Chapter 49

One very futile argument only remains to be noticed. It is said that we ought to be consistent; and that, having turned the Judge of the Admiralty out of the House, we ought to send the Master of the Rolls after him. I admit, Sir, that our system is at present very anomalous. But it is better that a system should be anomalous than that it should be uniformly and consistently bad. You have entered on a wrong course. My advice is first that you stop, and secondly that you retrace your steps. The time is not far distant when it will be necessary for us to revise the constitution of this House. On that occasion, it will be part of our duty to reconsider the rule which determines what public functionaries shall be admitted to sit here, and what public functionaries shall be excluded. That rule is, I must say, singularly absurd. It is this, that no person who holds any office created since the twenty-fifth of October, 1705, shall be a member of the House of Commons. Nothing can be more unreasonable or more inconvenient. In 1705, there were two Secretaries of State and two Under Secretaries. Consequently, to this day, only two Secretaries of State and two Under Secretaries can sit among us. Suppose that the Home Secretary and the Colonial Secretary are members of this House, and that the office of Foreign Secretary becomes vacant. In that case, no member of this House, whatever may be his qualifications, his fame in diplomacy, his knowledge of all the politics of the Courts of Europe, can be appointed. Her Majesty must give the Admiralty to the commoner who is, of all her subjects, fittest for the Foreign Office, and the seals of the Foreign Office to some peer who would perhaps be fitter for the Admiralty. Again, the Postmaster General cannot sit in this House. Yet why not? He always comes in and goes out with the Government: he is often a member of the Cabinet; and I believe that he is, of all public functionaries, the Chancellor of the Exchequer alone excepted, the one whom it would be most convenient to have here. I earnestly hope that, before long, this whole subject will be taken into serious consideration. As to the judges, the rule which I should wish to see laid down is very simple. I would admit into this House any judge whom the people might elect, unless there were some special reason against admitting him. There is a special reason against admitting any Irish or Scotch judge. Such a judge cannot attend this House without ceasing to attend his court. There is a special reason against admitting the Judges of the Queen's Bench and of the Common Pleas, and the Barons of the Exchequer. They are summoned to the House of Lords; and they sit there: their assistance is absolutely necessary to enable that House to discharge its functions as the highest court of appeal; and it would manifestly be both inconvenient and derogatory to our dignity that members of our body should be at the beck and call of the peers. I see no special reason for excluding the Master of the Rolls; and I would, therefore, leave our door open to him. I would open it to the Judge of the Admiralty, who has been most unwisely excluded. I would open it to other great judicial officers who are now excluded solely because their offices did not exist in 1705, particularly to the two Lords Justices, and the three Vice Chancellors. In this way, we should, I am convinced, greatly facilitate the important and arduous work of law reform; we would raise the character of this House: and I need not say that with the character of this House must rise or fall the estimation in which representative institutions are held throughout the world. But, whether the extensive changes which I have recommended shall be thought desirable or not, I trust that we shall reject the bill of the noble lord. I address myself to the Conservative members on your left hand; and I ask them whether they are prepared to alter, on grounds purely theoretical, a system which has lasted during twenty generations without producing the smallest practical evil. I turn to the Liberal members on this side; and I ask them whether they are prepared to lower the reputation and to impair the efficiency of that branch of the legislature which springs from the people. For myself, Sir, I hope that I am at once a Liberal and a Conservative politician; and, in both characters, I shall give a clear and conscientious vote in favour of the amendment moved by my honourable friend.

*****

INDEX.

Absalom and Achitophel of Dryden, character of it.

Absolute government, theory of.

Absolute rulers.

Academy, the French, its services to literature.

Addington, Henry, formation of his administration. His position as Prime Minister. Resigns. Raised to the peerage.

Aeschines, compared by Mr Mitford to Demosthenes.

Aeschylus, his works, how regarded by Quintillian.

Agesilaus, depressed by the constitution of Lycurgus.

Ajax, the prayer of, in the Iliad.

Aldrich, Dean, his mode of instructing the youths of his college. Employs Charles Boyle to edit the letters of Phalaris.

Alfieri, Vittorio, character of his works. His great fault in his compositions.

Anatomy Bill, Speech on.

Antinomian barn preacher, story of the.

Approbation, love of.

Aristocratical form of government. See Oligarchy.

Aristotle, his unrivalled excellence in analysis and combination. Value of his general propositions. His enlightened and profound criticism.

Arnault, A.V., Translation from.

Arras, cruelties of the Jacobins at.

Arrian, his character as a historian.

Arts, the fine, laws on which the progress and decline of depend.

Athenian Revels, scenes from.

Athens; disreputable character of Peiraeus. Police officers of the city. Favourite epithet of the city. The Athenian orators. Excellence to which eloquence attained at. Dr Johnson's contemptuous derision of the civilisation of the people of. Their books and book education. An Athenian day. Defects of the Athenians' conversational education. The law of ostracism at Athens. Happiness of the Athenians in their term of government. Their naval superiority. Ferocity of the Athenians in war. And of their dependencies in seditions. Cause of the violence of faction in that age. Influence of Athenian genius on the human intellect and on private happiness. The gifts of Athens to man. Character of the great dramas of Athens. Change in the temper of the Athenians in the time of Aristophanes.

Atterbury, Francis, his birth and early life. Defends Martin Luther against the aspersions of Obadiah Walker. Enters the church and becomes one of the royal chaplains. Assists Charles Boyle in preparing an edition of the letters of Phalaris. His answer to Bentley's dissertation on the letters of Phalaris. Bentley's reply. Atterbury's defence of the clergy against the prelates. Created a D.D. and promoted to the Deanery of Carlisle. His pamphlets against the Whigs. Appointed to the Deanery of Christ Church. Removed to the Bishopric of Rochester. His opposition to the Government of George I. His private life. His taste in literature and literary friends. Thrown into prison for treason. Deprived of his dignities and banished for life. Calls Pope as a witness to his innocence. Goes to Paris, and becomes Prime Minister of King James. Retires from the court of the ex-King. Death of his daughter. Induced by the Pretender to return to Paris. His defence of the charge of having garbled Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. His death.

August, lines written in.

Bacon, Lord, his description of the logomachies of the schoolmen. And of the Utilitarian philosophy. His mode of tracking the principle of heat.

Barbaroux, the Girondist, his execution.

Barere, Bertrand, Memoires de, of Carnot and David, review of the. Barere's true character. His lies. His talents as an author. Sketch of his life. Votes against the King. His federal views and ultra Girondism. His apparent zeal for the cause of order and humanity. His motion for punishing the Jacobins. Defeat of the Girondists. Retains his seat at the Board of the Triumphant Mountain. His infamous motion against the chiefs of the Girondists. Moves that the Queen be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Regales Robespierre and other Jacobins at a tavern on the day of the death of the Queen. Formation of his peculiar style of oratory. His Carmagnoles. Effect produced by his discourses. Seconds Robespierre's atrocious motion in the Convention. Becomes one of the six members of the Committee of Public Safety. The first to proclaim terror as the order of the day. Recommends Fouquier Tinville to the Revolutionary Committee of Paris. His proposal to destroy Lyons and Toulon. His opposition to the personal defence of Danton. His support of the wretch Lebon. His war against learning, art, and history. His sensual excesses. Becomes a really cruel man. His morning audiences and mode of treating petitions. His orders against certain head-dresses. Nicknames given to him. Obtains a decree that no quarter should be given to any English or Hanoverian soldier. M. Carnot's defence of this barbarity. Barere's support of Robespierre's fiendish decree. His panegyric on Robespierre. His motion that Robespierre and his accomplices should be put to death. Destruction of the power of the Jacobins. Report on his conduct voted by the Convention. Condemned to be removed to a distant place of confinement. His perilous journey. Imprisoned at Oleron. Removed to Saintes. Escapes to Bordeaux. Chosen a member of the Council of Five Hundred, which refuses to admit him. His libel on England. The Liberty of the Seas. His flight to St Ouen. Sends a copy of his work to the First Consul. Allowed by Bonaparte to remain in Paris. Refuses; becomes a writer and a spy to Bonaparte. Sends his friend Demerville to the guillotine. Spies set to watch the spy. Ordered to quit Paris. Employed in the lowest political drudgery. His "Memorial Antibritannique" and pamphlets. His fulsome adulation of the Emperor. Causes of his failure as a journalist. Treated with contempt by Napoleon. His treachery to his Imperial master. Becomes a royalist on the return of the Bourbons. Compelled to leave France. Returns in July 1830. Joins the extreme left. His last years and death. Summary of his character. His hatred of England. His MS. works on divinity.

Barre, Colonel, joins the Whig opposition. Appointed by Pitt Clerk of the Pells.

Bearn, the constitution of.

Beatrice, Dante's love of.

Beauclerc, Topham, a member of the Literary Club.

Bentham, Mr, his defence of Mr Mill. His merits and shortcomings. Examination of his views. His account of the manner in which he arrived at the "greatest happiness principle." Testimony to his merits.

Bentinck, Lord William, inscription on the statue of, at Calcutta.

Bentley, Richard, his dissertation on the letters of Phalaris. His answer to the attack of Atterbury.

Bible, the English translation of the, regarded as a specimen of the beauty and power of the English language.

Billaud, M., becomes a member of the Committee of Public Safety. Opposes Robespierre. Himself brought to trial. Condemned to be removed to a distant place of confinement. Transported to Guiana. His subsequent life.

Bonaparte, Napoleon, his detestation of the cruel decree of the Convention respecting English prisoners. His return from Egypt, and assumption of absolute power as First Consul. His policy at this period. Allows Barere to reside in Pairs. Employs Barere as a writer and spy. Establishes the Imperial government. His opinion of Barere's journalism. His defeat and abdication.

Boswell, James, becomes a member of The Club. His character. His life of Johnson.

Bourbon, Duke, character of the government of.

Bow Street, whiggery of.

Boyd, his translation of the Divine Comedy of Dante.

Boyle, Charles, his college edition of the letters of Phalaris. The answer to Bentley attributed to him.

Boyse, the poet, his friendship with Samuel Johnson.

Brasidas, great only when he ceased to be a Lacedaemonian.

Brissot, the Girondist leader. His trial.

Brissotines, the. See Girondists.

Buccaneer, the Last.

Bunyan, John, age in which he produced his Pilgrim's Progress. His birth and early life. His notions of good and evil. Enlists in the parliamentary army. Returns home and marries. His fantasies and internal sufferings. Thrown into gaol. His prison life. His intimate knowledge of the Bible. His early writings. His abhorrence of the Quakers. His controversies. His answer to Edward Fowler. His dispute with some of his own sect. His liberation from prison. His Pilgrim's Progress. His Holy War. Difficulties of. His death and burial-place. Fame of his Pilgrim's Progress.

Burgundy, Duke of, his theory of good government.

Burke, Edmund, his character of the first French republic. And of the French National Assembly. His vindication of himself from the charge of inconsistency. His part in The Club. His position in the Whig opposition.

Burns, Robert, age in which he produced his works.

Butler, Samuel, character of his poetry.

Byron, Lord, his egotism and its success.

Caesar, accounts of his campaigns, regarded as history.

Camden, Lord, joins the Whig opposition.

Canning, George, popular comparison of, with Mr Pitt. His activity in Pitt's cause.

Carey, his translation of the Divine Comedy of Dante.

Carmagnoles, the, of Barere. Lord Ellenborough's.

Carmichael, Miss, or Polly, in Dr Johnson's house.

Carnot, M. Hippolyte, his part in the Memoirs of Bertrand Barere.

Carolan, his compositions.

Carrier, the tyrant of Nantes, placed under arrest.

Casti, character of his Animali Parlanti.

Catholicism, Roman, the most poetical of all religions. Its great revival at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Treaty concluded by Charles II. by which he bound himself to set up Catholicism in England.

Catiline, Sallust's account of the Conspiracy of.

Cavendish, Lord John, becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer. Resigns.

Cervantes, delight with which his Don Quixote is read.

Charles II., King of England. Influence of his residence abroad upon his character and tastes. His treaty respecting Roman Catholics.

Chatham, first Earl of, compared by Mirabeau. His declining years. His last appearance in the House of Lords.

Chatham, second Earl of, his mismanagement of the Admiralty.

Chaumette, one of the accusers of the Girondists before the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Christ Church, Oxford, cry of, against Bentley.

Christianity, effect of the victory of, over paganism.

Church of Ireland, Speech on.

Churchill, his insult to Johnson.

Civil War, the great.

Clarendon, his history of the Rebellion, charge of garbling it.

Classical writers, celebrity of the great.

Cleomenes, causes and results of his raving cruelty.

Clergyman, the Country, his Trip to Cambridge.

Club, The, formation of. Members of the.

"Coalition," formation of the. Universal disgust. End of the Coalition.

Coates, Romeo, the actor.

Cock Lane Ghost, the.

Collot, d'Herbois, becomes a member of the Committee of Public Safety. Attacked in the streets. Brought to trial. Condemned by the Convention to be removed to a distant place of confinement. His end.

Condorcet, strength brought by him to the Girondist party. His melancholy end.

Confidence in Ministry of Lord Melbourne. Speech on.

Constantinople, empire of, its retrogression and stupefaction.

Convention, the French, of. The Girondists. The Mountain. Character of the diplomatic language during the reign of the Convention.

Copyright, Speeches on.

Corday, Charlotte, her murder of Marat.

Corn Laws, Speech on.

Corneille, attempts of the Academy to depress the rising fame of.

Cornwallis, General, his surrender to the Americans.

Cottabus, the Athenian game of.

Couthon, becomes a member of the Committee of Public Safety. His execution.

Cowley, Mr Abraham, and Mr John Milton, conversation between, touching the great Civil War.

Criticism, verbal. Improvement of the science of criticism. The critical and poetical faculty distinct and incompatible.

Cyrus, Xenophon's Life of, its character.

Dante, criticism on. His first adventure in the popular tongue. Influences of the times in which he lived upon his works. His love of Beatrice. His despair of happiness on earth. Close connection between his intellectual and moral character. Compared with Milton. His metaphors and comparisons. Little impression made by the forms of the external world upon him. Fascination revolting and nauseous images had for his mind. His use of ancient mythology in his poems. His idolatry of Virgil. Excellence of his style. Remarks upon the translations of the Divine Comedy. His veneration for writers inferior to himself. How regarded by the Italians of the fourteenth century.

Danton, character of. His death.

David, M. d'Angers, the sculptor, his part in the Memoirs of Bertrand Barere.

De Foe, effect of his Robinson Crusoe on the imagination of the child and the judgment of the man.

Demerville, the Jacobin, betrayed by his friend Barere.

Democracy, a pure. Mr Mill's view of a pure and direct.

Demosthenes, compared by Mr Mitford to Aeschines. His irresistible eloquence.

Denham, Sir John, character of his poetry.

Denis, St, Abbey of, laid waste by Barere.

"Dennis, St, and St George, in the Water, some Account of the Lawsuit between the Parishes of."

Deserted Village of Oliver Goldsmith.

Desmoulins, Camille, his attack on the Reign of Terror. Reply of Barere.

Desmoulins, Mrs, in Dr Johnson's house.

Despotic rulers. Theory of a despotic government.

Dies Irae.

Dionysius, his criticisms.

Diplomatic language used by the French Convention.

Directory, the Executive, of France, formation of.

Dissenters, persecution of the, by the Cavaliers. Relieved by Charles II. Prosecutions consequent on the enterprise of Monmouth. The Dissenters courted by the government of James II.

Dissenters' Chapels Bill, Speech on.

Divine Comedy of Dante, the great source of the power of the. Remarks on the translations of the.

Djezzar Pasha, his cruelty.

Doddington, Bubb, his kindness to Samuel Johnson.

Don Quixote, delight with which it is read.

Dorset, Earl of, his poetry.

Drama, the old English. Compared with that of Athens and France. Causes of the excellence of the English drama. Superiority of dramatic to other works of imagination. Extinction of the drama by the Puritans. The drama of the time of Charles II. Dryden's plays.

Dryden, John, place assigned to him as a poet. His merits and defects. Influence exercised by him on his age. Two parts into which his life divides itself. His small pieces presented to patrons. Character of his Annus Mirabilis. His rhyming plays. His impossible men and women. His tendency to bombast. His attempts at fairy imagery. His incomparable reasonings in verse. His art of producing rich effects by familiar words. Catholicity of his literary creed. Causes of the exaggeration which disfigure his panegyrics. Character of his Hind and Panther. And of his Absalom and Achitophel. Compared with Juvenal. What he would probably have accomplished in an epic poem. Compared with Milton.

Dubois, Cardinal, his mode of dealing with public petitions.

Dumont, M., review of his Souvenirs sur Mirabeau. Services rendered by him to society. His interpretation of Bentham's works. His view of the French Revolution. His efforts to instruct the French in political knowledge. Sketch of the character of Mirabeau. Of Sieyes and Talleyrand. And of his own character.

Dumourier, his Girondist sympathies. His defection.

Dundas, Henry, Lord Advocate, commencement of his friendship with Pitt.

Dunning, Mr, joins the Whig opposition.

Duroc, General, his letter to Barere.

Eady, Dr, his advertisements.

Edinburgh Election, speech at.

Education, Speech on.

Education, the, of the Athenians. Defects of their conversational education.

Egotism, the pest of conversation. Zest given by it to writing.

Eleusinian mysteries, the.

Ellenborough, Lord, his Carmagnoles.

Ellis, Welbore.

England, revolution in the poetry of. Mr Mill's remarks on the British Constitution. His view of the constitution of the English Government. Mr Sadler's statement of the law of population in England. The English Revolution compared with the French. Mildness of the revolution caused by the Reform Bill. Makes war against France.

Epistles, Petrarch's.

Epitaph on Henry Martyn.

Epitaph on Lord William Bentinck.

Epitaph on Sir Benjamin Heath Malkin.

Epitaph on Lord Metcalfe.

Euphuism in England.

Euripides, mother of. His jesuitical morality. How regarded by Quintillian.

Evil, question of the origin of, in the world.

Exclusion of Judges from the House of Commons, Speech on.

Federalism, the new crime of, in France. Federalism as entertained by Barere.

Fenelon, his principles of good government, as shown in his Telemachus.

Fluxions, discovery of the method of.

Fortune, remedies for Good and Evil, Petrarch's.

Fowler, Edward, John Bunyan's answer to.

Fox, Charles James, his character. His great political error. The King's detestation of him. Becomes Secretary of State under the Duke of Portland. His India Bill. His speeches.

Fragments of a Roman Tale.