court rewards and careffes; because he does what is expected, and all that is expected, from men in office. He helps to keep fome form of adminiftration in being, and keeps it at the fame time asweak and divided as poffible. However, we must take care not to be mistaken, or to imagine that fuch perfons have any weight in their oppofition. When, by them, adminiftration is convinced of its infignificancy, they are foonto be convinced of their own. They never are fuffered to fucceed in their oppofition. They and the world are to be fatisfied, that, neither office, nor authority, nor property, nor ability, eloquence, counsel, skill, or union, are of the leaft importance; but that the mere influence of the court, naked of all fupport, and deftitute of all management, is abundantly fufficient for all its own purposes. When any adverfe connexion is to be destroyed, the cabal feldom appear in the work themselves. They find out fome person of whom the party entertains an high opinion. Such a perfon they endeavour to delude with various pretencès. They teach him first to diftruft, and then to quarrel with his friends; among whom, by the fame arts, they excite a fimilar diffidence of him; fo that in this mutual fear and diftruft, he may suffer himself to be employed as the inftrument in the change which is brought about. Afterwards they are fure to deftroy him in his turn, by fetting up in his place fome fome person in whom he had himself repofed the greatest confidence, and who ferves to carry off a confiderable part of his adherents. When fuch a perfon has broke in this manner with his connexions, he is foon compelled to commit fome flagrant act of iniquitous perfonal hofti, lity against fome of them (fuch as an attempt to ftrip a particular friend of his family eftate), by which the cabal hope to render the parties utterly irreconcileable. In truth, they have so contrived matters, that people have a greater hatred to the fubordinate inftruments than to the principal movers. As in destroying their enemies they make ufe of inftruments not immediately belonging to their corps, fo in advancing their own friends they purfue exactly the fame method. To promote any of them to confiderable rank or emolument, they commonly take care that the recommendation shall pafs through the hands of the oftenfible miniftry : fuch a recommendation might however appear to the world, as fome proof of the credit of minifters, and fome means of increasing their strength. To prevent this, the perfons fo advanced are directed, in all companies, induftrioufly to declare, that they are under no obligations whatfoever to adminiftration; that they have received their office from another quarter; that they are totally free and independent. When the faction has any job of lucre to obtain, ог or of vengeance to perpetrate, their way is, to felect, for the execution, those very persons to whose habits, friendships, principles, and declarations, fuch proceedings are publickly known to be the most adverfe; at once to render the inftruments the more odious, and therefore the more dependent, and to prevent the people from ever repofing a confidence in any appearance of private friendship, or publick principle. If the adminiftration feem now and then, from remiffness, or from fear of making themselves difagreeable, to fuffer any popular exceffes to go unpunished, the cabal immediately fets up fome creature of theirs to raise a clamour against the minifters, as having shamefully betrayed the dignity of government. Then they compel the miniftry to become active in conferring rewards and honours on the perfons who have been the inftruments of their difgrace; and, after having firft vilified them with the higher orders for fuffering the laws to sleep over the licentiousness of the populace, they drive them (in order to make amends for their former inactivity) to fome act of atrocious vio lence, which renders them completely abhorred by the people. They who remember the riots which attended the Middlefex election; the opening of the prefent parliament; and the tranfactions rela, tive to Saint George's Fields, will not be at a lofs for an application of thefe remarks. That That this body may be enabled to compafs all the ends of its inftitution, its members are fcarcely ever to aim at the high and refponfible offices of the ftate. They are diftributed with art and judg ment through all the fecondary, but efficient, departments of office, and through the houfeholds of all the branches of the royal family: fo as on one hand to occupy all the avenues to the throne ; and on the other to forward or fruftrate the execution of any measure, according to their own interests. For with the credit and fupport which they are known to have, though for the greater part in places which are only a genteel excufe for falary, they poffefs all the influence of the higheft pofts; and they dictate publickly in almost every thing, even with a parade of fuperiority. Whenever they diffent (as it often happens) from their nominal leaders, the trained part of the fenate, in ftinctively in the fecret, is fure to follow them; provided the leaders, fenfible of their situation, do not of themfelves recede in time from their most declared opinions. This latter is generally the cafe. It will not be conceivable to any one who has not feen it, what pleafure is taken by the cabal in rendering thefe heads of office thoroughly contemptible and ridiculous. And when they are become fo, they have then the beft chance for being well fupported. The members of the court faction are fully indemnified demnified for not holding places on the flippery Confcious of their independence, they bear themselves with a lofty air to the exterior minifters. Like Janiffaries, they derive a kind of freedom from the very condition of their fervitude. ngiop bus 19 They may act juft as they pleafe; provided they are true to the great ruling principle of their inftitution. It is, therefore, not at all wonderful, that people fhould be fo defirous of adding themselves to that body, in which they may poffefs and reconcile fatisfactions the moft alluring, and feem`ingly the moft contradictory; enjoying at once all the T |