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496

THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS.

of the church of England can easily be shaken in his principles of loyalty, or forget the obligation of an oath, by any provocation. That these are therefore the people he intends to rely upon, and keeps only fair with the others from a true notion he has of their doctrines, which prompt them to forget their duty upon every motive of interest or ambition. If this conjecture be right, his highness cannot sure but entertain a very high esteem of such ministers, who continue to act under the dread and appearance of a successor's utmost displeasure, and the threats of an enraged faction, whom he is supposed alone to favour, and to be guided entirely in his judgment of British affairs and persons by their opinions.

But to return from this digression: the presence of that infant prince among us could not, I think in any sort, be inconsistent with the safety of the queen; he would be in no danger of being corrupted in his principles, or exposed in his person by vicious companions; he could be at the head of no factious clubs and cabals, nor be attended by a hired rabble, which his flatterers might represent as popularity. He would have none of that impatience which the frailty of human nature gives to expecting heirs. There would be no pretence for men to make their court, by affecting German modes and refinements in dress or behaviour: nor would there be any occasion of insinuating to him how much more his levee was frequented than the antechamber of St. James's. Add to all this the advantages of being educated in our religion, laws, language, manners, nature of government, each so very different from those he would leave behind. By which likewise he might be highly useful to his father, if that prince should happen to survive her majesty.

The late king William, who, after his marriage with the lady Mary of England, could have no probable expectation of the crown, and very little even of being a queen's husband (the duke of York having a young wife), was no stranger to our language or manners, and went often to the chapel of his princess; which I observe the rather, because I could heartily wish the like disposition were in another court, and because it may be disagreeable to a prince to take up new doctrines on a sudden, or speak to his subjects by an interpreter.

An ill-natured or inquisitive man may still perhaps desire to press the question further, by asking what is to be done in case it should so happen that this malevolent working party at home has credit enough with the court of Hanover to continue the suspicion, jealousy, and uneasiness there, against the queen and her ministry; to make such demands be still insisted on as are by no means thought proper to be complied with; and in the mean time to stand at arms' length with her majesty and in close conjunction with those who oppose her.

I take the answer to be easy: in all contests the safest way is to put those we dispute with as much in the wrong as we can. When her majesty shall have offered such or the like concessions as I have above mentioned, in order to remove those scruples artificially raised in the mind of the expectant heir, and to divide him from that faction by which he is supposed to have been misled, she has done as much as any prince can do, and more than any other would probably do in her case, and will be justified before God and man whatever be the event. The equitable part of those who now side against the court will probably be more temperate; and if a due despatch be made in placing the civil and military power in the hands of such as wish well to the constitution, it cannot be any way for the quiet or

interest of a successor to gratify so small a faction as will probably then remain at the expense of a much more numerous and considerable part of his subjects. Neither do I see how the principles of such a party, either in religion or government, will prove very agreeable, because I think Luther and Calvin seem to have differed as much as any two among the reformers; and because a German prince will probably be suspicious of those who think they can never depress the prerogative enough.

But supposing once for all as far as possible that the elector should utterly refuse to be upon any terms of confidence with the present ministry and all others of their principles, as enemies to him and the succession; nor easy with the queen herself but upon such conditions as will not be thought consistent with her safety and honour; and continue to place all his hopes and trust in the discontented party: I think it were humbly to be wished that whenever the succession ahall take place the alterations intended by the new prince should be made by himself, and not by his deputies; because I am of opinion that the clause empowering the successor to appoint a latent, unlimited number, additional to the seven regents named in the act, went upon a supposition that the secret committee would be of such whose enmity and contrary principles disposed them to confound the rest. King William, whose title was much more controverted than that of her majesty's successor can ever probably be, did for several years leave the administration of the kingdom in the hands of lords-justices during the height of a war, and while the abdicated prince himself was frequently attempting an invasion; whence one might imagine that the regents appointed by parliament upon the demise of the crown would be able to keep the peace during an absence of a few weeks without any colleagues. However, I am pretty confident that the only reason why a power was given of choosing dormant viceroys was to take away all pretence of a necessity to invite over any of the family here during her majesty's life. So that I do not well apprehend what arguments the elector can use to insist upon both.

To conclude: the only way of securing the constitution in church and state, and consequently this very protestant succession itself, will be by lessening the power of our domestic adversaries as much as can possibly consist with the lenity of our government; and if this be not speedily done it will be easy to point where the nation is to fix the blame; for we are well assured that since the account her majesty received of the cabals, the triumphs, the insolent behaviour of the whole faction during her late illness at Windsor, she has been as willing to see them deprived of all power to do mischief as any of her most zealous and loyal subjects can desire.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE

CONSEQUENCES HOPED AND

FEARED

FROM THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN AUGUST 9, 1714.

In order to set in a clear light what I have to say upon this subject, it will be convenient to examine the state of the nation with reference to the two contending parties; this cannot well be done without some little retrospection into the five last years of her late majesty's reign.

1 have it from unquestionable authority that the duchess of Marlborough's favour began to decline very soon after the queen's accession to the throne, and that the earl Godolphin's held not much above two years longer; although her majesty (no ill concealer of her affections) did not think fit to deprive them of their power until a long time after.

The duke of Marlborough and the earl of Godolphin having fallen early into the interests of the lower party for certain reasons not seasonable here to be mentioned (but which may deserve a place in the history of that reign), they made large steps that way upon the death of the prince of Denmark, taking several among the warmest leaders of that side into the chief employments of state. Mr. Harley, then secretary of state, who disliked their proceedings and had very near overthrown their whole scheme, was removed with the utmost indignation; and about the same time sir Simon Harcourt and Mr. St. John, with some others, voluntarily gave up their employments.

But the queen, who had then a great esteem for the person and abilities of Mr. Harley (and in proportion of the other two, although at that time not equally known to her), was deprived of his service with some regret; and upon that and other motives well known at court, began to think herself hardly used; and several stories ran about, whether true or false, that her majesty was not always treated with that duty she might expect. Meantime the church party were loud in their complaints; surmising from the virulence of several pamphlets, from certain bills projected to be brought into parliament, from endeavours to repeal the sacramental test, from the avowed principles and free speeches of some persons in power, and other jealousies needless to repeat, that ill designs were forming against the religion established. These fears were all confirmed by the trial of Sacheverell, which drew the populace, as one man, into the party against the ministry and parliament.

The ministry were very suspicious that the queen had still a reserve of favour for Mr. Harley, which appeared by a passage that happened some days after his removal; for the earl of Godolphin's coach and his happening to meet near Kensington, the earl, a few hours after, reproached the queen that she privately admitted Mr. Harley, and was not without some difficulty undeceived by her majesty's asseverations to the contrary.

Soon after the doctor's trial this gentleman, by the queen's command and the intervention of Mrs. Masham, was brought up the back stairs, and that princess, spirited by the addresses from all parts, which showed the inclinations of her subjects to be very averse from the proceedings in court and parliament, was resolved to break the united power of the Marlborough and Godolphin families, and to begin this work by taking the disposal of employments into her own hands, for which an opportunity happened by the death of the earl of Essex, lieutenant of the Tower, whose employment was given to the earl Rivers, to the great discontent of the duke of Marlborough, who intended it for the duke of Northumberland, then colonel of the Oxford regiment, to which the earl of Hertford was to succeed. Some time after the chamberlain's staff was disposed of to the duke of Shrewsbury in the absence and without the privity of the earl of Godolphin. The earl of Sunderland's removal followed; and lastly, that of the high treasurer himself, whose office was put into commission, whereof Mr. Harley (made at the same time chancellor of the exchequer) was one. I need say nothing of other removals, which are well

VOL. I.

enough known and remembered: let it suffice that in eight or nine months' time the whole face of the court was altered, and very few friends of the former ministry left in any great stations there.

I have good reason to be assured that when the queen began this change she had no intentions to carry it so far as the church party expected, and have since been so impatient to see. For although she was a true professor of the religion established, yet the first motives to this alteration did not arise from any dangers she apprehended to that or the government, but from a desire to get out of the dominion of some who she thought had kept her too much and too long in pupilage. She was in her own nature extremely dilatory and timorous, yet upon some occasions positive to a great degree. And when she had got rid of those who had as she thought given her the most uneasiness, she was inclined to stop and entertain a fancy of acting upon a moderating scheme, whence it was very difficult to remove her. At the same time I must confess my belief that this imagination was put into her head, and made use of as an encouragement to begin that work, after which her advisers might think it easier to prevail with her to go as far as they thought fit. That these were her majesty's dispositions in that conjuncture may be confirmed by many instances. In the very height of the change she appeared very loth to part with two great officers of state of the other party, and some whose absence the new ministers most earnestly wished held in for above two years after.

Mr. Harley, who acted as first minister before he had the staff, as he was a lover of gentle measures and inclined to procrastination, so he could not with any decency press the queen too much against her nature, because it would be like running upon the rock where his predecessor had split. But violent humours running about in the kingdom and the new parliament against the principles and persons of the low-church party gave this minister a very difficult part to play. The warm members in both houses, especially among the commons, pressed for a thorough change, and so did almost all the queen's new servants, especially after Mr. Harley was made an earl and high treasurer. He could not in good policy own his want of power, nor fling the blame upon his mistress. And as too much secrecy was one of his faults, he would often upon these occasions keep his nearest friends in the dark. The truth is, he had likewise other views, which were better suited to the maxims of state in general than to that situation of affairs. By leaving many employments in the hands of the discontented party he fell in with the queen's humour; he hoped to acquire the reputation of lenity; and kept a great number of expectants in order, who had liberty to hope while anything remained undisposed of. He seemed also to think, as other ministers have done, that, since factions are necessary in such a government as ours, it would be prudent not altogether to lay the present one prostrate, lest another more plausible and therefore not so easy to grapple with might arise in its stead.

However, it is certain that a great part of the load he bore was unjustly laid on him. He had no f vourites among the Whig party, whom he kept in upon the score of old friendship or acquaintance; and he was a greater object of their hatred than all the rest of the ministry together.

2x

AN INQUIRY

INTO THE BEHAVIOUR OF

THE QUEEN'S LAST MINISTRY,

WITH RELATION TO THEIR QUARRELS AMONG THEM-
SELVES, AND THE DESIGN CHARGED UPON THEM
OF ALTERING THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN.

SINCE the death of the queen it was reasonable enough for me to conclude that I had done with all public affairs and speculations, besides the scene and station I am in have reduced my thoughts into a narrow compass, and being wholly excluded from any view of favour under the present administration, upon that invincible reason of having been in some degree of trust and confidence with the former, I have not found the transition very difficult into a private life, for which I am better qualified both by nature and education.

The reading of and inquiring after news not being one of my diversions, having always disliked a mixed and general conversation, which however it fell to my lot is now in my power to avoid; and being placed by the duties of my function at a great distance from the seat of business, I am altogether ignorant of many common events which happen in the world; only from the little I know and hear it is manifest that the hearts of most men are filled with doubts, fears, and jealousies, or else with hatred and rage to a degree that there seems to be an end of all amicable commerce between people of different parties; and what the consequences of this may be let those consider who have contributed to the causes, which I thank God is no concern of mine.

There are two points with reference to the conduct of the late ministry much insisted on and little understood by those who write or talk upon that subject, wherein I am sufficiently qualified to give satisfaction, and would gladly do it, because I see very much weight laid upon each and most men's opinions of persons and things regulated accordingly.

About two months before the queen's death, having lost all hopes of any reconcilement between the treasurer and the rest of the ministry, I retired into the country to await the issue of that conflict, which ended, as every one had reason to foresee, in the earl of Oxford's disgrace, to whom the lord Bolingbroke immediately succeeded as first minister; and I was told that an earldom and the Garter were intended for him in a fortnight, and the treasurer's staff against the next session of parliament, of which I can say nothing certain, being then in Berkshire and receiving this account from some of his friends. But all these schemes became soon abortive, by the death of the queen, which happened in three days after the earl of Oxford's removal.

Upon this great event I took the first opportunity of withdrawing to my place of residence, and rejoiced as much as any man for his majesty's quiet accession to the throne, to which I then thought, and it has since appeared indisputable, that the peace procured by the late ministry had among other good effects been highly instrumental. And I thank God I have been ever since a loyal humble spectator during all the changes that have happened, although it were no secret to any man of common sagacity that his present majesty's choice of his servants, whenever he should happen to succeed, would be determined to those who most opposed the proceedings during the four last years of his predecessor's reign; and I think there has not since happened one particular of any moment which the ministers did not often mention at their tables as what they certainly expected from the disposition of

the court at Hanover, in conjunction with the party at home, which, upon all occasions, publicly disapproved their proceedings, excepting only the attainder of the duke of Ormond, which indeed neither they nor I, nor I believe any one person in the three kingdoms, did ever pretend to foresee; and now it is done, it looks like a dream to those who consider the nobleness of his birth, the great merits of his ancestors, and his own; his long unspotted loyalty. his affability, generosity, and sweetness of nature. I knew him long and well, and excepting the frailties of his youth, which had been for some years over, and that easiness of temper which did sometimes lead him to follow the judgment of those who had by many degrees less understanding than himself, I have not conversed with a more faultless person; of great justice and charity; a true sense of religion without ostentation; of undoubted valour, thoroughly skilled in his trade of a soldier; a quick and ready apprehension, with a good share of understanding and a general knowledge in men and history, although under some disadvantage by an invincible modesty, which however could not but render him yet more amiable to those who had the honour and happiness of being thoroughly acquainted with him. This is a short imperfect character of that great person, the duke of Ormond, who is now attainted for high treason, and therefore I shall not presume to offer one syllable in his vindication upon that head Yet this I against the decision of a parliament. think may be allowed me to believe, or at least to hope, that when, by the direct and repeated commands of the queen his mistress, he committed those faults for which he has now forfeited his country, his titles, and his fortune, he no more conceived himself to be acting high treason than he did when he was wounded and a prisoner at Landen for his sovereign king William, or when he took and burned the enemy's fleet at Vigo.

Upon this occasion, although I am sensible it is an old precept of wisdom to admire at nothing in human life, yet I consider, at the same time, how easily some men arrive at the practice of this maxim, by the help of plain stupidity or ill nature, without any strain of philosophy; and although the uncertainty of human things be one of the most obvious reflections in morality, yet such unexpected, sudden, and signal instances of it as have lately happened among us are so much out of the usual form that a wise man may perhaps be allowed to start and look aside, as at a sudden and violent clap of thunder, which is much more frequent and more natural.

And here I cannot but lament my own particular misfortune, who, having singled out three persons from among the rest of mankind, on whose friendship and protection I might depend, whose conversation I most valued and chiefly confined myself to, should live to see them all within the compass of a year accused of high treason; two of them attainted and in exile, and the third under his trial, whereof As my own God knows what may be the issue. heart was free from all treasonable thoughts, so I did little imagine myself to be perpetually in the company of traitors. But the fashion of this world passeth away. Having already said something of the duke of Ormond, I shall add a little toward the characters of the other two. It happens to very few men, in any age or country, to come into the world with so many advantages of nature and fortune as the late secretary Bolingbroke: descended from the best families in England, heir to a great patrimonial estate, of a sound constitution, and a most graceful, amiable person: but all these, had they been of equal value, were infinitely inferior in degree to the ac

complishments of his mind, which was adorned with the choicest gifts that God has yet thought fit to bestow upon the children of men; a strong memory, a clear judgment, a vast range of wit and fancy, a thorough comprehension, an invincible eloquence, with a most agreeable elocution. He had well cultivated all these talents by travel and study, the latter of which he seldom omitted even in the midst of his pleasures, of which he had indeed been too great and criminal a pursuer; for although he was persuaded to leave off intemperance in wine, which he did for some time to such a degree that he seemed rather abstemious, yet he was said to allow himself other liberties, which can by no means be reconciled to religion or morals, whereof I have reason to believe he began to be sensible. But he was fond of mixing pleasure and business, and of being esteemed excellent at both; upon which account he had a great respect for the characters of Alcibiades and Petronius, especially the latter, whom he would be gladly thought to resemble. His detractors charged him with some degree of affectation, and perhaps not altogether without grounds; since it was hardly possible for a young man, with half the business of the nation upon him and the applause of the whole, to escape some tincture of that infirmity. He had been early bred to business, was a most artful negotiator, and perfectly understood foreign affairs. But what I have often wondered at in a man of his temper was his prodigious application whenever he thought it necessary; for he would plod whole days and nights like the lowest clerk in an office. talent of speaking in public, for which he was so very much celebrated, I know nothing of except from the informations of others; but understanding men of both parties have assured me that, in this point, in their memory and judgment, he was never equalled.

His

The earl of Oxford is a person of as much virtue as can possibly consist with the love of power; and his love of power is no greater than what is common to men of his superior capacities; neither did any man ever appear to value it less after he had obtained it or exert it with more moderation. He is the only instance that ever fell within my memory or observation of a person passing from a private life, through the several stages of greatness, without any perceivable impression upon his temper or behaviour. As his own birth was illustrious, being descended from the heirs general of the Veres and the Mortimers, so he seemed to value that accidental advantage in himself and others more than it could pretend to deserve. He abounded in good nature and good humour, although subject to passion, as I have heard it affirmed by others and owned by himself; which, however, he kept under the strictest government, till toward the end of his ministry, when he began to grow soured and to suspect his friends, and perhaps thought it not worth his pains to manage any longer. He was a great favourer of men of wit and learning, particularly the former, whom he caressed without distinction of party, and could not endure to think that any of them should be his enemies

and it was his good fortune that none of them ever appeared to be so; at least if one may judge by the libels and pamphlets published against him, which he frequently read by way of amusement, with a most unaffected indifference: neither do I remember ever to have endangered his good opinion so much as by appearing uneasy when the dealers in that kind of writing first began to pour out their scurrilities against me; which he thought was a weakness altogether inexcusable in a man of virtue and liberal education. He had the greatest variety of knowledge that I have anywhere met with, was

a perfect master of the learned languages, and well skilled in divinity. He had a prodigious memory and a most exact judgment. In drawing up any state-paper, no man had more proper thoughts, or put them in so strong and clear a light. Although his style were not always correct, which, however, he knew how to mend, yet often to save time he would leave the smaller alterations to others. I have heard that he spoke but seldom in parliament, and then rather with art than eloquence: but no man equalled him in the knowledge of our constitution; the reputation whereof made him be chosen speaker to three successive parliaments, which office I have often heard his enemies allow him to have executed with universal applause; his sagacity was such that I could produce very amazing instances of it, if they were not unseasonable. In all difficulties he immediately found the true point that was to be pursued, and adhered to it: and one or two others in the ministry have confessed very often to me that, after having condemned his opinion, they found him in the right and themselves in the wrong. He was utterly a stranger to fear; and consequently had a presence of mind upon all emergencies. His liberality and contempt of money were such that he almost ruined his estate while he was in employment; yet his avarice for the public was so great, that it neither consisted with the present corruptions of the age nor the circumstances of the time. He was seldom mistaken in his judgment of men, and therefore not apt to change a good or ill opinion by the representation of others, except toward the end of his ministry. He was affable and courteous, extremely easy and agreeable in conversation, and altogether disengaged; regular in his life, with great appearance of piety, nor ever guilty of any expressions that could possibly tend to what was indecent or profane. His imperfections were at least as obvious, although not so numerous, as his virtues. He had an air of secrecy in his manner and countenance by no means proper for a great minister, because it warns all men to prepare against it. He often gave no answer at all, and very seldom a direct one: and I rather blame this reservedness of temper, because I have known a very different practice succeed much better: of which, among others, the late earl of Sunderland and the present lord Somers, persons of great abilities, are remarkable instances; who used to talk in so frank a manner that they seemed to discover the bottom of their hearts, and by that appearance of confidence would easily unlock the breasts of others. But the earl of Oxford pleads, in excuse of this charge, that he has seldom or never communicated anything which was of importance to be concealed wherein he has not been deceived by the vanity, treachery, or indiscretion of those he dis covered it to. Another of his imperfections, universally known and complained of, was procrastination or delay which was, doubtless, natural to him, although he often bore the blame without the guilt, and when the remedy was not in his power; for never were prince and minister better matched than his sovereign and he upon that article: and, therefore, in the disposal of employments, wherein the queen was very absolute, a year would often pass before they could come to a determination. I remember he was likewise heavily charged with the common court vice of promising very liberally and seldom performing; of which, although I cannot altogether acquit him, yet I am confident his intentions were generally better than his disappointed solicitors would believe. It may be likewise said of him that he certainly did not value, or did not understand, the art of acquiring friends; having made very few

during the time of his power, and contracted a great number of enemies. Some of us used to observe that those whom he talked well of or suffered to be often near him were not in a situation of much advantage; and that his mentioning others with contempt or disitke was no hinderance at all to their preferment. I have dwelt the longer upon this great man's character because I have observed it so often mistaken by the wise reasoners of both parties: besides, having had the honour for almost four years of a nearer acquaintance with him than usually happens to men of my level, and this without the least mercenary obligation, I thought it lay in my power, as I am sure it is in my will, to represent him to the world with impartiality and truth.

Having often considered the qualities and dispositions of these two ministers, I am at a loss to think how it should come to pass that men of exalted abilities when they are called to public affairs are generally drawn into inconveniences and misfortunes, which others of ordinary talents avoid; whereof there appear so many examples, both ancient and modern, and of our own as well as other countries. I cannot think this to have been altogether the effect of envy, as it is usually imputed in the case of Themistocles. Aristides, Scipio, and others; and of sir Waiter Raleigh, the earls of Clarendon and Stratford, here in England. But I look | upon it that God, intending the government of a nation in the several branches and subordinations of power, has made the science of governing sufficiently obvious to common capacities: otherwise the world would be left in a desolate condition, if great affairs did always require a great genius, whereof the most fruitful age will hardly produce above three or four in a a nation; among which, princes, who of all other mortals are the worst educated, have twenty millions to one against them that they shall not be of the number; and proportionable odds, for the same reasons. are against every one of noble birth or great estates.

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to a great person of this latter character that a small infusion of the alderman was necessary to those who are employed in public affairs. Upon this occasion I cannot forget a very trifling instance, that, one day observing the same person to divide a sheet of paper with a penknife, the sharpness of the instrument occasioned its moving so irregularly and crooked that he spoiled the whole sheet; whereupon I advised him to take example by his clerks, who per formed that operation much better with a blunt piece of ivory, which directed by a little strength and a steady hand never failed to go right.

But to return from this long digression: about a fortnight after the queen's death I came to my place of residence, where I was immediately attacked with heat enough by several of my acquaintance of both parties, and soon learned that what they objected was the general sense of the rest. Those of the church side made me a thousand reproaches upon the slowness and inactivity of my friends, upon their foolish quarrels with each other for no visible cause, and thereby sacrificing the interests of the church and kingdom to their private piques; and that they had neglected to cultivate the favour and good opinion of the court at Hanover. But the weight of these gentlemen's displeasure fell upon the eari of Oxford: That he had acted a trimming part; was never thoroughly in the interest of the church, but held separate commerce with the adverse party: that, either from his negligence, procrastinating nature, or some sinister end, he had let slip many opportunities of strengthening the church's friends; that he undertook more business than he was equal to, affected a monopoly of power, and would concert nothing with the rest of the ministers" Many facts were likewise mentioned which it may not now be very prudent to repeat: I shall only take notice of one relating to Ireland, where he kept four bishoprics undisposed of, though often and most earnestly pressed to have them filled; by which omission the church interest of that kingdom in the house of lords is in danger of being irrecover

ably lost.

Those who disccursed with me after this manner did at the same time utterly renounce all regard for the pretender: and mentioned with pleasure the

putting an end to party distinctions for the time to come; and the only apprehension that seemed to give them any uneasiness was lest the real of the party in power might not perhaps represent their loyalty with advantage.

Accordingly we find that the dullest nations, anelent and modern, have not wanted good rules of pelley or persons qualified for administration. I take the infelicity of such extraordinary men to have been caused by their neglect of common forms, together with the contempt of Little helps and little hinderances; which is made by Hobbes the defini-zierious opportunity then in his majesty's hands of tion of magmarimity: and this contempt, as it eertainly displeases the people in general, so it gives efence to all with whom such ministers have to deal: for I never yet knew a minister who was not earnestly desirous to have it thought that the art of government was a crest profound science; whereas it requires no mere in reality than digence, bonesty, and a moderate share of plain natural sense. And, therefore, men thus qualified may very reason ably and justly think that the business of the world is best brought about by regulinity and forms wherein themselves excel." For I have frequently observed more causes of discontent arise from the practice of some refined ministers to act in comm basizes out of the common read, than from all the usal topics of displeasure against men in ever. It is the same thing in other scenes of life and sment al societies or communities; where no men are better trusted, or have more success in business tu asho, with some honesty and a moderate portion of understanding, are strict observers of ATAN and method; and at the contrary, Den ting a mere is to expose me to the extend stogay of their colleges and the prie than a center to neglect of these cree motinos Lowere attended with a superor get a and an equiÄKY of doing good: wich has made me sometimes sty

On the other sile, the gainers and men in hopes by the queen's death taiked with great freedom in a very different style: they all directly asserted “That the whe late ministry were fully determined to bring in the pretender," although they would sometimes a little demar upon the earl of Oxford; and by a more modern amendment they charged the sine sccnsation without any reserve upon the late green herself "That if her majesty had died but a menth later, er rain would have been inevitable.” But in that juncture it happened (to use their own term, which I could never prevail with them to ex pach things were not ripe. "That this accusation word in a short time infallibly be proved as clear as the san at noonday to all the world." And the consequences naturally following from these posi tions were, That the leaders ought to lose their has and all their abettors be utterly stripped of Awr ? re-

The being the sentiments and discourses of both mostat lead the late ministry with faults of a very diferent nature, it may perhaps be either

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