On various events I have had, I confefs,

The applause of my country at large more or less;
But whate'er was my conduct, whate'er was my station,
You've been always confiftent in your approbation.

You have been my staunch friends, you have witness'd my zeal :

To you, my good friends, and your friends I appeal,
How steady and firm to my system I've been-
(BILLY PITT to get out, and myself to get in ;) (Afide.)
For this I have labour'd both early and late,
And all, be affur'd, for the good of the State.

I thought it enough, in my speeches before,
To thank for paft favours and ask you for more.
But to fay fomething else it may not be amifs,
At a crifis fo great and fo awful as this.

In th' American war, when Lord NORTH led us on,
Till our money was spent and our powder was gone,
When long and in vain he had fought with the foe,
(A faithful old friend* must be partial, you know,)
And the Commons declar'd that all warfare fhould cease,
Compell'd by the votes, he agreed to make peace.
But now things are chang'd; for though fifty and more
All wish to drive PITT from the Treafury door,
He proudly infifts on the votes five to one;
The French will not treat, and the war it goes on,
In utter contempt of the fenfe of the nation :

Though what's their opinion, in my private ftation,
It is not for me to discover, I own,

And the sense of the people to me is unknown.

Of old, when a Minifter's views were fufpected, Country Gentlemen rose, and his plans were rejected. But now they continue to favour and court him; And if truth must be spoken, the People support him. Yet his crimes and his vices, which STURT, you, and I, And fome more of our friends, can so plainly descry; It fure cannot be that his virtues they prize,

That his measures are right, or his conduct is wife:

"When I make any terms with him, I will be fatisfied to be called the moft infamous of mankind!"

+ Partiality.

We

We have sworn they are wrong, and we fwear the fame still, Let the People and Parliament fay what they will.

In numbers we're weak, but in judgment we 're strong; So we are all right, and the reft are all wrong.

Would you know why the People fhould follow like sheep?

There's a torpor, I'm told, and they're all gone to fleep.
How elfe, when the Bank has thought proper of late
To keep up their cafh (for the good of the State)-(Afide.)
And money was fent (which the public thought right),
Against one common foe that the EMPEROR might fight,
How elfe, though to us the campaigns have been glorious,
The Indies fubdu'd, and our Navy victorious;
Yet how, when the French have beat Auftria and Spain,
Can the People have fuffer'd WILL PITT to remain ?
I'll tell you at once how the whole has been done;
He has dos'd 'em with opium, as fure as a gun:
Country Gentlemen too-as to them, I'd a doubt;'
But I've fifted the point, and the fecret is out.
When he thinks that, perhaps, their opinions may waver,
He ftrengthens the mind and the vote by a favour;
Contrives by a Peerage their fcruples to fmother,
And quickly removes 'em from one Houfe to t' other.
And how many fuch do you think I can ftate,

Of the Peers he thought proper this week to create ?
I boldly aver, that at least there are three-
And fo the majority 's gain'd-Q. E. D.

*

Since this is the cafe-fince, though daily I fay
They are all in the wrong, they will ftill have their way,
And for all the fine fpeeches I make in the House,
Not a convert is gain'd, and they care not a loufe;
Since for all my beft reas'ning they 've ftill a reply,
And a groundless affertion DUNDAS calls a lie;
And no rational ground in our prefent condition,
To fay truth, can I find for the east oppofition:
In future +, I'll make all my fpeeches to you,
Who will never reply-never doubt it is true,
Whate'er I may fay, or whate'er I may do.

Five to one.

Flectere fi nequeq fuperos-Acheronta movebo

Το

To you I may fpeak, whether nonfenfe or fiction,
Without any fear of the leaft contradiction.

Look to Scotland, my friends; by experience we find,
It is there a fell tyrant firft opens his mind.

I need not detail * what you all of you know;
There Freedom, fair Freedom, is dead long ago.
With horror you 've heard of the deeds at Tranent,
And the truth far exceeds the reports that are fent.
(Afide.)

(I need not explain that the mifchief arose,
Because a vile rabble thought fit to oppose
An Act that was made to defend all the coaft
t
From a French, Jacobinical, merciless hoft;

And before any firing, it need not be faid,

How many brave foldiers were knock'd on the head.)

The Lawyers, thofe flaves to the King and the Court, Are bafely determin'd, with zeal, to fupport

The old Conftitution, in State and in Church;

And from thofe, who would wish to leave both in the lurch,
They transfer all the honours and profits of late,-

To fuch as are friends of the Church and the State.
And to prove their oppreffion, and fhow what they mean,
The great HARRY ERSKINE no more is their Dean:

The great HARRY ERSKINE-he's Tom's younger brother,
And, if I'm told truly, he 's just such another.

Is this to be borne? But in Ireland, I hear,

The whole is a plan of coercion and fear.

There Freedom's extinguifh'd-for PITT, he was trufted: I'm affùr'd, even GRATTAN himself is difgufted,

The timid, the gentle, the mild Mr. GRATTAN,

(Who, like me, condefcends on the Public to fatten ;) (Afide.) For there if a peafant is abfent at night,

His houfe is demolish'd-and all out of fpite,
Without any caufe or pretence of a reason,

(Except the fuppreffion of murder and treason;) (Afide.)
And here the fame evils, you all may be fure,
Without a bold ftroke, you yourselves must endure:

VOL. III.

* Dolus verfatur in generalibus.

+ The Militia A&t.

D

For,

For, alas! to how fervile and base a condition
We're already reduc'd by the Bills of Sedition!
By which we are filenc'd, and gagg'd like a slave:
And if, the remains of our freedom to fave,
We are peaceably urging the mob to refent it,
An impertinent Juftice steps in to prevent it:
Had the meeting thought fit to proceed any further,
By refifting the laws, there had furely been murder.
To crush all your liberties, troops are employ'd;
Your freedom is gone, and your rights are destroy'd.
Our mouths are all ftopp'd, and there's nobody dares
Even hint his opinion on public affairs.
Not a man can fpeak freely, and all of
you fee
How these two cruel Bills are a curb upon me *.
And foon will be follow'd, if rightly I guess,
The lofs of our fpeech, by the lofs of the prefs:
For to judge by the papers and pamphlets we read,
A reftraint upon libels muft foon be decreed.
And then, what a preffure is laid on our backs,
Of burden on burden, and tax upon tax!
For which not a foul can difcover a cause, -
(Except the defence of ourselves and our laws.) (Afide.)
After feeing the ills of commotion and riot,

There are fome foolish men, who love fafety and quiet.
I am not one of those-and, in fhort, to be plain,
A convulfion must come, or a tyrant will reign.

Of two evils, my friends, if you're wife, choose the least-
A tyrant's a fcourge, and a flave is a beast.

You must judge for yourselves, to be slaves or be free-
Some risk + must be run, and fair Freedom for ine.
I'll tell you my mind-I dislike innovation,
But a radical, thorough, complete reformation,
On a fyftem quite new, and the true tights of man,
On that I'm determin'd, refift it who can :
Though how to reform, or what change may be best,
I have never been able, I own, to fuggeft.

Vide this and all Mr. Fox's Speeches at taverns, huftings, &c.
What is Sedition?

What is Innovation ?

As

As for King, Lords, and Commons, I've no great objection,
When duly controll'd, under proper fubjection;
Provided WILL PITT lofe his place and his fame,
Why I've no great objection to keeping the name.
When the People can once to our fyftem be brought,
And by clubs, and by papers, and pamphlets be taught,
Howe'er they may feel themselves happy and free,
How wretched they are, and what flaves they may be;
And the fpirit of Freedom is rous'd from its bed,
Let 'em fend the glad fummons, and I'll be their head.
Till then I retreat-not that business * is o'er,

There was never a time when the Houfes had more;
When all who wish well and are friends to the State,
By their duty were call'd to more urgent debate.
But my + prefence might favour an infinuation,
That the Commons ftill care for the good of the nation,
When regard to the Houfes no more should be shown,
But refort must be had to the People alone.

ARISTIPPUS.

LINES ADDRESSED TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES JAMES FOX:

OCCASIONED BY HIS SECESSION FROM PARLIAMENT.

[From the Morning Chronicle.}

S when, difgufted with his useless toil,

As

Th' induftrious fwain forfakes a barren foil,

Yet fresh with vigour turns his careful hand
Where thicker verdure waves along the land;
There builds his cot, and o'er the neighb'ring plains
Begins his labours, and renews his pains:
We fee thee quit the walks of public life,
The ftatefman's toil, and fenatorial strife,
For fcenes that fuit a thinking temper best-
The welcome friend, calm thought, and lively jeft;
Where tranquil fhades their filent fweets difplay,
And folid pleasure fills the vernal day.

*What is patriotism?

+ Si tu deferis nos, periimus.