placeman and supporter of adminis- 
tration, while the government, in 
whose interest he remained, charged 
him with the strongest attachment to 
its enemies. Lord North, with the 
“most amiable private character, 
possessed’ not vigour sufficient for 
the reins of government ; in times 
when, perhaps, no vigour would 
~haye been effectual. His lordship 
was ueither insensible to his situa- 
on nor to the talents of his young 
colleague ; but experience does not 
_ easily bend to genius, and power is 
seldom risqued in experiment. In 
yy 1774, therefore, when the death of 
ford Holland had left Mr. Fox un- 
restrained, having -made some re- 
t monstrances with considerable spi. 
rit, he received in the house of com- 
"mons, on the next day, his dismissal 
in the following terms:— 
_ His majesty has thought proper 
to order a new commission of the 
treasury to be made out, in which I 
_ do not perceive your name. 
<¢ North.”? 
At this measure, Mr. Fox enter- 
tained a sort of contemptuous satis- 
faction ; and hé was“Now in the si- 
tuation “to which his talents and 
inclinations were forcibly attracted. 
_ Much has been said of this conver- 
sion to whiggism, as it has been 
called, and Mr. Fox has tot escaped 
the charge of inconsistency ; a poli- 
tical crime of no small magnitude. 
It is not intended here to confound 
these points by unqualified panegy- 
Tic, but it must be remembered, 
that Mr. Fox never assumed the 
character of one of sir Robert Wal. 
pole’s *‘ old Romans.” He came 
from his father, like Pallas out of 
Jove’s head, full armed and mature. 
From the first he knew and studied 
human nature, and the knowledge 
Xpanded, instead of contracting, 
CHARACTERS. 
893 
his heart and mind. Hence, as a 
minister, he was incapable of the 
artifices of petty policy, and, as an 
epposer of government, he was free 
from the vulgarity of contention. 
He never forgot the relations of 
either character. He never imbibed 
the venom of party. 
‘The growing talents of Mr. Fox, 
whilea minister, attracted the notice 
of Junius, With the great John- 
son, Mr, Fox was in habits of famili. 
arity, -and of his abilities the English 
Socrates thought highly. 
The dismissal of Mr. Fox took 
place early in 1774, a year the most 
pregnant in personal events, per- 
haps, ofany in his whole life. InJa. 
nuary his father’s residence (Win- 
terslow-house) in Wiltshire, was de- 
stroyed by fire. He next attended 
the Encenia at Oxford, and was so 
disgusted at the number of illiterate 
associates for honorary distinctions, 
that he refrained from taking a 
degree. {n July his father died; 
in August, his mother; and in 
November, his elder brother. He 
was afterwards unsuccessful in 
the election for the borough of 
Péole. He made- an apology 
for the colonists, which first distin. 
guished the generous bias of his 
soul; and lost a considerable ‘part 
of the fertune he had derived from 
his father and brother, at play, bee 
fore the end of the year. 
In his kindred he had suffered 
losses which could never be supplied, 
and of such losses none could be 
more sensible. 
The commencement of his new 
career was, however, marked with 
spirit; and he soon shone by the 
side of Burke and Dunning, with 
increased reputation and success. 
The dispute with America was 
growing to a crisis, and Mr, Fox, 
who 
