"That the king fhould never fuffer any one of his nobility fo to excel the rest in honour, power, or wealth, as that he fhould refemble another king within the fame kingdom, in like manner as the duke of Lancafter formerly did: It being extremely hard for the worthieft man to bear a supereminence of rank, dignity, and fortune, A with that evennefs and decorum, as becomes the duty and fubmiffion of a subject."

B

John of Gaunt, duke of Lancofter, a younger fon of that great prince, Edward III. (who was in nothing fo unfortunate, as in the furviving both his abilities, and his glory) became the favourite of his father on the decline of his brother, the prince of Wales, was created duke of Lancafter almoft in fovereignty; was appointed commander in chief of the king's forces in France; had the negotiations of peace wholly under his direction, tho' not wholly under his name; and by the joint influence of so much power, and so much favour, form'd fuch a party, as enabled him C to bid for the fucceffion, and to raise commotions in the state.

It is true, king Edward was, in a manner, in his dotage; bufying himself only with his pleasures; celebrating jufts and tournaments, and proclaiming jubilees, for the entertainment of his fair miftrefs Alice Pierce, by him entitled, The lady of

had not pleafed divine Providence to touch the heart of the king himself in his favour: For after having gone thefe lengths in gratifying his beloved fon the duke, he, all at once, called for his grandson, created him earl of Chefter, and prince of Wales, gave him the precedency of his uncles, honoured him with the garter, and in this manner, fecured him to the inheritance, which he was afterwards deprived of by Henry duke of Lancaster and Hereford, the fon of his uncle Jebn of Gaunt: And in confequence of that breach in the fucceffion, arofe the fatal quarrel between the two branches of the fame royal house, which, for fo many years together, made a flaughter-house of the kingdom.

This is enough to illuftrate the particular cafe alluded to by Sir Walter: And poffibly what more immediately induced him to touch upon this ftring was, the observations which he himself had made on the prefumptions of the two great favourites of queen Elizabeth, Robert earl of Leicester, and Robert earl of Effex; and more efpecially of Robert Car earl of Semerfet, the first favourite of king James, who had the infolence to put himself in oppofition to Henry prince of Wales; and that with fo much fuccefs, thro' the countenance of the king, and the fordid fervility of his courtiers and ministers, as almost to croud him out

the fun: And when the neceffities, which D of his place.

were the effects of his riots and prodigalities,
obliged him to call a parliament, that very
parliament, justly alarmed at the indolence
and fupineness of the king, the ambition of
the duke, and the dangers which threatened
the offspring of the prince of Wales, in-
ftead of fupplying his wants, complained
of their own; and not only fet forth their E
grievances at full, but demanded, that the
duke and his accomplices, as the caufers of
them, might be removed from court;
which was done accordingly.

But then, no fooner was the prince of Wales departed, than the king was induced to recal them again; and the duke reobtained fuch an afcendency over him,

But thefe are not the only instances of this kind of impolicy, which are to be met with in the British Rory.

King Charles II. by the connivance, if not the encouragement, of his minifter Clarendon, was induced, when but newly married, and with reasonable prospect of legitimate iffue, to make fuch a provifion in point of revenue, for his brother, the duke of York, as rendered him independent of the crown: And as well by appointing him lord-high- admiral at first, as afterwards by fuffering him, on the death of Merk, and the difgrace of Monmouth, to distribute all the military posts among his creatures, put it into his power to establish such an intereft, and to create fuch a faction, as

that he procured all the powers of the F had ftrength enough to fcreen him against

ki gdom to be vefted in his hands; and in concert with Alice Pierce, caufed Sir Peter de la Mere, fpeaker of the house of commons, who had, in their name, exhibited the complaints, and demanded the removals, before fpoken of, to be fentenced by the king to perpetual imprisonment in Newgate.

The cafe of the young heir apparent † in right of his deceafed father the prince of Wales, now feem'd to be defperate; and defperate indeed it would have been, if it

Commonly call'd, The black Prince. York and Lancaster,

G

all the efforts of the house of commons, in the affair of the exclufion bill, and even against the misgivings of the king himself, who look'd on him with jealousy, and yet was afraid to co-operate with the faction against him, tho' in favour of a fon that he lov'd.

You yourself, Sir, if I remember right, have fomewhere touch'd on the unfizeable greatnefs, which the duke of Marlborough, partly by the unbounded favour of the queen to his dutchefs, partly by the fame

1749. QUERIES in Relation to the African Trade.

of his victories, and partly by his alliances and connections, made a fhift to attain ; and alfo on the project which was faid to be in agitation to conftitute him general for life, by authority of parliament.

But tho' every one of these particulars ferves to verify Sir Walter's maxim, those do it most and beft, which are drawn from A the royal family : A mere subject, of what ever rank, who cherishes an irregular ambition, has a much greater height to climb than a prince of the blood: And if he falls, he is fure to rife no more: Whereas, a prince, on the contrary, has a footing on the afcent; is fure to find defperadoes ready to affift him in the adventure, on condition they may fhare in the profits; if he attains the fummit, is also fure to be furnished with fufficient pretences to juftify his elevation; and, if he miscarries, may expect a gentle fall.

Henry IV. Henry VII. and even William II. what private wrongs foever they had to avenge, or publick pretences to affign, in order to befpeak the favour and affiftance of the publick, would not have found their way fo easily to the throne, if they had not had fomething like a family-claim to warrant their approaches to it.

231

had been fubftituted in its place: That a vein of brutality appeared even in his most pleasurable hours: That his difcourfe upon all occafions was in the style of a Bashaw: That being told he had loft the hearts of thofe under his command, he had reply'd in the words of Caligula, Oderint dum metuant: That not fatisfy'd with the province of power affign'd him, he broke violently into every other; and behaved in all, as if they were his by conquest, if not by right: That he chofe for his counfellors and advifers none but fuch as were at open war with all principle, and who were known to have nothing at heart but the gratification of their own wicked views: That in his B deportment towards thofe who were fo flationed as to look down upon him, he fcarce preferved the appearance either of duty or decency: That all he faid or did, partook of fuch an arbitrary spirit, as was fcarce reconcileable to the claims and rights of a free-born people; and lafly, that even in his parleys with majefty itself, he fometimes gave way to fuch fallies of violence and impetuofity, as were not over confiftent with the reverence due to it :

C

If, therefore, it is impolitick to fuffer any one of the nobility fo to excel the rest in honour, power, or wealth, as to refemble another king within the fame kingdom, D it will follow, That to veft a prince of the blood-royal with that excellency, would be impolitick in the fuperlative degree.

But then this must be understood under fome restriction: For it is admitted by Sir Walter, in another of his maxims, quoted alfo by you, That government is the element of the beir apparent: And that it would be altogether as detrimental to the common. E wealth to exclude him from a proper share of it, as to entrust an improper share of it with any body elfe.

In short, he intends a minor prince of the blood, as John of Gaunt ought to be esteemed, tho' the fon of a king: And if by a nice difquifition into the character of that afpirer, we fhould find that nature had not only formed him of fuch ingredients, as were adverfe to the repofe of mankind, but added fuch an index to her work, as left no room to mistake the contents, one would be apt to think, that nothing but the highest degree of infatuation on one hand, and the most unjustifiable purposes on the other, could have occafioned the lodging any extraordinary powers and pre- G

eminences in fuch dangerous hands.

If, for example, it should be known, that pity had been left out of his compofition; that by another ftrange mistake, a double proportion of rigour and feverty

I fay, if John of Gaunt was known to be a man of this make, the maxim concludes more forcibly against him, as the son of a king, than it does against any other perfon : And for my part, Mr. Cadwallader, I can difcern no manner of indecency, in publishing as much in print; fince we are not to fuppofe, that any such aspirer is now livGAUNTLET. ing.

QUERIES with Regard to an open African
Company, to be managed by nine Merchants
or Trustees, to be elected by the Traders of
Liverpool, Bristol, and London.

I.

Hat fecurity will the faid trustees

give, that the governors, agents, and factors, who fhall be empowered by them to take care of the forts and fettlements in Africa, will answer fuch damages as fhall happen to other traders by their interruption or misconduct ?

II. What affurances can fuch trustees, as feparate traders, give, that they will have a fufficient and conftant fupply of goods at all the forts and fettlements on the Gold Coaft, and that they will defend or affift either or any of the faid forts with a joint force from other forts, in cafes of infults?

III. Who is to be chargeable for the lofs of any of our forts and fettlements on the Gold Coast, by means of any neglect or misconduct, aforefaid? And how can any fatisfaction be obtained from merchants, or other gentlemen of feparate intereft, without any joint obligation, or joint intereft, in the trader to the faid forts and fettlements?

G & 2

FAIR

powerful dart, To wound with love those beauteous charms, Which

thus had imote his heart: Which thus had fmote his heart.

Another Orpheus. Oft beneath the shade
Of elm, oak, maple, or the fpreading beach,
He fung fair Rofalind, and ftill his ftrains
Hang mufical on ev'ry fhepherd's ear.
Ah! lov'd Eugenis, could the rain of eyes,
The garb's dark glofs, or, mind's more
fable hue
[friend
Touch Pluto's iron foul, e'er now thy
Had melted to a fountain; but the guloh,
The mighty gulph between, that poets
feign,

Once pafs'd irremeable, holds thee back
With nine-fold fence for ever. Then I'll