focus. On the prefent occafion, almost every sen. tence was a stinging epigram, and like a Parthian, he inflicted the feverelt wounds while he retired. In Fox all the parts were separately excellent, though ungraced by formal connection. In Pitt the happy connection gave artificial excellence to the parts. Fox charmed by a cauftic brevity; Pitt by a finished roundity. "Denfior ille, hic copiofior: illi nihil adjici potuit, buic nihil detrahi.” Their exertions continued equally brilliant and characteristic, during the further progrefs of the Regency bill, which was rejected in the upper houfe, on the king's recovery. In this affair, the adherents of Fox applauded his reverence for the monarchical principles of the conftitution; and thofe of Pitt his refpect for the fupremacy of parliament. It was, however, triumphantly obferved by thofe who difbelieve the exiflence of political integrity, that the perfonal intereft of each was on the fide which he embraced: and it may be prefumed, without any harsh impeachment of their fincerity, that they, like other men, were partly influenced by this coincidence. Quod volumus, fays Tacitus, facile credimus.

Fox, on the other hand, was no lefs diftinguifh ed for the masterly skill, with which he repaired by eloquence the fault of indifcretion; and for appearing with as much splendour, in managing a retreat from aukward and impracticable ground, as his rival in conducting an attack under every propitious circumftance. By rifing late, he gave himself credit for having wished to decline a contest, which his previous explanation had rendered unneceffary, and of being forced up only by the wretched and provoking fophiftry of his opponent. Adopting a loofenefs of method, which feemed excufeable, when thus ftarting under an involuntary impulfe into the debate, he began, not with the first, nor the laft, but with the weakeft and moft questionable of the oppofite politions, expofing its abfurdity, ftating it in a variety of ridiculous fhapes, challenging a vote upon it under thefe corrected statements, and artfully paffing, with flighter notice, or with a happy sarcasm, all that was more invulnerable. With a repetition of his departure from the claim of right, he had the addrefs to blend the beft arguments for its truth; and to difcufs every part of the subject, in an argument against the propriety of the difcuffion. Confounding, with imperceptible fubtlety, the queftion of fuperior pretenfion with that of abfolute right, and giving the mind, by his vehemence, no time to make the diftinction, he hurried it on to a belief that Pitt had' mistaken the nature of the conftitution, and had uttered fentiments the moft indecent, and offenfive, if not actually feditious. -We felt our ideas, as if under the influence of forcery, become dim and confufed, by a change in the position of their objects, and by the intervention of new ones, feemingly as substantial as thofe which they eclipfed. We were confcious, for the moment, of two coexiftent, yet contradictory, impreffions; a conviction of Pitt's doctrine, and aftonishment that it could have been produced, by arguments fo falfe, fo abfurd, and fo deteftable. Deception, we knew, muft fomewhere have exifted, but we were unable to detect it, while undulating on the line between two parallel but contrary currents. In their fatire, Pitt kept at a dignified diftance from his adverfary, feldom applying harsh or contemptuous epithets to his reafonings, but contenting himfelf with fhewing what they deferved by their refutation; and contriving, with a proud forbearance from perfonal feverity, not as unworthy of his opponents, but of himself, to involve in general remarks, the most galling cenfure of their principles. Fox, on the contrary, grappled clofely and familiarly with his foe; frequently introducing with objurgatory epithets the argument by which they were to be juftified For this he was peculiarly qualified, by his concife and pointed ftyle; of which the poignancy delighted the violent, in every rank, as much as the graver and more folemn reprehenfions of Pitt were applauded by the lofty. Better ftored than his rival with general knowledge, and practifed in the compreffion of bis thoughts into verfe, Fox was richer in allufion,' wider in his range of analogy, and more able to give power to his farcafms, by drawing them to a

In 1791 the powerful remonftrances of Fox prevented a war with Ruffia, to which the minifter was difpofed, for the purpose of checking the aggrandizement of that extenfive empire: and by preferving Turkey ftill formidable on her fouthern frontier, to counteract any defign, the might afterwards entertain, of making new aggreffions towards the weft. The danger of Poland was, we believe, not specified in the difcuffion, because that kingdom had not been particularly threatened; but we know, on the beft authority, confirmed by the diftinét declaration ef Mr Dundas on the 13th December 1792†, that it was what chiefly influenced the minifter in propofing an armed interference. From this affair we may learn the fhortnefs of political forelight. Mr Fox, by preventing the embarraffment of Ruffia, pro. moted the fical partition of Poland, an event. which took place almoft immediately after, and which he never ceafed to deplore: and, if Pitt had been indulged in his project, he would have weakened, with a view to maintain the balance of Europe, that power which with the fame view, it foon became his object to ftrengthen to the utmost.

Although thefe illuftrious men feemed generally Inclined to difagree, yet they cordially united, in fupporting the motions for abolishing the flave trade, which began about this time to be annually` made. That they were equally fincere in this hu mane defign we have little doubt, but to Mr Fox was afcribed by his friends the praife of fuperior zeal, in which they appear to be juftified, by his actually accomplishing the object, as foon as he could aid his exertions as an orator, by his influence as a minister.

The French revolution had now taken place, and Mr Fox, on the 9th of February 1790, pronounced its unqualified panegyric, in which he appeared to many precipitate and premature. The reins of government in France were, at that time, flackened if not deftroyed; and it was yet to be feen whether the people, when left t› their

own

Fox to have been wholly unconscious, proceeded from any unworthy motive, or that he ever uttered, what he did not, at the moment, think. The eagernefs of his party attachments and averfrons, operating on his fenfibility and imagination, fometimes impeded his comprehenfive and philo. lofophical mind. It made him fee things, as be wifhed to fee them, in order that he might draw from them topics of accufation. It made him fee the French," as they ought to be, not as they were;" and work himfelf into a perfuafion, that their national ambition had been created by the perfonal ambition of the houfe of Bourbon. We have, therefore, no doubt, that when he dwelt on their difpofition to a fair and equitable accommodation, he believed that disposition to exist; and that he was feverely difappointed, in the last hours of his life. to difcover the infincerity and infidiousness of their pacific profeffions; the impoffibility, which he had fo often ridiculed, of maintaining with them relations of mutual amity: and the neceffity of continuing that bellum ad internecionem, that war without an object, which he had fo loudly execrated, but which, when stript of its terrific name, amounts to nothing more, than perfevering in defenfive, as long as the foe perfeveres in aggreffive hoftilities. Difgufted at length with a tirefome and unavailing oppofition, Mr Fox, in 1797, took the refolution of difcontinuing his attendance; a ftep which, notwithstanding the reasons he affigned for it, we cannot help thinking extremely cenfurable. It would be foolish in the leader of a minority to fuppofe that his counfels should be adopted; but if he wishes, in that character, to recommend himself to public favour, he must be ready to offer his confcientious advice, though it should not be accepted, and remain in his place, to watch, correct, and modify the minifterial fyftem; nor can meafures, which are countenanced by a large proportion of the country, and which cannot therefore be palpably hostile to its interefts, juftify so ftrong an expreffion of condemnation, as is implied in a peevish or indignant defertion of his duty.

the French during its progrefs; a condu&t too plainly evincing that the luft of dominion, the reftleffhefs of foreign intrigue, and the infolence of national vanity, by which they had been actuated for a century and a half, were rather increafed than abated, by fuch a change in their inftitutions, as gave the popular fentiment a freer expreffion, and more efficient fway. In the early part of Mr Fox's life, he appeared to think that, if thefe vices, fo pernicious to Europe, could not be reftrained by physical coercion, no other means, no expedients of policy, management, or conciliation could be of any avail: and the caufe is not very apparent, why, in 1796, confidence in the juftice and amity of France thould have been the favourite recommendation of one, who, ten years before, made the fpeeches, from which the following paffages are extracted. In 1786, Mr Fox, while trenuously oppofing the commercial treaty, after he had dwelt on the danger of cultivating the friendfhip of a power, fo hoftile to Britain, added, "that he might poffibly be mifrepresented, as a man prepoffeffed by vulgar and illiberal prejudices. But, be that as it might, he could not easily forget, that those prejudices had been productive of no ill confequences to this country, and that the wars, in which they had engaged us, had contributed more than any other circumftance to make us great and glorious. He condemned the conduct of the prefent minifters as refembling that of the tory adminiftration of Q. Anne, who had endeavoured to reprefent all apprehenfions of the inordinate power of France as a bug bear.-France, he main tained, was the inveterate and unalterable enemy of Great Britain. No ties of affection or mutual intereft could poffibly eradicate what was fo deepTy rooted in her conftitution. Was not her whole conduct to this country an unwearied and fyftematical feries of measures diftinguished either by their finifter intrigue, or their declared hoftility? The inceffant object of her ambition was univerfal monarchy, and it was from us fhe feared to be traverfed in her purfuit. From us alone did the other powers of Europe hope for protection, to maintain that balance of power, which could preferve their respective liberties from her in croachments. He would acquit the firft minifter from the charge he was now going to make: but he believed there were men in this country, fo loft to the memory of its former greatnefs, fo fank in their own bate defpondency, as to think it right for us, diminished as our splendour was, to feize the earliest opportunity of making terms with cur rifing neighbour, of forming an intimate connec tion with her, and by that means artfully fecuring her favour and protection." When we read thefe fentences, we feem to be looking at a picture in a mirror, where the fides change places. We can fcarcely help believing them to be fome of thofe pronounced by Pitt, and indignantly rebuked by Fox, during the war of 1793: and the confiftency of their author can be maintained, only by proving, that the principles, the policy, and the practices of the French were by that time reverfed; a talk which in the face of facts, we dare not at tempt. We are far, however, frem admitting, that this inconfiftency, of which we believe Mr

Whatever lofs of popularity Mr F. incurred by this proceeding, was increafed, during the mutiny of the fleet, in 1797, by forcing a parliamen tary difcuffion of the fubject (for he had at this time renewed his attendance) and by seizing an opportunity to impute the evil to his antagonists, though at the risk of exafperating and prolonging it to the country.

Mr F., during his feceffion, and in the receffes of parliament when he attended, refided much at St Annes Hill, a pleafing retreat near Chertfey, where he indulged himfelf in purfuits of rural or claffical elegance. Devoting part of the day to ftudy, as we have been informed was his cuftom through life, he about this time began a reperufal of the beft Greek writers. For this we have the evidence of a letter to Profeffor Dalzel, of Edinburgh, which we have feen, acknowledging that gentleman's civility, in prefenting him with a copy of his Collectanea, and the affiftance it had afforded him. in reviving his acquaintance with the literature of Greece. About this time, alfo, be projected a hiftory of the early part of the reign

of

No fooner had access to France been facilitated by peace, than F. repaired to Paris, and was honoured with the public and particular notice of Bonaparte; an honour, which those who are anxious for his fame, willnever ceafe to lament. He might be urged by a defire to examine docu. ments for his projected work, or by mere uriofity to contemplate the new form which France had affumed, but we think both should have been fuppreffed, unless they could have been privately. indulged. Kings have occafionally travelled incogniti, and though F., being more confpicuous than kings, might perhaps have found this impracticable, yet he would furely have acted with more dignity, while the eyes of Europe were fix. ed upon his motions, had he refufed his attendance in the confular court, nor conferred that approbation, which is implied in a complimentary vifit, on a man, whofe conduct had outraged all thofe principles of political virtue, of which Mr F. profeffed himfelf the difciple.

of James ad, which he did not live to complete, but of which all that he left is now about to be published. *In 1798, Mr F. having at a numerous meeting of the Whig club, proposed for a toaft "The fovereignity of the people of England," a certain difrefpect which this feemed to imply towards the actual fovereign, made the latter ftrike his name from the lift of his Privy Councellors. We are too little verfed in the rules of minifterial difcipline, to judge of the propriety of this punishment. It was probably not much felt; for the confequence which Fox enjoyed was of a species, not to be impaired by the frowns of a court; and he would, as ufually happens, become more wedded to tenets, which had exposed him to what he would term minifterial perfecution, and to affociates who, having applauded the fault, would think him honoured by the cenfure. But it was perhaps the only method by which the Royal displeasure could be fignified. With respect to the offence, we think a toast an improper mode of communicating to the public any recondite or metaphyfical idea; as the brevity which it requires, precludes the neceffary explanation, and renders it extremely liable to be misunderstood. The fentiment which on this occafion Mr F. chofe to promulgate, if not taken in a very theoretical, may be taken in a very dangerous fenfe, and we should therefore have been better pleased, that the circumftance had not occurred. The teachers of youth are, in one view, unquestionably their fervants; but we doubt the wildom of founding this, without explanation, too frequently in their ears.

In March 1801, Mr Addington having become minifter, preliminaries of peace with France were figned in September, and a definitive treaty, in March 1802. During a debate on this event, Mr Fox gave offence to fome, by letting exultation in his forefight of the iffue of the war hurry him in to a declaration, that he rejoiced in the peace, because its terms were glorious to France." If he thought the object of the war unjuft, a highftrained and ftoical morality might lead him to triumph in its failure, though his country was the fufferer. But fince few can keep pace with a fentiment fo exalted, it would have been more congenial to the general feeling, had this romantic fenfe of political juftice been fubdued by the infirmity of filial partiality, even for a miftaken or mifguided country: and had he been more alive to that jealousy of our ambitious neighbour, which was the leading principle of the great Lord Chatham, and of that venerable fucceffion of whigs, whom Mr F. profeffed to follow. When James II. faw the British failors conquering at la Hogue, in a cause which he conceived to be one of the the worst, he exclaimed, with a forrowful pride to his French allies" None but my brave English could do thus," and had Fox forgot his duty, in a fimilar emotion, fo amiable an error would eafily have been pardoned or admired, for the fentiment from which it proceded.

About this time Mr F. loft a valued friend and powerful fupporter, in Francis Duke of Bedford, and on the next meeting of parliament, pronounced a Eulogy on his virtues, which, for eloquence and pathos, might have done honour to Pericles.

Soon after his return, the offenlive measures of France, and particularly her infifting on our inftant performance of a contract, of which her own ftipulations were to remain unperformed, occa fioned a renewal of the war. This Mr F. refifted, and his oppofition can, we think, be imputed to no finifter motive, nor to any view but a defire for the welfare of his country; when we confider that Pitt was no longer minifter, and that the power of Addington was likely to be more preca rious in war than in peace. Unless therefore it be fufpected that Mr F. confidered Pitt as identified with the minifter, by having recommended him, and as privately fuggefting the measures which he publicly fupported, he must be acquitted of acting on this occasion from a spirit of rivalihip.

Addington remained in office for a year after the commencement of the war, but appearing de ficient in that energy and talent, which the increafing difficulty of his fituation required, Pitt at length in May 1804, concurred with Fox in cenfuring the feeblenets of adminiflration. Encouraged by this unufual agreement, a number of their friends, who had no other object, than to fecure to the country, at an hour of unexampled danger, the union and exertion of all the ability it poffeffed, ftrongly urged the formation of a cabi net, including both of thefe favourite ftatesmen, who had previously fignified their willingness to act together. Pitt accordingly propofed this plan to the king, but finding his majefty averfe from employing Mr Fox, and feeling himself under no engagement, on account of this averfion, to forego his own pretensions to ferve his country, he yielded to the royal pleasure, and again accepted of his former offices. Mr F. confequenly remained in oppofition; but found his party reinforced, by the acceffion of a number of Pitt's moft powerful friends, who refufed to become members of an administration, from which Mr F. was excluded, and who blamed Mr P. for not adopting a fimilar conduct. How those two great men of whom neither had been accustomed to the counfels of a fuperior, nor even of an equal, would have jointly adminiftered the affairs of the public,