much that was very familiar; but this rather set off than clouded their splendour, rather increased than diminished their general effect. His skill in the conduct of a cause, and in the examination of witnesses, has never been surpassed his discretion never forsook him, even in his highest forensic enthusiasm; his manners were always most gentle→ manly; at the bar he was uniformly loved and admired; and, when he accepted the seals, no one, as lord Eldon justly remarked of him, could have a greater wish to discharge properly the office, which was conferred on him, or greater talents to qualify him for a proper discharge of it. A true friend to constitutional liberty, he was its constant and animated advocate; but he never failed in respect to the crown, or sacrificed to the prejudices or vagaries of the populace.-It is highly to the credit of the two noble lords, that, though the difference of their politics repeatedly placed them in a state of forensic conflict, neither ever said that to the other, or of the other, which it was unpleasing to him to hear. This circumstance lord Erskine himself noticed to the Reminiscent.

Lord Erskine's speech against the information, for which lord Sandwich applied, was successful: the information was refused, and prejudice ran high against the noble peer. This produced an inquiry, in the house of lords, into his lordship's management of Greenwich hospital. It was conducted by the duke of Richmond with ability, and the most pertinacious and persevering industry. Lord Sandwich entrusted his defence to the Reminiscent: -his

labour was great,—and, as it led to no information that could be of use to him on any future occasion, was most ungrateful. He prepared the speech, which his lordship delivered in his defence: it was favourably received both by the house and the public :some other papers circulated by his lordship on this occasion were also prepared by him.

Lord Sandwich might serve as a model for a man of business. He rose early, and, till a late dinner, dedicated his whole time to business: he was very methodical; slow, not wearisome; cautious, not suspicious; rather a man of sense than a man of talent; he had much real good nature; his promises might be relied on. His manners partook of the old court; and he possessed, in a singular degree, the art of attaching persons of every rank to him. Few houses were more pleasant or instructive than his lordship's: it was filled with rank, beauty and talent, and every one was at ease. He professed to be fond of music, and musicians flocked to him; he was the soul of the catch club, and one of the directors of the concert of ancient music ;-but,-(which is the case of more than one noble and more than one gentle amateur), - he had not the least real ear for music, and was equally insensible of harmony and melody.

VII.

LETTER ON JUNIUS.

ABOUT this time the Reminiscent amused him. self in an inquiry, the result of which he afterwards stated in a private letter to a friend, who, without his knowledge, and much against his will, almost immediately published it in the Anti-jacobin Review. As it is very harmless, and contains some particulars on a subject, in which the public has taken, and still continues to take great interest,-the authorship of the celebrated letters under the name of JUNIUS, the author gives it a place in these pages.

The inquiry was made by him in conjunction with Mr. Wilkes, a delightful and instructive companion, -but too often offensive by his freedom of speech, when religion or the sex was mentioned. The writer's acquaintance with him did not begin till his political turmoils were at an end. In his manner and habits, he was an elegant epicurean, yet it was evident to all his intimates that he feared,

"Manes aliquos et subterranea regna.”—Juvenal.

In his real politics he was an aristocrat, and would much rather have been a favoured courtier at Versailles, than the most commanding orator in St. Stephen's chapel. His distresses threw him into politics; he assumed the character of a staunch whig, and all must admit his consistency.

He thought highly of the talents and firmness of the late king, and was persuaded that a ministry

protected by him could not, without some singular blunder, or some event singularly unlucky, be shaken by any opposition. He predicted that the coalition between lord North and Mr. Fox would produce a total disbelief of the public virtue of the Corinthian order of politicians, and create a party equally hostile to ministers and the opposition-aristocracy. He said, that the distinction which has been supposed to exist between the friends of the king and the friends of the minister, originated in the councils of lord Bath, when he went over to the ministry, on his dereliction of the popular party. The influence of the crown, he described to be irresistible.

In one of the conversations, which Mr. Fox permitted the writer of these pages to hold with him, that great man expressed the same opinion on the magnitude of this influence. He said that no one could conceive its extent and effect, who had not had opportunities of observing its direct or indirect operation on every state and condition of life." While "Mr. Pitt," he said, "was in office, you all attributed, "in some degree at least, his overwhelming majo"rities, to his talents and eloquence: these, I am "as willing, as any one can be, to admit; but you "now have Mr. Addington, and the majorities do "not decrease."-Might it not have been observed to Mr. Fox, that he himself had in some measure been the cause of these majorities? Had there been no coalition, no India bill, no assertion of the prince's right to the regency, nothing, in short, in the politics of Mr. Fox, which had prejudiced, justly or unjustly, we do not say,-a very large portion of the

people of England against him, might not he and the illustrious band, which surrounded him, have been able, we will not say to make the minister surrender at discretion, but to lessen considerably his majorities, and thus reduce him to terms? Perhaps the existence of this overpowering influence, so often mentioned, and so seldom justly appreciated, may be thought questionable until we shall see, what England has not seen since the meridian glory of lord Chatham, an opposition which not only consists of men of splendid talents and acknowledged integrity, but which possesses, in addition to these, the confidence and attachment of the general body of the people, and is called by them, loudly and distinctly into office*.-How often might opposition have told the minister, in the words used by the Roman populace to Pompey, nostrâ miseriá, by our want of popularity, tu magnus es.

Mr. Wilkes abounded in anecdote; wit was so constantly at his command, that wagers have been gained, that, from the time he quitted his home near Story's Gate, till he reached Guildhall, no one would address him, who would leave him without a smile, or a hearty laugh. Notwithstanding their feuds, lord Sandwich and he were partial to each

*See Mr. Burke's confession in his curious Letter to Mr. Fox, (Works, vol. x. p. 148.) that "the people were not attached "to the leaders of opposition:" he asserts, that "the whigs

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are by far the weakest party in the country."— With the peerages of lord Bath and lord Chatham in view, and the lamentable revelations in lord Melcombe's Diary, and lord Orford's Memoirs, who can blame the general indifference of the British public to many, who have appealed to them?.