conduct, he marries a first cousin of the man, who had fixed that mark and title of infamy upon him, which, at the same moment, makes a husband unhappy and ridiculous. The ties of consanguinity may possibly preserve him from the same fate a second time, and as to the distress of meeting, I take for granted the venerable uncle of these common cousins has settled the etiquette in such a manner, that, if a mistake should happen, it may reach no farther than from Madame ma femme to Madame ma cousine.

The Duke of Grafton has always some excellent reason for deserting his friends. The age and incapacity of Lord Chatham*;-the debility of Lord Rockingham;-or the infamy of Mr. Wilkes. There was a time indeed when he did not appear to be quite so well acquainted, or so violently offended with the infirmities of his friends. But now I confess they are not ill exchanged for the youthful, vigorous virtue of the Duke of Bedford; the firmness of General Conway; the blunt, or if I may call it, the aukward in-' tegrity of Mr. Rigby, and the spotless morality of Lord Sandwichý.

If a large pension to a broken gambler|| be an act worthy of commendation, the Duke of Grafton's connexions will furnish him with many opportunities of doing praiseworthy actions; and as he himself bears no part of the expense, the

• Lord Chatham, it is well known, laboured under a premature decrepitude of body, from frequent and violent attacks of the gout; but his mind was never affected by such paroxysms. EDIT.

† See his character in Letter XI. note. EDIT.

+ Mr. Rigby was introduced into political life by the Duke of Bedford, to whom he had chiefly recommended himself by his convivial talents. He at length attained the lucrative post of paymaster of the British forces. His pretensions to integrity are well known, even to the present moment, to have been rather aukward.

§ It was Lord Sandwich, who, in conjunction with Dr. Warburton, complained to the House of Lords, of Wilkes's Essay on Woman, and induced their lordships interference; in consequence of which, the writer was prosecuted by the crown. The irony of the expression here adopted proceeds from the well known fact that Lord Sandwich was at this very time the most profligate and blasphemous of all the Bedford party. EDIT.

Sir John Moore.

generosity of distributing the public money for the support of virtuous families in distress will be an unquestionable proof of his Grace's humanity.

As to public affairs, Old Noll is a little tender of descending to particulars. He does not deny that Corsica has been sacrificed to France, and he confesses, that with regard to America, his patron's measures have been subject to some variation; but then he promises wonders of stability and firmness for the future. These are mysteries, of which we must not pretend to judge by experience; and truly, I fear, we shall perish in the Desert, before we arrive at the Land of Promise. In the regular course of things, the period of the Duke of Grafton's ministerial manhood should now be approaching. The imbecility of his infant state was committed to Lord Chatham. Charles Townshend took some care of his education* at that ambiguous age, which lies between the follies of political childhood, and the vices of puberty. The empire of the passions soon succeeded. His earliest principles and connexions were of course forgotten or despised. The company he has lately kept has been of no service to his morals; and, in the conduct of public affairs, we see the character of his time of life strongly distinguished. An obstinate ungovernable self sufficiency plainly points out to us that state of imperfect maturity, at which the graceful levity of youth is lost, and the solidity of experience not yet acquired. It is possible the young man may in time grow wiser, and reform; but, if I understand his disposition, it is not of such corrigible stuff, that we should hope for any amendment in him, before he has accomplished the destruction of this country. Like other rakes, he may perhaps live to see his error, but not until he has ruined his estate.

LETTER XV.

TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF GRAFTON.

MY LORD,

8 July, 1769.

Ir nature had given you an understanding qualified to keep pace with the wishes and principles of your heart, she would have made you, perhaps, the most formidable minister that ever was employed, under a limited monarch, to accomplish the ruin of a free people. When neither the feelings of shame, the reproaches of conscience, nor the dread of punishment, form any bar to the designs of a minister, the people would have too much reason to lament their condition, if they did not find some resource in the weakness of his understanding. We owe it to the bounty of Providence, that the completest depravity of the heart is sometimes strangely united with a confusion of the mind, which counteracts the most favorite principles, and makes the same man treacherous without art, and a hypocrite without deceiving. The measures, for instance, in which your Grace's activity has been chiefly exerted, as they were adopted without skill, should have been conducted with more than common dexterity. But truly, my Lord, the execution has been as gross as the design. By one decisive step, you have defeated all the arts of writing. You have fairly confounded the intrigues of opposition, and silenced the clamours of faction. A dark, ambiguous system might require and furnish the materials of ingenious illustration; and, in doubtful measures, the virulent exaggeration of party must be employed, to rouse and engage the passions of the people. You have now brought the merits of your administration to an issue, on which every Englishman, of the narrowest capacity, may determine for himself. It is not an alarm to the passions, but a calm appeal to the judgment of the people, upon their own most essential interests. A more experienced minister would not have hazarded a direct invasion of the first principles of the constitution, before he had made some progress in subduing the spirit of the people. With such a cause as yours, my Lord, it is not sufficient that you have the court at your devotion, unless you can find means to corrupt or intimidate the jury. The collective body of the people form that jury, and from their decision there is but one appeal.

Whether you have talents to support you, at a crisis of such difficulty and danger, should long since have been considered. Judging truly of your disposition, you have perhaps mistaken the extent of your capacity. Good faith and folly have so long been received as synonimous terms, that the reverse of the proposition has grown into credit, and every villain fancies himself a man of abilities. It is the apprehension of your friends, my Lord, that you have drawn some hasty conclusion of this sort, and that a partial reliance upon your moral character has betrayed you beyond the depth of your understanding. You have now carried things too far to retreat. You have plainly declared to the people what they are to expect from the continuance of your administration. It is time for your Grace to consider what you also may expect in return from their spirit and their resentment.

Since the accession of our most gracious Sovereign to the throne, we have seen a system of government, which may well be called a reign of experiments. Parties of all denominations have been employed and dismissed. The advice of the ablest men in this country has been repeatedly called for and rejected; and when the Royal displeasure has been signified to a minister, the marks of it have usually been proportioned to his abilities and integrity. The spirit of the FAVOURITE had some apparent influence upon every administration; and every set of ministers preserved an appearance of duration as long as they submitted to that influence. But there were certain services to be performed for the Favourite's security, or to gratify his resentments, which your predecessors in office had the wisdom or the virtue not to undertake. The moment this refractory spirit was discovered, their disgrace was determined. Lord Chatham, Mr. Grenville, and Lord Rockingham have successively had the honour to be dismissed for preferring their duty, as servants of the public, to those compliances which were expected from their station. A submissive administration was at last gradually collected from the deserters of all parties, interests, and connexions: and nothing remained but to find a leader for these gallant well-disciplined troops. Stand forth, my Lord, for thou art the man. Lord Bute found no resource of dependence or security in the proud, imposing superiority of Lord Chatham's abilities, the shrewd inflexible judgment of Mr. Grenville*, nor in the mild but determined integrity of Lord Rockingham. His views and situation required a creature void of all these properties; and he was forced to go through every division, resolution, composition, and refinement of political chemistry, before he happily arrived at the caput mortuum of vitriol in your Grace. Flat and insipid in your retired state, but brought into action, you become vitriol again. Such are the extremes of alternate indolence or fury, which have governed your whole administration. Your circumstances with regard to the people soon becoming desperate, like other honest servants, you determined to involve the best of masters in the same difficulties with yourself. We owe it to your Grace's welldirected labours, that your Sovereign has been persuaded to doubt of the affections of his subjects, and the people to suspect the virtues of their Sovereign, at a time when both were unquestionable. You have degraded the royal dignity into a base, dishonourable competition with Mr. Wilkes, nor had you abilities to carry even this last contemptible triumph over a private man, without the grossest violation of