displays also, in a peculiar degree, the same prophetic sagacity which so often distinguished Mr. Burke; the prediction as to what the fate of the artist would be if he did not correct his peculiarities being literally verified.

66

My dear Barry,

Gregories, Sept. 16, 1769.

"I am most exceedingly obliged to your friendship and partiality, which attributed a silence very blameable on our parts to a favourable cause; let me add in some measure to its true cause, a great deal of occupation of various sorts, and some of them disagreeable enough.

Until

"As to any reports concerning your conduct and behaviour, you may be very sure they could have no kind of influence here; for none of us are of such a make as to trust to any one's report for the character of a person whom we ourselves know. very lately, I had never heard any thing of your proceedings from others; and when I did, it was much less than I had known from yourself, that you had been upon ill terms with the artists and virtuosi in Rome, without much mention of cause or consequence. If you have improved these unfortunate quarrels to your advancement in your art, you have turned a very disagreeable circumstance to a very capital advantage. However you may have succeeded in this uncommon attempt, permit me to suggest to you, with that friendly liberty which you have always had the goodness to bear from me, that you cannot possibly have always the same success, either with regard to your fortune or your reputation. Depend upon it, that you will find the same competitions, the same jealousies, the same arts and cabals, the emulations of interest and of fame, and the same agitations and passions here that you have experienced in Italy; and if they have the same effect on your temper, they will have just the same effects upon your interest; and be your merit what it will, you will never be employed to paint a picture. It will be the same at London as at Rome and the same in Paris as in London; for the world is pretty nearly alike in all its parts: nay, though it would perhaps be a little inconvenient to me, I had a thousand times rather you should fix your residence in Rome than here, as I should not then have the mortification of seeing with my own eyes a genius of the first rank lost to the world, himself, and his friends, as I certainly must, if you do not assume a manner of acting and thinking here, totally different from what your letters from Rome have described

to me.

;

"That you have had just subjects of indignation always, and of anger often, I do no ways doubt; who can live in the world without some trial of his patience? But believe me, my dear Barry, that the arms with which the ill dispositions of the world are to be combated, and the qualities by which it is to be reconciled to us, and we reconciled to it, are moderation, gentleness, a little in

dulgence to others, and a great deal of distrust of ourselves; which are not qualities of a mean spirit, as some may possibly think them; but virtues of a great and noble kind, and such as dignify our nature as much as they contribute to our repose and fortune; for nothing can be so unworthy of a well-composed soul, as to pass away life in bickerings and litigations, in snarling and scuffling with every one about us.

"Again and again, my dear Barry, we must be at peace with our species; if not for their sakes, yet very much for our own. Think what my feelings must be, from my unfeigned regard, and from my wishes that your talents might be of use, when I see what the inevitable consequences must be, of your persevering in what has hitherto been your course, ever since I knew you, and which you will permit me to trace out for you beforehand.

"You will come here; you will observe what the artists are doing; and you will sometimes speak a disapprobation in plain words, and sometimes by a no less expressive silence. By degrees you will produce some of your own works. They will be variously criticized: you will defend them; you will abuse those that have attacked you; expostulations, discussions, letters, possibly challenges, will go forward; you will shun your brethren, they will shun you. In the meantime, gentlemen will avoid your friendship, for fear of being engaged in your quarrels; you will fall into distresses which will only aggravate your disposition for farther quarrels; you will be obliged for maintenance to do any thing for any body; your very talents will depart for want of hope and encouragement; and you will go out of the world fretted, disappointed, and ruined.

Nothing but my real regard for you could induce me to set these considerations in this light before you. Remember, we are born to serve and to adorn our country, and not to contend with our fellow-citizens, and that in particular your business is to paint and not to dispute.

"If you think this a proper time to leave Rome (a matter which I leave entirely to yourself), I am quite of opinion you ought to go to Venice. Further, I think it right to see Florence and Bologna; and that you cannot do better than to take that route to Venice. In short, do every thing that may contribute to your improvement, and I shall rejoice to see you what Providence intended you, a very great man. This you were, in your ideas, before you quitted this; you best know how far you have studied, that is, practised the mechanic; despised nothing till you had tried it; practised dissections with your own hands, painted from nature as well as from the statues, and portrait as well as history, and this frequently. If you have done all this, as I trust you have, you want nothing but a little prudence, to fulfil all our wishes. This, let me tell you, is no small matter; for it is impossible for you to find any persons any where more truly interested for you; to

these dispositions attribute every thing which may be a little harsh in this letter. We are, thank God, all well, and all most truly and sincerely yours. I seldom write so long a letter. Take this as a sort of proof how much I am, dear Barry,

"Your faithful friend

" and humble servant,

"EDMUND BURKE."

CHAPTER V.

Mr. Burke and Sir William Bagott-Mr. Fox-Pamphlet on the Discontents—Parliamentary Business-Visit to France-Character of the House of CommonsMr. Burke's argument against taxing Irish Absentees-Letter to General LeeSpeech of the 19th of April, 1774-Goldsmith-Ill-humour of Barry-Johnson and Burke-Election for Bristol.

THE address, in reply to the speech from the throne, the City remonstrance to the King, the affairs of Mr. Wilkes, and the discontents which generally prevailed, brought Mr. Burke forward almost daily in the session commencing 9th January, 1770.

The debate of the first day, in which he took a leading part, occupied twelve hours; and the second called forth an animated defence of his friend Sir George Saville, from the censures of General Conway, for the alleged violence of his expressions in debate.

His most distinguished exertions during the session besides these, were on the 24th January, for a redress of grievances previous to granting a supply: on the 15th March, regarding the famous address, remonstrance, and petition of the City of London to the King, which he discussed with moderation and temper, aiming to apologize for the warmth of the popular feeling: on the 28th March, in favour of the bounty on the exportation of corn: on the 30th March, in support of Mr. Grenville's bill for regulating the trials of controverted elections, when he was represented by the writers of the time as having on these occasions spoken "inimitably well."

On the 8th May, he moved eight resolutions, which were supported by Mr. G. Grenville, relating to the disorders in North America, which were meant to censure the plan, or rather, as he said, the unhappy want of plan, of Ministers, in conducting the affairs of that country; and introduced by a speech reported by contemporary opinion, to be "full of sound argument, and infinite wit and raillery." In fact, all his exertions were characterized as being of this description, though from the little attention then paid to reporting, or rather the hostility of the House at that time

K

to the publication of their debates, the particulars, like those of other speeches, are not given, or given so meagrely as to afford little idea of what they were in delivery.

A tolerable criterion of the powers of a speaker in the House of Commons is the degree of abuse cast upon him by anonymous writers in the interest of the opposite party; and of this ungracious species of reputation, to which allusion has been already made, he had no ordinary share. The prejudice which it occasionally created against him, even among persons who ought to have known better, may be judged of from the following circumstance:

In the debate on the third reading of Mr. Grenville's bill for regulating controverted elections, which Lord North, Mr. Fox, and the Ministry, opposed, Sir William Bagott, who usually voted with the latter, said he must, on that measure, side with Opposition; but not from the slightest partiality to that body, for its whole system, in his opinion, went to wound the constitution through the sides of the Ministry; and he concluded by insinuating something about the body with which he was chiefly connected (the country gentlemen) being the only one of real importance or consideration in that House, and to whom the first and chief attention should be paid.

Mr. Burke, as the mouth of his party, was not likely to let such declarations escape without notice. He entered on a vigorous defence of his friends, and drew a fine distinction between faction, and the opposition of party founded on principle. He proceeded to show that Parliament was not meant to be a representation of the landed property only, as the preceding speaker seemed to believe, but of the commercial interest in an equal or still greater degree, as appeared from the establishment of so many boroughs-essential parts of that representation, existing in times earlier than any annals or history can give testimony of: also, that there never was any parliament from which the learned gentlemen of the long robe were excluded, except that one, infamous to a proverb, in the appellation which it acquired of parliamentum indoctum. He went on to compare the benefit derived to society from the unactuated load of landed abilities, which descended from generation to generation in the useless members of the community, and that derived from the acquirements, improvements, and activity of mental abilities; and showed that either might be pernicious, yet that both were of real benefit wherever and whenever they mixed, but always more so when acting in aid of each other.

The wit with which this topic was handled, as well perhaps as the general tone of the argument, irritated Sir William to a violent degree, insomuch that he went down to the House two days after, and gave loose to a most unmeasured invective against what he termed his "traducer," designating him indirectly a "black Jesuit," "a pupil of St. Omer's," fit to be "secretary to an Inqui

sition for burning heretics." Mr. Burke, who on these occasions preserved great equanimity of temper, smiled frequently during this tirade; and on its conclusion, assailed him again with a torrent of ridicule, which it is said the baronet never forgave, particularly when, from the day on which the contest took place, he was afterwards, for a time, nick-named " Burke's April-fool."

On another occasion, a considerable time after this, Sir William preserved more temper, and came off with better success. Mr. Burke having spoken at considerable length, made a long pause, a thing very unusual with him, which induced the baronet, who rose to follow him in the debate, to think he had ended.-" Sir, I have not yet concluded," said Mr. Burke "I beg pardon,” replied Sir William, with good humour, "but the honourable member can make allowance for the mistakes of a country gentleman;" adding with great happiness, a Latin quotation, to the effect, that being no more than a rustic, he conceived the stream of eloquence had ceased, but though it seemed wholly inexhaustible, it might probably prove tiresome. It frequently happened, however, that the baronet came under the sarcastic lash of Mr. Burke.

Sir William Bagott indeed was not the only one who thought that the importance and wisdom of a senator ought to depend on the amount of the stake he possesses in the land. Lord Crewe was accustomed to tell a pleasant story of a very opulent Liverpool trader, who, having invested a large sum in the purchase of estates, expressed the height of his ambition to be to have a park as large as that of the Duke of Bedford. Calling upon his lordship one day, at a time when from some matter of political interest Mr. Burke's name was on every tongue, and in every newspaper, he exclaimed in a broad, vulgar, self-sufficient manner-" And after all, who is this Mr. Burke, my Lord, that they make such a fuss about? Why, he's nobody.-He has'nt got our number of acres, my Lord."

A circumstance, which subsequent events made of interest, took place in the debate on the address this session, when Mr. Charles Fox, in his first parliamentary essay, attempting to answer the objections of the Rockingham party, had some of his arguments successfully turned into ridicule by its leader. No offence was taken by the young orator. He had been taught some time before, by the literary society at his father's table, to think highly of the talents of Mr. Burke. He had known him personally since 1766, and they had been intimate for about two years; and further acquaintance insured to the latter that admiration from his younger friend, which all who knew him intimately involuntarily felt. From an admirer of Mr. Burke, Mr. Fox became his disciple, from his disciple his coadjutor, from his coadjutor his amicable rival for fame; until at length, by the occurrence of extraordinary and unlooked-for events, he terminated as he began his career, his opponent.