This business being ended, Mr. BURKE, accompanied by a great number of respectable citizens, went to the Council-house, and thence to the Exchange, where he offered himself as a candidate, according to established custom, and entered upon a contest, which was vigorously supported by his friends on that and the two following days. But finding the tide of prejudice too strong against him, he declined on Saturday morning the 9th of September a continuance of the poll, thinking it far better, as he declared," with his strength unspent, and his reputation unimpaired, to do, early and from foresight, that which he might be obliged to do from necessity at last." His farewel speech was very short, but impressive. He did not affect to conceal his uneasiness at the disappointment, very candidly remarking, that it was in general more unpleasant to be rejected after a long trial, than not to be chosen at all. "But, gentlemen," added he, " I will see nothing except your former kindness, and I will give way to no other sentiments than those of gratitude. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for what you have done for me. You have given be a long term which is now expired. I have performed the conditions and enjoyed all the profits to the full; and I now surrender your estate into your hands without being in a single tile or a single stone impaired or wasted by my use."

From a glance at the past, and a sentiment of perfect resignation with respect to the future, Mr. BURKE was naturally led to notice the sudden death of Mr. COOMBE, one of the candidates, the day before, a melancholy event, which, he said, "read to them an awful lesson against being too much troubled about any of the objects of ordinary ambition. The worthy gentleman," continued the orator, "who has been snatched from us at the moment of the election, and in the middle of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm, and his hopes as eager as ours,

has feelingly told us, what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue."

Towards the close of his speech, Mr. BURKE observed, that it had been usual for a candidate who declined, to take his leave, by a letter to the sheriffs; "but," said he, " I received your trust in the face of day; and in the face of day I accept your dismission. I am not, I am not at all ashamed to look upon you; nor can my presence discompose the order of business here. I humbly and respectfully take my leave of the sheriffs, the candidates, and the electors; wishing heartily that the choice may be for the best, at a time which calls, if ever time did call, for service that is not nominal. It is no plaything you are about. I tremble when I consider the trust I presume to ask. I confided perhaps too much in my intentions. They were really fair and upright; and I am bold to say, that I ask no ill thing for you, when, on parting from this place, I pray that whomever you choose to succeed me, he may resemble me exactly in all things, except in my abilities to serve, and my fortune to please you,"

MR. FOX'S ADDRESSES

TO THE

ELECTORS OF WESTMINSTER.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

Ir the speeches of Mr. Fox to his constituents, and at other public meetings on various occasions, had been preserved, we should not want any other models of popular eloquence. But he was either too indolent, as men of very great genius commonly are, or too superior to the ordinary gratifications of oratorical pride, to take the trouble of making out a sketch of any of his speeches from memory,

or even of correcting the reports of them given by others. I believe there are only three or four even of his parliamentary speeches, taken down at the moment of delivery by some of his friends, and which, at their earnest solicitation, he condescended to retouch in a few instances, where the meaning was not expressed with his usual perspicuity. But he was roused from his habitual indifference to such considerations by a very general misrepresentation or misconception of his principles and views in bringing forward three motions which he made in the House of Commons, on the 13th, the 14th, and the 16th of September 1792. In order to efface the wrong and very unfavorable impressions which those motions had made upon the minds of his constituents, he published, a few days after, a Letter to them, containing a summary of his arguments in support of each of those motions; and though every thing coming from the pen of Mr. Fox must command attention, yet the young student will read this Letter with double earnestness, as affording an extraordinary and very instructive specimen of a translation by the author from parliamentary into popular language. Those who wish to examine the letter in a political light, will not be satisfied without reading a valuable edition of it, with an application of its principles to subsequent events, by Mr. ADAIR, our present ambassador at the Court of Vienna.

MR. FOX'S LETTER, &c.

"To vote in small minorities is a misfortune to which I have been so much accustomed, that I cannot be expected to feel it very acutely.

"To be the object of calumny and misrepresentation gives me uneasiness, it is true, but an uneasiness not wholly unmixed with pride and satisfaction, since the experience of all ages and countries teaches us that calumny

and misrepresentation are frequently the most unequivocal testimonies of the zeal, and possibly of the effect, with which he, against whom they are directed, has served the public.

"But I am informed, that I now labour under a misfortune of a far different nature from these, and which can excite no other sensations than those of concern and humiliation. I am told that you in general disapprove my late conduct, and that, even among those whose partiality to me was most conspicuous, there are many who, when I am attacked upon the present occasion, profess themselves neither able nor willing to defend me.

"That your unfavorable opinion of me, (if in fact you entertain any such) is owing to misrepresentation, I can have no doubt. To do away the effects of this misrepresentation is the object of this Letter; and I know of no mode by which I can accomplish this object at once so fairly and (as I hope) so effectually, as by stating to you the different motions which I have made in the House of Commons in the first days of this session, together with the motives and arguments which induced me to make them. On the first day I moved the House to substitute, in place of the Address, the following Amendment :

'To express to his Majesty our most zealous attach( ment to the excellent constitution of this free country, our sense of the invaluable blessings which are derived 'from it, and our unshaken determination to maintain and preserve it. To assure his majesty, that, uniting with all his Majesty's faithful subjects in those sentiments of 'loyalty to the Throne, and attachment to the Constitution, we feel in common with them the deepest anxiety and concern, when we see those measures adopted by the 'Executive Government, which the law authorizes only in 'cases of insurrection within this realm.

That his Majesty's faithful Commons, assembled in a ' manner new and alarming to the country, think it their

first duty, and will make it their first business, to inform themselves of the causes of this measure, being equally ' zealous to enforce a due obedience to the laws on the one ' hand, and a faithful execution of them on the other.'

"My motive for this measure was, that I thought it highly important, both in a constitutional and a prudential view, that the House should be thoroughly informed of the ground of calling out the militia, and of its own meeting, before it proceeded upon other business.

"The law enables the King, in certain cases, by the advice of his Privy Council, having previously declared the cause, to call forth the militia-and positively enjoins, that whenever such a measure is taken, Parliament shall be summoned immediately.

"This law, which provided that we should meet, seemed to me to point out to us our duty when met, and to require of us, if not by its letter, yet by a fair interpretation of its spirit, to make it our first business, to examine into the causes that had been stated in the Proclamation as the motives for exercising an extraordinary power lodged in the Crown for extraordinary occasions; to ascertain whether they were true in fact, and whether, if true, they were of such a nature as to warrant the proceeding that had been grounded on them.

"Such a mode of conduct, if right upon general principles, appeared to me peculiarly called for by the circumstances under which we are assembled; and by the ambiguity with which the causes of resorting for the first time to this prerogative, were stated and defended.

"The insurrections (it is said) at Yarmouth, Shields, and other places, gave Ministers a legal right to act; and the general state of the country, independently of these insurrections, made it expedient for them to avail themselves of this right. In other words, insurrection was the pretext, the general state of the country the cause of the Yet insurrection was the motive stated in the

measure.