n u R 



121 



H U R 





-', with a ferocity in his countenance which no 

 could express. Eie marcfced ' 'he head of 



the uf the ii.f'.ictmmt, with an air of pom- 



; and, in tint-, it is evident, that he had 

 Vcrres incessantly in his eye during all 

 his rhetorical appearances on ihii subject. 



1: ii. .-tiling of the regency en iiu- king'* illness 

 in 17NS, he took a warm and active part. His ap- 

 nceson this subject always gave nioiv alarm to the 

 opposition than the minister. In the short period that 

 elap .- n this question and the French revolu- 



tion, there wt re no party circum -tnnccs of which we 

 know that could alienate him from the opposition (for 

 his jealousy of Sheridan is not an idea consistent with 

 the bulk or frame of his mind, ) so that his sentiments 

 on the French revolution could not be supposed to be 

 connected with personal pique, and the general tone 

 of his character forbids the suspicion of his having, 

 been corrupted. His principles had been before more 

 than suspiciously aristocratic on very important oc- 

 casions, and there was nothing in the French revolu- 

 tion, as it proceeded, to conciliate the affections of a 

 mind imbued with such a bias, unless the observer 

 had lived to read the court calendar of Bonaparte. 



His abhorrence to the French revolution preceded 

 the worst acts of that event ; and though, like every 

 evil wisher to -change, Mr Burke predicted as many 

 atrocities as took place, yet we must hesitate in pro- 

 pouncing those warnings to have been uttered in the 

 spirit of prophetic wisdom; for he foretold many 

 things directly the reverse of what happened. A- 

 mong these was his prediction, that France " would 

 be blotted out from the map of Europe." As early 

 as the beginning of the year 1790, he spoke his sen- 

 timents with plainness and warmth in the House of 

 Commons, in which he renounced friendship with 

 Mr Fox, and all who cherished sentiments like his 

 on the same principles and subject. From that time 

 he busied himself in his memorable work on the 

 French Revolution, a work which commenced a war 

 of the press on the great principles of government, 

 evoking greater polemical .talents in writing than had 

 been displayed since the pamphlets of Milton and 

 Salmasius. It was answered at home by Mackintosh 

 and others, and abroad by Paine. The coarse, but 

 popular, eloquence of the last writer could not in- 

 deed be compared with the philosophical spirit of the 

 British writers ; but it struck lower at the root of 

 common opinion, and produced effects we all remem- 

 ber how serious. By his enemies, the work of Burke 

 was described as a blaze of rhetoric around a nucleus 

 of false principles and sophistry. The majority of 

 the nation, of that part at least whose property- 

 gave influence in the country, did not think so ; and 

 his opinions certainly gave a decided bias to the war- 

 like measures of the cabinet. His second attack on the 

 revolution, in a letter to a member of the French 

 National Assembly, was made in 1791, when allairs 

 were yet assuming a deeper horror to the revolution, 

 and gave an air or secure triumph to his exposition of 

 principles not essentially connected with its errors. 

 His Appeal fioun the New Whigs to the Old; his 

 letter to a noble Lord on the subject in discussion 

 with the Duke of Bedford j and his Thoughts on a 

 ' VOL. v. PART i. 



Peace, attestt d his enflamed and i 

 zeal on the tub; pattum. 



li was object i-d by hi<i enemies, that his ;>! 

 not yal bounty. HU hospitality 



and personal geut-tosity, had always made him a 

 needy man lie entertained an aristocratical opinion* 

 long and frequently expressed before lie depended 

 for his main tupport on the pennons of his sovereign, 

 that a man of first rate abilities had a right to be 

 supported at the public expence. Confined to such 

 ;;< mug as Burkc'n, this doctrine might be safely ad- 

 mitted by the austcrist republican j and few, we be- 

 lieve, of his political enemies, would rest it as a se- 

 rious charge against bis memory, that he supported 

 the close of so illustrious a life on the kindness of 

 royal patronage. He who could grudge the pension 

 of Burke, is surely unworthy to be bis reader or his 

 countryman. 



The close of his political career was marked by an 

 honourable attachment to the cause of the emancipa- 

 tion of the Irish Catholics, which he expressed and 

 enforced in a letter to Sir Hercules Langrithe, writ- 

 ten in 1792. He withdrew from parliament in 1~*>V, 

 and his seat for New Malton was occupied by ms 

 only son, whom he viewed with all the partial:!} of 

 paternal admiration. The death of that son precipita- 

 ted the decline of nature, which he was already begin- 

 ning to feel. After his death, liurke lived only to die { 

 such was the expression used in describing the effect 

 of this event on his mind, by the Irish orator Grattan, 

 in the hearing of the writer of this article, when the 

 great subject of this biography happened to be the 

 topic of conversation in company. He expired in 

 his 6'8th year, on the Sth of July 1797. 



He was amiable and exemplary in his domestic re- 

 lations, elegant in his taste, and benevolent in his i- 

 tentions. Few men have performed greater services 

 to the public, and none have tilled, during their lives* 

 a greater space in the public eye. (*) 



BURLESQUE. See POKTUV. 



BURLINGTON, a county of North America, 

 in the state of New Jersey, lies between the Dela- 

 ware river and the Atlantic ocean, and extends about 

 60 miles in length, and 30 in breadth. This county 

 is in general level and well watered ; and, out of 

 250,0'25 acres, 194,600 are in an improved state. It 

 contains 11 townships, 15,500 white, and 520 black 

 inhabitants ; of which last, 53 are slaves ; and fur- 

 nibhes 3000 militia. Its principal towns are Bur- 

 lington and Bordentown. (/.) 



BURLINGTON, a town of New Jersey, and 

 capital of the county of Burlington, extends three 

 miles along the east bank of the Delaware, and was 

 first settled in 1677. The most populous part of 

 tlu- town is built upon an island, about a mile aud a 

 quarter long, and three quarters of a mile broad* 

 which communicates with the in .inland by four 

 bridges or causeways. The principal streets are re- 

 gular and spacious, and uriumu.led with rows of 

 in front of the houses. It has an Episcopalian 

 chap.-!, a Quaker meeting-house, an academy, and 

 a free school ; whu .^ipported by the piotits 



arising fr,.ir. the i:-: tnd oi Mi.tii .icunk, which a- 

 mount yearly to L.lbO. It has also a court-house, 



