leader the administration was dissolved; they retired to make way for a class of politicians, most of whom were directly opposed to them in nearly all the great questions which it was the business of parliament to

to give his consent to certain acts, which consent, his sense and his conscience told him, would involve a violation of his coronation oath. To this must be imputed the memorable recall of Earl Fitzwilliam, and to this must be ascribed his firmness in rejecting the propositions, resisting the persuasions of his late ministers. It is, indeed, to us a matter of extreme surprise, that under such circumstances, those ministers should have ventured to give a pledge in the first instance; and afterwards, for the purpose of redeeming it, to introduce the subject of it into his majesty's speech. The reception which such a proposition experienced was such as surely they had good reason to expect." Here it is admitted, that Ireland was cajoled into the union; that the ministers knew, prior to the negociation, the king's determination never to yield the point which they had conceded. Ought men, thus committed to a whole people, to have abandoned their pledge on any ground? Constitutionally, ought they to have stopped short till they had presented to the monarch their decision for his acceptance or refusal; and, in the case of the latter, would it not have been incumbent upon them to retire from office, and never to accept it again but on the express condition of keeping their faith, and retrieving their forfeited honour? But the union with Ireland was a measure of profoundest policy, and essential to the prosperity of both countries. But are men to do evil that good may come ? "Fiat justitia, ruat cœlum." The thing was done, but the conditions were not fulfilled-what followed? discontent, violent cabals, and finally, rebellion; and after the lapse of six and twenty years, how has the union benefited Ireland? We are not arguing for or against emancipation; we are only contending for good faith between contracting parties. It is a curious speculation, and might be reasoned upon in the abstract, in a constitution like that of Great Britain, having three estates of the realm, how far that estate, which consists of an individual,

discuss and determine. To Lord Grenville his majesty assigned the delicate task of arranging the new administration. The names of the new ministers soon appeared in the gazette; those in the cabinet consisted of Lords Grenville, Erskine, Fitzwilliam, Spencer, Moira, Sidmouth, and Ellenborough ; Lord Henry Petty, Mr. Fox, Mr. Wyndham, and Mr. Grey.

Lord Grenville succeeded Mr. Pitt as first lord of the treasury, and Lord Henry Petty (now the Marquis of Lansdown) as chancellor of the exchequer. Earl Fitzwilliam was appointed president of the council in the room of Lord Camden, and Viscount Sidmouth (late Mr. Addington) succeeded the Earl of Westmoreland as lord of the privy seal. Mr. Fox became secretary of the foreign office, vacated by the retirement of Lord Mulgrave. General Fitzpatrick succeeded Mr. William Dundas as secretary of war; and Mr. Wyndham Lord Castlereagh in the department of war and the colonies. In the home department, Lord Hawkesbury gave place to Earl Spencer. Mr. Erskine was made a baron by the title of Lord Erskine, and succeeded Lord Eldon as lord high chancellor of England. Mr. Grey succeeded Lord Barham as first lord of the admiralty. Lord Moira became master of the ordnance. Mr. Sheridan succeeded Mr. Canning as treasurer of the navy; the

can be justified in predetermining great questions of policy before they are discussed by the other two, and resolving, when they are discussed and proposed, to reject them from personal considerations, when it is constitutionally placed above all personal responsibility. We hope this country will never witness the practical illustration of this political abstraction, thrown out only for the reflection of the curious.

Duke of Bedford Lord Hardwicke in the government of Ireland. Earl St. Vincent was appointed to the command of the Channel fleet; and Lords Minto and Aukland presided, one over the board of control, the other over the board of trade. This is the administration on which has been lavished so much unmerited abuse. Thrown by their predecessors into circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, some of them labouring under the personal antipathy of the sovereign; their system of politics hated by a tory aristocracy, and exposed to the clamour of the people, because they could not work miracles, and bring, in spite of innumerable obstacles, their system into immediate operation; coldly supported by their friends and virulently assailed by their enemies, they were not destined long to survive the dissolution of their illustrious head; whose health, when he entered upon office, was visibly declining, and who literally fell a victim to the corroding cares which preyed upon his heart, the malevolence which fastened upon him its viper fangs,—and the vexatious disappointments which, for want of support from the throne and from the country, his enlightened measures were doomed to

encounter.

When it was certainly known that "the conscience of the king" on a great political question was to be the authority of the state, and that every administration must bow to this or retire, the partizans of Mr. Pitt strangely enough, if he was ever the friend of emancipation, set up the cry of "no popery," to harass his successors in office: their unworthy efforts were too successful, and all the "talents," as they were truly denominated, though in derision by their enemies, were not able to stand against the popular

clamour and the royal frown. We regret to say, that Mr. Canning lent himself to this unworthy expedient. His ribaldry, however, he did not confine to the subject of emancipation. The new ministry had scarcely entered upon its arduous duties, before it was thus assailed by the modern Juvenal.

ELIJAH'S MANTLE.

A TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT.

WHEN, by th' Almighty's dread command,
Elijah, call'd from Israel's land,

Rose in the sacred flame,

His Mantle good Elisha caught,
And, with the Prophet's spirit fraught,

Her second hope became.

In PITT our Israel saw combined

The Patriot's heart-the Prophet's mind,
Elijah's spirit here:

Now, sad reverse!—that spirit reft,
No confidence, no hope is left;
For no Elijah 's near.

Is there among the greedy band

Who've seized on power, with harpy hand,
And Patriot worth assume,

ONE on whom public faith can rest

ONE fit to wear Elijah's vest,

And cheer a Nation's gloom?

Grenville !-to aid thy Treasury fame,
A portion of Pitt's Mantle claim,
His gen'rous ardour feel;
Resolve, 'bove sordid self, to soar,
Amidst Exchequer gold be poor!

Thy wealth-the public weal.

Fox!-if on thee some remnant fall,

The shred may to thy mind recall
Those hours of loud debate,
When thy unhallow'd lips be-praised
“The glorious fabric” traitors raised
On Bourbon's fallen state.

Thy soul let Pitt's example fire,
With patriot zeal thy tongue inspire,
Spite of thy Gallic leaven ;

And teach thee in thy latest day
His form of prayer (if thou canst pray),
"O save my country, Heaven!"

Wyndham, if e'er thy sorrows flow
For private loss or public woe,
Thy rigid brow unbend:

Tears over Cæsar Brutus shed,

His hatred warr'd not with the dead-
And Pitt was once thy friend.

Does Envy bid thee not to mourn?
Hold then his Mantle up to scorn,
His well-earn'd fame assail:

Of funeral honours strip his corse,
And at his virtues till thou'rt hoarse,
Like curst Thersites rail!