porarily as his substitute. This was under the viceroyalty of Earl Camden. At length, however, he found it expedient to retire altogether from the arduous station; and when the Marquis of Cornwallis assumed the reins of the viceregal government, Lord Castlereagh was formally appointed to the chief secretaryship, an office which he continued to hold till 1801, when he resigned it, during the administration of the Earl of Hardwicke, in favour of the Right Hon. Charles Abbot, afterwards distinguished as the Speaker of the House of Commons, and lately elevated to the peerage by the title of Lord Colchester.

The office of chief secretary of the Irish government, before the Union, was one of great importance; and accordingly, if we look back to the list of persons who filled the situation during the present reign, we shall find in it the names of many who afterwards became eminent among the statesmen of their time. He was, in fact, the prime minister of Ireland, and stood in nearly the same degree of connexion, with respect to the viceroy, which the prime minister of England does with respect to the sovereign. Upon him devolved the management of the Irish House of Commons, a task of no small difficulty or delicacy, when it is recollected of what materials that House was commonly composed, and what principles were recognised and acted upon in its management. In addition, however, to what may be considered as the ordinary exigencies of this office, there were others of a still more formidable and trying character attached to it, at the time when its duties were assumed by Lord Castlereagh. The rebellion, which had long agitated Ireland, now began to develop itself in all its most aggravated qualities, and to rage with all the calamitous symptoms of a civil war. In this crisis of his country's fate, Lord Castlereagh exhibited a de

gree of fortitude, of presence of mind, and of discretion, which far surpassed his years. That these virtues exposed him to the hatred and reproaches of those who found in them insuperable obstacles to the success of their criminal enterprises, may easily be imagined; and the calumnies which had their origin in that disastrous period of civil strife, have since been perpetuated by the unforgiving passions of men, who fled from Ireland to save their forfeited lives. A minister who does his duty to his king and country, when both are menaced by traitors, must expect, if he survive the conflict, to incur the bitterest enmity of those whom he has baffled. Hence, Lord Castlereagh has been stigmatised by expatriated Irish rebels, who have taken up their abode in England, as the contriver and patron of cruelties during the rebellion, which require a rebel's heart to imagine, and a rebel's head to believe. The whippings, the stranglings, the half-hangings, &c. which are currently alleged to have taken place in the Castleyard, Dublin, under the sanction of the chief secretary, but which are not as currently believed, are gross exaggerations. They never did take place, to the extent, or in the manner, which has been represented. But if they had, they would not, of themselves, constitute a prima facie case of cruelty and oppression against the government of that day, or against Lord Castlereagh, whom it has been the fashion, from malignant motives, to consider as synonimous with the government. Such calamities are incident to a state of civil commotion, where neither the eye of authority, nor the power of the law can always be effectual. They form the melancholy consequence of crime which, when general, too often devolves punishment upon the innocent; for what can stop the passions and resentment of a multitude acting from public and private feel

ings? It would be impossible to devise any plan, any scheme of government, any degree of vigilance, competent to restrain or punish unauthorised excesses, when a nation is agitated and torn by internal faction and open rebellion. Before, then, the severities exercised by the Irish government [admitting the most exaggerated accounts of them to be true,] are stigmatised as sanguinary and needless, let it be satisfactorily shown that proceedings of a more lenient and conciliatory character could have been wisely and safely adopted. If this cannot be shown, and we firmly believe it cannot, we may lament the constrained rigor of insulted authority, but we cannot condemn it.

The Union was another of those measures which increased the arduous responsibilities of the office of Irish secretary, during the period when Lord Castlereagh filled it. It is obvious that in this brief Memoir of his lordship, it would be impossible for us to enter into any consideration of this great national event, or to mark the progress of those violent passions engendered by it, which the lapse of twenty years has not been sufficient to subdue. Suffice it to say, that his lordship's parliamentary conduct, during the time of its discussion in the Irish legislature, was such as held forth the strongest promise of that political eminence to which he has since attained. Coupled, however, as his name inevitably was, with the stern measures which led to the suppression of the rebellion, and with those which deprived Ireland of her Parliament, it may be supposed that he incurred no ordinary share of popular odium. Some idea of the extent to which this disfavour was carried, may be formed from the following emphatic toast, which was commonly drunk, at that period, by the United Irishmen, and the disaffected generally in their convivial meetings:

A high gallows, and a windy day, To Corney, Pitt, and Castlereagh.

By Corney, was meant the Marquis of Cornwallis, who continued Viceroy of Ireland from the year 1798 to 1801.

It may be mentioned as a striking instance of the youthful character of his lordship, while taking a leading part in these momentous transactions, that he was frequently designated by the epithet of stripling, in the Irish House of Commons, during the stormy discussions upon the Union; and Mr. Plunkett, in the course of one of his speeches, inade use of the following expressions:"I was induced to think that we bad, at the head of the executive government of this country, a plain honest soldier, unaccustomed to, and disdaining, the intrigues of politics; and who, as an additional evidence of the directness and purity of his views, had chosen for his secretary a simple and modest youth, (puer ingenui vultus, ingenuique pudoris,) whose inexperience was the voucher of his innocence; yet, am I bold to say, that during the viceroyalty of that unspotted veteran, and during the administration of that unassuming stripling, within the last six weeks, a system of black corruption had been carried on, &c."-It was in a similar way that Mr. Pitt was taunted by Sheridan, Fox, and others, with his youth, when he first assumed the office of prime minister.

When the Union was carried, and the Irish Parliament blended with that of England, Lord Castlereagh quitted his native country for the latter, animated by the ambition of signalizing his talents in the councils of the united empire. Having been returned to the Imperial Parliament, he took an active part in the debates, and gradually won upon the confidence of the House. When Mr. Pitt retired from the situation of prime minister, in 1801, a change of administration of course

took place; and Lord Castlereagh accepted, under Mr. Addington, the office of President of the Board of Control for the affairs of India, succeeding in that department, Lord Viscount Lewisham, now Earl Dartmouth. In May, 1804, Mr. Pitt returned to power, and his lordship continued to hold his appointment with much credit to himself, and great advantage to the interests of our Indian possessions. Shortly afterwards, he succeeded to the more important office (more important in reference to the period of which we are speaking,) of secretary of state for war and colonies; but when the lamented death of that great minister took place, in January, 1806, he retired, with his colleagues, to make room for the Whig ministry of Mr. Fox. He was succeeded in his of fice by the late Mr. Windham, who, on moving the thanks of the House, in December, 1806, to Sir John Stuart, for his services at the battle of Maida, took occasion to bestow some liberal compliments upon Lord Castlereagh, under whose administration the enterprize had been planned.

Lord Castlereagh did not long remain out of office. Mr. Fox died in August, 1806, only a few short months after the decease of his illustrious rival. An effort was made to supply his loss, and keep the party in their places; but all their talents could not prevail. The country soon became disgusted with their conduct; for it was now glaringly obvious that their pretensions to superior political virtue, as compared with their opponents, were mere illusion. The Catholic question at last destroyed them, more, perhaps, from the inflexible manner with which they endeavoured to force it upon their sovereign, than from its intrinsic unpopularity, though that was considerable. When the Whigs retired, after their short glimpse of power, patronage, and profit, a new ministry was formed in April, 1807,

under the auspices of the late Duke of Portland, who was nominated prime minister. Lord Castlereagh then resumed his former situation as secretary of state for war and colonies: and in which he continued till 1809, till the unfortunate misunderstanding between himself and Mr. Canning, induced him to resign. It is not our intention to enter into the complicated merits of this question; but we have no hesitation in stating it, as the result of a mature examination of the whole transaction, that Lord Castlereagh was entirely justified in the view he took of it. We do not mean to say that Mr. Canning was any party to the duplicity, which was practised upon his noble colleague; but that there was duplicity, or something very nearly approaching to it, and that, too, at the expense of Lord Castlereagh's honour and feelings, is unquestionable. There is every reason, however, to believe that Mr. Canning was himself deluded. The duel that followed, and all the circumstances attending it, are too fresh in the memory of the public to require any thing more than this brief allusion to the unpleasant

event.

Lord Castlereagh was succeeded in his office by the Earl of Liverpool, and he remained unattached to his Majesty's government till the year 1812, when, upon the assassination of Mr. Percival, another ministerial change took place and Lord Castlereagh accepted the seals of the Foreign Office, which he has ever since continued to hold.

The distinguished character which he sustained, as a negotiator, at Chatillon, at Paris, and at Vienna, after the abdication of Bonaparte, has placed his name higher in the scroll of diplomatic fame than ever was attained before by any British minister. When his lordship returned from Paris, in June, 1814, and laid upon the table of the House of Cominons, the treaty of peace

between France and the Allies, he was received, upon his entrance into the House, with loud acclamations from all sides. Even the sullen spirit of Whiggism relaxed, and lost something of its arrogant selfishness, while it acknowledged the extraordinary abilities displayed by the noble lord as a negotiator. The sagacity, the firmness, and the profound policy which he evinced, subsequently, at the first Congress of Vienna, (whose sittings were interrupted by the escape of Bonaparte from Elbe,) impressed upon the continental sovereigns and their ministers a high notion of his character.

As an orator, Lord Castlereagh is not greatly distinguished. His style is difficult, and his language not always correct. But the acute and comprehensive views which he takes of almost every subject, amply compensate for the absence of any embellishments in his mode of discussing them. He is always listened to with great attention, and whatever differences of opinion may subsist between him and his opponents, the mild and conciliatory tone which he invariably adopts-his polished manners-and insinuating courtesy-neutralise all asperity of feeling. It very rarely happens that he is animated into any thing like fervour, though we have occasionally seen him thus excited. The effect was not unpleasing. On the contrary, it rather inspired a wish in the observers, that he could oftener devest himself of a coldness, bordering upon apathy, which must weaken his influence over a popular assen.bly.

It only remains to mention, that his lordship married, in the year 1794, Amelia Hobart, youngest daughter and co-heiress of John, second Earl of Buckinghamshire.

Account of an Improvisatore; in a letter from an English traveller at Rome.

'A NEW improvisatore has made his appearance at Rome. We had heard much of his prodigious talents, and went to see him yesterday. When the company had assembled, subjects were requested and given by a variety of persons, some of whom were known to us, and who could not have an understanding with the improvisatore. All those subjects were thrown into a box, which was sent round to ladies principally; and those who chose (they happened to be foreigners) drew the subjects, four in number, on which the improvisatore was to exert his talents that night. He then (Tommaso Scriggi) entered the room,for these preparative arrangements had been made in his absence,—and I own I was strongly prepossessed against him at first. He is a well made little inan, about 25 years old, with the shuffling gait and mincing step of a woman in man's clothes, with nice yellow morocco shoes, and white pantaloons and waistcoat; a lily white hand, with diamonds that put out your eyes; an embroidered shirt collar, like lace falling over his shoulders; no neckcloth, a bare neck, with a handsome expessive face, shaded with abundance of black hair and luxuriant whiskers. He took the subjects and read them over; they were, The dispute about the armour of Achilles," ""The creation of the world," and "Sophonisba." He paused and then began, without recitavio, singing, or musical accompaniment of any sort, and went on without hesitation or seeming effort, only occasionally repeating the same verse twice over. The two first subjects took him an hour and an half, with very little pause between. I lost too much to give any opinion on what he said, the manner, indeed, took up, at first, so much of iny attention, as to make me lose more of the sense than I should otherwise have done;--that manner was admirably good, voice, action, and expression of counte