for his manly, venerable character, and have indulged the most agreeable expectations of the beneficial influence which his administration of the law would have upon the jurisprudence and upon the public mind of his country.

Short as his Presidency has been, I cannot but cherish a belief, that he has left a permanent impression. His example will remain, a pattern for those who have been most sensible of his merits, and who may hereafter have a similar opportunity of labouring in the public service; and his name and memory may, even in the meanwhile, be some check on those unworthy ones, who are likely to be his immediate successors. What a fortunate and enviable close of such a life, and how suitable a reward, if one may venture to say so, of that long tenor of purity and loftiness of conduct, that he should be allowed to withdraw himself, without an interval of decay, while his reputation was still growing.

The conduct of the bar upon this occasion does them great honour, and I must own that what you mention of Lord Craig's firmness has quite affected me. In his languishing condition, the fame and usefulness of his great friend, and the prospect of their continuance long beyond the period of his own life, must have been the chief circumstance on which he could look with any pleasure, and the loss of all this will leave nothing to him but gloom. With the sensibility which has always depressed and enfeebled him, it required no common portion of virtue to assume on such a day a decent composure.

of

The statue will perhaps be erected at the expense the Faculty as a corporation. If it should be done by

* One of the Judges.

the subscription of individuals, or if there should be a subscription in the Faculty among the members, you will not forget that I am one, and I beg you will do for me what you do yourself. You ought to have it executed by Westmacot, who has much more talent than any other artist of the present day. I am much pleased with what you report to me of Moneypenny's conversation with Jeffrey; it is a proof how little Jeffrey and I met lately, that he did not tell me of this, as he is always ready to do justice to those whom party separates from him. This sort of candour and manly difference, which is far more practicable in party hostilities than is commonly imagined, would disarm them of all the ill they are attended with, and would give double efficacy to the good and utility which the public derives from parties.

Most affectionately yours,

FRA. HORNER.

LETTER CLXXI. TO J. A. MURRAY, ESQ.

My dear Murray,

Lincoln's Inn, 29th May, 1811.

In my last letter, I omitted to give you an answer, as to my intentions with respect to the publication of the speeches I made on the bullion question. All the reluctance which I felt about exposing myself in that shape to the public, has been so powerfully seconded by my indolence, that if I had any longer resolution enough to attempt it, it would not be in my power. I must be content, therefore, with such treatment as the newspaper reporters have bestowed upon me, and as I did not read these at the time, I shall know nothing of them till Cob

* Afterwards Lord Pitmilly, one of the Judges of the Court of Session. VOL. II.

7

bett's debates are published. The principal grounds upon which I rested the resolutions that I proposed to the House, are contained in the Report, and are, indeed, old and well established, not only in the political writers of this country, but in the policy itself of our laws; there is nothing new, therefore, to record. Some points in the theory of money, and in the scientific expla nation of some of its principles, are still, indeed, but ill settled; though not so as to affect materially the prac tical conclusions, belonging to our present question. I have sometimes had thoughts of writing a short essay upon these speculative parts of the subject, and mentioned it to my father, who seems to have misunderstood my intention. As for the practical question now depending, I shall confine myself to the parliamentary discussion of it. With respect to Rose's misrepresentations, it would be endless and discreditable to engage in a controversy of facts with him; he did not mention a single error of the least consequence in the statements of the Report, though I could have helped him to some, and it is ludicrous to scrutinise a paper of that sort as if it were a laboured composition.

It is very good in you to acquiesce in my arrangement for the early part of the vacation; after the 12th of October, I shall consider myself entirely at your disposal, in whatever way you like, and shall think you dispose of me very well if you summon me to Edinburgh.

Ever, my dear Murray,

Faithfully and affectionately yours,

FRA. HORNER.

LETTER CLXXII. TO THE HON. MRS. W. SPENCER.

My dear Mrs. Spencer,

Friday, May, 1811.

Here is another letter from Willy, and I have sent yours to his captain.

I am delighted with your account of Tunbridge, that is Rastal Common, which I always thought the finest part of it. In this beautiful season, and especially after the business of Brighton, it must be quite a luxury to you. Pray keep it up till I come. I find that the 3d and 4th of next month are holidays, and the 2d is a Sunday; I propose to come then, and take up my resi dence at the little hotel at Tunbridge Wells, if that time will suit you.

I am amused with your interrogatory to me about the nightingale's note. You meant to put me in a dilemma, with my politics on one side, and my gallantry on the other. Of course you consider it as a plaintive note; and you were in hopes that no idolater of Charles Fox would venture to agree with that opinion. In this difficulty, I must make the best escape I can, by saying it seems to me neither cheerful nor melancholy; but always according to the circumstances in which you hear it, the scenery, your own temper of mind, and so on. I settled it so with myself early in this month, when I heard them every night and all day long at Wells. In daylight, when all the other birds are in concert, the nightingale only strikes you as the most active, emulous, and successful of the whole band. At night, especially if it is a calm one, with light enough to give you a wide indistinct view, the solitary music of this bird takes quite another character, from all the associations of the scene, from the languor one feels at the

close of the day, and from the stillness of spirits and elevation of mind which come upon one walking out at that time. But it is not always so; different circumstances will vary in every possible way the effect. Will the nightingale's note sound alike to the man who is going on an adventure to meet his mistress, supposing he heeds it at all, and when he loiters along upon his return? The last time I heard the nightingale, it was an experiment of another sort; it was after a thunderstorm, in a wild night, while there was silent lightning opening every few minutes, first on one side of the heavens, then on the other; the careless little fellow was piping away in the midst of all this terror: there was no melancholy in his note to me, but a sort of sublimity; yet it was the same song which I had heard in the morning, and which then seemed nothing but bustle. I suspect I have been quite sentimental upon this most trite of all subjects; by the way, if you should tell me so, I will accuse you of being a little précieuse in what you say about acquaintances at Tunbridge.

Yours ever,

FRA. HORNER.

LETTER CLXXII.* TO J. A. MURRAY, ESQ.

My dear Murray,

Lincoln's Inn, 24th June, 1811.

I wish we could meet and have a gossip upon the present state of things; which is very curious, and an excellent subject for speculation and gossip. Nothing of importance has occurred for a long while, in the domestic politics; but the little circumstances which pass daily and accumulate, give one by degrees a sort of history, which would be very untruly given without reporting all; and indeed of themselves, by their accumulation and