use his

did he render in that way; but, are we to be called upon to pay life annuities to members of parliament, for their services in that capacity? This is fine doctrine indeed. But, what place was it that it was proposed, by Mr. Fox, to give him for life? He himself, you will readily be sworn, did not propose the thing to Mr. Fox. It was, of course, to. be pressed upon him. The thing was to be done entirely without his knowledge; and yet, that being the case, it does seem odd, that Mr. Fox should apologize to him for the failure. However, let us suppose, that all this was so; but what was the place, that Mr. Fox proposed to give him for life? Why, Gentlemen, it was this very Chanceltorship of the Duchy of Lancaster! "By the mass, as Falstaff says, "he would have made a brave judge." And, to friend Weatherhead's phrase, what choice "cushion-thumpers" he would have furnished us with; for he would have had considerable church patronage! If this statement be true, then, Mr. Fox recommended to be done for him precisely that which the king was about to do for Mr. Perceval. Whether church-benefices would not be as properly deposited in Mr. Perceval's as in Mr. Sheridan's hands is a question that I will not put to you; but, what a cruel satire is it upon the memory of Mr. Fox, to represent the bestowing of the thing in question as so flagrantly unconstitutional, at the very same time, that it is asserted, that Mr. Fox would, if he had been able, have bestowed it in exactly the same manner! The truth is, that the objection was not to the principle of the appointment, but to the man, whom the Grenvilles disliked, and whom the Foxites, with their accustomed meanness, would risk nothing to support. Mr. Sheridan has now the power of repaying them in their own coin. He is the only man amongst them, whom the change will not sink. Him it will raise. He has been eclipsed merely by the power of those, who owed so much to the former exertion of his talents. Now their power is gone, those talents will again have their worth; and, though he will not, perhaps, actually join the opponents of his supercilious and ungrateful party, he will not fail to make them feel, that he is not to be slighted with impunity. Whatever else he may be, he is a man of wonderful resources of mind; and, if he had been true to himself and to the people, he would never have had to sue for "" a permanent settle

ment."

Having but little room remaining, I must be very brief in what I have to say with regard to interference with the king, relating

to the change of ministry.-Gentlemen, it is the king's prerogative; a prerogative which he possesses, and which he ought to possess, to change his ministers, whensoever he pleases, and without being liable to be questioned, or taunted, respecting it, by any pow er upon earth. The House of Commons has its rights, too. It has the right to refuse to grant money; and this it can do at any time; but, it has no right to interfere with the king in the choosing, or dismissing, of his servants. It can take up, and pass the Catholic bill; it can refuse money; but, greedy turned-out ministers will never propose any such mode of proceeding; they will naturally desire the parliament to side with them upon a question of place. And, if the parliament were to side with them, were to adopt any measure, having for its object the forcing of them back upon the king, to what a degraded situation would it be reduced! They well know, that the House of Commons itself is armed with constitutional powers, quite sufficient to render it an effectual check upon the crown; but these powers such ministers never wish to see it exercise; because they know, that, in such exercise, it would break from their trammels; whereas their object is, 'to render it always subservient to their views of interest and of ambition; to use it against the people as long as they are in place, and against the king the moment they are out of place. But, if such a thing were attempted, in the present instance, it would be too glaringly scandalous for any inan, except, perhaps, Mr. Perry, to defend, the House yet resounding, as it does, with the declaration of Lord Howick, that, while he was in place, a bill was brought into the House because the king approved of it, and was afterwards stopped in its progress and withdrawn, because the king changed his mind. What would that House be? In what light would it be considered by the country, or by the world, if immediately after this declaration, it was to join that same Lord Howick in a complaint against that same king for exercising his undoubted prerogative in dismissing those, whom it calls his servants? What an absurd, what a preposterous conclusion would this lead to! The House of Commons hears, without a single whisper of disapprobation, that a bill has been brought in, and afterwards withdrawn, by the sole authority of the king; and Mr. Perry has the impudence to tell us, that it is proper of this very same House of Commons to interfere with the king about the choosing of his own servants. Aye," will he say, "bu 1,you perverse, hard-hearted dog, Lord Howick

66

Let us,

Cal

is a peculiar propriety in the definition which Milton has given of a "complete and generous education," as that "which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both private. and public, of peace and war." then, apply this definition as a test to ascertain the merits of the plan of instruction which is followed at our most celebrated schools, at Eton and Westminster for instance, where nothing else but Latin and Greek is taught, and even at the two Universities, where they continue to be still the primary objects of attention. Now, I apprehend it is the characteristical feature of this plan, that it cultivates exclusively the memory and the taste, both subordinate faculties of the mind. The principle of the new French system; a system dictated by necessity, and expressly adapted to the service of the state-is to exercise the understanding. From this system the learned languages are in a manuer excluded. culation and experiment, the sciences depending on reasoning and observation, are the subjects which at present occupy the attention of youth in France. Now, which of these two systems is best adapted to improve the genera powers of the mind? to make men active, sagacious, and inventive? Which of them is calculated to form the best generals and statesmen? No one, I imagine, who reflects that it is superiority of judgment which governs all human affairs, can be at a loss for the proper answer to these questions. In what degree of estimation the study of Greek and Latin is held in this view, by those who are best qualified to judge of its effects, may be drawn from an expression made use of by the enlightened authors of "Practical Education," who, in their chapter on grammar, after stating the circumstances which may render a certain proficiency in these languages necessary or desirable, proceed to examine the question how this p:oficiency may be attained, with the least loss of time, and the least danger to the understanding.-CIVIS.March 16, 1807.

time that they are unfit to be occupied as babitations, sooner fall into decay than entire edifices. The inference from this statement . I regard as inevitable; and, I think, Sir, it amounts to a complete justification of your original position, that the learned languages, as a "part of general education," are worse than useless. It is plain, that if the benefits to be derived from our acquaintance with them are confined to so small a number, it matters little to the argument how considerable these benefits may be in the particular instances. The acquirements of the single student who attains the object in view, may be a sufficient compensation for his own time and labour; but they cannot surely, in consistency with common sense, be considered as an equivalent for the time and labour of the nineteen others who fall short of it. To them the time spent in this study is a pure loss; and as they constitute a great majority, such also must it be regarded on the whole-Here, I have no doubt, the advocates of classical literature will ask me, if I have never heard of the advantages to be derived even from an unsuccessful study of Latin, in the knowledge which it impresses of the principles of our own language. That this is in some degree the case, I am not inclined to dispute; the argument has an appearance of force when considered by itself, and thus it has misled many; but place it over against the reasons on the other side, and I apprehend it will have no more effect on the general question, than a single grain would have on a balance, when hundredweights were in the opposite scale. There is nothing relating to language in general, or to the English language in particular, which may not be learnt in one fiftieth part of the time necessary to acquire it in this manner, by a direct study of the thing itself; except indeed a little knowledge of etymology. How far the most docile period of youth is wisely laid out on this accomplishment, I shall let those determine who can estimate the value of both -A material branch of the subject remains to be considered; but at present I can only bestow upon it a few words. By this system, it will be said, a complete education is at least secured for young men in the higher ranks of life, who are able to spare the time necessary for bringing their classical studies to perfection. That those who are born to the exercise of legislative functions, or are destined to fill important offices in the state, should be properly fitted for the parts which they will be called upon to act in society, is an object, undoubtedly, of the first national consequence. With reference to this class, there

FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. CONTINENTAL WAR.-Twenty-ninth Bulletin of the Grand French Army.

(Concluded from p. 416). Gen. Blucher, Prince Frederick of Brunswick Oels, and the other generals, then came forward to the victors, and desired to capitulate. The troops were defiled before the French army. These two days' work destroyed the last corps which remained of the Prussian army; beside the remainder of

the artillery, we have taken a number of standards, and 16,000 prisoners, of whom 4000 are cavalry. Thus the Prussian gene rals, who, in the delirium of their vanity, indulged in all sorts of sarcasms against the Austrian commanders, have the fourth time renewed a catastrophe similar to that of Ulm; 1st, in the capitulation of Erfurt; 2d, by that of the Prince Hohenlohe; 3d, in the reduction of Stettin; and the 4th, in the recent capitulation of Schwartau. The city of Lubeck has suffered considerably: taken by assault, its streets, its squares, have been scenes of carnage. These calamities she attributes to those who drew the perils of war towards her walls.-Mecklenburg has been equally ravaged by the French and Prussian armies. A great number of troops traversing it in various directions, of necessity subsisted at the expense of the country. This state is in close alliance with Prussia, and will in some measure prove an example to those princes of Germany who seek for alliance with a far distant power, which is perfectly safe from a participation in these evils it draws upon them, and which makes no effort to support those who are attached to it by the nearest ties of blood, or by the closest diplomatic relations.--Dery, an aide-decamp of the Grand Duke's, obliged a corps to capitulate which escorted a considerable quantity of baggage, and had got beyond the Peene. The Swedes had paid the fugitives for the covered waggons. This affair produced 1500 prisoners, and a great quantity of baggage and carriages. Some of the regiments of cavalry have gained, in specie and booty, to the amount of several hundred thousand crowns.-Marshal Ney, who was charged with the siege of Magdeburg, bombarded that town. A number of houses were burned, which caused the inhabitants to murmur greatly; upon which the commandant desired to capitulate. A great number of cannon were found in the fortress; extensive magazines; 15,000 men drafted from more than 70 battalions, and military chests of several regiments.During these important operations, several corps of our army arrived on the Vistula. The Warsaw mail brought many letters from Russia, which of course were intercepted. From these we perceive, that the fabrications of the English Journals meet with much credit in Russia. For instance; that Marshal Massena has been killed; that the city of Naples was taken and occupied by the Calabrians; that the King fled to Rome; and that the English, with 5 or 6000 men, were masters of Italy! However, a little reflection would enable them to dis

cover the fallacy of these reports. Has not France increased, not diminished, her military force in Italy? The King of Naples is in his capital; he has 30,000 French troops at his back; he is master of the Two Calabrias, while at Petersburgh they imagine the Calabrians are at Rome! If a few galleys, armed and trained by the infamous Sidney Smith, the most worthless among the brave English soldiers, killed unprotected individuals, and massacred wealthy, unoffending, and peaceable proprietors; the gendarmerie and the scaffold has done them justice! The English navy disavows not in the least the epithet of infamous, bestowed upon Sidney Smith. Generals Stuart and Fox, and all the officers of the army, are indignant at beholding the English name associated with such brigands! The brave Gen. Stuart has even publicly protested against these outrages, as unavailing with respect to their objects as they are atrocious in themselves, and which tend to exchange the noble science and business of war for a system of robbery and assassination! But when Sidney Smith was selected to execute the sanguinary suggestions of the Queen, we can only perceive in him one of those unprincipled instruments, which governments do often employ, but whom they always abandon to that contempt, which they are the first to feel for them! The Neapolitans will one day be informed in detail, of the letters circulated by Sidney Smith, the commissions he has authorized, and of the money he has expended for the execution of atrocities, in which he is himself the chief agent.-We also see, by the letters from Petersburgh, and even in the official dispatches, that they imagine there are no French in Upper Italy. Those persons, however, ought to be informed, that independent of the army of Naples, there are more than 100,000 French troops in Italy, ready to punish those who should dare to attack it. They expect also every day at Petersburgh to hear of the successes of the division of Corfu; but, they will shortly learn, that this division had scarcely landed at the Mouths of the Cattaro, when they were defeated by Gen. Marmont, that a part of them have been captured, and the remain der reimbarked and fled. It is a very different thing to fight against French, from what it is to engage with the Turks, whom they hold in fear and partial subjection, by artfully fomenting discord and insurrections in the provinces. Respecting these, however, the Russians are not a loss for means to shift the opprobrium from themselves.--It is declared, by a decree of the senate, that at Austerlitz, it was not the Russians, but their