"Friends of the state! whom noble zeal inspires, "Whose patriot deeds the groaning land admires ! "Heirs of immortal fame; illustrious throng! "Th' historian's wonder, and the poet's song! "Vain are your efforts Eldon to outwit, 1 "Since time, I fear, will prove the biter bit. "Power, since the world from chaos sprung to light, "Has held a sovereign influence over right; "And though our views and practices are pure, "Virtue alone will not the palm secure ; "Never by honest means was gain'd a throne, Nor contest won by principle alone! 383 383 Never by honest means, &c.-This orator, from his method of reasoning, seems to know the value of every thing more than virtue; and, conscious that he himself never came honestly by power, endeavours to throw a slur upon every other person. If Mr. Windham had spoken in praise of virtue and honesty it would indeed have been wonderful; but he was upon his guard, and acted with greater consistency. We be lieve we may venture to defy even his political oponents to prove that he ever opposed a measure on the weak principle that it was immoral; and at the same time, we throw down the gauntlet to his friends to produce an instance of his ever having supported a virtuous measure. So far his conduct deserves credit for consistency, however it may be deficient in every other good quality. 1 "A weighty bribe, when opportunely giv3n, Expels despair, and paves the road to Heaven, "In mortal balance, moral beauties fail, f "While gold's resistless power inclines the scale. "Gods! grant me place again before I die!' 395 395 Gods! grant me place, &c.-An imperfect idea of Mr. Windham's love for place may be gathered from the following anecdote. Being one evening engaged with a select party of friends, the conversation turned upon happiness; when a certain noble lady, long distinguished in the haut ton for her beauty and accomplishments, after giving her opinion as to what was necessary to constitute this enjoyment, enquired what he considered would be most efficacious in possessing him of this blessing-adding, "suppose you were to have three wishes, "what should the first be?"-" A seat in the privy council !" "The second ?"—" The Premiership!'«The third ?”—“ A "good fat reversionary grant of some 7 or 8000l. per Annum !!!” We must admire the honourable wisher's taste, whatever we may be inclined to think of his modesty, after this statement. "Lose not a day-press in our hopeful cause All who contemn, and all who fear the laws; 397 But this anecdote will illustrate not only his character, but the dispositions of all his associates; and it may be not in any way exceeding the truth to avow, that such blessings, and such only, are what the opposition keep in view, and direct their rapacity to the obtainment of, from session to session, and dissolution to dissolution. 397 All who contemn, and all who fear the laws.—This plan has been unremittingly acted upon, and all the scum and refuse of the human race have been taken into employ for the more effectual accomplishment of this end-thieves, swindlers, pickpockets, blackguards, hired scribblers, and public marauders, are dignified with the appointment of the champions of public liberty; and where they fail to convince by argument, they are seldom backward to support their wretched cause by means which require more of physical than mental strength. These knights of the opposition-these doughty defenders of a desperate cause are not limited to number, nor are they confined to place: they are to be found in all pot-houses, taverns, inns, and coffee-rooms, ingratiating themselves by every method in their power into the confidence of the unsuspicious; and the moment they can commence their attack with any prospect of success, they open, like unkenneled hounds, with a string of lies, absurdities, misrepresentations, sophisms, &c. in which they have been previously instructed; and, by means of such auxiliaries, seldom fail to promote the cause in which they are "A desperate gang, a mischief loving crew, "Alone to vilest arts and knavery true; and Til "So while we combat in the senate walls, "They may bestir where other duty calls; For be it known, hard is the way to place, "For those, like us, who wallow in disgrace "These are the wily councils of my brain; "Of thought the produce, and the fruit of pain. "Some credence give, for I am grown a sage, "What with my long experience and my age; 410 engaged. Sometimes, indeed, it occurs rather unfortunately for them, that a person of somewhat keener intellect than usual, will enter into a kind of cross-examination, and this never fails to expose them to contempt, and detect their motives. Whenever, therefore, they perceive an individual su veying them with unusual stedfastness, the dread of what may follow operates so forcibly upon them, that they hesitate not a moment in either changing the conversation, or making a precipitate retreat. 410. Some credence give, for I am grown a sage.-Mr. Wind 1 "And as I glance upon our conflicts pasty. "So long, so loud, so arduous to the last, "I grieve, I sigh, that talents such as ours,1. 7. "Such wit, such fire, such courage, and such powers, ` "Still, still, are doom'd in sad defeat to share, "And waste like wand'ring vapours in the air! 67 "But let us strive anew, the prize is great, Febrow T "And black the sad alternative of fate;ber 97i540. "Conquering we gain the summit of our joys, "While listless indolence each hope destroys; Victory would bless, and if the fates should lower, "We still remain exalted as before. -ib to 423 ham may probably find it difficult to persuade many people of the truth of his observation, although the character of the man is an Kiw quot such, that if once he felt a conviction of his sagacity, we believe it would require more than mortal power to impress him with a belief that he could possibly be mistaken. “Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a thing ! As self-neglecting," says our immortal Shakespeare; and if self-love, self-conceit, self-importanee, and all the other bad qualities with which self may be conjoined, can render a man immortal, this man's name will live beyond those of Shakespeare, Milton, or any other genius, the produce of mortality. 423 We still remain exalted as before,This certainly appears |