ork; and, perhaps, not less natural that the
patient should be fascinated by her. In a short time the cure was
perfected, and Burke obtained the greatest earthly blessing for which
any man can crave--a devoted wife, a loving companion, a wise adviser,
and, above all, a sympathizing friend, to whom all which interested her
husband, either in public or private, was her interest as much as, and,
if possible, even more than his. Burke's public career certainly opened
with happy auspices. He was introduced by the Earl of Charlemont to Mr.
Hamilton in 1759, and in 1761 he returned to Ireland in the capacity of
private secretary to that gentleman. Mr. Hamilton has acquired, as is
well known, the appellation of "single speech," and it is thought he
employed Burke to compose his oration; it is probable that he required
his assistance in more important ways. But the connexion was soon
dissolved, not without some angry words on both sides. Hamilton taunted
Burke with having taken him out of a garret, which was not true, for
Burke's social position was scarcely inferior to his own; Burke replied
with ready wit that he regretted having _descended_ to know him.

In the year 1765, when Lord Grenville was driven from office by the
"American Question," the Marquis of Rockingham succeeded him, appointed
Burke his private secretary, and had him returned for the English
borough of Wendover. His political career commenced at this period.
Then, as now, Reform, Ireland, and America were the subjects of the day;
and when one considers and compares the politics of the eighteenth and
the nineteenth centuries, the progress of parliamentary intellectual
development is not very encouraging. The speeches of honorable members,
with some few very honorable exceptions, seem to run in the same groove,
with the same utter incapacity of realizing a new idea, or a broad and
cosmopolitan policy. There were men then, as there are men now, who
talked of toleration in one breath, and proclaimed their wooden
determination to enforce class ascendency of creed and of station in the
next. There were men who would tax fresh air, and give unfortunate
wretches poisonous drinks on the cheapest terms. There were men whose
foreign policy consisted in wringing all that could be wrung out of
dependencies, and then, when the danger was pointed out, when it was
shown that those dependencies were not only likely to resist, but were
in a position to resist--to a position in wh