- meddling, officious, yet incapable of any wor- thy office, they do evil becaufe they cannot reft, and, rather than be idle, will rake the Jakes to recommend themfehes to notice. Thofe men may be called the nightmen of fafhionable life. If your correfpondent of Edinburgh, who figns himfelf " A Friend to the Fair Sex," intends to reprobate my late pamphlet addrelTed to the Marquis of Lorn, I rauft certainly confider him one of this perni- cioui \ w :^ ( ix ) ctous herd : his gallantry, I apprehend, is not purely rcntiincnial n )r very general; and when he calls Llinrcii' a iVicud of the fair Tex, he means that he loves to promote his iiucreft and indulge his vanity. What rcalon his pa- tronels will have to thank him for forcing the fool's cap which I threw up upon her head, I leave to her own figaeity to determine ; as to myfelf, 1 have no reafon to he difpleafed, iince he affords me an opportunity of being more explici': than I fliould otherwife have been. 1 agree that it is the province of the prcls to correvM thofc minor vices and ollenccs in focicty wh eh the laws do not reach, and 1 implicitly fubfcribe to the doctrine that the fex ought to be refpeded : but, Sir*, 1 main- tain that a woman waves her privileges, and throws off that winning foftnefs wliich at once adorns and ihields her fex, when ihc travels out of her proper road, and volunta- rily walks in the paths of malevolence, morolenefs, and detraclion. I will fuppofe ar cafe. — Suppofe that 1 had been lor a long time on a fooling ot intiijiacy witli ibe nearell relations of the hufbaud of a certain lady of high rank, that on tliat account I had al- ways felt and lliown a prediledion in his favour, and wherever occalion offered, fpoke B ia r'v\ I ( -^ ) in a manner to court for him the good opinion of others : — fuppofe that, upon a particular occafion, 1 had ftepped forward and prevented a young gentleman, a very near relation of the faid lady, from being infulted ; — fup- pofe that, fo far from having, in thought, word, or deed, offended her, I had been re- fpedtful, attentive to, and interefted in, the welfare of her family ; and then. Sir, fup- pofe that the faid lady of high rank had ufed every means in her power to wound my feel- ings, and had applied that influence in foci- ety which unfortunately rank alone often be- llows on the unworthy, to injure my cha- racter, to tarniih my honour, to taint my fame, to render me odious in fociety, and to raife up enemies againft me ; I fay, fuppofe the cafe I put were true, are the privileges of fex to be pleaded againft the public expofure of a woman who could fo far lofe fight of delicacy, decorum, and juftice ? Few have they been in this life who have walked fo uprightly as not to have furniflied fome ground for detraction to build upon. It has been peculiar to me that not only a domcftic difagreement, which I reckoned the greateft misfortune of my life, has had the fhare of fcandal and exaggeration to which fuch af- fairs t. ■ .4s»*«****~**'**'*'^ ^iS"^- ( xi ) fairs are ordinarily fubje£l ; but that I have for years been fcanned and traverfed by the blood-hounds of calumny, and that an affair ■which may be fuppofed to have fufficiently wounded my heart, and which lapfe of time might have put at reft in the hearts of all others, is inceffantly brought to view, and fifted and examined, and told, with a thou- fand wilful falfehoods, to embitter the tale, in circles where detraction is allowed moft to flourifh, the want of novelty might be hoped to make it unfafhionable. My error of thirteen years ftanding is the only old- fafhioned thing that will go down with a certain defcription of ladies of the haut ton. The injuries I am fuppofed to have done find pity in that heart where pity never entered ; and the frailties of a man bred from infancy not in the cloifters of a college, but in the buftle of a camp, are hypocritically lamented and outrageoufly condemned by thoufands whofe rank would make you blufli, and whofe vices would make you fhudder. The dice ceafe to rattle, the fhuffle flops — the trump is forgotten, and burning vice Emu- lates aftoniftiment and abhorrence at the wickednefs of Mr Campbel.. The adultrell; toifes up her eyes to heaven, while her face crimfons "ti ! . » .f. x-:^-a. r fi i.-iri •iMlSMnaiMfctaVi* A! ( xii ) crimfons, and with the flame lit by the hid- den contad: of the foot or knee under the table, with that of the adulterer, vows that fhe blufhes with (hame for Mr Campbell. Two frail fifters fitting on the right and on the left of tlieir inceftuous paramour, and flaming with jealoufy of him and of each other, have called an offended God to wit-^ nefs, that they burned with indip;nation againft Mr Campbell. In fhort, were Mef- falina or the Duke of Orleans to come fi( m the grave, they need not blufli for their hy- pocrify, if they cenfured Mr Campbell in fome circles where Mr Campbtll is cen- fured. " Am I to be blamed then. Sir, if in a pamphlet, written with honeft intention^, to fhow that the ruin to which the realm ftrides with rapid ftep, has arifen from the daily increafing depravity of manners and morals in the great, I have made ufe of the knowledge and information I am poflefled of refpeding particular individuals, to draw a pidure of general character ? If a !ady of fuperior rank fo far forgets her debt to truth and decorum as to fay, that I went abroad, and left my wife without either protedion pr the means of fupport, and was thereby the ( xm ) the caufe of my own mifery, when, in fadl, the protection in which I left her was the houie ot her father, and the means of her fupport no lefs than the entire difpofal and management of my whole fortune without limitation or control, which truft I have al- ways declared Ihe difcharged with prudence and difcretion : and if, on a certain perfon's obfcrving to that great lady, that though my temper was, and had been allowed by myfelf to be on fome occafions unduly warm, I had yet many good qualities, and that my fuf- ferings and misfortunes had been of fo un- common a kind, as to excite pity and inte- reft in the minds of all who heard them, ihe was fo hardened as to fay, that (he cared not, for I deferved them all. — Am I to con- fider fuch a woman as (hielded from fatire by thofc privileges which the fex derive only from the foftnefs and mildnefs of their na- ture, their inofFenfive difpofijion, and un- protected circumftances ? But if, in addition to the fyftem of unprovoked malevolence by which ihc has governed her conduct: to me, I underftood luch a perfon is remarkable for hating the unfortunate, is adive and indefa- tigable in her perfecutions — unforgiving in her difpofition— -rmean and mercenary in per cuniary tm k . r •S ^\ ( xlv ) cuniary concerns — offenfive in her temper, and difgufting in her perfon, am I not jufti- fied, when I am defcribing human depravity, to glance at fuch a charadler, in order to re- probate fuch vices — to render their calumni- ous efforts abortive, and deter others from fimilar pradtices ? " All this, with the addition of the deeped ingratitude, is appli'^able to more than one Marchionefs not a thoufand miles from the Tweed ; and, in drawing them, I meant to draw the charadters of many other women of elevated rank. " Female influence, Mr Editor, is powerful in fociety, more particularly that of ladies in exalted fituations ; and the injury they do to individuals is often irreparable. Many a vir- tuous man arid woman have been precipi- tated, with a broken heart to an untimely grave, by the adive malignity of a Right Honourable Jezabeh In fhort, when their virtues do not equal their influence, they are among the worft curfes of fociety. A hun- dred royal tigers, let loofe in this populous metropolis, could not do fo much mifchief as one ill-natured unprincipled woman of rank : as the only remedy in one cafe is either to chain, ol draw the teeth and the claws the tlaws { XV ) claws of the tiger, fo, in the cafe of the lady, if the law allow not the wholefome inflidlion of Bridewell, or the ducking-ftool, we muft draw her teeth, and pare her claws, or, in other words, expofe her vices in fuch a manner that Ihe herfelf may feel the cor- rection, and thereby be fhamed into a change of condud, and others be deterred and dif- gufted from following fuch an example, and difgracing themfelves by yielding to fuch abo- minable propenfities. " Upon the whole, Mr Editor, in fketch- ing charaders, I did not confine myfelf to any individual ; I attempted and imagined I had accomplifhed to embrace the vices and follies of a variety of people in each charac- ter I drew ; and I am not ferry to find that the allufions I have made are fo natural, that they are fuppofed to apply to perfons whom I really never faw or heard of in my life, for therein I have completely accomplifhed my purpofe of making confcience fpeak within fome bofoms, where it was too filent, or never fpoke before — and of fhowing, however they may plume themfelves on their Ikill in hypocrify, they cannot efcape deteftion. I have thrown up a few fool's caps, and if confcious guilt, or the pandar offici- ^miimmmmm ( xvi ) oflRcioufncfs of parafitical friends, will put them upon the heads of individuals, 1 am right, if they fit ; if they do not fit, 1 am not wrong. " DONALD CAMPBELL." LONDOXf i6thjlbn NDOXy 1 fprl! ij()S.\ A LET- • Ji ^l' \ fl iv t \' II . 'TT^'iri'^'W'S'^ W [ put I am I am ,LL. '»» LETTER, &c. LET- MY LORD, WE are arrived at a crifis when cere- mony muft give way to bufmefs, ami men are called upon to aft rather as they ought, than as they plcafe ; when private eafe and indulgence mufl be changed for public energy and exertion, and the feel- ings of the man muft yield to the duties of the patriot and the citizen. Nothing lefs than a conviction of this truth could juftify me to my own heart for offering fuch vio- lence to your feelings, as I am aware I fhall do when I addrefs you in this public man- oer. Modeft and unobtrufive, you court A that -r. •*■ i««WK ' ,1 ( * ) that obfcurity which your talents, your rank, and your duty forbid you to embrace ; and poftpone the fair claims of your country up- on your exertions, with a diffidence, which, however amiable it might be in common cafes, becomes blameable in men of your condition, and in times of danger like the prefent : lodefty, like every other good quality, recedes from virtue, when it travels within the limits of excefs, and is therefore too often found to be the bane of thofe endowments, of which it is allowed to be a fymptom. Abftradedly fpeaking, humi- lity is an excellent virtue; but when it re- tards the progrefs of great talents, chills the ardour of public exertion, and calls its magic circles round the foul, to chain it down to inaction, its power produces ruin — like the gems and trappings of an unthinking female, it at laft betrays what it at firft adorns ; and if allowed to predominate, robs the public of its rights, to give repofe to the individual. Far from me be *he thought of imputing to your Lordfhip fqch a blameable excefs. Whenever the time fhall arrive that the de- mands of the exalted rank to which you are heir {hall prefs upon you the difcharge of a great public duty, I am fure you will ilep . . forward Z.', ^li^fi^'^"' ( 3 ) forward with the vigour appropriate to your blood, and the dignity charaderiftic of your illuftrious family ; — but as that period is pro- bably remote (and that it may be far, far diftant, is my wilh, not lefs than I know it to be your own), the claims of your country upon your exertions ought not in the mean time to be loft, nor the Ihare which you arc able to bring to the aggregate ftock of na- tional ftrength and national wifdom, to be withheld from it. I well know, my Lord, this is a language which you will be among the laft to approve or underftand. If the world thought as humbly of you as you do of yourfelf, I fliould incur only cenfure for this attempt — but as I am perfuaded I fhall have every one befides yourfelf on my fide when I exhort you to come forward, I will not fufFer even the fuperior refped: 1 feel for your Lordfhip to interfere with a paramount duty, nor facrifice my fentiments at the altar of that worthlefs idol, Ceremony. But be- fore I proceed in my defign, let me afTure your Lordfhip, that in what is to follow, as well as in that which 1 have faid, I am in- fluenced by no one principle but that of zeal for the public good, and anxiety for the fafety and welfare of the country in which ^very ■. ( 6 ) Lord(hip*8 dcfcription, that I take upon mc, in this public manner, to addrcfs you ; to call in the name of Britain upon you, and all who arc in the fame fituation with you, to come forwa'd, and to afTcrt thofe rights to a£t, and that efficiency in the ftatc, to which your rank, your virtues, your endowments, and, above all, the great intereft you have in the prefervation of the country, entitle you. I have endeavoured to trace this diforder to its legitimate fource, and I apprehend much of it will be found to arife from that diffidence and backwardnefs in the fubftantial proprietors of the foil, which I could wifli to corrcd, or rather totally extinguifli in your Lordfhip. When I look through the hiftory of our bed times, and find that the reigns of our different kings were happy and glorious, iil proportion as they fufFered themfelves to be guided by men of plain dignified fenfe and untainted honour, and rejeded the counfel of charlatan orators and fungous defkmen, I cannot help feeling, there is nothing we have more to lament, than our prefent deviation from that good old pradlice. The great afcendency which mere oratory, without wif- dom or virtue, has of late obtained, is nearly ektinguifhing the firfl vital principle of in- tegrity ( 7 ) tegrity and fccurity in the ftatc ; and feems, in fad^, to have for ever refigncd the whole power of government into the hands, not of the wife, not of the virtuous, not of thofe whofc ftake in the country inuft be a pledge for their fulelity, but of that man, whoever he ni ly be, who can launch the fatal bolt of eloquence with inoft powerful effect ; who has the tal-jnt, by bold and feditious fpeeches, to inti.imc the multitude againft our executive government, and then to cajole them into aa opinion, that he alone, being the moft elo- quent, can belt (hield them from oppreilion. The needy, unprincipled adventurer, thus rifes to the demagogue, the demagogue to the commoner, the commoner to the minil^er; and, in perfed: congruity with this progreffive elevation, the minifter becomes the tyrant and plunderer of his country. My Lord, 1 do not put this as a cafe of politive fa£i: in all its parts, but as one which may, to that ex- tent, and even worfe, occur from the abufe into which our fyftem has fallen. We are not to fuppofe the worfe will not happen, be- caufe it has not yet happened. But upon the principles on which our ftate affairs have for fome time been managed, is it at all impofli- ble that the very worft men in the country- may, ,11 - -- •>:^-***«iS^' ''^rmp^mi^mf^w^m It' ' '■\ I 11 i I- ( 8 ) may, in fpite of thofe whom it moft con- cerns, be intruded into the diredion of our ftate ? If, indeed, fiuent fpeaking, now called eloquence, were the teft of wifdom, it would ftill remain to be fhown, that it is a proof of integrity, before we (hould allow it to be the fole title to the moft important truft in the world. Integrity, or at leaft a pride that mimicked it, was happily united with elo- ruence in the late Lord Chatham ; but no one will deny, that Sir George Saville, who waff^ not very eloquent, poflefled the ability of being much more ufeful, without the power to be half fo dangerous, and "^as, therefore, a much better ftatefman: how- ever, as he was extrem».'y honeft, and o tremely wife, though not extremely eloquent, he could not hope to be a minifter, — and he never was one. Mr Pitt, and Mr Fox, have, between them, pretty nearly exempli- fied my theory ; and if they, and Mr Sheri- dan, (all of them mortal men, though great orators), were fwept off in this fatal frenzy, this fanatical idolatry, this Gullibility to public fwmdling, in the fhape of public fpeaking, what would there be to prevent your Lord- fliip, the whole gentry of the land, and all the property, virtue, and talents they inherit, from •ti? { 9 ) from (inking beneath the adminiftration of Mr Tooke, or Mr Thelwall ? I do not m<^n to infinuate that either Mr T>itt, or Mr Fox, are deficient in private honour and integrity, or totally deftitutc of wifdom ; but the perverted ambition of both has given perfe£t maturation lo the fyftem I condemn, and made a wound in the ftate, which nothing but a material change of fyftem can heal. Party, which was once only a falutary* jealoufy of the in- creafmg predominancy of a certain part of the conftitution over the others, is now funk into an interefted fcuffie for power between two factions, headed by thofe two gentlemen ; the latter of whom has put the charge be- yond all queftjon, by declining to attend Par- liament v^hile he became hopelefs of power; — when the former, having obtained pofleflion of power, proceeds forward to his own ends, with the moft {hamelefs difregard of the means, and moll grofs violation of the prin- piples upon which he rofe *'. My Lord, it is to this deplorable and fatal fyftem, arifing from the fraudulent allurements, and per- nicious afcendency of public fpcaking, that we owe the ruin of theie hingdoms. Both the gentlemen, vvho thus bqftrid^ the coun- B * try, * Jlis profefEons of fuppcrting a Parliamentary rf form. X^. ip : J.. ■yT«-l-y^T^-p-g;y^^1 '/ If , ) ( IP ) try, have loft the confidence of the people, though not in the fame degree. The nation looks round in difmay, and viewing the hor- rid profpedt on every fide, feeing a ferocious and powerful enemy menacing them from abroad, — fediiion and difaffedion threatening to diforganife all at home, — finances deranged^ or, as the wicked and difafFedted would in- finuate. totally exhaufted, — imbecility at the helm, — and corruption making rapid progref^ through the whole fyftem, naturally ex- claim — Why does not his Majefty change his minifters ? But for whom ? For Mr Fox ? — i No, fay they— we are badly circumftanced with the prefent minifters, but certainly ihould not mend ourfelves by changing then^ for Mr Fox, or Mr Sheridan, It does not fall v«fithin the fcope of my prefent purpofe to difcufs the comparative merits of thofe two gentlemen ; ' it is enough for -me to ftate the fad as it ftands, and then to conduct your Lordftiip to my leading inference, which is, that this abominable fyftem of, rhetorical dcr ception having gradually crept into the ftate, and defcended rapidly from the higher to the lower orders of the community, encouraged by the torpor and unpardonable negled of the legitimate guardians of the ftate to fit them» ■iii»m'»" { «3 ) > of public importance, feems to be not Oftly loft/ but utterly forgotten, as if it never had eiifted* "With the exception of a road, a canal, or £t turnpike bill, what memiber, on either fide< is hardy enough to propofe any meafure of his own, except in way of humble fuggef- tion, or privaie hint, to the miniftel", or his great adv I'ary ? If, aflerting the right of a legiflator, any other gentleman give notice of a new mealure, what is the conlequence ? Empty benches ! — Why ? Bccaui'e he only can fpeak plain common fenfe in plain words, and hai not learned to fill the ears of an auditory with a volume of turgid declamaJ tion ; becaufe he cannot round a period with the ftage effect of ai player ; and becaufe, though he informs, he cannot divert the Houfe. My Lord, this is not an over-* charged defcription: in reality, if we were to judge of the nature of the bufmefs done there, from the number and attendance of members, we mufl: fuppofe it to be a place! rather of amufement, than bufmefs : a kind of theatre, to wliich, not the importance of the drama, but the names of the performerS|' bring full benches. There, fo long as the great intellectual gladiators on botii Jides con- tinue to cut and hack, and fear ^ach othersi faces, I . ( »4 ) ifaces, and begrime one another with nafti-" nefs, not a man will budge, and the plau- dits, " Hear, hear !" refound throughout the Houfe. As foon as they have done, if a plain, upright country gentleman, one who, inftead of having fpcnt his time in learning this hiftrionic cant to cheat and delude the na- tion, has devoted his youth to the accjuire- ment, and his manhood to the practice, of fubftantial, ufeful knowledge and induftry ; if he, 1 fay, attempts to fpeak, though he fpeak to the purpofe^ yet fhall he not be heard, but irtdecently forced to fit down by coughing and hemming, the parliamentary mode of hifling off a performer, as " Hearj " hear!'* is the plaudit of approbation. Mean- time the queftion, fo far as the opinions of thofe prefent, remains the fame as at firftj it is enough to be amufed j it would be too much in confcience to be convinced. Thus the mifchievous fyftem that has ariferi out of the univerfal paflion for fine fpeecliifyirtg gradually reduced the grave, im- portant deliberations of a fenate-houfe to ihe mummery of an Italian opera, where found only draws attention, and two or three half- male exotic animals with two legs, by the mere modulating of a fweet voice, fill the benches ■ w.ipi ^■^ ( '5 ) benches of a vaft amphitheatre with gaping Admirers, who facrificc their time and moft important concerns in Uftening to a fucceffioa of delufive melody without meaning, an4 words, which, if they have any ferious fenfe pouched beneath them, are not intelligible by one in a hundred of the audience. My Lord, this is of itfelf a fore evil. Jlow many queftions of magnitude and ul- timate importance to the ftate may thus be for ever loft ? How many of bad tendency may thus unobferved pafs into laws ? In fine, what meafure is attended to, if Mr Pitt^ Mr Fox, or Mr Sheridan, do not appear in the bills of the day ? And is this being members of parliament ? Did the Pelhams, the Fulteneys, or the Stanhopes, proftitut^ their talents, or infult the dignity of Par- liament, by introducing fadion within its walls? for it is the very eflence of fadio« to make the contefts of individuals, and not the merits of mealures, fubjedts of p^rliar mentary liifcuflion, Did the great men, whofe names I have mentioned, mifpend the time, delude the minds, and pj^ihauft the at- tention of the Houfe with faucy fquabble$ |fl)out theinfelyes ? ISo-^r-^io fuch thing j — <■ they ); i'^'*^'.*I»*"*»»W'Jll|fifl||f|Pf»lfP ««"ll '' h ( 1^ ) they would not have been permitted ; nor would they have done fo, if they were ; for their only emulation was in w:ifdom, gravity, and patriotifm : while they guarded the rights of the people with more difinterefted folicitude than any of our modern demagogues, they never (looped to the mean artifice of letting loofe the mob to hunt after power, or of di- viding the fovercignity of the country between the legal magiflrate and the multitude. But, my Lord, thefe are not the only jnifchiefs which the country has experienced from the leaders of our two great fa(ftions. They have diverted the character of the (latefman of its fandtity and refpeft. Their repeated apoftacy, their at one time adopting, and at another rejeding the very fame princir pie, as it happened to fuit their intereft or con- veniency j Ikipplng like baboons in an orch-^ ard, from branch to branch, as they faw the profpe^t of fruit; fpnngi;ig, with the eager-r nefs of indifcrlminate proftitution, from the ^rms of prerogative to the embraces of faCf tion; from the lap of wild democracy to the ilye of court corruption; have fo v»'arped the hearts of the people, that all profeffions of purity in ftatefmen are now derided as infin* cere: "Ifl ^ps^^r it' ( «7 ) cere ; opinion, the corner-ftone of our fyf- tem, is in decay ; every cobler or tinker, as he quaffs his can of beer at the ale-houfe, pays a fide-wind compliment to his own in- tegrity by inveighing againft the profligacy of (latefmen, and puts his own impotence in comparifon with their immorality ; and every Billingfgate wench may now claim the fanc- tion of her betters for her vilefl invedivc, fince our two parliamentary leaders, in the vehemence of their perfonal abufc, and defire to vilify each other's fame, reveal the defor- mities they ought in decency to hide, juft as thofe female enragees tear the covering from off each other's backs, and expofe thofe parts which, in regard to the decorum of the fex, they are mutually interefted to conceal. My Lord, when the fountain is impure, the ftream will for fome time be muddy : there is this difference, however, between the natural and political ftream, that the former often depurates, and depofits its im- purities as it recedes from the fountain ; while the latter, meandering in a thoufand Icrpentine channels, and pafling generally through a filthy foil, collects new feculence in its defcent : lluggilh and fordid, it creeps C down- I i I "»'■') « f ^\h il^ ( '8 ) uownward, tainting the atmofphere with ha putrid exhalations, pol Toning as it paflcs, and corrupting, inftead of fertilizing, the land. Caft your eyes round, my Lord ; view things in their naked fhape, not in that robe of concealment which your good-nature throws over the imperfcdions of others ; examine every arrangement ; every depart- ment of our civil and military eftablifliments, badly defigned, badly executed, and compof-v ed of materials that it is eafy to fee were lurnifhed by central, and procured at the very cheapefl: rate. But this is not all : fo- ciety itielf, even down to its fubordinate clafTes, feems to be infeded with the reign- ing vices of the great : the mod i emote parts of the empire have a fympathy with the head ; and fome of the dependants of the Scotch nobility can emulate the court depen- dants of the metropolis of the empire in am- bition, avarice, and infolence, and can fneak to their patron, and fwagger to their inferior ; can cabal and intrigue, footh and infult, {lat- ter and betray, with as ready a grace as any pander in the purlieus of St James's. My Lord, it were devoutly to be wiftied, that thofe who, lamenting, as I do, the univer- fally IFU ( 19 ) faliy increafing depravity of the country, would endeavour to trace it up to its iburcc, and look around them for moral analogies from which to reafon ; they could hardly fail of fmding, in an hour's contemplation, abundant inilances to prove that depravity may fpring from the court while the Sove- reign himfelf is virtuous, and that the Mo- narch may be inftrumental to the defigns of the court againft his own honour and the happinefs of his people. Turn your eyes, my Lord, to the feats of the nobility of Scotland, long the manfions of virtue and hofpitality ; the illuftrious proprietors, like your auguft and venerable fire, at once the pride and delight of their domeftic families, and the idols of the furrounding country, attached to their tenants and peafantry as to fo many relatives, the fathers and the friends of every individual within the fphere of their adtion or influence, and willing nothing but beneficence to man ; yet how often are the fruits of their benevolence blaftecl by the creatures who furround them ! If age, in- firmity, or avocations of a more public kind, prevent them from direding their own af- fairs in minute detail, obliged by necefiity to depute ul *>i: ■;». ( »o ) depute to others the adminiftration of their bounty, they too often err in their choice of a pcrfon, appointing him who, by hypocrify, plaufibility, and a fpecious afledtation of zeal, probity, and fidelity, has continued to gain an undue afcendency over their minds. Tak- ing a fellow, perhaps from the dregs of the people, fometimes from the dregs of the law, a profcflion, the pradice of which often tends to harden the heart, to narrow the mind, to deprave and dcbafe the intelleQ into low- meaning cunning, and to unfit the man for the conception of any expanfive principle, or the pradice of any generous feeling ; fuch men are but ill qualified to become the proxies of fuch noblemen, or to execute, even at fecond-hand, the fuggeftions of their enlarged and benevolent hearts, and too often convert into a curfe that wldch their mailers intend to be a blelfing. In thofe cafes the very wicked nefs of the finner becomes his fecurlty from detredion ; the confcioufnefs of his guilt urges him to a more fedulous hypo- crify ; and, fearing the power of the petty tyrant, none w\\\ dare to complain of him. In the prefence of his mafter, he throws off his proper felf> and, with an addrefs that is aftoniih- ( a' ) aftonifliing, afTiimes the manner, and takes the complexion of his fuperior's Tpecch and habit of thinking, apes his deportment, and, for the time, fccms all mildnefs, kindnefs, and gentlencfs. He goes forth, and, being out of the fphere of awe and rebuke, the Proteus falls back into his own fhape, and the crouching fycophant at once becomes the haughty, overbearing, purfe-proud ruflian ; boiftcous in his addrefs, brutal in his de- portment, and tyrannical in his condu(ft : while the people fuffer, in fadt, the mafter*s fame is injured, unlefs it fhould happen that his charader, like that of the venerable Duke, has been already eftablifhed, and ri- vetted in the hearts and opinions of the people, by the pradice of all the manly as well as milder virtues, by public fpirit, cha- rity, hofpitality, generofity, and benevolence: in that cafe, ample juiuce is done to both ; the mafter gets the credit he deferves, while every thing unpleafant or improper is entirely afcribed to the man of bufmefs. My Lord, is not all this true ? and is not this a model in little of the abufes of our government by bad minifters ? — But I can go much farther. Look to the diftributioa of I. ■iiZ-'i^^- ( « ) of rank in the armed force of your country ; fee the fhameful farces performed on that ftagc ; fadlors, ftewards, and others of that clafs of fervile dependants upon great men, raifed to the command of corps, and having whole diftridits under their diredtion, to the exclufion of men of birth, rank, and pro- perty, many of whom were old and expe- rienced officers, and have rendered to their king and country effential public fervices. But dc you not know, or has it been con- cealed from your Lordfhip, that the country at large feel in the higheft degree alhamed and indignant at fuch abufe, and would give vent to their feelings, if they were not re- ftrained by veneration and love for fome ex- cellent noblemen who are at the head of their counties? I aflbre you, my Lord, I fpeak the fenfe of the country, when I fay that the few gentlemen of property and long military fervices, who accept of inferior ftations un- der fuch inferior men, give up their own dignity, and can therefore be hardly fuppof- ed to have fuch regard for the dignity of their patron, as in the hour of danger wouM prompt them to fupport him and his honour at mm ( 23 ) at any hazard. This then, my Lord, is a great evil. 1 think I have a right to be ac- quitted of any undue leaning to an arifto- cracy — in my account of my Journey over- land to India, I have given a confellion cf my political faith in that refpedt. If then I inveigh againft the admiflion of that clafs of dependants into offices of honour and truft too generally, it is not becaufc I would will- ingly exclude the people from a laudable emulation and ambition ; but becaufe, in the diredion of national defence, property fhould be put in trull, as the fureil pledge of fide- lity ; and ftill more, becaufe thofe men of- ten combine in themfelves all the mifchiev- ous principles of ariftocracy and democracy, without one ray of the virtue of either. The very Hough and ofFscouring of the vices of thij grc;at, with the meannefs and bafcnefs of the worft of the plebeians — flaves and tyrants —in difplaying their vanity prodigal, in their hearts and habits penurious and peculating, afFeding attachment to the nobility to ferve their own ends, bui privately panting for the day of revolution, when, in the genera! wreck of things, the keel may float alongfide the main-maft, and they beard the mailers to mamnf ^HP \ ) y\, ( 24 ) to whom the bafe adulators now cringe and bend the fupple hinge of the knee. If it were compatible with your Lordlhip's pur- fuits to drop down a little into the general mifcellany of men, you would fee in this clafs much to difguft and much to alarm you: — while they plod forward in their own dirty furrow, they fcatter abroad the feeds of fubordinate profligacy ; round them clufter the worfV part of the clergy of the country, than whom there exift not men more danger- ous, or more infuliousj and, as friends C'ln harmonize, thefe agree. The bad man of bufmefs has his hatred of the moderate proprietors, who juftly defpife him; and the bad clergyman alfo hates the mo- derate proprietor from political motives ; and both join to depreciate the character of thofe gentlemen. Your Lordfliip knows that the Scotch clergymen may be divided into two clafles — the extremely good and the extreme- ly bad; the latter, though by no means equal- ly numerous with the former, are, univerfally fpeaking, unqualified Jacobins, who vainly en- deavour to conceal their deep and inveterate defigns againft the ftate, againfl rank, order, and property, under the moil fervile adulation to * c i *5 ) to the very great ones ; and not having accefa to the principals, lay their unv/orthy offerings at the feet of their a2:ents and low fubqrdi- nate fadors. Difficult indeed would it be to analyze or describe in the compafs of a letter, a fet of rnen, who, concealing the fternnefs and rancour of democracy, and the bitter- nefs of fanaticifm, under tlie garb of piety and humility, with a degree of induftry and zeal that would do honour to a better caufe, indefatigably bend the whole force of their mental powers to depreciate in the public opinion, in order ijltimatcly to deftroy, that particular clafs of men, who conffifute the true ftrengtli, and comprife within them the bulk of the virtue and fubftantial wonh of the country— 1 mean the gentlemen of modemte property. What deliberate wicked- nefs muff theirs be, who work for the attain- ment of eyil with fuch fervid zeal, and can paiienlly purfpe, by rpeang of unremitted activity and unabi^ted yigilanfe, an object de- teftable in itfelf, and remote, or rather, I hope, utterly impradticable in ^he end ? Jiowever, my Lord, as they are fo earned in their diabolical intentions, and carry with them into the field no defpicable force, they Qught to be watched wit|i a jealous eye j D and . ( ^6 ) ^nd they will be eafily known from the good clergy by the marks in the front of the French brand, and by the tenour of theiv conduct, the whole of which, to a fingle a£t, is collected in the focus of jacobinifm, They will be found, as I have laid, conti uually depreciating the moderate proprietors, who (land intermediately between, and con- nect, the higheft and lowefl: ranks of fociety j for they know very well, the moment they have removed that banier which ferves at pnc. 1 link to join, and a fence to pro- tedl: eac other from the encroachments and abufcs of the other, the higheft order wilj fmk like a Ihadow before the fuper;or phy-r fical ftrength of the multitude, whofe power thofe pious gentlemen endeavoi^r to increafe, and whofe minds they ftriye to ftjmylate tq the higheft pitch of malignity, envy and abhorrence of their fuperior, and to, difr affedion and rebellion againft the ftate and conftitution. Againft the defigns of men like thefe, aduated by the fix'n?y of a barbarous democracy, and with ftrong inte|led, and filled with craft, treachery, and diflimulation, the vigilarice, the energy, and the adivity of all men fhould be exerted. In thefe the jl^epherd becomes the wolf, who preys upon the t 27 ) ^lie fold. And the preacher, while he comes In the name of the Lord of Heaven and of {^eace, conies fraught with worfe than the ^ire and brimftone of Hell, and inculcated Uie chofen dodrines of the enemy of man- Kind. Before I qiiit this topic I muft fay a few words upon the fubjed of the Scottifli clergy in general. I had been abfent from Scotland for many years ; I had left it with a well- founded reverence for that body — learned^ meek, and pious ; charitable, foberj and di- ligent J they deferved, and they enjoyed, the veneration of all good men. I returned with i^rong prejudices in their favour, and intend- ing to pafs the greitell part of rtiy life in that country, indulged the hope of finding them exadtly what I left them. Let not what I am about to fay to your Lordfliip be fUppofed to include the whole body ; for, on the con- trary, I declare the greater part of it emulate in every virtue, the heft clergymen of the heft days of Scotland. But I muft avow my difappointmerit was great and morti- fying, to find, on my return, fo many ex- ceptions to that charader which before was without an exception. In a part of that body I found a fad reverfe ; a total revolu- tion ^'f^^:^. ^^.:. »""'^^<«PP'"^P^w Wl- i 28 ) fion feemed to have tnkeii place in their ha-' bits, their morals, their manners, and their profeflional conduiH:. In feme of them the meek fandlity of the facerdotal oiricc was ex- changed for the rancour of the rcpnblican, the furious enthufiafm of the deinocratc or Ja- cobin, and tiie reftlefs, tui'bulent deportment of the fadious politician. The mild precepts 6f religion were laid a(ide for the petulant in- t'edtive and felf-fuflficient dogrtias of the new philofophy ; and the piety, truth, and llnce- rrty of the Chriflian were abandoned for the craft, diflimu'lation, and treachery of the French Jacobin. Inftead 6f doing the office of conciliator and peace-maker, and, in imi- tation of the gr <■ Author of their religion, teaching the hf .evoleht dodlrine, " Love one another," they pradife the reverfe, fomenting quarrels, unhinging the public opinion, and difturbing public and private tranquillity ; at the fame time they almofi: entirely neglect one of the moft important parts of their duty, that 6f affording the fick and the dying the lafi; and beft confolation our wretched nature can receive upon eafth, omitting to vific them or pray with them in their laft moments. I remember the time when it was con- fidered part ^i the bufmefs of our clergy-' men ( 2iJ ) men to inftrudt children ; but there are a- riiongft them now who fcorn to caft away a moment of their time in that way, choofmg rather to difpofe of it in the, to them, more pleafing tafk bf fowing diflenfions among their neighbours, promoting litigation, and carrying on lawfuits againft the proprietors for an increafe of ftipend for a duty which they never fulfil My Lord, take this front me ; yOu will, jperhaps, recollcdl it here- after — if the pradices and purfuhs of th^ bad part of the Scotch clergy are not kept in corredtion, and reduced to a nearer refem- blknce to thofe of the good, the morals, thd happinefs, the focial Order, and the propcrry of the people of Scotland will be endanger- ed, perhaps deftroyed. Kven among the French they manage their remaining clergy better : there each man pays the prieft who lie thinks moft contributes to his happinefs, and affords him the befl: fpiritual confolatioii* Indeed, my Lord, fomething ought to bd donii ; for thofe men have, in many in (lances fo alienated the affedions of the people, that the latter are building churches, and paying minifters of their ovvn, although they are at the fame time obliged to pay (he eftabliflied miniftcrfi, who are really, irt feme n i ( io ) fomc inftanccs, fo many fcourges to their refpedivc parifhea. While this is the pofture of their morals, it ii incredible with what fanatical rancour they affe£t to prop their reputation for faith by decrying that of others. A certain gentleman, who had read and taken great offence at Tom Pane's Age of Reafon, thinking that fuch a book Would be more forcibly refifted by ridicule and contempt than by argument, undertook to fhoW, that, with fcarcely an effort, the ihoft ferious and facrcd things might be treated as thdt bad man treated Chriilianity ; and to prove it, took pen and ink, and in a Ihort time produced about a dozen of lines in that llyle. The defign was obvious. But one of thofe pious gentlemen who think they can compound for any excefs of bad works by a fupererogatory faith, took upon him to aflert, as a pofitive fadt, that that gentleman was writing a book againfl the Bible. A gentleman who was prefcnt^ replied, he was very much furprifed to hear fuch an allegation, as he had read a book, written a ihort time before by that very gentle- man, in which the moft orthodox dodrines were ftrenuoufly maintained. — " Yes, yes," replied the worthy churchman, " that is i( true J •^M^' M^^ii^,y:J,.i^'^A:/j^i^A'!^^. ( 3« ) f* true } but he had his own realons for tliai, ♦* and is now certainly writing againfl the ♦* Bible." My Lord, the beft comment that it is poflTible to make upon this fpeech of the .churchman was direftly made in reply to hin\ by the gentleman prefent^— *♦ There is not ^* much charity in the obfervation." IVIy Lord, I hope you will not thinlf me tedious in my way of elucidating this important point j and I muft intreat you to give me your pa- tience ftill further, as I purpofe to piirfi^e the anology between the abufes in the ftate, anc| the fubordinate abufes of private confidence in the fmaller circles, for a double purpofe. My chief object is to prevail on you to take your part in the great drair>a that is now ading on the ftage of Europe, by pointing out to you the mifchiefs th^t refult from men of high r^nk, property, ^nd refponfi- bility, abfentipg themfelves from our public deliberations. And while I illuftrate this by analogies from private cafes, I point out to yoq a fcene that invites you to ad upon >t| by taking many of thofe analogies from Scot- land, and the concerns of perfons not very remote from your own eftfite ; fhowing yoi^ at one view the propriety of your exerting ypurfelf on the part of the Britidi nation at large^ m^mff mt mm ( 3^ ) large, and of your own country in particu- lar. In the conftitution of the army, as I have already ftated, there appears to me to be a radical defcd, to which the prcfent commander in chief has not heen able yet to apply a corrective, although his is the praife of having done more for the crmy than any commander who has preceded him. The defedt to which I allude, is the admiffion Into it ot men of very low birth, breeding, and educ *ion. Mere animal courage is fo wQiiimon, and fo few are found deficient in U| that it gives no fpecific title to military promotion. If it did, the claims of the pri- "vate would be as good as thofe of the com- vniffioncd officer : but there is a refined fenfe Cif honour, a fentimental delicacy of con- tiudt, which, ir^ my opinion, is a Jtne qua iioit in the military gentleman. To incul- cate thefe feniiment^ in my fon, to fit his fpul and his mind for the profeflion, and t,p accomplifli him to the utmoH: csitcnt of my view of the cliarai^er, I hav.e devoted my whole time, and fpared neither pains nor expence. Sterne, in my Uncle Toby, has given the mod perfedt delineation of what an oificcr aught to be. But the qualities to which ( .^3 ) ^vhich I allude, arc rarely, if ever, fouaJ in tbofc who want the early advantagos ot f;ood brcedini^. If my pofition be denied, t defirc to have the queftion decided by fads ; and in proof of it, I maintain that the mili- tary records of the laft few years afford more inflanccs of courts martial for low, mean, petty ofTcnces ; for embezzlements, cxadions, •ind ungentlemanly conduct, than the pre- ceding half century. Till lately, vulgar difputcsj abufivc language, boxing, or gut- ter-bilffing, were unknown among mili- tary gentlemen ; now they are frequent ; and fome mcfs-rooms of officers might be miftaken for tap-rooms, or gin-{hops, tilled with coblers, tinkers, or porters. Nay, do we not fee put upon the ftaff, men who are utterly unworthy of fuch diftinguifhed rank, cither as foldiers or men, to the exclufion of others of ac^.nowledgcd abilities, experience, and honour ? I have my mind*s eye upon one, and fuch a one as refleds no fmall dif- credit on thofc who have appointed him ; and one who ferves as no inconfiderable il- luftration of my original hypothefis, that the feeblenefs and corruption at the head has defcended to all parts of our fyftem. Raifed, fupported, and pufhed forward, by the gra- E twitoufl tmm 1 ^ ( 34 ) tuitous liberality of others, this man arrived at a rank which gave him an opportunity to put in pradlice all thofe unworthy arts, fo do- grading to the gentleman and tlie loldier ; but. in the prefent conftitution of things, fo ufeful to the man of the world. He rofc by play-* ing the part of the fycophant, though the ty- rant was his natural chatadter ; and, left his perJbnal indulgences fliould be at war with his private intercll, h- made a kind of difhonour- abi- compofition for the debt he owed to fo- ciety ; reprifmg himfclf for the homage and grofs adulation he offered to the gfeat, by ex- acting and enforcing, wherever he dare, the moft abjedl lubmiffion from others. Forty times in the four-and-twenty hours did Proteus change his ihapc, and ihift his cna- radter to the humour of his audience ; this moment Scapin, that Timurkan ; now the A- jax, now the Pandarus of the piece. At length the ftaff graced his hind— -God blefs the mark! — and fortune put it into his power to difcard, at leaft, one of his vices ; and to be, in fomc fort, confiftent with himfelf. But, alas t Habit, which ufurps a control equal to that of nature, over our hearts, would not fuffer herfelf to be robbed of her dominion in c-rsf.-.j.ft*.'. IC(( to It, ful ty- his I ( 35 ) in this inftance ; for whether it was that the good man was too old to combat her, or that he felt a fenfe of gratitude for the fer- viccs rendered him by this Habit, which he never before had felt for all his other friends put together, he could not find it in his heart to leave off the fycophant, any more than in his power to leave off the tyrant. So that, now the flave at once of a bad nature and a vicious habit, his temper is fawning and furious, unequal and capricious ; and pof- fefling the means of free agency, he cliequers the tyrant with frequent intermixtures of the flave ; the terrour of thofe who depend on him j the humble, puling, fawning Ia(j- quey of every boy of rauk or fortune. My Lord, I might well be afliamed, if I indulged in drawing fo difgraceful a pidure from motives df perfonal rancour, or gene- ral flanderj mine, I know, is a purer mo- tive. Bred from infancy a foldier, and trained up in fubftantial and arduous fervice, and in advancing the interefts of my coun- try, under circuinftances which nothing but the tcftimony of fome of the moft refpedtable char-adters now living could rcf- cue from the imputation of fit^ion and romance, I cannot help feeling; more than com- mon "^'^m^i^ .•^ifferf:**^*; iHPIWIPMNP ( 36 ) mon indignation to fee fuch grievous abufes in- troduced into my favourite proftfTion ; to fee fuch a danpjerous dcrelidion of the purity of the military fpirit informing the Britiih army, at a time when {he has the whole military force of trance to oppofe : a military, caft in the very mould of hercifm, and led by the great- eft general, the modern world, I might per- haps with truth fay, the ancient too, has pro- duced. 1 wundcr the very name of Buona- parte does not flutter our minifters into a more anxious care, and more juft difcrimination in the dillribution of military office. But, exclufive of thi: unprecedented prelfure of our aflfnirs, are fuch things juftifiable ? or can one of your Lordfhip's fagacity fail to prog- nofticatc ^he mifchiefs that muft neceflJlirily arife from a fyftem, which admits fuch men as 1 have defcribed, into the higheft offices, in exclufion nf the many gallant veterans who have given undeniable proof of their claims to the confidence of their country ? My Lord, the nilfchief is not confined to the defalcation in tiie folitary c/Tice the being himfelf fills : it extends as far as the influence of his command reaches. Under fuch a man all fubordination muft be lofl: — and under him it is loft:. Drunkenncfs ai'.d diffipatiou pre- ^ l*.!.«l«««W«i,. ( 37 ) prevail; an anomalous fenfation, compofed of fear and derifion, is prosiuctd : and not only the fervice is injured, but the name of mili- tary offcer is brought into dilVepute. In re- probating fuch abufes too much cannol be faid. vjf fuch individuals I am aware I have luid more than tl;»?y are worth. Firft apologizi ig, thertfcrcj to your Lordfliip, for having in- troduced you into fuch company, I Ihall here difmifii them, and leave them to the indul- gence of their toothpicks. It is, however, a fubjed: of melLUcholy reflection, that, in an hour of danger like the prefent, thofe whofe bufinefs it is to recommend officers to his Majelly, are not better informed of their cha- racters, or riore alivt to the awful circum- ftances of the times. And here a thought ■flies acrofa, fo whimfical, I cannot refrain from giving it vent : — It is an old faying, when two perfons are eminently bad, it is a pity two houfes fliould be fpoiied by them. i cannot help thj. iking it would be a felici- tous circumllance, if a certain Marchtontfs^ not a thouiand miles from the 'Tweedy were coupled with the gallant General, whofe pic- ture I have jufl; attempted to iicetchj it would be an era in the hiflory of both their heart' j fmce they would, probably for the firft time I ■ ( 38 ) in their lives, feci fomething like fympathy, Nothing excites his anger To much as weak- nefs — nothing her hatred fo much as diftrefe. Go to then ; there s fympathy. He is haugb- ty, proud, and ill-natured ; fo is {ht-rrthere* s Jympathy, He loves to fmell a ftink, and fhe has always one at hand— //6^rjCi-' mmm ( 44 ) wily herd of half ftatefmen, half infurgcnts, who fo induftrioufly and zealoufly ply about through all parts of the metropolis, the pre- tended partifans, yet, in fa£t, the crafty ene- mies, or bofom traitors of Mr Fox ; perhaps fome of thofc dcmi-jacobins, whom that great, deluded man, is raifmg up to tread upon his neck. No, my liOrd, that mufty, cat-gnawed goofc-bone, could not have been fnatched out from the dull and cobwebs of the political tralh corner, with any other than pernicious intent : but, like all ill-done diihes, it had few admirers. Having neither meat nor marrow, it was not calculated to folicit the appetite of honefl. John Bull, whofe palate has not yet been rendered entirely depraved by french fcafoning. As a private letter, containing a ilatement of mere matters of fad, and of his Lordfhip*s perfonal motives, it is well enough ; but I believe it would puzzle the moft zealous and ingenious partifans of Lord Moira, to find any decent pretext or apology for the manner in which the Duke of Portland is mentioned in it. That his Grace (hould be particularly the object of Jacobin abhorrence and animad- verfion, and fhould be infinitely more reviled and abufed by that abominable defcription of roeo, ( 45 ) men, than the other members of the cabinet, is not furprifmg, becaufe his fterling integrity, his independent fpirit, and the generous fmce- rity of his excellent heart, fandlificd the cauf i to which he devoted himfelf, and gave 't a credit and fupport, which it could not have attained without him. It tb'^'jfore appears irreconcilable with the ideas I had formtd of his Lordfliip, that he (hould mention the Duke of Portland in fuch terms. I know mucli has been faid of his Grace's dereliction of the caule of Ireland, and his remaining coalefced with a fet of men, who had broken the moft folemn pledges on that fubjedt, and brought that country to ruin by their baleful politics. Might not good fenfe and candour, lefs thai; what is attributed to Lord Moira, have flop- ped to confider the motives of his Grace ? if he had, he mighl have difcovered that of which I am perfi ded, namely, the Duke (laid in power to give vigour, cohefion, and credit, to the adminiftration of the only men who feemed to be really difpofcd to purfue fuch meafures as he thought were moft likely to fave the empire. To fave England was, and ought to be, his Grace's firft ohjedt : that efTeded, there is nothing to prevent juftice being done to ^ ■Ji iit^ _ :{ 46 ) to Ireland, as far as irrevocable injuries will allow of juftice and retribution. And this na- turally leads me to Lord Moira*s fpeech in the Houfe of Peers, upon Irifli affairs : to judge in the moH favourable terms of which, I can only fay, a more midaken or imprudent fpeech in its firfl: conception, or a more mifchievous one in its ultimate tendency, could not pofli- bly at this time have been uttered. I am fure his Lordlhip is not one of thofe wlio would willingly play a wild or adventurous game in the world of politics ; his ample and unin- cumbered fortune is a fecurity againft the in- trufioninto his mind of fuch fchemes : befides, his loyalty and his honour ftand unimpeached. But, upon my honour, my Lord, if fuch a fpeech had been made in Parliament by fomc men, who do make fpeeches there, 1 fliould have been unalterably convinced, it was fpoken with no other intent than to bring about a re- volution in Ireland. Perhaps his Lordfhip's cooler judgment will tell him, he might, with more advantage to Ireland, been lefs adive lately, and mOre active at firfl, than he has been. For myfelf, I declare, no one viewp with more abhorrence than I do, any fyflem of rigorous or unjufl coercion. But it is not a time .->•«.. 1 ( 47 1 time to make conceflions to men in arms in that country, when the hofts of France are hovering over our ftiorcs. Let us firft repel the enemy ; let him be taught his expecta- tions are arrogant and vifionary ; let us make an honourable and fecure peace with France ; and then let the grievances of Ireland be re- drefled : and if the fyftem fet on foot there fhall be found to have been vicious, and the enormities committed under it fhall be fatif- fadlorily proved, nothing will give me more fatisfaQion than to fee the minifters who ad- vifed it brought to punifliment. I never confidered his Lordfhip*s public talents in any other point of view than in that of his profeflion, a good officer, a man of fpirit and adivity ; it was only in the tranfadtion related in his letter to Col. Mac- mahon, I found him, for the firft time, a great ftatefman. Neither his eloquence in the fenate, nor his wifdom at the council- board, were ever t! rj topics of public ap- plaufe ; and, if I do not miftake, his Lordfhip has not any great public civil fervice to boaft of, which entitles him to the confequence, the gentlemen alluded to in that letter, would confer on him. My Lord, will not this ferve to roufe you to exertion ? will you do nothing ll }jM f**mim ( 48 ) nothing to emulate and obtain that di(lin£tion, which you fee may be acquired without any very extraordinary depth of wifdom or know- ledge ? I Am fure I as little mean to flatter you, as to depreciate Lord Moira, when I fay, your claims to the confidence of the public, and of the gentlemen to whom I allude, ought to be as great as his : perfonal exer- tion alone is wanting. If your Lordfhip wants a proof of the fingular and certain efficacy of mere exertion and perfeverance, you have only to turn your eyes to a certain Scotch Baronet, who, without one fpark of talent or genius, one hook in his head upon which to hang an inference, had, by ftraining every nerve he pofTefled, and bringing into adtion all he could collect from the intellect and exertions of other men, jumbling them together in the cavities of his (kull, contrived for a long time to pafs for a man of ufeful knowledge, good fenfe, and bufinefs. But, after a long courfe of cautious diffidence, in which he ftiowed great prudence, vanity, or, as fome fay, refentment at not being treated by the minifter as he expeded, prompted him to move forward occafionally in oppo- fition on fubjedls where all extrinfic aid, all friendly affiilance, was out of reach : and fee ( 49 ) Icc the confcquence ! He was, in a few fliglic flimfy rencounters with the minifter, plump- ed down into that depth of nothingnefs from which he had contrived, with the indefatl- jjable exertions of Co many yeai*8, to emerge ; and he is now fo much the fubjed of ridicule as to be confidered by the lower ranks of peo- ple to be liberally paid for exhibiting himfelf^ as a foil to the minifter in the houfe of Com- mons. With talents and influence fuel as yours then, what might not your Lordfhip, in a day like this, efTed for your country, your family, and your own fame ? In your own part of this ifland, you might, merely by your perfonal prefence, by being among them, and making one of them, bring to the ufes of the (late, every heart, hand, and mind of every rank and every defcription : and indeed, my Lord, if a man of confequence fmds himfelf indifpofed to mix in the tumult, and partake of the labours of the grtat me- tropolitan fcene of adion, he ought, at leaft, to refide where his influence gives him means to be ufeful ; that is his poll, and there is his duty ; (haping the opinions, and guiding the propenfities, and controlling the errors of thofe, who, in this perilous ftorm, G will y [\ y #f 50 ) xvill want a pilot ; and, not finding one, wilT run aftray. Depend upon it, my Lord, you, and every man in your ftate, have, at this time, an awful refponfibility impofed upon you. Suppofe that, while your Lord- fhip, with gc jd intentions, no doubt, yet not innoxioufly, are whiling away your time in a crowd of idle, ufelefs mem of rank, dawdling about St James's Street ; an energetic, adive, wicked crew of Jacobin athciftical men, clad in canonicals, ihould be poifcnii;g, the minds, and perverting the hearts of your tenantry^ for whofe loyalty you are morally and reli- gioufly refponfible, becaufe you might, if you would only go among them, direct them as you pleafe : fuppofe, that, for want of that attention, the uninformed and ignorant, who are fubjed to be moved by every guft, fhould, in the crifis of danger, be prevailed upon to rebel, how could you anfwer to your king, or to your country, for the confe- quences of your negledl ? And is fuch a thing impoffible? lay not that flattering undion to your foul. My Lord, in Kantyre alone your family poflfefl'es eight or ten thoufand a-year. Is not the fecurily of that property, are not the morals of the people who inhabit it, is not their I Mm JL ;, win Lord, ive, at npofed Lord- TCt not ime m wdling adive, n, clad rninds, nantry, id reli- , if you t them v^ant of ^norant, ry guft, revailed to your I confe- fuch a undion • family sar. Is not the it, is not their ( 5> ) their fatisfadion even worth the tribute of your Lordfliip's occafional prefence ? My Lord, it requires little more than to be con- vinced of the infipidity of St James's Street, and of the degradation that a lounging city life is to a man of your important rank, to find ten thoufand beauties in Kantyre, and ten thoufand genuine delights in improving and meliorating the condition of your people there, and in cultivating their affedtions. How much more honourable in the eyes of the world, more grclifying to your private feelings, and more advantageous to your country in this ftruggle, would it be to have a number of brave, attached, and faithful fol- lowers, who would pour, like ten thoufand torrents down the mountain fides of your eftate, and line the fliorcs of Great Britain with a hod of warrior* that would ftand firm as the rocks that defend our coafts, and ftrike uifmay to the hearts of our enemies, than to exift, painfully to exift, the flave of fafhion, the martyr of ennui, and the vidim of in- glorious, corrofive languor ! When it came to my turn to vifit and refide in the country which now calls with irrefiftible claims upon your attention, I wondered how a rational man could barter . . , fuch 1 r<"!W" ••"•■»<»»W»^«PW»» i! ( 5^ ) filch charms for fiich deformity, or how, putting the pbyjical good of the country out of the queftion, he could exchange the fidelity, probity, virtue, generofity, truth, and fmceri- ty of Argyleihire, for the perfidy, fraud, vice, felfifhnefs, falfehood, infincerity— in one word, for the ton of St James's Street. Much lei's acquainted than your Lordlhip ought to be with that delightful country, and ray whole life fpent in travels, and viewing the fineft parts of the globe, I confefs I feel myfelf fo attached to it, and to its people, that I (hall think every hour I am obliged to fpend away from it fo much detracted from the fum of my happinefs. There are few men, my Lord, to whom, valuing their good opinion as I do yours, I ihould have written in this ftyle of freedom ; but, in the few and fhort opportunities I have had of converfing with you, i have made it my bufinefs, and exerted the little fagacity a long experience has given me, to develope the charader of the perfon who is to reprefent a long and unfpotted line of heroes and ftatefmen, and to fupport the charader of chief of the name of Campbell; and I was convinced I faw in you that which might be fpoken to with honeil freedom and <#• »■' bold low, ' out ility, iceri- vicc, vord, I kls to be whole fineft elf fa [{hall away im of vhom, urs, I dom ; ities I [ have little |iT\e, to who line ort the ipbell; which Dm and bold :d 71 ( Si ) bold zeal. I thought I could perceive caiv- dour, good-nature, and found fenfe, without a {hade of arrogance or affe^ation ; and I am willing to believe you belong to neither of the parties or fadions whofe conducS^