French would have formed no army there. Whereas, if we form an army next summer in ́ Flanders, though we do not begin to act offensively with that army, as I firmly believe we do not intend to do, it may furnish the French with an excuse for attacking the Queen of Hungary in that country, and that excuse may be admitted by the Dutch, who seem at present to have no sort of jealousy of France.

In short, Sir, as I could at first see no reason for sending our troops to Flanders, unless it was to furnish our ministers with a pretence for loading us with the maintenance of 16,000 Hanoverians, I can now see no reason for our keeping them there, unless it be to furnish a pretence for continuing that load upon us; and as I think our keeping them there may be attended with infinite danger to the cause of the Queen of Hungary, I cannot therefore agree with the report of the committee.'

The report was agreed to.

Some apology or explanation is necessary, for inserting the preceding speeches, under the name of Mr. Pitt.-The reader has undoubtedly .observed, that the style in which they are written, does not seem to preserve Mr. Pitt's language

or phrase; but they have been printed in the Parliamentary Debates of this period; and it has not come to the Editor's knowledge that there is any better, or even any other, account of them extant. They were written by a Mr. Gordon, a minister of the church of Scotland, originally for the London Magazine—when Dr. Samuel Johnson had ceased to write the speeches for the Gentleman's Magazine; or rather when Cave, the printer of that miscellany, was punished for printing them. Gordon continued some sketches of them, with less accuracy, and in inferior language, but with more attention to the argument, until the death of Frederick Prince of Wales, in 1751. His practice was to go to the coffee-houses contiguous to Westminster Hall, where he frequently heard the members conversing with each other upon what had passed in the House; and sometimes he gained admission into the gallery; and as he was known to a few of the gentlemen, two or three of them, upon particular occasions, furnished him with some information.

The vigorous opposition which Mr. Pitt had made in Parliament to the measures pursued for the defence of Hanover, raised him very high in the esteem of the English nation. He had for some years been admired as an orator-he was

now revered as a patriot. The spirit and energy which distinguished his parliamentary conduct, evinced that he was actuated by principle, not by an illiberal passion to display the superiority of his talents; that his opposition was the result of conviction, not of pique; that it was not founded in a personal consideration of the men who held the offices of government, but in an indignant abhorrence of the measures which, he said, insulated Great Britain from a participation of the advantages her money was voted to procure, and gave her a right to demand.

Amongst the many persons of elevated rank who honoured this conduct of Mr. Pitt with the warmest approbation, was Sarah Duchess Dowager of Marlborough. This lady, by a codicil to her will, dated on the 11th of August 1744, gave to Mr. Pitt a legacy, in these words*:

"I also give to William Pitt, of the parish of "St. James, within the liberty of Westminster,

Esq. the sum of Ten Thousand Pounds, upon "account of his merit, in the noble defence he "has made for the support of the laws of England, and to prevent the ruin of his country."

* She died in October following, and the money was paid.

CHAP. VI.

State of the Ministry.-Lord Carlisle disappointed of Privy Seal.-Lord Cobham joins the Pelhams. Lord Granville opposed in Council, and resigns. -The Broad Bottom Ministry appointed.-Mr. Pitt's reply to Sir Francis Dashwood, on the Address.-Mr. Pitt's reply to Mr. Hume Campbell, on the Noblemen's New-raised regiments.

FROM the time that Sir Robert Walpole had been compelled to relinquish the government, the British councils had not been influenced by the principles, of any system, plan or regulation. It was a government of expedients, proceeding fortuitously; too cowardly to act upon a bold measure, and too ignorant to frame a wise one. The members of the cabinet being composed of deserters from all parties, became a faction, without confidence in each other. Lord Bath, who had been their creator, was the only cement which held them together.

It has been observed that Lord Carteret, who had been made secretary of state by Lord Bath, had gained an ascendency in the closet, by fa

vouring the predilections or the King respecting Hanover. This ascendency alarmed the other members of the cabinet. They beheld with jealousy Lord Carteret's increasing influence with the King. There was, however, a manly firmness and dignified deportment in Lord Carteret's conduct. His German measures were always communicated to the British cabinet in the first instance; nor was there any attempt ever made to carry them into execution, until they had been proposed to, and adopted by, his colleagues in office. But had the King concerted them secretly with his Hanoverian council, and not communicated the information to his British ministers, until it was necessary to involve his British dominions in the expence, and when it was too late to make any alteration;-it is more than probable that Lord Carteret would, in such a case, have laid the seals at his Majesty's feet.

It has long been seen clearly, and said by wise and honest men, that the foundation of all other factions is the faction at court. The court faction, which had been lately formed by Lord Bath, gave rise to several factions. During these disputes Lord Cobham and his friends kept aloof.

The unsettled state of the ministry was made