fignificance, or the negligence of government, had firft been planted; a fpirit which they had continued to cherifh with the enthu siasm of fectaries, and with all that prejudice which attaches to a gift tranfmitted from our ancestors.'

Our author pointedly condemns the fatal policy which led the British government into the war with America; and he, thus fpiritedly depicts the leading characters of the adminiftration which conducted this unhappy conteft:

The reins of government were fill oftenfibly guided by the feeble hand of lord North, a man not deftitute of ability, but of that negative character which was incapable of any great or virtuous exertion. By the humble track of progreffion and feniority, he had paffed through the inferior departments of office, and, on the feceflion of the duke of Grafton, had found himfelf, as if by chance, in the fituation of minifter. The ductility of difpofition which had first marked him out as the paffive inftrument of an invifible faction, continued him in office. Under him the difpute with America had commenced, though he had more than once profeffed that the war was not his, and that it had been engaged in contrary to his wishes or advice. Thofe who were not converfant with the man, and who did not know the maxims by which he governed himfelf, will fcarcely believe that fuch meannefs and inconfiftency could exift in any perfon, even of moderate abilities. But lord North was educated from infancy in the fchool of corruption. Naturally of an eafy and pliant teniper, that difpofition was increafed by the maxims he had imbibed. With him the minifters were not the fervants of the ftate, but of the crown, whofe orders they had only to execute. The general good was not to be confidered, and the means by which the mandates of the executive power were to be accomplished, were juftified by the end. Thus, had he been poffeffed of a great underftanding, and capable of extenfive views, his principles must have militated against them: but he was not. He was rather a man of wit, than of confummate ability; ready and adroit, rather than wife and fagacious. He feldom looked beyond the moment; and confidered the faculty of parrying with dexterity the ftrokes which were aimed at him in the house of commons, as the firft qualification of a minister. Under him corruption and venality are fald to have been carried to a greater excess than under any former minifter; and what in the hands of Walpole was a cafual expedient for the promotion of a particular meafure, under his adminiftration was reduced to a regular fyftem of pension and contract.

In delineating the principles of lord North, thofe of the Ametican fecretary have been almoft depicted. They were both educated in the fame fchool, and the fame depraved notions of government were profelled by both. Lord George Germaine was not a C. R. N. ARR. (XI.) July, 1794

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man of great talents: he had lefs wit than lord North, but perhaps more judgement, and certainly more industry. His panegyrift has faid of him, that he appeared to be born to contend with misfortune, fince, from his firft political outfet at the battle of Minden, fcarcely any one project in which he engaged, was known to profper. This, however, is at beft but a poor extenuation; fince, though profperity does not neceffarily attach to wisdom or merit, and though all men are liable to the cafual affaults of ill fortune and adverfity, where a general failure in every undertaking is known to attend the whole progrefs of a life, there is room to fufpect at leaft a defect in the head or in the heart.

Of the noble lord who prefided over the naval department, the beft panegyric would be total filence. Future hiftorians will do juftice to his moral character; nor can they want materials, while fo many facts remain upon record for its illuftration, and while the annals of the Old Bailey ferve to convey to pofterity the affecting narrative of Hackman and Mifs Ray. In fo barren a wilderness, it would be happy if the profpect was enlivened by the appearance of one folitary virtue; but he was as deftitute of feeling as of principle. Amidst the copious crop of vices which overshadowed his whole character, not even that of cowardice was wanting, to move our contempt as well as our deteftation; and ftrange it is, that though his fentiments with respect to all religion, natural and revealed, are well known, yet fo timid was his nature, that, contrary to all his convictions, he could fcarcely bear to be left alone. With fuch a general character, we cannot wonder if in political life he was the decided enemy of his country, and the devoted inftrument of a corrupt cabinet. His name, indeed, was never mentioned without exciting fentiments of contempt; and the mock appellation of Jemmy Twitcher, which was applied to him from the well-known drama of the Beggars Opera, was intended to convey a cenfure on his political life, of the most degrading kind. If nature had endowed him with talents, the course of diffipation in which he was engaged, must have difqualified him for the exercise of them; but, from our perfonal knowledge, we can ftate that he had them not. He poffeffed an active, but not a strong mind. Practised in the intrigues of courts, and in the debates of parliament, he could speak and reply with fome facility; but his ideas never took an extensive range: the details of office, and the petty maxims of court management and intrigue, generally furnished the great outline of his cloquence.

In the preceding winter, in confequence of the desertion of earl Cower, who had been prefident of the council, administration had received fome acceffion of ability by the promotion of Mr. Thur, low, from the oflice of attorney-general, to that of lord chancellor, in the room of earl Bathurst, who was removed to the fituation which earl Gower had juft relinquished. While the general opinion

attributes the poffeffion of talents to lord Thurlow, the interefts of truth demand that the propofition should be received with confiderable qualification. The fingle circumftance of rifing from a mean and obfcure origin, to a fplendid fituation, is apt to imprefs the multitude with the opinion, that the most brilliant abilities, and the moft diftinguished qualities, are effential to fuch a progrefs: but, in the routine of courts, elevation is more frequently the confequence of fortuitous events, or of fortunate connexions, of fervile habits, and a pliant confcience, than of merit and ability.

If we examine the parliamentary efforts of lord Thurlow, we shall find in them little that indicates the man of genius, or the poffeffor of an enlarged and enlightened understanding. In them, no abstract sentiment, no pointed reflexion, no witticism, no metaphor distinguished for ingenuity, is to be found. Of the deficiency of his education, and the meanness of his early habits and connexions, the vulgarity of his language and the triteness of his fentiments are fufficient indications. Incapable of elevating his mind to any great or novel conception, he has ever been the avowed advocate of every vulgar prejudice, of every ancient corruption. Unacquainted with all other science, he has even been charged with inattention to fome of those branches immediately connected with his own profession; and his early habits having been formed in the obfcure and mechanical drudgery of a mean occupation, a coarsenefs of manners has accompanied him through life. Confcious, perhaps, that the diftinguishing feature in his character is fervility, and that to this quality he was chiefly indebted for his advancement, he was defirous of concealing that fubmiffion which he practifed towards his fuperiors, by the exercise of infolence and arrogance to all whom fortune had placed in a fubordinate ftation. Like all uneducated perfons, he could fometimes join, even to excefs, in the praise of bim, whom the public voice had extolled; but he was incapable of diftinguishing for himself. In the diftribution of preferments, he has made a few facrifices to popularity; but in thefe his ignorance has betrayed him into error. He has mistaken pompofity for learning, confidence for genius, and fophiftry for argument.

As a public fpeaker, he has been chiefly diftinguished by three qualities invincible affurance, inflexible obftinacy, and a talent for quibble. Yet these were valuable acceffions to this miferable administration; and, as almost the whole of their arrangements confifted in a series of little artifices to keep up the delufion of the people, and in the diftribution of the rewards of corruption, perhaps fuch were the only talents which could then lend them effectual afliftance.

''The other members of administration were the mere drudges of office, or the meek pageants of aristocracy, whofe weakness and inactivity equally exempted them from refponfibility and cepfire.'

The events of the American war are clearly and luminously

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detailed.

detailed. The following are the author's fentiments on the famous armed neutrality:

It is a remarkable fact, and yet none remains fo completely uncontradicted by the evidence of history, that the British nation never. yet was known to extend any peculiar favour to the defpots of the continent, without having occafion presently to deplore and repent of their folly. Have we expended our treasure, loaded our people with taxes, deftroyed our commerce and manufactures on any occafion, to recover or to win a tract of territory for these ungrateful tyrants-and what has uniformly been our reward?-A declaration. of war, as foon as it fuited their purpose to form a new alliance; or the undermining of our political interefts, by the most infidious intrigues. From the two powers which had been moft particularly favoured by this country, originated, in the course of this year, the moft injurious fyftem of treachery that ever was planned in the cabinets of princes-from Pruffia, whofe territories had been twice refcued from the rapacious houfe of Auftria, by the interpofition of Britain; and from Ruflia, whose whole naval power, and much of whofe political confequence, was entirely produced by our injudicious partiality. It will be eafily perceived that we allude to the celebrated armed neutrality, which in the early part of this year was publicly propofed by the emprefs of Ruffia, and acceded to by almoft all the different courts of Europe; a measure intended to ruin, for ever, the trade of England, by diverting it into other channels; to annihilate all the boatted privileges of the British flag; and which was only wanting, to complete the humiliation of the country under the difgraceful adminiftration of North and Sandwich.

The bafis of the Ruffian manifefto, on which the armed neutrality was founded, was the propofition, "that free bottoms make free goods." In confequence of this, the emprefs claimed for all the neutrel powers, a full right to fupply the powers at war with every neceflary commodity, and even with military ftores; the principle was even carried fo far as to affert, thar the neutral bottom has a right to convey, even coaftwife, and to render free every fpecies of goods and merchandize from one part of a belligerent flate to another; and the manifefto invited the neutral states of Europe to form a combination, and to eftablish a powerful maritime force to compel obedience to the principles and objects of the league.

Upon enlarged and liberal principles of general policy, the propofition that neutral nations have a right to convey commodities, without impediment, from one belligerent, ftate to another, ought certainly to be admitted; and thote nations which are weak, or unfortunate enough to involve themfelves in war, ought to abide by the confequences. But the ftarting of fuch a principle at the prefent crifis, and in contradiction to all former practice, could only

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be confidered as an infidious attempt to take advantage of the ruinous state to which unwife counfels had reduced Great Britain; to deprive her of the only chance of fuccefs which remained to her, that of diftreffing her enemies by her naval fuperiority; and in the end, to annihilate her commerce, by diverting its courfe into foreign channels.

The following is a short and spirited abstract of our present minifter's fecond parliamentary effort:

On this latter occafion Mr. William Pitt again diftinguished himfelf. He expatiated on the cruelty and wickedness of the Ame rican war. It was, he faid, conceived in injuftice, nurtured in fally; its footsteps were marked with blood and devaftation. Every thing that conftituted moral depravity and human turpitude were to be found in it. It was pregnant with mischief of every kind. While it meditated the deftruction of the unhappy people who were the objects of that black refentment which produced it; the mifchief recoiled upon the unhappy and deluded people of this country, who were made the inftruments to effect the wicked purposes of its authors. The nation was drained of its vital refources of men and money. The expence was enormous, while our victories were indecifive, and our defeats were fatal: victories celebrated only with temporary triumph over our brethren, ftruggling in the holy caufe of liberty; and defeats which filled the land with mourning for the best blood of the nation, fhed in the impious caufe.

Mr. Burke, who at the period in queftion, 1782, was an active opponent of government, expofcd fome very fingular impofitions on the public:

The motion was not iefs ably fupported by Mr. Burke. He said, that it was blafphemy to afcribe to Providence the blunders of a weak and wicked adminiftration; whom he very fuccefsfully charged, not only with folly and incapacity, but with the moft corrupt and criminal profufion of the public money. The support of the finall garrifon in Gibraltar, coft the public the annual fum of 600,000l. a fum equal to the whole revenue of the king of sardinia. For the fingle legion of colonel Tarleton, which could not be numerous, Mellrs. Muir and Atkinson had fent out oats for one year's confumption, to the amount of 80,000l. though these refpectable contractors did not pay above 36,000l. prime coft, for an article on which they made this enormous charge. All the charges were in proportion: for the mere provifions for only 40,000 men were charged to the public, at the incredible fum of 1,200,000l. Among her items in one year's expences, he found the charge of 57,000l. for presents to the Indians. He was of opinion that these favages fet rither too high a value on their labours, fince it appeared, that for this immenfe fum they had only massacred twenty-five women and T 3 children.