el, and England had rivalled even the frenzy of France in the
rapidity and ruin of her Reform.

Fortunately, the empire was rescued from this most fatal of all
catastrophes. A great English minister appeared, on whom were to
devolve the defence of England and the restoration of Europe. The
sagacity of Pitt saw where the evil lay; his intrepidity instantly
struck at its source, and his unrivalled ability completed the saving
operation. He broke down the cabinet monopoly. No man less humiliated
himself to the populace, but no man better understood the people. No
man paid more practical respect to the peerage, but no man more
thoroughly extinguished their exclusive possession of power. He formed
his cabinet from men of all ranks, in the peerage and out of the
peerage. The great peers chiefly went over to the opposition. He
resisted them there, with as much daring, and with as successful a
result, as he had expelled them from the stronghold of government. He
made new peers. He left his haughty antagonists to graze on the barren
field of opposition for successive years; and finally saw almost the
whole herd come over for shelter to the ministerial fold.

At this period a remarkable man was brought into public life--the
celebrated Dunning, appointed solicitor-general. Walpole calls this
"an extraordinary promotion," as Dunning was connected with Lord
Shelburne. It was like every thing else, obviously an intrigue; and
Dunning would have lost the appointment, but for his remarkable
reputation in the courts; Wedderburne being the man of the Bedfords.
Walpole's opinion of Dunning in the House, shows, how much even the
highest abilities may be influenced by circumstances. He says, "that
Dunning immediately and utterly lost character as a speaker, although
he had acquired the very highest distinctions as a pleader;" so
different, says he, is the oratory of the bar and of parliament.
Mansfield and Camden retained an equal rank in both. Wedderburne was
most successful in the House. Norton had at first disappointed the
expectations that were conceived of him when he came into parliament;
yet his strong sense, that glowed through all the coarseness of his
language and brutality of his manner, recovered his weight, and he was
much distinguished. While Sir Dudley Ryder, attorney-general in the
preceding reign, the soundest lawyer, and Charles Yorke, one of the
most distinguished pleaders, soon talked themselves out of all
consideration