22 REMARKS ON BISHOP BURNETt'S 



the king and the duke were highly offended with the reception I 

 met with in France. They did not know what to make of it, and 

 fancied there was something hid under it." 



If we are to be influenced by the vulgar sneers at Burnett's 

 patriotism, we are to convert his honesty in telling the nation all 

 its faults, into a secret pleasure in railing against its most revered 

 institutions. Undoubtedly, he who should expose these faults, runs 

 the risk of being treated as the enemy of his country, by those 

 whose national partialities are so excessive that they will even mag- 

 nify defects into excellences. Is it not, however, unreasonable to 

 suppose, that a man can pour forth the most virtuous anxieties for 

 the public good, and not at the same time be warmly attached to 

 the constitution ? It is impossible, indeed, I think, for any unpre- 

 judiced person to read the memorable address that concludes the 

 Bishop's posthumous labours, without perceiving, that upon no 

 human heart did the claims of his country ever fall more deep and 

 irresistible. To the very last, he never slumbered nor slept upon 

 his post; but laboured to improve mankind, by teaching and de- 

 claring what he deemed to be the truth. The warm, the ennobling 

 strain of patriotism which breathes throughout this appeal, the art- 

 less but solemn pathos which marks some of its passages, the un- 

 worldly purity and simplicity, the strength of reason, the ardent 

 love of religious liberty and justice which pervade its pages, should 

 have taught his enemies to respect a name which all upright men 

 must revere. As the flowers send up their, sweetest odours at the 

 close of day, as the sun appears with the greatest beauty at its 

 going down, all the virtues and graces of this excellent prelate 

 come before us in this final address with the most pleasing remem- 

 brance. The most careless of readers will peruse it with the deep- 

 est conviction of all the sentiments having proceeded from the au- 

 thor's heart ; while written, as it is, at an advanced period of life, 

 it has all the determination of age and decision of principle ; and I 

 am bold enough to add, that if all which Burnett had given to the 

 public, were comprised in this brief paper — such are the lights 

 which shine unclouded in it, — such are the pearls of rare price to 

 be picked out of it, — it alone would have entitled his memory to be 

 contemplated with the highest veneration. His statesman^like 

 remarks upon episcopal, ecclesiastical, parliamentary, and aristo- 



