touched with impunity by the rash hand of reform; and they perceived, in the circumstances of modern times, and in the change which had taken place in the habits and intelligence of the people of Europe, the symptoms of a dangerous empiricism, which it was the great object of their policy to counteract and repress. They might be called timid in comparison with some of their opponents, but they were timid only as they were sagacious; and the energy which they displayed in resisting the violence by which every thing sacred in the country was at one time attacked, first saved England from revolution, and, in the issue, raised her to the highest pitch of great ness. If they were mistrustful of the sweeping conclusions which were drawn by weak and ardent minds, from abstract and metaphysical principles, their caution was inspired by the dictates of genuine philosophy; and if they were exposed to the reproach of timidity, they could provoke it from those misguided spirits alone who might have cast the same imputation on the greatest philosopers of modern times, men, who, rejecting idle and vain theories, have, on the basis of experiment, established the beautiful superstructure of true science. They were no less sensible than their enemies to the difficulties under which the country laboured, and the dangers to which it was exposed; but they considered these dangers as the result of accidents which could not be controlled, and of a state of the world which nothing but the full display of all the energies of England could correct or reform. Hence, regardless of difficulties, they persevered with manly firmness in a contest, from which Great Britain could not have retired without dishonour; hence they sustained that high tone which she has always been accustomed to hold among the nations of the world; and hence they not only

maintained her honour and integrity, but were enabled, in the issue, to add' prodigiously to her ancient stock of glory.

It has been remarked by philosophers, that the distinctions which exist among practical politicians, are rather nominal than real, and that with very slight sacrifices on each side, intelligent men might easily be brought to a good understanding, they would be called upon to give up, not principles, but expressions; and while they would thus exhibit more philosophical precision in defining their views, they would contribute much to tranquillize society, which is so often convulsed by their controversies. The principle on which this observation is founded has been singularly exemplified in English history. The ancient distinctions which divided the different parties of English politicians, have no longer a meaning, those who are now described as Whigs and Tories, no longer profess the sentiments by which their respective parties were formerly distinguished. The leading princi ples of those great men, by whom the revolution of 1688. was accomplished, and of their immediate successors, whose measures cast such a lustre around the country, are precisely those on which the ministers of the present day have invariably acted,—a firm resistance to the ambition of France, and a jealousy of the tenets of the Roman Catholics.-Their opponents, who still claim for themselves the appellation of Whigs, have not only abandoned the great and salutary principles formerly entertained on these points, but have avowed, as the leading maxims of their creed, opinions of an opposite nature. They demand unqualified concession to the catholics of Ireland, and have in a thousand instances called on the country to make peace with France, in circumstances which the whigs of the reigns of King

William and Queen Anne would have considered as imperiously demanding the vigorous prosecution of war. He who should turn to the political writings of Addison, and the other great whig authors of his age, would suppose that he is reading an elegant exposition of the creed of the present ministers, and a satire ou the tenets of their opponents. Surely the distinctions by which public men are divided must be altogether nominal and insignificant, or the whigs and tories of the present day must have committed an outrage on the language, in assuming the appellations by which they are distinguished.

The laudable activity with which the present ministers conducted their measures of foreign policy, and the contrast, in this respect, which their conduct presented to that of their predecessors, formed a striking feature in their public character. And as it has been generally acknowledged, that emergencies arose, in which it was not possible for Great Britain to exert herself too much,-in which her honour and interest alike demanded that every nerve should be strained; as it is not denied that the line of conduct pursued by ministers was that which sustained the character of England as the bulwark of liberty, and the rallying point for the independence of Europe; as it will no longer be disputed that they have acquired honour by the steady support of the noble struggle maintained in the peninsula, and that they persevered in supporting this cause under difficulties and discouragements of all kinds; it is not easy to perceive with what justice their activity can be described as feverish, or their efforts, which led to such glorious consequences, can be undervalued.

Mr Perceval was at the head of the administration, which was composed of many members, whose experience

and talents were well known to the country.-The unfortunate differences which occurred betwixt Lord Castlereagh and Mr Canning, had deprived the government of the assistance of these eminent men: but in their place the Marquis Wellesley, a statesman of great and undoubted talents, was for a time substituted-Whether the accession of strength which the ministers thus acquired, was a full compensation for the loss sustained by the resignations of Lord Castlereagh and Mr Canning, is more than questionable. Great indeed must the talents of that man have been, who could compensate the loss of the various and distinguished qualifications of the eminent statesmen who had unfortunately retired from office.-Acting, however, on the same principles which had guided the conduct of Mr Pitt when out of power, Lord Castlereagh and Mr Canning, on leaving the ministry, never thought of joining the ranks of opposition; but, sincere and ardent in the cause of their country, they flung away every selfish consideration, and proved to the world, that a change in their own personal condition could make no alteration in their principles.

The Marquis Wellesley was about this time a very great favourite with the public; and is thought by some to have obtained credit for a larger portion of talent than he actually possessed. As a war minister, and in planning and conducting military operations, he was believed to be not only superior to all his contemporaries, but to stand absolutely alone. In determining the mode and the places in which the war might be most successfully carried on, in suiting the magnitude of an expedition to its object, and in appointing the persons best qualified to command, Lord Wellesley was said to have no rival in any living statesman, He was sup. posed to be the only master of this

science, apparently so simple; to be the only minister who had discovered and could act upon the obvious truth, that no interest which a ministry can derive from the choice of an inefficient person, can counterbalance the loss of credit consequent on the failure of a great enterprise. Many very improper appointments had taken place of late years; but under the auspices of the Wellesleys, a new system had been established; means had been suited to their ends; effective employments had been ably filled; and a plan of operations adopted, in which enterprise and caution were happily combined. The services of this nobleman were for these reasons considered at this time as of the utmost importance; and it was believed that any administration of which he was a member, would, for that single reason, be better than any other.-Such was the opinion entertained of him by his admirers; but there were others who took a very different view of his character, and ventured to predict that he would never obtain considerable influence in the British councils. He seemed deficient in a talent for debate, without which no statesman can rise to a very high rank in this country; and it was generally understood, that he considered the business of leading in a popular assembly as an intolerable drudgery. It suited him better, said his enemies, to issue his mandates from the recesses of oriental pomp, than to force them through the clamorous and obstinate resistance of a British opposition. He thus renounced the only practicable means of acquiring consideration; the pride and splendour which dazzled the East, were of no estimation in the eyes of republican London; and it is not surprising, therefore, that he sunk into subordinate stations in the cabinet. With regard to its interior arrangements also, he was said to labour under disadvan

tages. In consequence of a long residence abroad, he had not attached to himself any body of statesmen; he either wanted or disdained to use that dexterity and address by which the minds of men are managed and conciliated, and he was thus induced to form the resolution of withdrawing himself entirely from the cabinet. Whether there be any justice in these reflections on the character of this eminent personage we shall not pretend to deter mine, but it seems impossible any longer to doubt, that in the estimate of his superiority over other statesmen, an important error was committed; and that the ministerial party, even after his secession, still embraced a portion of talent, which was amply sufficient for the conduct either of war or negociation.

Such was the state of the ministerial party at the beginning of the year.Their regular opponents, who had, not many years ago, made pretensions so high to talents and integrity, had of late fallen very much in the public estimation. They had been tried as ministers, and had failed; and the disappointment of the public was of course proportioned to the expectations which had been so imprudently raised. Many candid and impartial men who have given them credit for great talents, have confessed at the same time that there was a want of union among them; a want of some acknowledged chief to give an impulse to the whole. They have admitted, that the selection of persons who were appointed to fill the two most important departments, those of finance and of war, were highly injudicious; that the promotion of Lord Henry Petty, as the successor of Pitt, was imprudent; that the plans of taxation which were proposed by this youthful financier, consisted of some poor expedients rashly adopted, and as hastily abandoned. As to the military operations, there

existed but one opinion; the expeditions to the Dardanelles, to Alexandria, and to the Rio de la Plata, exhibited great errors, both in the plan and in the execution. The British armies under the present ministers have sometimes fought with disaster, seldom without glory; while under their predecessors defeat was aggravated by disgrace, and the army was humbled before those who had not been numbered among the military nations of Europe. The extraordinary coalition which took place betwixt Mr Fox and Lord Grenville filled the nation with astonishment; but the feelings of the people were roused into resentment, when it was found that the administration not only failed to conduct the war with vigour, but, with the sacrifice of all its former principles, refused to sanction the improvements in domestic policy, by the promise of which they had acquired a share of popular favour. Loud complaints were raised, that their efforts to provide for their adherents were on a larger scale, and at a greater expence to the public resources, than those even of their political opponents, which they had so warmly reprobated. This marked inconsistency betwixt their conduct and professions had the effect of inspiring the people with a suspicion and distrust of public men; and the whig administration may be said to have shaken the confidence of the country in its rulers, and to have given a blow to the credit and popularity of all statesmen, which it will require the best exertions of their successors to repair. The whig leaders themselves made no effort of this kind; but, affecting a sort of sullen dignity, they failed to gain the confidence either of the sovereign or the people. Such was the state of the whig party, when an attempt was made by the Prince Regent to unite their leaders with the administration; but before

proceeding to give an account of this transaction, some notice must be taken of a party which has of late become conspicuous both in and out of parliament.

It has been imagined by some, that the existence of what is called a po pular or country party, of a party which systematically seeks to maintain, and even to extend the rights of the people, and to restrain or diminish the authority of the crown, is essential to the integrity of the British constitution. In support of this opinion, they refer to the history of the country party, which makes so great a figure in the annals of England; and they imagine, that the popular party of the present day is held together by the same spirit under a different form. That the popular spirit ought at all times to be represented in the House of Commons, it were absurd to deny ; but no person who reflects on the character of the country party, as it was formerly constituted, will compare it in any point of view to the popular faction of these times. The country-party was composed of a large proportion of the landed aristocracy, united to the wealth and influence of the people; the object of this union was the protection of the state against the dangerous incroachments of the crown; but the popular party of the present day boasts of little rank or wealth or talents, and instead of being combined to oppose the influence of the crown, seems destined, in so far as its feebleness will permit, to overturn the constitution. some time past, the democratic party has thrown off all dependence on that portion of the aristocracy which supported its pretensions. Their leaders have endeavoured to raise the standard of the people against the House of Commons; and, supported by popular applause, have set all parties alike at defiance. Such a party as this can never be essential to the integrity of

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the British constitution; it has no connection with any of the legitimate powers of this form of government; but is calculated to diffuse among the people a spirit of distrust and hostility towards the lawful authorities of the state. The truth of this proposition will appear by a reference to the history of democratic extravagances. The recollection of the turbulent scenes produced by the politics of Mr Wilkes perished with himself; the nation enjoyed a season of tranquillity till the breaking out of the French revolution, and it was only when this dangerous stimulus was applied to the public mind, that popular sentiments were once more revived. But the danger and folly of such sentiments were soon discovered; the nation became tired of pernicious extravagances, which had no longer the gloss of no. velty to recommend them, and a prudent distrust of innovation succeeded to the wild enthusiasm of a moment. The rare appearance of popular or revolutionary principles is of itself a proof, that, so far from being congenial to the British constitution, they are of the nature of a disease which periodically affects the soundest bodies; and it is a happy circumstance for England, that how violent soever the occasional effervescences of this wild spirit may have been, the_great body of the people remain unaffected by so melancholy a distemper.

Complaints have been made of the turn which the French revolution gave to the politics of the leading men of this country, and many persons have maintained, that the system of restraint which sprung up in the first moments of alarm, was carried beyond all reasonable bounds. Every thing, say they, bordering on innovation was proscribed; the very name of liberty was held in abhorrence, and the slightest censure of the measures of government was branded as a symptom of revolu

tionary licence. But they forget, that," to counteract the symptoms of poli tical disease, it becomes indispensable to carry restraint and punishment a great deal beyond the ordinary measure of severity, and that, without destroying the credit of evolutionary principles among the more intelligent orders of society, it would have been impossible to put down a spirit so formidable and daring. When that great man, who presided over the affairs of England when the mania of the French revolution was about extending itself to this country, adopted those painful but wholesome measures of severity, he was aware, that he could not otherwise restrain and extinguish a spirit, which threatened the very existence of the government. He had recourse, therefore, to the only measures which were suited to the occasion; and as he knew well that the maxims of liberty would be ever in the mouths of those who intended to pervert them to bad purposes, he hesitated not to put down sedition, at the hazard even of being accused as an enemy to freedom. He wished to resist the danger which was most imminent; he saw that the spirit of revolution was that danger; and, as he was well aware that the liberties of the country were too firmly established to receive any very violent shock, even from the most severe temporary measures, he resolved on securing what was most in hazard, the legitimate and practicable freedom of the British constitution. But the measures which he adopted, although the country unquestionably. owed her salvation to them, were not unattended with many serious evils; the policy of the war in which he had engaged was justified on principles which the vulgar could not always comprehend; while the progress of hostilities entailed a weight of taxation, which no nation in any age had hitherto endured. The commercial prospe