hands-why they are not quoted and acted upon by our statesmen-why they are not incorporated with public opinion-why the nation does not make them its test in judging of revolutionists, revolutionary creeds, and revolutions—and why Fox is still worshipped, while the ashes of Burke slumber almost without notice, we will then cease to treat their boasts with derision. Edmund Burke was born at Dublin, January 1st, O. S. 1730. His father was a respectable attorney. After being some time at the Dublin University, he removed to London in 1750, with the intention of becoming a member of the bar. It does not appear that he gave any very striking indications of superior talent during the period of his education. He was, after all, a poet, and the following extracts from a translation of the conclusion of the second Georgic of Virgil, made when he was only sixteen, will be regarded as a curiosity : "Oh! happy swains! did they know how to prize The many blessings rural life supplies, Where in safe huts from clattering arms afar, The pomp of cities, and the din of war, Indulgent earth, to pay his labouring hand, Pours in his arms the blessings of the land; Calm through the valleys flows along his life, He knows no danger, as he knows no strife. What! though no marble portals, rooms of state, Vomit the cringing torrent from his gate, Though no proud purple hang his stately halls, Nor lives the breathing brass along his walls; Though the sheep clothe him without What various forms in Heaven's broad belt appear, Whose limits bound the circle of the year, Or, spread around, in glittering order lie, Or roll in mystic numbers through the sky! What dims the midnight lustre of the moon? What cause obstructs the sun's bright rays at noon? Why haste his fiery steeds so long to lave Their splendid chariot in the wintry wave? What love detains them in the realms Or why bring on the lazy moon so slow? below?" From reasons which do not appear, Burke forsook the study of the law, and was never called to the bar. He became an author by profession, at least he followed no other profession for several years, and there is no evidence that he sought any other, if we except his attempt to obtain the Professorship of Logic in the University of Glasgow. Mr Dugald Stewart doubts whether this attempt was ever made. Mr Prior controverts the common opinion, that his pen, at this period of his life, furnished him with his sole means of subsistence, and asserts, though he does not say on what authority, that his father allowed him two hundred pounds per annum. After labouring assiduously in his literary vocation for several years, he, in 1761, accompanied Mr Hamilton, better known by the name Single-speech Hamilton, who was made the Irish secretary, to Ireland, partly in the capacity of friend, and partly in that of private secretary. His connexion with this gentleman was not of long continuance. In 1765 he was made private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham, and obtained a seat in Parliament. He speedily became a brilliant orator, rose to the office of Whig leader in the House of Commons, and, after a long and laborious public life, spent chiefly in opposition, in which he proved himself to be one of the greatest men of the age, he died in 1797. We must now, in justice to Mr Prior, give some extracts from his book. Speaking of Burke's conduct in the years which followed his arrival in London, he states, "His more sedentary pursuits were followed with a degree of assiduity, which vivacious men commonly term plodding; but which more sober judgments know to be a good substitute for all other talents, and in fact the only surety for their excellence. His application was unwearied. Unlike most persons of vivid fancy, he had good sense enough to recollect, that the most brilliant imaginations ought not only to have wings to fly, but also legs to stand upon; in other words, that genius, unpropped by knowledge, may serve to amuse, but will rarely be useful in the more important concerns of mankind." "His excesses were not in dissipation, but in study. He gave way to no licentious inclinations. It is asserted that he did not then know a single game at cards; and that wine was no further a favourite than as it contributed to social inter course, of which he was at every period of his life, particularly with literary and scientific men, extremely fond, so far as the pleasures of conviviality could be enjoyed without its excesses." " Burke became a first-rate in Parliament almost immediately on his entering it. Mr Prior gives the following account of his debut. "The session opened for business on the 14th January, 1766, when Mr Burke seized the first opportunity of taking an active part in the discussion concerning America. The details are not otherwise known than from a few notes taken by Lord Charlemont. Mr Pitt, who professed to have no specific objection to the ministry, though he would not give them his confidence, immediately followed Mr Burke in the debate, and complimented him by observing, that the young member had proved a very able advocate; he had himself intended to enter at length into the details, but he had been anticipated with so much ingenuity and eloquence, there was little left for him to say; he congratulated him on his success, and his friends on the value of the acquisition they had made.'-After this he spoke frequently, and at length, and again received some unusual compliments, the highest estimates being formed of his powers as a speaker." In the following session, Lord Charlemont stated, in a letter to Mr Flood "I some time ago sent to Leland an account of our friend Burke's unparalleled success, which I suppose he communicated to you. His character daily rises, and Barré is totally eclipsed by him; his praise is universal; and even the Opposi tion, who own his superior talents, can find nothing to say against him, but that he is an impudent fellow." Of the eloquence displayed by Burke Prior thus speaks:on the impeachment of Hastings, Mr "But above them all, (Fox, Sheridan, &c.) beyond dispute stood Mr Burke.The greatest amazement, even to those who knew him best, was excited by the opening speech or speeches of the impeachment, which a modern writer, adcharacterizes in the general terms emverse to the impeachment itself, thus ployed at the time: Never were the powers of that wonderful man displayed to such advantage as on this occasion; and he astonished even those who were most intimately acquainted with him by the vast extent of his reading, the variety of his resources, the minuteness of his information, and the lucid order in which he arranged the whole for the support of his object, and to make a deep impression on the minds of his hearers.'" "Nothing, certainly, in the way of fact, and nothing, perhaps, even in theatrical representation, ever exceeded the effects produced among the auditory, by the detail of the cruelties of Debi Sing, which he gave on the third day, from the reports of Mr Paterson, who had been sent as commissioner to inquire into the circumstances. The whole statement is appalling and heart-sickening in the extreme; a convulsive sensation of horror, affright, and smothered execration, pervaded all the male part of his hearers, and audible sobbings and screams, attended with tears and faintings, the female. His own feelings were scarcely less overpowering; he dropped his head upon his hands, and for some minutes was unable to proceed.-Alluding to the close of this day, the writer of the history of the Trial says- In this part of his speech, Mr Burke's descriptions were more vivid, more harrowing, and more horrific, than human utterance, on either fact or fancy, perhaps, ever formed before. The agitation of most people was very apparent. Mrs Sheridan was so overpowered that she fainted; several others were as powerfully affected.'" "His powers,' says a political adversary,*' were never more conspicuous than on that memorable day, on which he exposed the enormities of a subaltern agent of oriental despotism-the tortures inflicted by his orders-the flagrant injus Dr Glennie. tice committed by his authority-the pollution that ensued in consequence of his sanction-when he painted agonizing nature vibrating in horrid suspense, between life and destruction-when he described, in the climax of crimes, death introduced into the very sources of life,' the bosoms of his auditors became convulsed with passion, and those of more delicate organs, or weaker frame, actually swooned away.'" "The testimony of the accused party himself is perhaps the strongest ever borne to the powers of any orator of any country. For half an hour,' said Mr Hastings, I looked up at the orator in a reverie of wonder; and during that space, I actually felt myself the most culpable man on earth;' adding, however-But I recurred to my own bosom, and there found a consciousness that consoled me under all I heard and all I suffered.'" We give the following extract respecting the famous "Reflections on the Revolution in France :" "The whole was polished with extraordinary care, more than a dozen of proofs being worked off and destroyed before he could please himself; it was set off with every attraction of the highest style of eloquence of which the English language is susceptible; it was impressed on the judgment by acute reasoning, by great penetration into the motives of human action, by maxims of the most sound and practical wisdom: nothing, indeed, which his genius, his knowledge, or his observation could supply, was omitted to give popularity to the Reflections on the Revolution in France." "In the beginning of November 1790, this celebrated work made its appearance, and a French translation, by his friend M. Dupont, quickly spread its reputation over all Europe. The publication proved one of the most remarkable events of the year, perhaps of the century; for it may be doubted whether any previous production ever excited so much attention, so much discussion, so much praise, so much animadversion, and ultimately, among the great majority of persons, such general conviction; having fully succeeded in turning the stream of public opinion to the direction he wished, from the channel in which it had hitherto flowed. The circulation of the book corresponded with its fame; about 30,000 copies were sold when there was not a third of the demand for books of any kind that there is at present-a greater sale, it is said, than that of any preceding work whatever of the same price." The particulars of Burke's rupture with Fox are too well known for us to transcribe them. Mr Prior thus vindicates Burke's fame from the aspersions which the Whigs have cast upon it, touching the matter: "Opposition soon saw in it the loss of much of that consequence they had hitherto enjoyed as a body in the state, and were thunderstruck at the consequences; uttering the harshest animadversions upon Mr Burke, not only at the breaking up of the house, but on all occasions afterwards during his life, and even since his death, as well as by writers of the same political partialities, not one of whom but misrepresents the circumstances of the quarrel, or attributes it, on the part of that gentleman, to a preconcerted scheme, or spleen at not being permitted to dictate the conduct of the body of which he was a member. "These assertions are now known to be wholly false. If design can be attributed to either party, it would seem to have rested rather with Mr Fox and his friends than with Mr Burke, for though they probably did not desire an open rupture with him, they went the straight way to work to effect it; for there is not a stronger instance than this in Parliamentary history, of what may be termed a dead set being made upon a member to prevent his delivering his sentiments on an extraordinary and questionable event, and this upon the trifling pretext of being out of order. Admitting him to have been out of order, which he was not, as the house decided, was it the business of his friends to attack him on that head? of the men with whom he had been so long associated, whose career he had so long directed, whose battles he had fought, whose credit he had been the first to raise in public esteem-to assail him with vehement disapprobation, persevering interruptions, and votes of censure?" "There are a variety of other reasons which tell strongly in favour of Mr Burke. Far from broaching it as a provocative to quarrel, he had, on the contrary, studiously avoided it in this and the preceding sessions, until introduced by the very persons who now professed to wish to avoid the subject. It was obviously his interest not to disagree with those with whom he had been so long connected; and more especially at this moment, when it was believed, in consequence of words which fell from the King in the dispute with Russia, that they were coming into power. He had already explicitly declared his intention to separate from the dearest friends, who. should give countenance to the revolu. tionary doctrines then afloat, and the breach with Mr Sheridan proved that this was no idle threat. He doubtless felt displeased that his general principles should be, if not misrepresented, at least so far misapplied, as to become the means of charging him with dereliction of principle. He might be angry that this should be done by one who had so long been his friend, and who made it his chief boast, even at the moment, that he was his disciple. He could not be well pleased that this disciple should condemn his book without ceremony, as an attack on all free governments." "The dispute was not about a private or trivial, but a great constitutional matter, which superseded all minor considerations, not a hackneyed or speculative topic on which they might amicably differ, and pass on to the consideration of others on which they agreed, but one in its consequences involving the very existence of the state. It was a question wholly new; it was one which agitated almost every man in the kingdom; it was constantly and progressively before the eyes of Parliament; it met the leaders at every turn in debate, and in some form or other mingled in every discussion of fact or principle. It was in itself full of difficulties, of jagged points and sharp angles, against which neither of them could rub without feeling some degree of irritation; and it was one on which, from the first, each seemed to have staked his whole reputation for political wisdom against the other." "From the moment, indeed, that Mr Fox pronounced such decided panegyrics upon the French Constitution, and particularly after the 15th April, when Mr Burke, as related, was prevented from replying by the clamour of his own party, a rupture between them appeared at hand. The very next morning, a general alarm at the consequences spread through the party. Several conciliatory explanations were offered to Mr Burke, and some apologies; many even who agreed with Mr Fox's opinions, did not hesitate to condemn him for imprudence in expressing them, though in fact he had been urged to do it; and for having already done so, two or three of the number had been tempted to say he was deficient in firm ness. On the other hand, some of Mr Burke's personal friends, and the connexions of the Duke of Portland, who thought nearly as he did of the proceed ings in France, wished him nevertheless to pass over the opinions and the challenges of Mr Fox and Mr Sheridan in silence. This, he urged, was impossible. He had been personally alluded to; and though treated without the least consideration or respect, this he would willingly forget; but without giving any cause for such a proceeding, he had been thrice within a week pointedly dared to the discussion; and standing as he did, pledged to the house and to the country upon the subject, which no other member was, it would look like political cowardice to shrink from the contest. He thought Mr Fox's opinions of great weight in the country, and should not be permitted to circulate through it uncontradicted. He was further impelled by an imperious sense of public duty, which he considered paramount to all other considerations. These reasons were deemed scarcely sufficient; he further heard that the adherents of Mr Fox had determined to interrupt him on the point of order; and that gentleman himself, in company with a friend, waited upon him to ask that the discussion might be postponed till another opportunity, which, Mr Burke pointed out, was not likely to occur again during the Session. To convince Mr Fox, however, that nothing personal or offensive was intended, he stated explicitly what he meant to say, all the heads of his arguments, and the limitations he designed to impose on himself; an instance of candour which Mr Fox returned by relating the favourable expressions of himself just alluded to, recently uttered by the king. The interview, therefore, though not quite satisfactory, excited no hostile feelings; on the contrary, they walked to the house together, but found that Mr Sheridan had moved to postpone the re-commitment of the bill until after the Easter holidays, when, as already stated, the discussion came on on the 6th of May. Something like premeditated hostility on the part of the minority towards Mr Burke appeared in the abuse heaped upon him during the interval by the newspapers in their interest.' ,, of the final summons from the world seemed to have prevailed with him; for several of the previous hours were employed in sending messages of affectionate remembrance to absent friends, in expressing his forgiveness of all who had in any manner injured or offended him, and in requesting the same from all whom his general or particular infirmities had offended. He recapitulated his motives of action in great public emergencies-his then thoughts on the alarming state of the country- the ruling passion even in death,'-gave some private directions connected with his approaching decease, and afterwards listened attentively to the perusal, by his own desire, of some serious papers of Addison on religious subjects, and on the immortality of the soul. These duties finished, his attendants, with Mr Nagle of the War-office, a relation, were conveying him to his bed, when, indistinctly articulating a blessing on those around him, he sunk down, and after a momentary struggle expired, July 8th, * 1797, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 'His end,' said Dr Lawrence, with great truth, 'was suited to the simple greatness of mind which he displayed through life, every way unaffected, without levity, without ostentation, full of natural grace and dignity. He appeared neither to wish, nor to dread, but patiently and placidly to await, the appointed hour of his dissolution.'" "In person he was five feet ten inches high, erect, well-formed, never very robust; when young, expert in the sports of his country and time; until his last illness, active in habits suited to his years, and always, it scarcely need be added, active in mind, having nothing of what he called that master vice sloth,' in his composition. His countenance in early life possessed considerable sweetness, and by his female friends was esteemed handsome.-Like Mr Fox, he was somewhat negligent in common dress, being latterly distinguished by a tight brown coat, which seemed to impede freedom of motion, and a little bob-wig with curls, which, in addition to his spectacles, made him be recognised by those who had never previously seen him, the moment he rose to speak in the House of Commons.-His address in private life possessed something of a chivalrous air-noble, yet unaffected and unreserved, impressing upon strangers of every rank, imperceptibly and without effort, the conviction of his being a remarkable man.-His manner in mixed society was unobtrusive, surrendering at once his desire to talk to any one who had, or who thought he had, the least claim to be heard: 'Where a loud-tongued talker was in company,' writes Cumberland, Edmund Burke declined all claims upon attention.' His conversational powers partook of the same fulness of mind which distinguished his eloquence; they never ran dry; the supply for the subject always exceeded the demand." We regret that our limits will not permit us to extract Mr Prior's details and anecdotes respecting Burke's private character. They prove that he was one of the best, as well as one of the greatest, of men. The generous and ready assistance which he ever rendered to destitute genius whenever it appealed to him, ought to endear his name to every friend of literature and the arts. His munificent patronage of Barry is well known, and several of his admirable letters to the artist enrich Mr Prior's work. Two reasons prevent us from quoting more largely from the volume. One is, the belief that our readers are already familiar with the leading incidents of Burke's life, and the other is, a wish to employ the remainder of our paper in enforcing some of the many lessons which his history offers to our public men, our political parties, and the country. The circumstances which led this wonderful man into public life, are not a little remarkable. He had no romance in his composition-he was a man of great caution, and vast foresight-he excelled all other men in comprehensive examination and unerring judgment-he had his full share of honourable ambition-he discovered immediately on his arrival in London, that "genius, the rath primrose, which forsaken dies,' was not patronized by any of the nobility, and that writers of the first talents were left to the capricious patronage of the public;"-and yet he abandoned the study of the law to become an author by profession. He forsook the path which seldom fails to lead moderate talents and industry to affluence and dignities, to follow that which rarely takes those who tread it to anything but poverty and obscurity, until they are alike insensible to dishonour and fame. This was singular, and it was still more singular, that after becoming a writer by profession, Burke should be able, without fortune, friends, and interest, as he was, to struggle into active and exalted political existence. If a man wish for a calling that will conduct him to honours and emolu |