the first expedition, liberty of conscience, have withdrawn themselves from their jurisdiction, and obtained other charters from the king, by which, in other forms of government, they have enlarged their plantation within new limits adjacent to the other.

He was no sooner returned into England than he seemed to be much reformed from his extravagancies, and, with his father's approbation and direction, married a lady of good family; and by his father's credit with the earl of Northumberland, who was high admiral of England, was joined presently and jointly with Sir William Russel in the office of treasurer of the navy (a place of great trust and profit), which he equally shared with the other, and seemed a man well satisfied and composed to the government. When his father received the disobligation from the Lord Strafford, by his being created baron of Raby, the house and land of Vane (which title he had promised himself, but it was unluckily cast upon the earl, purely out of contempt of Vane), they sucked in all the thoughts of revenge imaginable; and from thence the son betook himself to the friendship of Mr. Pym, and all the other discontented or seditious persons, and contributed all that intelligence (which will hereafter be mentioned, as he himself will often be) that designed the ruin of the earl, and which grafted him in the entire confidence of those who promoted the same; so that nothing was concealed from him, though it is believed that he communicated his own thoughts to very few.

*

He was indeed a man of extraordinary parts, a pleasant wit, a great understanding, which pierced into and discerned the purposes of other men with wonderful sagacity, whilst he had himvultum clausum, that no man could make a guess of what he intended. He was of a temper not to be moved, and of rare dissimulation, and could comply when it was not seasonable to contradict, without losing ground by the condescension; and if he were not superior to Mr. Hambden, he was inferior to no other man in all mysterious artifices. There need no more be said of his ability, than that he was chosen to cozen and deceive a whole nation, which was thought to excel in craft and cunning; which he did with notable pregnancy and dexterity, and prevailed with a people, that could not otherwise be prevailed upon than by advancing that idol Presbytery, to sacrifice their peace, their interest, and their faith, to the erecting a power and authority that resolved to persecute Presbytery to an extirpation; and, in process of time, very near brought their purpose to a pass.

CLARENDON.

THE DUKE OF ARGYLE.

THE duke of Argyle was a man of very considerable parts and wit, though by no means so great as appeared from a most happy and imposing mode of speaking in public, where a certain dignity and vivacity, joined to a most captivating air of openness and sincerity, generally gave his

arguments a weight, which, in themselves, they frequently wanted; and many would go away charmed with his speeches, and yet be extremely at a loss afterwards to discover that strength of reasoning which they imagined at the hearing to have influenced them so highly in his favour. To style him inconsistent is by much too gentle an appellation; for, though from the time he first had a regiment, being under twenty years of age, through the whole course of his great employments, he was never known to sell a place, or even to make those advantages which were universally esteemed allowable and blameless; yet he was in his own person a most shameless prostitute to power, and extremely avaricious: he indeed would sell nothing but himself, which he continually did, with every circumstance of levity, weakness, and even treachery.

GLOVER.

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE.

He was an honourable man, and a sound Whig. He was not, as the Jacobites and discontented Whigs of his time have represented him, and as ill informed people still represent him, a prodigal and corrupt minister. They charged him in their libels and seditious conversations as having first reduced corruption to a system: such was their cant. But he was far from governing by corruption: he governed by party attachments. The charge of systematic corruption is less applicable to him, perhaps, than to any minister

who ever served the crown for so great a length of time. He gained over very few from the opposition. Without being a genius of the first class, he was an intelligent, prudent, and safe minister. He loved peace; and he helped to communicate the same disposition to nations at least as warlike and restless as that in which he had the chief direction of affairs. Though he served a master who was fond of martial fame, he kept all the establishments very low. The land tax continued at two shillings in the pound for the greater part of his administration. The other impositions were moderate. The profound repose, the equal liberty, the firm protection of just laws during the long period of his power, were the principal causes of that prosperity which afterwards took such rapid strides towards perfection; and which furnished to this nation ability to acquire the military glory which it has since obtained, as well as to bear the burdens, the cause and consequence of that warlike reputation. With many virtues, public and private, he had his faults; but his faults were superficial. A careless, coarse, and over familiar style of discourse, without sufficient regard to persons or occasions, and an almost total want of political decorum, were the errors by which he was most hurt in the public opinion; and those through which his enemies obtained the greatest advantage over him. But justice must be done.

The

prudence, steadiness, and vigilance of that man, joined to the greatest possible lenity in his character and his politics, preserved the crown to

VOL. II.

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this royal family; and with it, their laws and liberties to this country.

When I was young a general fashion told me I was to admire some of the writings against that minister; a little more maturity taught me as much to despise them. I observed one fault in his general proceeding. He never manfully put forward the entire strength of his cause. He temporised, he managed; and adopting very nearly the sentiments of his adversaries, he opposed their inferences. This, for a political commander, is the choice of a weak post. His adversaries had the better of the argument, as he handled it, not as the reason and justness of his cause enabled him to manage it.

BURKE.

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE, THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND, LORD GRANVILLE, LORD MANSFIELD, AND MR. PITT, COMPARED.

LORD GRANVILLE was most a genius of the five : he conceived, knew, expressed, whatever he pleased. The state of Europe and the state of literature were equally familiar to him. His eloquence was rapid, and flowed from a source of wit, grandeur, and knowledge. So far from premeditating, he allowed no reflection to chasten it. It was entertaining, it was sublime, it was hyperbole, it was ridiculous, according as the profusion of ideas crowded from him. He embraced systems like a legislator, but was capable of none of the details of a magistrate. Sir Robert