SYBIL
,
or
THE
TWO
NATIONS
By
Benjamin
Disraeli
I
would
inscribe
these
volumes
to
one
whose
noble
spirit
and
gentle
nature
ever
prompt
her
to
sympathise
with
the
suffering
;
to
one
whose
sweet
voice
has
often
encouraged
,
and
whose
taste
and
judgment
have
ever
guided
,
their
pages
;
the
most
severe
of
critics
,
but
—
a
perfect
Wife
!
Advertisement
The
general
reader
whose
attention
has
not
been
specially
drawn
to
the
subject
which
these
volumes
aim
to
illustrate
,
the
Condition
of
the
People
,
might
suspect
that
the
Writer
had
been
tempted
to
some
exaggeration
in
the
scenes
which
he
has
drawn
and
the
impressions
which
he
has
wished
to
convey
.
He
thinks
it
therefore
due
to
himself
to
state
that
he
believes
there
is
not
a
trait
in
this
work
for
which
he
has
not
the
authority
of
his
own
observation
,
or
the
authentic
evidence
which
has
been
received
by
Royal
Commissions
and
Parliamentary
Committees
.
But
while
he
hopes
he
has
alleged
nothing
which
is
not
true
,
he
has
found
the
absolute
necessity
of
suppressing
much
that
is
genuine
.
For
so
little
do
we
know
of
the
state
of
our
own
country
that
the
air
of
improbability
that
the
whole
truth
would
inevitably
throw
over
these
pages
,
might
deter
many
from
their
perusal
.
Grosvenor-Gate
,
May
Day
,
1845.
Sybil
,
or
the
Two
Nations
BOOK
I
CHAPTER
I
.
“
I’ll
take
the
odds
against
Caravan
.
”
“
In
poneys
?
”
“
Done
.
”
And
Lord
Milford
,
a
young
noble
,
entered
in
his
book
the
bet
which
he
had
just
made
with
Mr
Latour
,
a
grey
headed
member
of
the
Jockey
Club
.
It
was
the
eve
of
the
Derby
of
1837.
In
a
vast
and
golden
saloon
,
that
in
its
decorations
would
have
become
,
and
in
its
splendour
would
not
have
disgraced
,
Versailles
in
the
days
of
the
grand
monarch
,
were
assembled
many
whose
hearts
beat
at
the
thought
of
the
morrow
,
and
whose
brains
still
laboured
to
control
its
fortunes
to
their
advantage
.
“
They
say
that
Caravan
looks
puffy
,
”
lisped
in
a
low
voice
a
young
man
,
lounging
on
the
edge
of
a
buhl
table
that
had
once
belonged
to
a
Mortemart
,
and
dangling
a
rich
cane
with
affected
indifference
in
order
to
conceal
his
anxiety
from
all
,
except
the
person
whom
he
addressed
.
“
They
are
taking
seven
to
two
against
him
freely
over
the
way
,
”
was
the
reply
.
“
I
believe
it’s
all
right
.
”
“
Do
you
know
I
dreamed
last
night
something
about
Mango
,
”
continued
the
gentleman
with
the
cane
,
and
with
a
look
of
uneasy
superstition
.
His
companion
shook
his
head
.
“
Well
,
”
continued
the
gentleman
with
the
cane
,
“
I
have
no
opinion
of
him
.
I
gave
Charles
Egremont
the
odds
against
Mango
this
morning
;
he
goes
with
us
,
you
know
.
By
the
bye
,
who
is
our
fourth
?
”
“
I
thought
of
Milford
,
”
was
the
reply
in
an
under
tone
.
“
What
say
you
?
”
“
Milford
is
going
with
St
James
and
Punch
Hughes
.
”
“
Well
,
let
us
come
into
supper
,
and
we
shall
see
some
fellow
we
like
.
”
So
saying
,
the
companions
,
taking
their
course
through
more
than
one
chamber
,
entered
an
apartment
of
less
dimensions
than
the
principal
saloon
,
but
not
less
sumptuous
in
its
general
appearance
.
The
gleaming
lustres
poured
a
flood
of
soft
yet
brilliant
light
over
a
plateau
glittering
with
gold
plate
,
and
fragrant
with
exotics
embedded
in
vases
of
rare
porcelain
.
The
seats
on
each
side
of
the
table
were
occupied
by
persons
consuming
,
with
a
heedless
air
,
delicacies
for
which
they
had
no
appetite
;
while
the
conversation
in
general
consisted
of
flying
phrases
referring
to
the
impending
event
of
the
great
day
that
had
already
dawned
.
“
Come
from
Lady
St
Julian’s
,
Fitz
?
”
said
a
youth
of
very
tender
years
,
and
whose
fair
visage
was
as
downy
and
as
blooming
as
the
peach
from
which
with
a
languid
air
he
withdrew
his
lips
to
make
this
inquiry
of
the
gentleman
with
the
cane
.
“
Yes
;
why
were
not
you
there
?
”
“
I
never
go
anywhere
,
”
replied
the
melancholy
Cupid
,
“
everything
bores
me
so
.
”
“
Well
,
will
you
go
to
Epsom
with
us
to-morrow
,
Alfred
?
”
said
Lord
Fitzheron
.
“
I
take
Berners
and
Charles
Egremont
,
and
with
you
our
party
will
be
perfect
.
”
“
I
feel
so
cursed
blase
!
”
exclaimed
the
boy
in
a
tone
of
elegant
anguish
.
“
It
will
give
you
a
fillip
,
Alfred
,
”
said
Mr
Berners
;
“
do
you
all
the
good
in
the
world
.
”
“
Nothing
can
do
me
good
,
”
said
Alfred
,
throwing
away
his
almost
untasted
peach
,
“
I
should
be
quite
content
if
anything
could
do
me
harm
.
Waiter
,
bring
me
a
tumbler
of
Badminton
.
”
“
And
bring
me
one
too
,
”
sighed
out
Lord
Eugene
De
Vere
,
who
was
a
year
older
than
Alfred
Mountchesney
,
his
companion
and
brother
in
listlessness
.
Both
had
exhausted
life
in
their
teens
,
and
all
that
remained
for
them
was
to
mourn
,
amid
the
ruins
of
their
reminiscences
,
over
the
extinction
of
excitement
.
“
Well
,
Eugene
,
suppose
you
come
with
us
.
”
said
Lord
Fitzheron
.
“
I
think
I
shall
go
down
to
Hampton
Court
and
play
tennis
,
”
said
Lord
Eugene
.
“
As
it
is
the
Derby
,
nobody
will
be
there
.
”
“
And
I
will
go
with
you
,
Eugene
,
”
said
Alfred
Mountchesney
,
“
and
we
will
dine
together
afterwards
at
the
Toy
.
Anything
is
better
than
dining
in
this
infernal
London
.
”
“
Well
,
for
my
part
,
”
said
Mr
Berners
.
“
I
do
not
like
your
suburban
dinners
.
You
always
get
something
you
can’t
eat
,
and
cursed
bad
wine
.
”
“
I
rather
like
bad
wine
,
”
said
Mr
Mountchesney
;
“
one
gets
so
bored
with
good
wine
.
”
“
Do
you
want
the
odds
against
Hybiscus
,
Berners
?
”
said
a
guardsman
looking
up
from
his
book
,
which
he
had
been
very
intently
studying
.
“
All
I
want
is
some
supper
,
and
as
you
are
not
using
your
place
—
”
“
You
shall
have
it
.
Oh
!
here’s
Milford
,
he
will
give
them
me
.
”
And
at
this
moment
entered
the
room
the
young
nobleman
whom
we
have
before
mentioned
,
accompanied
by
an
individual
who
was
approaching
perhaps
the
termination
of
his
fifth
lustre
but
whose
general
air
rather
betokened
even
a
less
experienced
time
of
life
.
Tall
,
with
a
well-proportioned
figure
and
a
graceful
carriage
,
his
countenance
touched
with
a
sensibility
that
at
once
engages
the
affections
.
Charles
Egremont
was
not
only
admired
by
that
sex
,
whose
approval
generally
secures
men
enemies
among
their
fellows
,
but
was
at
the
same
time
the
favourite
of
his
own
.
“
Ah
,
Egremont
!
come
and
sit
here
,
”
exclaimed
more
than
one
banqueter
.
“
I
saw
you
waltzing
with
the
little
Bertie
,
old
fellow
,
”
said
Lord
Fitzheron
,
“
and
therefore
did
not
stay
to
speak
to
you
,
as
I
thought
we
should
meet
here
.
I
am
to
call
for
you
,
mind
.
”
“
How
shall
we
all
feel
this
time
to-morrow
?
”
said
Egremont
,
smiling
.
“
The
happiest
fellow
at
this
moment
must
be
Cockie
Graves
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
.
“
He
can
have
no
suspense
.
I
have
been
looking
over
his
book
,
and
I
defy
him
,
whatever
happens
,
not
to
lose
.
”
“
Poor
Cockie
.
”
said
Mr
Berners
;
“
he
has
asked
me
to
dine
with
him
at
the
Clarendon
on
Saturday
.
”
“
Cockie
is
a
very
good
Cockie
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
,
“
and
Caravan
is
a
very
good
horse
;
and
if
any
gentleman
sportsman
present
wishes
to
give
seven
to
two
,
I
will
take
him
to
any
amount
.
”
“
My
book
is
made
up
,
”
said
Egremont
;
“
and
I
stand
or
fall
by
Caravan
.
”
“
And
I
.
”
“
And
I
.
”
“
And
I
.
”
“
Well
,
mark
my
words
,
”
said
a
fourth
,
rather
solemnly
,
“
Rat-trap
wins
.
”
“
There
is
not
a
horse
except
Caravan
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
,
“
fit
for
a
borough
stake
.
”
“
You
used
to
be
all
for
Phosphorus
,
Egremont
,
”
said
Lord
Eugene
de
Vere
.
“
Yes
;
but
fortunately
I
have
got
out
of
that
scrape
.
I
owe
Phip
Dormer
a
good
turn
for
that
.
I
was
the
third
man
who
knew
he
had
gone
lame
.
”
“
And
what
are
the
odds
against
him
now
.
”
“
Oh
!
nominal
;
forty
to
one
,
—
what
you
please
.
”
“
He
won’t
run
,
”
said
Mr
Berners
,
“
John
Day
told
me
he
had
refused
to
ride
him
.
”
“
I
believe
Cockie
Graves
might
win
something
if
Phosphorus
came
in
first
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
,
laughing
.
“
How
close
it
is
to-night
!
”
said
Egremont
.
“
Waiter
,
give
me
some
Seltzer
water
;
and
open
another
window
;
open
them
all
.
”
At
this
moment
an
influx
of
guests
intimated
that
the
assembly
at
Lady
St
Julian’s
was
broken
up
.
Many
at
the
table
rose
and
yielded
their
places
,
clustering
round
the
chimney-piece
,
or
forming
in
various
groups
,
and
discussing
the
great
question
.
Several
of
those
who
had
recently
entered
were
votaries
of
Rat-trap
,
the
favourite
,
and
quite
prepared
,
from
all
the
information
that
had
reached
them
,
to
back
their
opinions
valiantly
.
The
conversation
had
now
become
general
and
animated
,
or
rather
there
was
a
medley
of
voices
in
which
little
was
distinguished
except
the
names
of
horses
and
the
amount
of
odds
.
In
the
midst
of
all
this
,
waiters
glided
about
handing
incomprehensible
mixtures
bearing
aristocratic
names
;
mystical
combinations
of
French
wines
and
German
waters
,
flavoured
with
slices
of
Portugal
fruits
,
and
cooled
with
lumps
of
American
ice
,
compositions
which
immortalized
the
creative
genius
of
some
high
patrician
name
.
“
By
Jove
!
that’s
a
flash
,
”
exclaimed
Lord
Milford
,
as
a
blaze
of
lightning
seemed
to
suffuse
the
chamber
,
and
the
beaming
lustres
turned
white
and
ghastly
in
the
glare
.
The
thunder
rolled
over
the
building
.
There
was
a
dead
silence
.
Was
it
going
to
rain
?
Was
it
going
to
pour
?
Was
the
storm
confined
to
the
metropolis
?
Would
it
reach
Epsom
?
A
deluge
,
and
the
course
would
be
a
quagmire
,
and
strength
might
baffle
speed
.
Another
flash
,
another
explosion
,
the
hissing
noise
of
rain
.
Lord
Milford
moved
aside
,
and
jealous
of
the
eye
of
another
,
read
a
letter
from
Chifney
,
and
in
a
few
minutes
afterwards
offered
to
take
the
odds
against
Pocket
Hercules
.
Mr
Latour
walked
to
the
window
,
surveyed
the
heavens
,
sighed
that
there
was
not
time
to
send
his
tiger
from
the
door
to
Epsom
,
and
get
information
whether
the
storm
had
reached
the
Surrey
hills
,
for
to-night’s
operations
.
It
was
too
late
.
So
he
took
a
rusk
and
a
glass
of
lemonade
,
and
retired
to
rest
with
a
cool
head
and
a
cooler
heart
.
The
storm
raged
,
the
incessant
flash
played
as
it
were
round
the
burnished
cornice
of
the
chamber
,
and
threw
a
lurid
hue
on
the
scenes
of
Watteau
and
Boucher
that
sparkled
in
the
medallions
over
the
lofty
doors
.
The
thunderbolts
seemed
to
descend
in
clattering
confusion
upon
the
roof
.
Sometimes
there
was
a
moment
of
dead
silence
,
broken
only
by
the
pattering
of
the
rain
in
the
street
without
,
or
the
pattering
of
the
dice
in
a
chamber
at
hand
.
Then
horses
were
backed
,
bets
made
,
and
there
were
loud
and
frequent
calls
for
brimming
goblets
from
hurrying
waiters
,
distracted
by
the
lightning
and
deafened
by
the
peal
.
It
seemed
a
scene
and
a
supper
where
the
marble
guest
of
Juan
might
have
been
expected
,
and
had
he
arrived
,
he
would
have
found
probably
hearts
as
bold
and
spirits
as
reckless
as
he
encountered
in
Andalusia
.
CHAPTER
II
.
“
Will
any
one
do
anything
about
Hybiscus
?
”
sang
out
a
gentleman
in
the
ring
at
Epsom
.
It
was
full
of
eager
groups
;
round
the
betting
post
a
swarming
cluster
,
while
the
magic
circle
itself
was
surrounded
by
a
host
of
horsemen
shouting
from
their
saddles
the
odds
they
were
ready
to
receive
or
give
,
and
the
names
of
the
horses
they
were
prepared
to
back
or
to
oppose
.
“
Will
any
one
do
anything
about
Hybiscus
?
”
“
I’ll
give
you
five
to
one
,
”
said
a
tall
,
stiff
Saxon
peer
,
in
a
white
great
coat
.
“
No
;
I’ll
take
six
.
”
The
tall
,
stiff
peer
in
the
white
great
coat
mused
for
a
moment
with
his
pencil
at
his
lip
,
and
then
said
,
“
Well
,
I’ll
give
you
six
.
What
do
you
say
about
Mango
?
”
“
Eleven
to
two
against
Mango
,
”
called
out
a
little
humpbacked
man
in
a
shrill
voice
,
but
with
the
air
of
one
who
was
master
of
his
work
.
“
I
should
like
to
do
a
little
business
with
you
,
Mr
Chippendale
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
in
a
coaxing
tone
,
“
but
I
must
have
six
to
one
.
”
“
Eleven
to
two
,
and
no
mistake
,
”
said
this
keeper
of
a
second-rate
gaming-house
,
who
,
known
by
the
flattering
appellation
of
Hump
Chippendale
,
now
turned
with
malignant
abruptness
from
the
heir
apparent
of
an
English
earldom
.
“
You
shall
have
six
to
one
,
my
Lord
,
”
said
Captain
Spruce
,
a
debonair
personage
with
a
well-turned
silk
hat
arranged
a
little
aside
,
his
coloured
cravat
tied
with
precision
,
his
whiskers
trimmed
like
a
quickset
hedge
.
Spruce
,
who
had
earned
his
title
of
Captain
on
the
plains
of
Newmarket
,
which
had
witnessed
for
many
a
year
his
successful
exploits
,
had
a
weakness
for
the
aristocracy
,
who
knowing
his
graceful
infirmity
patronized
him
with
condescending
dexterity
,
acknowledged
his
existence
in
Pall
Mall
as
well
as
at
Tattersalls
,
and
thus
occasionally
got
a
point
more
than
the
betting
out
of
him
.
Hump
Chippendale
had
none
of
these
gentle
failings
;
he
was
a
democratic
leg
,
who
loved
to
fleece
a
noble
,
and
thought
all
men
were
born
equal
—
a
consoling
creed
that
was
a
hedge
for
his
hump
.
“
Seven
to
four
against
the
favourite
;
seven
to
two
against
Caravan
;
eleven
to
two
against
Mango
.
What
about
Benedict
?
Will
any
one
do
anything
about
Pocket
Hercules
?
Thirty
to
one
against
Dardanelles
.
”
“
Done
.
”
“
Five
and
thirty
ponies
to
one
against
Phosphorus
,
”
shouted
a
little
man
vociferously
and
repeatedly
.
“
I
will
give
forty
,
”
said
Lord
Milford
.
No
answer
,
—
nothing
done
.
“
Forty
to
one
!
”
murmured
Egremont
who
stood
against
Phosphorus
.
A
little
nervous
,
he
said
to
the
peer
in
the
white
great
coat
,
“
Don’t
you
think
that
Phosphorus
may
after
all
have
some
chance
?
”
“
I
should
be
cursed
sorry
to
be
deep
against
him
,
”
said
the
peer
.
Egremont
with
a
quivering
lip
walked
away
.
He
consulted
his
book
;
he
meditated
anxiously
.
Should
he
hedge
?
It
was
scarcely
worth
while
to
mar
the
symmetry
of
his
winnings
;
he
stood
“
so
well
”
by
all
the
favourites
;
and
for
a
horse
at
forty
to
one
.
No
;
he
would
trust
his
star
,
he
would
not
hedge
.
“
Mr
Chippendale
,
”
whispered
the
peer
in
the
white
great
coat
,
“
go
and
press
Mr
Egremont
about
Phosphorus
.
I
should
not
be
surprised
if
you
got
a
good
thing
.
”
At
this
moment
,
a
huge
,
broad-faced
,
rosy-gilled
fellow
,
with
one
of
those
good-humoured
yet
cunning
countenances
that
we
meet
occasionally
on
the
northern
side
of
the
Trent
,
rode
up
to
the
ring
on
a
square
cob
and
dismounting
entered
the
circle
.
He
was
a
carcase
butcher
,
famous
in
Carnaby
market
,
and
the
prime
councillor
of
a
distinguished
nobleman
for
whom
privately
he
betted
on
commission
.
His
secret
service
to-day
was
to
bet
against
his
noble
employer’s
own
horse
,
and
so
he
at
once
sung
out
,
“
Twenty
to
one
against
Man-trap
.
”
A
young
gentleman
just
launched
into
the
world
,
and
who
,
proud
of
his
ancient
and
spreading
acres
,
was
now
making
his
first
book
,
seeing
Man-trap
marked
eighteen
to
one
on
the
cards
,
jumped
eagerly
at
this
bargain
,
while
Lord
Fitzheron
and
Mr
Berners
who
were
at
hand
and
who
in
their
days
had
found
their
names
in
the
book
of
the
carcase
butcher
,
and
grown
wise
by
it
,
interchanged
a
smile
.
“
Mr
Egremont
will
not
take
,
”
said
Hump
Chippendale
to
the
peer
in
the
white
great
coat
.
“
You
must
have
been
too
eager
,
”
said
his
noble
friend
.
The
ring
is
up
;
the
last
odds
declared
;
all
gallop
away
to
the
Warren
.
A
few
minutes
,
only
a
few
minutes
,
and
the
event
that
for
twelve
months
has
been
the
pivot
of
so
much
calculation
,
of
such
subtile
combinations
,
of
such
deep
conspiracies
,
round
which
the
thought
and
passion
of
the
sporting
world
have
hung
like
eagles
,
will
be
recorded
in
the
fleeting
tablets
of
the
past
.
But
what
minutes
!
Count
them
by
sensation
and
not
by
calendars
,
and
each
moment
is
a
day
and
the
race
a
life
.
Hogarth
in
a
coarse
and
yet
animated
sketch
has
painted
“
Before
”
and
“
After
.
”
A
creative
spirit
of
a
higher
vein
might
develop
the
simplicity
of
the
idea
with
sublimer
accessories
.
Pompeius
before
Pharsalia
,
Harold
before
Hastings
,
Napoleon
before
Waterloo
,
might
afford
some
striking
contrasts
to
the
immediate
catastrophe
of
their
fortunes
.
Finer
still
the
inspired
mariner
who
has
just
discovered
a
new
world
;
the
sage
who
has
revealed
a
new
planet
;
and
yet
the
“
Before
”
and
“
After
”
of
a
first-rate
English
race
,
in
the
degree
of
its
excitement
,
and
sometimes
in
the
tragic
emotions
of
its
close
,
may
vie
even
with
these
.
They
are
saddling
the
horses
;
Caravan
looks
in
great
condition
;
and
a
scornful
smile
seems
to
play
upon
the
handsome
features
of
Pavis
,
as
in
the
becoming
colours
of
his
employer
,
he
gracefully
gallops
his
horse
before
his
admiring
supporters
.
Egremont
in
the
delight
of
an
English
patrician
scarcely
saw
Mango
,
and
never
even
thought
of
Phosphorus
—
Phosphorus
,
who
,
by
the
bye
,
was
the
first
horse
that
showed
,
with
both
his
forelegs
bandaged
.
They
are
off
!
As
soon
as
they
are
well
away
,
Chifney
makes
the
running
with
Pocket
Hercules
.
Up
to
the
Rubbing
House
he
is
leading
;
this
is
the
only
point
the
eye
can
select
.
Higher
up
the
hill
,
Caravan
,
Hybiscus
,
Benedict
,
Mahometan
,
Phosphorus
,
Michel
Fell
,
and
Rat-trap
are
with
the
grey
,
forming
a
front
rank
,
and
at
the
new
ground
the
pace
has
told
its
tale
,
for
half
a
dozen
are
already
out
of
the
race
.
The
summit
is
gained
;
the
tactics
alter
:
here
Pavis
brings
up
Caravan
,
with
extraordinary
severity
,
—
the
pace
round
Tattenham
corner
terrific
;
Caravan
leading
,
then
Phosphorus
a
little
above
him
,
Mahometan
next
,
Hybiscus
fourth
.
Rat-trap
looking
badly
,
Wisdom
,
Benedict
and
another
handy
.
By
this
time
Pocket
Hercules
has
enough
,
and
at
the
road
the
tailing
grows
at
every
stride
.
Here
the
favourite
himself
is
hors
de
combat
,
as
well
as
Dardanelles
,
and
a
crowd
of
lesser
celebrities
.
There
are
now
but
four
left
in
the
race
,
and
of
these
,
two
,
Hybiscus
and
Mahometan
,
are
some
lengths
behind
.
Now
it
is
neck
and
neck
between
Caravan
and
Phosphorus
.
At
the
stand
Caravan
has
decidedly
the
best
,
but
just
at
the
post
,
Edwards
,
on
Phosphorus
,
lifts
the
gallant
little
horse
,
and
with
an
extraordinary
effort
contrives
to
shove
him
in
by
half
a
length
.
“
You
look
a
little
low
,
Charley
,
”
said
Lord
Fitzheron
,
as
taking
their
lunch
in
their
drag
he
poured
the
champagne
into
the
glass
of
Egremont
.
“
By
Jove
!
”
said
Lord
Milford
,
“
Only
think
of
Cockie
Graves
having
gone
and
done
it
!
”
CHAPTER
III
.
Egremont
was
the
younger
brother
of
an
English
earl
,
whose
nobility
being
of
nearly
three
centuries’
date
,
ranked
him
among
our
high
and
ancient
peers
,
although
its
origin
was
more
memorable
than
illustrious
.
The
founder
of
the
family
had
been
a
confidential
domestic
of
one
of
the
favourites
of
Henry
the
Eighth
,
and
had
contrived
to
be
appointed
one
of
the
commissioners
for
“
visiting
and
taking
the
surrenders
of
divers
religious
houses
.
”
It
came
to
pass
that
divers
of
these
religious
houses
surrendered
themselves
eventually
to
the
use
and
benefit
of
honest
Baldwin
Greymount
.
The
king
was
touched
with
the
activity
and
zeal
of
his
commissioner
.
Not
one
of
them
whose
reports
were
so
ample
and
satisfactory
,
who
could
baffle
a
wily
prior
with
more
dexterity
,
or
control
a
proud
abbot
with
more
firmness
.
Nor
were
they
well-digested
reports
alone
that
were
transmitted
to
the
sovereign
:
they
came
accompanied
with
many
rare
and
curious
articles
,
grateful
to
the
taste
of
one
who
was
not
only
a
religious
reformer
but
a
dilettante
;
golden
candlesticks
and
costly
chalices
;
sometimes
a
jewelled
pix
;
fantastic
spoons
and
patens
,
rings
for
the
fingers
and
the
ear
;
occasionally
a
fair-written
and
blazoned
manuscript
—
suitable
offering
to
the
royal
scholar
.
Greymount
was
noticed
;
sent
for
;
promoted
in
the
household
;
knighted
;
might
doubtless
have
been
sworn
of
the
council
,
and
in
due
time
have
become
a
minister
;
but
his
was
a
discreet
ambition
—
of
an
accumulative
rather
than
an
aspiring
character
.
He
served
the
king
faithfully
in
all
domestic
matters
that
required
an
unimpassioned
,
unscrupulous
agent
;
fashioned
his
creed
and
conscience
according
to
the
royal
model
in
all
its
freaks
;
seized
the
right
moment
to
get
sundry
grants
of
abbey
lands
,
and
contrived
in
that
dangerous
age
to
save
both
his
head
and
his
estate
.
The
Greymount
family
having
planted
themselves
in
the
land
,
faithful
to
the
policy
of
the
founder
,
avoided
the
public
gaze
during
the
troubled
period
that
followed
the
reformation
;
and
even
during
the
more
orderly
reign
of
Elizabeth
,
rather
sought
their
increase
in
alliances
than
in
court
favour
.
But
at
the
commencement
of
the
seventeenth
century
,
their
abbey
lands
infinitely
advanced
in
value
,
and
their
rental
swollen
by
the
prudent
accumulation
of
more
than
seventy
years
,
a
Greymount
,
who
was
then
a
county
member
,
was
elevated
to
the
peerage
as
Baron
Marney
.
The
heralds
furnished
his
pedigree
,
and
assured
the
world
that
although
the
exalted
rank
and
extensive
possessions
enjoyed
at
present
by
the
Greymounts
,
had
their
origin
immediately
in
great
territorial
revolutions
of
a
recent
reign
,
it
was
not
for
a
moment
to
be
supposed
,
that
the
remote
ancestors
of
the
Ecclesiastical
Commissioner
of
1530
were
by
any
means
obscure
.
On
the
contrary
,
it
appeared
that
they
were
both
Norman
and
baronial
,
their
real
name
Egremont
,
which
,
in
their
patent
of
peerage
the
family
now
resumed
.
In
the
civil
wars
,
the
Egremonts
pricked
by
their
Norman
blood
,
were
cavaliers
and
fought
pretty
well
.
But
in
1688
,
alarmed
at
the
prevalent
impression
that
King
James
intended
to
insist
on
the
restitution
of
the
church
estates
to
their
original
purposes
,
to
wit
,
the
education
of
the
people
and
the
maintenance
of
the
poor
,
the
Lord
of
Marney
Abbey
became
a
warm
adherent
of
“
civil
and
religious
liberty
,
”
—
the
cause
for
which
Hampden
had
died
in
the
field
,
and
Russell
on
the
scaffold
,
—
and
joined
the
other
whig
lords
,
and
great
lay
impropriators
,
in
calling
over
the
Prince
of
Orange
and
a
Dutch
army
,
to
vindicate
those
popular
principles
which
,
somehow
or
other
,
the
people
would
never
support
.
Profiting
by
this
last
pregnant
circumstance
,
the
lay
Abbot
of
Marney
also
in
this
instance
like
the
other
whig
lords
,
was
careful
to
maintain
,
while
he
vindicated
the
cause
of
civil
and
religious
liberty
,
a
very
loyal
and
dutiful
though
secret
correspondence
with
the
court
of
St
Germains
.
The
great
deliverer
King
William
the
Third
,
to
whom
Lord
Marney
was
a
systematic
traitor
,
made
the
descendant
of
the
Ecclesiastical
Commissioner
of
Henry
the
Eighth
an
English
earl
;
and
from
that
time
until
the
period
of
our
history
,
though
the
Marney
family
had
never
produced
one
individual
eminent
for
civil
or
military
abilities
,
though
the
country
was
not
indebted
to
them
for
a
single
statesman
,
orator
,
successful
warrior
,
great
lawyer
,
learned
divine
,
eminent
author
,
illustrious
man
of
science
,
they
had
contrived
,
if
not
to
engross
any
great
share
of
public
admiration
and
love
,
at
least
to
monopolise
no
contemptible
portion
of
public
money
and
public
dignities
.
During
the
seventy
years
of
almost
unbroken
whig
rule
,
from
the
accession
of
the
House
of
Hanover
to
the
fall
of
Mr
Fox
,
Marney
Abbey
had
furnished
a
never-failing
crop
of
lord
privy
seals
,
lord
presidents
,
and
lord
lieutenants
.
The
family
had
had
their
due
quota
of
garters
and
governments
and
bishoprics
;
admirals
without
fleets
,
and
generals
who
fought
only
in
America
.
They
had
glittered
in
great
embassies
with
clever
secretaries
at
their
elbow
,
and
had
once
governed
Ireland
when
to
govern
Ireland
was
only
to
apportion
the
public
plunder
to
a
corrupt
senate
.
Notwithstanding
however
this
prolonged
enjoyment
of
undeserved
prosperity
,
the
lay
abbots
of
Marney
were
not
content
.
Not
that
it
was
satiety
that
induced
dissatisfaction
.
The
Egremonts
could
feed
on
.
They
wanted
something
more
.
Not
to
be
prime
ministers
or
secretaries
of
state
,
for
they
were
a
shrewd
race
who
knew
the
length
of
their
tether
,
and
notwithstanding
the
encouraging
example
of
his
grace
of
Newcastle
,
they
could
not
resist
the
persuasion
that
some
knowledge
of
the
interests
and
resources
of
nations
,
some
power
of
expressing
opinions
with
propriety
,
some
degree
of
respect
for
the
public
and
for
himself
,
were
not
altogether
indispensable
qualifications
,
even
under
a
Venetian
constitution
,
in
an
individual
who
aspired
to
a
post
so
eminent
and
responsible
.
Satisfied
with
the
stars
and
mitres
and
official
seals
,
which
were
periodically
apportioned
to
them
,
the
Marney
family
did
not
aspire
to
the
somewhat
graceless
office
of
being
their
distributor
.
What
they
aimed
at
was
promotion
in
their
order
;
and
promotion
to
the
highest
class
.
They
observed
that
more
than
one
of
the
other
great
“
civil
and
religious
liberty
”
families
,
—
the
families
who
in
one
century
plundered
the
church
to
gain
the
property
of
the
people
,
and
in
another
century
changed
the
dynasty
to
gain
the
power
of
the
crown
,
—
had
their
brows
circled
with
the
strawberry
leaf
.
And
why
should
not
this
distinction
be
the
high
lot
also
of
the
descendants
of
the
old
gentleman
usher
of
one
of
King
Henry’s
plundering
vicar-generals
?
Why
not
?
True
it
is
,
that
a
grateful
sovereign
in
our
days
has
deemed
such
distinction
the
only
reward
for
half
a
hundred
victories
.
True
it
is
,
that
Nelson
,
after
conquering
the
Mediterranean
,
died
only
a
Viscount
!
But
the
house
of
Marney
had
risen
to
high
rank
;
counted
themselves
ancient
nobility
;
and
turned
up
their
noses
at
the
Pratts
and
the
Smiths
,
the
Jenkinsons
and
the
Robinsons
of
our
degenerate
days
;
and
never
had
done
anything
for
the
nation
or
for
their
honours
.
And
why
should
they
now
?
It
was
unreasonable
to
expect
it
.
Civil
and
religious
liberty
,
that
had
given
them
a
broad
estate
and
a
glittering
coronet
,
to
say
nothing
of
half-a-dozen
close
seats
in
parliament
,
ought
clearly
to
make
them
dukes
.
But
the
other
great
whig
families
who
had
obtained
this
honour
,
and
who
had
done
something
more
for
it
than
spoliate
their
church
and
betray
their
king
,
set
up
their
backs
against
this
claim
of
the
Egremonts
.
The
Egremonts
had
done
none
of
the
work
of
the
last
hundred
years
of
political
mystification
,
during
which
a
people
without
power
or
education
,
had
been
induced
to
believe
themselves
the
freest
and
most
enlightened
nation
in
the
world
,
and
had
submitted
to
lavish
their
blood
and
treasure
,
to
see
their
industry
crippled
and
their
labour
mortgaged
,
in
order
to
maintain
an
oligarchy
,
that
had
neither
ancient
memories
to
soften
nor
present
services
to
justify
their
unprecedented
usurpation
.
How
had
the
Egremonts
contributed
to
this
prodigious
result
?
Their
family
had
furnished
none
of
those
artful
orators
whose
bewildering
phrase
had
fascinated
the
public
intelligence
;
none
of
those
toilsome
patricians
whose
assiduity
in
affairs
had
convinced
their
unprivileged
fellow-subjects
that
government
was
a
science
,
and
administration
an
art
,
which
demanded
the
devotion
of
a
peculiar
class
in
the
state
for
their
fulfilment
and
pursuit
.
The
Egremonts
had
never
said
anything
that
was
remembered
,
or
done
anything
that
could
be
recalled
.
It
was
decided
by
the
Great
Revolution
families
,
that
they
should
not
be
dukes
.
Infinite
was
the
indignation
of
the
lay
Abbot
of
Marney
.
He
counted
his
boroughs
,
consulted
his
cousins
,
and
muttered
revenge
.
The
opportunity
soon
offered
for
the
gratification
of
his
passion
.
The
situation
of
the
Venetian
party
in
the
wane
of
the
eighteenth
century
had
become
extremely
critical
.
A
young
king
was
making
often
fruitless
,
but
always
energetic
,
struggles
to
emancipate
his
national
royalty
from
the
trammels
of
the
factious
dogeship
.
More
than
sixty
years
of
a
government
of
singular
corruption
had
alienated
all
hearts
from
the
oligarchy
;
never
indeed
much
affected
by
the
great
body
of
the
people
.
It
could
no
longer
be
concealed
,
that
by
virtue
of
a
plausible
phrase
power
had
been
transferred
from
the
crown
to
a
parliament
,
the
members
of
which
were
appointed
by
an
extremely
limited
and
exclusive
class
,
who
owned
no
responsibility
to
the
country
,
who
debated
and
voted
in
secret
,
and
who
were
regularly
paid
by
the
small
knot
of
great
families
that
by
this
machinery
had
secured
the
permanent
possession
of
the
king’s
treasury
.
Whiggism
was
putrescent
in
the
nostrils
of
the
nation
;
we
were
probably
on
the
eve
of
a
bloodless
yet
important
revolution
;
when
Rockingham
,
a
virtuous
magnifico
,
alarmed
and
disgusted
,
resolved
to
revive
something
of
the
pristine
purity
and
high-toned
energy
of
the
old
whig
connection
;
appealed
to
his
“
new
generation
”
from
a
degenerate
age
,
arrayed
under
his
banner
the
generous
youth
of
the
whig
families
,
and
was
fortunate
to
enlist
in
the
service
the
supreme
genius
of
Edmund
Burke
.
Burke
effected
for
the
whigs
what
Bolingbroke
in
a
preceding
age
had
done
for
the
tories
:
he
restored
the
moral
existence
of
the
party
.
He
taught
them
to
recur
to
the
ancient
principles
of
their
connection
,
and
suffused
those
principles
with
all
the
delusive
splendour
of
his
imagination
.
He
raised
the
tone
of
their
public
discourse
;
he
breathed
a
high
spirit
into
their
public
acts
.
It
was
in
his
power
to
do
more
for
the
whigs
than
St
John
could
do
for
his
party
.
The
oligarchy
,
who
had
found
it
convenient
to
attaint
Bolingbroke
for
being
the
avowed
minister
of
the
English
Prince
with
whom
they
were
always
in
secret
communication
,
when
opinion
forced
them
to
consent
to
his
restitution
,
had
tacked
to
the
amnesty
a
clause
as
cowardly
as
it
was
unconstitutional
,
and
declared
his
incompetence
to
sit
in
the
parliament
of
his
country
.
Burke
on
the
contrary
fought
the
whig
fight
with
a
two-edged
weapon
:
he
was
a
great
writer
;
as
an
orator
he
was
transcendent
.
In
a
dearth
of
that
public
talent
for
the
possession
of
which
the
whigs
have
generally
been
distinguished
,
Burke
came
forward
and
established
them
alike
in
the
parliament
and
the
country
.
And
what
was
his
reward
?
No
sooner
had
a
young
and
dissolute
noble
,
who
with
some
of
the
aspirations
of
a
Caesar
oftener
realised
the
conduct
of
a
Catiline
,
appeared
on
the
stage
,
and
after
some
inglorious
tergiversation
adopted
their
colours
,
than
they
transferred
to
him
the
command
which
had
been
won
by
wisdom
and
genius
,
vindicated
by
unrivalled
knowledge
,
and
adorned
by
accomplished
eloquence
.
When
the
hour
arrived
for
the
triumph
which
he
had
prepared
,
he
was
not
even
admitted
into
the
Cabinet
,
virtually
presided
over
by
his
graceless
pupil
,
and
who
,
in
the
profuse
suggestions
of
his
teeming
converse
,
had
found
the
principles
and
the
information
which
were
among
the
chief
claims
to
public
confidence
of
Mr
Fox
.
Hard
necessity
made
Mr
Burke
submit
to
the
yoke
,
but
the
humiliation
could
never
be
forgotten
.
Nemesis
favours
genius
:
the
inevitable
hour
at
length
arrived
.
A
voice
like
the
Apocalypse
sounded
over
England
and
even
echoed
in
all
the
courts
of
Europe
.
Burke
poured
forth
the
vials
of
his
hoarded
vengeance
into
the
agitated
heart
of
Christendom
;
he
stimulated
the
panic
of
a
world
by
the
wild
pictures
of
his
inspired
imagination
;
he
dashed
to
the
ground
the
rival
who
had
robbed
him
of
his
hard-earned
greatness
;
rended
in
twain
the
proud
oligarchy
that
had
dared
to
use
and
to
insult
him
;
and
followed
with
servility
by
the
haughtiest
and
the
most
timid
of
its
members
,
amid
the
frantic
exultation
of
his
country
,
he
placed
his
heel
upon
the
neck
of
the
ancient
serpent
.
Among
the
whig
followers
of
Mr
Burke
in
this
memorable
defection
,
among
the
Devonshires
and
the
Portlands
,
the
Spencers
and
the
Fitzwilliams
,
was
the
Earl
of
Marney
,
whom
the
whigs
would
not
make
a
duke
.
What
was
his
chance
of
success
from
Mr
Pitt
?
If
the
history
of
England
be
ever
written
by
one
who
has
the
knowledge
and
the
courage
,
and
both
qualities
are
equally
requisite
for
the
undertaking
,
the
world
would
be
more
astonished
than
when
reading
the
Roman
annals
by
Niebuhr
.
Generally
speaking
,
all
the
great
events
have
been
distorted
,
most
of
the
important
causes
concealed
,
some
of
the
principal
characters
never
appear
,
and
all
who
figure
are
so
misunderstood
and
misrepresented
,
that
the
result
is
a
complete
mystification
,
and
the
perusal
of
the
narrative
about
as
profitable
to
an
Englishman
as
reading
the
Republic
of
Plato
or
the
Utopia
of
More
,
the
pages
of
Gaudentio
di
Lucca
or
the
adventures
of
Peter
Wilkins
.
The
influence
of
races
in
our
early
ages
,
of
the
church
in
our
middle
,
and
of
parties
in
our
modern
history
,
are
three
great
moving
and
modifying
powers
,
that
must
be
pursued
and
analyzed
with
an
untiring
,
profound
,
and
unimpassioned
spirit
,
before
a
guiding
ray
can
be
secured
.
A
remarkable
feature
of
our
written
history
is
the
absence
in
its
pages
of
some
of
the
most
influential
personages
.
Not
one
man
in
a
thousand
for
instance
has
ever
heard
of
Major
Wildman
:
yet
he
was
the
soul
of
English
politics
in
the
most
eventful
period
of
this
kingdom
,
and
one
most
interesting
to
this
age
,
from
1640
to
1688
;
and
seemed
more
than
once
to
hold
the
balance
which
was
to
decide
the
permanent
form
of
our
government
.
But
he
was
the
leader
of
an
unsuccessful
party
.
Even
,
comparatively
speaking
,
in
our
own
times
,
the
same
mysterious
oblivion
is
sometimes
encouraged
to
creep
over
personages
of
great
social
distinction
as
well
as
political
importance
.
The
name
of
the
second
Pitt
remains
,
fresh
after
forty
years
of
great
events
,
a
parliamentary
beacon
.
He
was
the
Chatterton
of
politics
;
the
“
marvellous
boy
.
”
Some
have
a
vague
impression
that
he
was
mysteriously
moulded
by
his
great
father
:
that
he
inherited
the
genius
,
the
eloquence
,
the
state
craft
of
Chatham
.
His
genius
was
of
a
different
bent
,
his
eloquence
of
a
different
class
,
his
state
craft
of
a
different
school
.
To
understand
Mr
Pitt
,
one
must
understand
one
of
the
suppressed
characters
of
English
history
,
and
that
is
Lord
Shelburne
.
When
the
fine
genius
of
the
injured
Bolingbroke
,
the
only
peer
of
his
century
who
was
educated
,
and
proscribed
by
the
oligarchy
because
they
were
afraid
of
his
eloquence
,
“
the
glory
of
his
order
and
the
shame
,
”
shut
out
from
Parliament
,
found
vent
in
those
writings
which
recalled
to
the
English
people
the
inherent
blessings
of
their
old
free
monarchy
,
and
painted
in
immortal
hues
his
picture
of
a
patriot
king
,
the
spirit
that
he
raised
at
length
touched
the
heart
of
Carteret
,
born
a
whig
,
yet
sceptical
of
the
advantages
of
that
patrician
constitution
which
made
the
Duke
of
Newcastle
,
the
most
incompetent
of
men
,
but
the
chosen
leader
of
the
Venetian
party
,
virtually
sovereign
of
England
.
Lord
Carteret
had
many
brilliant
qualities
:
he
was
undaunted
,
enterprising
,
eloquent
;
had
considerable
knowledge
of
continental
politics
,
was
a
great
linguist
,
a
master
of
public
law
;
and
though
he
failed
in
his
premature
effort
to
terminate
the
dogeship
of
George
the
Second
,
he
succeeded
in
maintaining
a
considerable
though
secondary
position
in
public
life
.
The
young
Shelburne
married
his
daughter
.
Of
him
it
is
singular
we
know
less
than
of
his
father-in-law
,
yet
from
the
scattered
traits
some
idea
may
be
formed
of
the
ablest
and
most
accomplished
minister
of
the
eighteenth
century
.
Lord
Shelburne
,
influenced
probably
by
the
example
and
the
traditionary
precepts
of
his
eminent
father-in-law
,
appears
early
to
have
held
himself
aloof
from
the
patrician
connection
,
and
entered
public
life
as
the
follower
of
Bute
in
the
first
great
effort
of
George
the
Third
to
rescue
the
sovereignty
from
what
Lord
Chatham
called
“
the
Great
Revolution
families
.
”
He
became
in
time
a
member
of
Lord
Chatham’s
last
administration
:
one
of
the
strangest
and
most
unsuccessful
efforts
to
aid
the
grandson
of
George
the
Second
in
his
struggle
for
political
emancipation
.
Lord
Shelburne
adopted
from
the
first
the
Bolingbroke
system
:
a
real
royalty
,
in
lieu
of
the
chief
magistracy
;
a
permanent
alliance
with
France
,
instead
of
the
whig
scheme
of
viewing
in
that
power
the
natural
enemy
of
England
:
and
,
above
all
,
a
plan
of
commercial
freedom
,
the
germ
of
which
may
be
found
in
the
long-maligned
negotiations
of
Utrecht
,
but
which
in
the
instance
of
Lord
Shelburne
were
soon
in
time
matured
by
all
the
economical
science
of
Europe
,
in
which
he
was
a
proficient
.
Lord
Shelburne
seems
to
have
been
of
a
reserved
and
somewhat
astute
disposition
:
deep
and
adroit
,
he
was
however
brave
and
firm
.
His
knowledge
was
extensive
and
even
profound
.
He
was
a
great
linguist
;
he
pursued
both
literary
and
scientific
investigations
;
his
house
was
frequented
by
men
of
letters
,
especially
those
distinguished
by
their
political
abilities
or
economical
attainments
.
He
maintained
the
most
extensive
private
correspondence
of
any
public
man
of
his
time
.
The
earliest
and
most
authentic
information
reached
him
from
all
courts
and
quarters
of
Europe
:
and
it
was
a
common
phrase
,
that
the
minister
of
the
day
sent
to
him
often
for
the
important
information
which
the
cabinet
could
not
itself
command
.
Lord
Shelburne
was
the
first
great
minister
who
comprehended
the
rising
importance
of
the
middle
class
;
and
foresaw
in
its
future
power
a
bulwark
for
the
throne
against
“
the
Great
Revolution
families
.
”
Of
his
qualities
in
council
we
have
no
record
;
there
is
reason
to
believe
that
his
administrative
ability
was
conspicuous
:
his
speeches
prove
that
,
if
not
supreme
,
he
was
eminent
,
in
the
art
of
parliamentary
disputation
,
while
they
show
on
all
the
questions
discussed
a
richness
and
variety
of
information
with
which
the
speeches
of
no
statesman
of
that
age
except
Mr
Burke
can
compare
.
Such
was
the
man
selected
by
George
the
Third
as
his
champion
against
the
Venetian
party
after
the
termination
of
the
American
war
.
The
prosecution
of
that
war
they
had
violently
opposed
,
though
it
had
originated
in
their
own
policy
.
First
minister
in
the
House
of
Lords
,
Shelburne
entrusted
the
lead
in
the
House
of
Commons
to
his
Chancellor
of
the
Exchequer
,
the
youthful
Pitt
.
The
administration
was
brief
,
but
it
was
not
inglorious
.
It
obtained
peace
,
and
for
the
first
time
since
the
Revolution
introduced
into
modern
debate
the
legitimate
principles
on
which
commerce
should
be
conducted
.
It
fell
before
the
famous
Coalition
with
which
“
the
Great
Revolution
families
”
commenced
their
fiercest
and
their
last
contention
for
the
patrician
government
of
royal
England
.
In
the
heat
of
that
great
strife
,
the
king
in
the
second
hazardous
exercise
of
his
prerogative
entrusted
the
perilous
command
to
Pitt
.
Why
Lord
Shelburne
on
that
occasion
was
set
aside
,
will
perhaps
always
remain
a
mysterious
passage
of
our
political
history
,
nor
have
we
space
on
the
present
occasion
to
attempt
to
penetrate
its
motives
.
Perhaps
the
monarch
,
with
a
sense
of
the
rising
sympathies
of
his
people
,
was
prescient
of
the
magic
power
of
youth
in
touching
the
heart
of
a
nation
.
Yet
it
would
not
be
an
unprofitable
speculation
if
for
a
moment
we
paused
to
consider
what
might
have
been
the
consequences
to
our
country
if
Mr
Pitt
had
been
content
for
a
season
again
to
lead
the
Commons
under
Lord
Shelburne
,
and
have
secured
for
England
the
unrivalled
knowledge
and
dexterity
of
that
statesman
in
the
conduct
of
our
affairs
during
the
confounding
fortunes
of
the
French
revolution
.
Lord
Shelburne
was
the
only
English
minister
competent
to
the
task
;
he
was
the
only
public
man
who
had
the
previous
knowledge
requisite
to
form
accurate
conclusions
on
such
a
conjuncture
:
his
remaining
speeches
on
the
subject
attest
the
amplitude
of
his
knowledge
and
the
accuracy
of
his
views
:
and
in
the
rout
of
Jena
,
or
the
agony
of
Austerlitz
,
one
cannot
refrain
from
picturing
the
shade
of
Shelburne
haunting
the
cabinet
of
Pitt
,
as
the
ghost
of
Canning
is
said
occasionally
to
linger
about
the
speaker’s
chair
,
and
smile
sarcastically
on
the
conscientious
mediocrities
who
pilfered
his
hard-earned
honours
.
But
during
the
happier
years
of
Mr
Pitt
,
the
influence
of
the
mind
of
Shelburne
may
be
traced
throughout
his
policy
.
It
was
Lansdowne
House
that
made
Pitt
acquainted
with
Dr
Price
,
a
dissenting
minister
,
whom
Lord
Shelburne
when
at
the
head
of
affairs
courageously
offered
to
make
his
private
secretary
,
and
who
furnished
Mr
Pitt
,
among
many
other
important
suggestions
,
with
his
original
plan
of
the
sinking
fund
.
The
commercial
treaties
of
‘87
were
struck
in
the
same
mint
,
and
are
notable
as
the
first
effort
made
by
the
English
government
to
emancipate
the
country
from
the
restrictive
policy
which
had
been
introduced
by
the
“
glorious
revolution
;
”
memorable
epoch
,
that
presented
England
at
the
same
time
with
a
corn
law
and
a
public
debt
.
But
on
no
subject
was
the
magnetic
influence
of
the
descendant
of
Sir
William
Petty
more
decided
,
than
in
the
resolution
of
his
pupil
to
curb
the
power
of
the
patrician
party
by
an
infusion
from
the
middle
classes
into
the
government
of
the
country
.
Hence
the
origin
of
Mr
Pitt’s
famous
and
long-misconceived
plans
of
parliamentary
reform
.
Was
he
sincere
,
is
often
asked
by
those
who
neither
seek
to
discover
the
causes
nor
are
capable
of
calculating
the
effects
of
public
transactions
.
Sincere
!
Why
,
he
was
struggling
for
his
existence
!
And
when
baffled
,
first
by
the
Venetian
party
,
and
afterwards
by
the
panic
of
Jacobinism
,
he
was
forced
to
forego
his
direct
purpose
,
he
still
endeavoured
partially
to
effect
it
by
a
circuitous
process
.
He
created
a
plebeian
aristocracy
and
blended
it
with
the
patrician
oligarchy
.
He
made
peers
of
second-rate
squires
and
fat
graziers
.
He
caught
them
in
the
alleys
of
Lombard
Street
,
and
clutched
them
from
the
counting-houses
of
Cornhill
.
When
Mr
Pitt
in
an
age
of
bank
restriction
declared
that
every
man
with
an
estate
of
ten
thousand
a-year
had
a
right
to
be
a
peer
,
he
sounded
the
knell
of
“
the
cause
for
which
Hampden
had
died
on
the
field
,
and
Sydney
on
the
scaffold
.
”
In
ordinary
times
the
pupil
of
Shelburne
would
have
raised
this
country
to
a
state
of
great
material
prosperity
,
and
removed
or
avoided
many
of
those
anomalies
which
now
perplex
us
;
but
he
was
not
destined
for
ordinary
times
;
and
though
his
capacity
was
vast
and
his
spirit
lofty
,
he
had
not
that
passionate
and
creative
genius
required
by
an
age
of
revolution
.
The
French
outbreak
was
his
evil
daemon
:
he
had
not
the
means
of
calculating
its
effects
upon
Europe
.
He
had
but
a
meagre
knowledge
himself
of
continental
politics
:
he
was
assisted
by
a
very
inefficient
diplomacy
.
His
mind
was
lost
in
a
convulsion
of
which
he
neither
could
comprehend
the
causes
nor
calculate
the
consequences
;
and
forced
to
act
,
he
acted
not
only
violently
,
but
in
exact
opposition
to
the
very
system
he
was
called
into
political
existence
to
combat
;
he
appealed
to
the
fears
,
the
prejudices
,
and
the
passions
of
a
privileged
class
,
revived
the
old
policy
of
the
oligarchy
he
had
extinguished
,
and
plunged
into
all
the
ruinous
excesses
of
French
war
and
Dutch
finance
.
If
it
be
a
salutary
principle
in
the
investigation
of
historical
transactions
to
be
careful
in
discriminating
the
cause
from
the
pretext
,
there
is
scarcely
any
instance
in
which
the
application
of
this
principle
is
more
fertile
in
results
,
than
in
that
of
the
Dutch
invasion
of
1688.
The
real
cause
of
this
invasion
was
financial
.
The
Prince
of
Orange
had
found
that
the
resources
of
Holland
,
however
considerable
,
were
inadequate
to
sustain
him
in
his
internecine
rivalry
with
the
great
sovereign
of
France
.
In
an
authentic
conversation
which
has
descended
to
us
,
held
by
William
at
the
Hague
with
one
of
the
prime
abettors
of
the
invasion
,
the
prince
did
not
disguise
his
motives
;
he
said
,
“
nothing
but
such
a
constitution
as
you
have
in
England
can
have
the
credit
that
is
necessary
to
raise
such
sums
as
a
great
war
requires
.
”
The
prince
came
,
and
used
our
constitution
for
his
purpose
:
he
introduced
into
England
the
system
of
Dutch
finance
.
The
principle
of
that
system
was
to
mortgage
industry
in
order
to
protect
property
:
abstractedly
,
nothing
can
be
conceived
more
unjust
;
its
practice
in
England
has
been
equally
injurious
.
In
Holland
,
with
a
small
population
engaged
in
the
same
pursuits
,
in
fact
a
nation
of
bankers
,
the
system
was
adapted
to
the
circumstances
which
had
created
it
.
All
shared
in
the
present
spoil
,
and
therefore
could
endure
the
future
burthen
.
And
so
to
this
day
Holland
is
sustained
,
almost
solely
sustained
,
by
the
vast
capital
thus
created
which
still
lingers
amongst
its
dykes
.
But
applied
to
a
country
in
which
the
circumstances
were
entirely
different
;
to
a
considerable
and
rapidly-increasing
population
;
where
there
was
a
numerous
peasantry
,
a
trading
middle
class
struggling
into
existence
;
the
system
of
Dutch
finance
,
pursued
more
or
less
for
nearly
a
century
and
a
half
,
has
ended
in
the
degradation
of
a
fettered
and
burthened
multitude
.
Nor
have
the
demoralizing
consequences
of
the
funding
system
on
the
more
favoured
classes
been
less
decided
.
It
has
made
debt
a
national
habit
;
it
has
made
credit
the
ruling
power
,
not
the
exceptional
auxiliary
,
of
all
transactions
;
it
has
introduced
a
loose
,
inexact
,
haphazard
,
and
dishonest
spirit
in
the
conduct
of
both
public
and
private
life
;
a
spirit
dazzling
and
yet
dastardly
:
reckless
of
consequences
and
yet
shrinking
from
responsibility
.
And
in
the
end
,
it
has
so
overstimulated
the
energies
of
the
population
to
maintain
the
material
engagements
of
the
state
,
and
of
society
at
large
,
that
the
moral
condition
of
the
people
has
been
entirely
lost
sight
of
.
A
mortgaged
aristocracy
,
a
gambling
foreign
commerce
,
a
home
trade
founded
on
a
morbid
competition
,
and
a
degraded
people
;
these
are
great
evils
,
but
ought
perhaps
cheerfully
to
be
encountered
for
the
greater
blessings
of
civil
and
religious
liberty
.
Yet
the
first
would
seem
in
some
degree
to
depend
upon
our
Saxon
mode
of
trial
by
our
peers
,
upon
the
stipulations
of
the
great
Norman
charters
,
upon
the
practice
and
the
statute
of
Habeas
Corpus
,
—
a
principle
native
to
our
common
law
,
but
established
by
the
Stuarts
;
nor
in
a
careful
perusal
of
the
Bill
of
Rights
,
or
in
an
impartial
scrutiny
of
the
subsequent
legislation
of
those
times
,
though
some
diminution
of
our
political
franchises
must
be
confessed
,
is
it
easy
to
discover
any
increase
of
our
civil
privileges
.
To
those
indeed
who
believe
that
the
English
nation
,
—
at
all
times
a
religious
and
Catholic
people
,
but
who
even
in
the
days
of
the
Plantagenets
were
anti-papal
,
—
were
in
any
danger
of
again
falling
under
the
yoke
of
the
Pope
of
Rome
in
the
reign
of
James
the
Second
,
religious
liberty
was
perhaps
acceptable
,
though
it
took
the
shape
of
a
discipline
which
at
once
anathematized
a
great
portion
of
the
nation
,
and
virtually
establishing
Puritanism
in
Ireland
,
laid
the
foundation
of
those
mischiefs
which
are
now
endangering
the
empire
.
That
the
last
of
the
Stuarts
had
any
other
object
in
his
impolitic
manoeuvres
,
than
an
impracticable
scheme
to
blend
the
two
churches
,
there
is
now
authority
to
disbelieve
.
He
certainly
was
guilty
of
the
offence
of
sending
an
envoy
openly
to
Rome
,
who
,
by
the
bye
,
was
received
by
the
Pope
with
great
discourtesy
;
and
her
Majesty
Queen
Victoria
,
whose
Protestantism
cannot
be
doubted
,
for
it
is
one
of
her
chief
titles
to
our
homage
,
has
at
this
time
a
secret
envoy
at
the
same
court
:
and
that
is
the
difference
between
them
:
both
ministers
doubtless
working
however
fruitlessly
for
the
same
object
:
the
termination
of
those
terrible
misconceptions
,
political
and
religious
,
that
have
occasioned
so
many
martyrdoms
,
and
so
many
crimes
alike
to
sovereigns
and
to
subjects
.
If
James
the
Second
had
really
attempted
to
re-establish
Popery
in
this
country
,
the
English
people
,
who
had
no
hand
in
his
overthrow
,
would
doubtless
soon
have
stirred
and
secured
their
“
Catholic
and
Apostolic
church
,
”
independent
of
any
foreign
dictation
;
the
church
to
which
they
still
regularly
profess
their
adherence
;
and
being
a
practical
people
,
it
is
possible
that
they
might
have
achieved
their
object
and
yet
retained
their
native
princes
;
under
which
circumstances
we
might
have
been
saved
from
the
triple
blessings
of
Venetian
politics
,
Dutch
finance
,
and
French
wars
:
against
which
,
in
their
happiest
days
,
and
with
their
happiest
powers
,
struggled
the
three
greatest
of
English
statesmen
,
—
Bolingbroke
,
Shelburne
,
and
lastly
the
son
of
Chatham
.
We
have
endeavoured
in
another
work
,
not
we
hope
without
something
of
the
impartiality
of
the
future
,
to
sketch
the
character
and
career
of
his
successors
.
From
his
death
to
1825
,
the
political
history
of
England
is
a
history
of
great
events
and
little
men
.
The
rise
of
Mr
Canning
,
long
kept
down
by
the
plebeian
aristocracy
of
Mr
Pitt
as
an
adventurer
,
had
shaken
parties
to
their
centre
.
His
rapid
disappearance
from
the
scene
left
both
whigs
and
tories
in
a
state
of
disorganization
.
The
distinctive
principles
of
these
connexions
were
now
difficult
to
trace
.
That
period
of
public
languor
which
intervenes
between
the
breaking
up
of
parties
and
the
formation
of
factions
now
transpired
in
England
.
An
exhausted
sensualist
on
the
throne
,
who
only
demanded
from
his
ministers
repose
,
a
voluptuous
aristocracy
,
and
a
listless
people
,
were
content
,
in
the
absence
of
all
public
conviction
and
national
passion
,
to
consign
the
government
of
the
country
to
a
great
man
,
whose
decision
relieved
the
sovereign
,
whose
prejudices
pleased
the
nobles
,
and
whose
achievements
dazzled
the
multitude
.
The
DUKE
OF
WELLINGTON
brought
to
the
post
of
first
minister
immortal
fame
;
a
quality
of
success
which
would
almost
seem
to
include
all
others
.
His
public
knowledge
was
such
as
might
be
expected
from
one
whose
conduct
already
formed
an
important
portion
of
the
history
of
his
country
.
He
had
a
personal
and
intimate
acquaintance
with
the
sovereigns
and
chief
statesmen
of
Europe
,
a
kind
of
information
in
which
English
ministers
have
generally
been
deficient
,
but
without
which
the
management
of
our
external
affairs
must
at
the
best
be
haphazard
.
He
possessed
administrative
talents
of
the
highest
order
.
The
tone
of
the
age
,
the
temper
of
the
country
,
the
great
qualities
and
the
high
character
of
the
minister
,
indicated
a
long
and
prosperous
administration
.
The
only
individual
in
his
cabinet
who
,
from
a
combination
of
circumstances
rather
than
from
any
intellectual
supremacy
over
his
colleagues
,
was
competent
to
be
his
rival
,
was
content
to
be
his
successor
.
In
his
most
aspiring
moments
,
Mr
Peel
in
all
probability
aimed
at
no
higher
reach
;
and
with
youth
and
the
leadership
of
the
House
of
Commons
,
one
has
no
reason
to
be
surprised
at
his
moderation
.
The
conviction
that
the
duke’s
government
would
only
cease
with
the
termination
of
his
public
career
was
so
general
,
that
the
moment
he
was
installed
in
office
,
the
whigs
smiled
on
him
;
political
conciliation
became
the
slang
of
the
day
,
and
the
fusion
of
parties
the
babble
of
clubs
and
the
tattle
of
boudoirs
.
How
comes
it
then
that
so
great
a
man
,
in
so
great
a
position
,
should
have
so
signally
failed
?
Should
have
broken
up
his
government
,
wrecked
his
party
,
and
so
completely
annihilated
his
political
position
,
that
,
even
with
his
historical
reputation
to
sustain
him
,
he
can
since
only
re-appear
in
the
councils
of
his
sovereign
in
a
subordinate
,
not
to
say
equivocal
,
character
?
With
all
those
great
qualities
which
will
secure
him
a
place
in
our
history
not
perhaps
inferior
even
to
Marlborough
,
the
Duke
of
Wellington
has
one
deficiency
which
has
been
the
stumbling-block
of
his
civil
career
.
Bishop
Burnet
,
in
speculating
on
the
extraordinary
influence
of
Lord
Shaftesbury
,
and
accounting
how
a
statesman
,
so
inconsistent
in
his
conduct
and
so
false
to
his
confederates
,
should
have
so
powerfully
controlled
his
country
,
observes
,
“
HIS
STRENGTH
LAY
IN
HIS
KNOWLEDGE
OF
ENGLAND
.
”
Now
that
is
exactly
the
kind
of
knowledge
which
the
Duke
of
Wellington
never
possessed
.
When
the
king
,
finding
that
in
Lord
Goderich
he
had
a
minister
who
,
instead
of
deciding
,
asked
his
royal
master
for
advice
,
sent
for
the
Duke
of
Wellington
to
undertake
the
government
,
a
change
in
the
carriage
of
his
grace
was
perceived
by
some
who
had
the
opportunity
to
form
an
opinion
on
such
a
subject
.
If
one
might
venture
to
use
such
a
word
in
reference
to
such
a
man
,
we
might
remark
,
that
the
duke
had
been
somewhat
daunted
by
the
selection
of
Mr
Canning
.
It
disappointed
great
hopes
,
it
baffled
great
plans
,
and
dispelled
for
a
season
the
conviction
that
,
it
is
believed
,
had
been
long
maturing
in
