referred, with others presented at the same time, to a select committee, to examine, and report thereon. This gave rise to a long debate, which was adjourned till the next day, when the motion was rejected by two hundred and eighty-two votes against forty-one.

At this time war had become inevitable, by the preparations of government, and the decisions in support of those measures by parliament; and owing to the alarm which the progress of republicanism had excited, many of the old Whigs appeared in favour of hostilities. Mr. Grey was one of the first, however, to oppose the current, by moving a long address to the king, disapproving the whole conduct of his majesty's ministers, as leading to no other termination than that of plunging their country into an unnecessary war.

It need scarcely be observed, that this motion was negatived without a division. But one part of this proposed address merits notice in the present sketch, as characteristic of the comprehensive mind of the statesman from whom it proceeded though many thought, at the time, that it was little better than an episodical superfetation. The passage is as follows:

"When Poland was about to recover from the long calamities of anarchy, combined with oppression; after she had established an hereditary and limited monarchy, like our own, and was peaceably employed in settling her internal government; his majesty's ministers, with apparent indifference and unconcern, have seen her become the victim of the most unprovoked and unprincipled invasion; her territory overrun, her free constitution subverted, her national independence annihilated, and the general principles of the security of nations wounded through her side."

On the 26th of January, 1795, Mr. Grey made another ineffectual attempt to put a stop to the ravages of war, by a motion for opening a negotiation with the existing government of France. Though he failed in persuading the house to accede to his proposition, he had the satisfaction of gaining over Mr. Wilberforce to his side, and of increasing the numbers in opposition to ministers. In the same session, a message from the king was brought down to the house of commons, recommending a suitable establishment for the Prince of Wales on his marriage, and the adoption of some measure for the liquidation of his debts. The proposed addition to the income of his royal highness produced a warm opposition, in which no one was more prominent than Mr. Grey. "He professed himself,” he said, "as ready to support the real splendour of the royal family, as any slippery sycophant of the court; but that he thought there was more true dignity in manifesting a heart alive to the distresses of millions, than in all those trappings which encumber without adorning, royalty." He concluded with moving, that the addition should be reduced from £65,000 to £40,000. This motion, though strongly supported, was lost by a majority of one hundred and sixty-nine votes.

At the close of this session of parliament, Mr. Grey moved articles of impeachment against Mr. Pitt, and the whole body of ministers, for misapplying the public money; but though he traversed a vast space of ground, and laboured the charge with considerable power of argument, the weight of numbers was on the other side.

In the spring session of 1797, Mr. Grey brought forward a plan of parliamentary reform, which may be considered in some respects as the embryo or germ of that which is now in progress. He proposed to give the county of York four new members;-to divide each county into two districts, each of which to return one member.--Besides the freeholders, he proposed to give the right of voting to copyholders and leaseholders.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EARL GREY.

301 In cities and boroughs he meant to extend the elective franchise to all householders paying taxes. He lastly proposed, that parliaments should be triennial. The motion for leave to bring in a bill upon this plan, produced a long debate, and in the end it was negatived by a majority of one hundred and forty-nine votes.

Mr. Grey continued to oppose the measures of Mr. Pitt with unabating zeal, as long as that minister remained in power. In the same spirit he combated the greatest measure which distinguished the public life of that extraordinary statesman-the union between England and Ireland. When the address was moved to the king, after the opening of the Imperial Parliament, in 1801, Mr. Grey delivered an eloquent speech, at the outset of which, he solemnly declared himself hostile to the union then adopted, -hostile to every union between the two countries, except that founded upon the broad principles of 1782, which had for its base the independence of Ireland. During the same session, he took a wide survey of the state of the nation, on a motion of inquiry, which was rejected. From that period till the death of Mr. Pitt, in January 1806, we find Mr. Grey uniformly in opposition. That event, and the coalition of Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox, produced a new administration, in which Mr. Grey, now become Lord Howick, by the elevation of his father to the peerage, took his seat in the cabinet as first lord of the Admiralty.

By the death of Mr. Fox, in October following, his lordship succeeded to the distinction of ministerial leader in the house of commons; in which character he moved the bill for the total abolition of the African slavetrade, which bill had been introduced and passed in the upper house, on the motion of Lord Grenville. This may be considered as the last measure of the cabinet; for in less than two months, (March 5, 1807,) Lord Howick made a motion which was eventually the cause of his dismissal, and that of his colleagues. It was for leave to bring in a bill, securing to all his majesty's subjects the privilege of serving in the army or navy, upon their taking an oath prescribed by act of parliament; and for giving them the free exercise of their respective religions. The motion was opposed by Mr. Perceval, as an insidious attempt to remove all the penal laws, and the corporation and test acts among the rest. The alarm thus excited soon spread; and the king, after consulting Lord Grenville and Lord Howick upon the terms of the bill, demanded a pledge, that nothing of the kind should again be brought forward as a cabinet measure. With this they refused to comply, and a dissolution, both of the administration and parliament followed. Lord Howick, now again in a private station, took his seat in the House of Commons for Appleby, not choosing to incur the expense of a contested election for his native county, but before the next session, after the prorogation, he was called to the peerage, by the demise of his father.

From that time little occurred in the public history of Earl Grey, to which much importance can be said to have attached, till the year 1812, when two overtures were made for his restoration to political power; both of which, however, he thought proper to decline. The first was, when the restrictions on the regent expired, at the beginning of that year. His royal highness, wishing to form a new administration, on an extended basis and a comprehensive principle, empowered the duke of York to communicate with Lords Grey and Grenville on the subject. The duke did so; but the negotiation failed, and Mr. Perceval retained his situation at the head of the cabinet. Lord Boringdon, now Earl Morley, then moved an address to the Prince Regent, to form an administration, so composed

as to unite the confidence and good will of all classes of his majesty's subjects. In the debate that arose upon this motion, Earl Grey stated the points on which Lord Grenville and himself had declined an union with the present ministers. The existing administration, he said, was formed on the express principle of resistance to the Catholic claims; a principle loudly proclaimed by the person at the head of it, from the moment he quitted the bar, to take a share in political life, up to the present instant; and, of course, where he led, the rest were obliged to follow. In conclusion, Lord Grey said, the most momentous of all his objections against the present system of government was, the existence of an unseen and separate influence behind the throne.

The lamented death of Mr. Perceval, which happened shortly afterwards, opened fresh ground for an administration upon a broad principle. Accordingly, a commission was given to the Marquis Wellesley; who, finding obstacles which he could not remove, relinquished the trust. The same powers for negotiating were next transferred to Earl Moira, who treated with Lords Grey and Grenville upon a basis that seemed to promise a removal of all impediments; since the Regent had left the line of policy entirely to their own discretion. Even this proposal also failed, from a cause which no politician, however gifted, could have foreseen or surmised. On this subject, the following circumstances came to light.

Lord Yarmouth, now Marquis of Hertford, who held the principal place in the Regent's household, and who was the person, probably, whose private influence was most dreaded, affirmed, in the House of Commons, that it was the intention of himself and his friends to resign their situations, previously to the entrance of the new ministry into office. Mr. Ponsonby, on the other hand, the leader of the opposition, asserted, that neither himself, nor Lords Grey and Grenville, knew of any such intention, and had not the remotest idea that it existed. The other fact was still more extraordinary. Mr. Canning, in giving an account of these negotiations, said, that he was authorized to state some particulars of Lord Moira's conduct. His Lordship having put the question directly to the Prince Regent, "Is your Royal Highness prepared, if I should so advise it, to part with all the officers of your household?" The answer was, "I am.” "Then," said his Lordship, "your Royal Highness shall not part with one

of them."

Here closed this political drama: from which it may be said, that it adds one more illustration of the truth, that great events spring from little causes.

After this, the life of Earl Grey was passed in comparative seclusion from public life, till the sudden extinction of the Wellington administration brought him forth with greater splendour than ever. But here the task of doing justice to the subject, must be left to some future Tacitus or Plutarch.

In person, Earl Grey is tall and thin, and his constitution appears to have suffered but little from disease, or the encroachments of age. His features are in general placid; but his countenance, though dignified and intellectual, is sometimes clouded with severity.

In 1794, his Lordship married Miss Mary Brabazon, daughter of Lord Ponsonby, by whom he has a numerous family; the eldest of whom, Lord Howick, is now the representative of Northumberland.

PERHAPS there are few things of more utility than the continual strengthening of our minds in those reasonings which support christianity. It raises the tone of the intellectual faculties, and gives that character of decision to the moral powers, which elevates man to his real dignity. It signifies but little, whether our ideas, on such an important subject, are entirely original or not, so that we can argue from those data which are allowed by all, to the facts, doctrines, and precepts of Christianity. By means of such exercises, our opinions on religion will not easily yield, either to the objections of sceptics, or our own doubts and fears, when called to the trial.

Our first and most important step, in tracing the foundation of religion, must be to prove the existence of a Supreme Being, and to bring forth arguments in favour of the perfection and excellency of his attributes. And here we must take nothing for granted,

to which nature and reason do not bear their unequivocal testimony. We look around upon the universe of worlds, and contemplate the relation of moons to planets, of planets to suns, and of suns to their systems. We behold stars

"Numerous as glittering gems of morning dew," and have reason to suppose that each star is a world, in some measure, like our own. In addition to this, the evolutions of a single system are carried on with such order and exactness, that the course of planets, and their moons, have been most minutely and accurately described for years to come. Should we even rest here, our minds would be sufficiently impressed with the necessity, that innate wisdom and power must have called these worlds into being, and hitherto preserved them in that beautiful harmony and magnificence with which we see them invested. Should we begin with the infinity of worlds, and simply trace the power and wisdom of God, from them to planetary systems-and from our own system, to the world in which we live; should we mark the annual and diurnal revolution of the earth, its atmosphere and seasons, and then range over its surface, descending from universalities and generalization to particulars, from the whole race of animated beings to a single genus, and from

a single genus to an individual; should we endeavour to prosecute our search, in any instance, beyond the little light reason affords, beginning with the stupendous universe, and ending with those objects which, by their minuteness and number, are beyond our sight, and even our comprehension, we are overwhelmed with the sense of infinite wisdom and power.

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In surveying the surface of the world, we chain, towering to the skies, while at their cloud-capt" mountains, in continuous base, fertile vales extend their refreshing green. We behold the ocean in its majesty, the emblem of Deity itself, overwhelming the mind with a sense of awe, as its "billowy boundlessness" rises before us. We descend, in our contemplation, from the vast forests hitherto unpenetrated by man, and seemingly interminable, to the humbler objects of the vegetable creation; from the majestic teak tree to the lily of the field, from the sturdy oak to the lovely rose, characterized by poets

as

"the daughter of spring." We turn our gaze from the unwieldy, yet docile elephant, to the insect struggling into being, from the noblest to the meanest creature of the animal world. We reflect on the immense number of those that daily wait on their Maker, “to receive their meat in due season," and are not disappointed. We turn from all these to the survey of man himself, and, amidst the beautiful contrivance every where visible, we feel ourselves overpowered by the conviction that there is a Supreme Being, and that Being how great!

But we are told that these things may have arisen into existence by chance. Now we appeal to impartial reason, whether it is a greater absurdity to ascribe a corresponding effect to a corresponding cause, or to deny the necessity of an adequate cause to produce an adequate effect? Those who maintain such an unaccountable proposition, may, as Grotius affirms," as soon believe that pieces of timber and stones should frame themselves into a house; or that from letters thrown at a venture, there should arise a poem." They evidence their belief in the connexion between cause and effect, by their actions and reasonings on common subjects, but, with great inconsistency, deny it altogether, where the necessity of a first cause is most manifest. And in the view of the creation of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, where every reflecting mind must be overwhelmed with the stupendous magnificence and infinity, unfolded to the sight, is it bable that any such ridiculous idea can be seriously entertained? Even Aristotle, who is not particularly credulous, has affirmed "creation to be so great a work, as to make

pro