BURKE. 



the views of the author did not even then rife up to the tx- 

 pedations of the wliig-party in general, he was attacked by 

 Mrs. Macaulay, as well as by the friends of the court. 



While I>)rd North was mmifter, the inipctaofity of fyfte- 

 matic oppofition fcenis to have carried Mr. Burke's vindica- 

 tion of freedom fmtlier tlian was compatible with that fond- 

 tiefs tor ancient edablilhments, which always exilled in his 

 mind, and became fo much llronger in the latter part of 

 life. He took a dillinguifhed part in the debates on the 

 liberty of the prefs. iJuring the whole of the American 

 war, he niiiformly oppofed the miniller with -/^al and ability, 

 and defended the people with warmth and energy. His 

 habits during this period were thofe of fobrietv and literary 

 indullry, as well as of parliamentary vigilance and exertion. 



It is to the credit of both parties that political d fferenccs 

 made no breach between Burke and Johnfon. Tlie latter, 

 on taking leave of his boll at Beaconsfield, wimed him all 

 the fuccefs on hjs cauvafs at Brillol, which " could poiribly 

 be wiflied him by an honed man." 



Tlie famous Brillol election took place in 17"4, when 

 Burke and Cruger, an Ameiican merchant, turned out lord- 

 Clare and Mr. Brickdale, the former reprtfentatives. So 

 little afiiilance did Mr. Burke derive from Mr. Cniger's 

 eloquence on the hullings, that the condant and only fpccch 

 of the latter was, " I fay ditto to Mr. Burke I I lay ditto 

 to Mr. Burke!" 



It would exceed the limits of this article to detail Mr. 

 Burke's controverfy with Dean Tucker, or the part which 

 he took on every great political quellion. It is necrilary, 

 however, to mention, that on the queftion of parliamentary 

 reform, the Rockingliam branch of oppotition oppofed the 

 meafure ; and the duke of Richmond, lords Shelburne, Chat- 

 ham, and Camden, Mr. Dunning, and Mr. Fox defended it. 



The leading features of Mr. Burke's political conduft, 

 while pay-mader general in the Rockingham and Fox ad- 

 miuiftration, was the adoption of the plan for economical 

 reform, which had been rc-jeftecl by the houfe of commons 

 in 17S0. It however underwent feveral modifications. Tlie 

 political convulfions which cnfned on lord Rockingham's 

 death, are well remembered. The coalition, and the India 

 bill were fuggerted and puflied forward with much ardour 

 by Mr. Burke, and principally, if not entirely, produced 

 that decline of popularity, which both himfelf and his friends 

 experienced. 



The event in which Mr. Burke dood mod prominent be- 

 fore the public, in the interval between the formation of 

 Mr. Pitt's niinidry, and the French revolution, was the im- 

 peachment of Mr. Haftings. His fpeeches on this occadon 

 were among the mod fplendid triumphs of his eloquence, 

 though not am.ong the mod folid attedations of his judg- 

 ment. They were marked by intemperance and exaggera- 

 tion, apparently produced rather by the ambition of rival- 

 ling Tully in his eloquent and claitical abufe, than ariiing 

 from a fober examination of fafls, or a iciious conviction of 

 guilt. The charges of avarice and malice have never been 

 adequately fupported, and can only be mentioned to be de- 

 nied in grave and impartial biography. 



Mr. Burke had never been remarkable for an even temper 

 in the diicufTion of political qucdions : his irritability in- 

 creafed with his years, and his conducl became intemperate 

 and violent. He injured the caufe, imd incurred the dif- 

 pleafure of his alTociates on the quedion of the regency, and 

 burd afunder all the ties of friendfhip, as well as political 

 connctlion, on the breaking out of the French revolution. 

 That event, together with the conduft and opinions of Mr. 

 Burke relating to it, is fo recent, that it will be liifficient 

 barely to cnumsrate his publications on the fuijeA, with 



the fingle obfervalion, that he fccms from this time forward 

 to have cheriditd his arillocratical principles into the moll 

 inveterate bigotry, and to have negatived in turn every 

 maxim of praclical freedom, which he had formerly en- 

 forced. .Still, however, it is to be hoped, that his mtafuri s, 

 as a public man, m;iy candidly he auiibuted to impituohty 

 of character, and duiilihty of imagination, rather than lo 

 any worfe motives. 



The celebrated " Rtflexions" were pnbiifhed in Oilobcr 

 1790, which were iird aufwered by Dr. l-'riellley, in vindica- 

 tion of his friend Dr. Price, and afterwards by Tho"-.as 

 Paine in his " Rights of Man." 



The next pubhcation of Mr. Burke was his " .Secot;d 

 Letter to a Member of the National Affembly ;" and the 

 third, his " Appeal from the new to the old Vv^higs," in 

 conlequence of t)ie publication from the whig club, declar- 

 ing Mr. Fox to have maiiitaiueJ the pure doctrines of Eng- 

 lidi vvhiggifm. 



In J7(;i, Mackintofli's " Vindici:B Gallicx" appeared, 

 and Mr. Burke's principal publications afterwards were, his 

 " Letter to Lord Fitzwilham," and "'i'houghts on a regi- 

 cide Peace." 



Oil the clofe of Mr. Hadings's trial, Mr. Burke retired 

 from parliament ; but his domellic comfort was irretrievably 

 impaired, and his life probably fhortcned by the death of his 

 fon, in the year 1794. The father furvived three years, 

 which were principally employed in ads and fchemes of be- 

 nevolence to the French emigrants and their families. He 

 retained his faculties in perfedtion to the lad, and died 

 without bodily druggie, or difcompofure of mind, on the 

 8th of July, 1797. 



The qualities of Mr. Burke's mind will be bed exempli- 

 fied by a few of his opinions on literary fubjidls. Virgil and 

 Lucretius were his favourite Latin poets. He preferred the 

 fatires and epillles of Horace to the odes. He edccmed the 

 Greek hidorians and orators more highly than the Latin. 

 The delineation of ancient manners and characters in Homer 

 delighted him ; and he read the Odydey more frequently th;;n 

 the Iliad. Among the dramatic writers, he gave the pre- 

 ference to Euripides over Sophocles. The modern authors 

 with whom he was moll pleafed, were Bacon, Shakfpear, 

 Addifon, Le Sage, and Fielding. He thought Richardfou 

 far inferior to the latter: he did not like Swift, and had a 

 very poor opinion of Gay ; particularly of his " Beggar's 

 Opera." 



He paid much attention to farming, and difplayed tadc 

 in his improvements at Beaconsfield. He was one of the 

 mod fuccefstul gentlemen farmers, and condaiitly fupplicd 

 his family in town from the produce ot his own ellate. He 

 was particularly hofpilable, and indulged iu the pleafures of 

 the table, but never to exccfs. He was liberal to comnioii 

 beggars ; and afcribed the ordinary principle of difcouraging 

 them, rather to avarice than policy. 



As a fpeaker, Mr. Burke was charaflerifed by a fuper- 

 fluity of ideas and iuiagrs, often too abundant to he applied 

 with propriety, or ftlefted and arranged with judgment. 

 Early in lite, he w.is remarkably careful of his language, 

 and rtvifed his fpeeches with attention. I-attcrly, he be- 

 came blameably duTufe and extravagant, though his inge- 

 nuity never failed. He was particularly ambitious of ex- 

 cellence in the manngemeiiit of his voice and acflion ; yet, 

 after all, the former was but harlh, and the latter forcible, 

 but drained. 



His " Eday on the .Sublime and Beautiful" has placed 

 him in the highell clafs of writers on fubjeiEls of tade and 

 criticifm ; nor can his whole charafter be fummed up with 

 fo niQch drength, concilcnefs, and truth, as in the mcmor- 



4 A 2 able 



