the first, and best, and ablest men in the kingdom, but I was behind hand with none of them; and I am sure that if, to the eternal disgrace of this nation, and to the total annihilation of every trace of honour and virtue in it, things had taken a different turn from what they did, I should have attended him to the quarter deck with no less good will and more pride, though with far other feelings, than I partook of the general glow of national joy that attended the justice that was done to his virtue.

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Feeling the loss of Lord Keppel at all times, at no time did I feel it so much as on the first day when I was attacked in the House of Lords. Had he lived, that reverend form would have risen in its place, and with a mild paternal reprehension to his nephew the Duke of Bedford, he would have told him that the favour of that gracious Prince who had honoured his virtues with the government of the navy of Great Britain, and with a seat in the hereditary great council of his kingdom, was not undeservedly shown to the friend of the best portion of his life, and his faithful companion and counsellor* under his rudest trials."

Mr. Burke's own interests were about this time, or soon after, attacked by Lord Verney, in a suit in Chancery, calling upon him, in conjunction with his brother Richard and William Burke as partners

* In the debate, Feb. 1, 1781, on Sir Hugh Palliser's appointment to Greenwich Hospital, he said—" No one subject that had ever in the whole course of his life challenged his notice had been studied by him with so much attention and so much care as the transactions of the 27th July, because the honour and the life of the dearest friend he had on earth, made those transactions of the most serious importance to him," and much more to the same effect.

with his Lordship, to bear part of the loss sustained by unsuccessful speculations in the funds. This participation he denied by affidavit; nor was the circumstance probable in itself, or some better evidence of it would have been adduced, than the Peer could bring forward on the occasion; they had not, in fact, been friends for some time; and though his brother Richard might possibly have participated in the transaction, it was scarcely fair to call upon Edmund to pay his debts of honour, for there could be no legal claim. As a considerable degree of misrepresentation has prevailed on this point, it may be necessary to state, that as a holder of India stock, he might have profited by this property as any other man would do, though even this is doubtful; but there is not the slightest foundation for the report of his gambling in the funds, which was not merely at variance with his habits but his principles.

Another charge urged against him, as if it were not a misfortune rather than a fault, was that of being often in debt. Let it be remembered, however, that the rental of his estate was not estimated at more than 600l. per annum, which, with his Irish property, occasional supplies, and the produce of his literary labours, formed nearly the whole of his income, after the cessation of the agency for New York. Moving in the sphere of life in which he did, this must be confessed to be a poor pittance; yet out of this, it may be stated without indelicacy, as he more than once mentioned it himself, he contributed to the support of several poorer relations, and this of course could only be effected by very

rigid economy. To one relation near Castletown Roche he allowed 307. per annum out of the property in that vicinity, ever since he came into possession of it in 1765.

He had, in fact, no extravagant propensities to indulge; his domestic arrangements were under the prudent management of his lady: his coach-horses took their turn in the plough; his table, to which men of merit or distinction in every class were always welcome, partook more of neatness and moderation, than parade and profusion. At Beaconsfield, he preserved a frank and cheerful hospitality, which those who enjoyed once were glad of the opportunity to enjoy again; and while in town, he frequently asked political and literary friends to dine on beef-stakes, or a leg of mutton, and occasionally gave little more than his invitation professed.

Another accusation urged against him at this time was, that he displayed much more of ability than of candour in harassing ministry with the most unmeasured condemnation; but the same may be said of all Oppositions; and, looking to the magnitude of the contest, the incapacity shown in its conduct, and the unfortunate results, it will be difficult to say that his censures were unfair, ill-timed, or unjust. Mr. Fox was upon almost all occasions more violent and much more personal, to a degree beyond even the usual parliamentary license; he constantly wore in the House what was considered the American uniform, buff and blue, which Mr. Burke, except when solicited so to do, which was not unfrequently the case, declined to make his common dress. The most moderate men, in fact, lost their equani

mity on this topic; and Messrs. Wilkes, Sawbridge, and others of the same stamp, were sometimes scurrilous, for on no preceding occasion had debates run so high; and even the House of Lords often forgot its characteristic decorum, in the violence of the language used.

This spirit found ample vent in the session, 1778 and 1779, in a series of motions by Mr. Fox, after the acquittal of Admiral Keppel, on the state of the Navy, March 8th; of Greenwich Hospital; and an address to the King to remove Lord Sandwich, which were supported by Mr. Burke; who also took part on the question of the threatening manifesto of the Commissioners sent to negociate with America: on the state of Ireland, March 12th; on Mr. Dunning's motion respecting the powers of the Admiralty to grant or refuse Courts Martial, March 15th; on an Inquiry into the conduct of the American War, May 13th; on the Budget, May 31st; on a Bill for exemptions for being pressed into the Navy; and on another for limited service in the Army-a measure which he recommended by the strongest arguments, and though it was rejected then, it has since been as wisely as liberally adopted.

In this year, among many of the first characters of the time, he followed his old acquaintance Garrick to the grave, and looking stedfastly towards the place of interment, remarked to one of the gentlemen present, that "the spot was well chosen, for the statue of Shakspeare seemed to point to the grave where the great actor of his works was laid."

It was in the early part of this year that a present from the admired and accomplished Mr. (afterwards

Sir William) Jones, of his translation of the Greek orator Isæus, the master of Demosthenes, whose orations, as explanatory of the laws of property in Athens, are necessarily interesting to a law yer, though perhaps for the same reason hitherto neg lected by grammarians and philologists, drew from Mr. Burke the following reply :

"MY DEAR SIR,

March 12, 1779.

"I give you many thanks for your most obliging and valuable present, and feel myself extremely honoured by this mark of your friendship. My first leisure will be employed in an attentive perusal of an author who had merit enough to fill up a part of your's, and whom you have made accessible to me with an ease and advantage, which one, so many years disused to Greek literature as I have been, could not otherwise have.

"Isæus is an author of whom I know nothing but by fame; I am sure that any idea I had from thence conceived of him, will not be at all lessened by seeing him in your translation. I do not know how it has happened, that orators have hitherto fared worse in the hands of the translators than even the poets; I never could bear to read a translation of Cicero. Demosthenes suffers, I think, somewhat less;-but he suffers greatly; so much, that I must say, that no English reader could well conceive from whence he had acquired the reputation of the first of orators.

"I am satisfied that there is now an eminent exception to this rule, and I sincerely congratulate the public on that acquisition. I am, with the