CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX. II. Reports of Speech in Fishamble Street Theatre, Dublin. VII. The Four Ages of Poetry, by T. L. Peacock. VIII. Letter of Messrs. Ballantyne & Co. concerning The Wander- IX. Letters to Stockdale, from Sir T. Shelley and T. J. Hogg. APPENDIX. I. LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF "THE MORNING CHRONICLE," ON THE CANDIDATURE OF LORD GRENVILLE FOR THE CHANCELLORSHIP OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.' SIR,-It has been truly said, that a silly friend is frequently more injurious than a decided enemy. This observation recurred to me while reading in the Courier, a letter from an injudicious opponent of Lord Grenville, in which the attention of the University of Oxford is called to the personal pretensions of the three Candidates, for the vacant Chancellorship. Now, it is only by keeping out of sight the personal inferiority of the Duke of Beaufort and Lord Eldon, by the artful introduction of extraneous Medwin, in his Life of Shelley (Vol. I, p. 146), says that Shelley "was by no means in good odour with the authorities of the college, from the side he took in the election of Lord Grenville, as chancellor, against his competitor, a member of the University." He adds, "Plain and loud was the avowal of his sentiments, nor were they confined to words, for he published, I think in the Morning Chronicle, under the signature of A Master of Arts of Oxford, a letter advocating the claims of Lord Grenville..." At the bottom of this puddle of inaccuracies one would look to find a basis of solid fact. Mr. MacCarthy (Shelley's Early Life, p. 24) found in The Morning Chronicle for the 15th of November, 1809, a date long before Shelley went to Oxford, a letter on this subject signed "A. M. Oxon." There is some reason to think this letter was written by Sir Timothy Shelley, with his son's assistance. It is therefore included in the Appendix to Shelley's Prose Works. topics, that any Member of the Convocation can have the hardihood to propose either of them in opposition to Lord Grenville. That Lord Eldon has been a successful man-that he is a moral man and a prudent man nobody will deny, but that he is distinguished by the talents of his predecessors on the Woolsack, that he is celebrated as a scholar or as a statesman, that he possesses a large and enlightened mind will be asserted by few, who are not in expectation of the good things he has to give, and believed by none, who are not, through his favour, in the actual enjoyment of a snug living, a comfortable commissionership of bankrupts, or a warm mastership in Chancery. By the bye his Lordship very opportunely, a short time since, made the nephew of the Master of one of the most numerous Colleges a Commissioner of Bankrupts. In fact, Lord Eldon's life is chiefly remarkable for an inordinate love of the profits of place. He has never shewn himself animated with a laudable political ambition. He has been seen Chancellor under Mr. Pitt's Administration, Chancellor under Mr. Addington's, still Chancellor when Mr. Pitt turned out Mr. Addington, now Chancellor with Mr. Perceval, and ready to have been Chancellor under Lords Grey and Grenville, had they listened to the proposal lately, so impudently made to them; to enable the rump of the No Popery Junta to continue in officeLord Eldon deprived of the seals would be personally as insignificant as the Duke of Beaufort. As to his Grace, it would be unfair towards him not to state, that from some supposed littlenesses, which are said to deform Lord Eldon's character, he is understood to be entirely free. He is admitted to be an hospitable, correct, and generally respectable man, and if the ques tion were, whether he should be appointed Chairman of Quarter Sessions in one of his dependent Counties, Monmouth or Gloucester, it might perhaps, be thought, that his mediocrity of understanding did not render him incompetent for such a situation. But as Chancellor of Oxford-to preside in the seat of learning, I do assert, that he has no qualification whatever. Is his rank to carry it? If his Dukedom is to recommend him, why does not the University present its honours to a Royal Duke-the Duke of York, for instance, has now leisure to attend to the concerns of Alma mater. In truth, the Duke of Beaufort would not have been named, if his influence in a certain House had not made him a powerful patron. Believe me, Sir, my brethren here are not inattentive to the disposition of Church patronage, looking in vain for superior merit in those who are put over their heads, they have searched for the recommendations they have been fortunate enough to procure. In this inquiry they have discovered, that the Duke of Beaufort is one of the few whose wishes upon such subjects are in the nature of commands. They have seen him make Dr. Luxmore a Bishop of a valuable See, and before his Lordship was enthroned, they saw him obtain for Mr. Talbot, who married a daughter of the Duke; and who is a very young man, the rich Deanery of Salisbury-besides, in other departments of the State, he is accounted lucky in obtaining for his friends the most desirable appointments. But these sordid considerations, however they may have influenced persons who have proposed the Duke, will, I trust, have no effect upon the great body of electors, who ought to have, and I am convinced, will have, no other views in the choice they may make, than the honour of their University, and the interests of learning. Lord Grenville between his pigmy rivals rises with a colossal grandeur of character-with all the private worth that belongs to both of his competitors, and without the infirmities that are imputed to one of them, he unites the accomplished scholar with the eminent statesman. As a parliamentary orator, he is considered by a celebrated author, whose works now lie before me, since the extinction of the great luminary, Mr. Fox, without an equal. But Lord Grenville not only possesses appropriate excellence for the Chair of an University, but is also particularly recommended to the admiration of the country by his manly political career. Twice has he given up place and power, and lately refused them, solely upon public principle. These are facts which confer real dignity, and constitute a great man. In these times, when independence is so rare, and when place is generally sought alone for the profit it produces, it is the duty of those with whom the expression of any part of the national voice is entrusted, to honour with all the distinction they can bestow, him who is almost a solitary exception to the opprobrium cast upon public men; a contrary course of conduct must induce a suspicion, especially if it be seen on the present occasion, that if public virtue be seldom found in the Statesmen of the present day, it is because the public itself is degraded. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Oxford, Nov. 13, 1809.1 A. M. OXON. P. S.-I am happy to say, that the Colleges most in repute among us, Christ Church, Brazenose, and Oriel, are decidedly in favour of Lord Grenville. |