plexion of this night's debate, that it originates rather in an inclination to force the Earl of Shelburne from the treasury, than in any real conviction that ministers deserve the censure, for the concessions they have made: concessions, which, from the facts I have enumerated, and the reasonings I have stated as arising from these facts, are the obvious result of an absolute necessity, and imputable not so much to those of whom the present cabinet is composed, as to the cabinet of which the noble lord in the blue ribbon was a member. The noble earl, like every other person eminent for ability, and acting in the first department of a great state, is undoubtedly an object of envy to some as well as admiration to others. The obloquy to which his capacity and situation have raised him, has been created and circulated with equal meanness and address: but his merits are as much above my panegyric as the arts to which he owes his defamation are beneath my attention. When stripped of his power and emoluments he once more descends to private life, without the invidious appendages of place, men will see him through a different medium, and perceive in him qualities which richly entitle him to their esteem. That official superiority which at present irritates their feelings, and that capacity of conferring good offices on those he prefers, which all men are fond of possessing, will not then be any obstacle to their making an impartial estimate of his character. But, notwithstanding a sincere predilection of this nobleman, whom I am bound by every tie to treat with sentiments of deference and regard, I am far from wishing him retained in power against the public approbation; and if his removal can be innocently effected, if he can be compelled to resign without entailing all those mischiefs which seem to be involved in the resolution now moved, great as his zeal is for his country, powerful as his abilities are, and earnest and assiduous as his endeavours have been to rescue the British empire from the difficulties that oppress her; I am persuaded he will retire, firm in the dignity of his own mind, conscious of having contributed to the public advantage; and, if not attended with the fulsome plaudits of a mob, possessed of that substantial and permanent satisfaction which arises from the habitual approbation of an upright mind. I know him well; and dismiss him from the confidence of his sovereign and the business of the state when you please, to this

transcendent consolation he has a title which no accident can invalidate or affect-it is the reward of doing well, by acting an honest and honourable part. By the difficulties he encountered on accepting the reins of government, by the reduced circumstances in which he found the state of the nation, and by the perpetual turbulence of those who thought his elevation effected at their expense, he has certainly earned it dearly; and with such a solid understanding, and so much goodness of heart as stamp his character, he is in no danger of losing it. Nothing can be a stronger proof that his enemies are eager to traduce, than the frivolous grounds on which they affect to accuse him. An action which reflects a lustre on his attention to the claims of merit, has yet been improved into a fault in his conduct. A right honourable gentleman (Col. Barré) who had exhausted his strength in the service of the state, and to whose years and infirmities his absence from parliament can only be attributed, owes to the friendship and interference of the noble earl a pension, which, however adequate to all his necessities and conveniences in the evening of life, is no extraordinary compensation for the public spirit which has always marked his parliamentary conduct. Surely the virtues and abilities of this veteran soldier and respectable senator, deserved some acknowledgment from that community in which they have been so often and so manfully exerted. Surely his age entitled him to a little repose in the lap of that public to whose welfare his youth had been dedicated. Surely that principle of humanity which stimulates those in power to commiserate in this manner the situation of neglected merit, possesses a nobleness, a generosity, a benevolence, which, instead of incurring the censure of any, ought to command the veneration and praises of all.

"I repeat then, Sir, it is not this treaty; it is the Earl of Shelburne alone whom the movers of this question are desirous to wound. This is the object which has raised this storm of faction; this is the aim of the unnatural coalition to which I have alluded. If, however, the baneful alliance is not yet formed; if this ill-fated marriage is not yet solemnized, I know a just and lawful impediment, and I here forbid the bans.

"My own share in the censure pointed by the motion before the House against his Majesty's ministers, I will bear with forti

tude; because, my own heart tells me, I have not acted wrong. To this monitor, who never did, and who, I trust, never will deceive me, I will confidently repair, as to an adequate asylum, from all the clamour which interested faction can raise. As I was not very eager to come in, I shall have no great reluctance to go out, whenever the public are disposed to dismiss me from their service. It has been the great object of my short official existence, to do the duties of my station with all the ability and address in my power, and with a fidelity and honour, which should bear me up, and give me confidence under every possible contingency and disappointment. I can say, with sincerity, I never had a wish which did not terminate in the dearest interests of the nation. I will, at the same time, imitate the honourable gentleman's candour, and confess, that I, too, have my ambition. High station and great influence are desirable objects to most men, and objects which I am not ashamed to pursue; which I am even solicitous to possess, whenever they can be acquired with honour, and retained with dignity. On these respectable conditions I am not less ambitious to be great and powerful, than it is natural for a young man with such brilliant examples before him, to be. But even these objects I am not beneath relinquishing, the moment my duty to my country, my character, and friends, renders such a sacrifice indispensable. Then I hope to retire, not disappointed, but triumphant; triumphant in the conviction that my talents, humble as they are, have been earnestly, zealously, and strenuously employed, to the best of my apprehension, in promoting the truest welfare of my country; and that, however I may stand accused of weakness of understanding, or error of judgment, nothing can be imputed to my official capacity which bears the most distant connexion with an interested, a corrupt, or a dishonest intention. But it is not any part of my plan, when the time shall come that I quit my station, to threaten the repose of my country, and erect, like the honourable gentleman, a fortress and a refuge for disappointed ambition. The self-created and self-appointed successors to the present administration have asserted, with much confidence, that this is likely to be the case. I can assure them, however, when they come from that side of the house to this, I will, for one, most readily and cordially accept the exchange. The only desire I should indulge

and cherish on the subject is, that the service of the public may be ably, disinterestedly, and faithfully performed. To those who feel for their country, as I wish to do, and will strive to do, it matters little who are out or in; but it matters much that her affairs be conducted with wisdom, with firmness, with dignity, and credit. Those entrusted to my care I will resign, let me hope, into hands much better qualified to do them justice than mine. But I will not mimic the parade of the right honourable gentleman, in avowing an indiscriminate opposition to whoever may be appointed to succeed. I will march out with no warlike, no hostile, no menacing protestations; but hoping the new administration will have no other object in view, than the real and substantial welfare of the community at large: that they will bring with them into office those truly public and patriotic principles, which they formerly held, but which they abandoned in opposition: that they will save the state, and promote the great purposes of general good, with as much steadiness, integrity, and solid advantage, as I am confident it must one day appear the Earl of Shelburne and his colleagues have done; I promise them before hand, my uniform and best support upon every occasion where I can honestly and conscientiously assist them.

“In short, Sir, whatever appears dishonourable or inadequate in the peace on your table is strictly chargeable to the noble lord in the blue ribbon, whose profusion of the public money, whose notorious temerity and obstinacy in prosecuting the war, which originated in his pernicious and oppressive policy, and whose utter incapacity to fill the station he occupied, rendered a peace of any description indispensable to the preservation of the state. The small part which fell to my share in that ignominious transaction, was divided with a set of men, whom the dispassionate public must, on reflection, unite to honour. Unused as I am to the factions and jarring clamours of this day's debate, I look up to the independent part of the house, and to the public at large, if not for that impartial approbation which my conduct deserves, at least for that acquittal from blame to which my innocence entitles me. I have ever been most anxious to do my utmost for the interests of my country; it has been my sole concern to act an honest and upright part; and I am disposed to think every instance of my official department will bear a fair and honourable

construction. With these intentions I ventured forward on the public attention, and can appeal with some degree of confidence to both sides of the house for the consistency of my political conduct. My earliest impressions were in favour of the noblest and most disinterested modes of serving the public: these impressions are still dear, and will, I hope, remain ever dear in my heart: I will cherish them as a legacy, infinitely more valuable than the greatest inheritance. On these principles alone I came into Parliament, and into place; and I now take the whole house to witness that I have never been under the necessity of contradicting one public declaration I have ever made.

"I am, notwithstanding, at the disposal of this house, and with their decision, whatever it may be, I will cheerfully comply. It is impossible to deprive me of those feelings which must always result from the sincerity of my best endeavours to fulfil, with integrity, every official engagement. You may take from me, Sir, the privileges and emoluments of place, but you cannot, and you shall not, take from me those habitual and warm regards for the prosperity of Great Britain, which constitute the honour, the happiness, the pride of my life; and which, I trust, death alone can extinguish. And with this consolation, the loss of power, Sir, and the loss of fortune, though I affect not to despise them, I hope I shall soon be able to forget:

Laudo manentem; si celeres quatit

Pennas, resigno quæ dedit

-probamque.

Pauperiem sine dote quæro."

This is a very long, but a most valuable extract: valuable for its own beauties, and valuable for the illustration it reflects over this sketch. No analysis, however minute, could create an equal impression; and no description, however finished, afford the same satisfaction. At an early, but a vigorous period, it exhibits the full capacity of his mind, and the ample extent of his acquirements; proves the merit of his principles, the spirit of his character, and the fairness of his conduct; and displays almost every feature which distinguished the style of his eloquence. Here, therefore,