gradual effect, work a change in the position and arrangement of political persons. Nothing can be more whimsical than the present posture of what are still called parties; and the anxious, uncertain state of many of the politicians, of all descriptions. I expect, that the prorogation of parliament will be the signal for a more active course of intrigues at Carlton House; which, in a certain way, have been going on a long while.

I believe the Regent to be completely in the hands of Earl Yarmouth and the Duke of Cumberland; two of the worst men, in point of principle, public and private, that are to be found in this or any other country. The Lord Chancellor is intriguing under the wings of the Duke of Cumberland; working out his separate salvation, and betraying Percival (so far) just as he betrayed the Doctor in 1804. The Regent courts Lord Grey, on the one hand, and Sir Francis Burdett on the other; and has adopted all the unjust and mean prejudices of the higher aristocrats and Windsor against Lord Grenville; to whom, if the whigs do not repay (as I trust and believe they will) the same fidelity which he has observed since their coalition, there will be an end of all honour in politics. Cobbett's silence about the Duke of York, which finally settles his character in point of honesty, is said to turn upon some expectations which have been held out to him of a remission of his sentence; he is said to have been talked to by Denis O'Brien, who is the friend of Bate Dudley, who is the friend of Sheridan, who is the friend of the Prince Regent. Cobbett said he would not pledge himself, but has been silent on the subject. Do not be surprised, therefore, if Cobbett lies on in gaol; and in the end betrays the whole communication, and reviles the Duke of York and the House of

*Lord Sidmouth.

Commons.

I think it would have been a fair measure for popularity, to have given an amnesty to all the state libellers, with whom the King's Bench has crowded the prisons; but such negotiations with individuals, and making terms on the part of the sovereign with those whom the law has convicted, are not merely a great impropriety, but must give those unprincipled and ferocious persons such a hold over a nervous mob-led mind, like the Regent's, as will prove embarrassing to him in the extreme.

One may judge of a favourite's character by very slight circumstances. From what I saw of Earl Yarmouth, and heard fall from him at the fête the other night, my conclusion was, that he has no command or possession of himself, but must speedily render himself odious. I find this impression very general. The arrogance and assuming vanity, and rudeness of his manners, were very offensive. We shall have sport with him one of these days, unless the Prince takes fright himself, before we have an explosion.

Parliament will be prorogued next week, as soon as the quarterly report is made by the Queen's Council, which is to sit on Tuesday the 2d.

Ever, my dear Murray,
Affectionately yours,

FRA. HORNER.

LETTER CLXXIII. TO LORD GRENVILLE.

My Lord,

Lincoln's Inn, 28th June, 1811.

I happened to be waiting at the bar of the House of Lords yesterday, when Lord Stanhope presented a Bill, for maintaining and enforcing the value of Bank of England paper; and I cannot resist the wish I feel to

call your Lordship's attention to the great importance of what passed upon that occasion. The manner in which the extraordinary proposal of Lord Stanhope was received by Lord Liverpool and the Chancellor, and the opinions which the former intimated upon the subject of legal tender, convince me, that the ministers have had the question of making Bank notes a legal tender under their consideration, and that they are prepared to take the first opportunity of effecting that momentous change in the system of our commercial and financial economy. I have been confirmed in the same conviction, by an expression which the deputy-governor of the Bank used to me, just before the debate took place, in talking of Lord King's notice to his tenants, that he hoped Government would not be compelled to make their notes a legal tender. The directors affect to deprecate such an alteration of the law; but they look to it as their ultimate protection, against the necessity, to which the general adoption of Lord King's notice by landlords, and of such actions against country bankers as have been brought lately in the West of England, would compel the Bank of limiting its issues in order to remove the depreciation of its notes. It appeared to me yesterday, that the discussion brought on by Lord Stanhope gave the ministers an opportunity, not merely of feeling the pulse of the House upon this question, but of making an impression favourable to such an expedient, when they shall hereafter bring it forward; and I cannot but think it will be a great misfortune to the public, if the session of parliament closes with such an impression as will be left both in the House of Lords and upon the public mind, by such opinions, stated and not exposed, nor protested against, by those who have most weight and authority. The several successive steps, which have

been observed in every country that allowed its currency to fall into a state of depreciation, are coming upon us faster than was to have been expected in this country; and as there will be no recovery after Bank notes are made a legal tender, the discussions which precede such a measure are evidently of the last importance.

I take it for granted, that Lord King will attend on Monday: the turn which was given to the debate yesterday renders that indispensable. If your Lordship can make it convenient to yourself, to take a part in the discussion, I am persuaded that the expression of your sentiments will be of most essential benefit to the public interests in this great question, and, I would even flatter myself, might deter the ministers from following so fast that course of measures, into which their own infatuation and the ignorance of their commercial advisers seem driving them. I have the honour to be Your Lordship's most faithful and obliged FRA. HORNER.

The session of parliament terminated on the 11th of July. After his concluding speech on the bullion question, on the 15th of May, Mr. Horner is not reported as having taken a part in any other subject before the House; and in the early part of the session, after his speech on the Regency, there are only short notices of his having spoken, on five questions, and all of them of minor importance.

LETTER CLXXIV. TO HIS BROTHER, AT MINEHEAD.

My dear Leonard,

Torquay, 30th August, 1811.

I received the enclosed letter this morning. There has been some impatience expressed in this house to hear from Minehead.

I am engaged at present in reading your paper,* which I have not sufficient knowledge of external characters to get on with very rapidly. But I am very much delighted with the manner of it: the simplicity, plainness, and neatness of your style and arrangement are in perfectly good taste, and quite suited to your subject. I was glad, also, to see that you had preserved a candid and philosophical neutrality between contending systems; a circumstance which enhances much the value of your observations. Do not let this, however, prevent you from studying all the systems, and knowing the strong and weak parts of each; for, after all, a theory, but a true one, is the only legitimate aim of all particular observations and studies of nature, which end in nothing unless they serve to establish general conclusions: a remark, indeed, which is implied in what you have very justly and well expressed at the close of your memoir. I cannot tell you, my dear Leo, how much I am gratified, and how much my vanity and self-importance are raised by this success of yours, which is so honourable to yourself, and which lends not a little credit to all who belong to you.

I forgot, in my last note, to say what success I had upon the last circuit; it amounted to little or nothing. I have not lost ground, however, but rather gained. In my own county, I had more than at any former assizes;

* On the Mineralogy of the Malvern Hills.