Mr. Pitt, is now known only by the conquests which he either achieved or planned. What passed in the houses of parliament has not come down to us; it was probably of little importance. Opposition was silenced not only by a sort of union of parties, but by the popularity of Mr. Pitt and the successes of the war. The secretary, as it has been said, with one hand wielded the democracy of England, and with the other smote the House of Bourbon. The monarch himself, George the Second, seems at last to have become a convert to his merits, and to have joined, however late, in the applauses of the public. The monarch, however, George the Second, died; and this great minister, on the accession of his present majesty, George the Third, to the throne, soon felt the ground, as he said, tottering under him. On the first opportunity he was displaced, and Europe, that had only seen two successful war ministers during the century, Marlborough and Mr. Pitt, alike in their fame, and alike in their fall, must have thought that in our extraordinary island the surest method of losing office was to display the talents that deserve it; and that to fill St. James's with murmurs and dissatisfaction, it was only necessary to make the world resound with the triumphs of

our arms.

The lecture that you have just heard was written more than twenty years ago, with such assistance as was then within my reach; but I can now refer the student to more ample information, which has lately appeared, chiefly derived from the indefatigable labors of the late Archdeacon Coxe, to whom all readers of history are so deeply indebted. In the year 1829 were published his Memoirs of the Pelham Administration, a posthumous work, drawn up under circumstances which add a sentiment of melancholy tenderness to the respectful gratitude with which this most valuable writer must ever be regarded.

Such sentiments will be confirmed by a very sensible article in the Quarterly Review for October, 1833, where the merits of the author and the man are properly stated, neither of which, as it had always struck me while I have been a reader of history, were sufficiently estimated by the public.

I have now then only to refer the student to the work I have just mentioned, and to request that he will depend on this regular and authentic account of an important period in our annals,

not only while he wishes to know the transactions that belong to it, but the characters of the ministers and parliamentary leaders by which it was distinguished. In no other way can he derive a proper idea of the merits of Mr. Pelham, Lord Hardwicke, and above all, of the Duke of Newcastle, whose vanity and some defects of character exposed him to the ridicule of wits and satirists, and have hitherto obscured (but need no longer obscure) his real merits both as a statesman and a man. He was neither without his talents nor his virtues, as the public at present suppose.

I must guard you against the historical publications of the celebrated Horace Walpole. Look for entertainment in them, if you please, and you will not be disappointed; but give him not your confidence: indeed you will soon see from his lively and epigrammatic style of invective that he cannot deserve it.

Finally, I must mention to you that a very full and entertaining account of the rebellion in 1745 was drawn up by Mr. Chambers, of Edinburgh, and now makes two very interesting volumes in Constable's Miscellany.

NOTES.

I.

Highlanders.

THE work of Mrs. Grant might, with great advantage, be compressed into half its present size. What is told, is not told in a manner sufficiently simple, nor is there enough told. Mrs. Grant pours out the sentiments and images of a warm heart and ardent mind, till they overpower the reader and lose their effect. Too favorable an idea of the work, though a work of merit, would be formed from the Edinburgh Review.

The points to be observed in the character of the Highlanders seem to be, according to this account by Mrs. Grant, their national spirit, language, habits, poetry, traditions, genealogies, their attachment to their chief, and their superstitions.

That they are warlike, musical, poetical, tender, melancholy, enthusiastic, superstitious, religious; that they are patriotic, secluded themselves and excluding others, connecting and associating themselves familiarly with death, and with the immaterial world, seeing those they loved in the clouds, in dreams and in visions, skilled in the art of conversation from the necessity of living with each other, unfit for manufactures, highly moral, careful not to make imprudent marriages, courteous, and, in a word, exhibiting all the virtues that result from living in the presence of each other.

II.

October, 1839.

I MAY recommend to others, what I have just had so much pleasure in reading myself, the History lately published by Lord Mahon. All that need now be known of the era, to which we have been adverting, from the peace of Utrecht to that of Aix-la-Chapelle, will be there found. It is on every account to be hoped, that his lordship will continue his historical labors.

LECTURE XXIX.

PRUSSIA AND MARIA THERESA.

We have been now long occupied with the English history. I did not wish to break through the different links by which the different parts are connected together; but in the mean time we have entirely turned away from the continent, and even from France. To the French history I will advert immediately; but in the mean time I will call your attention to the continent. While reading the works of Mr. Coxe, you will have been continually summoned away in this manner, and I can no longer forbear adopting the same course.

The truth is, that our progress has long since brought us within the view of a personage so celebrated during the last half century, that for the present I must leave the histories both of France and of England, and I must endeavour to furnish you with proper materials for the appreciation of the striking events with which he was connected, and of his own very extraordinary talents and character; I allude to the King of Prussia.

I must in the first place observe, that as France and England were actively engaged in hostilities with each other, as they took a part in the politics of Europe, and were connected with the great wars in which the King of Prussia was engaged; some general view must be obtained of those hostilities and of those politics, that their relation to the measures of this military sovereign may be understood. As a preparative, therefore, to this subject of Prussia, I must propose some short general history; and I therefore mention, as adequate to this particular purpose, the History of Belsham, — his reign of George the Second.

With respect to the King of Prussia, the great features of his life are,

1st, His invasion of the territories of the young Queen Maria Theresa, on the death of the emperor, her father.

2ndly, The seven year's war.

3dly, The partition of Poland.

It is to the two former that I shall at present allude, as the latter belongs to times of a more recent date than I shall be able, as yet, to approach.

In considering the subjects of history, I have always made it my business, first, to inquire for works in our own language; those being the most likely to be placed within your reach.

I have therefore to mention, that a view of the reign of Frederic has been published by Dr. Gillies, another by Dr. Towers. A short account is given of Frederic, by Dr. Johnson; and we have Memoirs of the Court of Berlin, by Wraxall. Of each in their order.

The work of Dr. Gillies I can in no respect admire. There appear some good observations about the king's military genius, and there are some incidents mentioned of a general nature, which I do not observe in other English works. On the whole, I can only recommend it to the student, when he wishes to learn, what can be said in the praise or defence of Frederic. Gillies appears to me only a warm panegyrist, and on this occasion, neither an historian nor a philosopher.

Before I proceed to other English or any foreign works on this subject, I must observe, that the following appear to me the points to which the student must more particularly attend, in considering the merits of Frederic: 1st, The justice, or injustice, of his original attack on Silesia. This very valuable province he wrested from the House of Austria, taking advantage of the unprepared situation of the young queen, Maria Theresa, on her first accession to the throne. This was an injury and an outrage which could never be forgiven by her; and if this was an act of ambition, and if to this all his subsequent contests with Austria may be traced, it is he who is responsible for all the calamities that ensued. 2ndly, Frederic endeavoured, by the interference of his personal vigilance and wisdom, to nourish the prosperity and advance the happiness of his subjects. His measures and his success form, therefore, the next division of the subject. 3dly, Frederic was a man of wit and literature; and we can never,