1797+] 
fceptre of authority, under the le{s odious 
title of * prime-minifter. It is nolonger a 
ininion of the crown, or a junto of power- 
ful harons, as during the times of the feu~ 
dal fyfterm, that direéts the councils of the 
foverciyn ; but a great public officer, in 
fome meafure neceflary for the eafe, com- 
fort, and, perhaps, even fafety of royalty. 
It is this political affeflor to the kingly 
power, who permits the brow of care to 
unbend beneath the weight of a diadem, 
and not unfrequently reduces the duties 
of the imperial office to a mee pantomime 
exhibition of majefty. The fenate of a 
neighbouring nation +, once ordered a 
cachet},.or feal, to be provieed, containing 
the name and titles of the monarch, on 
purpofe to render his fignature unne- 
celfary. The modern premier atts ina 
different manner, for inftead of employ - 
ing the copy, he recurs to the original, 
and while in poffefiion of -that, actually 
wields the armies, navies, and finances of 
the itate. 
It is evident then, that the VizirR- 
$H1P has been recently introduced into 
many of the moft polithed fates of this 
quarter of the-globe, and the exiftence of 
an oftenfeble cabinet cannot in the leaft alter. 
the natire either of the office or the argu- 
ment; for have not Eaftern monarchies 
alfo their divan ? 
If thefe obfervations be juft, ir mult 
neceffarily follow that the liberties, hap- 
pinefs, and profperity of a nation cffenti- 
ally depend on the choice of this great 
cfhicer, and it will accordingly be found, 
whether recufrence be had to our own 
hiftory, orthe annais of other nations, that 
both we and they have flourifhed or decay- 
ed, lefs in proportion to the virtves of the 
prince feared on the throne, than the ta- 
lents and integrity of the minifter, who, 
from the fieps of it, overlooks and com- 
mands the whole kingdom. Thus, under 
Charles I, a movarch of oo inconfiderable 
abilities, what a deluge of blood was pro- 
duced in England, by the pra€tical bigo- 
try of a Laud, and the theoretical defpo- 
tifm of a Strafford ! Under Chriftian VII, 
a king reduced by the vification of provi- 
dence to a ftate of fecond childhood, what 
evils have not been averted, and what 
SS ee ee eee eee ee 
* This officer is entirely unknown to our 
ancient conftitution; and Lord Nosth, whe will 
not be ufually quoted us an enemy to arbitrary 
‘power, repeatedly difclaimed the title of fremier, 
when alluded to by this appellation in the 
Houte of Commons. 
' Sweden. 
‘ t Both Louis XIV, and Henry VIII, em-' 
ployed a fimilar cachet, in ordes to avoid the fa- 
— gigues of royalty. 
Original Anecdotesm—Count de Bernftorff: 
from the ambition of conquering Holftein, =~ 
459 
good left unachieved, under the mild and 
paternal government of the twoBernftor fs? 
‘The dace Count de Bernftorff was bora 4 
in'1735. He was the reprefentative of a 
very ancient family, originally fettled in 
the electorate of Hanover, whence it had H 
migcated nerthward, in fearch of fortune i 
and diftin€lions. His education was wor- 
thy of his fucure greatnefs, and being 
forimed by nature in one of her happiett 
moods, he feemed from his early youth to 
have been defiyned to reguiate the defti- 
nies of that ftate, in which it was his lor 
to be born among the clafs of fubjeéts. 
His uncle, the old Count de Bernftorff, had | 
occupied a diftinguifhed fituation in the ie 
cabinet, whence he was excluded by the % 
influence cf the Count de. Struenfee, a i 
man of confiderable talents asd ambition, - i‘ 
who not vontent with being the lover of a i 
queen, afpired to be the ,minifter of a if 
great nation. An ignominious death, in - i 
fitted by the hand. of a common execu- is 
tioner, put an end to the hfe and proje&s ik 
of this afpiring ftatelman, who meditated 
the plan of refcuing his native country 
from foreign influence; and poffefling a 
verfatility of genius, united an unbounded = 
attachment to the fex, with a wonderful 
capacity for, and application to, bufinets. i‘ 
No fooner was he removed from the ftage, i 
in confequence of a bloody cataftrophe, 
than the plenipotentiary of a neighbour- 
ing power fiepped forward, and aétually vf 
nominated his fucceflor. Jn order tocom- 
prehend this fact, ic may be here necef- 
fary ro take a flight hiftorical furvey ofthe 
influence juft alluded to, | 
The czar or tzar Peter the Great, not Ht 
only enabled the country which gave him i 
victh to emerge from barbarity, but aétu~ i, 
aliy laid the toundation of all its prefent | 
power and impoytance; thus exhibiting 
in praétice, the inftructive: confolatory 
leffon, that a man of genius may notoniy ~ 
regulate, but meliorate the fate of muil- 
lions. From Sweden, he took Livonia, 
Eithonia, Carelia and Ingria, &c. not con- 
tent with a mere {uperiority in point of 
arms, had recourfe to policy, and con- 
trived that the party of the Bounets in the 
fenateé, fhould render their native country - 
fubfervient to his plans of aggrandizement. 
The minifters of Denmark were at the 
fame time penfioned by him, and. the 
councils of that nation regulated in fome 
meafure by his nod. His fucceflors, Ca- 
therine I, and Peter Lil, the one on ac- 
count of family conneétions,. the other 
. 
fae 32 or, 


a 
re a Pe a SP ee Oe Te, aa 
ene 
ee 
did not cultivate the preponderance ob-. | 
tained by him: it wasreferved for Cathe 4 
tine II to increafeit. The Count Ran- _ 
zane 
