We, on the other hand, had to strengthen our convictions, the subsequent evidence of facts; for the restraints upon popular meetings, ceasing by the proviso of the Act, in case of a General Election, the dissolution which followed on the demise of the Crown was attended with none of the dangers to the public peace which had been the ground of the enactments. After, however, the heats of party warfare had cooled, it was admitted that some restraint upon the right of meeting had become necessary for the sake of preserving that valuable privilege to the people. One of the stoutest supporters of our party, and of all liberal principles, Lord Hutchinson, very distinctly stated at the time, that aware of the risks to which this popular right was exposed of being entirely lost through the gross abuse of it, he felt thankful that the restrictions which he deemed necessary for its preservation, had been propounded by the Tory Party, and not by the Whigs.

In 1815, Lord Plunket also differed with his political friends, agreeing, however, with Lord Grenville, upon the question raised by Napoleon's return from Elba. On this occasion, the event decided with him. But he had not, as on the other question, four years later, the satisfaction of agreeing with Lord Wellesley. That great and experienced statesman held the renewal of the war to be without justification, taking into account the change in Napoleon's character, as well as in the circumstances both of France and of the other European powers; an opinion which, supported though it be by many plausible arguments, is at this day not a little difficult to maintain.

Of Lord Plunket's judicial character, they who have attended to the proceedings upon appeal in the House of Lords, have always formed a favourable estimate; and when he was, by a strange and inexplicable transaction, thrust out of his high office, the pretext alleged, that his judicial conduct betrayed indications of declin

ing vigour, was triumphantly exposed, and shown to have not the shadow of foundation, by an examination of his decrees, and of the reception they met with before the Court of Appellate Jurisdiction.

Of that transaction it would be difficult to speak in terms of adequate reprobation. It is to be placed among the most signal acts of political ingratitude and injustice which the annals of the profession and of party present to warn lawyers against putting their trust in princes, and the ministers of princes.

It only remains to add, that no act of his after-life, nor any speech, nor indeed any private complaint proceeding from him, ever showed that he felt, what he had ample right to feel and to express, his sense of the treatment which he had received.

DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

HIGH among the statesmen of England stands her greatest captain. That we may, without fear of falling into error, acknowledge this title, notwithstanding the just fame of Marlborough, seems manifest from the much greater variety in the circumstances of the wars which he carried on, and from the incomparably greater difficulties with which he had to contend. Compared with the obstructions created by the Portuguese Government, and the Spanish Cortes, the Spanish people, and their armies, and their commanders, the trouble given by the Dutch Field Deputies, and the German allies, sink into insignificance, even if we do not set against Marlborough's difficulties the inestimable advantage of Prince Eugene's powerful and able co-operation; while all the opposition which the factions at home raised was as nothing compared to the want of support from the Government which made the Duke's illustrious brother resign his place in that Government, and the unceasing attacks on all his movements, as well by parties in Parliament-with eminent statesmen at their head- -as by the multitude out of doors, whom the unrestrained press partly instigated, and partly followed.* But another diversity is

*Extracts from the Duke's Despatches.

"I act with a sword hanging over me, which will fall upon me whatever may be the result of affairs here. (This refers to the popular clamours in England.) My opinion is, that a plot is on foot against the English to counteract our pretensions to command the army. Either Souza must quit the country or I shall. It is useless to propose any arrangement for this or any other purpose if the Portuguese Government will execute nothing."

"The Spaniards have neither numbers, efficiency, discipline, bravery,

to be named still more important. The troops of France, inured to victory by fifteen years of triumph over all the armies of the Continent, were led by the generals whom they had followed to their victories; and the greatest of them all both superintended their movements, and, finally, took the command in person. It is very possible, that, placed in these circumstances, Marlborough might have fought and conquered; but

nor arrangement to carry on the contest. They forget that, by the folly and treachery of their own officers, they have been brought into the state, in which they there find themselves."- "What can be done for this lost nation? As for raising men or supplies, or taking any one measure to enable them to carry on the war, that is out of the question."

"In addition to embarrassments of all descriptions surrounding us on all sides, I have to contend with an ancient enmity between the two nations, (Spanish and Portuguese,) of which no sense of common danger, or common interest, or anything can get the better, even in individuals."

"I have never been in such distress as at present. As it is, if we do not find the means of paying our butcher's bills, there will be an end to the war at once. Since Great Britain was a naval force, a British army has never been left in such a situation."

"Although the army have been engaged two days and have defeated twice their numbers, in the service of Spain, they have not bread to eat. It is positively a fact, that during the last seven days the British army' have not received one-third of their provisions. I have already fought one battle on this frontier with defective equipments of all kinds, owing to the neglect of the Portuguese government, and I am on the eve of another."

"But this will not do. There is not another officer in the service who would go through what I daily endure to keep the machinèe together, and it cannot last."

"There is no end of the calumnies against me and the army, and I should have no time to do anything else if I were to begin to refute or even to notice them."

"False reports and deceptions of every description are tried, and the popular insults to show us what the general opinion is of our conduct. However, nothing of this kind shall make me take one step either way which is not dictated by my sense of what is best for the cause."

"It is extraordinary that the revolution in Spain should not have produced one man with any knowledge of the real situation of the country. It really appears as if they were all drunk and thinking and talking of any other subject but Spain. Where it is to end, God knows."

"I persevered in the system which I thought best, notwithstanding that it was the opinion of every British officer in the country that I ought to embark the army; while, on the other hand, the Portuguese civil authorities contend that the war ought to be maintained on the frontier, for which they wanted not only physical force, but also the means of provid

the difference is, that the great Duke actually did fight and did conquer, which at once decides the question in his favour.

They who foretold that "when he should yield to fate, who had never yielded to man, enemy, or rival, every whisper of detraction would be hushed, and each voice be raised to proclaim his transcendent merit,"* not having reserved themselves till that day unhappily arrived, may well be permitted now to renew their panegyric, the more especially as it is well known that the same eulogies which were pronounced in his presence, had been habitually declared in his absence, and at times of the greatest difference of opinion upon public affairs, and of as entire antagonism as the divisions of party ever engendered.— "The mighty Captain, who never advanced but to cover his arms with glory-the mightier Captain, who never retreated but to eclipse that glory by the far higher fame of unwearied patience, unbroken energy, indomitable fortitude, the wonders of a skill whose resources are exhaustless, the miracles of a moral ing for the force they could produce in the field. I believe nothing but something worse than firmness could have carried me through the nine months' discussions with these contending opinions."-(1811.)

"If I fail, may God have mercy on me, for nobody else will."-(Jan. 1810.)

"Upon the whole, I entertain no doubt of the final success of the measures I am carrying on."—(1811.)

"If the Emperor of Russia has any resources, is prudent, and his Russians will really fight, Bonaparte will not succeed."—(1815.)

"I can only tell you that if I were a prince of the House of Bourbon, nothing should prevent me from now coming forward, not in a good house in London, but in the field in France; and if England stood by him, I am certain he would succeed."-(1813.)

*This prospect was indeed realized: "The event has surpassed the expectation. All classes, every description of his fellow-citizens, without distinction of rank, or party, or sect-abroad as at home-the country he served, the allies he saved, the adversaries he encountered, in just recollection of benefits, or in generous oblivion of differences, all, not inconsiderately, but with discriminating reflection, have joined with an assent so unbroken, so universal as, I verily believe, is not recorded in the history of human renown."-Lords' Debate, 12th November, 1852.