Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 L 
 
 r/ 
 
 [BRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAL [FORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 S K E T C H 
 
 or T K E 
 
 REIGN 
 
 0* 
 
 GEORGE THE THIRD.
 
 OF THE 
 
 REIGN 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE THE THIRD, 
 
 1790, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR j. DE BRETT, 
 
 OPPOSITE BURLINGTON HOUSE, PICCAD1LL.T. 
 M DCC.XCI.
 
 D/A 
 
 SftD 
 
 SKETCH, 
 
 TO thofe who open the volume of 
 hiftory with a view to improve 
 their underftanding ; who are competent 
 to carry their refearches beyond the ex- 
 ternal appearance of events, and to fpecu- 
 late on the concealed caufes which produce 
 the -elevation, or accelerate the decline of 
 empires, there is not, perhaps, in the 
 annals of time a period more pregnant 
 with political matter, than the one which 
 has elapfed between the year 1780 and 
 the prefent time. In that fhort interval, 
 we have feen the Britifli Empire, which 
 had embraced both hemifpheres, and to 
 which India and America were only pro- 
 B vinces ; 
 
 04W
 
 vinces j which had fuccefsfully oppofed, 
 under the aufpices of the late Earl of 
 Chatham, the combined force of the 
 Houfe of Bourbon, and, after giving laws 
 to Europe, had difpenfed peace to man- 
 kind : we. have feen this empire fhaken to 
 its bafis, convulfed at home, and affailed 
 on every fide ; vainly invoking the aid of 
 that perfidious Princefs, whofe fleets we 
 had conducted into feas unknown to her 
 barbarous fubjects, and whofe victorious 
 banner we had taught to fly on the more 
 of Greece and of Afia Minor. It was 
 from her ungrateful hand that England, 
 already bending beneath the complicated 
 calamities of domeftic divifion and of 
 foreign war, was deftined to receive the 
 final blow, which unnerved our arm, 
 and compelled us, reluctantly, to afTemble 
 our diftant legions for the protection of 
 the capital, and the prefervation of our 
 exiftence. It is unneceffary to fay, that 
 I allude to the " Armed Neutrality;" a 
 meafure which originated from the cabinet 
 of Catherine the Second, although it was 
 
 followed
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 followed by all the Baltic Powers ; and 
 the retribution due to which, however 
 long delayed, is now probably near its ac- 
 complifhment. But we have not only 
 feen the Britim monarchy, in common 
 with other dates and kingdoms, opprefled 
 by enemies, and finking under the 
 weight of adverfe fortune, or pufillani- 
 mous and feeble counfels : we have 
 feen this expiring and diminifhed empire 
 (unlike to every other, and in this diffimi- 
 larity laying the ftrongeft claim to the 
 admiration of mankind j, within the trari- 
 iitory period of only ten years, rife from a 
 ftate of humiliation and depreflion, re- 
 adjuft her fcattered infignia, refume her 
 ancient luftre, and wing a fublimer flight 
 than me had ever held acrofs the political 
 expanfe. It is in vain that the moft la-* 
 borious refearch would endeavour to paral- 
 lel this extraordinary renovation in the 
 hiftory of modern Europe. It is only in 
 the Athenian or Roman Annals j it is only 
 at the facal periods of Marathon, and of 
 annae, that we fee any example of a 
 P 2 republic
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 republic fuddenly and rapidly emerging 
 from the lovveft point of ruin and cala- 
 mity, into greater power and grandeur 
 than fiie had previoufly enjoyed. 
 
 The Auftrian Eagle, which, under Charles 
 the Fifth and Ferdinand the Second, had 
 foared fo high, and which had even 
 nearly extinguished all the Germanic liber- 
 ties ; ftripped of its plumage by Guftavus 
 Adolphus, and chained to the earth by the 
 manacles which were impofed on it at the 
 Treaty of Weftphalia, long {lumbered 
 in peaceful bondage, 'till Marlborough 
 releafed the Imperial captive, and once 
 again reftored it to freedom, though not 
 to its former greatnefs. 
 
 Spain, which under Philip the Second 
 had menaced Europe, and feemed almoft in 
 polTeflion of her inordinate projects of am- 
 faition ; which fitted out her invincible Ar- 
 mada for the fubjection of England, while 
 fhe prepared to place an Infanta on the throne 
 of France : Exhaufted by her own perpetual 
 efforts, and having drained the treafures 
 pf the new world, in vainly attempting 
 
 to
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 to reduce a revolted province, funk at once 
 into impotent infignificance ; and now, 
 after the lapfe of two hundread years, 
 appears to be only flowly emerging from 
 poverty and weaknefs. 
 
 Sweden, which like a torrent over- 
 ran Poland, Saxony, and Denmark, at 
 the commencement of the prefent century ; 
 and which, conducted by the frantic 
 valour of Charles the Twelfth, appeared 
 ready to plant her triumphant flandards 
 on the walls of Mofcow, was hurled in 
 a fingle day from the zenith of power and 
 glory. All her laurels withered at Pul- 
 towa ; and fince that memorable aera, her 
 melancholy and fteril annals contain no- 
 thing which can awaken curiofity, or in- 
 tereft mankind, though more than feventy 
 years have elapfed fince Charles expiated 
 his wild and (kftructive projects of am- 
 bition under the walls of Frederickfhall. 
 At the moment when I am writing, a 
 Prince, emulous of the fame of Guftavus 
 Adolphus, and adorned with qualities 
 which, in a more fortunate period, might 
 
 have
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 kave reftored the drooping genius of Swe- 
 den, and re- inflated her in thofe provinces 
 which me has loft, is endeavouring to fup- 
 ply the inherent deficiencies arifing from 
 the impoverifhed and depopulated ftate of 
 his dominions, by perfonal fortitude and 
 ability. He has even made an effort not 
 inglorious, to check the Ruffian progrefs, 
 and to aflert the ancient pre-eminence of 
 his fceptre in the Baltic. Thefe, how- 
 ever, are feeble attempts, and ferve rather 
 to remind us of what Sweden once was, 
 than to awaken any well-grounded expec- 
 tation that Ihe can again refume her for- 
 mer fituation in Europe. 
 
 Even France, the favoured country of 
 nature ; bleffed with a happy diverfity of 
 climates ; enriched with the choiceft and 
 moft delicate productions of a luxuriant 
 foil ; embracing the Atlantic and the Me- 
 diteranean feas ; formed for empire, for 
 dominion, and for fuperiority among the 
 European kingdoms ; uniting in herfelf 
 every natural advantage which induftry 
 can beftow, or commerce can procure ; 
 
 inured
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 inured to habits of obedience and loyalty, 
 as well as trained to conqueft and to war : 
 France herfelf, after the fevere chaftife- 
 ment which Louis the Fourteenth, to- 
 wards the conclufion of his reign, received 
 from Eugene arid Marlborough, remained 
 almolr. fupine and torpid during thirty 
 years which fucceeded the -Treaty of 
 Utrecht ; content to cultivate the peace- 
 ful olive, and opprefled under the load of 
 public debt, which the infatiable and 
 ruinous ambition of her fovereign had 
 incurred. It was not 'till Marechal Saxe 
 awoke her dormant genius, and revived 
 in his perfon the fublime talents which 
 have equalled him with Conde and Tu- 
 renne, that France, in any meafure, re- 
 fumed her afcendant, or feemed again to 
 occupy her natural pre-eminence among 
 the ftates of Europe. 
 
 . It cannot be more curious to enquire, 
 than it muft be inftruttive to afcertain, 
 whence has arifen this chara&eriftic, and 
 peculiar principal of refufcitation, if I 
 may be allowed the expreflion, which, in 
 
 a fhort
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 a fhort fpace of time, has raifed England 
 from her depreflion j and has enabled her, 
 unlike the other furrounding monarchies, 
 to profit of her very misfortunes, and to 
 engraft fplendor and power upon her 
 lofTes and defeats. 
 
 Where are we to fearch for this vivi- 
 fying fource of renovation ? Is it in her 
 fpirit of commercial enterprize; in her 
 imdiminimed induftry; in her numerous 
 and ingenious manufactures, which have 
 penetrated into almoft every province of 
 the civilized world ? Doubtlefs, thefe caufes 
 have contributed much to extricate and to 
 reflore the nation ; but, efficacious and 
 falutary as their tendency and opera- 
 tion are, they cannot be confidered as 
 adequate to fo great a work. 
 
 It was requifite that Providence fhould 
 extend its tutelary care, to prolong the life 
 and reign of a Prince, inexpreffibly dear 
 and neceffary to his people ; whofe expe- 
 rience, matured by years and chaftened 
 by adverfity, might, and could alone be 
 equal to the arduous tafk of felecting from 
 
 among
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 among his fubjects, thofe who from ca- 
 pacity and virtue were competent to heal 
 the wounds, and rcftore the energy of the 
 commonwealth. It was requisite that a 
 minifter fliould arife, who, to incorrupti- 
 ble integrity, and unblemimed manners, 
 mould unite ftrength of mind, fevere 
 ceconomy, vigilance which never fleeps, 
 eloquence to captivate, and vigour to fub- 
 due. Rare, and almoft unexampled com- 
 bination of endowments, conferred by Hea-& 
 ven on thofe, and on thofe only, whom, 
 in her wife difpenfations, me deftines to 
 fuftain, and refrore a finking monarchy ! 
 Yet fuch a minifter, may it be afferted with- 
 out flattery, has this age and country feen. 
 Such an adminiftration have we already 
 enjoyed during near feven years ; and to if 
 may be juftly afcribed thofe aufpicious and 
 happy events, which the prefent age re- 
 gards with mingled wonder and admira- 
 tion, and which will be long commemo- 
 rated by a grateful pofterity. 
 
 To trace the gradual progreflion from 
 
 the darknefs of 1780, to the bright fun* 
 
 C fhinc
 
 mine of the prefent moment : to pourtray 
 fome of the leading characters and events, 
 which have fucceffively marked and dif- 
 tinguifhed the intermediate time : to de-r 
 fcribe that ftormy and tempeftuous pe- 
 riod, which, during two years, fhook the 
 cabinet, the palace, and the throne, till 
 in 1784, the prefent rninifter, after a long 
 and painful flruggle, advanced into open 
 day, and commenced his brilliant career: 
 to mark the principal and mod: difcrimi" 
 nating features of his domeftic govern- 
 ment, and foreign policy : to take a gene.- 
 ral and rapid furvey of the caufes which 
 have involved the monarchy of France in 
 anarchy, and which feem to threaten that 
 beautiful portion of Europe with all the 
 horrors of civil war, of bloodfhed, and 
 of bankruptcy : finally, to deduce this 
 interefting feries of events from the period 
 at which I have commenced, to the time 
 when I mall lay before the public the pic- 
 ture which I am now designing : thefe 
 are the objects of the prefent attempt. I 
 am .fenfible of all its difficulty and deli-
 
 ( II ) 
 
 cacy. I know how dangerous it is to hold 
 up even truths to the eye of prejudice, or 
 of party ; and how reludtantly we allow 
 the veil to be withdrawn from before the 
 political fanctuary, when we are interefted 
 in its concealment or its defence. I -feel 
 how invidious is the talk of appreciating 
 the motives and actions of our cotempo- 
 raries, our friends, and our fellow citi- 
 zens. I am not infenfible, above all, of 
 my own incapacity to treat of .matters 
 yet recent; and obf cured by the paffions 
 and interefts of the great actors themfelves. 
 But, great as thefe impediments are, they 
 cannot induce me to relinquifh my defign. 
 What narrative can be fo inftructive, or fo 
 interefting to the prefent age, as the hif- 
 tory of the prefent age ? " Veteris populi 
 " Romani, profpera, vel adverfa, claris 
 " fcriptoribus memorata funt :" Of thelafl 
 ten years, no (ketch has yet been offered 
 to the public. It will be my province, 
 ' fine ira et ftudio, quorum caufas procul 
 " habeo;" with as much impartiality as 
 the fubject itfelf, and the infirmities of 
 C % our
 
 ( '2 ) 
 
 our nature will admit, to delineate the 
 events which have patted in fucceflion be- 
 before us, fince the difaftrous period 
 where the prefent memoirs commence. 
 
 The Britilh empire, which only a few 
 years preceding that aera had appeared to 
 be fo elevated and durable, then exhibited 
 a melancholy and inflru&ive leflbn of the 
 mutability of human greatnefs. Civil 
 war, which had commenced its deftruc- 
 tion, w r as aided by a combination of the 
 firft European powers to compleat its fall. 
 Her fleets and armies, accuftomed to con- 
 queft, retreated before the navies of France 
 and Spain. Her mores, folongunufed to 
 hoftile invafion, were threatened and infult- 
 ed . Her finances groaning beneath new and 
 annual loans, conducted upon injudicious 
 or ruinous principles, feemed to approach 
 that point, beyond which public credit 
 cannot exift or furvive. Difcord raifed her 
 flaming brand in the capital, the fenate, 
 and the cabinet. London, fcarcely efcaped 
 from conflagration and pillage, looked 
 forward to a general fufpeniion of com- 
 merce,
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 merce, and to national infolvency, as im- 
 minent and almoft inevitable. Clamour 
 and difcontent filled the kingdom, and cha- 
 raclerifed the aflemblies of the people in 
 the different counties. Ireland, difdain- 
 ing all further appeal except to the fword, 
 and treading in the traces of America, 
 armed her fubjecls, not fo much for de- 
 fence and protection, as for the purpofes 
 of emancipation from the yoke of Eng- 
 land. In the Britifh Channel, once facred 
 from foreign intrufion, the iflands of Jer- 
 fey were repeatedly attacked. Spain, 
 which had already re-united Minorca to 
 her crown, held Gibraltar befieged, and 
 meditated the conqueft of the Floridas. 
 Every month brought accounts of the di^ 
 mmution of the Weft India Iflands, which 
 fucceffively fell into the hands of France; 
 while Jamaica, left almoft to her own in- 
 ternal capacities of defence, expected with 
 trembling folicitude the long meditated 
 invafion by the united fleets of the Houfe 
 of Bourbon. 
 
 In India, Hyder Ally, the fcourge of 
 
 the
 
 ( '4 ) 
 
 the Britifh nation, aided by the arms of 
 France, was on the point of exterminating 
 and expelling us from our moil ancient 
 poirefiions. Madras was menaced by fa- 
 mine, as well as by war ; while Bengal 
 itfelf fcarcely fuftained the prefllire of the 
 Mahrattas ; and the vaft fabric which 
 Clive had cemented with a profufion of 
 European and Aiiatic blood, was ready to 
 crumble with as much rapidity as it had 
 been originally conftructed. 
 
 In America, the names of Clinton and 
 Cornwallis had fucceeded to thofe of 
 Howe. New armies had occupied the 
 pofts of their victorious, but departed pre- 
 decefTors. The war which had long 
 blazed in the midland provinces, was 
 then principally transferred to thofe of 
 Carolina and Virginia. Ufelefs trophies 
 and barren laurels appeared to be the only 
 advantages, which we were deflined to de- 
 rive or acquire. Impenetrable woods 
 and impaffible moraffes, in the centre of 
 which freedom had difplayed her banner, 
 perpetually baffled all the exertions of va- 
 lour,
 
 < '5 ) 
 
 lour, military (kill, and perfeVerance, 
 England began to awake from her dream 
 of fubjugating the Thirteen Colonies, and 
 already meditated the dereliction of that 
 ruinous and expenfive undertaking ; while 
 her pride, her honour, and her indigna* 
 tion flill propelled her forward, and 
 amufed her with hopes of fuccefs, which 
 conftantly vanifhed at a nearer view. Like 
 the Roman empire under Gallienus, that 
 of Britain feemed to approach the period 
 of all its glories, and to be menaced with 
 impending and total fubverfion. 
 
 From this gloomy and dejecting picture 
 of foreign affairs, it may be judicious to 
 pafs to a more animated, if not a more 
 exhilerating fcene; that which was ex- 
 hibited at home in the two houfes 
 of Parliament. The principal figure 
 which here prefented itfelf, was the firft 
 minifter, Lord North, flruggling againft 
 a hoft of enemies, and flowly retreatr- 
 ing before them, while they prefled 
 forward with loud and repeated cla- 
 mours. A thoufand javejins hung upon 
 
 his
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 his political buckler, the points of which 
 were continually broken and turned afide 
 by his urbanity, his ready and pleafant 
 wit, or his able and ingenious reafonings, 
 when fufficiently flung by the reproaches 
 which were heaped on him, to awaken 
 and to roufe his torpid parts. Inur'd 
 to the habits of parliamentary debate, 
 mailer of all the fcience of minifterial eva- 
 iion or defence : though deftitute of energy 
 and coercion of character, yet eloquent, 
 mild> perfuafive, and bleffed with an al- 
 moft infuperable tranquillity of temper, 
 he patiently faw the florin exhauft itfelf ; 
 and looked round, ferene and placid, to 
 that powerful phalanx, which, long ac- 
 cuftomed to obey, fr.il! clofely adhered to 
 him under every circumflance of public 
 diflrefs, and never abandoned him in the 
 hour of neceflity. Even the lethargic and 
 foporific qualities of his body, as they 
 frequently prevented him from either 
 hearing or feeling the invectives of oppo- 
 iition, in fome rneafure difarmed and 
 blunted their edge; while flumbers, which 
 
 fo
 
 ( 17 ) ; 
 
 fo bften fly the couch of princes, not un- 
 ufually vifited Lord North amidft all the 
 din and tumult of the Treafury Bench. 
 Near him fat the American Secretary, 
 Lord George Germain ; whofe more irri- 
 table nerves, and more communicative or 
 unguarded character, afforded materials 
 and fcope for continual attack. Gifted 
 with extraordinary natural endowments, 
 though little cultivated by polite letters, or 
 adorned by fcience ; active, perfevering, 
 decifive, and capable of conducting the 
 greateft affairs of ftate, he was yet pur- 
 fued by the fame fatality which had 
 blafted his early profpects of greatnefs. 
 Unfuccefsful in age upon the plains of 
 America, as he had been unfortunate in 
 youth upon thofe of Germany, he vainly 
 invoked an exhausted nation, and a dif- 
 contented Parliament, to continue a war, 
 which, however juft and neceflary in its 
 origin, had become odious and ungrateful, 
 from a long feries of ill fuccefs. Loyal 
 to his Sovereign, pertinacious in his fa- 
 vourite meafure of fubjecting America, 
 D and
 
 and conceiving his own political fituation 
 infeparably conne&ed with the final fuc- 
 cefs of that attempt, he adhered inflexibly 
 to it, and regarded its profecution as a 
 facred principle, from which no obftacles 
 could induce him to recede. 
 
 Mr. Ellis, who for near half a century, 
 iince the times of Walpole and Pelham, 
 had occupied a place under Government, 
 continued to retain his ancient corner on 
 the Treafury Bench ; while Mr. Dundas, 
 whofe pliant and verfatile talents have 
 adapted themfelves to almofl every Admi- 
 niftration, and whofe abilities are calcu- 
 lated to ftrengthen and fupport any, was 
 feated nearer to the centre of action, and 
 boldly prefented himfelf at the poft of dan- 
 ger, whenever the enemy attempted to 
 ftorm the outworks. His friend and com- 
 panion Mr. Rigby, ftill enjoyed the ample 
 revenue of the Pay Office, without a part- 
 ner ; and in the excelTes of a voluptuous 
 table, of wine and conviviality, drowned 
 the recollection of tirefome debates, and 
 
 more difgraceful defeats. 
 
 The
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 The two great luminaries of legal know- 
 ledge, Thurlow and Wedderburne, who had 
 long occupied and adorned their feats on 
 the fame fideof the houfe, had been fuccef- 
 fively raifed to the honours of the peerage ; 
 and their empty places were filled by 
 others far inferior in energy, dignity and 
 capacity. Such was the afpect of miniftry 
 at the period to which I allude. On the 
 other fide of the houfe, Mr, Fox led on the 
 bands of oppofition in clofe and well 
 conducted files, while Mr. Burke charged 
 at the head of his irregular fquadrons, 
 and carried terror into the ranks of 
 adminiflration. Dunning, in defiance of 
 nature, deftitute almoft of organs of 
 articulation, monotonous and difgufting 
 in his tones, ungraceful in his figure, 
 poileffing no external advantages, and un- 
 adorned by any factitious circumftances of 
 birth and alliance ; yet, under all thefe im- 
 pediments, arrefted the judgment, charm- 
 ed the ear, and captivated the imagination j 
 by the ftream of his eloquence ; though it 
 fometimes flowed through the channels of 
 C 3 Jaw,
 
 law, it was always bright, clear, and 
 lucid. Keppel, Conway, Howe, and 
 Barre occupied their refpective ftations in 
 this formidable and augmenting body, and 
 aided the general attack upon the feeble 
 and difmayed adherents of the minifter. 
 
 Suftain'd by the purity and integrity 
 of his intentions ; repofing on the efteem 
 and affections of his people ; and bent on 
 the profecution of a war, which, however 
 unfortunate in its conduct, was founded 
 in the juft rights of his throne, no fymp- 
 tom of change or alarm was to be traced 
 in the fovereign. At no period of his 
 reign were his fortitude and magnanimity 
 put to fo fevere a teft, and at none were 
 they more unfhaken. Equanimity, fere- 
 nity, and dignity appeared in his features, 
 and pervaded his manners, even in mo- 
 ments of ,the molt acute perfonal fuffering. 
 That piety, and that refignation to the dif- 
 penfations of Providence, whichhas always 
 formed fo diftinguifhing a part of his cha- 
 racter, eminently gilded the gloom of this 
 melancholy portion of his reign, preceded 
 
 and
 
 and followed by fcenes of profperity and 
 glory. Such was the fublime and affecT:- 
 ing fpectacle which George the Third 
 exhibited to mankind, amidft the convul- 
 fions of every kind which menaced his 
 domeftic tranquillity, diminifhed his em- 
 pire, and attacked him with augmenting 
 violence. 
 
 To the limited and erring eye of man, in- 
 capable of pervading futurity , and of remov- 
 ing the darknefs which furrounds it, Louis 
 the Sixteenth then prefented a very different 
 and a much more enviable figure. Fortunate 
 in having fucceeded to a prince, who was 
 funk in diflblute pleafures, and loft to all 
 public exertion before his reign expired, he 
 afcended the throne of Henry the Fourth, 
 under every flattering circumftance of 
 youth and of profperity. His want of any 
 eminent talents feemed to be amply com- 
 penfated by ceconomy, application, deco- 
 rum of manners, and, above all, by a fe- 
 leclion of wife and able minifters. A 
 fuccefsful war, which eclipfed and obli- 
 terated the difgraces and defeats, fuf- 
 
 tained
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 tained by France in her laft rupture 
 with England, endeared him to a loyal 
 and affectionate nation, characterifed for 
 ages by its predilection and attachment to 
 its monarchs, A Queen, diftinguimed 
 by endowments of mind, of manners, and 
 of perfon, not lefs than by her high rank 
 and imperial defcent, had formed the 
 bond of connexion between the Houfes of 
 Bourbon and of Auftria, while me ren- 
 dered Verfailles the refidence of pleafure, 
 gaiety, and magnificence. France appear- 
 ed to re-afcend in the fcale of Europe, in 
 the fame proportion as Great Britain de- 
 clined ; and flattery, if not reafon, already 
 predicted the revival of the proud age of 
 Lewis the Fourteenth. But, to confound 
 the fpeculations of policy, and to evince 
 the hafty tranlitions of human greatnefs, it 
 was precifely at this very juncture that 
 the feeds were fown, which we have fince 
 feen matured ; which have already over- 
 turned the very elements of order and go- 
 vernment, ftained the palace of Verfailles 
 with blood, and menace the extinction of 
 
 property,
 
 property, perfonal fecurity, and every 
 thing dear to mankind. The troops who 
 were fent as auxiliaries to the rebellious 
 provinces of Great Britain beyond the 
 Atlantic, fpeedily imbibed that fpirit of 
 freedom, which they were commanded to 
 defend ; and did not relinquifh thefe fen- 
 timents fo incompatible with abfolute 
 monarchy, when they returned to their 
 native country. On the other hand, the 
 anticipation of the public revenue, which 
 was necelTarily produced by a war, how- 
 ever glorious and fuccefsful, added to the 
 immoderate expences of a diffipated and 
 luxurious court, foon reduced the King to 
 adopt a meafure, which though diiin- 
 terefled and even patriotic, opened the way 
 to make his throne. Louis the Sixteenth 
 was perfuaded to break the royal 'houfe- 
 hold, to difmifs about four hundred officers 
 holding pofls immediately about his per- 
 fon, and to content himfelf with a lefs 
 expenfive and fplendid eftablifhment. 
 Perhaps no advice more replete with cala- 
 mity, could have been conceived or fol- 
 lowed.
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 lowed. The pomp and external para- 
 phernalia of m^jeity being once with- 
 drawn ; and the numbers of nobility at- 
 tached to the fovereign by intereft, va- 
 nity, or affection, being once difbanded, 
 the throne was left naked, unprotected, 
 and expofed to infult. Experience has 
 evinced its deftructive tendency ; and has 
 ihewn that only a limited monarch, who 
 reigns in the affections of his fubjects, 
 and whofe interefts are intimately blended 
 with thofe of his people, can remain an 
 object of refpect and homage, di veiled of 
 the fplendor and protection of a royal 
 court, and numerous houfehold. 
 
 The Emprefs Queen, Maria There fa, 
 clofedat this period a reign of forty years, 
 marked by the moft finking viciffitudes of 
 profperous and of adverfe fortune. During 
 the exiftence of the powerful combination 
 which fhook her throne in the commence- 
 ment of her life, me exhibited the moft 
 undaunted magnanimity, the greateft re- 
 fources of mind, and a courage fuperior 
 to her fex. Driven from Vienna in 1741 , 
 
 while
 
 while Bohemia and Auftria were over-run 
 by the French and Bavarians, fhe found 
 protection and fuccours in the loyalty of 
 her Hungarian fubjefts, who at fight of 
 her beauty, youth, and misfortunes, for- 
 got their hereditary enmity and jealoufy of 
 the Imperial houfe from which fhe fprung. 
 The afternoon and evening of her reign, 
 though frequently difturbed by foreign 
 wars, were patted by her in the difcharge 
 of every duty due from a fovereign to 
 her people. Mild, clement, humane, 
 munificent, and ever extending the proofs 
 of her parental tendernefs to her wide ex- 
 tended dominions, fhe was idolized by 
 the Hungarians, beloved by the Flemings, 
 and dear to every order of citizens. That 
 piety and fortitude which had charac- 
 terized her life, accompanied and bright- 
 ened her dying moments. Her crowns 
 defcended to her fon Jofeph ; a Prince who 
 had given premature expectations of genius 
 and capacity, and whofe emulation of the 
 King of Pruflia promifed to render him 
 worthy of fo great an antagonifl. But Eu- 
 E rope
 
 rope was foon undeceived in this favorable 
 anticipation of the talents of Jofeph the 
 Second. Agitated with perpetual and 
 varying fchemes of conqueft : reftlefs , and 
 incapable of repofe : planning innovations 
 in religion, in manners, and in civil life, 
 which were no fooner executed than re- 
 voked : oppreilive and defpotic, without 
 the art either of concealing thefe qualities, 
 or of rendering their effects palatable to 
 his fubjects : menacing at the fame mo- 
 ment the jufl franchifes of the Netherlands, 
 and the antient liberties of Hungary : dread- 
 ed in the empire, and detefted in his own 
 capital : anxious to enlarge the limits of his 
 dominions, even at the expence of faith and 
 juftice : rapacious of ecclefiaftical property , 
 and profufe only of the blood of his peo- 
 ple j Jofeph foon alienated the affections 
 of every rank, and clofed a tempeftuous 
 reign, unregretted, and unlamented; leav- 
 ing the Houfe of Auftria in embarrafs- 
 
 o 
 
 ments, produced by his violence and am- 
 bition, fcarcely inferior to thofe which 
 had fo nearly overturned and extinguished 
 
 it,
 
 it, at the death of his grandfather Charles 
 the Sixth. 
 
 Two illuftrious and extraordinary Prin- 
 ces then filled the thrones of Mufcovy 
 and of Pruffia. A woman was ftill 
 deflined to fway the fceptre of the Czars, 
 and to govern the immenfe regions ex- 
 tending from the Frozen to the Cafpian 
 Sea. Unequalled in magnificence, and 
 ^unconquerable in war, Catherine the Second 
 had enlarged the limits of her vaft domi- 
 nions, covered the Black Sea with Ruffian 
 fleets, and threatened the entire fubverfion 
 of the Ottoman power. Proteclrefs of 
 the fciences and liberal arts, me cultivated 
 the friendfhip of d'Alembert, courted the 
 correfpondence and the praifes of Vol- 
 taire, and, like Louis XIV., extended her 
 munificence to men of Jetters throughout 
 every kingdom of Europe. Intoxicated 
 with fuccefs, and elevated to the fummit of 
 human grandeur and . felicity, me forgot 
 the friendly hand which had aided her arms, 
 and taught them the way to victory ; 
 while dreaded and admired in every quar- 
 
 E 2 ter
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 ter of the globe, me feemed to have 
 chained the inconstancy of fortune, and to 
 defy the changes and clouds which fo 
 frequently darken the conclulion of a fe- 
 male reign. 
 
 Frederic, covered with laurels, and re- 
 tired from Berlin to the folitary magni- 
 ficence of Potzdam j in the bofom of lite- 
 rary repofe, and finking under the preffure 
 of augmenting infirmities, advanced to- 
 wards the termination of his memorable 
 life and reign. Alienated from, or indif- 
 ferent to the misfortunes of England, he 
 regarded with a philofophic and averted 
 eye her prefent unequal conteft againfl fo 
 many powers ; and extended no relief, nor 
 made any exertion in favour of his antient 
 ally. 
 
 Portugal alone, among fo many neutral, 
 or hoAile ftates, ventured at this diftrefs- 
 ful moment, to give fome affirmative 
 marks of friendfhip to the crown of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 While Europe exhibited this afpecT:, fo 
 little calculated to awaken hope, frefh 
 
 lofTes
 
 lofles and defeats awaited the arms of Eng- 
 land beyond the Atlantic. The capture of 
 the Ifland of St. Euftatius, which, on its 
 firft promulgation, had diffufed a general 
 joy throughout the nation, produced in the 
 event only obloquy to the captors, and a 
 fufpenfion the moil untimely and injurious 
 in our naval and military exertions ; while 
 the troops, which mould have acted with 
 vigour againft the enemy, were funk in 
 inactivity, or occupied in plunder. 
 
 As the year advanced, new iflands were 
 loft, and new difgraces incurred ; 'till the cli- 
 max of national calamity attained its ulti- 
 mate point, by the iurrender of an army of 
 feven thoufand men, who laid down their 
 arms before Washington and Rocham- 
 beau, on the more of the Chefapeake. 
 After fix years of mutual (laughter and 
 alternate fuccefs, the genius of America 
 triumphed, and this laft unexampled vic- 
 tory for ever confirmed her independence. 
 The intelligence, when it was received in 
 England, fhook the already tottering Ad- 
 miniftration, and precipitated its fall. 
 
 Difmay,
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 Difmay and terror pervaded the cabinet, 
 and agitated the counfels. The Oppofition, 
 confcious of the augmenting diftrefs and 
 fluctuating irrefolution of the firfl minifter, 
 called aloud for an explicit avowal of his 
 renunciation of any further efforts to fubju- 
 gate the revolted colonies. The exprelTive 
 filence of Lord North to thefe peremptory 
 demands, left no room to doubt either of 
 his fentiments or his wifhes ; and the 
 Secretary for America, retiring from a 
 fituation no longer tenable, after a rude 
 Attack from Lord Carmarthen, was re- 
 ceived into the quiet bofom of the Houfe 
 of Lords. The enemy rufhed into the 
 breach which this difunion had occafioned, 
 and already beheld the prize within their 
 grafp. The Administration, however, 
 Hill lingered, though deflitute of animation 
 or energy j a feeble and ineffectual effort 
 was even made to prolong their exiflence, 
 by the fubftitution of Mr. Ellis in the place 
 of Lord George Germain; but this ilep 
 ferved only to accelerate their diffolution. 
 Oppofition, eager to feize the prey, and ac- 
 quiring
 
 quiring force as they advanced, pufhed on 
 towards the citadel ; 'till Lord North, on 
 the aoth of March, 1782, exhibited the 
 fingular and humiliating fpectacle of a Firft 
 Minifter diverting himfelf of all theinfignia 
 of office, before a crowded Houfe of Com> 
 mons ; and announcing his refignation to 
 an aftonifhed audience, who fcarcely 
 credited the fact of which they were wit- 
 nefTes. The novelty and effect of this 
 extraordinary furrender of power, were 
 encreafed by its being equally fudden and 
 unexpected. Neither his friends nor his 
 enemies were aware of the blow; and 
 even his fovereign did not fufpect, 'till 
 almoft the very inftant in which he exe- 
 cuted his purpofe, that any fuch was me- 
 ditated or intended. It is nugatory and 
 unneceffary here to enquire, whether it was 
 principally produced by timidity, fatigue, 
 or difguft. Probably, by a combination 
 of all thefe emotions j and unqueftionably 
 by a very unforefeen and hafly determina- 
 tion. 
 
 . In this difarmed and unprepared fitua- 
 tion, without either time or ability for 
 
 framing
 
 framing a new miniftry, the King could 
 only furrender at difcretion. He did fo; 
 and the royal garrifon, entered by ftorm, 
 was plundered by the conquerors. Three 
 garters were found among the fpoils, and 
 which ferved to decorate the principal 
 chieftains. Offices and ports were diftri- 
 buted at their arbitrary pleafure ; and a new 
 Administration foon appeared, compofed 
 of motley materials, and evincing in its 
 very formation and component parts, the 
 principles of fpeedy diflblution. The 
 feeble genius of Lord Rockingham pre- 
 fided over it, but could infpire no heat or 
 energy into the heterogeneous mafs. Ill 
 calculated for fo arduous and delicate a 
 ftation, he wanted talents to guide, and 
 animate the complicated machine of 
 which he was only the oftenfible leader. 
 Mr. Fox and the Earl of. Shelburne occu- 
 pied the two Secretaryfhips of State; 
 while Keppel, raifed to the peerage for 
 his fervices on the syth of July, 1778, 
 fucceeded to the prelidency of the vacant 
 Board of Admiralty. 
 
 It is not my intention minutely to deli- 
 neate
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 neate or depicture the meafures of this 
 tranfitory Adminiftration, juft fhewn to 
 the Britifh, as Marcellus was to the Ro- 
 man people ; and fnatched away by an ex- 
 tinction as hafty, but not as much la- 
 mented. I have ever regarded the fhort 
 period of its duration, as the laftand loweft 
 point of national and royal depreffion. 
 Though illuminated by a victory, which 
 has fhed an unexampled luftre over the 
 annals of England, no ray of it reflected 
 upon the Miniftry : they had vilified and 
 perfecuted the great naval commander who 
 obtained it, previous to his departure for 
 his ftation : they recalled him in the very 
 moment of his conquefts. The annals of 
 that period, circumfcribed within three 
 months, are marked by the humiliating 
 and fruitlefs attempts of the Government 
 to obtain peace from Holland ; though il- 
 lufory promifes and aflurances of fuccefs 
 had been held out to parliament, and to 
 the country, by Mr. Fox, before his entry 
 upon office. The peerage, in the almoft 
 only inflance where it was conferred, was 
 F extorted
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 extorted from the fovereign, without even 
 the decencies of refpect, or of requeft ; 
 and the extraordinary fpeftacle of a 
 newly-created Peer kitting the King's 
 hand in the Queen's drawing room, in 
 violation of all form or ufage, was re- 
 ferved for the Rockingham Adminiftra- 
 tion to exhibit, in the perfon of Sir Flet- 
 cher Norton. 
 
 A bill, which without materially con- 
 ducing to national ceconomy, or public 
 benefit, diminifhed on one hand the dig- 
 nity which ufed to wait upon the perfon 
 of the fovereign ; and on the other, dif- 
 armed every fucceeding minifter, by leav- 
 ing him fcarcely any objects with which 
 to ftimulate activity, or reward merit and 
 adherence. A bill, which by compelling 
 every Adminiftration, from want of of- 
 fices, to multiply the peerage, as the 
 only thing left in their power to beflow ; 
 and which, if not redrefTed and repealed, 
 may eventually deflroy the balance of the 
 conflitution. A bill, well known, and as 
 
 well
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 well characterized by the name of its elo- 
 quent, but theoretical and vifionary author, 
 was introduced, and rapidly carried 
 through the unrefifting Houfes of Parlia- 
 ment; while the King was compelled to 
 lend his name and aid to the completion of 
 a law, which difbanded his houfliold, and 
 difarmed his authority. 
 
 This unwife and impolitic attack upoa 
 
 the majefty of the throne, was properly 
 
 accompanied and fucceeded by fimilar in- 
 
 valions of the hereditary franchifes of the 
 
 people. Under the fpecious allegation of 
 
 extinguishing the corrupt influence of the 
 
 Crown, a great and induftrious body of 
 
 men, the officers of the cuftoms, were 
 
 deprived of their juftand unalienable right 
 
 to vote in elections for their reprefentatives 
 
 in Parliament ; and the natural reward of 
 
 merit or fervices was converted by the 
 
 Legiflature, into an inftrument of punifti- 
 
 ment and privation. 
 
 But, happily for the monarch and for 
 the nation, a Minifhy, in which hypocri- 
 tical profeflion was fubflituted for action ; 
 F a whofe
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 whofe conquefts were limited to St, 
 James's, and whofe trophies were only 
 obtained over clerks of the Green Cloth 
 and houfekeepers, now drew near its ex- 
 tinction. The natural deceafe of the 
 Marquis of Rockingham, which took 
 place upon the ifl of July, 1782, can 
 fcarcely be faid to have preceded, or an- 
 ticipated his political difmiffion. He 
 expired in the vicinity of London ; regret- 
 ted only by his immediate friends and ad- 
 herents ; efteemed as a virtuous and a well 
 intentioned, though an inadequate Minif- 
 ter. His elevation to the firft pofl in the 
 Adminiftration was injurious to his cha- 
 racter as a man of talents ; and he was 
 twice deftined in the prefent reign, to fee 
 the political fabrick which he had reared, 
 moulder within a few months, and fink 
 under its own preflure. Like Galba, 
 " Major private vifus, dum privatus fuit ; 
 " et omnium confenfu, capax imperil, 
 " niii imperaflet." 
 
 Releafed by this interposition of for- 
 tune, from a bondage equally feverc and 
 
 humiliating,
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 humiliating, the Sovereign made a lelection 
 from among his fervants, more confonant 
 to his own perfonal inclinations, as well as 
 more calculated to advance the public 
 fervice. The Earl of Shelburne aflumed 
 the vacant Treafurer's flaff, which had 
 dropped from the hand of the deceafed 
 Marquis ; while the honeft and virtuous 
 incapacity of the late Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, was fuppiied by equal probity 
 and integrity, but accompanied with thofe 
 fublime and early talents, which Mr. Pitt 
 alone has difplayed and fuftained in the 
 prefent age. Having declined the proffered 
 advances of the late Miniftry, and having 
 refufed to form any inferior part of, or ac- 
 cept any fecondary fituation under that 
 fyftem, he now firft appeared in the front 
 ranks of government ; and evinced to an 
 aftonifhed nation, that in a port fo arduous 
 as that of the fuperintendance of the com- 
 plicated finances of an exhaufted and im- 
 poveriihed country, he could unite the 
 energy and vigour of youth, with the 
 
 maturity
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 maturity and experience of more advanced 
 life. 
 
 Some fubordinate alterations in other 
 departments of flate completed the new 
 Adminiftration; which, at its commence- 
 ment was favoured by the advanced period 
 of the year and feffion, and the proroga- 
 tion of Parliament which naturally fol- 
 lowed, The adherents of Lord Rocking- 
 ham filled the Lower Houfe with loud 
 clamours and pointed infinuations, againft 
 the fuppofed motives and authors of a 
 change fo inimical, as they afferted, to 
 the bell interefls of the monarchy. Mr, 
 Fox in a manly and magnanimous, Mr. 
 Burke, in a querulous and reluctant man- 
 ner, refpecftively refigned their filiations. 
 The impaflioned exclamations of the latter 
 were only interrupted and extinguifhed by 
 the arrival of the Black Rod, and the fum^ 
 mons to attend the Chancellor at the bar 
 of the Houfe of Lords. The feflion 
 clofed ; and oblivion already drew her veil 
 acrofs the departed Adminiftration, while 
 ncwconvulfions, and new fcenes of political 
 
 confufion
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 confufion were filently, but rapidly, ge- 
 nerating in the womb of time. 
 
 Peace, which for fo many years had 
 fled, now prepared to return. Inactivity, 
 and a premature fufpenfion of hoftility be- 
 yond the Atlantic, gradually opened the 
 pafTage to univerfal tranquillity in Europe. 
 America, already declared independent by 
 the Legislature, no longer occupied the 
 arms or efforts of Great Britain. Holland, 
 divided by the Orange and the Republican 
 factions, feebly fuftained her portion of 
 the common attack. France, arrefled in 
 the midft of all her conquefts by the arm 
 of Rodney, faw her boafted navy fcattered 
 over the Weftern world ; happy to efcape 
 the purfuit of a victorious fleet, and to 
 fink undifturbed, in the havens of Marti- 
 nico, or of Bofton. It only remained to 
 humble the arrogance of Spain ; who, m- 
 folent with unaccuftomed fuccefs, and 
 elated with the trophies acquired at Mi- 
 norca, and in Florida, had affembled her 
 forces of every kind round the rock of 
 Gibraltar,and already anticipated the re- 
 union
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 union of that proud fortrefs to her domi- 
 nions. To indulge at once the gratifies 
 tion of national vanity, as well as the ac- 
 quifition of glory, a Prince of the Blood 
 Royal of France was invited to quit the 
 effeminate pleafures of Vcrfailles, and to 
 become a fpeCtatorof its reduction from the 
 Spanifh camp. Preparations only inferior to 
 thofe of Philip the Second againft Eli- 
 zabeth, were made to accelerate and fe- 
 cure fo favourite an object of the court of 
 Madrid ; while all Europe might be faid, 
 in common with the Count d'Artois, to 
 have fixed their eyes upon this animating 
 fpectacle. I need not relate the event ; in- 
 fcribed in characters which mufl lafl as 
 long as military fame and valour are re- 
 vered among men. The formidable ar- 
 maments of Charles the Third periflied 
 under the fuperior fire of the garrifon ; 
 and the miferable victims who efcaped 
 from the conflagration, were indebted for 
 their lives to the exertions of that very 
 enemy, for whofe deftru&ion they had been 
 affembled. 
 
 Under
 
 Under this fingular blaze of glory and 
 fuccefs was terminated a war, which had 
 been marked during its progrefs with every 
 eircumftance adverfe to England, and 
 which, at many periods, had menaced its 
 very exiftence. Negociations, prolonged 
 throughout the autumn, produced a gene- 
 ral pacification at the beginning of 1783 ; 
 the terms of which, however widely dif- 
 ferent they were from thofe which Great 
 Britain dictated at the treaties of Utrecht 
 and of Fontainbleau, feemed neither igno- 
 minious nor difadvantageous, in the en- 
 feebled ftate of the finances and refources 
 of the country. France reflored almoft all 
 her acquifitions, while Spain retained her 
 conquefts; and Holland, which had tar- 
 dily and reluctantly been forced from her 
 pacific fyftem, was abandoned by her al- 
 lies, and left to expiate by conceffions, the 
 departure from her ancient policy and 
 connexions. 
 
 But the waves of party, which had 
 
 been fo long and fo violently agitated, 
 
 could not immediately fubfide with the 
 
 G extinctioa
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 extinction of hoftilities. The two power- 
 ful factions, who had fucceflively poffefT- 
 ed, and been deprived of the government, 
 however adverfe they were to each other, 
 yet united in their common oppofition to 
 the new intruders. The character of the 
 Firft Lord of the Treafury, though dif- 
 tinguifhed by many imposing qualities of 
 mind, by ingratiating and popular man- 
 ners, and by an enlarged acquaintance 
 with the foreign intereils of England ; yet 
 wanted that ftamp of probity and princi-* 
 pie, without which a great nation never 
 confers efteem and confidence. Infincerity 
 and duplicity were afcribed to him by his 
 enemies. Accufations and fufpicions were 
 circulated, poffibly originating only in 
 calumny, which arraigned his purity 
 of conduct as a Minifter, and infinuated 
 his acquifition of perfonal wealth by the 
 abufe of his high fituation, during the 
 progrefs of the late negociations, to the 
 fordid purpofes of private gain. Doubts, 
 of this complexion, however unauthenti- 
 catcd or unjuftthey may be fuppofed, yet, 
 
 by
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 by operating on the public, equally indif- 
 pofed them towards the peace, and to- 
 wards its author. 
 
 To thefe obvious and oftenfible caufes of 
 his difmiilion, may be added the extraordi- 
 nary and almofl inexplicable indifference 
 which marked his conduct, towards pre- 
 ferving a fltuation, which it had been the 
 leading and predominant objecl: of his life 
 to acquire. Parliament met, and after long 
 and violent debates, renewed at various 
 times, exprefled its difapprobation of the 
 peace recently concluded, though by a very 
 fmall majority. It is even highly probablt?^ 
 that this mark of their dhTatisfaction would 
 not have been attended or followed by any 
 fuch affirmative proofs of national refent- 
 ment, as to have compelled a Minifter 
 of firmnefs and rectitude to retire from 
 his public fituation. Whether any con- 
 fcioufnefs of a deficiency in either of thefq 
 qualities, or whether motives more con- 
 cealed and unafcertainable adtuated the 
 Earl of Shelburne; it is certain that he 
 did not hefitate to take the warning 
 G a which
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 which had been given him, and to lay down 
 his office without delay. 
 
 But though he had embraced this pufilla- 
 nimous and precipitate part, the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, animated by feelings of 
 integrity, loyalty, and duty to his Prince and 
 to his country, generoufly refufed to aban- 
 don them to the refentments and difcretion- 
 ary mandates of two factions, who had 
 agreed to a mutual facrifice of principle, and 
 even of decency, in order to gratify their 
 thirft of power. After a manly and mag- 
 nanimous, but ineffectual rtruggle, he was 
 however compelled to yield to fo unequal 
 a force. The Sovereign, who had vainly 
 endeavoured to compofe a new Adminirtra- 
 tion, and who had been befieged in his 
 own palace during fix weeks, found the 
 lines of circumvallation too ftrong to force, 
 and furrendered a fecond time prifoner of 
 war. The two victorious chieftains, who 
 
 * 
 
 had agreed to bury all part caufes of re- 
 fentment in oblivion, entered the breach 
 in triumph, bound their captive, ported 
 their centinels, arid inverted themfelves 
 
 in
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 in the fpoils which their conduct had ac- 
 quired. The larger fhare however of 
 thefe emoluments fell to Mr. Fox -, and 
 the Treafury was transferred from the mild 
 incapacity of Lord Rockingham, whom 
 death had removed, to the laborious, but 
 limited and fubfervient talents of the Duke 
 of Portland. Lord North, who did not 
 feel with Caefar, that " the rft fituation 
 * * in a village out-valued the fecond in an 
 " empire ", was content with the inferior 
 portion of power and profit, allotted him 
 by the liberality of his new aflbciates, 
 and mixed in the cavalcade, which he had 
 io long conducted . Too happy to obtain 
 an amnefty for the misfortunes of his 
 Adminiftration, and foothed with the un- 
 accuflomed panegyrics of thofe who had 
 fo lately called out for axes and fcaffolds ; 
 he funk without emotion, into a fubordi- 
 nate office, and refigned the painful pre- 
 eminence of ftate into hands of greater 
 energy or ambition. 
 
 A paufe fucceeded to this extraordinary 
 and eventful transfer of power; as the 
 
 monarch
 
 monarch and the nation were equally in- 
 capable of inftantly exerting any effort for 
 their emancipation. The " Coalition " 
 impofed their fetters upon both ; and little 
 attentive to acquire the affection, were fatis- 
 fied with the fubmiffion of their prifoners. 
 Relying on their own united ftrength to 
 retain the conquefls which they had made, 
 they only began already to project the 
 means of perpetuating and extending the 
 term of their duration. To atchieve this 
 object, it was indifpenfably necefTary to 
 reconftruct the edifice which their injudi- 
 cious fpirit of reform had lately over- 
 thrown ; and to fubftitute other charges 
 and offices in the place of thofe, which had 
 been annihilated in the houfehold of the 
 Sovereign. Thefe pleafing anticipations 
 and reveries formed a grateful occupation 
 during the recefs of Parliament ; and the 
 fucceeding winter was deftined to fee the 
 chains, which an unprincipled ambition 
 had fabricated, impofed with all the fo- 
 lemnity of legiflation upon an unrefifling 
 people. 
 
 There
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 There is however a limit prefcribed 
 to violence, which it has ever been found 
 impracticable to pafs; and the " Coalition" 
 was deftined to be taught by it's own ex- 
 perience, that no combination of talents, 
 power, or ability can fuftain a Govern- 
 ment, where all opinion of principle, or 
 refpect for character have ceafed to exift, 
 on the part of the nation towards its ty- 
 rants. Even the forms of the conftitution 
 and the fanctity of law will not prevent a 
 generous and an enlightened country, from 
 difcerning the abufe of that authority, 
 which while it extinguifhes prerogative, 
 militates equally againfl freedom. Time 
 alone was requifite to mature thefe re- 
 flections ; and the Adminifhration opened 
 the way to their own deflruction, by the 
 very means which they had concerted for 
 placing their greatnefs beyond the reach 
 of accident. 
 
 Mr. Fox introduced his celebrated 
 " Eaft India Bill," with all that fplendor 
 of parts, and difplay of ability, which has 
 rendered him fo diftinguifhed in the hif- 
 
 tory
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 tory of the prefent age. Though India 
 was not in that department of public 
 bufinefs, over which as Secretary of State, 
 he perfonally prefided, yet the fuperior 
 energy of his character, and the conveni- 
 ent facility of his new colleague, allowed 
 him to affume this arduous and danger- 
 ous pre-eminence. Mr. Burke's ample 
 and inexhauftible flock of materials and 
 documents, fupplied any deficiencies of 
 memory or local information ; while the 
 " Inftitutes of Timur" and the wifeft re- 
 gulations of European policy, were new- 
 modelled by this generous legiflator. The 
 oppreffions and calamities under which 
 India had fo long fuffered j the peculations, 
 committedt>y the fervants of the Company, 
 as well as the wanton and unprincipled 
 wars in which they had engaged, were 
 highly painted, and ftrongly reprobated. 
 . The remedy to thefe numerous evils was 
 prefented ; and all palliatives were depre- 
 cated, as unequal to the extermination of a 
 difeafe which had pervaded the whole fyf- 
 tem, which demanded a meafure of more 
 
 than
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 than ordinary vigour in the Legiflature* 
 The Houfe of Commons yielded to thefe 
 convincing and miniftefial arguments, fo 
 calculated to operate on their pafloons as 
 well as their judgments. The ineffectual 
 oppofition which was made to it by Mr. 
 Pitt, and a few perfons who adhered tohim\ 
 neither retarded nor impeded the rapid 
 progrefs of the bill. It was carried through 
 one Houfe of Parliament by prodigious 
 fuperiority of numbers ; and it was not 
 apprehended that the fubfervient under- 
 derftandings of the other Houfe, generally 
 difpofed to fee all meafures of all Adminif- 
 trations with a favourable eye, would re- 
 ject the prefent, or canvafs it with unufual 
 feverity. The " Coalition" appeared al- 
 ready to touch the more, and to be near 
 the accomplifhment of their moft fanguine 
 projects of grealnefs. 
 
 The magnanimity and penetration of the 
 Sovereign, awakened and directed by the 
 timely exhortation of thofe who collected 
 round the throne in this critical and dan- 
 gerous conjuncture, fnatched the country 
 H from
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 from the impending misfortune. Trier 
 great incorporated bodies in various parts 
 of the kingdom, (lowly roufed to a com- 
 prehenfion of the evil, and alarmed at the 
 violation of the chartered rights of the firft 
 commercial company in the nation, ap- 
 peared ready to reclaim and to defend their 
 own threatened immunities, or properties, 
 London led the way in thefe fymptoms 
 of confirmation, and was followed by the 
 principal cities and provinces. AddrefTes, 
 remonftrances, and petitions, arrived from 
 every part of Great Britain. Satire and 
 ridicule, fo powerful in their operation 
 upon the minds of men, united with rea- 
 fon and argument to overturn a Minifrry, 
 who had attempted to conftruct their own 
 grandeur, equally on the ruin of the Prero- 
 gative, and thedeftruction of the Conftitu- 
 tion. Two caricature drawings, conceived 
 with exquiiite humour, and whofe effect can 
 perhaps be compared with nothing in our 
 hiftory, except the fong of " Lillabullero" 
 under James the Second, were circulated 
 in every company. In one of thefe, the 
 
 Secretary
 
 ( 5* ) 
 
 Secretary of State who had introduced the 
 bill, was depictured carrying, like Atlas, 
 the whole Eaft-India Houfe upon his 
 fhoulders ; while the affrighted Directors, 
 looking out of the windows, appeared vain- 
 ly to invoke affiftance againft the violence. 
 The other reprefented his triumphal entry 
 into Dehli, the capital of his newly con- 
 quered dominions . Mr. Fox was habited in 
 the fplendid Afiatic drefs of Shaw Allum ; 
 while his obedient colleague in office 
 Lord North, degraded to the inferior na- 
 ture of the trained and managed elephant, 
 fupported the victor on his back. Mr. 
 Burke, as a trumpeter, accompanied the 
 proceffion, proclaiming the virtues and 
 trophies of this fucceffor of Tamerlane and 
 Aurungzebe. 
 
 The florin of national indignation, 
 though long and tardy in forming, had 
 now collected, and prepared to burft with 
 the utmoft violence. The Houfe of Peers 
 led the way, by throwing out the Eaft- 
 India Bill ; and on the fubfequent night, 
 at a late hour, his Majefty fent to de- 
 
 H 2 mand
 
 mand the feals of office from the two Se 
 cretaries of Stare. An Administration, 
 at the head of which was Mr. Pitt, and 
 of which he may he faid to have formed the 
 vital principle, was inftantly compofed. 
 So fecure, however, were the late Minifters 
 of their afcendancy in the Houfe of Com- 
 mons, and in fuch contempt were thefe 
 efforts of the Grown to liberate itfelf 
 held by them, that when the writ was 
 moved for Appleby, in confequence of the 
 new Firft Lord of the Treafury having va- 
 cated his feat, it was received with loud, 
 and almoft general laughter. Even thofe 
 whofe judgment and experience in Parlia- 
 mentary matters were mofl refpe&ed, 
 ventured to predict that a few weeks w r ould 
 fee the termination of this fugitive Govern- 
 ment, either by a gradual or a violent 
 death. For the rirft time fince the accef- 
 fion of the houfe of Brunfwick ; perhaps 
 it may be faid fince the exiflence of the 
 monarchy, the fovereign and the people 
 were united in oppofition to the reprefenta- 
 tiyes of the people. The patient and 
 
 paflive
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 paffive fortitude of Mr. Pitt fuftained him, 
 even more than his talents or integrity, 
 during near three months that this fiege 
 continued ; nor did he advife his Sovereign to 
 have recourfe to the laft conftitutional mea- 
 fureleft him, that of diflblution, till above 
 a hundred and twenty addreffes, couched in 
 terms of loyalty, and of reprobation againft 
 the attempt to overturn the prerogative, 
 left no room to hefitate on its popularity, 
 or on the general joy with which it would 
 be received. The elections for the new 
 Parliament, which at no period of the pre- 
 fent century were ever fo incorrupt, and 
 fo free from all minifterial interference, 
 evinced beyond difpute, how odious to 
 the nation were the principles and conduct 
 of the late Adminiftration. The Firft 
 Minifter emerged at length, from a ftate of 
 the moft painful exertion and depreffion, 
 into political day ; and the reins of Go- 
 vernment, fo long and fo violently retained 
 by the " Coalition," fell from their hands. 
 It is from this aera that we may date the 
 flow, but progreflive elevation of the Bri- 
 
 tifh
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 tifh empire ; which, fhaken and convulfed 
 during the calamitous period of the Ameri- 
 can war, had not been lefs agitated by in- 
 ternal ftruggles of faction, fince its ter- 
 mination. But, before we arrive at that 
 cxhilerating fcene, it may be a not lefs 
 inftru&ive, though it is a lefs pleafing 
 talk, to furvey the picture of the empire 
 at the moment when the prefent Minifter 
 commenced his Adminiftration. 
 
 Exhaufted in her finances, and deprived of 
 vigour from the rapid fucceffion of fo many 
 Governments, debility, languor, and de- 
 cay chara&erifed every internal depart- 
 ment of the State. The public funds 
 feemed to have funk below the point of 
 depreflion, to which even the misfortunes 
 of the war had reduced them; and the 
 confifcation which had menaced the Eaft 
 India Company while Mr. Fox's bill im- 
 pended over their property, had operated 
 to fink their ftock below any former pre- 
 cedent. The revenue was diminifhcd 
 and invaded by the bold inroads of contra- 
 band commerce, which loudly called on 
 
 the
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 the Legiflature for effectual interpofition 
 and redrefs. No foreign alliance, or con- 
 nexion with any of the great powers on 
 the Continent, offered the profpecl: offup- 
 port in a future war. Holland was com- 
 pletely governed by the Republican fac- 
 tion, who, under Van Berkel in the 
 prefent, as under the De Witts in the 
 laft century, had entered into the clofefl 
 connexions with the Court of Verfailles ; 
 while the Prince of Orange, retaining 
 little more than the name of Stadtholder, 
 was reduced to a Hate of paflive infignifl- 
 cance. Denmark, whofe fovereigns had 
 been connected by alliances of blood and 
 policy with the Crown of England for 
 near half a century ; and whofe natural 
 interefts, in oppofition to thofe of Sweden, 
 tended to confirm thefe tyes ; had departed 
 from her ancient principles, and no longer 
 cultivated the friendship of a kingdom, 
 incapable of extending protection, or ren- 
 dering itfelf refpectable in the Baltic. 
 From the Court of Stockholm, attached for 
 ages to France, no demonflrations of 
 3 amity
 
 amity could be expected. The Emperor^ 
 occupied in fyftems of reformation, or 
 projects of aggrandizement j planning the 
 exchange of the Netherlands with the 
 Elector Palatine, while he wantonly at- 
 tacked the Republic of Holland, whofe 
 troops, in defiance of the moil facred 
 treaties, he had ejected by force from the 
 barrier towns of Flanders : Jofeph, en- 
 gaged in thefe ambitious enterprizes, and 
 already connected with the Court of Peterf- 
 burgh, might be regarded as inimical 
 rather than friendly to Great Britain. Ruflia 
 continued in a ftate of fullen alienation, 
 and Pruffia betrayed no marks of returning 
 friendship ; while France, flill conducted by 
 the fplendid and impofing counfels of 
 Vergennes, appeared to extend, to cement, 
 and to confirm her greatnefs. 
 
 The firft years of the prefent Adminif- 
 tration w r ere principally characterifed by 
 thofe beneficial regulations of commerce, 
 and by thofe falutary meafures of finance, fo 
 indifpenfably requifite in the fallen and im- 
 poverilhed condition of the country. An 
 
 "Eaft
 
 ( $7 ) 
 
 " Eaft India bill," mild and temperate in 
 its genius, and widely different from the 
 rapacious and arbitrary principles which 
 had rendered the former fo univerfally 
 odious, was introduced, and pafTed into a 
 law. The moil vigorous and efficacious 
 meafures were adopted for the fuppreffion 
 of fmuggling. The royal woods and fo- 
 rerts, from whence fo great a fupport to 
 the navy ought naturally to be derived, 
 but which had been completely abandon- 
 ed, as an object of national protection, for 
 half a century, did not efcape the vigi- 
 lant attention of a Minifter, anxious to 
 avail himfelf of every public refource. 
 Provifion was made for the flow, but cer- 
 tain diminution of the national debt, by 
 the appropriation of a million fterling an- 
 nually, vefted in the hands of commif- 
 iioners for the purchafe of ftock. 
 
 The confolidation of the Cufloms and 
 Excife, a meafure of incredible labour 
 and detail, as well as of infinite advantage 
 to commerce, by facilitating and fimpli- 
 fying the intricacies attendant on mercan- 
 I tile
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 tile tranfactions, and the payment of du- 
 ties; a regulation which in itfelf might 
 immortalize any Adminiftration, was fully 
 and permanently effected. It had failed 
 under the inert and feeble efforts of Lord 
 North; and its completion, fo evidently 
 productive of national benefit, drew ap- 
 plaufes even from the enemies and op- 
 pofers of the Minifter. This long lift of 
 enlightened and patriotic meafures was 
 clofed by the accomplifhment of one of the 
 greateft, but moft delicate and arduous 
 attempts, which have diftinguifhed the 
 prefent century; I mean the " Commer- 
 cial Treaty with France." An enlarged and 
 liberal policy; the greateft incitements to 
 general induftry; the extenfion of com- 
 merce, and the extinction of thofe mutual 
 jealoufies and antipathies, which have for 
 fo, many ages actuated the rival mo- 
 narchies of France and England : thefe were 
 the characteriftics and principles of a trea- 
 ty, which, notwithftanding the fpacious 
 objections urged againft it in Parliament, 
 excited univerfal approbation, and extort- 
 ed
 
 I 59 ) 
 
 ed involuntary eulogiums. The genius of 
 Great Britain, long obfcured and fettered, 
 began to aflert its antient energy ; and, li- 
 berated from domeftic anarchy, prepared 
 to re-appear on the theatre of Europe, from 
 whence me had been banifhed by inter- 
 nal calamities and diflrefs. The fignature 
 of the " Germanic League/' at Berlin, 
 whofe object was the prefervation of the 
 liberties of the Empire againft the ambi- 
 tion of Jofeph the Second, was the firft 
 fymptom exhibited of returning attention 
 to the concerns of the Continent ; and 
 though this confederation was only acceded 
 to by his Britannic Majefty in his capacity 
 of Elector of Hanover, yet its effect un^ 
 queftionably extended beyond its often- 
 fible object, and recalled the Englifh na- 
 tion again to general view and confidera- 
 tion. 
 
 While under a wife, vigorous, and 
 ceconomical Government, we were thus 
 renaming our ancient eminence and dignity 
 among the European States, the clouds of 
 difcontent and civil commotion were ra- 
 I 3 pidly
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 pidly collecting over the monarchy of 
 France. The finances, involved fince the 
 ceffation of the late war in augmenting 
 embarraffments and inextricable difficul- 
 ties, might have been found beyond the 
 probity of a Sully, or the capacity of a 
 Colbert, to re-eftablifh : in the hands of 
 Calonne, raifed to the fuperintendance, 
 they appeared to prefent a profpect of 
 public infolvency as imminent and una^ 
 voidable. Though the Court of Verfailles 
 was much diminimed in majefty and 
 fplendor by the numerous reforms which 
 had fucceffively taken place, yet the mi- 
 niftry had not fubftituted any judicious 
 fyflem of frugality, nor adopted any mea- 
 fures of energy and wifdom, either for the 
 alleviation of the national burthens, and 
 liquidation of the enormous debt contract- 
 ed under the late and prefent King; nor 
 (which feemed to be ftill more neceffary 
 for their perfonal fafety) to guard againil 
 the gathering ilorm of public violence 
 and indignation, 
 
 Louis the Sixteenth had already, in a
 
 ( 61 ) 
 
 confiderable degree, furvived the re- 
 fpect, though he continued to enjoy the 
 affection of his people. The firft years 
 of his reigr}, conduced by Maurepas and 
 Vergennes, had been diftinguifhed by the 
 moft brilliant fuccefs -> which, while it 
 dazzled and flattered the national vanity, 
 had, in a great meafure, concealed from 
 view the ruin which it occafioned in the 
 finances. The King poflefTed none of thofe 
 qualities, either corporal or mental, cal- 
 culated to fafcinate, and to fupply the 
 place of more folid endowments. His 
 figure was deftitute of dignity, and his 
 addrefs awkward and embarrafled. He 
 neither knew how to affume the open 
 and winning manners of Henry the Fourth,, 
 nor how to adopt the majeftic con- 
 defcenfion of Louis the Fourteenth. At- 
 tached to the Queen from motives rather 
 fenfual than intellectual, and retrained by 
 religious fcruples from forming any con- 
 nexions of gallantry with other women, 
 he never, in any inftance, violated his 
 nuptial fidelity, though furrounded by 
 courtiers anxious to anticipate, and eager 
 
 to
 
 to adminifter to his defires on the firft 
 intimation. Addicted to the pleafures of 
 the table, and fometimes induced to pafs 
 the limits of temperance and fobriety, he 
 yielded in thofe moments of facility to 
 the demands which the profufion of the 
 Queen, and of his brother the Court d'Ar- 
 tois, made it necefiary for them conti- 
 nually to renew. His own expences were 
 moderate, and his pleafures few. The 
 former were chiefly confined to the con- 
 ftruction of the Caftle of Compiegne, and 
 the repairs of the palace of Verfailles. The 
 latter confifted principally in the amufe- 
 ment of the chace. Though much ne- 
 glected in his education during the life of 
 Louis the Fifteenth, his mind was not 
 uninformed ; and he had attained fince 
 his acceflion to the throne, a very con- 
 fiderable degree of acquaintance with po- 
 lite letters, hiftory, and geography, by his 
 own private application and folitary 
 fludy, unaffifted by any aid. In the art 
 of reigning, he had unfortunately made 
 little progrefs or proficiency. Unambi- 
 tious
 
 tious and moderate in his character, he 
 formed no views of conqueft. He even 
 difapproved, though only paffively, of 
 the alliance with America, into which his 
 minifters had led him in the commence- 
 ment of his reign ; and fuffered himfelf, 
 with fome degree of averfion and reluct- 
 ance, to be made an acceffary to the inde- 
 pendence of the Thirteen Colonies. 
 
 His parts, however fluggifh, inert, and 
 limited, yet were not inadequate to the 
 comprehenfion and difcharge of the high 
 duties annexed to his ftation. He un- 
 queftionably loved his people, and paf- 
 fionately defired, at the price of every 
 perfonal renunciation and facrifice, to 
 render his reign dear to France. Averfe 
 to cruelty, and of a nature acceffible to 
 the impreffions of pity and humanity, 
 he threw open the gates of the caftle 
 of Vincennes, which for ages had been 
 one of the principal prifons of ftate ; and 
 mitigated, in numerous inftances, the 
 rigour of arbitrary power, which his 
 grandfather had ftrengthened and abufed. 
 
 His
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 His behaviour on the night of the ^th of 
 October, 1789, has evinced, notwith- 
 ftanding the doubts which have been en- 
 tertained upon that point, that he did not 
 want per/onal refolution or fortitude. 
 But the quality in which he has been emi- 
 nently deficient, and to the want of which 
 may be principally afcribed all the late ca- 
 lamities of his life, is Political courage and 
 decifion. In times of tranquillity and re- 
 pofe, this defect might not have been 
 perceived j or, if difcovered, might have 
 yet been limited in its effects : in tempef- 
 tuous periods, and popular infurrections, 
 it has convulfed the monarchy, and me- 
 naced the existence of the throne itfelf. 
 
 The character of the Queen, though 
 flrongly contracted with that of Louis the 
 Sixteenth, was perhaps ftill more calcu- 
 lated to alienate the affections and excite 
 the clamours of the nation. Of a figure 
 favoured by nature, and adorned by graci- 
 ous and infinuating manners, fhe was 
 formed to attach mankind. The fhort 
 period which elapfed, fubfequent to her 
 
 marriage
 
 marriage with the Dauphin, in 1770, and 
 previous to her afcending the throne, was 
 marked by the moft general partiality, and 
 by all the flattering prognoftics of poetry and 
 genius, who anticipated the future glories 
 and felicity of her reign*. Her education 
 in the court of Vienna, under the fevere 
 infpecSion of Maria Therefa, a Princefs 
 
 * It was during this brilliant and tranfitory portion of her 
 life, that me was feen by the author of a production, which 
 has recently made its appearance in this country ; and which, 
 from the celebrity of the writer, as well as from the intereft 
 excited by the fubjeft itfelf, has been read with univerfal 
 avidity. It is not my intention to criticife, or to appreciate 
 the merits of a performance, which embraces fo many 
 objefts, and ranges over fo vaft a field, as the late Revolu- 
 tion in France opens to a creative imagination. With fome 
 errors and fomeblemifhes, it appears to me to be a moft ex- 
 traordinary exhibition of genius, fancy, and in many parts, 
 of deep, able, and judicious reafoning. Its author is en- 
 titled to fomething more than the mere approbation of every 
 man who refpefts kingly power, or eftablifhed Government ; 
 and who deprecates the violence of popular innovation. 
 Perhaps the portrait of the Dauphinefs may be too highly 
 coloured ; but it is the colouring of Titian, and not of a 
 common artift. Indeed, thofe who remember the prefent 
 Queen before the death of Louis the Fifteenth, muft admit 
 that fhe was then calculated to excite fentiments of.perfonal 
 admiration and delight, in no ordinary degree. 
 
 K eminent
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 eminent for chaftity and piety, feemed in 
 fotne meafure to guarantee the exiftence of 
 thefe qualities in her daughter. But, 
 Marie Antoinette appears to have inherited 
 fcarce any of the characteriftic virtues or 
 vices of the Auftrian family, except her 
 attachment to the Houfe from whence me 
 fprung. The fond predictions of adula- 
 tion, offered to the Dauphinefs, were not 
 realized by the Queen. Her levity of man- 
 ners ; her expensive prodigality j her dif- 
 fipations -, her attachments ; her retire- 
 mentsj; perhaps, more than all thefe defects, 
 her fuppofed abufe of the afcendant which 
 {he had acquired and preferved over 
 her hufband, gradually eftranged every 
 order of the people; and eventually, as 
 the public embarraffments augmented, 
 rendered her generally odious. Her ac- 
 tions were examined with the moil fevere 
 and unjuft fpirit of national enquiry. Her 
 political connections with the Imperial am- 
 baflador were as loudly arraigned on one 
 hand, as her perfonal intimacy with the 
 Comte d'Artois was ftrongly cenfured on 
 
 the
 
 the other. Imputations the moft injuri- 
 ous to her fame as a woman and a wife, 
 were fuperadded to accufations of her dif- 
 pofition to facrifice the intereft, and fquan- 
 der the treafures of the kingdom over 
 which me reigned, in order to aggrandize 
 her brother the Emperor. She was ac- 
 cufed of miniftering to the weaknefles, and 
 even flimulating the appetites of the King, 
 with a view to avail herfelf of his fond- 
 nefs, or temporary privation of reflexion. 
 The continual vifits, and long interviews 
 which me accorded to Madamoifelle Bertin, 
 excited fentiments of difapprobation in 
 thofe, who thought the leifure of the firft 
 Queen in Europe indecently thrown away 
 in difquifitions upon a cap, or confultations 
 upon a handkerchief. Her purchafe of the 
 palace of St. Cloud, in the midft of general 
 pecuniary diftrefs, was taxed with equal 
 imprudence and profusion. Her frequent 
 retirements to Trianon were ftigmatized, 
 as exhibiting fcenes unfit for the public 
 eye. The myfterious and inexplicable 
 tranfaction relative to the famous neck- 
 K 3 lace,
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 lace, aiTerted to have been purchafed by 
 her; although the Cardinal de Rohan 
 and the Comteffe de la Motte were the 
 victims of it, yet had left impreflions dif- 
 advantageous to her honour in the minds 
 of a nation, difpofed to fee all her actions 
 through an unfavourable medium. Her 
 predilection for, and attachment to the 
 Duchefs de Polignac, fuffered the moil 
 malignant comments of fatyrical prejudice; 
 and the liberal donations, or high em- 
 ployments, with which that family was 
 diftinguimed, neceffarily added to the 
 load of public execration. Thefe accumu- 
 lated topics of popular invective and ani- 
 madverfion, were circulated with rapidity, 
 and received with equal avidity, by an ig- 
 norant and credulous multitude, who 
 filled the arcades of the " Palais Royal," 
 and who imbibed the moft inveterate de- 
 teftation of their Q^een, as conceiving her 
 the author of the public diftrefs. They 
 had already, in fome degree, marked her 
 out as a victim to the general indignation ; 
 and anxioufly waited for the favourable 
 
 occafion 3
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 occafion, which fhould liberate the Sove-f 
 reign and the nation from the pretended 
 evils of her influence, and leave Louis the 
 Sixteenth to the impulfe of his natural 
 beneficence and affection for his people. 
 
 The Count de Provence, the eldeft of 
 the King's two brothers, acted a very 
 inferior and fubordinate part upon this 
 great theatre. Either destitute of talents 
 to excite public attention, or repreiling 
 them from motives of prudence and fitua- 
 tion, he appeared only in the back ground ; 
 and formed a contraft to the impoiing 
 qualities which diftinguimed the Count 
 d ? Artois. Of a figure much more grace- 
 ful and elegant than either of his brothers, 
 this Prince was likewife adorned with 
 more dignified, if not more courteous 
 manners. Attached to the Queen from 
 limilarity of tafte and character, he even 
 exceeded her in profufion, expence, and 
 diffipation. After having parted the morn- 
 ing on the " Plaine de Sablons," in the 
 drefs and occupations of a jockey, he only 
 retired from thefe fatigues, to repofe in the 
 
 palace
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 arms of Madamoifelle Contat. His little 
 palace of *' Bagatelle/* in the " Bois dc 
 Boulogne,*' was at once the fcene of the 
 mofl refined and voluptuous debauch, and 
 of the moft profligate pleafures which 
 luxury could devife or affemble. Two 
 fons, already advancing faft towards man- 
 hood, and whofe conftitutions feemed to 
 promife a vigorous health, attracted the 
 eyes of the nation, and gave him a mani- 
 fefl fuperiority to the Count de Provence, 
 whofe marriage had not been fruitful. 
 The feeble and debilitated ftate of the 
 Dauphin, whofe infirmities already ap- 
 peared to menace a premature end, left 
 only the Duke de Normandie between him 
 and the eventual fucceffion to the Crown. 
 Though not endowed with any eminent 
 talents, yet, as being of a character more 
 decided and affirmative than either the 
 King or the Count de Provence, he came 
 more forward to public view; and by 
 his adherence to the Queen, influenced 
 very coniiderably on affairs of ftate, 
 
 At
 
 [ 7' 3 
 
 At a greater di (lance from the throne, 
 but decorated with the title of Firft Prince 
 of the Blood, was feen the Duke of 
 Orleans. PofTefTed of an immenfe revenue, 
 and having in reversion all the domains of 
 his father-in-law, the Duke de Penthievre, 
 he might be efteemed the richeft fubject 
 in Europe. His reputation for generofity 
 and munificence, bore, however, no pro- 
 portion to his ample pofleflions : on the 
 contrary, though profufe in the gratifica- 
 tion of his appetites, he was accufed by 
 the popular voice of an attention to the 
 arts of ceconomy, unworthy of his high 
 birth and fplendid fortune. Emulous of 
 being thought to refemble Henry the 
 Fourth, and the Regent Duke of Orleans, 
 from both of which Princes he derived 
 his defcent, he had no fimilarity to either, 
 except in the foibles which Ihaded the 
 character of the former, and in the vices 
 which difgraced the conduct of the latter. 
 The beneficence, the heroic valour, and 
 clemency of mind, which charadlerifed 
 the King of Navarre, were not to be traced 
 
 in
 
 ( 7* ) 
 
 in his degenerate grandfon. The fublimc 
 talents, the military genius, and the vari- 
 ous endowments of a ftatefman and a ge- 
 neral, which combined in the Regent, 
 were as vainly fought in the Duke of 
 Orleans. 
 
 Abandoned to pleafures of every de- 
 fcription, he yet had no elevation nor re- 
 finement in his amufements. His per- 
 fonal courage, which had fuftained fome 
 injury, and excited fome farcaftic com- 
 ments, from his behaviour under d'Or- 
 villiers in 1778, had not been retrieved 
 by his unpropitious attempt to fignalize 
 himfelf, by accompanying Charles and 
 Robert into the air. The malignant re- 
 flexions formerly thrown out upon his in- 
 trepidity as a naval officer, were follow- 
 ed by pafquinades upon his fuppofed ap- 
 prehenfions in the balloon; and he was 
 faid to have been as unfortunate in the 
 park of Mcudon, where he alighted from 
 his aerial excurfion, as he had been at an 
 earlier period of his life, in the vicinity 
 of theiilands of Ufhant. Notwithftand- 
 
 ing
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 ing thefe afperfions and defers, he yet 
 pofTefTed qualities, which if conducted by 
 judgment, might have redeemed him from 
 the load of obloquy under which he was 
 opprefled. His talents were certainly 
 above mediocrity , his mind enlarged, his 
 manners condefcending and popular, and 
 his understanding cultivated by letters, and 
 an extenfive acquaintance with mankind. 
 He was the only Prince of the Houfe of 
 Bourbon who had ever vifited England in 
 perfon ; the Duke d'Alen9on, brother to 
 Henry the Third of France, having been 
 the laft, who in the profecution of his 
 defign to marry Elizabeth, had pafled 
 over into thefe kingdoms. The diforders 
 in the finances, and the defperate, or ar- 
 bitrary meafures to which the Court was 
 neceffitated perpetually to have recourfe, 
 in order to raife new loans and obtain fup- 
 plies, had given the Duke of Orleans an 
 occafion, of which he gladly availed him- 
 felf, to regain his long loft popularity. 
 To this public and oftenfible caufe of his 
 alienation from the Court, were added 
 L fome
 
 t 74 ) 
 
 * 
 
 fome private mifunderftandings, which had 
 their origin in the interference of the 
 Queen to prevent an alliance, which was 
 projected between the eldeft fon of the 
 Count d'Artois, and the daughter of the 
 Duke of Orleans : a marriage which it 
 was more than poffible might eventually 
 elevate the young Princefs to the Throne 
 of France. Animated and Simulated by 
 thefe motives, he feemed to awake from 
 the diflblute pleafures in which he had 
 been plunged, and to afliime the more dig- 
 nified and ingratiating character of an 
 oppofer of defpotifm, and a protector 
 of the people. This change of conduct 
 foon produced its full effect ; and he pall- 
 ed with the mofl rapid tranfition, from 
 the contempt and reprobation of the inha- 
 bitants of Paris, to the heighth of favour 
 and general attachment. 
 
 Such was the afpect which the Court of 
 Verfailles prefented at the commencement 
 of the year 1787, and fuch were the principal 
 characters and perfonages of which it was 
 compofed. The fources of difcontent, 
 
 and
 
 ( 75 ; 
 
 and even of revolt and infurredlion, were 
 numerous and augmenting. The ordinary- 
 channels of revenue were either dried up, 
 or had become inadequate to the exigen- 
 cies of the Government. Recourfe was 
 therefore reluctantly had to other modes 
 of obtaining fupplies ; and the convoca- 
 tion of the " Notables" was propofed by 
 Calonne to the King, and adopted im- 
 mediately, as the only remaining expe- 
 dient. 
 
 In thefe critical circumftances of per- 
 plexity and diftrefs, Vergennes, whofe 
 high reputation and fuperior talents had 
 hitherto diffufed a luftre over the councils 
 of France, and alone fuftained the tottering 
 load of public credit and national grandeur: 
 this celebrated Minifter, the fucceflbr of 
 Maurepas, and who, fince his death, had 
 during eight years held the firft place 
 in the Adminiftration, was removed by 
 death from a fcene, to which all his abi- 
 lities would probably have been found un- 
 equal. Fortunate in his alliances, in his 
 wars, in his negociations, in his acquifi- 
 V> 1 tion.
 
 tipn of fame, in the enjoyment of the 
 royal favour and the popular opinion, he 
 was yet more happy in not furviving thefe 
 frail and uncertain poiTeffions. Unlike to 
 Louvois and to Fleury, he neither forfeited 
 the affection of his Sovereign, nor outlived 
 his own talents and capacity. Admired, 
 regretted, and lamented, his death feemed 
 to be the fignal which unloofed the jarring 
 elements of civil commotion, and which 
 marked the aera of the extinction of tran- 
 quillity and obedience. 
 
 The difmiflion of Calonne followed in 
 a few weeks; and the elevation of an ec- 
 clefiaftic, the Archbifhop of Touloufe, to 
 the fupreme controul of the finances, 
 whatever expectations it might at firft 
 awaken of alleviation and redrefs, only 
 tended in the event to aggravate the na- 
 tional calamities, and to encreafe the po- 
 pular difcontent. New fyftems, equally 
 unproductive as the preceding, and only 
 calculated for temporary relief, afforded 
 neither a remedy to the preffing neceflities 
 of the court, nor to the clamorous griev- 
 ances
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 ances of the people. The " Notables'* 
 were found to be equally incompetent and 
 averfe, to adduce any cure for thefe mul- 
 tipled diftempers of the ftate. They were 
 therefore diflblved ; and the nation al- 
 ready began to demand an aflembly of 
 the " States General," as the laftand only 
 meafure competent to extricate and re- 
 trieve them from the danger of impending 
 bankruptcy and ruin. 
 
 But the troubles and internal feuds of 
 the Dutch commonwealth, which had 
 been long nourifhed and fed by the poli- 
 tical liberality of the cabinet of Verfailles; 
 which had grown up under the foftering 
 hand of Vergennes, and which a feries of 
 deep and artful negociations had inflamed 
 and augmented, now approached rapidly 
 to their crifis. Never could they have 
 attained to their maturity at a more in- 
 aufpicious moment for France; and never 
 was the triumph of fortune over the ma- 
 chinations of policy more confpicuoufly 
 exemplified. 
 
 William
 
 William the Fifth, Prince of Orange, 
 poflefled the Stadtholderate of the United 
 Provinces. Allied by name rather than 
 by blood, to the great Houfe of Naflau, 
 fo fertile in heroes and in legiflators, few 
 traces of the fublime qualities which have 
 rendered that family immortal, were to 
 be difcovered in their fucceflbr. But, in 
 the Princefs his wife, fprung from the 
 union of the houfes of Brandenburgh and 
 Naflau, the characteriftic energy of both 
 was vifible. Driven out of the Province 
 of Holland by the indignities and infults 
 with which the republican faction had 
 treated the Prince, whom they had com- 
 pelled to retire to Nimeguen, fhe had 
 the courage to fet out for the Hague, and, 
 unattended by any guards, to traverfe a 
 hoilile country, in the hope of adjufting 
 by her pre fence, addrefs, and flexibility, 
 the points in difpute between her hufband 
 and the States. In this arduous and de- 
 licate attempt fhe was fruftrated, and 
 even her perfon laid under an arreft, by the 
 brutality of one of the military officers 
 
 in
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 in the fervice of the Republic. Obliged 
 to abandon her project, and to return to 
 Nimeguen, fhe invoked the protection 
 and afTiflance of the King of Pruflia, to 
 re- inflate the exiled Stadtholder in the 
 hereditary dignities and offices, of which 
 he had been fo unjufily and unconftitu- 
 tionally deprived. It was not to her un- 
 cle that fhe addrefled thefe entreaties. The 
 great Frederick was no more: he had 
 paid the common tribute to mortality, 
 and had expired at Potzdam under the 
 accumulating weight of age and difeafes. 
 But, though he no longer animated in 
 perfon the councils of Berlin, the vigour 
 of his genius furvived : it feemed even to 
 have attained new force in the hands of a 
 Sovereign, whofe more active period of 
 life led him to adopt meafures of decifion, 
 and whofe near relationfhip to the Prin- 
 cefs of Orange Simulated him to warmer 
 exertions in her behalf. 
 
 The juncture was favourable to the 
 Pruffian interpofition ; and England, un- 
 der the aufpices of a Minifler prompt to 
 
 feize
 
 ( So ) 
 
 feize the occafion of again re-appearing 
 with dignity and effect on the Continent, 
 avowedly joined and aided the attack upon 
 the enemies of the houfe of Orange. An 
 army of about fifteen thoufand men, com- 
 manded by the firft military genius in 
 Europe, the Duke of Brunfwick, entered 
 the territories of the States General, 
 in September, 1787, and over-ran with 
 the fame rapidity that Louis the Four- 
 teenth had done in laft century, the pro- 
 vince of Holland. Amfterdam itfelf, the 
 centre of difaffection, and the lail afylum 
 of the French and republican factions, 
 after a fhort and ineffectual ftruggle, capi- 
 tulated, and received the conqueror. A 
 complete, but almoft bloodlefs revolution 
 was effected ; and the Hague, fo long a 
 prey to difcord and to animofity, faw the 
 Stadtholder return, and occupy his high 
 ftation, with every expreffion of loyalty 
 and attachment. 
 
 France, embarrafled, and incapable from 
 her domeftic misfortunes, of interfering 
 either with honour to herfelf, or efficacy to 
 
 her
 
 ( 81 ) 
 
 her friends, though me appeared to make 
 a feeble effort in their favour, yet ulti- 
 mately gave way to the ftorm, and con- 
 fented to difarm ; nay more, publicly to 
 deny her having ever intended to fuftain 
 that party, in whofe fupport (he had ex- 
 pended her treafures, and for whom, in 
 more aufpicious seras, fhe would have in- 
 volved Europe in blood and hoftility. 
 The high reputation which fo fignal a fuc- 
 cefs reflected on the councils of Great 
 Britain, was contracted and rendered more 
 fplendid, by a comparifon with the fallen 
 ftate of her ancient rival, who, only a few 
 years preceding thefe events, in conjunc- 
 tion with America, had feemed to give 
 laws in every quarter of the globe. The 
 energy and wife precaution of the Minifter 
 did not, however, remit its vigilance, or 
 content itfelf with having liberated the 
 Dutch Republic, and reinftated the Stadt- 
 holder. Attentive to profit of this fortu- 
 nate and propitious moment, and to avail 
 himfelf of the gratitude with which the 
 ailiflance extended to Holland had equally 
 M imprefled
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 imprefTed the Government and the peopfe, 
 he cemented thofe fentiments by immedi- 
 ately framing, and eventually concluding a 
 defenfive treaty with the United Provinces. 
 It was figned in April, 1788, and was 
 evidently built on the model of that, which 
 had been terminated under the aufpices of 
 Vergennes, between France and Holland, 
 towards the clofe of the year 1785. 
 Reciprocal fuccours, naval and military, 
 were ftipulated; and the bands of 
 political union were drawn as clofe, as 
 human wifdom and mutual interefl could 
 devife. 
 
 This alliance, fo much approved, and 
 fo Highly beneficial to England, was fuc- 
 ceeded by a fecond, fimilar in its tenor, 
 nature, and tendency, between the Courts 
 of St. James's and Berlin, which was rati- 
 fied in the month of Auguft of the fame 
 year. They had been preceded by a fufe- 
 fidiary treaty between England and the 
 Landgrave of Heffe, which enabled the 
 former power, on the payment of a cer- 
 tain annual fum, to demand from the 
 
 latter,
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 latter, at a very fhort notice, a body of 
 twelve thoufand troops. 
 
 Thus, in the fpace of only four years 
 which might be faid to have elapfed fince 
 the complete triumph of the Sovereign and 
 the nation over the " Coalition," had 
 Great Britain, under the condudof aMinif- 
 ter who had not yet attained his thirtieth 
 year, rifen from a ftate of unexampled de- 
 preilion, to her antient fuperiority among 
 the European kingdoms. The finances had 
 been re-eftablifhed by a fyftem of unre- 
 mitting and fevere ceconomy. Commerce, 
 aided and emancipated by the wife regu- 
 lations of an enlarged policy, opened new 
 fources, and navigated feas hitherto un- 
 known or unexplored, in the profecution 
 of its objects. Public credit attained a 
 point of elevation and permanence, un- 
 parelleled fince the commencement of the 
 unfortunate war with America. The 
 councils of England, conducted on prin- 
 ciples, not of a crooked duplicity, but of 
 reditude and magnanimity, excited re- 
 and approbation in the'furrounding 
 M 2 ftateg,
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 flares, while they difFufed profperity and 
 felicity over every part of the ifland. 
 
 Political alliances and connections on the 
 Continent, added the profpect of {lability 
 to every meafure which was calculated for 
 internal fecurity or commercial advantage. 
 The calamities of LordNorth's Adminiftra- 
 tion, and the anarchy which fucceeded that 
 unfortunate period : the defalcation of thir- 
 teen provinces, and of both the Floridas 
 from the empire : the difgraces of Sara- 
 toga, and of the Chefapeake : the tumults, 
 and conflagration of London : in a word, 
 the varied and accumulated misfortunes, 
 which for a long feries of years opprefled, 
 and had almofl overwhelmed the com- 
 monwealth, were already erafed from the 
 recollection. A mild and happy calm had 
 fmoothed thefe troubled waves. The 
 Sovereign was defervedly dear to every 
 rank and order of his fubjeds, who united 
 in reo-arding him as their father and bene- 
 factor. The Government, beloved at 
 home, was refpected abroad; and the 
 people, happy beyond the example of 
 
 former
 
 former times, looked up with equal affec* 
 tion and veneration towards the fource of 
 thefe multiplied benefits. 
 
 But in the midft of this flattering afpedfc 
 of affairs, an unexpected and difaftrous 
 change was preparing to manifeft itfelf, 
 which no human prudence could have 
 forefeen, or precautions delayed. We 
 were deftined to experience in its fulled 
 extent, the mutability of fortune, and the 
 fragility of greatnefs ; to hold out a me- 
 morable leffon to pur own, and to future 
 times, that the fplendor and felicity of 
 man, however folid the foundations on 
 which they may feem to repofe, are in 
 the hands of a fuperior Being, who con- 
 fers, or withdraws them in an inilant. I 
 am arrived at that awful and affecting 
 period, when the feelings of all thofe 
 who (hall perufe thefe fheets, will antici- 
 pate my own ; and which, from a variety 
 of motives, I fhould wifh to cover under 
 a veil of oblivion, if the publicity of the 
 great leading facts, and ftill more, if the 
 inflruction conveyed by the narration itfelf,
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 as one of the moft interefting portions of 
 modern annals, did not fupercede my 
 perfonal inclinations. It is not, however, 
 either in my plan or my intention, to re- 
 late the private hiftory of that extraordi- 
 nary period ; or to drag into daylight fads 
 and anecdotes, which, curious and enter- 
 taining as they mufl appear to pofterity, 
 are, in every fenfe, unfit for the perufal 
 of the prefent age. Sentiments of duty, 
 delicacy, and refpect towards a Prince in- 
 expreflibly dear to his people ; towards a 
 Queen, who during near thirty years, and 
 in every relation of domeftic life, has been 
 blamelefs and exemplary : towards thofe 
 illuftrious perfons, on whom tjie fceptre 
 of George the Third muft, in the ordinary 
 progrefs of events, at fomc future, and as 
 we truft, far diftant period, devolve : even 
 motives of prudence, decorum, and pro- 
 priety, arreft my pen ; and prevent me 
 from fhading a picture, the outline only 
 of which it is either wife or neceilary to 
 hold up to the public eye, placed as we 
 are fo near the object. 
 
 The very nature of thefubjed: is, indeed, 
 
 fucb
 
 fuch as to add peculiar embarraffmenfs to 
 thofe general ones, which prefent them- 
 felves in the way of every man who fhall 
 venture to relate the tranfactions of the time 
 in which he lives, and of which he forms 
 himfelf, though an imperceptible, yet a 
 real and efficient part. Nor is it even a 
 fufficient juftification or inducement to 
 undertake fuch a tafk, that the mild genius 
 of the century in which we write, or the 
 freedom which enables us to dictate with- 
 out apprehenfion, appear to liberate us 
 from every reftraint. There are feelings ia 
 a generous mind, anterior to all written 
 law, and far fuperior in their operation to 
 thofe regulations which are impofed by 
 Courts of Judicature, or legiflative bodies. 
 It is to thefe reftri&ions that I fhall fubjecl: 
 my pen, while the great chain of events 
 may yet be prefented to the Englifh people, 
 and the fidelity of hiftorical truth be pre- 
 ferved inviolate. " Ut, non modo cafus, 
 cventufque rerum, qui plerumque fortuiti 
 funt, fed ratio etiam, cauflaeque nofcantur." 
 Like the fublime writer whom I have juft 
 cited, and who flouriihed under the golden 
 
 reign
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 feign of Trajan, we too, " rara tempo* 
 rum felicitate, ubi fenfire quse velis, et 
 quse fentias dicere licet," may, unawed 
 by power, affix the fentiment of approba- 
 tion and of cenfure, in conformity to our 
 own conviction . Such is equally my 
 defign and my determination. But it is 
 only for thofe who can elevate their minds 
 above the little partialities and prejudices 
 of the day, that it belongs to appreciate 
 the performance of this promife ; and to 
 decide how far the prefent work may ven- 
 ture to lay claim to any portion of Roman 
 energy and freedom, or how far the im- 
 mortal writings of antiquity would be 
 fullied and degraded by a comparifon 
 with this production. 
 
 It is not eafy to imagine or to parallel 
 in the hiilory of the prefent century, a 
 period of more perfect ferenity than that 
 which England prefented in the autumn of 
 1788. The King, accompanied by the 
 Queen, and furrounded by his family, 
 after having tried the effects of a relaxa- 
 tion from public bufinefs, and of the medi- 
 cinal
 
 cinal waters of Cheltenham, had returned 
 to Windfor j not, indeed, in a ftate of 
 vigorous health, but by no means in 
 any fuch declining ftate of indifpoiition, 
 as to excite alarm among his fubjects. 
 The Prince of Wales, as ufual, palled the 
 fummer at his Marine Pavillion at Bright- 
 helmftone. Mr. Pitt, occupied in the 
 functions of his ftation, was detained in 
 the vicinity of the capital j while Mr. 
 Fox, whofe faculties of body and mind 
 had been not a little exercifed and ex- 
 haufted, by a toilfome attendance in Covent 
 Garden during the extreme heats of Auguft, 
 which was thought requisite to fecure the 
 election of Lord John Townfend as mem- 
 ber for Weflminfter ; indulged a degree of 
 neceflary repofe, and withdrew for a fhort 
 time from the hurry of political life. He 
 quitted England, and repaired to Swit- 
 zerland and Italy, as a fcene calculated to 
 amufe and entertain, while it reftored 
 and invigorated a conftitution, impaired by 
 conftant exertion. The great leaders 
 of Miniftry and Oppoiition, having laid 
 
 N afide
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 afide their political animofities, were dif- 
 perfed in peaceful inactivity over every part 
 of the kingdom. From this ftate of public 
 recreation and felicity, the nation was 
 rudely and fuddenly awoke, by the reports 
 of his Majefty being attacked with an un- 
 expected and dangerous illnefs. The 
 precife nature of it was for feveral days 
 unafcertained and unexplained, even to 
 thofe whofe refidence near the court mould 
 have enabled them to obtain early and au- 
 thentic information. Meanwhile, fame 
 augmented the evil, and the death of the 
 Sovereign was believed to have either 
 already taken place, or to be imminent 
 and inevitable. 
 
 The grief and diffraction which were 
 manifefted in every part of the ifland, 
 on the publication of this calamitous 
 event, can be only compared with that 
 of the Roman people, on the news of 
 Germanicus being feized with mortal 
 fymptoms at Antioch ; as the diflrefs- 
 ful fituation of the Queen bore fome 
 rcfemblancc to that of Agrippina. 
 
 " PafTim
 
 ** Paffim filentia et gemitus, nihil compo- 
 iitum in oftentationem ; et quanquam ne- 
 que infignibus lugentiurn abftinerent, al- 
 tius animis mcerebant." Time, however, 
 gradually divulged the truth, and changed 
 the apprehenfions of the nation for the 
 fituation of the King. His diforder was 
 underftood to have fallen upon the brain, 
 and to have produced, as might be ex- 
 pected, a temporary privation of reafon. 
 As the caufe of this alienation of mind 
 was extraneous and violent, k might be 
 hoped that it could only be of fhort dura- 
 tion : but the uTue was uncertain, while 
 the fufpenfion of all government, and of 
 every function attached to the kingly dig- 
 nity, was immediate and indifputable. A 
 fpecies of interregnum in fact took place ; 
 though unaccompanied by any of thofe 
 circumftances, which ufually characterize 
 and accompany that unfortunate ftate. The 
 kingdom, anxious, and with eyes directed 
 towards their Sovereign, betrayed no fymp- 
 tomsof confufion, anarchy, or civil commo- 
 tion. The Firft Minifter continued to exer- 
 N 2 cife,
 
 C 92 ) 
 
 cife, byageneralfubmiffionandconfent, the 
 powers delegated to him before the King's 
 indifpofition ; and the political machine, 
 well constructed, and properly organized, 
 fuftdined no derangement or injury what- 
 foever from this mock, except thofe infe- 
 parably connected with delay in the tranf- 
 actions or negociations pending with 
 foreign courts. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Heir to the monarchy 
 had quitted Brighthelmftone on the firfl 
 information of his fathers malady, and re- 
 paired to Windfor, whither he was fol- 
 lowed by the Duke of York. Phyficians 
 were called in, though ineffectually ; and as 
 the nature of the diftemper and of its final 
 termination opened a wide field to conjec- 
 ture, change and alteration, an exprefs w r as 
 fent to overtake Mr. Fox in whatever part 
 of the Continent he might be found ; and 
 to intreat that he would return without 
 delay to England. 
 
 The two Houfes of Parliament, in con- 
 fequence ot the preceding prorogation, 
 met in a few days fubfequent to thefe ex- 
 traordinary
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 traordinary events. The general agitation 
 and curiofity, even if they had not been 
 aided by other emotions of hope and fear, 
 of ambition, and of public duty, would 
 alone have produced a numerous attend- 
 ance. Mr, Pitt opened the fubject of 
 their meeting in a very concife and pathetic 
 manner; lamented theoccafion, exprefled 
 his hope that the caufe would fpeedily be 
 removed, and in purfuance of that idea, 
 advifed an immediate adjournment of a 
 fortnight. The propofition was received 
 in deep filence by the oppofite fide of the 
 Houfe, and afTented to in mute acquief- 
 cence. Their leader was not yet arrived; 
 and confequently time was wanted to ad- 
 jufl and determine on their plan of action, 
 under circumstances fo delicate and unpre- 
 cedented. In the interval which took 
 place, his Majefly was removed to the 
 palace of Kew. The Prince of Wales re- 
 turned to Carlton Houfe ; and Mr. Fox, 
 impatiently expected, after a journey 
 which he performed with incredible ex- 
 pedition from Bologna, in a very infirm 
 
 and
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 and difordered ftate of health, arrived in 
 London, and afTumed his juft pre-emi- 
 nence in the counfels of his party. 
 
 Thofe counfels evinced their nature and 
 object, as foon as the late adjournment was 
 at an end ; and Mr. Fox, generoufly, 
 though perhaps injudicioufly flepping for- 
 ward in the fenate, rather laid claim to 
 the vacant fceptre in the name and on the 
 behalf of the Heir Apparent, as belonging 
 and devolving to him of right ; than pre- 
 ferred his pretenfions with modefty and 
 fubmiflion, at the bar of the afTembled na- 
 tion. Perhaps a-ftep more injurious to the 
 great perfonage whom it was intended to 
 ferve, or more pregnant with confequerices 
 to be deprecated, of every kind, could not 
 have been devifed or executed. Perhaps, 
 too, when time lhall have withdrawn that 
 curtain which is ftill Jftretched acrofs thefe 
 recent and interefting events, we may dif- 
 cover, that in advancing fo unqualified a 
 demand of the regency, he did not pre-? 
 cifely follow the dictates of his own ele- 
 vated mind, and illuminated judgment. 
 
 It
 
 It wakened a jealous fpirit of enquiry into 
 the fuppofed origin and foundation of that 
 afTerted right, in the breafts even of the moft 
 liberal and unprejudiced. It compelled 
 Administration to probe that problematical 
 and obfcure part of the Britifh Gonftitu- 
 tion. It reminded thofe, to whom the 
 writings of Shakefpear were familiar, of 
 that affecting and pathetic fcene, where 
 Henry the Fourth, under a temporary 
 privation of his faculties, finds on his 
 recovery, that his eldeft fon has carried 
 away the infignia of his royal dignity, 
 which, had he only waited a few hours, 
 would have been his by devolution* 
 
 The difcernment of Mr. Pitt faw, andin- 
 jftantly enabled him to profit of this error in. 
 his antagonift. He demanded thedifcuflion 
 and decifion of fo great and leading a 
 principle, which led to conclufions un- 
 limited and undefined, as well as fubver- 
 five of the tenure on which a King of 
 England had originally received his crown ; 
 previous to any ulterior difpofition and 
 Uiftribution of offices. He was joined 
 
 by
 
 by the majority of the Houfe in this re- 
 quifition, and thus commenced his refift- 
 ance under aufpices and circumftances pe- 
 culiarly fortunate. It was in vain that the 
 Prince of Wales, already rendered fenfible 
 of the injury which his caufe had fuftained, 
 equally in Parliament and among the peo- 
 ple, by Mr. Fox's unqualified claim of 
 right, endeavoured to wave and prevent all 
 further difcuffion of fo invidious a fub- 
 ject. It was in vain that the Duke of 
 York, in his brother's name, and by his 
 authority, renounced any fuch affumption 
 of power, and made this public declara- 
 tion in the Houfe of Lords. Nor was 
 Mr. Fox's attempt to qualify his firft af- 
 fertion, and to give it a more mitigated 
 fenfe, received with better fuccefs in the 
 other Houfe. Parliament, roufed to a 
 fenfe of the neceffity of declaring itfelf 
 folely competent to fill the vacant throne, 
 proceeded to that great act without cir- 
 cumlocution or delay ; and having pro- 
 nounced upon this important preliminary, 
 then decided that the Prince of Wales 
 3 Ihould
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 fhould be invited and fequefted to accept 
 the Regency, under certain limitations. 
 The month of December elapfed in thefe 
 contefts, and the year 1789 commenced 
 under themoft gloomy prefaces . Mutual 
 afperity and reproach embittered every de- 
 bate. No appearances of convalefcence or 
 recovery, fo ardently anticipated by the 
 nation, had yet manifefted themfelves in 
 the malady of the King. In addition to 
 the keeneft fenfations of private dirtrefs as a 
 mother and a wife, the Queen faw herfelf 
 on the point of being placed in the moft 
 painful, though indifpenfably necefTary 
 {ituation ; that of being entrufted with the 
 care of the Royal Perfon, and of Handing 
 in a fort of rivality and competition to 
 her eldeft fon. The Prince, who afpired 
 to a Regency, unfettered by any refrri&ions, 
 betrayed in his reply to a letter which the 
 Firft Minifter addrefled to him, and in 
 which the great featufes of that intended 
 delegation of the Royal power were deli- 
 neated, his warm refentment and diflatif- 
 fadtion at many of thofe defalcations. 
 O He
 
 ( 98 ) 
 
 He concluded, however, by reluctantly 
 and coldly confenting to receive it, cur- 
 tailed and degraded as it might be by 
 Minifterial or Parliamentary diftruft. 
 
 A fecond examination of the phyficians 
 who had attended his Majefty during the 
 courfeof his diforder, which took place be- 
 fore a Committeeof the Houfeof Commons, 
 and which was certainly not conducted on 
 the part of Oppofltion with either delicacy or 
 judgment, tended to throw very little light 
 on the great object of public enquiry j the 
 probable duration and period of this afflicting 
 malady. Mr. Pitt constantly and warmly 
 maintained the probability of its happy 
 termination; and regarding it as neither 
 diflant nor hopelefs, made the refumption 
 of the Royal power by the Sovereign with 
 facility and celerity, as foon as he mould 
 be enabled to wield the fceptre, the firfl and 
 leading principleof all his meafuresandpro- 
 pofitions. The adherents of the Prince of 
 Wales faw the profpect of his father's re- 
 covery through a very different medium, 
 and conceived of it not only as improba- 
 ble,
 
 bie, but as hourly augmenting in that 
 improbability. They were fiutained in 
 this opinion by Warren, as the Minuter 
 was confirmed in his oppofite fentiment by 
 Willis; two phyficians, on whofe contra- 
 dictory prognostics and appreherifions 
 each party implicitly relied. The former, 
 at the fummit of his profeffion, and un- 
 queftionably pofTefled of great medical 
 (kill, was yet accufed by the public 
 voice of leaning irt his inclination towards 
 the party of the Prince. The latter, 
 brought from a diftant province to attend 
 the Sovereign under his fevere diforder, 
 and having been peculiarly converfant in 
 that fpecies of difeafe, boldly and early 
 aflerted that he entertained fcarcely any 
 doubts of the King's perfect re-eftablifli- 
 rhent at no remote period. The event 
 fully juftified his prediction. 
 
 Meanwhile the introduction of the 
 propofitions upon which the Regency Bill 
 was meant to be founded, and the reftric- 
 tions intended to be impofed upon the 
 power of the future Regent, which were 
 O 2 brought
 
 brought forward by the Firft Minifter in 
 the Houfe of Commons, carried the rage 
 and virulence of party to its utmoft height. 
 The negation of the power of creating 
 Peers : the nomination of a council to 
 affift the Queen : and the complete referv- 
 ation of the Royal houfehold, were all 
 arraigned and condemned in the warmed 
 terms by Mr. Fox, as dictated only 
 by ambition, and not originating in flate 
 neceility, or even in regard to the fltuation 
 of the Monarch. The hiftory of France 
 under the unhappy reign of Charles the 
 Sixth, was cited, as bearing a manifeft 
 refemblance to the prefent difaflrous pe- 
 riod $ and a Qu.en, equally venerated and 
 beloved by the nation, was compared to 
 the unnatural Ifabelja of Bavaria ; as her 
 fpn the Dauphin's abandoned and perfe- 
 cuted frate was aiTerted to be fimilar to 
 that of the Prince of Wales. Unmoved 
 by thefe invectives, and fuftajned by con- 
 fcious rectitude of intention, the Minifter 
 fteadily purfued his way : nor was he, 
 in this critical and diftrefling moment, 
 
 deferted
 
 deferted by either Houfe of Parliament. The 
 Chancellor, who, at the commencement of 
 the King's illnefs, had been fuppofed to 
 have liftened to propofals for forming a 
 part of a new Adminiftration ; anxious to 
 evince the falfehood of fo unjuft an afper- 
 lion, and to give the moft unequivocal 
 proofs of loyalty and of adherence to his 
 Sovereign under the prefent circumftances, 
 collected all the energy of his mind in the 
 various appeals, which he fuccefsfully made 
 to the honour and patriotifm of the Houfe 
 of Lords. 
 
 In this ftage of the public bufinefs, at a 
 moment when the King's fituation appeared 
 moft to exclude hope, and while the Houfe 
 of Commons were fully occupied in fram- 
 ing the principal component parts of the 
 at which was to eftablifh the Regency, 
 Mr. Fox withdrew from the fcene, and 
 quitting London, retired to Bath. His 
 difordered ftate of health was ailigned as a 
 pretext for this fecefllon at fo extraordinary 
 and critical a juncture ; but the public con- 
 ceived the motives of it to originate in very 
 
 different
 
 different caufes. Diflention and jealoufy 
 had already pervaded the counfels of Carl- 
 ton Houfe. The diftribution of offices 
 under the approaching Regency had pro- 
 duced alienation among the chiefs. An 
 interior Cabinet, different in its views, and 
 oppofite in its objects to the great oftenfi- 
 ble leaders of the party attached to the 
 Prince of Wales, had fet up a feparate 
 Itandard, and formed a diftinct interefh 
 Difference of opinion had manifefted itfelf 
 upon fome very delicate, and perfonal 
 points. Cabal and intrigue had penetrated 
 into the clofet. His Royal Highnefs was 
 generally fuppofed to have experienced 
 difficulties, if not peremptory refufals of 
 gratifying his wifhes, on the part of the 
 Duke of Portland ; and that, in relation 
 to perfons and things peculiarly near his 
 heart. Thefe numerous fources of dif- 
 Union were frill however, in fome mea- 
 fure concealed from view, by their very 
 nature, and the mutual intereft or honour 
 of the parties themfelves. The great acts 
 of parliamentary legiflation proceeded, 
 
 and
 
 and were nearly approaching to their ter- 
 mination. A very fliort period, probably 
 not exceeding three days, muft have com- 
 pleted the bill, wh,ich was to declare the 
 incapacity of the Sovereign to condud; the 
 national affairs, and to transfer the fceptre* 
 thqugh with diminifhed influence, to hi$ 
 fon. The members of Adminiilration 
 were on the point of refigning their charges, 
 and the new Minifhy, already fettled,, 
 prepared to enter on ofike : while the 
 Engliih people, fondly attached by every 
 fenfe of loyalty and affeclion to their 
 Monarch, as well as from gratitude ancj 
 efteem to the Firft Minifter, in dejection 
 and filence looked on, and faw the 
 Government transferred to others, who, 
 whatever abilities they might collectively 
 poffefs, certainly neither merited nor en- 
 joyed the general approbation and con- 
 fidence. 
 
 But the term of interregnum and mif- 
 fortune was now arrived; and the im- 
 pending calamity which had menaced 
 England with all the evils of a Regency, 
 
 far
 
 ( 104 ) 
 
 far more to be deprecated and dreaded than 
 thofe from which the country had efcaped 
 in 1784, was fuddenly and unexpectedly 
 diffipated. The diforder, under which 
 the King had fuffered during three months, 
 and whofe violence had hitherto appeared 
 to baffle all medical (kill and exertion, 
 gradually, but rapidly fubiided. Sanity 
 of mind and reafon refumed their feat, 
 and left no trace of their temporary fub- 
 verlion. Time confirmed the cure, and 
 reftored to his fubjects a Prince, rendered 
 fupremely and peculiarly dear to them by 
 the recent profpect and appreheniion of his 
 lofs. The vifion of a Regency faded and 
 difappeared, as the Sovereign came for- 
 ward to public view, and was totally ex- 
 tinguifhed by his refumption of all the 
 regal functions. The demonflrations of 
 national joy far exceeded any recorded 
 in the Englifh annals, and were probably 
 more real and unfeigned than ever were 
 offered on iimilar occafions. It was not 
 only that a King, beloved and refpected, 
 was recovered from the moft afflicting of 
 
 all
 
 all filiations incident to humanity, and ena- 
 bled to re-afcend the throne. Sentiments of 
 difapprobation and of general condemnation, 
 affixed to the meafures and conduct of the 
 oppofite party, heightened the emotions 
 of pleafure, by a comparifon with that 
 ftate from which the kingdom had been 
 fo fortunately delivered. No efforts of 
 defpotifm, or mandates of abfolute power 
 could have produced the illuminations, 
 which the capital exhibited in teftimony 
 of its loyalty ; and thefe proofs of attach- 
 ment were renewed, and even augmented, 
 on the occaflon of his Majefty's firft ap- 
 pearance in public, and his folemn pro- 
 ceffion to St. Paul's, to return thanks to 
 Heaven for his recovery. Serenity and 
 tranquillity, fo long banimed, refumed 
 their place, and foon effaced the recol- 
 lection of a calamity, not more awful and 
 alarming in its appearance and progrefs, 
 than fpeedily and happily extinguilhed. 
 
 The attention of Europe, which had been 
 
 fo powerfully attracted towards England 
 
 during the continuance of the fevereindifpo- 
 
 P fition
 
 fition of George the Third, was now to be 
 directed to another object fcarcely lefs pro- 
 ductive of change, and big with the moil 
 important confequences. France, folong 
 inured to fervitude, and only tracing the 
 exiftence of her liberties in the page of 
 forgotten hiflorians, or antiquaries : whofe 
 fetters, originally impofed by Richlieu, and 
 flrengthened by Mazarin, had been rivetted 
 by the lapfe of near two centuries ; by the 
 proud tyranny of Louis the Fourteenth, 
 and by the profligate defpotifm of his fuc- 
 ceflbr : France, ftimulated by the writings 
 of genius and philofophy, which in de- 
 fiance of arbitrary power, have illuminated 
 and dignified the prefent age, afpired to 
 freedom. The weaknefs of the Sovereign \ 
 the incapacity or timidity of his Minifters ; 
 the exhaufted flate of the treafury and 
 finances ; the unexampled and pertinaci- 
 ous oppofition of the Parliament of Paris 
 to regifter, or fanction the Royal edicts 
 for the impofition of new taxes ; the 
 failure of the harvefts, and confequent 
 augmentation in the price of bread ; all 
 
 -thefe
 
 thefe concurring circumftances contributed 
 to produce and accelerate a revolution. 
 
 The various Parliaments of the kingdom, 
 in terms of energy and firmnefs to which 
 they had been long difufed, clamoroufly 
 demanded the immediate convocation of 
 the '* States General," as the only confti- 
 tutional, or adequate remedy to thediftem- 
 pers of the ilate, They Adhered to this 
 requisition, not only in defiance of the 
 difpleafure of the Crown, which was 
 manifefted by the banimment of the Par- 
 liament of Paris to Troyes in Champagne; 
 but in oppofition to their own eflential in- 
 terefls, and even eventual exiftence. The 
 nobility, attached by fo many ties to the 
 Sovereign, and the natural fupporters of 
 his prerogative ; irritated at the attempt 
 made by Calonne, and perfifted in by the 
 Archbifhop of Touloufe, to deprive them 
 of their exemption from the .projected 
 land tax, or " impot territorial, "joined the 
 courts of judicature in their refufal to regifter 
 the meafures propofed, and forfook their 
 hereditary maxims of policy, to adopt 
 P % .the
 
 ( io8 ) 
 
 the popular party. The irrefolute conduft 
 of the Firft Minifter under thefe delicate 
 and trying circumftances, invigorated and 
 emboldened the enemies of Government ; 
 and the fpirit of remonftrance, complaint, 
 and menace, deffeminated with induftry, 
 became daily more general and alarming. 
 The Archbifhop, after many inefficient 
 or unfuccefsful plans for the re-eftablifh- 
 ment of the finances, and fome ill-con- 
 ceived exertions of feverity and power 
 againft his opponents, felt himfelf une- 
 qual to combat the gathering ftorm of 
 national indignation ; and retiring from a 
 (ituation of danger and eminence, aban- 
 doned his mailer to the mercy of events. 
 He even quitted prance, and paffed the 
 Alps into Italy ; as Calonne, under fimi- 
 lar expreffions of general refentment, had 
 done in the preceding year ; when finding 
 the Royal protection withdrawn, and al- 
 ready impeached by the Parliament of 
 Paris, he retreated firft into Holland, and 
 from thence crofTed the fea to England. 
 In this perplexed lituation, Louis the Six- 
 teenth,
 
 teenth, compelled to difmifs one Minifler, 
 and forfaken by another ; furrounded with 
 embarrafTments, and having only a choice 
 qf evils ; confcious that the very foundations 
 of the throne and monarchy were crumbling 
 under his feet ; endowed with no talents or 
 great qualities which might enable him to 
 fuftain his own dignity, coerce his fubjects, 
 or reftore order and energy in the public 
 affairs : alarmed and terrified at the demon- 
 ftrations of difcontent which appeared in 
 the capital, and the provinces : under the 
 preflure of thefe various considerations and 
 apprehenfions, he embraced the refolu- 
 tion of meeting the wifhes of the nation ; 
 and if driven to the lafl neceflity, of lay- 
 ing the diftreffes of the Crown before the 
 reprefentatives of the people. 
 
 Neckar, who had conducted the finances 
 during the profeeution of the late war with 
 England, and who had attained a very 
 unmerited degree of popularity fince his 
 difmiflion from office, was reinftated in 
 his employment of Comptroller General. 
 The avowed enemy of Calonne, whom 
 
 he
 
 C HO ) 
 
 he accufed of peculation and malverfation, 
 he had appealed to the public by various 
 controverfial writings, defamatory of that 
 Minifter, and tending to criminate him as 
 a defaulter in the eyes of France and of 
 all Europe. The famous " Compte 
 rendu au Roi" in 1781, in which he laid 
 open to his own Sovereign, and to all man- 
 kind, the expenditure, revenue, and re- 
 fources of his country, may be regarded not 
 only as an unprecedented difclofure of the 
 hitherto facred and unrevealed arcana of 
 the French monarchy ; but as having 
 operated much beyond the immediate and 
 oftenfible pretext of his own juflification, 
 by awakening, and directing the reflexions 
 of every clafs of men towards the profufe 
 diftribution of the public treafure. Sim- 
 ple in his exterior, and decent in his man- 
 ners, Neckar attained the fame of difin- 
 tereftednefs and probity. Equally repub- 
 lican in birth and in principles, he flattered 
 by thefe circumftances, the prevailing 
 fpirit and genius of the times. Avowedly 
 odious to the party of the Queen, and 
 
 of
 
 \ III ) 
 
 of the Count d'Artois, he could hardly 
 be fuppofed to poflefs the real confidence 
 or attachment of the King, who had only 
 been driven by his own diftrefs, and the 
 current of popular favor, to have recourfe 
 to his affiftance and fervices. Deficient in 
 all the eflential qualities of a great Minifter, 
 and ignorant of thofe enlarged principles of 
 taxation and revenue, which were alone 
 competent to the extrication of fo vaft a 
 monarchy as France, he fupplied thefe de- 
 fects by little arts and narrow projects, 
 adapted to the exigencies of the day. In the 
 Canton of Bern his talents might have en- 
 titled him to refpect, and they would have 
 been in their proper fphere. An able arith- 
 metician, but a feeble ftatefman, he only 
 appeared in the firft ftation of finance, to 
 evince how inadequate were his abilities to 
 that dangerous elevation j and after vainly 
 attempting to fuftain an ill-founded repu- 
 tation, he has now retired to oblivion, un- 
 lamented, and almoft unnoticed by that 
 nation, among whom he was fo lately 
 idolized. 
 
 Although
 
 Although the recall and nomination of 
 Neckar appeared to give general fatis fac- 
 tion, and awakened the hopes of his nu- 
 merous and fanguine admirers, yet thefe 
 fymptoms of approbation gradually fub- 
 fided. The temporary erTedt of his name 
 in raifing the public credit, produced no 
 permanent or beneficial confequence. 
 Languor and debility characterized every 
 operation of finance ; and Government 
 became lefs competent to refift the en- 
 croachments of the people, in proportion 
 as its embarrafTment multiplied. Paris, 
 rendered clamorous by the high price of 
 grain, and attributing this fcarcity more to 
 the arts of monopoly, and even to the 
 indirect interference of the Court in per- 
 mitting the exportation of corn, than to 
 any deficiency in the productions of the 
 earth, proceeded to acts of violence, bor- 
 dering on infurrection. The introduction 
 of a body of military forces into the capital, 
 quelled, not without a confiderable ef- 
 fufion of blood, thefe firft fymptoms of 
 revolt, and reftored a degree of tranquillity 
 3 and
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 and fubmiflion. Notwithstanding this ap- 
 parent check to the fpirit of popular inno- 
 vation, every circumfrance tended to evince, 
 that the numerous fubjects of complaint on 
 the fide of the People could not be extin- 
 guifhed, by any expedient fhort of uncon- 
 ditional fubmiflion on the part of the 
 Crown; or of an appeal to the fword, if 
 the former meafure fhould be thought too 
 degrading for a Prince born in the purple, 
 and accuftomed to regard his power as un- 
 limited and irrefiftible. The naked and 
 unprotected Majefty of the throne, no 
 longer environed, as under Louis the Four- 
 teenth, by a fplendid houfehold and the 
 pomp of royalty, formed a very inefficient 
 barrier againfr. a nation, enthufiaftic in their 
 demands of aconftitution ; and who feemed 
 to be determined to feize the favourable 
 moment, for curtailing the odious preroga- 
 tive of ifTuing " Lettres de Cachet," and 
 raifing fupplies by arbitrary mandate. The 
 levities and profufion of the Queen; the 
 haughty tone which was afTumed by the 
 Count d'Artois on feveral occafions ; and 
 
 the
 
 the fuppofed fubfervience of the King to 
 his wife and brother, encreafed' the frenzy 
 for reformation, and added to the general 
 cffervefcence. Yielding with ungracious 
 reluctance to thefe man if eft at ions of the 
 approaching Horm, the King confented to 
 adopt the humiliating and unwelcome ad- 
 vice offered by his Miniiter, of convoking 
 the States General at Verfailles : but, at 
 the fame time, Simulated to rciiftance 
 by his own feelings, as well as by 
 , the exhortations of thofe who were con- 
 tinually near his perfon, he began to pre- 
 pare for extremities, and to affemble forces. 
 The Duke of Orleans, who, at an early 
 period of the prefent troubles, had been 
 ordered to retire to his feat at Reinfy, on 
 account of the active part which he had 
 taken in opposition to the Government, had 
 obtained, from the lenity or indulgence of 
 the Court, permiilion to revilit Paris. 
 Lefs fenfible to this mark of favour, than 
 irritated by the a6t of feverity which pre- 
 ceded it, he determined on revenge, and 
 embraced with ardor the popular caufe. 
 His high quality and near alliance to 
 
 the
 
 ( "5 ) 
 
 the Sovereign ; his immenfe revenues ; 
 his central fituation at the " Palais Royal," 
 in the heart of the metropolis; his numer- 
 ous connexions, and extenfive influence: 
 this combination of circumftances enabled 
 him to become a very dangerous and for- 
 midable opponent to the Crown, in its 
 prefent fallen and debilitated itate. He 
 probably did not apprehend the extremi- 
 ties to which his own intrigues might con- 
 duct a tumultuous aflembly ; or he might 
 conceive that he fhould always be able to 
 direct: its operations, and to fuperjntend its 
 movements. It is even poflible, as his 
 enemies aflert, that the flattering profped: 
 of the Regency, which already opened it- 
 felf to his ambition as neither a remote nor 
 improbable event, conduced to determine 
 his line of action, and to prevent him 
 from feeing the precipices with which fuch 
 a purfuit was furrounded. He was elected 
 a member of the States General for Crepy 
 in Valois, and took his feat in the ArTembly. 
 This extraordinary convocation of all 
 the orders of the kingdom, which had 
 
 not
 
 not been fummoned fince the Regency of 
 Mary of Medicis, and whofe very ex- 
 iftence feemed to have been annihilated by 
 three long reigns of arbitrary power, was 
 opened with the utmoft folemnity by Louis 
 the Sixteenth, aflifted by the Princes of 
 the Blood, and accompanied with all the 
 external fplendor becoming fo auguft a 
 ceremony. Many fources of internal dif- 
 cord and confufion, almoft inevitable from 
 the competition and oppofite pretenfions or 
 intereft of the Nobility, Clergy, and Third 
 Eftate ; the facility of introducing corrup- 
 tion among fo vaft and mixed a body of 
 men ; above all, the loyalty and adherence 
 naturally to be expected from the two firft 
 clafles of the ftates : thefe inherent vices in 
 their formation infpired the Court with a 
 confidence, that no unanimity or exertion of 
 vigour would ever characterize fo hetero- 
 geneous a mafs. The firft proceedings of 
 the AfTembly juftified thefe expectations. 
 Much time elapfed in difputes arifing 
 from the incompatibility of the refpective 
 demands of the different orders; and though 
 
 thefe
 
 ( "7 ) 
 
 thefe were at laft happily terminated by 
 the Nobility and Clergy renouncing, or ac- 
 quiefcing in the claims of the delegates of 
 the people; yet the Sovereign ftill poflefTed 
 great rcfources, and various means of pro- 
 tracting or averting any act militating 
 vitally againft his prerogatives. 
 
 Had Louis the Sixteenth been left to 
 the impulfe and direction of his own cha- 
 racter, it is probable that he would have 
 continued to yield to the encroachments of 
 the democratical fpirit, which had already 
 produced fo many involuntary conceffions 
 on the part of the Crown; and which, en- 
 creafingin vigour as it proceeded, avowedly 
 aimed at giving birth to a free constitution, 
 and a limited monarchy. He wanted all 
 that energy, elevation, and courage requi- 
 fite to fuftain him in a ftruggle againft his 
 people, and to enable him to reprefs their 
 attempts at emancipation. But in the 
 Queen and the Count d'Artois, refentment 
 at the inroads of a nation whom they had 
 long regarded only as formed for fervitude; 
 and the habitual exercife of arbitrary power, 
 
 a warmly
 
 warmly impelled to every exertion for its 
 prefervation ; while it dictated the moll 
 decided meafures for repreffing and chaf- 
 tizing a mutinous and difcontented capital. 
 They united their efforts to fuftain the 
 irrefolution of the King, and fucceeded. 
 It was determined in the cabinet of Ver- 
 failles, to adopt the moft vigorous princi- 
 ples ; to diflblve the National Affembly ; to 
 difmifs the Comptroller-General ; and to 
 punifh the infolence of the metropolis. 
 Prudence and addrefs were, however, re- 
 quifite to mature thefe counfels, and to 
 facilitate their execution. A great body 
 of forces, principally confifting of the 
 Swifs and German regiments in the fervice 
 of France, was gradually collected from 
 different provinces. The Marechal de 
 Broglio, an officer of high military repu- 
 tation, and of known attachment to the 
 Crown, was named to the fupreme com- 
 mand. Every neceffary preparation for 
 maintaining the Royal authority, if necef- 
 fary, by the moft fpirited and fevere acts 
 of punishment, was made, without even 
 
 the
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 affectation of difguife or concealment. 
 The capital, incapable of refinance, and 
 unconfcipus even of its own capacities of 
 defence; deftitute of leaders, of arms, 
 and of troops, waited patiently the chaf- 
 tizement which impended. 
 
 Paris, involved in circumftances more 
 diftrefsful even than thofe in w 7 hich it 
 ftood, when inverted by Henry the Third 
 in 1589, and under an equal neceflity of 
 fubmittinff to the conditions which an 
 
 o 
 
 incenfed monarch might have dictated, 
 was fnatched from pillage by a revolution 
 not lefs fudden and unexpected, than that 
 which, two centuries preceding, 'had de- 
 prived Henry the Third of his life. The 
 frantic and fanguinary zeal of a Monk af- 
 fected this deliverance in one inftance : in 
 the other, the Parifians were indebted to the 
 timidity, delays, and want of decifion in 
 the Court. During the firft days of July, 
 the metropolis, though turbulent and 
 riotous, made no exertions to oppofe the 
 army by which it was encircled and fur- 
 rounded. The partizans and fupporters of 
 the Royal power were numerous, and 
 
 ready
 
 ready to evince their zeal and loyalty. 
 The " Prevot des Marchands," who is 
 the firfr. municipal magiftrate, was in the 
 interefls of the Crown. The BafHle 
 awed one part of the capital, as the " Ho- 
 tel des Invalides" did the .other. Paris, 
 taken in the toils of arbitrary power, might 
 have been difarmed, and deprived of the- 
 means to excite future commotion. The 
 imprudence, pulillanimity, and impatience 
 of the Court rendered thefe advantages of 
 no avail, and precipitated the unfortunate 
 Prince upon meafures which terminated in 
 irremediable difgrace and ruin. 
 
 Miftaking, or neglecting the moil ob- 
 vious principles of policy and wife precau- 
 tion, which dictated to commence the 
 plan of operations by fubjedting Paris, from 
 whence alone any danger was to be appre- 
 hended ; the King was induced to difmifs 
 Neckar with expreffions of indignation, 
 which were accompanied by menaces and 
 infill t on the part of his brother, the 
 Count d'Artois. This ftep, which evinced 
 a total change of refolutions, and which, 
 
 from
 
 from the popularity of the Minifter, was 
 likely to produce a violent fermentation 
 in every order of men, was followed by 
 others equally injudicious. The States Ge- 
 neral were driven into the " Salle des 
 Etats" where they held their meetings, by 
 detachments of the Guards ; who furround- 
 ed them, and who waited only the orders 
 of the Court, to proceed to greater extre- 
 mities againft the obnoxious reprefenU- 
 tives of the nation. 
 
 Had thefe manifeftations of vigour been 
 only fuftained by inftantly attacking and 
 entering Paris, it is not to be doubted that, 
 unprepared as it flill was, and unwilling to 
 expofe to the licence of an incenfed fol- 
 diery the lives and properties of its citi- 
 zens, the capital would have been without 
 difficulty reduced to obedience. But, an 
 ill-timed and fatal delay, equally injurious 
 with the preceding precipitation, gave the 
 inhabitants time to recover from their firft 
 emotions of furprize and apprehenflon. 
 They faw the timidity and imbecility of the 
 Government, who having founded the 
 R charge,
 
 ( 122 ) 
 
 charge, dared not advance to the attack. 
 They profited by this want of exertion j and 
 pafTmg from one extreme rapidly to ano- 
 ther, they almoftunanimoufly took up arms 
 againft their rulers and oppreflbrs. Joined 
 by the French Guards, who, from a long re- 
 fidence in the capital, had been peculiarly 
 expofed to feduction, and who at this deci- 
 five moment abandoned their Sovereign, the 
 Parifians broke through every obftacle by 
 which they had hitherto been reftrained. 
 The fupplies of arms and ammunition 
 which had been provided for their fubju- 
 gation, were turned againft the Crown ; 
 and the ' Hotel des Invalides," the great 
 repolitory of military ftores, after a faint 
 refinance, furrendered. 
 
 The Prince de Lambefc, who alone, of all 
 the officers commandingthe Royal troops in 
 the vicinity of Paris, attempted to carry into 
 execution the plan for difarming the capi- 
 tal, was repulfed in a premature and inju- 
 dicious attack, which he made at the head 
 of his dragoons, near the entrance of the 
 garden of the Tuilleries. Already the 
 
 " Prevot
 
 " Prevot des Marchands," Monfieur dc 
 FlefTelles, convicted of entertaining a cor- 
 refpondence with the Court, and detected 
 in fending private intelligence to Monfieur 
 de Launay, Governor of the Baftile, had . 
 been feized by the people, and fallen the 
 firft victim to the general indignation. 
 His head, borne on a lance, exhibited an 
 alarming example of the danger to which 
 adherence to the Sovereign muft expofe, 
 in a time of anarchy and infurrection. 
 
 The Baftile alone remained ; and while 
 it continued in the power of the Crown, 
 Paris could not be regarded as free, or even 
 as fecure from the fevereft chaftifement. 
 It was inftantly invefted by a mixed mul- 
 titude, compofed of citizens and foldiers 
 who had joined the popular banner. De 
 Launay, who commanded in the caftle, 
 by an act of perfidy unjuftifiable under 
 any circumftances, and which rendered 
 his fate lefs regretted, rather accelerated, 
 than delayed the capture of this important 
 fortrefs. He difplayed a flag of truce, and 
 demanded a parley j but abufing the con- 
 R 2 fidence
 
 ( '24 ) 
 
 dence which thefe fignals infpired, he 
 difcharged a heavy fire from the cannon 
 and mufquetry of the place upon the 
 befiegers, and made a confiderable carnage, 
 Far from intimidating, he only augmented, 
 by fo treacherous a breach of faith, the rage 
 of an incenfed populace. They renewed 
 their exertions with a valour raifed to 
 frenzy, and were crowned with fuccefs. 
 The Baftile, that awful engine of def- 
 potifm, whofe name alone diffufed terror, 
 and which for many ages had been facred 
 to filence and defpair, was entered by the 
 victorious affailants. De Launay, feized 
 and dragged to the " Place de Greve," 
 was inftantly difpatched, and his head car- 
 ried in triumph through theflreets of Paris f 
 Few captives, either of inferior or 
 of eminent rank, were found in the 
 apartments of the Baftile. The Count de 
 Lorges, at a very advanced period of life, 
 difcovered in one of the dungeons of the 
 *' Tour de la Bertaudiere," was liberated, 
 and exhibited to the public curiofity in the 
 " Palais Royal." His fqualid appearance, 
 
 his
 
 his beard which defcended to his waift, 
 and above all, his imbecility, refulting 
 probably from the effect of an imprifon- 
 ment of thirty-two years, were objects 
 highly calculated to operate upon the 
 fenfes and pailions of every beholder. It 
 is indeed impoflible, however we may 
 lament or condemn the ferocious fpirit 
 which has characterized and difgraced the 
 French revolution, not to participate in 
 the exultation, which a capital and a 
 country fo highly illuminated, and fo 
 long oppreffed, muft have experienced, at 
 the extinction of this deteftable and juftly 
 dreaded prifon of ftate. Nor does the 
 rapidity with which it was captured ex- 
 cite lefs admiration, when its powers of 
 refinance are confidered, and the fpeedy 
 relief which might have been afforded to 
 it by the numerous bodies of regular 
 forces, with which Paris was furrounded 
 on every fide. 
 
 With the Baftile, expired the royal 
 authority and conlideration. The defpot- 
 ifm of the French Princes, which long 
 
 prefcription,
 
 prefcription, fubmiflion, and military 
 fhxngth feemed to render equally f acred 
 and unavailable : which neither the cala- 
 mities of the clofe of Louis the Fourteenth's 
 reign, the profligacy and enormities of the 
 fucceeding Regency, nor the flate of de- 
 gradation into which the monarchy funk 
 under Louis the Fifteenth, had ever 
 fhaken : that pow r er, which appeared to 
 derive its fupport almofr. as much from 
 the loyalty and veneration, as from the 
 dread and terrors of the fubjecl, fell prof- 
 trate in the duft, and never betrayed any 
 fymptom of returning life. 
 
 Paris, liberated from all restraint, or 
 even wholefome police, appeared to riot 
 in the intoxication of freedom ; and 
 ftained its acquisition by fcenes of violence 
 and blood, unworthy the firft capital in 
 Europe. Every trace of obedience difap- 
 peared; and even the promoters of the 
 late infurrection were not fecure from the 
 capricious fury of a frantic and favage popu- 
 lace, who filled the " Place de Greve" with 
 clamours, and frequently tore the victim 
 
 whom
 
 ( 127 ) 
 
 whom their indignation had felected, from 
 the hands of juftice. 
 
 But, at Verfailles, confirmation and 
 alarm filled the court on the arrival of this 
 extraordinary intelligence. Yielding at 
 once to the united impulfe of his terrors and 
 his natural inclinations, the King, without 
 even preferving the forms of Majefty 
 however fallen, repaired to the National 
 Afiembly, rather as a fuppliant than a 
 monarch. Difordered in his drefs, and 
 unaccompanied by his guards or ufual at- 
 tendants, he betrayed his agitation in the 
 fpeech which he addrefTed to the States. 
 Only two days preceding this melancholy 
 exhibition of degraded dignity, he had 
 replied to a remonftrance which they pre- 
 fented to him, in terms of determination 
 mixed with menace. He now adopted 
 the language of diftrefs, invoked their af- 
 fiftance, difowned his intention to employ 
 force for the fubjection of the capital, 
 affured them that he had already fent 
 orders to withdraw the troops which had 
 inverted Paris and Verfailles ; and pro- 
 
 feffed 
 2
 
 fefled his defire to give the moft unequi- 
 vocal proofs of his deference to the wifhes 
 of his fubjects. He concluded by implor- 
 ing them to make known thefe his paternal 
 difpofitions, to the inhabitants of the dif- 
 tracted metropolis. 
 
 The AfTembly, which trembled a few 
 hours before for its own fafety, and had 
 expected to be offered up as victims to the 
 vengeance of an irritated Sovereign, re- 
 plied with expreflions of loyalty and af- 
 fection to thefe gracious declarations, al- 
 though evidently extorted by fear. It 
 was however far other wife at Paris, 
 where the populace, deeming their tri- 
 umph incomplete while the King remained 
 apparently tranquil in his palace; not 
 only exacted his perfonal and immediate 
 prefence among them, to fanction their 
 outrages on his authority ; but accom- 
 panied this demand with menaces, if 
 refufed, of fetting fire to Verfailles, and 
 at once extinguifhing the obnoxious Princes 
 of the Houfe of Bourbon in the flames. 
 Perhaps a monarch endowed with quali- 
 ties
 
 ties fuch as Louis the Fourteenth pofleffed, 
 would perhaps have refufed compliance 
 with this humiliating requifition; and while 
 his army was yet entire, and the royal dig^ 
 nity not totally degraded, have embraced 
 the generous refolution of meeting the 
 ftorm, of trying the fortune of war, and 
 at leail devolving to his fucceffbr the pre- 
 rogatives, which at his acceffion he had 
 received and exercifed. But Louis the 
 Sixteenth poffefled no abilities competent 
 to fo magnanimous and unequal a ftruggle. 
 He had already abandoned his attempts to 
 maintain the Royal power in its original 
 vigour ; and he had now fcarcely any op- 
 tion between the lofs of his throne, and a 
 complete fubmiflion to the arbitrary plea- 
 fure of a populace, thirfting for blood, 
 inflamed by fuccefs, and daily offering up 
 victims to its revenge. 
 
 Under thefe melancholy circumftances, 
 
 He did not hefitate to yield obedience to 
 
 the mandate, which it was no longer fafe 
 
 to refufe. After fuch a night as Charles 
 
 S the
 
 the Firft may be fuppofed to have pafTed, 
 previous to his afcending the fcaffold ; 
 but unattended with that ferenity and 
 fortitude, which eminently diftinguifhed 
 the Englifh Monarch in the laft act of 
 life, he fet out for Paris. Confcious 
 however, of the peril attendant on his ap- 
 pearance in the metropolis of his domi- 
 nions, and doubtful of efcaping from the 
 rage of the multitude to whom he was 
 to be prefented, he prepared for death, as 
 at leaft, a poffible event. He received the 
 facrament, made fome private difpofitions of 
 affairs, and gave various orders in confe- 
 quence. Though delirous to fee and em- 
 brace his fon and daughter before his de- 
 parture, he yet had firmnefs fufficient to 
 refufe himfelf this indulgence, as fearing 
 that it might too deeply affect, and dif- 
 qualify him for the part which he was to 
 perform. " J'en aurai plus de plaifir," 
 faid he, " fi je reviens." A gentleman 
 who was near his perfon on this occafion, 
 encouraging him, and venturing to anfwer 
 
 for
 
 for his fafety, the King replied, " Henry 
 Quatre valoit mieux que moi ; et cepen- 
 dant on Fa affaflineV 
 
 Though he quitted Verfailles at an early 
 hour, it was late before he entered Paris, 
 from the immenfe multitudes whoaflembled 
 to fee him pafs, and who testified no fenti- 
 ments of loyalty in their acclamations. 
 When arrived at the " Place de Greve," 
 and conducted to the " Hotel de Ville," 
 the new Mayor, Monfieur Bailli, who 
 had been elected to fupply the late unfortu- 
 nate firftmagiftrate,infultedthefaHenPrincq 
 by a mock furrender of the keys of his capi- 
 tal > which he accompanied with a farcaf- 
 tic and infolent reflexion on the different 
 fituation in which Henry the Fourth flood, 
 when he received a fimilar teftimony of 
 its fubmiflion and allegiance. The cries of 
 the people, who infifted that the King fliould 
 fhew himfelf on the balcony, compelled 
 him to give this laft proof of his deference 
 to their wifhes ; and to. add to the conde- 
 fcenfion, he accepted from the hands of 
 the Mayor, the National cockade, which 
 S 3 he
 
 ( '3* ) 
 
 ft 
 
 he firft carried to his lips, and then placed 
 in his hat. After having been detained 
 and exhibited as a captive to his own 
 fubjects during the greater part of the 
 day, without fuftenance or refrefhment of 
 any kind, he was at length permitted to 
 return to Verfailles, and to conceal his 
 emotions in the privacy of his own 
 apartments. 
 
 While this humiliating fcene was act- 
 ing before the eyes of all France, which 
 were turned towards fo unufual and at- 
 tractive a fight, the adherents to the late 
 meafures, terrified at the menaces thrown 
 out againft them, and dreading the moil 
 fatal confequences of popular fury, pro- 
 fited of the King's abfence and vifit to his 
 capital, to effect their own efcape. 
 
 The Count d'Artois, regarding himfelf as 
 peculiarly marked out for profcription and 
 impeachment, and apprehensive that even 
 his proximity of blood to the Sovereign 
 might prove an insufficient protection to 
 his life, fled among the firft, carrying 
 with him his fons, the Dukes d'An- 
 
 gouleme
 
 ( '33 ) 
 
 gouleme and de Berri >, two youths 
 who were fucceffively prefumptive heirs 
 to the Crown, in cafe of the demife 
 of the Dauphin. In the hurry of a pre- 
 cipitate retreat, it was found extremely 
 difficult to furnifh a few hundred louis d'ors 
 to a Prince, for whofe expenfive gratifica- 
 tions, only fome days before, the treafures 
 of the monarchy were infufficient. He 
 took the road to Flanders ; and was already 
 far advanced towards the frontiers , before his 
 departure was known or fufpec"ted at Paris. 
 When fo diftinguifhed a perfonage, and one 
 fo nearly allied to the throne, deemed him- 
 felf no longer fafe even in the Royal refi- 
 dence, it cannot excite wonder that thofe 
 of a lefs elevated condition, and who were 
 equally obnoxious to an enraged populace, 
 fhould confult their fafety by inftant flight. 
 The principal roads were covered with il-, 
 luftrious fugitives, under every poilible 
 difguife and concealment. The Prince of 
 Conde quitted Chantilly, followed by his 
 fon and grandfon, the Dukes of Bourbon 
 and Enghien. The Prince of Conti, the 
 
 lafl
 
 ( 134 ) 
 
 Lift in fucceffion of the Blood Royal, 
 after undergoing many extremities of 
 hunger and fatigue, arrived at Luxem- 
 bourg ; to which place likewife the Mare- 
 chal de Broglio, abandoning his army, 
 repaired without delay. 
 
 The Duchefs of Polignac, fo long un- 
 rival'd in the affections of the Queen, 
 and round whom all the pleafures of the 
 Court of Verfailles were ufed to affemble ; 
 tearing herfelf from this fcene of diffipa- 
 tion, attain'd with difficulty the city of 
 Bale in Switzerland ; after having en- 
 countered numerous dangers, and been 
 preferred from the laft degree of vio- 
 lence as me pafTed through Sens, by the 
 happy prefence of mind which diftin- 
 guilhed an Abbe, by whom ihe was ac- 
 companied. At Bale, by one of thofe 
 iingular accidents which evince the power 
 of fortune, me found in the inn at which 
 ihe alighted, the late Minifter, Neckar; 
 who having pafTed through Swabia after 
 his difmiffion, on his way to Geneva, 
 here firfl received from his enemies, the 
 
 intcl-
 
 intelligence of the revolution. The Baron 
 de Breteuil, purfued by the moft marked 
 deteftation of his countrymen, evaded, 
 as well as the Prince de Lambefc, the 
 fnares prepared to intercept them: the 
 former reaching Bern in fafety, as the 
 latter did Turin. Monfieur de Befenval, 
 lefs fortunate, was feized at Brie Comte 
 Robert ; and even the felicitations of 
 Neckar himfelf, who endeavoured to in- 
 terpofe in his behalf, were inefficient to 
 obtain his enlargement. 
 
 In this general confirmation, the Queen, 
 abandoned by all her deareft connexions, 
 remained with her two children, friendlefs, 
 and almoft alone, in the palace of Verfailles. 
 No Prince of the Royal Family ventured 
 to abide the florm, except the Count de 
 Provence; who during the continuance 
 of all thefe diforders, had enjoyed a dif- 
 tinguiihed mare, at leaft of negative ap- 
 probation ; and whofe condudl through- 
 out the critical circumftances which pre- 
 ceded the fedition of Paris, had been fuch 
 
 as
 
 ( 136 ) 
 
 as to conciliate, in fome degree,*the popu- 
 lar favour. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans, to whofe in- 
 trigues, or oppofition to the Crown, may 
 be greatly afcribed the rapid progrefs of 
 the general difcontent, and the excefTes of 
 the people; viewed from the " Palais 
 Royal" with fecret pleafure, the effects of 
 his machinations, and enjoyed his triumph 
 over the vanquifhed court. The military 
 command of the National troops, and of 
 the capital, were conferred by almoft una- 
 nimous delegation on the Marquis de la 
 Fayette ; as the fupreme civil and muni- 
 cipal jurifdiction devolved on Bailli, 
 Mayor of Paris. The union of both 
 thefe powers, was however frequently 
 found unequal to impofing proper re- 
 ftraints upon the ungoverned paffions 
 and favage violence of a populace, new 
 to freedom, and who ftained its acquifi- 
 tion by daily acts of vengeance and cruelty. 
 The heads of Foulon and Berthier, one of 
 whom had occupied a high fituation in the 
 
 late
 
 ( 137 ) 
 
 late mihiftry, and the other had been in- 
 tendant of Paris, were carried through the 
 ftreets j and the ckcumftances with which 
 the death of thefe eminent perfons were 
 accompanied, are only to be compared in 
 horror and atrocity .with thofe attendant on 
 the maflacre of St. Bartholomew, or the 
 aflaflination of the Marechal d'Ancre under 
 Louis the Thirteenth. 
 
 Meanwhile, at the inftigation and re- 
 queft of the National AfTembly, Neckar 
 was recalled, and invited by letters of the 
 moft flattering, and even penitential tenor, 
 from the King himfelf, to refume the 
 fuperintendance of the finances. He 
 yielded, though with apparent reluctance, 
 to thefe entreaties ; and repaired to Court, 
 loaded with expreflions of general attach- 
 ment and veneration in every place through 
 which he paffed : while the credulous and 
 deluded multitude expected from his pre- 
 fence, a fpeedy redrefs of all their griev- 
 ances, the revival of public credit, and a 
 remedy to the fcarcity of grain, which had 
 excited the clamours of the capital and 
 T the
 
 the kingdom. To the admiration and 
 aftonifhment of mankind, in an abfolute 
 monarchy fo ftrongly cemented as that of 
 France appeared to have been, and in which 
 loyalty was antiently efteemed to be charac- 
 teriflic of every clafs of citizens, no efforts 
 were made to fupport the Royal power. An 
 cnthufiaftic pafiion for liberty pervaded all 
 the provinces ; and the revolution, com- 
 menced on the banks of the Seine, fpread 
 with equal rapidity and unanimity, to the 
 foot of the Alps and Pyrenees; to the 
 Rhine and the Mediterranean. 
 
 Nopermanentcalmfucceededtothisftorm 
 of popular indignation. Elated with the pof- 
 feffion of freedom, and exercifing in many 
 inftances, a tyranny more oppreflive and 
 fevere than that from which they had juft 
 efcaped, the people meditated new 'and 
 greater invafions on the dignity, as well as 
 the prerogatives of the Crown. The prefs, 
 freed even from that wholefome and necef- 
 fary reftri&ion, which Governments the 
 moil relaxed impofe upon the publication of 
 opinions, compenfated for the fetters which 
 
 it
 
 ( '39 ) 
 
 it had fo long worn, by giving birth to every 
 fpecies of licentious production and infolent 
 attack upon perfons of the higheft rank. 
 The Queen was peculiarly the object of 
 thefelibellous invectives; and every accufa- 
 tion private or political, which malignity 
 could invent, to alienate the affections and 
 irritate the paffions of mankind againft her, 
 was circulated, and publicly expofedtofale. 
 Although all the pomp and majefty, which 
 in better times had furrounded and concealed 
 the Sovereign, was now entirely withdrawn : 
 though only guarded by the burgefles of 
 Veifailles, and deftituteof any military pro- 
 tect ion againfl infult and outrage, Louis tfce 
 Sixteenth flood expofed to every enterprizc 
 which a mutinous capital might undertake 
 or execute ; yet fome veftiges of perfonal 
 liberty he jftill retained. He was free to 
 enjoy the diverfion of the chace ; and the 
 National AfTembly, convoked at Verfailles, 
 continued to hold its meetings there, under 
 his immediate fuperintendance and infpec- 
 tion. It was even thought decent and 
 neceflary, on the part of the new tribunes 
 T 2 of
 
 of the people, to march fome regiments, in 
 the month of September, on whofe adher^ 
 ence they conceived that they could fafely 
 rely, to perform the ordinary functions of 
 ftate ; at the fame time that they prevented 
 any efcape, if fuch was intended by the King. 
 But, where fo many inflammable mate- 
 rials were collected, it was not pofTible 
 that any confiderable time could elapfe 
 before they burft into a conflagration. 
 After one or two attempts, which the vigi- 
 lance and activity of La Fayette prevented 
 from being carried into full execution, the 
 populace of Paris, excited by various arts, 
 and incenfed at the Queen for havingbrought 
 the Dauphin, and prefented him to the 
 officers of the regular troops after a public 
 entertainment, rofe as by univerfal con- 
 fent, and determined to march to Ver- 
 ikilles. By what motives, or with what 
 intentions, the conductors of this armed 
 mob were actuated, it is perhaps impof- 
 fible at prefent pofitively to aflert. The 
 deepeft and blackeft defigns have, by' 
 popular malignity, been attributed to the 
 
 Duke
 
 Duke of Orleans; no lefs than the at- 
 tainment of the Regency, at whatever 
 price, and by every mode, however trea- 
 fonable or flagitious. Many of the cir- 
 cumftances which diftinguifhed that ex- 
 traordinary fcene, unqueftionably evince 
 a plan not more artful than nefarious ; 
 and which feemed calculated, by operating 
 on the fears of the Sovereign, to induce 
 him to abandon the throne, and feek his 
 fafety in flight; while the Queen, who 
 was more an object of national obloquy 
 and averfion, might be inftantly offered 
 up as a victim to the frantic multitude. 
 
 It is difficult to do juftice to the hor- 
 rors of a night, fimilar only to thofe 
 which are furnifhed by the annals of 
 Charles the Ninth, and which reminds us 
 of the times of Catherine of Medicis. Pof- 
 terity will fcarcely credit, that at the con- 
 clufion of the eighteenth century, and in a 
 country eminently diftinguifhed by all the 
 fofter virtues of humanity, acts of blood 
 and ferocity more favage than the Janiza- 
 ries of Conftantinople ufually exercifc 
 
 againll
 
 ( 14* ) 
 
 againfl their defpots, were performed with 
 impunity. The fingularity and incredibility 
 of the recital will be augmented by recollect- 
 ing, that many of the moft violent among 
 thefe ruffians, were women -, . or, at leaft 
 habited in a female drefs. Armed with 
 every deftructive weapon, they affaulted the 
 guards who were {rationed at the door of the 
 Queen's apartments, burft into them, mur- 
 dered thofe who oppofed their progrefs, 
 and penetrated to the chamber in which me 
 flept. The efforts which were made to re- 
 tard their fury, and the cries of " Sauvez 
 laReine," which echoed through the palace, 
 gave her an inftant in which to efcape. The 
 firfl Queen in Europe was faved from a 
 death the moft ignominious, by the inter- 
 val of almoft a lingle moment. Undreffed, 
 x and nearly naked, me gained a private 
 flaircafe, which conveyed her to the King, 
 who received her in his arms, where (he fell 
 fenfelefs with terror. The materials of the 
 bed from which fhe had juft rifen, after 
 undergoing the flrideft fearch, in hopes of 
 difcovering the unhappy object of their pur- 
 
 fuit,
 
 ( 143 J 
 
 fuit, were fcattered over the room, as fome 
 gratification to their difappointed vengeance. 
 
 Louis the Sixteenth himfelf, appearing 
 on the balcony of his apartment, in the 
 language and attitude of fupplication, 
 vainly implored the populace to fpare his 
 guards, whom he faw maflacred at his 
 feet, without the power of extending to 
 them any relief. He as vainly befought 
 the Queen to yield to the neceffity of the 
 time, and to retire to Rambouillet, where 
 her perfon would at lea'ft be fecure. Ex- 
 erting a courage fuperior to her fex, and 
 elevated above a fenfe of the danger to 
 which fhe was fo confpicuoufly expofed, 
 me firmly perfifted in her refufal to fly ; 
 and declared her determination to accom- 
 pany the King, and at leaft to expire as 
 fhe had lived, a Queen of France. Yet, 
 confcious of the probability of her falling 
 a facnfice to the popular rage, me armed 
 herfelf with a poniard, as a laft refource 
 againft the degradation of plebeian vio- 
 lence and brutality. 
 
 It is impoflible, how much foe ver we may 
 
 condemn
 
 ( 144 ) 
 
 condemn certain parts of her conduct and 
 character, not to admire the heroifm and 
 magnanimity of this deportment, in which 
 we feem to recognize the blood of fo many 
 Emperors from whom flie defcended. The 
 weaknefs of the woman was notwilhftand- 
 ing, mingled with the fortitude of the 
 Sovereign ; and when me entered the coach 
 which was to convey herfelf and the cap- 
 tive King from Verfailles to Paris, terri- 
 fied at the cries of a furious multitude 
 who feemed to demand her forfeit life, 
 me threw herfelf into the arms of La 
 Fayette, who offered her his hand at the 
 door of the carriage ; and whofe protection 
 ihc invoked to preferve her from outrage and 
 death. Placing the Dauphin in her lap, and 
 feated by her hufband, the cavalcade moved 
 flowly towards the capital ; while the heads 
 of the murdered " Gardes du Corps, " borne 
 on poles, and held 6p to her view, pre- 
 fented a melancholy profpect of her 
 own probable defliny. They at length 
 reached the palace of the Thuilleries, 
 thus accompanied, and took pofTeflion of 
 
 that
 
 ( '45 ) 
 
 that part of it deftined for their reception 
 and refidence : while cannon, mounted at 
 the principal avenues, under pretence of 
 fafety and defence, fecured them from 
 refcue, and rendered efcape impradiicable. 
 Perhaps no day fo ignominious to the 
 Royal dignity had been beheld, iince the 
 elevation of the Capetian Princes to the 
 throne of France. The capture and impri- 
 fonment of Louis the Ninth at Damietta, 
 of King John at Poictiers, and of Francis 
 the Firil at the battle of Pavia, however 
 unfortunate and humiliating, yet were at 
 lafl foftened by many confiderations. 
 Thofe Monarchs were all taken in arms, 
 after exerting the molt heroic acts of 
 valour againfl their conquerors, and owed 
 their misfortunes only to the chance of war. 
 Even Henry the Third, when he fled 
 frorn his capital, purfued by the Guifes, 
 yet retained his perfonal independence, 
 and foon returned to befiege and to chaf- 
 tife his rebellious fubjects. Louis the 
 Sixteenth, funk below efteem or commifer- 
 ation, and not having exerted either abi- 
 U Jitv
 
 lity or courage in the defence of his in- 
 vaded, prerogatives, only held a precarious 
 life at the mercy of a feditious and info- 
 lent populace, who having already impri- 
 foned, might in any moment of refentment, 
 terminate the reign of their fallen and de- 
 graded King. The palace in which he 
 was confined, having been in a great mea- 
 iure neglected for more than a century, 
 during which time Paris had rarely feen 
 any Sovereign refident in the metropolis, 
 was totally unfit for the reception of a 
 Court ; and even the apartments which 
 were occupied by the King himfelf, were 
 in fo ruinous or decayed a condition, as 
 not altogether to exclude the inclemency 
 of the weather. To this fituation was a 
 Monarch reduced, who only a few months 
 before, might be regarded as at the fum- 
 rnit of human greatnefs ; and the founda- 
 tions of whofe throne, ftrengthened by long 
 pofleffion and by habits of obedience, feemed 
 .to bid defiance to all the ordinary convul- 
 fions which overturn empires, and deilroy the 
 firmefl fabrics of human powerand wifdom. 
 
 While
 
 ( 147 ) 
 
 While thefe fcenes of outrage and vio-r 
 lence were exhibiting in France, it is dif- 
 ficult to imagine a picture of more com- 
 plete ferenity than England prefented ; and 
 this internal repofe was accompanied with 
 every circumftance of external profperity, 
 and augmenting national confideration. 
 The year which immediately fucceeded 
 the malady of George the Third, may 
 be ranked among the happieft of his reign, 
 whether it be coniidered as perfonally affect- 
 ing himfelf, or as productive of felicity to 
 his people. The recent danger from which 
 he had efcaped, rendered his health and 
 fafety peculiarly precious to his fubjects ; 
 as the animated expreffions of their at- 
 tachment and loyalty muft have deeply 
 touched the heart of a Prince, infinitely 
 fenfibleto thefe genuine marks of affection. 
 The character of the Sovereign was not 
 more formed to produce, than that of his 
 Adminiftration was to perpetuate the gene- 
 ral tranquillity. The conduct of Mr. 
 Pitt during the whole progrefs of the late 
 commotions in France, may be held up 
 U 2 as
 
 ( '48 ) 
 
 as a model of political honorand rectitude ; 
 perhaps, equally fo of vvifdom. Unlike 
 to Richlieu, who fomented the caufes of 
 difcord between Charles the Firft, and his 
 Parliament : unlike to Vergennes^ who 
 ftimulated the Americans to refinance ; and 
 after a feries of indirect and infidious arts, 
 violated the moft folemn treaties in order 
 to afllire their final independence : the 
 Englifh Minifter freadily and fyftemati- 
 eally adhered to the mofr. exact neutrality. 
 The native elevation of his mind, and the 
 magnanimity which has ever characterifed 
 his meafures, rendered him incapable of 
 defcending to the little artifices of crooked 
 and vulgar ftatefmen. The probity of his 
 private life pervaded and marked his pub- 
 lic line of action; nor did fo uncommon 
 and dignified a mode of proceeding, under 
 circumftances which might feem to juftify 
 and authorize a more relaxed conduct, fail 
 to produce its full effect on the two nations 
 who were peculiarly affected by it, as well 
 as on the other flates of Europe. Some ap- 
 probation, if not admiration, is indeed 
 
 due
 
 due to a Government, who have been able 
 to unite vigour, energy, and protection, 
 with the moft religious adherence to the na- 
 tional faith, and to every principle of found 
 and generous policy. 
 
 The period which is comprifed between 
 the months of May 1 789 and 1 790, like the 
 reign of Antoninus Pius, affords few mate- 
 rials for hiftory, drawn from the interior 
 events of the time. England, at peace with 
 all the world, in the bofom of repofe, faw 
 her commerce and manufactures expand, 
 her credit augment, and her name excite 
 refpect among the moft diftant nations; 
 while many of the great furrounding Euro- 
 pean kingdoms were either involved in fo- 
 reign war, ordefolatedby domeftic troubles. 
 This tranquillity was not however allied to 
 an ignominious and enervate floth ; but, on 
 the contrary, was fecured by vigilance, acti- 
 vity, and exertion. In conjunction with 
 Pruffia and Holland, Great Britain indi- 
 rectly extended her attention and fuccour 
 to Guftavus the Third, finking under an 
 unequal conteft with the vafl empire of 
 
 Ruflia.
 
 Ruflia. She retrained and arrefted Denmark, 
 even after that power, as an auxiliary of the 
 Court of Peterfburgh, had already taken up 
 arms, and committed hostilities againft Swe- 
 den. She fignified to Leopold, who had re- 
 cently fucceeded to the thrones of Hungary 
 and Bohemia, her defire that he would re- 
 call his troops from the Banks of the 
 Danube ; and me fuftained by her negocia- 
 tions the firmnefs of the Ottoman counfels, 
 while me filently, but not lefs decidedly, 
 impofed limits on the ambition of their 
 great enemy Catherine the Second, by 
 prohibiting her fleet from prefuming to 
 quit the Baltic, and to complete the de- 
 ftruction of the Turks in the Archipelago. 
 In this exalted fituation, to which per- 
 haps no parallel in our annals can be ad- 
 duced, fince the termination of the fhort, 
 but fplendid protectorate of Cromwell, a 
 ftorm unexpectedly and fuddenly arofe 
 from a quarter, where it would feem, that 
 no forefight or precautions could have anti- 
 cipated the danger. Among the new and 
 unexplored paths of commerce, which the 
 
 fpirit
 
 fpirit of a difcerning and adventurous peo- 
 ple had attempted to open fince the peace 
 of 1783, were particularly two, which 
 appeared 'to promife the moft beneficial 
 returns. The firft was a whale fifhery, 
 fimilar to that which had been carried on 
 for ages near the coafls of Greenland; 
 but transferred to the Southern hemi- 
 fphere, near the extremity of Patagonia, 
 and in the flormy feas which furround 
 Cape Horn ; as well as in the Pacific 
 Ocean. In the courfe of a few years, this 
 branch of trade had augmented rapidly, 
 and was found on trial to afford very im- 
 portant advantages ; nor had it received any 
 impediment from the vague pretenfions of 
 the Spanifh Crown to the fovereignty of 
 the mores warned by that ocean, which 
 was the fcene of their exertions. 
 
 The fecond of thefe en terprizes , original in 
 its own nature, able in its conception, bold 
 in its execution, and having no precedent 
 for its guidance, was directed to countries 
 and to objects almoft as much unknown to 
 geographical, as to commercial know- 
 ledge
 
 ledge or experience. It demanded many 
 qualities rarely and difficultly combined : 
 a confiderable capital -, miniflerial appro- 
 bation j faithful and capable conductors ; 
 dextrous navigators ; and above all, much 
 time and perfeverance to ripen, and ulti- 
 mately recompenfe the perfons engaging 
 in fo eccentric and expenfive an expedi- 
 tion. This extraordinary union of talents 
 and circumftances was, however, found in 
 men of no fuperior defcription among the 
 mercantile inhabitants of London; and it 
 will remain a fbriking monument to future 
 ages, of the energy, capacity, and nauti- 
 cal ability, which diftinguifh. the prefent 
 century and the Britifh nation, above the 
 moft enlightened periods of any antient or 
 modern people. 
 
 The North Weft coafl of America, the 
 part of the earth to which this embarka- 
 tion was deftined, was not only fo remote, 
 but fo undefined, if I may be allowed the 
 expreffion, that its very exiftence remained 
 unknown or doubtful, before the difco- 
 veries of the reign of George the Third. 
 
 In 
 
 2
 
 ( '53 ) 
 
 At the commencement of the prefent cen- 
 tury, it was thought to be almoft as much 
 .beyond the ordinary bounds of navigation, 
 as the iflands of the Hefperides appeared 
 to the Greeks; and Swift himfelf, only 
 eighty years ago, when he compofed 
 the entertaining voyages of Lemuel Gul- 
 liver, efteeming it the proper region of 
 fable and romance, felected it for the 
 pofition of his imaginary Brobdignag. 
 The immenfe tract of land, extending 
 northward from California and New Al- 
 bion to the Frozen Sea, had, indeed, in a 
 more recent period, been partly explored, 
 and faintly traced by Cook ; though much 
 remained for future enterprize and induftry 
 to accomplifh, before this difcovery could 
 be converted to any purpofe of public utility. 
 He had, however, afcertained the exift- 
 ence of the continent ; and he had received 
 from the barbarous natives, with whom 
 he eftablifhed a fpecies of barter, fome 
 valuable fpecimens of furs, in exchange 
 for European commodities of a far infe- 
 rior nature. 
 
 X The
 
 ( '54 ) 
 
 The hope of procuring a considerable 
 number of thefe rare and coftly (kins, for 
 the fale of which a very advantageous market 
 prefented itfelf at Canton in China, was the 
 leading inducement to the adventurers, 
 who engaged in the expedition. But, in 
 the purfuit of private emolument, objects 
 of general and national confequence were 
 neceffarily implicated and interwoven. 
 Behind this coaft, to the eaftward, lay the 
 vail continent of America ; opening a field 
 to commercial activity and refearch, in 
 which the imagination itfelf was loft. 
 The difcovery of a communication through 
 this unexplored country, and which may 
 ultimately connect it, to a certain degree, 
 with our fettlements in Hudfon's Bay, 
 appears from their account, not to be 
 totally viflonary, though it was regarded 
 as fuch by Cook himfelf. 
 
 Conceptions and enterprizes more cal- 
 culated to enlarge the fphere of induf- 
 try ; to connect the moft remote parts 
 of the planet of the earth by the bands of 
 amity and commerce; to extend the limits 
 
 of
 
 ( '55 ) 
 
 of the human mind ; and to immortalize, 
 while they enriched the nation which ori- 
 ginated them, have perhaps fcarcely ever 
 been imagined or executed. They were 
 not inferior to the moll: fublime and 
 daring expeditions of antient Greece, and 
 feemed to partake of the fpirit of Co- 
 lumbus : though the prefent age, fami- 
 liarized to naval (kill and enterprize, no 
 longer fees with the fame admiration, or 
 confers the fame eulogiums on modern 
 candidates for fame ; who are feldom 
 regarded through any other medium 
 than that of utility, or pecuniary advan- 
 tage. 
 
 Animated by thefe views, and having 
 received the moft affirmative marks of 
 the protection of Government previous 
 to their departure, five mips were fitted 
 out from London in 1785, and the two 
 fucceeding years. Four of thefe veffels, 
 after doubling Cape Horn, arrived fafely 
 on the North Weft coaft of America. 
 The fanguine expectations which had 
 been entertained, of effecting a lucrative 
 X 2 exchange
 
 exchange of commodities with the natives, 
 were fully and fpeedily realized. Cargoes 
 of the fineft furs were procured, and 
 fold to the Chinefe, even under great 
 commercial difcouragements and pecuniary 
 impofitions, at fo high a price, as amply 
 to reimburfe and enrich the adventurers. 
 Other attempts, of a fimilar nature, were 
 made from Bengal ; and two vefTels were 
 fucceffively difpatched from the Ganges to 
 the fame coaft, in the year 1 786. A factory 
 was eftablimed at Nootka Sound, a port 
 fituated in the fiftieth degree of northern lati- 
 tude, on the more of America. Pofleffion 
 of it was folemnly taken in the name of the 
 Sovereign and Crown of England: amicable 
 treaties were concluded with the chiefs of 
 the neighbouring diftricts ; and a tract of 
 land was purchafed from one of them, 
 on which the new proprietors proceeded 
 to form a fettlement, and to conftruct 
 ftorehoufes. Every thing bore the ap- 
 pearance of a rifing colony, and each 
 year opened new fources of commerce 
 and advantage. 
 
 Although
 
 ( '57 ) 
 
 Although individuals, occupied in ex- 
 ertions of this private nature, could not 
 be expected to extend their views or 
 efforts to objects of public utility, yet 
 fome further information was collaterally 
 and incidentally acquired, refpecting the 
 confine t of America, in the courfe of 
 their voyages. It is even pretended that 
 a Hoop, named the ** Wafhington," 
 navigated for fome hundred miles along 
 a vaft number of iflands, fcattered in 
 a fea, which interfects that continent in 
 a north-eafr. direction ; and though the 
 accounts hitherto received or tranfmitted, 
 of this extraordinary and interefting fact, 
 are not either fo minute, or fo accurate, 
 as by any means to entitle them to be impli- 
 citly received, yet they appear to be not to- 
 tally deftitute of foundation, or probability. 
 Every profpect, either of national advan- 
 tage, or of private emolument, which 
 the commerce of thefe coafts feemed to 
 promife to Great Britain, was, however, 
 deftined to experience a fudden and unex- 
 pected fufpenfion. 
 
 On
 
 On the 6th of May, 1789, two Spanifti 
 fhips of war entered Nootka Sound ; the 
 commanding officer of which, after making 
 every profeffion of ami ty d tiring feveral days , 
 feizedon the Englifh vefTels, in the name 
 of his Sovereign, as they fucceffively arrived 
 from various parts of the coaft, im- 
 prifoned the crews, confiscated or plun- 
 dered the cargoes, and ultimately carried 
 them as lawful prizes to St. Bias, in 
 Mexico. Violations fo unprovoked, not 
 only of the peace fubfifting between 
 the two Monarchies, but of all the laws 
 eftablifhed between civilized nations, were 
 accompanied and aggravated by every cir- 
 cumftance of duplicity, infolence, and cru- 
 elty ; while they were contrafted with the 
 moft friendly afliftance and attentions , me wn 
 to the captains of two American mips, the 
 " Wafhington" and the " Columbia, " who 
 had been brought by the fame commercial 
 inducements to the port of Nootka. Thefe 
 teftimonies of protection and regard were 
 even carried fo far by the Spaniards, as to 
 compel the crew of one of the captured 
 
 Englifh
 
 ( '59 ) 
 
 Englim veffels to affift in navigating the 
 " Columbia" to Canton; through which 
 channel, the firft regular and authentic 
 account of thefe acts of hoftility, was 
 officially tranimitted to theEnglimAdminif- 
 tration, though they had been preceded by 
 fome vague and indiftinct intimations of 
 the fame nature, made by the Spanifh 
 embaffador at the Court of London. 
 
 The conduct of the Firft Minifter on 
 receiving this intelligence, evinced no lefs 
 the magnanimity than the decifion of his 
 character. Without defcending to the te- 
 dious and humiliating forms of requeft with 
 the Court of Spain, which might elude and 
 protract, if not ultimately refufe, according 
 to its ufual policy, any reparation for thefe 
 outrages ; he, in the firfl inftance, by a mef- 
 fage from the King, informed the two Houfes 
 of Parliament of the whole feries of tranf- 
 actions. He clearly evinced the nullity and 
 injuftice of any general pretenfions on the part 
 of the Spanifli Crown, to a territory, difco- 
 vered, planted, and occupied by the Englifh; 
 but in particular, to the Port of Nootka, 
 
 lituated
 
 ( 160 ) 
 
 fituated at a diftance from any known 
 iettlement belonging to that nation. 
 He profefled his anxious defire to 
 terminate by amicable explanation and 
 treaty, the prefent caufe of difpute. He 
 at the fame time declared his determined 
 intention, not only to exacl: from the 
 Court of Madrid an adequate fatisfadtion 
 and compenfation for the injuries recently 
 fuftained -, but to compel Spain to renounce 
 decidedly and formally , any indefinite claim 
 which fhe might have fet up, either to the 
 exclufive navigation of the Pacific ocean, 
 or to the fovereignty of the whole North 
 Weft coaft of America. He called on the 
 loyalty, dignity, and honour of the Houfe 
 of Commons for fupport, in maintaining 
 thefe invaded rights by force of arms, if 
 Spain mould be infeniible to the language 
 of reafon. 
 
 The approbation which fo manly an 
 appeal to the nation excited, was general 
 and animated. The leaders of Oppofition 
 joined in that fentiment, and exprefTed their 
 conviction of the wifdom as well as 
 
 neceflity
 
 neceflity of fuftaining by every military 
 and naval exertion, the effect of nego- 
 tiation. The celerity with which thefe 
 refolutions were followed, in the equip- 
 ment of a powerful armament, was cal- 
 culated to augment the high reputation of 
 the Miniftry throughout Europe, while it 
 called into action all the refources of the 
 kingdom. A diflblution of Parliament, un- 
 queftionably judicious under the circum- 
 ftance of a probably impending war, fol- 
 lowed thefe demonftrations of refentment, 
 and demands of reparation. 
 
 If we compare the energy and^deciflon 
 of fo vigorous a line of conduct, with 
 that which was adopted by Sir Robert 
 Walpole or Lord North, in fimilar 
 fituations, the contraft muft be highly 
 flattering to the prefent Adminiftratiom 
 The fluggifh. and reluctant difinclination 
 of the former, to perceive or to refent 
 the depredations committed by the Spa- 
 niards upon theEnglifh trade, during along 
 ieries of years ; while it emboldened the 
 Y . enemy,
 
 enemy, deprefTed the genius of England : 
 until Parliament, roufed by fuch a conti- 
 nuation of infults and indignities, at length 
 vindicated the national honour, and drove 
 the Minifter from the fuperintendance of 
 affairs. 
 
 The temporifing and pufillanimous 
 counfels of Lord North, in the difpute 
 refpecting the Falkland iflands ; and 
 the ultimate termination of it, which 
 left the right undecided, and even aiTerted 
 by the Court of Madrid, at the fame 
 moment that from motives of political 
 convenience, Spain thought proper to 
 cede the contefted territory to England : 
 thefe humiliating meafures, expofed and 
 reprobated by the pen of Junius, ftand in 
 need of no comment, and are fufficiently 
 appreciated by a juft and difcerning people^ 
 Spain was no longer governed by 
 Charles the Third, at the time when 
 thefe interefting events took place. 
 That Prince, after a reign of above 
 twenty years as Sovereign of Naples, 
 
 had
 
 had afcended the Spanifh throne on the 
 death of his brother Ferdinand the Sixth, in 
 1759; and expired at a very Advanced period 
 of life, in December, 1788. His uncon- 
 cealed diflike of the Englifh nation, from 
 whom in his youth he had received fome 
 fignal benefits, as well as fome painful and 
 perfonal humiliations, had probably induced 
 him, even more than the ties of blood, or 
 connexions of policy with the Court of 
 France, to join that kingdom in two fuc- 
 ceffive wars which (lie carried on againft 
 Great Britain. 
 
 To the counfels of his reign, and pro- 
 bably to a fyftematic plan in concert with 
 the Cabinet of Verfailles, for attacking 
 the commerce, and fefting limits to the 
 enterprizes of England on the North Weft 
 coaft of America, we may without injuftice 
 attribute the acts of violence, committed 
 by Don Martinez in the Port of Nootka. 
 The mort period, comprifing fcarcely five 
 months, which elapfed between the death 
 of Charles the Third, and thofe infractions 
 of the peace previoufly fubfifting between 
 Y 2 the
 
 ( 1 64 ) 
 
 the two Crowns, leave no room to doubt 
 that the original orders were iffued during 
 the life of the late Sovereign. 
 
 Charles the Fourth fucceeded to theSpan- 
 ifh monarchy under thefe circumftances. 
 Though of a mature age, his character was 
 little known or understood beyond the 
 limits of his own dominions. In the 
 early part of his life he had appeared to 
 evince fentiments more Caftilian, than any 
 of the defcendants of Philip the Fifth had 
 hitherto difcovered ; and to promifea reign, 
 in which the feelings of a common ori- 
 gin and defcent would influence lefs on 
 affairs of flare, than a wife consideration 
 of the true policy and intereffo, becoming 
 a genuine King of Spain. It may how- 
 ever be queftioned, whether this anticipa- 
 tion of his maxims and fuppofed line of 
 conduct, will be confirmed by experience; 
 and whether he will emancipate himfelf 
 from the partialities, naturally connected 
 with his near affinity to Louis the Six- 
 teenth. The fame Ministers feem to 
 govern, and the fame principles to ani- 
 mate
 
 mate the Court of Madrid, which have 
 uniformly characterized it fince the ex- 
 tinction of the Spanifli branch of the 
 Houfe of Auftria : and the time is probably 
 ftill diftant, when the pernicious effects 
 of the treaty of Utrecht in uniting two 
 monarchies, which for ages anterior to 
 that event had never acted in conjunction 
 againft Great Britain, will have finally 
 ceafed to operate. 
 
 Meanwhile, the efforts oftheFirflMinif- 
 ter to terminate the prefentdifpute by nego- 
 tiation, kept equal pace with the exertions 
 made to equip a formidable naval force. 
 At the fame time that a fleet, the command 
 of which was deftined to Lord Howe, 
 affembled at Portfmouth, Mr. Fitzherbert 
 was difpatched as ambaflador to Madrid, 
 in order to try the effect of remonftrance 
 and expoftulation. The Englifh people, 
 unanimous in their approbation of the mea- 
 fures purfued, and in their demand of repa- 
 ration for the injuries fuftained, loudly 
 called for inftant war, or for the moft un- 
 equivocal and fatisfactory conceflions. 
 
 The
 
 ( "66 } 
 
 The convulfions and embarrafled ftate of 
 the French monarchy, together with the 
 perfonal iituation of the King of France, 
 appeared to render an adherence to, or 
 completion of the family compact imprac- 
 ticable, however well inclined the Court 
 of Verfailles might be fuppofed, to affifi: 
 and fupport her ally. 
 
 Spain doubtlefs felt and regretted 
 this incapacity, which compelled her to 
 commence a war againft England, unaf- 
 fifted by any European power j and the 
 eventof which, intheprefentcircumftances, 
 might be fatal to her grandeur or commerce 
 in every part of the world. She feemed 
 to yield to thefe obvious confiderations -, and 
 the Spanifh Miniftry towards the clofe of 
 July, agreed to make a compenfation for 
 the lofles, fuftained by the Englifh adven- 
 turers plundered at Nootka, as a ban's or 
 preliminary to a final and amicable arrange- 
 ment. Notwithftanding, however, this ap- 
 parent defire of adjufti.ng the points in dif- 
 pute, and of avoiding the ultimate appeal to 
 the fword, every exertion was not only made 
 
 in
 
 in the ports of Cadiz and Ferrol, to fit out a 
 numerous fquadron; but the Spanifh am- 
 baflador at the Court of France, expended 
 the treafures of his matter, in endeavours to 
 induce the National Aflembly to adopt the 
 quarrels of Charles the Fourth, and to 
 fulfil in its whole extent the obligations of 
 the family compact. His labours, though 
 not equally fuccefsful, as, under more 
 propitious circumftances they might have 
 proved, yet produced a vote favourable to 
 the views and wifhes of the Crown of 
 Spain. A general profeffion on the part 
 of the National Affembly, of adherence to 
 the flipulations formed between the two 
 nations ; and a refblution inftantly to arm a 
 considerable naval force at Breft, were pro- 
 cured and publifhed. The hopes of a 
 fpeedy and permanent accommodation be- 
 tween the Courts of London and Madrid, 
 which the firft conceflion on the part of 
 the latter power had excited, gradually 
 grew more uncertain and problematical. 
 Autumn advanced, without any certainty or 
 decifion on this great point ; and though 
 
 the
 
 ( 168 ) 
 
 the fleet of England, which had cruized 
 in the Bay of Bifcay during near fix weeks, 
 returned again to Spithead, without hav- 
 ing feen an enemy, yet the expectation of 
 an eventual rupture was rather augmented 
 than diminifhed. 
 
 While thefe negociations and armaments 
 detained the Weft of Europe in fufpenfe, the 
 moft important and unexpected events had 
 taken place among the Princes of the 
 Germanic empire, in confequence of the 
 death of the late Emperor Jofeph the 
 Second. That reftlefs and turbulent Prince, 
 exhaufted in body, and agitated in mind, 
 expired at Vienna in the commencement of 
 the prefent year. His vafl, but divided 
 and revolted provinces, devolved to his bro- 
 ther Leopold, Great Duke of Tufcany. 
 Few Sovereigns have ever acceded to a 
 throne under more critical and alarming 
 circumftances. Though Laudohn had 
 clofed his brilliant career of military 
 glory, and even med a luftre over the lafl 
 ijours of Jofeph, by the capture of Bel- 
 grade : though the Turks had been driven 
 2 beyond
 
 ( 1 69 ) 
 
 beyond the Danube, and the Imperial 
 troops had at length penerrated into Servia 
 and Moldavia ; yet thefe advantages, 
 bought with three campaigns, and pre- 
 ceded by defeats and difafters, offered a 
 very inadequate compenfation for the 
 calamities, which menaced oraffiicted every 
 other part of the dominions of the Houfe 
 of Auftria; Hungary, fo renowned for 
 its enthuliaftic loyalty and attachment to 
 Maria Therefa^ when that Princefs was 
 involved in the deeper! diftrefs, had been 
 alienated by her fucceflbr ; who infulted 
 their mofl facred prejudices, while he in- 
 vaded their mofl valuable immunities. 
 Pofterity will fcarcely believe that this in- 
 judicious and infatuated Prince, foon after 
 his acceflion, from refentment to the Hun- 
 garians, not only removed the crown and 
 regalia of that monarchy from Buda, the 
 antient capital, to Vienna : but, as a mark 
 of fcorn and contempt, caufed thefe ve- 
 nerable infignia of the kingly dignity, in- 
 expreffibly precious in the eflimation -of 
 the people, to be conveyed from one capi- 
 Z tal
 
 ( '7 ) 
 
 tal to the other, in the common flage 
 waggon. 
 
 The King of Pruffia hung over Bohemia, 
 with a prodigious army, ready to enter 
 that kingdom. The German Princes were 
 almoft univerfally difaffected to the late 
 Emperor, and had reprobated his in- 
 fidious projects for an exchange of 
 territory with the Elector Palatine. 
 The Netherlands, irritated by a long 
 feries of oppreflion, confifcation, and 
 violation of all their antient liberties, had 
 renounced any allegiance to a Prince, 
 whom they regarded not as a protedlor, 
 but a tyrant. Philip the Second, when 
 he recalled the fanguinary Duke of Alva, 
 was fcarcely more detefted, and had not 
 more completely loft the low countries, 
 than Jofeph the Second had done. Dalton, 
 though at the head of a regular and formi- 
 dable body of forces, had been compelled 
 precipitately to evacuate Bruffels, and to 
 feek his fafety in a diforderly and ignomi- 
 nious retreat . Luxembourg alone remained , 
 of all the ten provinces, when Leopold 
 
 fucceeded
 
 ( 17' ) 
 
 fuccceded to his brother ; and Flanders no 
 longer even liftened to the propositions of 
 accommodation, which Jofeph in his dying 
 moments offered to his revolted fubjects. 
 
 In this fituation, furrounded with dif- 
 ficulties occafioned by the ambition and 
 defpotifm of his predeceflbr, the new 
 King of Hungary, after fome months of 
 delay and irrefolution, wifely yielded to 
 the neceflity, impofed on him by the dif- 
 tracted condition of his affairs. The 
 Courts of Berlin and of London, acting 
 in concert, and fuftained by a Pruflian 
 army, gave law to the Houfe of Auftria. 
 Leopold confented to abandon the alliance 
 of the Emprefs of Ruflia ; to reftore to 
 Turkey the territories lately acquired ; and 
 to receive his Flemifh fubje&s into favour, 
 after conceding and confirming, in the moft 
 extended degree, all their liberties and 
 privileges. This vigorous and fuccefsful 
 interpofition was inftantly followed by a 
 peremptory requifition, on the part of the 
 fame Powers to Catherine the Second, by 
 which that haughty and enterprizing 
 Z % Princefs
 
 Princefs was required to follow the example 
 exhibited by the King of Hungary ; and to 
 grant an equitable peace to the Ottoman 
 Porte, as well as to conclude the war which 
 fhe carried on againft Sweden. 
 
 From fo humiliating a neceffity, the Em- 
 prefs extricated herfelf by one of the mofl 
 rapid, unforefeen, and perhaps mafterly 
 ftrokes o f policy, which is to be found in 
 the annals of the prefent century. She made 
 a peace with that King of Sweden, againft 
 whom me had not fcrupled, a few years 
 fince, to excite his own foldiers and fub- 
 jects to revolt : who had fcarcely efcaped 
 from captivity at Wybourg, by forcing a 
 pafTage through the Ruffian fleet, with 
 which he was furrounded : and who had 
 not only committed hoftilities and waged 
 war upon her empire j but was fup- 
 pofed to have drawn his pen againft 
 her reputation, and to have accufed her 
 to Europe, and to future times, as an 
 ufurper, infatiable in her thirft of power, 
 and deftitute of faith or honour. Only a 
 few days intervened between the moft 
 
 rancorous
 
 rancorous difplay of perfonal enmity, and 
 the folemn exchange of the ratifications 
 of peace : while Catherine, liberated by 
 this fuccefsful exertion from an enemy 
 who detained her fleet in the Baltic, and 
 who might prefent himfelf at the very 
 gates of her capital, affumed new vigour, 
 difdained to fubmit to the mandates of 
 Pruflla, and continued her military opera- 
 tions againft the Turks. 
 
 She did not ftop here; but, irritated 
 by the attempt to fetter her arms and 
 limit her conquefts, me preffed Guftavus 
 the Third to enter into a confederacy 
 againft thofe powers, with whom he had 
 been fo lately in ftrict alliance; and to 
 whofe timely interference or good offices, 
 he had been in a great meafure indebted 
 for his prefervation . She negociated 
 anew with the Prince Regent and Cabinet 
 of Denmark, whom the interpofition of 
 England had hitherto reluctantly retained 
 in neutrality. She corrupted, or perfuaded 
 the Polilh Diet to exprefs fentiments hof- 
 tile to Pruflia ; and encouraged Spain to 
 
 refufe
 
 refufe compliance with the demands of 
 the Sr'ttfh Government. 
 
 r " hefe circumfiances and appear- 
 ances, hoftile or inaufpicious to the repofe 
 of Europe, the month of October com- 
 menced. During its progrefs, the hopes 
 and fears of the nation were painfully fuf- 
 pended, by the uncertainty of the final 
 event. The impatience and anxiety, natural 
 to, and infeparable from fuch a fituation, 
 were infinitely augmented by the fecrecy 
 and filence, which furrounded and con- 
 cealed the operations of the cabinet. The 
 powers and energies of Government, con- 
 centered round the Firft Minifter, and 
 vefled in his perfon, exhibited to the 
 Englim nation, all the vigor, celerity, and 
 decifion of a defpotifm, unaccompanied 
 with its characterifKc and concomitant 
 evils. Though the fineft and moil numerous 
 fleet which Great Britain had ever equipped, 
 lay at Spithead, ready to ftand out into 
 the Atlantic upon the fhortefr. notice : 
 though Admiral Cornifh, at the head of 
 eight fliips of the line, had already fet 
 
 fail;
 
 fail; and, favored by an eaflerly wind, 
 was clear of the Channel : though a de- 
 tachment of the Guards, to the number of 
 above two thoufand men, were under 
 orders to march to Portfmoufh ; and 
 every preparation was made to facilitate 
 their prompt embarkation : though the 
 blow which impended over the Spanifh 
 monarchy, hung by a fingle thread, and 
 might every inftant fall ; yet, not a 
 whifper tranfpired, to gratify the curiofity 
 of an eager capital, and an expecting 
 country. 
 
 Univerfal ignorance, or fanciful con- 
 jedlure prevailed, refpeding the deftina- 
 tion of thefe powerful naval and military 
 armaments; while the magnitude and 
 fcattered pofition of the Spanifh domi- 
 nions, from the mouth of the Miffiffippi 
 to that of the river Plate, left an ample 
 field for the imagination, and afforded 
 fcope for unbounded aflertion. To 
 thofe who recollected the delays, the 
 publicity, and the timidity which degraded 
 the counfels, and frustrated the meafures 
 
 or
 
 ( '76 ) 
 
 or exertions of England, during the Ad- 
 min iftration which conducted the Ame- 
 rican war, the prefent contrail: was matter 
 of equal wonder and admiration. The 
 nation, confcious that its honour and its 
 interefts were committed to a a depofitary 
 of tranfcendent integrity and firmnefs, 
 patiently waited the winding up of the 
 cataflrophe, with eyes fixed on its con- 
 ductor. Opinion fluctuated rapidly and 
 capricioufly from war to peace, as the 
 nioft trifling events appeared to indicate 
 the one or the other ; and October expired 
 as it had begun, in uncertainty and fuf- 
 pence. 
 
 During the three firft days of the fuc- 
 ceeding month, as every hour might be 
 (uppofed to decide on this momentous 
 queftion, expectation feemed to have at- 
 tained its higheft point ; while the rapid 
 approach of that period, when Parliament 
 was fummoned to meet for the difpatch 
 of public bufinefs, and the advanced fea- 
 ibn of the year, fuperadded to the length 
 of time which had already elapfed flnce 
 
 the
 
 the commencement of the negotiation, ap- 
 peared to preclude the poffibility of any 
 further delay. It was not till the fourth 
 of November, a day already rendered 
 memorable and aufpicious in the annals 
 of Great Britain, that the meffenger fo 
 long expected, arrived with pacific intel- 
 ligence. Spain, after a refinance pro- 
 portioned to the magnitude and import- 
 ance of the objeds contefted, and after 
 peremptory and reiterated refufals to con- 
 cede upon points, equally affedling her 
 pride and her interefts; relaxed at once 
 from this tone, complied with the de- 
 mands of England, and figned a " Con- 
 vention, " which terminated every paft or 
 prefent caufe of difpute between the two 
 Crowns. 
 
 To the wifdom and moderation of the 
 Spanifh Firft Minifter, the Count de 
 Florida Blanca, this timely and temperate 
 refolution, which arrefted the fword al- 
 ready unfheathed, was attributed, by an 
 opinion, not only general, but unquef- 
 tionably fu flamed on high authority and 
 A a evidence..
 
 evidence. If the hiftorian was permitted 
 to fpeculate upon the events of futurity ; or 
 if, from afcertained and exiting fads or 
 circum fiances, we might be allowed to 
 predict refpecting thofe which would 
 have taken place > it is more than merely 
 probable, that Spain muft have fuftained 
 very deep and lairing injury from that 
 war, which was thus unexpectedly and 
 fuddenly averted. 
 
 The naval power of England, which at 
 no period of paft time, had ever been fo 
 expeditioufly or vigoroufly called into ac- 
 tion : the fpirit and unanimity which pre- 
 vailed throughout the kingdom : the ac- 
 knowledged energy and capacity of the Ad- 
 miniftration : the very nature of the war in 
 which we were ready to engage, which muft 
 have been not only offenfive, but directed 
 to parts of the globe peculiarly calculated 
 to inflame the ardor of the affailants, by 
 profpects of wealth and plunder : the de- 
 fencelefs and unprotected ftate of many of 
 the Spanifh colonies in both hemifpheres : 
 the anarchy, and confequent incapacity 
 
 of
 
 of France, to extend any prompt and ef- 
 f edr.ua! fupport to the Crown of Spain : 
 even the lefs important, but diftrefsful 
 and perplexing embarrailments, refulting 
 from the earthquake which demolifhed the 
 fortrefs of Oran upon the coaft of Africa, 
 almoft precifely at the fame time when 
 the Emperor of Morocco commenced 
 hoflilities againft the Catholic King : this 
 combination of caufes or events, in which 
 there appears to be no exaggeration, may 
 perhaps, without the imputation of na- 
 tional partiality, juftify an opinion, that 
 the Spanifh monarchy was fnatched by the 
 wife and yielding policy of its Minifter, 
 from evils and calamities of no common 
 defcription. 
 
 While, however, I anticipate thefe 
 advantages, which might probably have 
 refulted from war, under the circumftances 
 already enumerated ; it is unquestionable, 
 that to a country fo deeply involved in 
 debt, no feries of conquefts which the 
 wildeft imagination can fuppofe, had they 
 even been realized, could have compen- 
 . A a 2 fated
 
 fated for the misfortunes infeparably 
 connected with hoflilities. Peace, even 
 though only obtained upon the moil 
 moderate, and barely equitable terms, 
 muft, to every reflecting mind, have been 
 far preferable to the aequifltion of all the 
 provinces, which Cortez ever conquered, 
 or Pizarro fubdued. But the " Conven- 
 tion" recently figned, while on one hand 
 it made ample reparation and reftitution 
 to the injured Crown, and plundered 
 fubjecls of Great Britain ; on the other, 
 opened new and unexplored fources of 
 wealth and commerce. After having 
 been fubmitted to the infpection and in- 
 veftigation of the people of England, 
 during many weeks : after having received 
 the moft authentic attentions of public 
 gratitude and fatisfaction, in acklrefTes to 
 the Throne, from the great corporate 
 bodies of London, Edinburgh, and Brif- 
 tol ; necefTarily compofed of perfons 
 highly fenfible to, and highly enlightened 
 upon, the commercial interefls of the 
 country : after having been finally dif- 
 
 cufled
 
 cuffed with all the feverity of political 
 criticifm, in the two Houfes of Parliament, 
 and attained the fanclion of decided ap- 
 probation in both : having undergone thefe 
 rigorous difquifitions upon its merits, 
 the " Convention " may be examined, 
 like any other fad: in the Englifh annals, 
 with the candour, impartiality, and temper 
 of hiftory. 
 
 That Great Britain has obtained by it 
 points and objects, hitherto referved or 
 refufed by the Court of Madrid, in every 
 treaty fince the termination of the reign 
 of Philip the Fourth, is inconteftible. 
 Time alone can completely afcertain the 
 value and intrinsic worth of thefe con- 
 ceffions, which are, in a great degree, de- 
 pendant on the induftry and enterprize 
 exerted, in converting them to national 
 advantage. That jealous and tenacious 
 power, which originally difcovered and 
 conquered the New World, over which 
 me has always endeavoured to draw the 
 deepeft veil, while me excluded every Eu- 
 ropean ftate from any participation in her 
 
 vafl
 
 vaft acquifitions ; has, for the firft time, 
 receded from her high and exclufive pre- 
 tenfions. The pretended donation of the 
 See of Rome, and all the antiquated 
 claims which long prefcription had ren- 
 dered venerable, have been for ever relin- 
 quifhed and abandoned by the prefent Con- 
 vention. The navigation of the Pacific 
 Ocean is, in effecT:, declared to be as free 
 as that of the Atlantic. The right, claimed 
 by England, ofpurfuing thefifhery on thofe 
 parts of the coaft of South America, un- 
 occupied and uncolonized by Spain, is not 
 onlv avowed : but a vaft tract of the Ma- 
 
 j 
 
 gellanic regions, on either fide of Cape 
 Horn, comprizing the whole coaft below 
 the mofl fouthern fettlement already made 
 by the Spaniards, is declared to be free 
 to both countries, for every purpofe of 
 temporary accommodation ; while the two 
 Crowns are equally interdicted and re- 
 ftrained, from forming future permanent 
 eftablifhments on that inhofpitable more. 
 In return for this liberal and ample con- 
 ceffion, England fubmits to the equita- 
 ble
 
 ble demand, of not permitting her veffels 
 to approach within ten leagues ofthecoafts 
 and countries, actually occupied by Spain 
 upon the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 On the North Weft Coaft of America, 
 the original difcovery, occupancy, and 
 fovereignty of which, appear to furnifh. 
 matter of infinite doubt and difcuflion, 
 frill greater advantages are feeured by the 
 Convention. Withoutrecapitulatingthepri- 
 mary ground of difpute, upon which clear 
 and immediate fatisfaction is ftipulated: the 
 whole continent, north of the fettlements 
 already pofTefled by Spain, is left open to 
 both nations ; with only a reciprocal right 
 of entry for purpofes of trade, into the 
 ports or places which either may occupy. 
 
 The fame general and equal principle is 
 laid down as the bafis of accommodation, 
 in the fouthern and northern hemifphere, 
 and forms the predominant feature of the 
 treaty. It was not denied by the Mi- 
 nifter, and it was juftly aflerted by his op- 
 ponents, when the Convention was agi- 
 tated in the Houfe of Commons, that to 
 
 rendej* 
 2
 
 render it perfect, and exempt from future 
 poffible mifmterpretation, a precife limit 
 fhould have been drawn, both on the coafl 
 of North and South America. But the evils 
 infeparable from a prolongation of the dif- 
 pute, muft have fo greatly outweighed the 
 benefit to be derived from any line of demar- 
 cation which could have been inftantly fet- 
 tled, that no poffible cenfure can be affixed on 
 that account; fince its expediency was not 
 more obvious, than its immediate execu- 
 tion was difficult and impracticable. Nor 
 can it be reafonably doubted, that where 
 fo clear a principle is by mutual confent 
 eftablifhed, no efTential obftacle can arife, 
 in the courfe of future negotiations be- 
 tween the two Courts, for the final fettle- 
 ment of their refpective boundaries. 
 
 To complete this great ad: of public 
 benefit and national glory, it only remained 
 to meet the expence occafioned by it, with 
 promptitude and alacrity. The Minifter, 
 fo far from avoiding or protracting that 
 neceffary, but painful and arduous talk, 
 followed the Convention, with the imme- 
 diate
 
 diate production of the accounts refpect- 
 ing the naval and military armaments, 
 and the pecuniary impositions which he 
 meant to propofe for t' eir fpeedy liqui- 
 dation. Not more diftinguimed by the 
 magnitude and energy of his preparations 
 to humble the monarchy of Spain, when 
 war appeared inevitable j than characta- 
 rifed by the mofl falutary and fevere oeco- 
 nomy, when that neceffity no longer ex- 
 ifted ; his enlarged and active mind over- 
 came the difficulties, by which common 
 ftatefmen are impeded. He propofed to 
 raife, not merely the intereft of the debt 
 recently incurred ; but to extinguifh the 
 principal itfelf, in the fpace of four years, 
 though amounting to above three millions 
 fterling. The effect of fo judicious and 
 provident a meafure, which muft equally 
 evince the magnanimity of the Minifter 
 from whom it originated, and the refources 
 of the country which adopted it, will 
 be felt through every kingdom of Europe. 
 It is not exceeded by any of the acts of 
 vvifdom, found in the annals of Eliza- 
 B b beth,
 
 ( i86 ) 
 
 beth, when the counfels of England were 
 di reded by the fore fight and policy of a 
 Burleigh. It is without precedent fince the 
 beginning of the prefent century, and is cal- 
 culated to excite the admiration and in- 
 credulity of future times. 
 
 The day, upon which Mr. Pitt fubmit- 
 ted to Parliament a fyftem, fo calcu- 
 lated for general advantage, was diftin- 
 guiihed by another act, which might have 
 rendered illuflrious a perfon, lefs confpicu- 
 oufly eminent above his fellow citizens. 
 The garter, which was conferred by the 
 Sovereign upon Lord Chatham, evinced the 
 indifference or fuperiority of the Minifter 
 to the higheft external decoration and dif- 
 tinction ; as powerfully, as his renuncia- 
 tion of a lucrative office in favour of Colonel 
 Barre, at a much earlier period of his 
 administration, had proved his diiintereft- 
 cdnefs and contempt of emolument. 
 
 As it feems hardly poffible to have 
 made greater facrifkes, fo perhaps, it is 
 difficult to felect any example in modern 
 times, of fo early an acquifition of that 
 
 glory
 
 glory, which isthe juft reward of rectitude 
 and talents. Whether the names of Cla- 
 rendon, of Godolphin, or of Pelham, 
 can be placed in any degree of com- 
 parifon or competition with that of Pitt, > 
 it may be left to pofterity to deter- 
 mine. But it is competent to the hif- 
 torian of the prefent age, to aflfert and 
 to prove, that at no period fince the refto- 
 ration of monarchy in the perfon of 
 Charles the Second, has this country 
 permanently attained to fo high a point of 
 fqlid greatnefs and importance, as me 
 enjoys at the prefent moment. We mould 
 fearch in vain for any traces of national 
 conlideration or honor, in the profligate 
 annals of that diflblute and dependent 
 Prince, whom I have juft named ; or in 
 the bigotted and tranfitory reign of his 
 lefs criminal, but more unfortunate fuc- 
 ceflbr. Shall we difcover greater fubject 
 for pride and exultation, even under the 
 temperate and elective government of 
 William the Third ? 
 
 Whatever obligations we may owe to 
 
 the Prince of Orange, as our deliverer 
 
 B b a from
 
 from civil and fpiritual tyranny, his 
 arms were conftantly retrained by the 
 Generals, as his meafures were uni- 
 formly defeated by the policy and 
 power, of Louis the Fourteenth. 
 
 After a perpetual and unequal ftrug- 
 gle, in which her commerce was al- 
 moft annihilated, and in which the foli- 
 tary laurels of the Boyne and of La 
 Hogue, were contrafted with the annual 
 defeats received on the Continent, and 
 in the Channel, Great Britain nearly funk 
 under the exertion. Though the peace 
 of Ryfwick produced a fhort and de- 
 lufive cairn, yet the Crown of Spain, in 
 violation of the moil: folemn renunciations, 
 was quietly transferred, in the year 1700, 
 on the extinction of the Spanifh branch of 
 the Houfe of Auilria, to a Prince of 
 France : while the laft hours of William 
 were occupied by ineffectual efforts, to 
 prevent the fatal confequences of an ad, 
 inconteftably injurious to, or fubverfive 
 of the fecurity, interefts, and greatnefs of 
 England. 
 
 It muft be admitted, that the female 
 
 reign
 
 reign which fucceeded, fo long as it was 
 conducted by the counfels of Godolphin, 
 and the genius of Marlborough, prefents a 
 ftriking picture of military glory, and fuc- 
 ceflive triumphs. The Court of Verfailles, 
 accuftomed to confer, condefcended to folicit 
 for peace ; and Torcy, at Gertruydenburg, 
 in 1 709, exhibited the humiliating fight of a 
 Minifter of Louis the Fourteenth, prof- 
 trate before England and Holland. But 
 the imprudence or prefumption of an Ad- 
 miniftration, intoxicated with profperity, 
 and unmindful of the changes of human 
 affairs, allowed the moment to elapfe, in 
 which the fafety and interefts of their 
 country might have been forever fecured, 
 on the moft durable foundations. The 
 horizon foon became darkened, and the 
 profpect obfcured by clouds. 
 
 Villars refcued France from her ftate of 
 danger and diftrefs, while Oxford and 
 Bolingbroke difgraced the government, 
 and accelerated the death of their feeble 
 miftrefs, by meafures of pufillanimity, 
 and breaches of national faith. The 
 
 trophies
 
 ( 190 ) 
 
 a 
 
 trophies of Blenheim and of M Iplaquct 
 
 were obliteratedby the defeat of Denain, and 
 the peace of Utrecht : the Houfe of Auftria 
 was betrayed in that difhonourable treaty ; 
 and the evening of a reign, fo diftin- 
 guifhed and fo fplendid, clofed in weak- 
 nefs, and is only recollected with regret. 
 
 If the annals of the laft Princefs of the 
 Stuart line afford fo little matter for hif- 
 toric praife, it is not in the labyrinth of 
 Continental Politics and alliances, which 
 characterifed and compofed thofe of 
 George the Firft, that we can look for 
 topics of eulogium, or fubjects for 
 admiration. The naval victory, obtained 
 by Byng in 1718, over the Spanifh fleet 
 in the Faro of Meffina, however brilliant 
 and decifive ; fo far from being productive 
 of any advantage to the nation, counter- 
 acted every principle of wife and judicious 
 policy. It flands contrafted with the 
 fatal bankruptcy of the South Sea year; 
 with the melancholy facrifice of Ho/ier's 
 devoted fquadron, under the walls of 
 Porto Bello ; with a dereliction of the in- 
 
 terefts
 
 terefts and honour of the Crown of Eng- 
 land, rendered fubfervient to injurious 
 predilections, and foreign acquifitions. 
 
 The commencement of the reign of 
 George the Second, conducted, as the 
 greater part of that of his father had been, 
 by the counfels of Walpol'e, difclofes 
 fcarcely a more exhilarating profpect. It 
 was, indeed, pacific : but this peace was 
 the ignominious and fupine infecurity of 
 James ; not the dignified and martial tran- 
 quillity of Elizabeth, lam at a lofs to 
 find, in the prefent century, any portion 
 of time lefs diftinguifhed by wifdom and 
 vigor; or during which, Great Britain was 
 fallen into more complete mfignificance, 
 than in that interval which elap led from the 
 death of George the Firft in 1727, to the 
 clofe, of Sir Robert Walpole's adminiftra- 
 tion, in 1742. Though the fubfervient 
 fleet of this country efcorted the younger 
 fon of Philip the Fifth, from Barcelona 
 into Italy : though we facilitated and ad- 
 vanced the grandeur of the Houfe of 
 Bourbon : though we tamely fubmitted to 
 2 the
 
 the acts of violence, exercifed by Spain 
 againfr. our commerce in all the American 
 feas : though we abandoned the Emperor 
 Charles the Sixth, to the united force of 
 France, Spain, and Sardinia, who difmem- 
 bered Naples and Sicily from the dominions 
 of the Houfe of Auitria, in fo unequal a con- 
 teft: though, in order that the meafure of in- 
 capacity and mifconduct mould be com- 
 plete, we even permitted, Louis the Fif- 
 teenth, by incorporating the Dutchy of 
 Lorrain with his hereditary poffeffions, 
 to cement and perfect the French great- 
 nefs ; yet thefe mighty and numerous con- 
 ceffions did not conciliate affection, or 
 procure refpect. Verfed in the arts of Par- 
 liamentary addrefs, and the fcience of 
 domeftic venality, but confcious of his 
 incapacity to conduct the veiTel through 
 the ftorm which impended ; Walpole, 
 when he had exhaufted every endeavour, 
 to detain his Sovereign and his country in 
 difgraceful neutrality, reluctantly refigned 
 the reigns of power, which he had held 
 too long for the honor of his matter, or 
 the glory and advantage of England. 
 
 Pelham,
 
 ( 193 ) 
 
 Pelham, after a fhort interval, fuc- 
 ceeded. His Adminiftration, though 
 neither fortunate and fuccefsful in war, nor 
 fecure and undifturbed in peace, yet was 
 rendered refpe&able, by the luftre of his 
 private and perfonal virtues. The inglo- 
 rious campaigns of Fontenoy, and of La 
 Feldt : the defeats of the allied army in 
 Flanders, followed by the capture of 
 Bergen-op-Zoom, and the fiege of Maef- 
 tricht : the peace of Aix la Chapelle, 
 humiliating and injurious to Great Britain : 
 the ravages, or hoflilities, continued to 
 be exercifed by France againft our colo* 
 nies in America and the Eaft Indies, even 
 fubfequent to that treaty : thefe fubjects 
 of general complaint and diflatisfadiion, 
 which clouded the Ministry of Pel- 
 ham, confoled the nation for his lofs, 
 when removed by death in 1754, from 
 the fuperintendance of public affairs. 
 
 The fhort remainder of the reign of 
 
 George the Second, was equally calamitous 
 
 and difgraceful, 'till that memorable and 
 
 brilliant, but tranfitory sera, preceding 
 
 Cc its
 
 ( 194 ) 
 
 its final termination, when the genius of Pitt 
 renewed the glories and fuccefles fo long 
 forgotten. The lofs of Minorca, and the 
 ignominious convention of Clofter-feven, 
 were erafed by the fucceflive conquefts of 
 Martinico,Canada,Plairey,Beflifle,aridthe 
 Havanna. But, thedemifeof the Sovereign, 
 in 1 760, and the transfer of minifterial au- 
 thority which fucceeded, prevented thebene- 
 ficial confequences, naturally to have been 
 expected from this chain of victories. A 
 peace, which never can be fufficiently 
 reprobated, and in which the ignorance of 
 the interefts of the nation, was only ex- 
 ceeded by the dereliction of the honor of 
 the Crown, reftored to the two branches 
 oftheHoufeof Bourbon, thofe provinces 
 and pofleffions, of which they had been 
 deprived by the Earl of Chatham. 
 
 I fhall not enumerate the fleeting phan- 
 toms of Adminiftration, which annually 
 appeared and vanifhed ; nor attempt to de- 
 icribe that period which elapfed, from the 
 resignation of Lord Bute, to the year 1 770, 
 when the reins of power were delegated 
 
 to
 
 ( .195 ) 
 
 to Lord North. There are certainly few 
 events, included within that portion of 
 time, which can induce us to lament that 
 it was not of longer duration. With flill 
 greater reafon, I wifh to draw a veil acrofs 
 the feries of errors, incapacity, and mif- 
 conduct, whicji preceded and produced 
 that fatal war, terminated by the emanci- 
 pation of America ; and which ftill blazed 
 in every quarter of the globe, at the aera 
 when thefe memoirs commence. 
 
 ' From the elevation on which we are 
 placed, it affords a fort of melancholy 
 pleafure, to look down upon the anarchy 
 and calamity, which endear the prefent 
 Government, by a comparifon with that 
 ftate from which we have efcaped. The 
 actual iituation of this country realizes the 
 warmeflwifhof a Minifter, or a Sovereign, 
 to whom the profperity and glory of England 
 are fupremely dear. That object which 
 William vainly fought to attain ; which 
 Godolphin and Maryborough allowed to 
 efcape ; and which the Earl of Chatham 
 was not permitted to accomplim ; has 
 C c a been
 
 ( 196 ) 
 
 been refcrved for the prefent age to be- 
 hold. The monarchies of France and 
 Spain have been fucceffively humbled and 
 reftrained, without the neceflity of having 
 recourfe to the fword. Great Britain, at the 
 conclufion of 1 790, is become by general 
 confent, the acknowledged Arbitrefs of Eu- 
 rope ; and to her poffeffion of external con- 
 fideration and refpect, unites every inter- 
 nal fource of wealth and felicity. 
 
 From the furvey of fo auguft and animat- 
 ing a fcene, it is natural to turn our eyes 
 towards the picture exhibited by France, 
 at the prefent moment. The convul- 
 fions which have agitated that diffracted 
 country fince the month of October 1789, 
 though fometimes apparently fufpended 
 or extinguished, yet may poffibly revive 
 with augmented violence. Thelaft fourteen 
 months feem to have been alternately dif- 
 tinguifhed, by acts of feftivity and of 
 (laughter; by the pageant of a Federation, , 
 in the Champ de Mars " at Paris, where 
 the national freedom was folemnly recog- 
 nized by a captive and degraded Sove- 
 reign ;
 
 ( J97 ) 
 
 reign ; and by the memorable carnage of 
 Nancy, which fo quickly followed. It 
 is perhaps impoflible for the wifeft ftatef- 
 man to predict the eventual confequence 
 of thefe conflicting caufes , or to hazard 
 a decided opinion on the final refult, as yet 
 concealed in futurity, and obfcured by fo 
 many contradictory appearances. The de- 
 preffion and humiliation of the clergy ; the 
 fale of the ecclerlaftical property j the anni- 
 hilation of the orders of nobility, which 
 were almoft coeval with the times of Clovis 
 and of Pharamond ; the abolition of the 
 peerage; the renewal of the dangerous 
 experiments of Law, and the creation of 
 a paper currency, nearly as deftitute of 
 folid fupport, as was the fyilem of that 
 celebrated minifter : Thefe extraordinary 
 operations, or meafures of government, in 
 a great degree without precedent in the hif- 
 tory of modern European nations, have 
 not yet fufficiently unfolded and developed 
 their full effect, to enable the philofopher 
 and the hiftorian to confer on 'them his 
 cenfure, or his admiration. 
 
 It
 
 It has not even hitherto been afcertained 
 or exemplified, fince the extinction of the 
 Roman freedom by Marius and Sylla, that 
 a people whofe numbers exceed twenty 
 millions, are capable of being permanently 
 governed under a free conflitution. Nor 
 has mankind yet feen any inftance of a capi- 
 tal, and a country, habituated for ages to 
 defpotifm, funk in pleafures,loft to public 
 principle, deftitute even of the forms of 
 external refpecT: for the national religion, 
 and only intoxicated with the fpeculations 
 of a diitempered and viiionary philofophy, 
 which ever afpired or attained to a well- 
 regulated and wifely-cemented Liberty. 
 
 It was not in fuch a ftate of morals or 
 
 v 
 
 of fociety, that the Athenians broke the 
 fetters of arbitrary power, when roufed by 
 Harmodius and Arifrogiton. The elder 
 Brutus bore no fimilarity either to Mira- 
 beau, or to La Fayette. Rome vainly 
 afTaffinated her Dictator, when public vir- 
 tue was no longer to be found in the ie- 
 nate, or among the people. The Moun- 
 taineers of Switzerland, who threw off 
 
 the
 
 the yoke of the Houfe of Auftria ; and 
 the opprefled peafants of the Low Cour^- 
 tries, who revolted from the tyranny of 
 Philip the Second, were poor, hardy, and 
 martial. The Englifh Parliament, which 
 oppofed, and ultimately vanquifhed Charles 
 the Firft, called upon a nation, which how- 
 ever inflamed by fanaticifm, was unfubdued 
 by luxury, and uncorrupted by venality. 
 Times of effeminacy and refinement have 
 not hitherto been found to produce a plant, 
 of fo hardy and vigorous a nature, as 
 Freedom ; and if we are deftmed to fee 
 in the hiftory of France, an example of 
 this extraordinary contradiction to the 
 refult of all experience, it will be a 
 finking leffon of the infufficiency and 
 fallibility, of human wifdom or obferva- 
 tion. 
 
 The time which has elapfed fince the 
 Revolution of July, 1789, has not been fuf- 
 ficient, to afcertain all its confequences, or 
 to ripen and mature the many caufes, which 
 may ftill fhake the freedom of France, 
 before it attains to folidity. The yielding 
 
 and
 
 ( 20O ) 
 
 and paflive conduct of the King, which 
 has fo powerfully operated to produce 
 fubmiffion [in the two orders of the no- 
 bility and clergy, may be overborne by 
 events, or may be affected by the advice 
 and counfels of thofe who approach his 
 perfon. The natural levity, and characterif- 
 tic inconftancy of the nation, may conduce 
 to make them weary of apolfeffion, which 
 however ineftimable in its nature, is 
 neither to be attained, nor preferved, 
 without unremitting vigilance and ex- 
 ertion. The ceffation or ruin of many 
 branches of trade, neceffarily refulting 
 fromthelate convulfions: the fe verity of the 
 taxes, which a free Government is com- 
 pelled to exact, in common with the moil 
 defpotic Monarch : the long habits of un- 
 conditional fubmiffion, fo forcible in their 
 operation upon the mind and character : 
 All thefe principles may ferment, and ul- 
 timately burft into action. 
 
 To the internal fources of change and com- 
 motion , external ones may unite. Of the fe- 
 ven fugitive Princes of the Blood, who pre- 
 2 cipitately
 
 cipitately abandoned their country at the 
 commencement of the national troubles, 
 only one, the Prince of Conti, has yet ven- 
 tured to revifit Paris, or fubmitted to take 
 the Civic Oath, impofed by the new con- 
 ftitution. The malcontents, afTembled at 
 Turin round the perfon of the Count 
 d'Artois, aided by the capacity and re* 
 fources of Calonne, and ready to be led 
 on by Maillebois, menace the duration of 
 the National Affembly . Even though thefe 
 ftorms were diffipated, yet the Courts of 
 Vienna and Madrid cannot be fuppofed 
 to look with pleafure, or approbation, on 
 the fallen condition of Louis the Six- 
 teenth; and would, probably, aid with 
 more than willies, any effectual ft niggles 
 which might be made for the reftoration 
 of his antient prerogatives. Thefe reflec- 
 tions and confiderations may infpire fome 
 reafonable doubt, refpecting the final iffuc 
 of the fubveriion of the Royal Power, and 
 the permanency of a free conftitution in 
 France. 
 
 Whatever may be the refult, and though 
 liberty fhould even ultimately triumph, 
 
 Dd its
 
 its attainment has been accompanied with, at 
 Jeaft, a temporary diminution, approach- 
 ing to total fufpenfion, of the political 
 ftrength, importance, and confideration of 
 the kingdom, as a European ftate. The 
 energy and activity of the Crown have 
 been withdrawn; and a fpirit of licen- 
 tioufnefs, the moft fatal to every national 
 and public effort, has prevailed through* 
 out all the naval and military departments. 
 The French colonies in the Weft Indies 
 are engaged in civil war, or become a 
 prey to infurrection and anarchy. The 
 frontiers, towards Germany, Savoy, and 
 Spain, are either expofed to infult and in- 
 vafion ; or protected by troops, upon 
 whofe fleady attachment and fidelity, after 
 the late defection from their Prince, no 
 fecure reliance can be placed. That 
 powerful monarchy, which for near a 
 century and a half has infpired terror, 
 and whofe reftlefs ambition has been fo 
 dangerous to every furrounding country r 
 which has twice, during that time, nearly 
 fubjected Holland; which placed Philip 
 the Fifth on the Spanifh throne in 1 700, 
 
 and
 
 ( 203 ) 
 
 and raifed an Elector of Bavaria to the 
 Imperial dignity, at a ftill more recent 
 period : that power, occupied in endlefs 
 metaphyfical difquifitions upon the rights 
 of men, or employed in defperate pro- 
 jects of revenue and finance, appears not 
 only to be incapable of invading the re- 
 pofe of her neighbours, but even of pro- 
 viding for her own internal fafety and 
 tranquillity. 
 
 Such is the ftriking contraft, which the 
 two monarchies of France and England 
 actually prefent. The one, ftruggling 
 through difficulties, to complete a fyflem 
 of liberty; and attempting to renovate 
 her difordered finances, plunged into 
 almoft irremediable confufion. The other, 
 enjoying all the advantages of eftabJifhed 
 order; conducted by a Government equally 
 vigorous and popular; meeting every pe- 
 cuniary embarraffment orimpofition, with 
 new and unexampled refources ; ftrength- 
 ening her credit, and extending her com- 
 merce, while me covers the ocean with 
 her navy, and fpreads the glory of her 
 name over every quarter of the earth. 
 
 D d 2 I am
 
 C 204 ) 
 
 I am arrived at that period, where 
 the prefent work muft neceffarily ter- 
 minate. I am confcious that it is only 
 an outline ; but the events of which I have 
 treated, are not fufficiently removed, to ad- 
 , mit of minute enquiry, or profound in- 
 veftigation. Yet, this imperfect pro- 
 duction may perhaps ferve to light 
 the fteps of fome future Hume or 
 Gibbon, to whom genius fhall delegate 
 the fublime tafk, of recording and per- 
 petuating the Englifh annals. My object 
 has been only to commemorate the facts 
 and characters, which have made the 
 deepeft impreilion on my memory and 
 underftanding, while a fpeclator of their 
 full effect ; and to ftamp them with the 
 genuine fentiment which they excited, of 
 approbation or cenfure. " Statui res geftas 
 4< Populi Romani," fays Salluft, ** carp- 
 " tim, ut quseque memoria digna vide- 
 " bantur, perfcribere; eo magis, quod 
 " mihi a Spe, Metu, partibusReipublicae, 
 " animus liber erat." 
 
 Whether I may be efteemed altogether 
 exempt from the emotions, difclaimed by 
 
 the
 
 ( 205 ) 
 
 the Roman writer, I mufl leave to thofe 
 who (hall perufe this work, to determine. 
 It is difficult to diveft ourfelves of the pre- 
 dilections, which almoft neceflarily arife 
 in our minds, when engaged in the recital 
 or defcription of fcenes, acted in ages and 
 countries the moft remote. It would 
 rather imply a degree of apathy, and 
 defect of feeling, than any fuperiority to 
 common and vulgar prejudice, if I could 
 furvey with the fame tranquillity, the 
 calamities, which only a few years fince, 
 threatened the deftruction of England, and 
 the prefent elevated ftate of fecurity which 
 we enjoy : or if in relating them, I fhould 
 allow no portion of enthufiafm to mix 
 with the veneration, always due to hiftoric 
 truth. Gratitude is naturally excited in 
 every generous breaft, by private bene- 
 fits : but the Sovereign, or the Minifter, 
 who are the benefactors of nations, kindle, 
 even in the hiftorian who tranfmits to 
 future times the events of their govern- 
 ment, a venial partiality ; nor can the 
 
 reign
 
 ( 206 ) 
 
 reign of Trajan and Aurelius be written 
 with the fame indifference, as we feel in 
 defcribing the gluttony of Vitellius, or the 
 crimes of Caracalla. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 ANOTHER 
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1780 TO 1790. 
 
 BEING 
 
 AN ANSWER TO 
 A SKETCH, &c. 
 
 PART THE FIRST. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for James Ridgway, York-Street. 
 1791.
 
 JL HE Author laments that the crowd of im- 
 portant matter which occupies the beginning of 
 the period which this Sketch propofes to defer ibe, 
 as well as the latenefs ofthefeafonfor publica- 
 tion, does not permit him to deduce his hiftory 
 beyond the dissolution of the parliament In 1784; 
 the work will be comprized In two parts : and 
 the Second Part, which will be the moft Impor- 
 tant from the quantity as well as the quality of the 
 fubjetts which It will treat of, will be publijhed 
 towards the clofe of the year, and will be ex- 
 tended to whatever Is comprifed In the prefent 
 fejjlon of parliament.
 
 
 ANOTHER 
 
 * 
 
 S KE TC H 
 
 REIGN OF GEORGE III. 
 
 TO narrate events in order to afford ma- 
 terials " to fome future Hume or Gib- 
 bon, to whom Genius mail delegate the fub- 
 lime tafk of recording and perpetuating the 
 Englifh annals," is certainly an undertaking 
 both modeft in its purpofe, and ufeful in its 
 execution : and though pofterity may not be 
 able to acknowledge this obligation, on ac- 
 count of the uncertainty or the oblivion of its 
 author, yet a prefent retribution will not fail 
 to attend fuch an endeavour; and contemporary 
 gratitude will beflow the praife, which the 
 judgment of futurity will not indeed have the 
 means of fecuring. 
 
 B But
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 But if its laudable to clear the, way of the 
 hiftorian, whofe fleps are doubtfully, though 
 cautioufly traced through the intricacies of con- 
 jecture, or quite obstructed by the darknefs of 
 ignorance, furely he deferves to be extolled 
 by rapturous gratitude who mall recal the 
 unwary traveller from the paths of error, 
 who fhall retard or flop his hardy progrefs by 
 perfuafion, by intreaty, by authority who 
 fhall call aloud " quit the road, unhappy that 
 you are ! which you now purfue it is not 
 among the flowers of panegyric, it is not 
 among the illufions that fancy creates and only 
 interefl adopts, that you will find that truth 
 which you feek. Check your rein ; proceed not 
 examine, doubt, confult, judge j weigh mo- 
 tives, trace caufes, confider actions relatively 
 to characters, to conjunctures, to nature: 
 and though the evidence of tradition mould 
 perplex or fail you, philofophy fhall yet fhed 
 a friendly light, and conduct your fteps." 
 
 It is hardly neceiTary to fkte, that the 
 avowed intention of this little efTay or treatife 
 is to obviate fome mifreprefentation of things 
 and of characters which have gone abroad in a 
 book or pamphlet, intitled, " A Sketch of the 
 2 Reign
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 3 
 
 Reign of George the Third," to refer effects 
 to their proper caufes, and to fubftitute truth 
 for panegyric. 
 
 The author propofes, moreover, in the 
 courfe of his undertaking, to make fome 
 ohfervations concerning the nature and the 
 end of government in general, and the na- 
 ture of the Britifh Government in parti- 
 cular. What is its theory! what its prac- 
 tice ! what its capacity for duration ! what is 
 its effential character ! and what the influence 
 of this, character in the production of a lyftem 
 of conduct, which, when it has continued 
 uniform for a length of time, muffc be the 
 effect of a conftant caufe. This latter object, 
 however, he fliall refer to the fecond part of 
 this treatife, and he hopes to receive the in- 
 dulgence of the public, if he does not make a 
 hafty production of opinions that require much 
 reflection in their adoption, and much delicacy 
 in their promulgation. 
 
 In tracing the affairs of men it will gene- 
 rally be found, that any great deviation from 
 the rules of prudence and of juftice may be 
 confidered as a kind of firft link in that con- 
 tinued chain of events which is certain to ter- 
 minate in fome fatal cataftrophe, and though 
 B 2 properly
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 properly fpeaking there is no fuch thing in all 
 human affairs as a firft caufe, that which is 
 called fo, being as ftrictly dependant upon fome 
 event which has preceded it, as its own imme- 
 diate effect is dependant upon it, and that 
 which is called the final effect or cataftrophe 
 being moft certainly a neceffary caufe with re- 
 fpect to fome fucceedlng event - y yet, becaufe, 
 the connection in either cafe is not quite fo ap- 
 parent to the dull fenfe of man, as it is with 
 refpect - to all the intermediate events ; fo we 
 term this continued fenfibje chain a feries, and 
 from hence the epoch of the hiftorian receives 
 its denomination. That the American war 
 was a meafure of impolicy the event has fuffi-* 
 ciently demonftrated, that it was a meafure 
 founded in injuftice, and in a fpirit of domina- 
 tion, is yet a queftion among thofe whom 
 national partiality would incline to a favour- 
 able judgment, though it is no queftion among 
 thofe whom the fame motive would incline to 
 a contrary decifion : but leaving this difcuffion 
 afide, certain it is that the furrender of the 
 fouthern enemy at York-Town was a kind of 
 final effect of that meafure, fince from that 
 time a new order of things has arifen, by which 
 
 adif-
 
 THE JREIGN OF GEORGE III. ^ 
 
 a different object is propofed, and of which the 
 events that now pafs before us form a part of 
 another connected chain or feries. 
 
 What were the motives which induced 
 Lord North to refign his fituation of minifter 
 in March 1782, and fubfequent to that fur- 
 render, it is not perhaps fo difficult a talk to 
 conjecture as the fagacious author of the 
 Sketch feems to imagine. That minifter pro- 
 bably confidered that the war in which the 
 nation had been unhappily involved with 
 America was the prevailing feature, and indeed 
 the grand principle of his adminiftration, of 
 which all the other parts were but fubordinate, 
 and dependant as it were upon that meafure : 
 when therefore the Houfe of Commons mani- 
 fe-fted its difapprobation of that war, when a 
 refolution was carried againft its continuance, 
 and when it was even not oppofed when mov- 
 ed, that which ever of his majefties ministers 
 fhould advife its continuance, mould be deem- 
 ed enemies of the country, and of his majefly, 
 when all this was done not in a fingle move- 
 ment of paffion, not upon the fudden impulfo 
 pf a great and grievous calamity, but after 
 much intervention of time, much tempe- 
 rate
 
 6 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 rate deliberation, and by many fucceffive reib- 
 lutions, we can find but little to wonder at or 
 admire, wherefore a minifter whofe whole ad- 
 miniftration had been thus involved in one 
 general cenfure, from whom the confidence of 
 Parliament had been withdrawn, and who 
 confequently" would have been able to do no 
 one minifterial aft, mould refign his office, 
 fhould retire into the ranks, nor think it pain- 
 ful to fubmit to a necefiity which he could 
 not control. 
 
 It therefore required no very great portion 
 of fagacity even for the author of the Sketch 
 to difcover the motives of the refignation of 
 Lord North, when he found that his meafures 
 had been difapproved of by the Commons, and 
 that he was deemed the author, the inftigator, 
 or the inftrument, by which the nation had 
 fallen into fo great a calamity. Nor though 
 the favour and SUPPORT OF THE CROWN 
 had remained to him, mould " the announcing 
 his refignation or ftripping himfelf of the in- 
 fignia of office," under thefe circumffonces of 
 public difapprobation " have fo much aftonifh- 
 ed the audience as to make them doubt the fa& 
 of which they were witnefTes," 
 
 But
 
 THE REION OF GEORGE III. .7 
 
 * 
 
 But yet that minifter did not wait for any 
 extreme refolutions before he relinquifhed his 
 place, he did not fet the gratification of his 
 ambition or his luft of power againft the fenfe 
 directly expreffed of the reprefentatives of the 
 nation, he did not {take his continuance in 
 office againft the order and the tranquillity of 
 the country upon the credit of the moderation 
 of a popular affembly ; but with the dignity 
 of a man, and with the virtue of a patriot, he 
 refigned his office, rather than he would coun- 
 tenance fo pernicious a precedent that it could 
 be retained^ although it might be granted, 
 without the concurrence of the people ex- 
 prefTed by its only organ, namely, the Houfe 
 of Commons legally and conftitutionally aflem- 
 bled and exifting. 
 
 It has been frequently afferted, and it has 
 been too often proved by experience, that the 
 conduct of political men is more directed by 
 intereft or convenience, more guided by con- 
 junctures, than governed by any general im- 
 mutable principles of public virtue ; and fuch 
 deviations from moral rectitude fo long as the 
 public only is concerned, are imputed with 
 levity and received with indulgence, though 
 
 if
 
 if they mould affect the private tranfactions of 
 life, contempt or reproach would be a never- 
 failing confequence of the bafe proceeding. If 
 we feek for the caufe of a diftmction where 
 none ought to exift, or where it ought to exift 
 in an inverfe manner ; for the practice of pri- 
 vate morality muft be at laft traced up to 
 public utility as its proper and original fource, 
 and public utility is indeed directly and imme- 
 diately affected by the practice of public virtue ; 
 I fay, if we feek for the caufes of this diftinc- 
 tion, we mall difcover them in the vanity, and 
 in the pride and in the defire of fuperiority 
 which are implanted in mankind. No par- 
 ticular injury can be done to an individual 
 without verKng in that individual a right of 
 complaint and reproach, a right of which na- 
 ture will compel the exercife, and the exercife 
 of which is not very well calculated to gratify 
 the vanity, and feed the pride of him who is 
 the object of it. But in the cafe of a public in- 
 jury no particular individual has a right to 
 complain beyond the reft orchis fellow citi- 
 zens, and as the univerfality of an injury pre- 
 vents an infult, fo one great, the greateft fource 
 of human refentment, is not concerned in the 
 revenge. 
 
 * Hence
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. p 
 
 Hence it is that private promifes are ever 
 deemed facred even by thofe who make no 
 fcruple. of violating public faith, not indeed 
 from the virtue of their characters, but from 
 the vice of their nature ; hence too thofe poli- 
 tical men who, while they have been in oppo- 
 fition to a powerful adminiflration, have main- 
 tained with great zealoufnefs the expediency 
 of a retrenchment in the public expenditure, 
 of a reduction of places, and of a diminution 
 of influence ; when they have been feated on 
 the fide of power, have forgot their airy pro- 
 mifes, have retrenched no part of the public 
 expenditure, have reduced no places, and have 
 diminimed no influence, governed by the fame 
 interefl, that under different circumftances and 
 in a different conjuncture had betrayed them 
 into profeffions which were the effect of a 
 fhifting convenience. 
 
 The whole nation anxioufly wimes for a 
 parliamentary reform: The reprefentation is 
 defective, it is incomplete, and fingle individu- 
 als, by that change to which all human affairs 
 are fubject, have poffeffed themfelves gradu- 
 ally, and without effort, of the'deareft rights 
 of large bodies of men. What more popular 
 than for a member of fufficient abilities, to 
 
 C come
 
 1O ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 come forward to vindicate the injured con- 
 ftitution, and to aflert the claims of the public. 
 But what more for his intereft too ? if he fuc- 
 ceeds he brings down the minifter from his 
 vantage ground, and in the fcramble, I mould 
 rather call it the allotment which will now 
 take place, he will have a fair chance in the 
 gratification of an honert ambition, in propor- 
 tion to his talents, and let me add to his virtue 
 too; and his particular merits upon fuch an 
 occafion would moft certainly not be forgotten. 
 But let a fortunate train of circumftances make 
 this man minifter : Will he purfue that object 
 of his heart which but now he burned for 
 with all the flames of a lover ? Has he not 
 the very means of attaining it ? or does the 
 certainty of pofleffion impofe its icy hand upon 
 this fpecies of delire, and render him indiffer- 
 ent becaufe it is in his power to be happy. 
 But it is not necefTary to fearch for remote 
 caufes upon fuch an occafion. The times have 
 changed, and our opinions alfo have changed. 
 There are difturbances abroad there may be 
 difaffeclion at home let us not ftir up bad 
 humours by the introduction of new things, 
 
 and
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. II 
 
 \ , 
 
 and let us prefer the fecurity of prefcription to 
 the dangers of innovation. 
 
 In oppofition to the foregoing obfervations 
 concerning political frailty, and the truth of 
 which mufl be generally acknowledged ; let 
 me dired: the attention of the reader to the 
 conduct of the administration which imme- 
 diately fucceeded upon the refignation of Lord 
 North. An administration moft honourably 
 diftinguifhed by the name of Rockingham; 
 and whofe exiflence though it continued for 
 ho more than three months, a circumstance of 
 great exultation to the author of the Sketch, 
 could not be called fhort, for if duration is 
 relative to fucceffion, that life which is crouded 
 with good a6ts is both glorious and long. 
 
 In order that we may obtaain the clue by 
 which the conduct of this adminiflration was 
 guided, by which its confiftency is proved, 
 and its virtue exemplified, it will be neceflary 
 to recur to a very memorable event in the for- 
 mer parliament. Upon a queftion moved by 
 Mr. Dunning, it was carried that the influ- 
 ence of the crown had increafed, was increaf- 
 ing, and ought to be diminimed. This folemn 
 declaration however of the reprefentatives of 
 
 C 2 the
 
 12 ANOTHfR SKETCH OF 
 
 the people was attended with no beneficial 
 effects, for a fpeedy diflblution that his majefty 
 was advifed to make, intercepted the advan- 
 tage which the public would probably have 
 derived from the virtue or the repentance of 
 that parliament : I fay the repentance, becaufe 
 it is remarkable that this abftracl: proportion 
 (and let it be obferved once for all, that the 
 term * abftract fignifies the refult which is 
 
 obtained 
 
 * It is to be obferved, that the terms abftradt, philo- 
 fophy, metaphyfics, &c. have been much confounded 
 of late, and endeavoured to be brought into difrepute 
 by thofe who could only expect to fucceed in pervert- 
 ing reafon, by confounding terms. The author of the 
 letter upon the French Revolution, fpcaking of rights, 
 &c. fays, their abftracl perfection is their practical de- 
 fect : now, abftract perfection can only arife from 
 practical excellency ; and it is, indeed, from the con- 
 templation and knowledge of individuals alone, that we 
 are able to combine various qualities, fo as to complete 
 and harmonize any fyftem whatever, whether of me- 
 chanics or of ethics, and the effects and the value of a 
 fyftem fo framed, may be moft precifely afcertained, by 
 refolving it into its elementary parts. Now it is this 
 capacity, which is in individuals, or in the qualities qf 
 individuals, to be combined and adapted, that gives rife 
 to the philofophical expreffion of fitnefs of things, an 
 expreffion which, though Fielding has very fuccefsfully 
 
 ridiculed,
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. IJ 
 
 obtained from the contemplation of particu- 
 lars) was voted by a Parliament that in no 
 particular had oppofed the meafures of the 
 minifter -, and therefore its theory upon this 
 occafion might be faid to be at variance with 
 its practice : a circumflance that adds a very 
 peculiar authority to the proportion which 
 was affirmed; in as much as it is not ufual 
 with men to grant any inference from their 
 conduct, which inference implies a cenfure> 
 unlefs they are compelled to it by the obliga- 
 tion of truth. 
 
 But when his Majefty, In compliance ivith 
 the ivlfoes of his people, had framed a new 
 adminiftration, that was informed by the ex- 
 perience, and guided by the gentle afcendant 
 of the Marquis of Rockingham, and of 
 which, if we confider fome atleaft (unhappily 
 not all) of the other component parts, we 
 mail find genius adorned with iimplicity, vir- 
 tue, tried by perfeverance and fortitude, proof 
 
 ridiculed, by a ludicrous incident in the life of Square, 
 which all my readers will probably recollect, is not the 
 lefs juft upon that account, and this circumftance may 
 ferve to prove that ridicule is not always the teft of 
 truth, 
 
 againft
 
 14 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 againft temptation, and the allurements of in- 
 tereft ; the nation was not deceived in the juft 
 expectation which it entertained of fuch men, 
 and we mall fee, in this part of our hiftory, 
 a very fplendid exception to the inconfiftence 
 and perfidy of political men, who make their 
 own convenience the meafure of their pro- 
 feffions and of their practice. 
 
 The difpofal of many offices, an extenfive 
 patronage, the influence of the treafury, in the 
 election of members of parliament, an influ- 
 ence, the very fufpicion of which mould be 
 carefully avoided, and its practice abhorred ; 
 all thefe things, as they are advantages on the 
 fide of the minuter, as they fecure friendmip 
 by the impulfe of gratitude, as they procure fup- 
 port by the allurements of -expectation, and as 
 they render parliament dependant by the ope- 
 ration of both, fo that adminiftration which 
 mould, relinquim whatever, of patronage, is 
 inconfiflent with the integrity of the conftitu- 
 tion, which mould fubmit the power of doing 
 ill to be retrenched by falutary provifions, 
 while it retained the power of doing good not 
 only by the natural prevalency of good over 
 ill, but by preferving as many fupports as 
 
 would
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. I 
 
 would crufli faction, and render the conduct 
 of affairs eafy and enviable, would deferve the 
 thanks of the prefent age, and would receive 
 the admiration of poflerity. 
 
 The reader will eafily conceive that I allude 
 to two memorable acts that paft during that 
 adminiftration, by one of which though it was 
 pofterior to the other in date, officers of the 
 revenue were difabled from voting for mem- 
 bers of Parliament, and confequently one great 
 fountain of undue influence entirely dried up, 
 to the great benefit of the public, but to the 
 greater eafe of that clafs of citizens who con- 
 fented to their difqualification when they re- 
 tained their places, and who are now no longer 
 obliged to facrifice their prepoiTeffions, their 
 feelings, their friendfhips, and their confcience 
 at the mrine of power, in order that they 
 might not lofe thofe wages which the dif- 
 charge of their duty deferved, but only their 
 corruption could fecure. 
 
 The other act was more particularly known 
 by the name of Mr. Burke's Reform Bill, be- 
 fore it became a law. By this aft a faving 
 was made of 72,000!. a year, by the retrench- 
 ment of offices y a faving of great importance* 
 
 con-
 
 1 6 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 confidered in that lingle view : but of the 
 greater! importance, when confidered relatively 
 to its effects in refloring in fome degree that 
 independency of parliament, without which 
 the nation, though it may enjoy the form of 
 a free constitution, will, upon that account, 
 be only plunged in a more hopelefs flavery. 
 
 But, fays the author of the Sketch, whofe 
 gentle tones have, upon this occalion, fharpen- 
 ed into invective, " This was a Bill which 
 difarmed eveiy fucceeding Minifler, by leav- 
 ing him fcarcely any objects- by which to fti- 
 mulate activity, or to reward merit and ad- 
 berence. A Bill which, by compelling every 
 Administration, from want of offices, to mul- 
 tiply the peerage, as the only thing left in 
 their power to beflow, and which, if not 
 redreffed and repealed, may eventually de- 
 stroy the balance of the constitution ; a Bill, 
 &c. &c." 
 
 That the progreffive multiplication of the 
 peerage does not only bid fair, but is certain 
 to deStroy the balance of the conftitution is a 
 point I mall not difpute with the author of 
 the Sketch ; and as it is one of the very few 
 points, I might fay the only one, in which I 
 
 do
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 17 
 
 do agree with that author, I am the more par- 
 ticular in ftating this conformity of opinion, 
 as well for its angularity, as becaufe it is fome 
 proof that I do not difagree with him necef- 
 farily, but only becaufe I think I have reafbn 
 to do fo upon all other occafions. But though 
 I admit of his conclufion, refpe&ing the dan- 
 ger of the conftitution, from a multiplication 
 of the peerage ; yet the other conclufion, for 
 the fake of which the former was inadver- 
 tently made, namely, that therefore Mr. 
 Burke' s Reform Bill merited the deteftation 
 of any other defcription of perfons, but of 
 thofe who have loft every honeft feeling, in a 
 bafe fubferviency to a Court or to a Minifter, 
 I do moft ftrenuoufly oppofe. 
 
 When that Bill was propofed, it did not 
 occur to thofe (nor, thank God, has the cafe 
 yet occured) who fupported and carried it 
 through, that at any diftance of time, a 
 hardy Minifter would arife, who, care- 
 lefs of every confideration of public good, 
 mould maintain his private interefts by ad- 
 vifing an intemperate exercife of a prerogative 
 which muft be attended with fuch fatal 
 effecls; who fhould fecure his fituation of 
 
 D Minifter,
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 Minifter, by endangering the liberties of the 
 people, and mould fave what was perfonal to 
 himfelf, by wafting, with a mamelefs prodi- 
 gality, the conftitution of his country. Cer- 
 tainly fuch apprehenfions, fo injurious, fo 
 little probable in the event, could not be en- 
 tertained by perfons whofe hearts were pure 
 whofe intentions were righteous, and whofe 
 refources were not of that kind ; nor if they 
 had been entertained would they have changed 
 their meafures, or have defifted from them : 
 for virtue is ftill immutable, nor do the good 
 refufe to act becaufe they are afraid of the 
 crimes of the wicked. 
 
 But if we are delirous of beholding a truly 
 fublime and affecting fpectacle, let us paufe 
 for a moment, w r hile we contemplate the con- 
 duel: of his Majefty at this happy period of 
 his reign, and upon this very occafion. Su- 
 perior to every pitiful fuggeftion of a falfe and 
 felfim policy, erecting no feparate intereft from 
 that of his people; but feeling that their 
 caufe and his own were indirTolubly connected, 
 that the eafe and profperity of the one were 
 the proper and only fources of the fplendour 
 and happinefs of the other, he did not wait 
 
 for
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. tg 
 
 for an application from his Parliament, he did 
 not confent to the meafure he demanded it. 
 He faw, without being mewn, that a reform 
 in fuch a crifis, and in fuch circumftances, 
 was not only proper, but neceilary ; and he 
 was a volunteer in the fervice* Nor is his 
 magnanimity without reward: For by how 
 much affection, and love, and gratitude, are 
 more to be coveted than every other poffef- 
 iion, by fo much has he gained, inftead of 
 loling, by the pretended facrifice. 
 
 It is doubtlefs in the contemplation of a 
 fcene like this, that our affections, always 
 warm, are moil powerfully excited towards 
 the King * ; nor, if we wifh to retain im- 
 preffions of the goodnefs of his Majefty's 
 government, mould we view him at the time 
 when the whole nation was bent upon the 
 termination of the American war, for fuch is 
 the light in which this libeller falfely, and 
 injurioufly reprefents him; as bent upon the 
 profecution of that war, as regardlefs of the 
 
 * Page 20, Sketch, &c. " Bent on the profecution 
 of a war, which was founded in the juft rights of his 
 throne, no fymptom of charge or alarm appeared, 
 in the Sovereign, &c." 
 
 D 2 wifhes
 
 CO ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 wifhes of his people, as erecting an intereft 
 feparate from theirs, and anxious to facrifice 
 both to the lufl of perfonal dominion, or of 
 fell revenge. 
 
 In this train of affairs, when the nation 
 had a right to look forwaVd with exultation 
 and hope to that change, that a virtuous con- 
 dud: never fails to operate, certainly, but gra- 
 dually, upon the ftubbornnefs and malignity 
 of fortune ; the deceafe of the Marquis of 
 Rockingham, which happened on the ift of 
 July, 1782, at once clofed the fcene ; and a 
 fchifm took place in the cabinet, by which 
 the nation was deprived of the fervices of Mr. 
 Fox, and Lord John Cavendifh. It appears 
 that the caufes of this difagreement had exift- 
 ed even in the life time of the Marquis, 
 though his authority, and a tendernefs for his 
 declining health, had ferved a little to compofe 
 that difference, that was, however, certain 
 to break out foon into an open rupture. 
 
 That the majority of the cabinet had fhewn 
 fome difpofition to depart from that fimplicity 
 of conduct, by the expectation of which they 
 had been firft recommended to office, and that 
 views of domination and conqueil, quite in- 
 
 confiflent
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 21 
 
 confident with the refolutions that had been 
 the balis of the public exiftence of thofe un- 
 grateful men, had began to mingle in their 
 councils, there can, I think, be little 
 doubt, as well from the ftatement of Mr. 
 Fox when he declared the reafons of his re- 
 ngnation, (though perhaps he did not ex- 
 prefsly fay this) as from certain ambiguous 
 expreffions, fuch as that, " when the inde- 
 pendance of America was granted, the fun of 
 Britain was fet for ever," and the like, which 
 fell about that time from the Earl of Shel- 
 burne, who had fecured to himfelf, with great 
 addrefs and management, the office of nrft 
 Lord of the Treafury ; and being then the 
 refponfible Minifter, it was not to be fup- 
 pofed, that, entertaining fuch fentiments, he 
 would proceed in a fyftem, by which fuch a 
 mighty ruin was to be effected. 
 
 There is then every reafon, as far as pro- 
 bability will determine conjecture, to believe 
 that the old fyftem was to be revived, and that 
 the nation was to be again plunged in alt 
 thofe horrors from whence it had fo lately 
 feemed to have efcaped; but the refignation 
 of Mr. Fox, and of Lord John Cavendifh, 
 
 together
 
 22 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 together with the defection of fome who ad- 
 hered perfonally to thofe two Gentlemen, and 
 of more, who were guided as well by reafon 
 as by authority, and the alarm of all confi derate 
 men, declared in the mofl unequivocal manner 
 the danger and the impracticability of proceed- 
 ing in fuch meafures, if any fuch had been 
 adopted by the cabinet, or plotted by fome of 
 its leading and prevailing members, which 
 latter there is the greateft reafon, from circum- 
 flances, to fuppofe was the fact. 
 
 The refignation of Lord John Cavendifh 
 made room for Mr. Pitt to fucceed to the fitu- 
 ation of Chancellor of the Exchequer, a gen- 
 tleman, who from his appointment at fuch an 
 early age, for he was then fcarcely twenty-five 
 years old, to fo high an office, and whofe 
 fubfequent appointment with a fmall interval, 
 to the higheft, which he now continues to fill, 
 have rendered him the object of that kind of 
 admiration that is the fudden and never failing 
 effect of any fingular appearance. 
 
 In all governments, in which the people 
 have any mare in the conduct of affairs, the 
 talent of public fpeaking, as it confers the 
 greateft poffible fuperiority in popular affem- 
 
 blies,
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 2J 
 
 blies, upon him who poffefTes it moft emi- 
 nently, is fure to be cultivated with the great- 
 eft care and induftry : it is however main- 
 tained by Cicero, whofe opinion upon this 
 fubject will be deemed of the laft importance, 
 that notwithftanding the pains and induftry of 
 many, combined with the genius of fome, the 
 efforts of all have fallen mort, and that there is 
 no fuch thing in nature as a perfect orator; 
 and he concludes upon the whole that there 
 never will be fuch a phenomenon. Now fuch 
 a conclufion with refpect to Cicero himfelf is 
 undoubtedly a juft one; but how far other 
 men may be warranted in adopting it, is a 
 matter which I think deferves fome little ex- 
 amination. 
 
 For, as the minds of men are varioufly mo- 
 dified, as fome are of a greater capacity than 
 others, fo is there a different ftandard of judg- 
 ment in each. All judgment is by compan- 
 ion, nor can we appreciate excellence of any 
 kind, but by referring it, and comparing it, to 
 fomething known. But the intellectual powers 
 of any man, or what is the effect of the in- 
 tellectual powers of any man, fuch as elo- 
 quence, for the greateft part, is, can only be 
 
 referred,
 
 24 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 referred, by the perfon who judges of it, to his 
 own capacity, (I do not fpeak of attainment, 
 for capacity exceeds attainment*, it cannot be 
 referred to any thing external, for that which 
 is external being not known, cannot be a 
 ilandard of judgment. Hence it was that 
 Cicero whofe genius was the greateft, and the 
 continual application and exercife of whofe 
 mental powers, had carried his attainments 
 beyond thofe not only of his cotemporaries, 
 but of thofe who had ever preceded him in 
 
 * When I fay that capacity exceeds attainment I muft 
 be underftood to fpeak of that period of the human life, 
 when nature has not yet begun to yield to the illapfes 
 of age, an effect that takes place much later in the mind, 
 than in the body, probably becaufe we have not fo many, 
 nor fuch direct means of corrupting it by intemperance. 
 
 And it feems moreover reafonable to think that the 
 quality of the mind which is called tafte, may be refer- 
 ed to capacity. We are often fenfible of, and tafte beau- 
 ties, in works of genius, which ye{ we are not able to 
 imitate, but why are we not able to imitate ? for it is 
 plain that there muft be at leafl a conformity in the con- 
 ftitution of the mind that adopts, and the mind that cre- 
 ates an effect. The reafon in this cafe is, becaufe prac- 
 tice is wanting to fccure attainment ; the power which 
 nature has given being only a paffive power : which is 
 the precife definition of tafte. 
 
 cultivat-
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. * 
 
 cultivating eloquence ; when he fought for an 
 example of a perfect orator, he was obliged to 
 deny its exiftence: doubtlefs he could not 
 pronounce it perfect in others, which he 
 was, himfelf able to excel - y nor could he pro- 
 nounce it perfect in himfelf, from a con- 
 fcioufnefs that he had not reached the limits 
 of nature, and that there was yet fome interval 
 between his attainments, and his power to at- 
 tain : a confcioufnefs, with which all but the 
 moft incorrigible blockheads are poflefTed, 
 though none feel it fo fenfibly as thofe who 
 are inbued with that portion of the divine 
 fpirit which is denominated genius. He was 
 therefore obliged, for want of any ground to 
 repofe upon, to take flight into the airy re- 
 gious of poffibility ; and to deny the aSlual 
 exiftence of that, which, from the circum- 
 ftance of his own excellence, and of his own 
 defect, he could only conceive pojfibly to exift. 
 It follows from this, that a perfon of in- 
 ferior genius, and more limited attainments 
 than the Roman, would be fatisfied of the 
 exiftence of that which the other denied : the 
 fame caufe producing from the different cir- 
 cumftances of each, a different conclufion : he 
 
 E would
 
 26 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 would not fend his thoughts out in queft of 
 poffibilities ; he would receive examples -, and 
 thefe examples would multiply in proportion 
 to the little capacity and few attainments of 
 thofe who made this matter the fubject of 
 their contemplation. 
 
 Now oratoiy in general may be divided 
 into two parts : i ft, into the power that the 
 mind has of calling up and arranging appro- 
 priate ideas ; 2dly, into the power of expreffing 
 thofe ideas, or into elocution, which latter is 
 the effect principally of habit and of practice, 
 and affords the praife of indujiry j while the 
 former challenges the admiration of nature. 
 Butoratory being converfant with afibciations of 
 ideas and their expreffion, let the ideas be never 
 fo vulgar and ordinary, if the elocution is fplendid 
 (as thofe who are poor endeavour to go richly 
 habited) ftill it is plain that a fpecies of ora- 
 tory will have been conftituted ; and I think 
 it may be inferred from what has been faid 
 concerning the different ftandards of judgment, 
 that this fpecies of oratory, however con- 
 temptible it may be to fome, may yet be ex- 
 tolled by others when they feel that their 
 
 own
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE IH. 27 
 
 own . capacity has been exceeded by the 
 powers of the Rhetor. 
 
 Another obfervation that I would wifh to 
 make upon this fubjedt, and which I truft 
 will not be deemed a contradiction to my for- 
 mer reafonings, is, that elocution, or phrafeo- 
 lgy or tne manner of fpeaking*, as diftin- 
 guifhed from true eloquence, is lefs fitted to 
 meet with approbation among the rude vul- 
 gar, than among thofe who have the advant- 
 age of fuch an education as gentlemen of the 
 prefent time commonly receive ; but who do 
 not pofTefs that limplicity of tafte which is 
 generally the gift of a bountiful nature, though 
 it is fometimes the reward of painful diligence. 
 Thefe who know juft fo much as to be ac- 
 quainted with the difficulty of public fpeak- 
 ing, are ftruck with art, the vulgar are pleaf- 
 ed with nature : the tafte of thefe is corrupt- 
 ed or fhackled by a little knowledge ; the tafte 
 of the vulgar riots in the freedom of ignor- 
 ance. Great is the power of eloquence ; great 
 the power of the external fenfible marks 
 of eloquence. The pomp of language, the 
 force of emphafis, the length of period, fen- 
 tences involved in fentences, meaning artfully 
 refembled or plainly expofed, and now a va- 
 
 E 2 riety
 
 g ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 riety and now a repetition of terms what per- 
 fon whofe lips have tailed, but who has not 
 drank deeply of the well of fcience, but is 
 hurried away by the impetuous movement, 
 and embraces with rapture the gaudy phan- 
 tom. 
 
 I hope I mail be excufed if I have engaged 
 in this digreffion refpecting eloquence, and the 
 means by which we form judgments concern- 
 ing it, and the caufe of the difference of thofe 
 judgments in different men : whatever relates 
 to the art of fpeaking cannot be unfeafonable, 
 when the merits of Mr. Pitt are the fubjecl: 
 of difcuflion. Yet it muft be acknowledged, 
 that in ftating a cafe or narration, that Gen- 
 tleman is eafily the firft ; if indeed he is too 
 minute -, yet is not his audience intuitive ; nor 
 are his other means lefs accommodated to his 
 end j if it is not prudent to expofe a meafure, 
 who fo capable of myfterious invelopement ; 
 if he does not anfwer, he decompofes, the ar- 
 guments of his adverfary, ftrips them of their 
 fatal circumftances, confutes the remainders, 
 and conquers in detail when it is not practica- 
 ble to engage in the grofs. If to thefe we 
 add a gravenefs of tone, a pomp of language, 
 
 a man-
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 59 
 
 a manner that impofes, an authority that com- 
 mands, we mall find combined in this mini- 
 ,fter whatever an anxious nation can defire, to 
 create and to fecure its profperity, and to a- 
 dorn its annals. 
 
 But let not the voice of prejudice with a 
 treacherous malignity conceal or obfcure the 
 merit whofe exiftence it regrets, while it ex- 
 patiates with the fondeft pleafure upon the 
 faults or defects of a hated object. Far, far 
 from me be fuch a caufe, or fuch an effect. 
 I have even heard with delight, when Mr. 
 Fox, having exhaufted his fubject with every 
 variety of reafoning, that a capacious and a 
 well ftored mind could furnifh -, when having 
 clearly fatisfied all, he alone has appeared not to 
 be fatisfied ; and ftretching beyond the limits 
 of pofiible conviction, has fallen fhort of his 
 natural effort, and has not rejected arguments 
 that were not neceffary or that were weak I 
 fay, I have heard with delight upon fuch an 
 occafion the fkilful ingenuity, and have ap- 
 plauded the dexterous difcernment, of the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer ; who has left 
 no part of the adverfe argument unexplored, 
 has avoided or ]\\&fiemed to anfwer what was 
 
 ftronrr ;
 
 JO ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 ftrong -, but has feized upon what was weak, 
 as his proper prey ; has attacked, has fubdued, 
 has expofed in triumph, has afflicted with a 
 painful and lingering death, the object of his 
 mercilefs victory, and has obtained a praife, 
 not fcanty, from the exuberance of his anta- 
 gonift. 
 
 l3ut to return : an adminiftration which 
 originated in fraud, which fubfifted in weak- 
 nefs, and which proceeded in folly, could not 
 be long-lived. While the Marquis of Rock- 
 ingham was yet living and minuter, one of the 
 moft fignal naval victories that the hiftory of 
 this country can boaft was obtained in the 
 Weil- Indies, under the aufpices of Admiral 
 Rodney -, and what feemed to render it more 
 important, was the circumftance of its being 
 gained in parts, where only difgrace had hi- 
 therto attended the Britim arms, and the af- 
 cendancy of France had been completely efta- 
 blimed by her continued and fucceflive con- 
 quefts. 
 
 St. Chriftopher, the glory and the reproach 
 of the Britim commander whom Rodney join- 
 ed, had but a little before furrendered to the 
 fortune and perfeverance of the Marquis de 
 
 Boulle
 
 THE REIGN CF GEORGE III. 3! 
 
 Boulle after a fiege of confiderable duration. 
 When that ifland was firft attacked, the Eng- 
 lifh admiral quitting his ftation to windward 
 came to its relief, though St. Chriftopher is 
 fituated low down in that chain of iflands 
 whofe direction, in general, from South to 
 North, bends with no flight deviation to the 
 weflward before you approach that fcene of 
 fruitlefs gallantry. With a fleet much infe- 
 rior, but by a feries of mafterly manoeuvres, 
 he obtained pofleflion of the very ground, 
 where the French fleet had anchored, but 
 which had flipped upon his approach, in order 
 to feize the eafy prey. But this ground was 
 at the extremeft diflance .from the fortrefs 
 that was attacked, and where there was no 
 communication, how mould there be any re- 
 lief ? Had the Britim commander inftead of 
 remaining until the fortrefs furrendered, in the 
 very fpot where the prudence of Mr. de Grafle, 
 would by a peculiar inconfiftency of fenti- 
 ment, have allotted him his ftation, returned 
 from whence he came, as foon as he found his 
 object could not accomplimed ; the expecta- 
 tion of Vandreuil, and the fear of Rodney, (and 
 the arrival of both was awaited at that very 
 
 juncture,)
 
 32 ANOTHEH SKETCH OF 
 
 juncture,) would not have fuffered the French 
 commander to wafte a precious time by con- 
 tinuing to leeward, when the junction of the 
 one or the capture of the other, or both, 
 would be the neceiTary confequence of the 
 return of the Britifh fleet to a windward and 
 cuftomary cruize or ftation : and the conqueft 
 of St. Chriftopher mufl have been abandoned 
 by the French long before the time that was 
 neceflary to complete it, to fecure an advan- 
 tage which was eflential, and to avoid a dan- 
 ger which would have been fatal. 
 
 But by the victory of Lord Rodney a 
 mighty change was wrought in the affairs of 
 thofe parts : thofe who had before attacked 
 were not now able to defend, and that force 
 which had diffufed itfelf in conqueil, though it 
 had been concentered in a fingle effort, would 
 have ill relifled a vigourous aflailant. 
 
 It is here neceflary that I mould a little 
 dilate upon the nature of the victory of Lord 
 Rodney, and that I mould ftate what might 
 have been its advantages in order to afcertain 
 in this period of our hiftory, how far fortune 
 was feconded by conduct, and to determine 
 in this particular the merits of an adminiftra- 
 
 tion
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 33 
 
 tion in which the fublime and early talents of 
 a youthful Chancellor of the Exchequer were 
 conjoined with the experience of a practifed 
 ftatefman : for it is to be remembered that 
 this adminiftration was publicly eftablimed in 
 a very little time after the intelligence of that 
 victory arrived, though its power of framing 
 any fyftem of action was probably eftablimed 
 before it could have arrived its predominancy, 
 being the very caufe of the refignation of Mr. 
 Fox, but however this may be, the fact of 
 its being eftablimed fo foon afterwards is 
 fufficient for my purpofe ; as the meafures 
 that were proper at that conjuncture ought 
 then to have been purfued, by which means the 
 war might have terminated honourably, and 
 perhaps with fome compenfation, certainly 
 without lofs and difgrace to Britain. 
 
 The courfe of the winds in the Weft- Indies 
 being regularly directed from eaft to weft, and 
 without any, or with an ineffectual, variation, 
 it follows that where the pofition of the iflands 
 is in the fame direction, the defcent from 
 ifland to ifland is moft expeditious ; while the 
 afcent is very laborious, and not to be effected 
 but with a continual ftruggle, and by a moft 
 
 F tedious
 
 34 ANOTHER SKETCH o? 
 
 tedious navigation. Nor unlefs veffels are* irt 
 good condition and excellent failors, can it be 
 attempted if at all, if the diftance is confider- 
 able. Now St. Domingo with refpect to 
 the agregate of the Windward Iflands, among 
 which afc to be counted alfo what are called 
 the Leeward Iflands which are windward in 
 this refpect, is precifely in this direction -, fo 
 that the defcent to St. Dorningo is moft ex- 
 peditious, and is even the eourfe purfued by 
 verTels bound thither from Europe, which 
 .commonly make the Windward Iflands in 
 their paffege, while the afcent from thence, 
 particularly from the French part, is fcarcely 
 heard of ; certain it is that an equipment from 
 Europe would be more eafily made, ancf more 
 expeditious in its arrival. The defeat of Mr, 
 de GrafTe was- in effect a double defeat. It 
 was a defeat by fea, and it was a defeat by 
 land. *Almoft all the garriibns, as was no- 
 torious, were withdrawn from the French 
 windward colonies, and embarked in the fhipy 
 of war, for the purpofe of attacking Jamaica 
 
 * The delightful and important colony of Guada- 
 loupe had only a very few companies of a colonial re- 
 giment left in it. 
 
 with
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. JJ 
 
 Xvith an accumulated force. But when this 
 eet was defeated and driven down to St. 
 Domingo thefe troops were as far removed 
 from what might have been a moft fruitful 
 fcene of action ; as if they had blown by fome 
 tornado to Europe; as if new equipments 
 were to have been made ; as if new dangers 
 were to be encountered in traverfmg the feas, 
 and a certainty of defeat or capture when they 
 arrived at a blockaded port. In America an 
 armifrice had been concluded : the tranfports 
 were ready, though the Germans could not 
 embark, the Britifh were eager, the paflage 
 was fhort, the prize was rich, the fuccefs 
 not doubtful ; revenge and compenfation per- 
 fuaded, and fortune invited the enterprife. 
 Did the Shelburne, which had now eftabliffr- 
 ed itfelf upon the ruins and difunion of the 
 Rockingham adminifr.ration, take any advan- 
 tage of this conjuncture fcarcely to be hoped, 
 certainly not to be paralleled? Did the 
 fplendid genius of the new Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer illuminate with a ray of light the 
 darknefs of the cabinet ? By what fatal le- 
 thargy were their fenfes opprefled ? Or, 
 when they found the deligns which public 
 
 F 2 iagacity
 
 36 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 fagacity had imputed to them, and public 
 virtue had fruftrated, could not be carried into 
 execution, did they revenge the fafety of the 
 nation by a malicious neglect of its interefts ? 
 For my part when I revolve al^fhefe things 
 in my mind ; when I conflder that train of 
 events that for fome time back has been parl- 
 ing before us, and now continue to pals, the 
 difagreements of commanders the furrender 
 of armies the conquefts of Iflands the fe- 
 paration of a continent the nations of the 
 earth combined againrr. one the difunion of 
 minifters- the infenfibility and neglect of good 
 fortune defpair cherimed when hope might 
 be indulged ; when I add to thefe a peace 
 inglorioufly concluded equivalents not ftipu- 
 lated for ceffions attachment abandoned or 
 requited by means fubverfive of induftry, and 
 fatal to morals, and the evil not even now ex- 
 pended, I cannot help comparing in their 
 manner of operating, the moral with the phy- 
 fical world - y in which we find that in plants 
 or animals, if any taint has been received and 
 incorporated, a vicious nature is propagated ; 
 and it requires many defcents, many com- 
 mixtures, much time, much gradual alteration, 
 
 by
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III; 37 
 
 by addition, by diminution, by compofition, 
 by change of relations of parts, before the 
 taint is removed, and nature reftored : thus in 
 the moral world, whatever caufes are laid, a 
 kind of nature is propagated in the effects of 
 thofe cauff s, fo that after much time, after 
 many removes, and a long defcent, a vicious 
 conftitution mall yet be traced in an extreme 
 event, and the thread of evil drawn out through 
 the more meafurelefs diftance*. 
 
 It 
 
 * It is hardly neceflary to ftate that the provifion 
 for the Loyalifts is apropriated from the profits of an 
 annual lottery ; which is an evil not in itfel'f, but inaf- 
 muchas it gives rife to the pra&ife and furnifhes means 
 to the rage of infuring ; a rage that is as violent as it is 
 abfurd and peculiarly fatal to the poor and ignorant. 
 
 The thefts, the proflitution, the drunkennefs, the 
 defpair, the fuicide, which are neceflary effedls of lofs 
 and diftrefs, in fome natures ; are all a part of the fame 
 fyftem of events with the American war itfelf, as with- 
 out that war the circumftance would not have happen- 
 ed, by which lotteries have become a part of annual 
 ways and means ; infurance is the effedt of lotteries, 
 and lofs and diftrefs a neceflary effect, as might be 
 proved of infuring to an inconvenient amount. With 
 refpedl to all events being neceflary, I would refer my 
 reader to Mr. Collins's Enquiry concerning Liberty : 
 
 and
 
 38 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 It was not probable that an administration 
 whofe inaction was guilt, and whofe action 
 was difgrace, mould long fuftain itfelf againft 
 the voice of reafon, of pride, and of indigna- 
 tion. A. vote of cenfure was carried in the 
 Houfe of Commons againft the terms of 
 peace, which were declared inadequate ; nor 
 could the perpetrators of that meafure enter- 
 tain any reafonable hope of extending their 
 public exiftence under fo much infamy. Yet 
 was not the game quite given up : for a game 
 it was. The Marquis of Lanfdown, indeed 
 late Earl of Shelburne, refigned ; but Mr. 
 Pitt, with a prophetic pertinacioufnefs, ftill 
 retained his office of Chancellor of the Exche- 
 quer j it was even rumoured, poffibly it might 
 have been propofed, that he mould fucceed 
 the Earl of Shelburne, as if the nation would 
 receive fuch a fubftitution for an atonement, 
 and the refignation of one minifter could ex- 
 piate a guilty fyftem. In this iituation did 
 
 and it is with pleafure that I announce to the public, 
 that a very ingenious and learned friend of mine pro- 
 pofes to republifh that fcarce and invaluable tra6t, with 
 the addition of a preface, and fome account of the au- 
 thor, Mr. Collins, who was a profound and ingenious 
 fearcher after truth, and an excellent man. 
 
 the
 
 THt RfilON OF GEORCfi III. 39 
 
 the nation continue for full five weeks, with- 
 out any oftenfible minifter, without any effec- 
 tive government, in a cfifis of peculiar difficul- 
 ty and diftrefs, When a war was juft concluded, 
 when the treafury was empty, when engage- 
 ments were prefTing, when taxes were not pro- 
 ductive, when credit was low, when a loan 
 Was wanted, and a general alarm had diffufed 
 itfelf over all ranks of people. His Majefty v 
 however, at length, with a paternal folicitude, 
 was gracioufly pleafed to condefcend to attend 
 to the importunity of parliament, and to ap- 
 point an effective administration. 
 
 This new administration, which took place 
 in the middle of the feffion of 1783, was form- 
 ed by a coalition of parties ; and Mr. Fox, 
 whofe oppofition had been long and bitter, 
 and fatal to the adminiflration of Lord North, 
 was now feen to act amicably and jointly with 
 him in the affairs of government : An event 
 that made much noife at the time when it 
 happened ; that has been productive of a very 
 extraordinary revolution, in the public opi- 
 nion with refpect to one of the parties, has 
 been attended with fome diminution of private 
 efteem, with refpect to the other, and has 
 
 been
 
 4<D ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 been in its confequences extremely injurious to 
 both. A great diitance of time has now in- 
 tervened ; furprize or aftonimment no longer 
 impedes the operations of judgment ; even 
 prejudice has abated of its malignity, and does 
 not reject, though it, fufpicioufly, hears the 
 voice of reafon and of impartial difcuffion ; 
 if therefore at a juncture fo feafonable, I mall 
 treat rather diffufely concerning that interefting 
 event, I hope I mail not be deemed imperti- 
 nent, or I mail receive indulgence. 
 
 In difcufling the propriety of any meafure, 
 or part of conduct, there is no other way of 
 appreciating its merits, or of afcertaining its 
 defects or its pravity, but by mounting up to 
 fome general principle, and then, by conlider- 
 ing that meafure or part of conduct, relatively 
 to fuch general principle : and the reafon why 
 men form oppofite judgments concerning the 
 fame actions, is, becaufe inftead of purfuing 
 that courfe, and referring to an immutable 
 ftandard, each man forms a Standard of his 
 own, adapted to his prejudices, his intereft, 
 or his habits, which is, therefore, not only 
 neceflarily different in different men; but 
 even varies in the fame man, according to the 
 
 changes
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 41 
 
 changes that may happen in any of the afore- 
 mentioned circumftances ; a truth that we 
 have probably all of us experienced, if only 
 we had the candour to acknowledge it. 
 
 That wifdom conpfts in adapting means to the 
 end propofed - y is a petition not to bedifputed: 
 and as wifdom will not propofe any but a vir- 
 tuous end, fo the acceptation of this principle 
 thus defined, will not only not pervert conduct, 
 but will even be the proper ftandard of its 
 beauty or deformity. Wifdom is conversant 
 with all the actions of life, which as they are 
 not lefs different in their nature than in their 
 objed: or delign, fo muft the means that are 
 ufed in obtaining fuch different objedls, be 
 effentially different, fo that what would be the 
 effecl: of confummate wifdom in one cafe, 
 would, in the other, be the effecl: of confum- 
 mate folly. Now, the duties of man, I fpeak 
 of civilized, focial man, are twofold: firfr., 
 there is a duty that he owes to himfelf ; which 
 may be called the felfifh duty. This duty or 
 principle, is an immediate derivation, from na- 
 ture, and is particular and limited in its ope- 
 ration. Secondly, there is a duty that he owes 
 to the community, of which he is a member j 
 
 G and
 
 42 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 and this latter duty which is the immediate 
 effect of reflection, though it may be traced 
 ultimately to nature, is general and univerfal 
 in its operation. It appears then, that there 
 is an effential difference between the objects of 
 thefe two duties, one of which I have called 
 the felfifh, and the other I call the focial, and 
 indeed this is fo much the cafe, that any great 
 prevalency of the one, is abfolutely inconfif- 
 tent with the very exiflence of the other, pru- 
 dence claiming an equipoife of both; but 
 generous virtue not feldom forfeiting her re- 
 ward by the prevalency of the latter, which, 
 as its object is neceflarily general, while the 
 object of the former is neceffarily particular ; 
 fo are the means it ufes much more enlarged 
 and proportionate its greater fcale of action. 
 
 If this diftinction is juft, it follows that 
 where the public is concerned, a different 
 meafure of action is abfolutely required from 
 that which would be approved of, if only the 
 individual were concerned. Let me endeavour 
 to give this matter a little illuftration. In the 
 intercourfe of private life, friendship and en- 
 mity, benevolence and refentment, are permit- 
 ed to mingle ; and the paffions, yet under fub- 
 
 ordination.
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 43 
 
 ordination, declare themfelves with approba- 
 tion, when the individual alone is concerned. 
 In the heart, that is warm, nor artifice, nor 
 Emulation, nor treachery, nor malignity have 
 any place, and though the individual is be- 
 trayed into indifcretions, and may fuffer in- 
 conveniencies, yet is the general fecurity con- 
 nected with the particular evil, and- what con- 
 duces to public utility the confent of all will 
 approve. But it is no lefs certain that the 
 interpolation of the paffions in conduct, is 
 immediately connected with the felfim princi- 
 ple : We can neither love nor hate, we cannot 
 confer a kindnefs, nor entertain refentment 
 without indulging a propenfity, and gratifying 
 our nature. If in doing this we have aban- 
 doned an intereft, we have yet enjoyed a plea- 
 fure, which we thought, upon the whole, it 
 was better for us to enjoy, even upon what 
 might be thought difadvantageous ' terms, if 
 it were weighed in the fcale of what is called 
 worldly prudence. And this conduct will not 
 only be> approved of, but even demanded; 
 becaufe the principle is ufeful, and the incon- 
 venience which may and moil commonly does 
 refult, being particular, the public will not 
 G 2 confider
 
 44 
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 confider the event, but only the general ten- 
 dency of the principle, and the fecurity that it 
 propofes. 
 
 But in refpect of that fyftem of conduct, 
 whereof the individual is only the inftrument, 
 and the event of which applies directly to the 
 community at large -, the cafe is widely dif- 
 ferent, and indeed diametrically oppofite : 
 When we forego a private intereft for the 
 gratification of a paffion, a compenfation of 
 pleafure has been received for the facrifice of 
 an advantage ; a compenfation that is greater 
 than the facrifice; for if it were not, we 
 fhould, undoubtedly, forego the pleafure, and 
 purfue the advantage, which would then be 
 the compenfation, fince it is not in our power 
 to enjoy both; one being the price of the 
 other. 
 
 But if you allow the pafiions to mingle in 
 
 public conduct ; if, without confidering the 
 
 nature of the conjuncture, and what ought to 
 
 be the determination of action relatively to 
 
 that conjuncture, fo as that the greateft benefit 
 
 fhould arife from it ; you fhould fay, " This 
 
 ' man has kept me long in a fruitlefs oppo- 
 
 ; fition ; I have condemned his meafures $ 
 
 I hate
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 
 
 45 
 
 " I hate bis perfon ; whatever interefts I may 
 " fufFer, I will gratify my refentment ; and 
 " though there is now nofubjed: of difagree- 
 " ment, I will not unite." What is this in 
 fadt but to make a property of the public, 
 and to facrifice the general interefts to your 
 own ? Whatever courfe of conduct you pur- 
 fue, you purfue it becaufe your interefts are 
 concerned : and when you facrifice your ad- 
 vantage to your refentment, you have ftill 
 purfued your interefts, not indeed rightly un- 
 derftood ; and you have your compenfation 
 becaufe you think you have it. But does the 
 public enjoy any part of this compenfation ? 
 Does your perfonal gratification diffufe itfelf 
 through all the ranks and orders of men of 
 which the community is compofed ? Are 
 your feelings the meafure of their feelings ? 
 Your good the meafure of their good ? Your 
 exiftence the meafure of their exiftence ? 
 
 Vain and foolifh thought ! Know, that 
 every bird that flies in the air, every beaft that 
 treads, every reptile that creeps upon the fur- 
 face or hides itfelf in the bofom of the earth, 
 and perhaps every part and particle of nature, 
 has each a fyftem of his own, feparate and 
 
 diftinft
 
 46 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 diftind from, though externally related to, all 
 other fyftems. Like man himfelf who aflerts 
 his proud fuperiority, each has its interefts to 
 purfue, accommodated to its exiftence -, each 
 its paffions to gratify : refentment, friendship, 
 love, hatred, defire, antipathy, fympathy, are 
 theirs. In what then does the excellence of 
 man confifl ? It confifts in this - y that he has 
 the power to break the prifon gates of his 
 particular exiftence, to expand in general con- 
 templations, to fend forth his thoughts to dif- 
 cover the relations of things, their fitnefs, their 
 difpofition to produce good under every poffi- 
 ble combination ; it confifts in the power to 
 abftract qualities from fubftances, and capa- 
 cities from the grofs objects in which they 
 where, and by paffing over whatever is 
 particular and perfonal, to leave no room for 
 prejudice or favour, or the paffions to difturb 
 the judgment, or render ineffectual the great 
 object of his fublime inquiries. It is then only 
 by fuch enlarged contemplations, it is by ab- 
 ftradling qualities and capacities, and uling 
 them without any perfonal regards, when 
 the conjuncture requires it, that general good 
 
 can
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 47 
 
 can be effected or fecured. Whether we love 
 or whether we hate, if thefe are neceffary to 
 the fervice of the community, of which each 
 one is a part, and a no greater part than the 
 meaneft individual, there is an equal obligation 
 to employ them, and any diftinction in fuch 
 a cafe would be vain and wicked. 
 
 But you will fay, demonftrate as much as 
 you pleafe, the virtuous efficacy of thefe 
 fublime abftractions of qualities and capaci- 
 ties from perfons, have you yet fhewn that 
 it is practicable to do it ? Are we not con- 
 fcious that the weaknefs of mankind is affect- 
 ed principally by fenfible objects, and that 
 even the knife which divides the ikin and 
 caufes pain, though it is not an agent, is fome- 
 times thrown away with precipitation, and its 
 very light becomes offenfive. How then 
 fhall we be able not to hate the perfon whofe 
 meafures, though at a time paft, have been 
 obnoxious, and the fubject of a bitter and 
 continued oppofition, and hating the perfon ; 
 by what moral chemiftry (hall we feparate his 
 qualities and capacities, and employ them in 
 the ftricteft union with our own, though it 
 fhould be for the public fervice ? 
 
 To
 
 48 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 To this I anfwer. Firft, in general that if 
 the propriety of fuch abftractions, arifing from 
 the nature of our public duty, which I have 
 fhewn, is effentially different from our private 
 duty ; one having the part without any regard 
 to the whole, and the other the whole with- 
 out any regard to the part, for its object, has 
 been in any wife demonflrated ; the pombility 
 of them is demonstrated by that very truth : 
 for a bountiful Providence has fo adapted hu- 
 man capacity to human ends, that whatever is 
 our duty, is poffible, and not only pomble, but 
 eafy alfo. Secondly, I fay that this very 
 weaknefs of mankind, which caufes us to be 
 affected fo ftrongly by fenfible objects, is an 
 argument that anfwers as well my purpofe as 
 that of my adverfaries, and is equally conclu- 
 five in either cafe : for when the meafures that 
 have occalioned oppontion and perfonal 
 hatred, if, we admit, the very illiberal pofition 
 that thefe things are neceffarily connected, 
 have ceafed to be ; and a conformity of views 
 of intereft and of conduct has taken place ; 
 the fame pronenefs to be affected by fenfe, 
 which had before operated as a caufe of en- 
 mity, will now operate as a caufe of friend- 
 
 fhip;
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 49 
 
 mip ; that very circumftance which is dog- 
 matically ftated as an argument why enmity 
 mould be perpetual, will occafion the engage- 
 ments of friendfhip, and thefe notable reafon- 
 ers will difcover that they have argued from 
 a confequence as it was a caufe, and have 
 confounded a general principle with a par- 
 ticular fact. 
 
 The amount of my theory upon this occafion 
 is, though that whenever the dilemma mould 
 be between the public fervice and private 
 feelings, the nature of our public duty requires 
 the facrifice of private feelings to the public 
 fervice : that whenever the dilemma mould 
 be between 'private intereft and private feel- 
 ings, the nature of our private duty, which 
 may be defined, a fenfe of dignity, for without 
 dignity there can be no virtue, juftifies and 
 even demands a facrifice of private intereft ; 
 nor is the felfifh principle affected by this con- 
 duct, fince, in the indulgence of feelings, a 
 compenfation is received for the facrifice of 
 intereft, which is in no wife the cafe with re- 
 fpect to public tranfadtions, the public being 
 a party to the lofs, but no party to the com- 
 penfation 5 and I deduce from hence, that it 
 
 H is
 
 5 o 
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 is the confuSion of thefe duties which occa- 
 iions the wrong judgments that are formed 
 concerning their means, and has been the 
 caufe of all that clamour againft the union of 
 Lord North and Mr. Fox, or as it is invidi- 
 oufly termed, the coalition, but which, if we 
 try it by the teft of circumstances, admitting 
 the principles I have laid down to be juft, we 
 fhall find to be not only defenfible, but meri- 
 torious and honourable. 
 
 To fuppofe that every meafure which is 
 fubmitted to Parliament receives a judgment 
 upon its own merits, that there a total abfencc 
 of favour, or of prejudice, no habitual concur- 
 rence nor opposition, that there is no bias 
 from hopes fruftrated, from views entertained, 
 from perfonal, from public motives, from ill 
 fuccefs, from mifconducT:, from imputed 
 treachery, from national lofs y or difgrace 
 were to fuppofe a State of indifrerency in men's 
 jninds, which will be no where experienced, 
 but leaSt of all in a popular aflembly. The con- 
 fequence of this condition of things is, that 
 where feveral parties are formed in fuch a body, 
 with oppofite views, prejudices, and impref- 
 jfions, and thefe parties are nearly balanced in 
 
 power
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 5 1 
 
 power and authority; it is impofTible that 
 there mould be any adminiftration, or any go- 
 vernment, without a union of fbme of them, 
 and a total oblivion of former animofities. Such 
 was the ftate of parties, and fuch the neceffity 
 of a junction, at the clofe of laft war. There 
 were three parties in Parliament adhering to 
 different leaders. A fingle one of thefe could 
 not retain or afl'ume the reins of government, 
 for it was certain, to link under the fuperiority 
 of the other two which would unite for its 
 deftruction : it was then a matter not of choice 
 but of neceffity, that two of them fhould 
 unite in order to give liability to government, 
 and effecT: to its meafures. But how, or by 
 which of thefe parties was fuch a union to be 
 formed ? Could either of thefe that was out, 
 unite with that which was in ? But they had 
 both agreed in ftigmatizing the conduct of an 
 adminiftration, which they declared had facri- 
 ficed the interefts, and abandoned the honour, 
 of the country by an inadequate and inglori- 
 ous peace. Could either of thefe embrace in 
 the very midft of its reproaches, and without 
 any atonement from example, fuch a party ? 
 Could it fay in the fame breath, " Youf 
 Ha '* terms
 
 2 ANOTHER SKETCH O? 
 
 " terms of peace are inadequate, you have 
 ." dishonoured, you have difgraced us : you 
 " have forfeited our confidence > but take 
 " us in, we will yet maintain you, only wewill 
 " divide the gains." Should they not rather 
 fay to each other, " We have difagreed upon 
 " former points, but we have fince that fought 
 " the fame battle -, we have united without 
 *' blame to expel an adminiftration, mail any 
 " blame attach if we unite to form one ?" 
 A union which is not condemned in one cafe 
 furely may be approved in the other. Such 
 would be the language of reafon, and fuch 
 was the conduct of Mr. Fox ancLLord North 
 in this memorable conjuncture. 
 
 There were moreover fome circumftances 
 attending the compofi tion of this adminiftra- 
 tion which has been the object of general re- 
 proach, peculiarly agreeable to moderate and 
 difcerning men : (and fo different are the 
 judgments that people form upon the fame 
 fubjedt,) the very caufes of difgufl and horror 
 in others, viz. the difference in the principles 
 upon certain great queftions of the two lead- 
 ing men in it, were to them occafions of fatis- 
 faction and pledges of fecurity. It rarely hap- 
 
 hens
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE I If. 53 
 
 pens that our opinions agree precifely upon a 
 theory fo nice as that of government in its 
 molt fimple forms. But in a government fo 
 blended as the Britifh, the difagreement is the 
 more likely to happen in refpect of the greater 
 variety and complication of interefts, and 
 the adjuftment and balance of power of each 
 branch, by the concurrence of all of which, 
 and by the influence of each upon either, the 
 government is conftituted. To fuppofe that 
 the frame of the Britim Constitution is better 
 calculated for duration in an unchangeable 
 {late than any other more fimple form of go- 
 vernment, is an error which I mall take fome. 
 pains to difcufs in its proper place. The truth 
 is, that there is no fuch thing as exiftence-of 
 any kind, whether of natural bodies, or of 
 human inftitutions, without a contention of 
 parts ; nor can there be a contention of parts 
 without an alteration or change in the powers 
 of thofe parts. How far an afcendancy has 
 been obtained by any one, or by which of 
 the parts of the Britim conflitution, I fhall 
 leave it to the impartial hiftorian, from a con- 
 lideration of the meafures and of the events of 
 his majefty's reign, to determine. But this 
 
 is
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OP 
 
 is not yet to our purpofe. Now, that which 
 determines the courfe of government, in its 
 future progrefs, whether to a more popular, to 
 a more ariftocratical, or to a more regal form, 
 is the adoption or rejection of certain acts, fuch 
 as are converfant with general policy ; and 
 do not relate to particular meafures arifing 
 from conjunctures, in which the adlion, and 
 confequently the union, of miniflers is abfo- 
 lutely neceflary. And as the former are quef- 
 tions that do not impede the courfe of admi- 
 niflration, let them be decided which way they 
 may, fb miniflers who do not entertain the fame 
 fentiments upon them, do not only not unite 
 but even debate and divide againfl each other 
 whenever they are agitated, and the public 
 bufinefs is not affected. It appears then that 
 admitting the fad:, that things mould remain 
 as they are, a diversity of fentiment among 
 miniflers openly profefTed and fteadily main- 
 tained, is extremely to be defired, inaf- 
 much as it is the beft fecurity againft inno- 
 vation, for the influence which miniflers ne- 
 ceffarily have being divided upon fuch occa- 
 lions, there can be little danger of fuccefs to 
 
 fuch
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. re 
 
 fuch an attempt from minifterial influence. 
 On the other hand, if things mould not re- 
 main as they are, and innovation mould be 
 deemed proper for the fake of renovation, 
 this divifion of influence, at the fame time that 
 k might tend to introduce moderation, -would 
 not prevent a reform ; for the votes of minif- 
 ters dividing againft each other, and the fcales 
 being nearly equal, a preponderancy would be 
 fecured in favour of public good, by thofc 
 honefl independent men, (and doubtlefs many 
 fuch there are,) who being creatures of no 
 party, influenced by no motives of private ad- 
 vantage, addicted to no authority, are able to 
 exercife their pure, unbiased, unprejudiced 
 teafon in the execution of their moft import- 
 ant truft. 
 
 From fuch an administration then as the 
 Coalition, a character of temper and modera- 
 tion, and an afTurance of perfect fecurity to 
 the prefent ftate of the conftitution, or of its 
 rational improvement, was moft certainly to 
 be expected by all men of difcernment ; who 
 did not take words for things, and who deem- 
 ed that coalition the proper object of their 
 difguft and horror, whereby they faw Mr. 
 
 Pitt
 
 56 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 Pitt linked in the clofeft bonds of union with 
 Mr. Jenkinfon, a name which has always 
 been connected in public opinion, how juftly 
 I know not, with fecret influence, with a clan- 
 deftine government, and with all the feries of 
 difgrace and calamity which had fo long af- 
 fected this unhappy country. 
 
 Thefe men judged, and they judged from a 
 knowledge of the human heart, that the old 
 lyftem, if any fuch there were, might fome 
 day be revived with a double energy by fuch 
 a union : that a fplendid name, that popular 
 beginnings, talents, which aftonimed by their 
 early maturity, co-operating with the difgurr, 
 that was conceived againrr. the other coalition, 
 might render Mr. Pitt a convenient oftenfible 
 Minifter in the hands of fecret advifers, and 
 of a dark cabal ; and that the public, dazzled 
 by the blaze which furrounded the inftrument 
 of Government, would no longer fee the 
 means which before, it thought at leafl that 
 it clearly, difcerned, and exceffive light would 
 produce a fatal obfcurity. 
 
 But whatever might have been the clamour 
 of people without doors, and the difcontent 
 of fome few within, the coalition adminiftra- 
 
 tion,
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 57 
 
 tion, by taking in whatever of ability there 
 was in all parties, and profcribing none, though 
 fome voluntarily excluded themfelves, was 
 both very ftrong and very well calculated by 
 the Uncommon unafumity that it infpired, for 
 the very critical conjuncture, in which it con- 
 ducted the affairs of government. During 
 the remainder of. the feffion, fo fugitive is 
 power that depends only upon the patronage 
 of office, thofe who were fo lately minifters, 
 and now the oppofition, fcarcely dared to pro- 
 mulgate their weaknefs by a divilion -> and 
 whatever was propofed was carried almoft 
 without a cavil, if you except fome few ob- 
 jections that were made to the terms of the 
 loan ; the bargain for which was precipitated^ 
 and an advantage taken of the great and in- 
 creafed prefTure of the public exigency, arifmg 
 from the continuance of the former Chancel- 
 lor of the Exchequer, in office, when his 
 powers of action were extinguished, and dur- 
 ing the time when the loan ought to have been 
 negotiated. 
 
 The next feffion of Parliament, 1783 84, 
 will be always memorable in the annals of 
 this country, from the events it gave birth to, 
 
 I from
 
 5 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 from the extraordinary revolution it perfe&ed 
 in men's minds, a revolution that had began 
 to operate from the date of the coalition, and 
 from all the abfurdities which grew from that 
 fruitful parent ; but above all, it will be me- 
 morable from the unparalleled circumftance 
 of a Minifter retaining his fituation, in defiance 
 of the efforts to difplace him, of a majority 
 in parliament > avowing himfelf the Minifter 
 of the Crown againft the fenfe of the people, 
 and yet retaining his popularity, and finally 
 eftabliming himfelf, by the very means, when 
 they turned in his favour, which he had re- 
 fifted and defied, without any imputation of 
 inconfiftency in his principles or in his con- 
 dud:. 
 
 But yet if we turn a philofophic eye upon 
 this jumble of events, which feem to fet hu- 
 man reaibn at naught in its attempts to ac- 
 count for them from any fixed principles ; if 
 we confider the over-grown influence of the 
 minifter of the crown arifing from a bound- 
 lefs patronage, and a dangering empire over 
 the hopes of man ; the weight of great 
 public bodies, and of vaft mafTes of private 
 wealth acting in concert, and under difcipline, 
 
 to
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE in. 59 
 
 to obtain a given purpofe 5 and, in fine, the 
 prevalency of folly over wifdom, of errof 
 over truth ; we mall not be more furprifed 
 at this part of our hiftory, nor mall we deem 
 it a more extraordinary picture of human ab- 
 furdity, than has before occurred in the hif- 
 tory of our own, and of other, nations ; in 
 which we may generally obferve, that the 
 quantum of error may be meafured by the 
 quantum of violence of thofe who entertain 
 it, and of the conviction with which they 
 feem to be impreffed of the truth and juftice 
 of their opinion. 
 
 The fame that Mr. Fox had acquired by a 
 fplendid difplay of talents upon all occaiions, 
 during a long courfe of Parliamentary fervices, 
 commenced at a very early period of life, and 
 continued without intermiffion ; had raifed very 
 high the expectations of all men concerning 
 the iffue of the day on which he was to open 
 his plan for the. better government of India : 
 It is not more than juftice to add, that his 
 atchievement on that and the fucceeding days 
 in which his bill was debated, exceeded the 
 expectations of all men. The bill met with 
 a moft violent oppofition. 
 
 I 2 It
 
 6O ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 It was argued, that the taking the whole 
 conduct of Indian affairs, civil, political, and 
 commercial, from the courts of directors and 
 of proprietors, and veiling them in certain 
 commiffioners to be appointed by Parliament, 
 for a certain term of years, was a moil in- 
 decent and outrageous violation of. a folemn 
 compact that Government, for a valuable con- 
 iideration, had made and ratified with the 
 Eaft-(. -aa ^ompany. 
 
 That by the charter of the company, the 
 whole management of their affairs was vefted 
 in the uud bodies with competent powers and 
 authorities ; but to fubftitute another fpecies 
 of government, was a direct invaiion of thefe 
 charters ; nor did the evil reft here, for that 
 the fame confequences might be extended to 
 the other charters of the kingdom, and the 
 infecurity of all was eftabliihed by the fate of 
 one. That fuch violence was juftly to be 
 compared with that which was exercifed in 
 the dangerous reign of Charles II. when, on 
 account of its virtuous 'oppofition to the 
 Court, the City of London was deprived of 
 its corporate rights -, nor did the other corpo- 
 rations in the kingdom efcape the common 
 
 ruin -,
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 6l 
 
 ruin ; and their charters being. taken away or 
 garbled, left the liberties of the people entirely 
 at the mercy of the crown, by fetting up a 
 fatal power in that branch, of mutilating the 
 reprefentative body, or of impofmg its own 
 conditions upon the rights of election. That 
 no neceility for fo ftrong a mea-fure had yet 
 been proved; and when means lefs violent 
 would ferve, it was not only impolitic to pur- 
 fue violent ones, but fuch conduct was a 
 ftrong prefumption of fome wicked defign, 
 which did not yet appear. Such fteps then, 
 not having any commenfurate objed:, mould 
 awaken fufpicion, and excite alarm. That 
 veiling the Indian affairs in Commimoners, 
 to be appointed by Parliament, muft have one 
 of two objects in view (for it was thus va- 
 riouily argued). It muft increafe the in- 
 fluence of the crown by giving it the Indian, 
 in addition to its other patronage already too 
 great ; or, it mufb diminish the influence of 
 the crown, by fetting up a patronage in indi- 
 viduals, which ought, according to the legal 
 courfe of the conftitution, to be veiled only 
 in the crown, and rendering miniflers quite in- 
 dependent of that branch of the government. 
 
 Finally,
 
 62 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 Finally, that it would eftablim a fourth power 
 in the ftate, an imperium in imperio. A 
 monfter in any government that admits it. 
 
 On the other hand it was argued by thofe 
 who fupported the bill, that by the charter of 
 the Eaft-India Company, a right of Govern- 
 ment had been veiled in that body ; but it was 
 a right of governing well ; a right of govern- 
 ing ill, no power could beftow. 
 
 That all government was revocable for abufe ; 
 a principle not only juft in theory, but recog- 
 nized by the practice of the Britifh conititu- 
 tion. The fact then of the bad government 
 of the India Company being admitted, as all 
 the reports on the table were full of the ufur- 
 pations, the rapine, the treachery of the Com- 
 pany's fervants abroad ; of countries defolated, 
 of princes dethroned, of nations extirpated, 
 facred prejudices violated, and neither age, nor 
 fex, nor condition, nor fanctity fpared by un- 
 holy violence, and the perpetrators of thefe 
 acts not cenfured, not recalled, not punimed 
 by their matters, but applauded and main- 
 tained for the fruit of their crimes the tak- 
 ing the government out of fuch hands, and 
 vetting it elfewhere, was a matter of urgent 
 
 neceffity
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 63 
 
 neceflity and not of choice or deliberation. 
 That no palliative could correct the evil ; the 
 conftitution of government under the charter 
 being radically bad. That the Courts of Di- 
 rectors and Proprietors were not the mafters, 
 they were the inftruments of their pretended 
 fervants, or they were bribed by the partici- 
 pation of the plunder, in an increafed dividend, 
 to acquiefce in crimes at which their diflance 
 from the fcene where they were perpetrated, 
 did not allow the feniibility of their nature to 
 revolt. That if it was necefTary to fubftitute 
 another fpecies of government for Indian af- 
 fairs to this vicious one, could it be fo well 
 placed as under the immediate control and 
 infpection of Parliament, in refponfible per- 
 fons, and in a public execution of duty. 
 That fhould fome objections be ftarted even 
 againft this mode, yet as wifdom confifted not 
 in rejecting meafures, becaufe in fome re- 
 fpects defective, and fuffering the worfe to 
 take its courfe, but in felecting among differ- 
 ent meafures, fuchas were the leaft objection- 
 able j if it could be proved that the mode now 
 propofed was better than any other, the'.framers 
 of it mould have credit for the good, and the 
 
 evil
 
 64 . ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 evil mould be referred to the nature and con- 
 ftitution of things. It was afked, where 
 fhould the government of Indian affairs be 
 verted ? Should it be verted without condition^ 
 or flint in the crown ? This would be to in- 
 creafe an influence already too great. Should 
 it be left where it was ? This would be to 
 perpetuate the horrors complained of. What 
 too were the objections to the principle of 
 this bill ? That it increafed, that it dimi- 
 nifhed the influence of the crown ; that it 
 eftablifhed another power in the flate. Againft 
 thefe it was urged that the two firfl objec- 
 tions, like affimative and negative quantities, 
 deftroyed each other ; neither could be very 
 evident, or both would not be .entertained -, 
 that with refpedt to the latter in particular, 
 which was fuftained upon this ground, viz. 
 " that it gave an unconstitutional influence to 
 " the perfons of the minifters, by the ap- 
 " pointment of their friends to the commif- 
 " lion :" the reafoning was fallacious and un- 
 fair, it was deferting a principle, and arguing 
 from an abufe, which might, or might not 
 exifl ; that a parliamentary act was to be un- 
 derftood to be completely fuch, and not an 
 
 a <a
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 6$ 
 
 act of perfonal favour. That to extend this 
 mode of arguing would be to difTolve all go- 
 vernment, and to render the interpretation of 
 every meafure particular and capricious, in- 
 ftead of being general and ftable. That 
 with refpect to the laft objection of its eftab- 
 lifhing an imperium in imperio, it was an af- 
 fertion, and -not an argument, and an affertion 
 adapted only to vulgar capacities to make or 
 to receive. That if any fuch thing could 
 exift, it exifted in its worft effects in the pre- 
 fent government of the India Company, thoie 
 then who made this clamour, and denied at 
 the fame time that parliament fliould interfere, 
 or wifhed to limit that interference with a 
 grofTnefs of intellect fcarcely to be conceived, 
 gave the lie to the object of their own argu- 
 ment by fupporting a power independant, or 
 in the greates and poffible independance of the 
 fupreme power of the ftate. 
 
 Which party was right upon this very im- 
 portant occafion, it is not for me to decide, 
 the public has already decreed ; perhaps the 
 day is not far removed, when the fame public, 
 from a fatal experience of the effects flowing 
 from a different fyftem, fhall reverfe that decree 
 
 K with
 
 66 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 with grief and repentance. The bill, how- 
 ever, pafled the Commons by a very great ma- 
 jority ; but being fent to the Lords its pro- 
 grefs was at firft impeded by artificial delays, 
 and it was at length finally rejected in that 
 houfe. 
 
 The means that were ufed to procure the 
 rejection of the India Bill in the Lords, the 
 fecret machinations, the midnight confpira- 
 cies, the infmuations, the whifpers, the 
 threats, the effect of thefe upon the conduct 
 of fome noble lords, who promifed and with- 
 drew their fupport almoft in the fame breath, 
 and yielded to influence what honour mould 
 have maintained ; are not touched upon here, 
 or are flightly touched upon for the fake of 
 preferving the thread of hiftory. The author 
 fupprefles truth to avoid a libel. 
 
 Prefently after this event, on the 1 8th of 
 December, at twelve o'clock at night, the 
 feals were demanded from the two Secretaries 
 of State, who were difmifled from their offices. 
 A refignation of all the other members of the 
 the cabinet immediately took place > and the 
 appointment of Mr. Pitt to the offices of firffc 
 Lqrd of the Treafury and Chancellor of the 
 
 Exchequer
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 67 
 
 Exchequer was announced to the public, to- 
 gether with an entire new admin iftration. 
 
 We have now arrived at that period of our 
 hiftory which contains one of the moft extra- 
 ordinary political dilemmas that has ever yet, 
 or as it is fmcerely to be hoped, ever will be 
 again experienced by this nation. There was 
 feen at the fame moment a minifter, calling 
 himfelf minifter of the crown, and yet born 
 up by a tide of popularity, fuch as had never 
 flowed with more violence in its natural direc- 
 tion ; there was feen, for the ample fpace of 
 more than three months, a contention between 
 prerogative and privilege; a minifter main- 
 taining his place, and yet denied to acl: ; a 
 Houfe of Commons refufmg every con- 
 fidence to a minifter and yet obliged to 
 fubmit to his continuance in office ; the 
 fatal confequences that might arife from 
 fuch a ftate of things difregarded, and final- 
 ly a triumph of rafhnefs over moderation, 
 and a voluntary defertion on the part of 
 the people of that body which is conftituted 
 to protect their rights, and which they could 
 not abandon upon fuch an Gccafioii without 
 eftablifhing the fatal conclulion that their 
 own confent was not neceflary to the conti- 
 
 K 2 nuance
 
 68 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 nuance in office of a minifter, or that if it was 
 neceflary, the Houfe of Commons was not at 
 every period of its exiftence the reprefentative 
 of the nation and the organ of its will. The 
 firft of thefe confequences we mould find dan- 
 gerous to liberty, as it amounts to little le& 
 than an acknowledgment, if we trace its ef- 
 fects, of arbitrary power in the crown j the 
 fecond could not fail to produce all the anar- 
 chy and confufion which mufl flow from the 
 diflblution, or the fuppofed diflblution, at any 
 time, of legal government. 
 
 But as this matter involves a conflitutional 
 queftion of no fmall importance it delerves 
 fome difcumon ; let us enquire without paf- 
 fion, and let us judge with candour. In 
 every civilized country a form of government 
 of fome kind is eftablifhed ; and whether it is" 
 fimple Of whether it is complex, whether it is 
 a pure monarchy, a pure ariftocracy, or a pure 
 democracy, or whether it is mixed or com- 
 pounded of all, or of any of thefe, fuch a go- 
 vernment or eonftitution is binding upon the 
 people, and they muft accept of all its confe- 
 quences, fo long at leafi as they think their 
 form a good one, and are willing not to 
 change it. 
 
 Now
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III; 69 
 
 - Now the Government of Great Britain is 
 
 / 
 
 compofed of King, Lords, and Commons, and 
 its beauty and efficacy is fuppofed to confift in 
 very nice balances, fo that one mail not ufurp 
 upon another, for the prevention of which 
 each is armed with a negative ; for experience 
 informs us, and if it did not, our reafoning 
 a priori from the nature of man would inform 
 us, that there is nothing which the human 
 bofom fo fondly defires, or fo ardently pur- 
 fues as the pofTeffiori of power, as there is 
 then in thefe feveral branches, a dirKnct in- 
 tereft, fo is there in each a principle of ufurp- 
 ation, which is precifely commenfurate with 
 the means that it has of executing its purpofe, 
 and the greatnefs of the benefit that will ac- 
 cure to either upon the attainment of what it 
 aims at. 
 
 In a country that is very large and very po- 
 pulous, and where the government is demo- 
 cratical, or in part democratical, fuch as it is 
 in Great Britain and Ireland, the people never 
 can be called upon collectively to take their 
 fliare in public affairs. They can only do 
 this virtually, that is by the election of certain 
 delegates or reprefentatives, of a number not 
 
 too
 
 7O ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 too large to aSTemble and deliberate, and not 
 fb fmall as to lofe the character of popular! ty. 
 And thefe rep refenta fives muSt be intruSted 
 for the term of their duration with powers 
 very ample, for lefs would not be fufficient 
 for the purpofe of legislation, which is the 
 higheSt act of authority that men can exer- 
 cife. 
 
 In the contemplation of fuch a conititu- 
 tion, fo foon as the reprefentative begins to 
 exift, the political existence of the elective 
 body entirely ceafes, and the voice of the 
 people is as completely exprefTed within the 
 Avails of the Houfe of Commons, as if it was 
 delivered from the collected multitude upon 
 ibme boundlefs plain. 
 
 This is the theory of our constitution : I 
 am very far from faying that the cafe is in 
 fad; fuch as I have Stated it to be j that it is 
 not fo is an abufe ; but while we preferve 
 the frame precifely as it is, \ve muft take all 
 its confequences generally, for all are eflential 
 to the exiftence of the identical frame. It 
 appears then from this Statement, that a quef- 
 tion between the crown and commons, if we 
 admit of the principle of reprefentation, with- 
 out
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. Jl 
 
 Gut which our form of government cannot 
 fubfift at all, muft be a queftion between the 
 crown and the people : The commons and 
 the people, constitutionally corifidered, being 
 the very fame thing. 
 
 Now if a queftion were propofed, thus : 
 Has the crown a right to maintain a minifter 
 againft the inclination, and againft the requi- 
 fition of a majority of the people of England, 
 fuppofmg the people could be afTembled, and 
 fuch majority afcertained ? I mould be glad 
 to know what hardy ftickler for prerogative 
 would think it prudent to exercife fuch a right; 
 and a right that ought not to be exercifed is 
 no right all; and if the crown could not 
 exercife fuch a right in oppofition to the 
 whole people of England, but can exercife it 
 in oppofition to the requifition of the Houfe 
 of Commons ? My next quefrion would be, 
 Does the Houfe of Commons reprefent the 
 people ? If it does, how will you diitinguifh 
 thofe that reprefent, from thofe who are re- 
 prefented ? Surely, you cannot do it ; you 
 might as well diftinguiih a guinea from 
 twenty one millings, whereof the value is the 
 fame, the appearance only is different. If it 
 
 does
 
 72 ANOTHER" SKETCH OF 
 
 does not reprefent the people, then is the 
 boafled form of government of Great- Britain, 
 in that part where, with all its defeats, it may 
 be deemed by many to be the mofl unexcep- 
 tionable, merely nominal and a mockery, and 
 the people have been deluded for ages, with 
 the appearances of freedom, when they have 
 been the mere tools and inflruments of their 
 own fervitude, the hewers of wood and the 
 drawers of water to unmerciful talk-mailers. 
 But it is argued that in the particular cafe, 
 the Houfe of Commons did not exprefs the 
 wifhes of the people, but the reverfe as ap^ 
 peared very plainly from the fubfequent events 
 upon an appeal to the people, and confequent- 
 ly in the particular cafe ; quoad hoc, the re-, 
 prefentation was incomplete, and the Houfe 
 of Commons, and the people, were not iden- 
 tical. Now fuch an argument amounts to 
 this : viz. that the Houfe fometimes does re- 
 prefent, and fometimes does not reprefent, the 
 people. Shall I anfwer this ferioufly ? cer- 
 tainly, no; I will not infult my reader. I 
 remember a {lory that was popular at College 
 of a young man, who being examined previ- 
 ouily to the taking his degrees, was aiked, 
 
 Whether
 
 T HE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 
 
 Whether the fun moved round the earth, or 
 the earth round the fun ? The queftion was 
 a difficult one, and how fhould it be anfwered 
 at once ? it was better to be partly right, than 
 entirely wrong, for prudence is more nearly 
 allied to ignorance than is generally fufpected ; 
 and fo after fome time fpent in confidering, 
 the anfwer, and truly a moft notable one, was 
 " Sometimes the one, and fometimes theother." 
 Now I do fhrewdly fufpect that this fame gen- 
 tleman is one of the political reafoners who 
 do fo much honour to the prefent adminiftra- 
 tion, Agnofco ftyium, and who argue that 
 the Houfe of Commons fometimes does re- 
 prefent, and fometimes does not reprefent, the 
 people : that is to fay, while there is a majo- 
 rity in favour of the minifter of the crown, 
 and the parliament is quite implicit and obe- 
 dient, the reprefentation is perfeft ; but if it 
 becomes rebellious at any time, for inftance, 
 if it had done fo upon this late occafion of 
 the Ruffian war, then the reprefentation would 
 ceafe to be perfect ; and if in fuch a cafe as 
 happened in a former one, the corporations 
 which return fo large a portion of members, 
 could be perfuaded that the fafety of their 
 
 charters
 
 74 
 
 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 charters was connected with fupporting the 
 minifter of the crown, againft the privileges 
 of the people ; there is no doubt but a dillblu- 
 tion would be attended with the fame falutary 
 effects ; and a new parliament being purged 
 of every thing that was refractory, would leave 
 the minifter to profecute the Ruffian, or any 
 other war, the caufes of which the fanctity of 
 his Majefty's councils would not endure, that 
 profane curiofity mould enquire into. 
 
 In truth, the character, the objects, the 
 duties of public bodies are founded in un- 
 changeable relations : fo that if we maintain 
 that the Houfe of Commons is the reprefen- 
 tative of the people at any time, we muft 
 maintain that it is fo at all times ; if we deny 
 that it is fo at any time, we muft deny that it 
 is fo at all times ; while its constitution re- 
 mains the fame ; we muft deny the legitimacy 
 of that branch of the government which is the 
 pride, the boaft, and the only fecurity of 
 Englishmen. That parliament then, which 
 was infulted by the minifter of the crown, 
 and deferted by the people, was entitled to the 
 fame fupport from the people, that the laft 
 parliament was, or the prefent is, or any future 
 
 one
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. ^ 
 
 one will be ; nor did Mr. Pitt, when he main- 
 tained his fituation of .minifter in defiance of 
 the voice of that Houfe, lefs violate a general 
 principle of the conflitution ; nor did he lefs 
 degrade the popular part of the government, 
 or eftablifh a lefs dangerous precedent, than if 
 he had maintained it in defiance of the voice 
 itfelf of a majority of the people of England, 
 or if he were to maintain it in defiance of the 
 voice of the prefent, or of any future parlia- 
 ment : for although the compofition of this 
 body is made up of fleeting parts that pafs 
 away, and are fucceeded in the changes which 
 grofs matter is fubjed: to, fo that in one feffion 
 it does not confift of the fame, that it did in 
 a former, or will do in a future feffion ; and 
 one parliament is not compofed of the iden- 
 tical members that a former was, or a future 
 parliament will be ; as the grofs fubftance of 
 the human body is fuppofed to be entirely 
 changed, fo that at the end of feven years, not 
 one particle of it mall remain in the fame per- 
 fon 5 thus, though men may fucceed men in 
 one or in different parliaments, yet the body 
 itfelf continues to exift ; nor can, identity, 
 be ever deftroyed, where the fpirit is immor- 
 L 2 tal:
 
 j6 ANOTHER SKETCH OP 
 
 tal : and whatever indignity or infult, or in- 
 jury has been at any time received, it remains 
 indelibly infixed to future times and to future 
 ages j not to be expiated, but by a folemn ac- 
 knowledgement of the offence, and a punilh- 
 ment or cenfure of the guilty offender. 
 
 In judging, therefore, of the conduct of 
 the minifter upon this memorable occafion, 
 we muft abandon the particular fact, and we 
 muft refort to the general principle. If a 
 minifler, calling himfelf rninifter of the crown, 
 could wage open war with the reprefentatives 
 of the people, even with the fuppofed con- 
 fent and approbation of the people, if he 
 could maintain his fituation in defiance of 
 every effort to remove him, if he could elude 
 their applications upon points of the neareft 
 concern by evafions that are always dimoneft, 
 or infult their feelings by contemptuous filence 
 then is the fatal precedent fet, and the Houfe' 
 of Commons muft ever after be deemed of the 
 fmalleft importance, or rather quite infignificant 
 in the fcale of government, for the fame con- 
 ducl: may be ufed to future parliaments, upon 
 fimilar prefumptions, and the authority of 
 every one is diminifhed, and its condition de^ 
 
 graded,
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 77 
 
 graded, by the fame aft ; and if you fhoulJ 
 be flartled , at fuch a confequence, as I truft 
 every lover of his country, and every friend to 
 liberty mufl be, but fhould argue that the 
 Houfe deferved the fevere infliction from its 
 own mifconduct on the particular occafion ; 
 I would jufl fuggeft, that a judgment con- 
 cerning any particular fad:, is only a matter of 
 opinion, which is generally different in differ- 
 ent men j but even admitting that all men 
 agreed in a condemnation of it, yet when a 
 general principle, efpecially fuch a one as 
 vitally affects a conflitution of government, 
 and a particular fact, are at variance fo, as that 
 different confequences muft be drawn from 
 either, there can be no proof fo ftrong of hu- 
 man weaknefs, of human frailty, or of human 
 depravity, as to make the general principle 
 give way to the particular fact, and thus to 
 abandon whatever is facred in laws, in polirics ? 
 and in the order of nature itfelf. 
 
 But mould it be urged (turning my own 
 datum, with which I fet out, againft me, viz. 
 that where power was divided in different 
 bodies or branches, there was a principle of 
 ufurpation in each, arifing from the conititu- 
 
 tioa
 
 78 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 tion of man) that if at any time the Commons 
 were to ufurp upon the prerogative which the 
 crown poffefles, not indeed as a perfonal right, 
 but as a truft for the good of the people ; and 
 therefore virtually a part of their privileges, 
 would not a member of the Houfe of 
 Commons, admitting the fact that the ma- 
 jority wanted to irwiovate, act conftitutionally, 
 in avowing himfelf minifler of the crown, in 
 oppofition to that majority, and in fupport in- 
 directly indeed of the rights of the people with 
 which the juft prerogative of the crown is in- 
 timately connected. To this ftrong cafe (not 
 that there is any kind of analogy between the 
 cafe that has happened, and that which is now 
 fuppofed, by way of argument, and to put this 
 matter in the ftrongeft point of view) I do 
 not helitate to anfwer NO. For that it is fafer 
 that a particular inconvenience mould be fuf- 
 fered, than a general principle violated. While 
 the Houfe of Commons fubfifts, there is, 
 according to the terms of the conftitution, an 
 inviolable connection between that Houfe and 
 the people : to refill a majority of the repre- 
 fentatives of the people, is to refifl a majority 
 of the people ; for I defy you, with any poli- 
 
 cal
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. Jn 
 
 tical chemiftry, to feparate them in theory ; 
 and if you feparate them in fad:, the danger 
 to be apprehended is too great for any parti- 
 cular advantage, in any poffible cafe to com- 
 penfate, fince nothing lefs than a difTolution 
 of government may be expected, by extending 
 this doctrine to a few more cafes, and particu- 
 larly to fuch wherein the Crown and the Par- 
 liament agree, for the people will then have 
 no other means of redrefs, than by refinance 
 and rebellion ; and it is a fomewhat fingular 
 fact in the hiftory of the prefent times, that 
 in all the meafures in which Parliament has 
 concurred with ininhters, in all the wars they 
 have engaged in, in the taxes they have impofed, 
 in the armaments they have countenanced, in 
 the confidence they have la vifhed, the union be- 
 tween the people and their representatives ha* 
 always been deemed complete, fo as that the 
 acts of the legiflature could never be queftion- 
 ed : but in the fingle inftance in which they 
 have difagreed with a minister, their fenfe has 
 not only not been deemed the fenfe of the 
 people, but being the ground of a violent 
 proceeding, the event has juftified the mea- 
 fure. A ftrong proof that the electors are 
 
 more
 
 $O ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 more corrupt than the elected, (fince the lat- 
 ter, in the courfc of many years, have given 
 at leaft one proof of independence) and that 
 in the prefent ftate of the reprefentation, the 
 influence without doors is at leafb a.s great 
 as it is within. 
 
 But you will afk what is to be done in the 
 fuppofed cafe, that the Commons ufurp upon 
 either of the other branches of the conftitu- 
 tion ? is there no remedy ? no preventive to be 
 reforted to ? and mufl a bafe acquiefcence 
 permit the evil to take its courfe, and the 
 government to be over-turned ? To this I 
 anfwer, that in fuch a cafe the crown is arm- 
 ed with the power of diflblution that Houfe is 
 no more and the queftion is now indifferent 
 to be decided, only by the fenfe of a future 
 parliament. Does the King call you to his 
 councils ? obev the fummons : there is no 
 
 
 
 declaration againfl you : you do no violence to 
 the popular branch of the government : you 
 do not defpife its authority : you do not de- 
 grade its condition : And, let me add, that 
 after having Refilled for more than three 
 months the fenfe of the Commons, and their 
 endeavours to remove you, when you at laft 
 
 find
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 8l 
 
 find your place untenable, and are obliged to 
 refort to a diflblution, and the event of a ge- 
 neral election, to fecure it : you give up the 
 point in difpute, and you acknowledge that a 
 jninifler cannot, in fad, maintain his place 
 without the confent of the Commons : for 
 all the time then that you remained minifrer 
 againft fuch confent you violated a practical 
 part of the constitution ; you criminate your- 
 felf by the very means that you take to ef- 
 cape cenfure, and you ftand felf convicted, 
 that you may elude the condemnation of 
 others. 
 
 And, in God's name, what was the fact ? 
 and what were the extravagant demands of 
 the Commons which caufed fo much mad- 
 nefs in the nation at this celebrated juncture ? 
 they demanded that the miniftry Should be 
 perfons in whom they could repofe a confi- 
 dence. In the tranfactions of private life, 
 between two individuals, what is more com- 
 mon than for either party to object to an 
 agent whom he thinks he cannot truft ? and 
 are the people of fo little account, fo bafe, fb 
 contemptible, that they mall not have the 
 fight of objecting, by the means of their 
 M only
 
 $2 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 only organ to the appointment of agents, in 
 bufinefs that I had almoft faid was ALL 
 THEIR OWN. Surely the people have fuch a 
 right, if they have it not by the theory, they 
 have it by the praftife of the conftitution > 
 and any attempt to queflion or to fubvert that 
 right, in the reprefentatives of the people, 
 who muft be fo to all intents and purpofes, if 
 they are fo at all. Whether it is made at this 
 juncture, or whether it was made feven or 
 ten years ago, or whatever particular cir- 
 cumftances it might have been attended with, 
 deferves, not fervile and interefled panegyrick, 
 not the efFufions of gratitude, not triumphant 
 fuccefs, but animadveriion, and reproach, and 
 defeat. 
 
 There is alfo another matter worthy of 
 obfervation upon this fubjecl, and this is,- 
 that with refpect to any ftruggle between the 
 Commons and the other branches of the legi- 
 flature, it is not only, in general, an ac~t of po- 
 litical fuicide for the people to defert their re- 
 prefentatives ; but there is a reafon to be de- 
 rived from human nature, wherefore an im- 
 partial judge, and one who was not at all con- 
 cerned in the event of the affray, would be 
 
 extremely
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 83 
 
 extremely cautious, not only in taking it for 
 granted, but even in determining upon ap- 
 parent circumftances, that reafon andjuftice 
 were not on the fide of the Commons. For 
 if it is true, from the moral conftitution of 
 mankind, which fome have even confounded 
 with the phyfical, that wherever power is 
 diftributed in different branches, each defires 
 to increafe its mare, and obtain an afcendant 
 (and why this ftruggle does not fenfibly ap- 
 pear in our form of government, I mall en- 
 deavour to explain in the fubfequent part of 
 this fketch) I fay, if this is true, it is equally 
 true that fuch a principle is merely felfim ; 
 and would operate with the greater! certainty 
 and efficacy upon that branch, to which an 
 apropriate conduct would produce the greatefl 
 advantage. Now as the Houfe of Commons 
 confifts of a greater number of individuals 
 than any other branch of the government, 
 and confequently the power acquired by 
 ufurpation upon the others, would be lefs to 
 each member, and, befides, as the tenure is 
 uncertain, fo as that he who is member to 
 day, may not be fo to-morrow ; whereas in 
 the other branches, the tenure is certain as to 
 M 2 perfons,
 
 84 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 perfons, and hereditary as to families ; fo from 
 thefe combined caufes, we may be rrctty fure, 
 reafoning from the nature of man, that a 
 Houfe of Commons will not, in general, be 
 the aggrejTor -, and if in fuch ftruggles it has 
 fometimes forgot its moderation, and elate 
 with victory, or fmarting from the wounds it 
 has received in the conteft, or fearful of the 
 future, from the experience of the pafb, it 
 has pufhed its advantage to an extreme length, 
 fuch a conduct is the natural effect of human 
 infirmity ; nor does it carry with it any proof, 
 or ferve to discover which of the three branches 
 the crime of unjuft pretenlions is originally to 
 be imputed to. 
 
 In truth, the whole of this matter is fo 
 plain to the moft ordinary understanding, that 
 no minifter could ever have expected, I do not 
 fay to acquire popularity, but to efcape odium, 
 by maintaining fiich a caufe, if other circum- 
 ftances had not occurred, by which the paf- 
 fions of the people were inflamed, and their 
 reafon diflurbed by the furious accefs. One 
 caufe, among others of this delirium, was the 
 fuppofed danger of Corporate Rights all over 
 the kingdom, ariiing from the pretended vio- 
 lation
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 85 
 
 lation of the Charter of the Eaft-India Com- 
 pany ; -and as every corporation, by a vanity 
 which is inherent in men, was fond of claffing 
 itfelf with a company, whofe pofTeflions were 
 kingdoms, and whofe authority was imperial; 
 and exifting as they did by a charter, was de- 
 rived from a common parent, and excited all 
 the fympathy of confanguinity ; fo the caufe 
 immediately became a common one through- 
 out the nation ; nor is it wonderful that per- 
 fons living at a diftance from the fcene of 
 action, for we find that the electors of Wefl- 
 minfter were ftill true to their caufe, fhould 
 be deluded by falfe flatements ; or even if they 
 heard both fides of the queflion, that their 
 pity mould incline them in favour of the op- 
 preft, while their fearS mould difpofe them 
 againft the oppreflbrs. 
 
 But if they had only for a moment confi- 
 dered how different the powers are which are 
 granted by the Charter to theEafl-India Com- 
 pany, from thofe which were granted by their 
 own that their own powers relate in general, 
 only to objects of convenience or regulation, 
 within the little diftrict of a clofe circum- 
 (cription, that the community at large never 
 
 can
 
 86 ANOTHER SKETCH OF* 
 
 can be deeply affected by any poffible exercife 
 or abufe of thofe powers, and conftijuently 
 that no neceffity can in the nature of things 
 exiit, wherefore their contract mould be bro- 
 ken, and their charter relumed j whereas that 
 the powers of the Eafl-India Company were 
 imperial, their authority extended over vaft 
 kingdoms, millions of people w T ere happy of 
 miferable in proportion to the good or the ill 
 exercife of thefe powers 3 and that of the hor-^ 
 rors of their government of their wars unjuft-' 
 ly undertaken, of their violence of their rapine, 
 of their infatiable avarice, of their treacher- 
 ous policy ; there was not only no doubt, but 
 an univerfal admiffion I fay if they had com- 
 pared all thefe effects with the worft that 
 could poffibly flow from their own charters, 
 they would have found that there was not only 
 no refemblance between them, but that the 
 fame juftice which had refumed the Com- 
 pany's, would have protected theirs. 
 
 Having conducted fny reader to the difTo- 
 lution of the parliament in 1784, and to the 
 complete eftablifhrnent of the administration 
 of Mr. Pitt, by a decided majority in the 
 new one ; having endeavoured to account fof 
 
 the
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 87 
 
 the veiy extraordinary events which have been 
 the fubject of thefe few pages, from caufes 
 or motives that appear to me at leaft to be 
 probable ones -> having cenfured wliat I 
 thought was deferving of animadverfion, nor 
 withheld my praife where I thought that praife 
 could honeftly be beftowed, and having judged 
 in both cafes with the freedom of hiftorv, 
 and fuftained my judgment by facts and by 
 reafoning, not impofed it by infolent and dog- 
 matical afTertion ; it may not be improper at 
 ' this flage of my undertaking, and before I 
 continue my fketch with the events which 
 happened fubfequently to the meeting of the 
 new parliament, to enquire a little into the 
 nature of this principle of refufcitation, 
 which, as the author of the Sketch has ob- 
 ferved, " has raifed England from her de- 
 " preffion, and has enabled her, unlike the 
 " other furrounding monarchies, to profit of 
 '5 her very misfortunes." 
 
 If the cafe, that a nation mould flburifh in 
 a time of profound peace, that her commerce 
 ihould extend, her navigation increafe, and 
 that every fymptom of profperity mould ap- 
 pear in an accumulating and redundant ca- 
 pital
 
 $3 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 pital were entirely new, fo that the like 
 had never happened before j we might with 
 juftice afcribe fuch a very extraordinary event 
 to very extraordinary means : we might, over- 
 looking the induftry and the fpirit of an illuf- 
 trious people, and the fecurity which a fyftern 
 of adminiftration of juftice peculiarly excellent 
 propofes, to property and acquifition of every 
 kind ; quite difregarding the advantages that 
 a beneficent nature has lavifhed upon this fa- 
 voured ifland, its fituation, its climate, its 
 means of fupport to its inhabitants, whom 
 both land and fea confpire to blefs with every 
 production 5 and in fhort, fettjng at nought 
 all moral and phyfical caufes I fay, we might 
 fearch for this vivifying fpirit, not in their 
 plain infufficiency, but in the powerful effi- 
 cacy of a minifter, " who, to incorruptible 
 " integrity and unblemifhed manners, unites 
 " ftrength of mind, fevere ceconomy, vigi- 
 " lance which never fleeps, eloquence to 
 " captivate, and vigour to fubdue." 
 
 But, for my part, though I am willing to 
 pay every tribute of admiration to this rare 
 combination of endowments wherever I am 
 convinced of its exiftence j I mould be ex- 
 tremely
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 89 
 
 tremely loth to degrade the nation, which it is 
 my pride that I belong to, or the national 
 character, fo far as to fuppofe for a moment, 
 much lefs to aflert, that this one man can 
 operate the wonders, though he ingenuoufly 
 admits fome trifling co-operation from other 
 caufes, which the author of the Sketch fo 
 lavifhes afcribes to the object of his fuperfti- 
 tious reverence. For though in defpotic 
 governments (and I do affaire that author 
 that the Britifh conftitution whatever he may 
 think, is not defpotic), the fovereign power 
 of one man has fometimes difpenfed happi- 
 nefs over the land, and the ravages of defpo- 
 tifm have yielded for a fhort interval to the 
 godlike influence of virtuous fway, yet a 
 country that is governed by laws, that boafts, 
 and will maintain its liberty, is fuperior to the 
 vicuTitudes of particular characters : the pro- 
 fperity of fuch a country is the effect of a 
 conflant caufe; to fay that it is the effect of 
 the periming nature of any individual, whe- 
 ther he be a minifter or a king, is to libel the 
 government, the laws, the character, the 
 fpirit of the people, and to fubftitute a cruel 
 uncertainty to a certain expectation . 
 
 N If
 
 9O ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 If there were no other proof of the opera- 
 tion of this conftant caufe, we fhould find it 
 in the very enormous burthens which this 
 nation has progreffively endured for a century 
 back, and ever fince the .pracliife of funding 
 began. For though very little of the public 
 debt has ever been difcharged in the intervals 
 of peace, and the nation has been much dif- 
 treffed at the conclufion of every war, yet we 
 find it has always been able to engage in a 
 new one with a renovated vigour, and to in- 
 cur a frefh debt in addition to its former, to an 
 amount that it never could have reached, nor 
 approached, if it had attempted it, in the pro- 
 fecutionofthe former. Now fuch an effect could 
 only arife from the progrefii ve ftateof profperi- 
 ty, which the nation has been certain to enjoy 
 in every interval of peace, by which capital has 
 accumulated, and a vafl auxiliary fund of pro- 
 perty, of indufhy, and of confumption, which 
 is the parent of taxes, has been acquired to 
 fupply the continually recurring exigencies of 
 the ftate, and to furnifh a new public eftate to 
 mortgage to new creditors whenever the oc-r 
 cafion demanded it. 
 
 The
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. gi 
 
 The cafe then of great national profperity 
 in a time of peace, is nothing new ; and the 
 author of the Sketch might have been fatis- 
 fied with the good old caufes, which, in a fi- 
 n-alar circumftance, have always produced the 
 fame effect ; if the dazzling fun which irradi- 
 ates the hemifphere, and vivifies our political 
 nature, had not blinded his weak fight, or 
 filled it in fuch a manner, as to exclude every" 
 other object. 
 
 But in the national depreffion, during the 
 calamitous war that the nation fuflained, we 
 fhould find a particular caufe, independantly 
 of the general ones, which are always fure to 
 afTert themfelves in real effects, upon fuch a 
 change of circumflances, as from war to 
 peace $ wherefore the apparent profperity of 
 the country mould ftrike us with admiration 
 and delight : the mind of man is moft fenfibly 
 affected by contraft ; it is not the gradual pro- 
 grefs of good that flrikes the imagination, it 
 is change from evil to good ; and the good in- 
 creafes in value, not in refpect of its intrinfic 
 worth, but in refpect of its vicinity to evil. 
 Any effects that could flow from peace after a 
 calamitous war, though reafon mould pro- 
 N 2 nounce
 
 fll ANOTHER SKETCH Of 
 
 nouncc them inadequate to fuch a caufe, 
 would be received with gratitude by fenfe ; 
 and the bare abfence of evil would be confi- 
 dered as the prefence of good. In the cafe 
 of former wars, though the conclufion of 
 peace relieved the public from accumulating 
 burthens ; yet vi<lory and conqueft ftill flat- 
 tered the vanity of Englishmen, and the 
 change from war to peace, was a change from 
 one fpecies of good, not indeed rightly under- 
 ftood, to another fpecies of good ; and the 
 evil being not known, or far removed, was 
 loft in ignorance, or diminifhed by diftance, 
 fo that the good was not exalted by the con- 
 traft ; but when the nation, in a little time 
 after the conclufion of the laft peace, had re- 
 covered its tone, and all the debt was funded ; 
 when the redundant capital of the wealthy, 
 inftead of being confumed every year in the 
 profecution of a war, equally difgraceful and 
 ruinous ; inftead of leaving no memory of itfelf 
 behind, except in the accumulation of taxes 
 and the oppreffion of induftry, was obliged to 
 purfue another courfe, and to fru<5rify upon 
 land, upon induftry, upon private credit, and 
 upon public fecurifcies> who was not ftruck 
 
 with
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 9J 
 
 with this new ftate of things ? Who did not 
 enhance the good that was enjoyed from the 
 confideration of the neighbouring evil ? But 
 this new ftate of things was necefiary - y it was 
 the effed: of no public regulation, of no politi- 
 cal interference, which generally injures more 
 than it does good : where capital accumulates 
 in a country, and that country is in a defperate 
 condition, where it does not, the price of 
 every fpecies of capital muft increafe from 
 an increafed number of purchafers, who lay 
 out their annual furplus in the purchafe of 
 more ftock. The profperity of a country is 
 the effecT: of this ftate of things, which mull 
 be found there ; when it is not, it cannot be 
 created without the perfeverance of ages and 
 a revolution in manners and in policy : to fay 
 that it is the fudden effeft, or that it is in 
 anywife contributed to by the powers of any 
 one individual, is to facrifke truth to fervile 
 adulation , it is to fay that he is prefent in 
 every man's bofom, that he animates his in- 
 duftry, that he is a party to his gains, that 
 he infpires with enterprize, informs with 
 prudence, and, by a particular interpofition 
 in every man's private conduct, creates a 
 
 general
 
 94 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 general public effed:, which can only be the 
 rcfult of the private conduct of all the in- 
 dividuals in the State. 
 
 But if we would enquire into the caufe of 
 national profperity, which is nothing more 
 than the fum of private fuccefs ; I fpeak of the 
 moral caufe (for phyfical caufes are doubtlefs 
 pofTefied of a great power of co-operation), 
 we fhall difcover it not in one man not in 
 a minifter not in a king we fhall difcover 
 it in twelve men, and in twelve men of no 
 great feeming 'importance, who challenge na 
 illuftrious defcent, nor appear with a fplen- 
 dour commenfurate with their falutary and 
 powerful efficacy ; but who, generally fpeak- 
 ing, improve their own property by an in- 
 duftrious application to trade or bufmefs, 
 while they fecure the property of others, by 
 delivering, whenever it is litigated, impartial 
 judgments from a jury-box. 
 
 It is the fecurity of honeft acquifition, 
 from the oppreffion of power or the injuftice 
 of corruption, that vainly wanders in queft 
 ' of an objedt to faflen upon in the floating and 
 uncertain judicature ; which has ever occa- 
 fioned, by a certain operation, the profperity 
 
 of
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE HI. 95 
 
 of Great Britain to be progreffive ; and unlefs 
 induftry is cramped by new impofitions, and 
 the State, by taking too large a proportion 
 of the fubftance of the citizens, mould crufh 
 activity by defpair, inftead of fuffering it to 
 be excited by generous hope, aconilant effect 
 will be the never-failing refult of a conftant 
 caufe. Whatever doubts may be entertained 
 by many very thinking men concerning the 
 reality of political liberty, in the adtual ftate 
 of the Britifh constitution', and in the practice 
 of the government; of the reality of civil 
 liberty, while juries maintain their rights, no 
 doubt can be entertained: and as the in- 
 dividual is not, in general, grofsly affeded 
 by the meafures of government (I except 
 indeed the cafe cf the extenfion of the excife), 
 in the complete enjoyment of civil liberty he 
 enjoys a ftate which is commenfurate with 
 his views and objects in life, which is fuf- 
 ficient to ftimulate induftry, and to awaken 
 enterprize, by a certainty of the undifturbed 
 poflefiion of the fruits of his fuccefs, and to 
 make him contributory, by his private gains 
 and advantages, to the fum of public prc>- 
 fperity, which, as I have oti&rved before, 
 
 and
 
 96 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 and the obfervation cannot be too often re-- 
 peated, is the refult or agregate of private 
 profperity. 
 
 But before I difmifs this fubjecl:, there is a 
 queftion that flrikes me as not being unwor- 
 thy of fome difcuffion, viz. how far the ad- 
 vanced price of public fecurities is a criterion 
 of national profperity. The caufe of this ad- 
 vanced price is very well known to originate 
 in the increafed competition of purchafers, for 
 there being more buyers than fellers, which is 
 always the cafe in the time of peace, when no 
 new flock is brought to market to defray the 
 excefs of expence arifing from an extraordi- 
 nary emergency, it is plain that the commo- 
 dity muft keep rifing in value, an effect that is 
 merely produced by this circumftance, and is 
 totally independant of any minuter or admin- 
 flration, though this too is abfurdly afcribed to 
 a miniiler by fond panegyrick ; and I am the 
 more difpofed to hazard an opinion upon this 
 matter, becaufe it is of fervice to the commu- 
 nity, that it mould not draw any very extra- 
 vagant concluiions concerning its profperity, 
 great as I admit that it is, from/a facl: which is 
 generally fuppofed to be the bell criterion, and 
 
 thus
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 97 
 
 thus by overrating its refources find itfelf dif- 
 appointed in their amount, when it Hands 
 moil in need of them from its wild engage- 
 ments in fchemes of -continental politics and 
 ridiculous chimeras, about a balance of power 
 which cannot now affect us, whatever it might 
 have done in the time of the ufurpations of 
 France. 
 
 Now the nature of a public debt is to ac- 
 cumulate property in the hands of fome indi- 
 viduals at the expence of the whole communi- 
 ty, and its effect is to multiply capitals, and 
 to encreafe the value of every kind of ftock, 
 by bringing to market a greater number of 
 purchafers for that frock. We will fuppofe 
 for a moment that all that capital which has 
 accumulated in the hands of the public cre- 
 ditors, who lent the whole of the money for 
 the carrying on the laft war, was totally an* 
 hilated and extinguifhed, and that thofe taxes 
 which are now paid to defray the intereft of that 
 vaft debt werealfo to be annihilated; the pro- 
 bable confequence of fuch a ftate of things is, 
 that there would be a lefs annual furplus over 
 and above the expences of individuals, to con- 
 ftitute an annually accumulating capital, to go 
 O to
 
 9? ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 to market with to purchafe flock. For the 
 money that each peribn pays in taxes, to make 
 up his proportion of the interefl of this him* 
 dred millions, or whatever it may be, being 
 paid diilributively by the country at large, 
 and falling in its great bulk upon the lower 
 claiTes of people, who are the great confumers 
 in the nation; if their taxes were annihilated, 
 it is probable that each perfon would live fome- 
 what better than he did before, for the money 
 faved by each by this means would be fo trifl- 
 ing as not to form any objedl worth laying by; 
 befides that the poorer fort of people who 
 fubfift by labour, and whofe agregate con- 
 fumption is the great fund for taxation, though 
 each may pay but a little, feldom do lay by 
 any thing, if they can make both ends meet, 
 as they fay, it being all that their fituation 
 requires, or their prudence affefts j and labour 
 being the hereditary eftate which they receive, 
 and wh ch they tranfmit, they are carelefs of 
 every other fund, than that which nature has 
 given them, and will prefer ve for their pofte- 
 rity. But if we reinftate the debt and reftore 
 the taxes, what is the confequence then? 
 The taxes drawn from the whole body of the 
 
 people
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. 99 
 
 people would find their way info the hands of 
 a limited number of opulent perfons. The 
 intereft thus paid every year, forming a very 
 confiderable object to fuch limited number, 
 though it is nothing difperfed throughout the 
 whole mafs of the people, would probably ac- 
 cumulate every year, and form a frem capital : 
 but this capital muft be employed, and it muil: 
 therefore go to market to purchafe ftock of 
 Tome kind or other, which would continually 
 rife in its price, by this continually encreafe- 
 ing competition. 
 
 And this effecl: would be perceived in its 
 greateft force, prefently after the conclufion of 
 a war, while the perfons were yet living who 
 had advanced the whole money for carrying 
 it on, for the great mafTes of wealth remaining 
 unbroken in their hands, would afford the 
 greateft means of annual accumulations j 
 though in time, when, from the neceffity of 
 nature, a diftributjon fbould take place, per- 
 haps among, large families, and the overplus 
 of income would be reduced to the new pof- 
 feffors by the divifion, the effect would be 
 much diminimed ; nor would the fame fymp- 
 tom of profperity appear in redundant cjipi- 
 O 2 tals
 
 IOO ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 tals, though no one could fay, that the na- 
 tion was at all the poorer. I do not know 
 how I cart illuftrate my proportion relatively 
 to this matter, better than by fuppofing, that 
 the whole of the public debt of this king- 
 dom was the property of one man. He 
 furely would be able to fpend a very fmall 
 comparative part of it : all the reft, to the 
 amount of eight or nine millions a year, would 
 be an accumulating capital for him to go to 
 market with, to purchafe fome employment 
 for it. In fuch a ftate of things, does not 
 the imagination revolt at the price that he 
 would give for land, and for every other fpe- 
 cies of employment of capital, rather than 
 fuffer it to lie idle and ufelefs in his coffers ? 
 if we break this mafs of property into as 
 many parts as there are public creditors in the 
 kingdom, it is very certain that the accumu- 
 lation would be lefs ; for twenty- nine thou- 
 fand people, after paying their expences, 
 would have a lefs furplus to carry to market, 
 than one fingle man would ; and again, if we 
 were to divide theie parts into as many others, 
 as there are people in the kingdom, the fur- 
 plus of eight millions of people, after paying 
 
 all
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. JOI 
 
 all their expences, would be lefs to go to 
 market with than the furplus of twenty-nine 
 thoufand ; and though all would live better, 
 the annual accumulation of capital would be 
 much reduced ; probably it would be none at 
 all ; but a general eafe and affluence would be 
 the confequence, and furely the nation would 
 not be at all the poorer from being quite out 
 of debt. Again, if we fuppofe, that the in- 
 ftead of nine millions to public creditors, the 
 nation paid eighteen millions-, we might rea- 
 fonably infer, that the accumulations made 
 by public creditors would, in that cafe, be 
 the double of what they are now j and though 
 the greater quanffty of flock that would be 
 at market in that cafe would fomething re- 
 lieve the competition of purchafers, yet it 
 would not equalize it ; and it is probable, that 
 the price of every employment of capital 
 would be extremely enhanced : but nobody 
 that is in his fenfes would deny, but the nation 
 would then be in a much worfe fituation than 
 it is in now : and yet the generally acknow- 
 ledged fymptomsof profperity would be greater, 
 for the price of every employment of capi- 
 tal would be higher. From thefe reafonings 
 
 I con-
 
 IO2 ANOTHER SKETCH OF 
 
 I conclude, that" the price of the public funds 
 is not a criterion of public profperity, but 
 might be the effect of a ftate of things that 
 would demand a conclufipn directly oppofite 
 to that which is ufually admitted. 
 
 I have engaged more deeply in thefe obfer- 
 vations than a Sketch, which profeffes to be 
 hiftorical, and to be converfant with facts, and 
 not with fpeculative reafonings, can ftrictly be 
 juflified in doing : but I fhall receive the in- 
 dulgence of my reader, when he confiders the 
 different nature of a hiftory which is con- 
 temporary with the facts it relates, from that 
 which is converfant with facts, whofe confe- 
 quences are now obliterated, and of which a 
 complete example has been propofed by a ca- 
 taflrophe of other facts ; fo that in that cafe, 
 nothing is left to fpeculation, but every thing 
 is proved by experience. In our cafe, the 
 CATASTROPHE has not yet arrived: the 
 chain is ftill continuous ; what the future 
 links may be, depends upon the prudence of 
 the prefent moment; nothing is proved by 
 experience, but every thing is open to fpecu- 
 lation ; and to realbn, more than to relate, is 
 the proper province of fuch a hiflory. 
 
 Another
 
 THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. IOJ 
 
 Another real mothe for entering pretty 
 much at krge into thefe matters, was to dif- 
 fipate, if I could by any means fucceed, the 
 errors that prevail fo much in men's minds, 
 concerning the caufes of public profperity. 
 That the nation is profperous (though I am 
 compelled to fay much lefs fo than is con- 
 cluded from the criterion that is generally 
 reforted to) I do moil firmly believe, and I do 
 mofl fincerely rejoice. But the caufe of this 
 is in the people, and in the laws ; it is a per- 
 manent caufe j it is not, and it never has 
 been, in a minifler. The bell that a minifler 
 can do for the people, is to LEAVE THEM 
 TO THEMSELVES, and his greater! poflible 
 merit is a negative one. I do not fay but 
 ufeful laws may be pail which, by their gene- 
 ral tendency and operation, may have a remote 
 effedt, for they can have no other, upon the 
 induftry of the people ; but this I will fay, 
 that fuch an efFed: never can be produced by 
 the introduction of excifemen into the (hops, 
 the cellars, the warehoufes of any clafs of 
 citizens, flill lefs can it be produced by keep- 
 ing the country in a continual ferment, and 
 exhauflihg it by armaments upon every little 
 
 trivial
 
 IC4 ANOTHER SKETCH OF, &C. 
 
 trivial difpute -, nor yet will a ftanding army, 
 when the total alteration of the government 
 of France has removed not only every caufe 
 of alarm, but even of jealoufy from the only 
 quarter where it could be entertained, and has 
 rendered any army at all, for ought I can fee, 
 except what is fufficient to contend with the 
 SufTex fmugglers, quite unneceflary ; be the 
 beft means of promoting the commerce, the 
 jnduftry, and the manufactures of the coun- 
 try. I fay that a landing army 'will not be 
 the heft means of promoting thefe beneficial 
 objects, because a minifter ought not to be 
 cenfured for not doing, what he has had 
 fcarcely time to do, for doubtlefs he will 
 gkdly feize the earlieft opportunity of con- 
 forming to a conjuncture by which the peo- 
 ple will be eafed of fuch a heavy burthen, and 
 the French revolution being now completely 
 eftablifhed, there can be no room for any 
 longer delay ; fo that even this feffion may 
 announce, or ought to do it, what his inten- 
 tions are relatively to this meafure, that the 
 people expects, and the country from a total 
 change of circumftances, has a right to de- 
 mand. 
 
 END OF PART THE FIRST.
 
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