262 Memoirsqfthelate Right Hon. Charles James Fox. [Oct. 1, 



raries, Storer and Hare, acquired great 

 fame, the former by his verfes begin- 

 ning , 



" Vos valete & plaudite," 

 and the latter by his 



•• Turnum ad certamen Ituia alloqultur La- 

 vinia," 



Emg Fox attained high reputation by 



•' Vocat labor ultimus," 

 compofed about the year 1761, his 

 ** I, fugias, celeri volitans per nubila curfu," 

 ■written in 1764, and his 



" Quid miri faciat Natura," 



followed by a Greek dialogue, in 1765. 

 We refer the curious to the " Mufae Eto- 

 nenfes: feu Carminum Deleflus," for the 

 particulars, but fliall here tranfcribe the 

 irfl of the pieces alluded to above, by 

 way of fpecimen : 



VOCAT tABOR ULTIMUS. 



•« Pofcimur: at nobis fi rite precantibus olim 



Dixeris optatum, Mufa, rogata melos. 

 Nunc quoque et emerito prxfens fuccurre 

 poets ; 



Dona ferens adeat fictua fana cllens. 

 Tuque per Aoniis loca fi celebrata Camcenis 



Sxpe tua erravi, Pegate, veilus ope, 

 Decurfoprope jam fladio, metamque fub ipfam, 



Ne lafla infami membra pudore trahas. 

 Gentis amore Maro Latium canit : o mihi 

 talis 



Spiritus accedat ; non minor urget amor : 

 Ut patriae, (neque enim ingratus natalia rura 



Praepofui campis, mater Etona, tuis) 

 Ut patriae carifque fodalibus, ut tibi dicam 



Anglice fupremum Quinftilhne vale. 

 Si quid eft, veteres quod Mufa imitata, La- 

 tinis 



Luferit aut Grails non aliena modis, 

 Chnne tuum eft ; mihi Pieridum de fonte fo- 

 rorum 



Pura niinifteriis contigit unda tuis. 

 Teque precor (levitas olim vefana fidelis 



Refpuit oblatam fi roonitoris opem, 

 Acrioraut fi me commovit lingua, meifve 



Motibus aut farane virga mex) 

 Ne tot confumptos tecum felicittr aiinos 



Infelix animo dcleat hora tuo. 



forgotten, that, unlike fome other prophe- 

 c es, they were pronounced long anterior to 

 the events recorded : 

 •' How will my Fox, alone from ftrength of 



parts, 

 Shake the loud Senate, animate the hearts 

 Of fearful ftatefmen ! while around you ftand 

 Both Peers and Commons lift'ning your com- 

 mand. 

 What praife to Pitt, to Townlhend e'er was 



due, 

 In fiiturc times* my Fox, fljall waitonjfovu" 



Care vale, valeas et mater Etona, (fupremum 



Mufea recinit triftia alumnus ope) 

 Prataque, et aeria fplendentes vertice turres, 



Silvaque carminibus concelebrata meis ; 

 Vofque adeo indigenae quae rivi in margins 

 Mufae 



Caftalias Thamcfi poft habuiftis aquas, 

 Extremum concede mihi, facra turba, labo- 



rem ; 



Sic beet emeritum non inhonefta rudis." 



From Eton Mr. Fox removed to Hert- 

 ford College, Oxford, where he alio dif- 

 tinguiflied himfelf by his talents, and Dr. 

 Newcome, his tutor, was afterwards re- 

 vi-arded with the Primacy of Ireland for 

 his fervices on this occafton. After re- 

 maining there fome time, he was imme- 

 diately fent on his travels, according to 

 the abfurd cuftom of that day, by which 

 an EngHfliman was bound to be better 

 acquainted with the manners, faihion."), 

 and productions of every other country 

 in F^urope than his own. It will be fcarce- 

 ly fuppofed, by thofe who have feen Mr. 

 Fox, or examined his drefs at any time 

 during the lad twenty years, that he liad 

 been once celebrated as a hcau guvi^on ; 

 but the fa<^. is, that at this period he was 

 one of the moft faflrionahle young men 

 about town, Jvnd there are multitudes 

 now living who Hill rccolle6t his chapeau 

 bras, his red-heeled flioes, and his blue 

 hair-powder. 



Meanwhile, his father, filU keeping 

 the original object in view, determined 

 to infpire him with a talte for public bu- 

 finefs, and accordingly, in the he^imiing 

 of 1768, he was returned for Midhurit, 

 in the county of Sulfcx. Two things are 

 remarkable on this occafion ; the hrll is, 

 that, like the celebrated Waller, he be- 

 came a Member of the Iloui'e of Com- 

 mons before he attained the legal age : 

 the fccond, that Midhurfl was one of 

 thofe very boroughs which he himfclf 

 feems afterwards to have conlidered a 

 nuiiance in a free country. 



As Lord Holland polVeifed the favour 

 of Lord Bute, and enjoyed the confi- 

 dence of his prtfent Majelly, the career 

 of public employments lay open to his 

 fon. Accordingly, he had been only 

 two years in parliament when, on the 

 13th of February, 1770, he became a 

 member of the Admiralty Board, at the 

 time when the celebrated Admiral Sir 

 Edward, afterwards Lord Hawke, pre- 

 (ided there. On May 6, 1772, he re- 

 figned that fituation, and on the 9th of 

 January, 1773, was nominated a Com- 

 miffioner of the Treafury. 



At this period his political principles 

 appear to have been llritlly in unifon 



with 



