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in the usual manner.* * From his several offices he is said to derive about five thousand pounds of the public money, and it has been stated by way of reproach, that the emoluments of his relatives are excessive. We believe, however, that the Grenvilles will be found to have far more than the Percevals; but as this is no argument for an intemperate love of wealth, on the part of either family, we most cordially wish that any and every unmerited pension or sinecure may be curtailed and cut down, so as to square with the necessities of the times. On the other hand, we will with equal readiness ingenuously confess, that the salaries of the great efficient public officers of the state, are not sufficiently liberal, and therefore, instead of being diminished, ought to be augmented, from motives of prudence and good policy.

As a man of business, Mr. Perceval is affable, quick, and ready either at starting or answering

* The King, in answer to an address from the House of Commons, delivered the following message to Lord George Thynne, Wednesday, April 8, 1807:

"His Majesty assured the House of Commons, that he would take the substance of their address into his serious consideration, and that for the present, he had granted the office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, only during his royal pleasure. His Majesty further assured the House of Commons, that in the exercise of the prerogative vested by the crown, for granting offices, as well for life as otherwise, and also in the exercise of every other branch of his royal prerogative, his Majesty would be regulated by an anxious regard for the public welfare and interests of his people."

objections. As an orator, he is fluent, perspicuous, conclusive, and without possessing the goodnatured humour of his predecessor Lord North, the argumentative decision of his rival Charles Fox, or the bold and commanding eloquence of his friend and precursor William Pitt, he yet finds means to engage, to wield, and to convince the House of Commons.

While a young man at the bar, he is said to have spoken of all those who differed with him in politics, with a certain degree of asperity, and at times' to have treated the assertors of popular rights as "Jacobins." But the "heyday" of blood is over; a more mature age appears to have dulcified his expressions, and power is not perhaps to be retained by the same means with which it was acquired. It has unfortunately become a standing proverb in the House of Commons, that "no practical lawyer" will ever make a great minister in England, and this was fairly put to the trial in the case of the late George Grenville. To become a statesman, perhaps it is proper for a man to forget that he ever was a barrister, and to be a celebrated or successful one, it is assuredly necessary at one time or another, to aim at and to obtain the love and confidence of the people!

As for a mere Chancellor of the Exchequer, the course is more limited and the track infinitely narrower. If this alone be Mr. Perceval's object, may he possess all the good qualities of Godolphin, one of the most illustrious of his predecessors, without

any of his vices. It is to that nobleman, who detested flattery and refused the garter, that the nation during the reigns of King William and Queen Anne, was indebted for the order and regularity of the public revenues. It was he who introduced the present comparatively low interest of money. It was he, who although the favourite of four successive soverigns, never once sacrificed the interest of the people. It was he, who notwithstanding he had been a lord of the treasury during thirty years, and nine of these at the head of it, died worth no more than 40001. per annum. Nor ought it to be omitted, that incorruptible himself, he prohibited the peculations of those about him, and could be reproached with but two faults, the one, that he was rather lax in his political principles, which he rendered subservient to his ambition; and the other, that his immoderate love of gaming was thinly disguised, under pretext of a dislike to conversation.

MR. STURT,

LATE M.P. FOR BRIDPORT, AND NOW A PRISONER IN

FRANCE.

"RES EST SACRA MISER."

THIS gentleman has experienced a variety of fortunes, and were the "many-coloured hues" of his life but faithfully and ably depicted, it would af ford the subject of a most entertaining, as well as instructive, volume. His character exhibits a scene

of life, which has something of gallantry and romance about it, while the sudden transition from a senate to a prison, and from all the comforts of society to a dungeon, is calculated to excite a sigh in the most obdurate hearts, and even to call forth compassion from the bosom of a personal enemy.

Mr. Sturt was born in the year 1760 or 1761. His family has long been eminent in the county of Dorset, and his father the late Humphry Sturt, of Horton and Critchill-house, served as knight of the shire with one of the family of* Pitt, as his colleague, during the 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15th parliaments of Great Britain. He was also a very active magistrate, and as such paid great attention to the business of the quarter sessions, at which he was a constant attendant. His wife, who attained a good old age, and died but lately, on the other hand we believe was rather addicted to pleasure and cards ; and if we are not greatly mistaken, her Saturday night-routs in St. James's-square, some years since, were thought to be aimed at, in a threatening charge by the late Lord Kenyon.

It somehow happened that Charles, although a younger son, became the heir to the estates. The particular cause that superinduced this unusual instance of paternal displeasure is unknown to us, but

* Mr. George Pitt was the other M. P. for this county, until created Lord Rivers of Strathfieldsea, in the county of Southamp tón, May 14, 1778, when he was succeeded by his eldest son in the representation.

it was not without example in the same county, and in his own immediate neighbourhood, for Mr. Portman nearly at the same time exhibited a similar instance of rigour in respect to his eldest son. Be this as it may, Charles was educated at Poole, in the vicinity of the paternal mansion, and had for one of his school-fellows, Mr. Stephen of Serjeant's Inn, a barrister at law, and a M. P. in the present House of Commons.

Whether it was from the natural volatility of his temper, the proximity to the sea, or a concurrence of these and other causes, we know not, but certain it is, that at an early period of life he evinced a resolute determination for the naval service. The risks, difficulties, and inconveniencies attendant on this kind of life, are generally reserved for such children, as having nothing on land, are obliged to look to the water for subsistence. We can easily figure to ourselves, therefore, the usual demurs, objections and delays, but these were all surmounted at last, and Charles with a blue coat, adorned with a bit of white cloth on the collar, and provided with a fierce cocked hat, uniform dagger, &c. soon made his appearance on the quarter-deck of a manof-war.

It was his fate to be placed on board the flag-ship, commanded by Admiral Digby, and his good or bad fortune to have Prince William Henry, now Duke of Clarence, and Admiral of the Red, for his messmate. Whether it was some point of duty; some real or only supposed instance of arrogance, we

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