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to be paid for the black coat and red breeches that I fent you to ge out in laft Sunday? I never wore them but during that one year, when I ferv'd conftable, fcavenger, and queftman.

AUTH. "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Fear not, this piece will fell better than the laft, [and I believe you came pretty well home in that, too!] Only attend to this paffage : "Accurfed be the oppofition that diftracts the councils, that animates "the foes, and would weaken, in the time of exigence, the execu"tive power of the ftate! It is an infult on the understanding, a "difgrace to the public virtue of the nation, and can be abetted "only by those who are dupes of the enemies, or are themselves "enemies of their country."-What fay you to that, Sir?

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Book. Why, that may be; but I know not how it is,-these vernment puffs feldom do-Could we but get an order for the postoffice to circulate for us, as they did Mr. What's his Name's abuse of the Oppofition, t'would be fomewhat !

AUTH. Well recollected! The under-fecretary's clerk never gave me any thing for the dedication of my "Argument to prove that Miniftry can do no wrong." He cannot, furely, refuse me an order for this new piece, which is fo ftrong for the Court:-Right or wrong, you know, I am always for the Court!

Book. You have hit it! That under-fecretary's clerk can get it. done for a word's fpeaking.

AUTH. And if I fucceed, you will fay no more about the black coat, and the red breeches!

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Book. No-no!-Excufe me, I'm in a hurry-Good morning t'ye, Mr. Scribble. [Exit.

AUTH. A good morrow to you, Mr. Curl [Damn him, and his old cloaths too! The coat was threadbare before I had it; and the breeches had been new feated; and yet the skin-flint wretch talks of topping thirty fillings for them!-Well! 'tis to be hoped my merit will not always escape the attention of government; and that I fhall, fome time or other, get out of this fellow's harpy clutches, and this vile garret !]

SCENE II.

Enter Bookfeller, almoft out of Breath.

Book. We are all in the wrong box! The devil take thefe weather-cock times! Why the Ins are out, and the Outs are in! and, now what's to become of your fine defence of yesterday's minifter, and his measures, which is almoft printed off?

AUTH. Are you fure of your intelligence?

Book. As fure as that, now, I shalt never be reimbursed for the black coat and the breeches.

AUTH. How often must I recommend patience to you! Let me fee- I have it!-Suppose we turn this fame abortive new piece into an encomium on the new adminiftration? You fay it is nearly printed; therefore we fhall be firft in the field: not an author in all Grub-street can get the start of us.

* Vid. p. 19-11 of this Address.

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Book

Book. But can you poffibly alter it fo as to make a defence of the laft miniftry for thefe new people, who were but yesterday in oppo-. fition?

AUTH. Fit? Never fear me! nothing more eafy:—what think you, now (by way of example), of that very fame paffage that I read to you, the laft time you, did me the honour of stepping up to my apartment- "Accurfed be the Oppofition," &c. [reads the paffage above quoted].-Will not this ANIMATED EXCLAMATION apply as well to the new Oppofition (a new one, no doubt, is already formed) as it would have applied to the laft?

Book. Why, as you fay, this cap will equally fit any head, in or out. But ftill, we must get the order for the poft-office. AUTH. Leave all to my management.-And as for the confide ration which you expect for the black coat and red breeches,Book. Get but the order, and the D

take the breeches!
[Exit in a hurry.

We have given thefe converfations as an illustration of the political virtue of thofe literary worthies who, by invariably attaching themfelves to the powers that be, are always on the right fide of every party difpute. Thefe gentlemen are ever at a lofs, with the Author of the prefent Address, to" perceive on what the most virulent ene"mies of government can fix, as an object of cenfure, with any de"gree of plausibility, far lefs of justice." And with them and bim too, the conftant cry is-" To the indelible reproach of the times, "there exifts among us, a fet of men, who have laboured for feve"ral years to traverse every object of administration, and have even "prostituted the dignity of parliament to the bafeft purposes of "faction †."-Turn out the Ins, and let in the Outs, and, with thefe idolizers of power, the cry is ftill the fame. The revolutions at St. James's make no revolution in Grub-street, or St. Giles's. The fame panegyrics, the fame invectives, have ferved for all fucceffions of Majorities and Minorities that ever danced the political hay, from the times of the third William, to thofe of the third George; and they will continue to answer the fame righteous end, till Kings, and Minifters, and Grub-street politicians, and Monthly Reviewers, fhall be no more.

Art. 22. Subftance of Political Debates on his Majesty's Speech on the Addrefs, and the Amendment: November 25, 1779With Remarks on the State of the Irish Claim to a free Trade. By a Volunteer. 8vo. 1 s. Faulder.

Offers fome pertinent remarks on the fpeeches of the Lords Grantham, Rockingham, Coventry, Lyttelton, and Hillsborough, in the Upper Houfe, on the Address and Amendment, &c. The Author is very tart upon the Oppofition; and not above half pleased with the Irish claim of a free trade. However, after a brief statement of our laws of commercial reftraint, on the one hand, and fubfequent indulgences granted on the other, with refpect to Ireland, he profeffes himself willing to accede to whatever is reasonable in the claims of our fifter-ifland. How far different perfons, or parties, will agree Id. P. 9.

• Address, P. 2-5.

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in their ideas of what is reasonable, may be eafily foreseen :-but our Volunteer politician confiders the claim of Ireland to nothing fhort of a free trade (under our circumftances) as an axe levelled at the root of our connexions.'-For his arguments, on this head, we muft refer to the pamphlet, at length.

Art. 23. Four Letters to the Earl of Carlisle, from William Eden, Efq;-On certain Perverfions of political Reasoning; and on the Nature, Progrefs, and Effect of Party Spirit, and of Parties:-On the prefent Circumftances of the War between Great Britain and the combined Powers of France and Spain :-On the public Debts, on the public Credit, and on the Means of raifing Sapplies:-On the Reprefentations of Ireland refpecting a free Trade. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. White, &c. 1779.

Contains a ferious, accurate, and comprehenfive review of the prefent fituation of this country; including diftinct estimates of our public difficulties, and our national refources: from all which, the very ingenious Writer tells us, for our comfort (and, furely, there is occafion for it), that he fees, or thinks he fees, much folid ground for hope, and none for defpondency:'-that this profpect may not, like the Patriarch's Pifgah-fight of Palestine, present us with a delightful vision of bleffed fcenes, which we must never enter, will be the ardent prayer of every good Englishman!

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Mr. Eden is undoubtedly partial to Government, whatever are his principles, but he writes with a mafterly pen; his mode of argument is candid, his manner is agreeable, his ftyle is elegant, and his fpeculations are frequently countenanced by the best authorities:-He would, by all means, encourage us to perfevere in the prefent war till the Colonies are reduced; an event which, he is ftrongly perfuaded, muft at length happen, though it will, probably (he acknowledges), be the work of years:-according to his eftimate of probabilities we are to infer, that though it should prove to be the work of many years, we are not to be difcouraged. He fees, from the top of the mount, VICTORY hovering afar off; and he fears not, that he will, in time, repair to our ftandard: but we must wait her tardy steps with patience.

Mr. Eden's fourth Letter, on the prefent demands of Ireland, is, perhaps, that part of his pamphlet which will afford the most general fatisfaction to moderate readers of every political perfuafion. It is rational, conciliatory, and to the point; and if we may confider him as delivering the fentiments of his friends in adminiftration, it may, happily, feem to indicate their good difpofition toward an equitable, effectual, and permanent accommodation of the points in debate, between the fifter iflands.

Art. 24. Inftructions for a Prince: To which are added, State Maxims, and interesting Papers; found in the Cabinet of the King of Lunaria. 8vo. I s. Faulder. 1779.

A fatire on the present Court fyftem, in a form fomewhat refembling that of the Royal Regifter. See Reviews for Feb. 1778, and May 1779.

Whether he is himself encouraged by what he faw or learnt when he vifited America, on the bufinefs of the late memorable CoмMISSION, is best known to himself.

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As a fpecimen of the manner in which the fatirift aims his fhafts at his Lunarian Majefty, take the following detached palages: From the STATE MAXIMS.

PERSEVERANCE is commendable, even in a doubtful caufe-(my own reign fhall be a proof of it.) It infpires fear,-fhews that you are no way timid and irrefolute;-it gives, in short, a TRUE IDEA OF A KING.

Never give ear to the petitions of citizens. They are a fet of impertinents; who, while they are contending for the rights of mankind, will offer every indignity to their prince. I will never forgive them.

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My best friends, (i. e. the North Britons) who are ever ready to affift me with their counfel, and in whom I place an entire confidence, must be suitably rewarded,

The liberty, or, rather, licentioufness of the prefs, is infufferable; it calls loudly for restriction. Is no deference to be paid to M-y? Some abufe me openly,-while others ironically tell meNunquam libertas gratior exftat quam fub rege pio.".

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• I must speak to Md about it."

From the MEMORANDUMS.

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Note: [for the meeting of Parl-t] To make, according to the vulgar expreffion, a flaming Speech. To talk much about the - honour and dignity of my crown, of it, left I hear of " I will fay nothing about the luftre once brighter"To affure the people that Am-a is already greatly weakened now tarnished," &c. &c. by our excellent method of conducting the war; and that it will not cost above an HUNDRED MILLIONS more, effectually to fubdue her. Enough of Lunarian politics.

Art. 25. A full Answer to the King of Spain's laft Manifefto, respecting the Bay of Honduras, and the Mofquito-bore; in which all the Accufations brought against the Subjects of Great Britain fettled in the Bay of Honduras; and against the ancient British Settlement in the free and independent Dominions of the MosquitoShore; are candidly stated and refuted; and the Importance of the Mofquito-Shore to Great Britain delineated and afcertained. 8vo. 1 s. 6 d. Cadell. 1779.

We have here a very fenfible and fpirited refutation of the King of Spain's Manifefto, particularly in regard to the ill-founded accufations brought against the fubjects of Great Britain fettled in the Bay of Honduras; and against the ancient British fettlement in the Free and Independent dominions of the Mofquito fhore.

What the well-informed Author fays concerning the importance of the country known by the name of the Mofquito-bore to Great Britain, will be matter of curious information to many of our Readers; and, certainly, holds out, to our confideration, an object of great importance to this country; especially in her prefent circumfances

To inforce the idea which he gives us of the advantages to be derived from effectually fupporting and improving the English fettlements, fo long eftablished on that coaft, and where we have lately been fo fuccessful, in a spirited coup-de-main, he proceeds to the following description:

The

The Mosquito-fhore,' fays he, extends by fea eastward from Point Caftile, the boundary dividing it from the Bay of Honduras, to Cape Gracios a Dios, 87 leagues; and fouthward from Cape Gracios a Dios to St. John's river, 94 leagues. The interior part of the country is bounded by the lake Nicaragua, and fenced by mountains ftretching to the weft. In magnitude it exceeds the kingdom of Portugal; is excellently watered by navigable rivers and lagunes; abounds in fish, game, and provifions of all forts; furnishes every neceffary for raifing cattle and ftock on plantations of every kind, and to any extent; and is clothed with woods producing timber, for every ufe and purpofe at land or fea. The foil is fuperior to that of all our West-India iflands, in fertilizing all kinds of Weft-India produce; and its dimenfion incomparably furpaffes them all. The air is most falubrious, and the climate more healthy than in any of the islands; nor have ever deftructive ravages of hurricanes and earthquakes been known there. In this delightful paradise have the galfant Indians maintained their liberty againft every artifice, and violence of fraud and force, which the power of Spain has been able to exert against them. A century of years has inviolably fixed in them a tranfcendent efteem and affectionate friendship for Great Britain; and they not only court her favour and protection, but with, at this time, to fubmit themselves to the juft laws of her gentle and beneficent fway.

To the friends of liberty, fons and heirs of the British conftitution, whether ins or outs; as well as to the real friends of our mok amiable fovereign; this proffered prefent cannot but be acceptable, To reject it, would be to betray and give up the liberty and lives of our faithful friends, to the infult of their ancient and irreconcilable enemies, as well as our own. Spain thus might gain, what she has aimed at from the commencement of her government in America; and Britain lofe the most truly valuable acquifition, that ever was tendered to her. The acceptance of this, inftantly adds to our force thousands of brave warriors, not only without bounty-money, but with hearts already animated for our fervice, and burning with implacable refentment towards our foes; befides the dominion and poffeffion of a country, for intrinfic commercial Weft-India merit, far fuperior to all our islands united; impregnable, from its internal force and fituation, to all the efforts of the enemy by fea and land; and from whence we might foon and easily shake and tumble down from its fummit, that proud, unjust, imperious, and enflaving empire of Spain in America.'

If we have any thing to object to the fentiments of this ingenious Writer, it will respect the conclufion of his pamphlet,-in which he zealously preffes our perfeverance in carrying on the ruinous and (in the opinion of many well-informed people) hopeless war in Ame rica. He fpeaks, with confidence, of our encouraging profpects of final fuccefs, in our coercive attempts to reduce the revolted Colonies; but he does not say what is to become of this nation, if we fail at last,-after all our defperate exertions,—our irretrievable expence of blood and treasure? What retreat have we fecured? It is to be feared that few of our politicians look fo far before them!

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