ive the largest dose of monstrous improbabilities that can
possibly be administered; and till he has had his 'full swing' in the
expression of his outraged feelings and boiling indignation, you might as
easily attempt to check the mighty torrent of Niagara. John, however, is a
free agent, and on the truest principles of freedom will hear but one side
of the question as long as his prejudices continue; and after all, I
believe it may fairly be put down to an honest impulse in favor of the
oppressed, and a determination that no man, however elevated in rank,
shall be screened from that equal justice which England delights in
according. But the scales of justice, though equally balanced in the
courts, get so bruised and bespattered in the minds of the fickle
multitude, that time alone will bring them to their proper equilibrium.
Let us travel back to the impeachment of the DUKE OF YORK, in the case of
the celebrated MRS. CLARK. To attempt to palliate the acts of His Royal
Highness was to commit an overt act of treason against the sovereign
people; to admit his indiscretions, but deny his guilty participation, or
even knowledge of the peculations committed in his name, would expose one
to the reputation of being either a fool or a madman. The sage counsellors
of the city, those bright constellations immortalized in all ages, not
only set the noble example of awarding the freedom of the city to the
immortal Colonel Wardle for his wholesale calumnies, but services of plate
poured in from all parts; and even a portion of the legislators of Great
Britain were offering up their humble adoration at the shrine of an
accomplished courtezan. What was the result? Reflection gradually
triumphed; all the gross and filthy exaggerations were sifted through the
dirty channels which had given rise to them; a sober judgment at length
was given; and the Duke, though not freed from the responsibility of
having been betrayed into great errors, was honorably and universally
acquitted of all intentional wrong. From that moment a more popular prince
was not in existence; and with the exception of those human infirmities
'which flesh is heir to,' few men descended to the grave more really
beloved. The chief of the gang of persecutors, Colonel Wardle, shrunk into
miserable retirement, and died 'unwept, unhonored, and unsung.'

This, however, was nothing when compared with the mighty fever of
excitement produced in the public mind by the arrival of QU