ition.
There he was cultivated and admired for the elegance of his manners,
and the charms of his conversation. The prince's curiosity was first
captivated by his character, and his esteem was afterwards secured by
the irresistible address of that extraordinary personage, who continued
in a regular progression to insinuate himself still farther and farther
into the good graces of his royal patron.. How far the conduct of his
royal highness was influenced by the private advice of this nobleman we
shall not pretend to determine; but, certain it is, the friends of the
ministry propagated a report, that he was the dictator of those measures
which the prince adopted; and that, under the specious pretext of
attachment to the heir-apparent of the crown, he concealed his real aim,
which was to perpetuate the breach in the royal family. Whatever his
sentiments and motives might have been, this was no other than a revival
of the old ministerial clamour, that a man cannot be well affected to
the king, if he pretends to censure any measure of the administration.

CHARACTER OF THE MINISTRY.

The weight which the opposition derived from these new confederates
in the house of commons was still greatly overbalanced by the power,
influence, and ability that sustained every ministerial project. Mr.
Pelham, who chiefly managed the helm of affairs, was generally esteemed
as a man of honesty and candour, actuated by a sincere love for
his country, though he had been educated in erroneous principles of
government, and in some measure obliged to prosecute a fatal system
which descended to him by inheritance. At this time he numbered Mr. Pitt
among his fellow-ministers, and was moreover supported by many other
individuals of distinguished abilities; among whom the first place
in point of genius was due to Mr. M., who executed the office of
solicitor-general. This gentleman, the son of a noble family in North
Britain, had raised himself to great eminence at the bar, by a most keen
intuitive spirit of apprehension, that seemed to seize every object
at first glance; an innate sagacity, that saved the trouble of intense
application; and an irresistible stream of eloquence, that flowed pure
and classical, strong and copious, reflecting, in the most conspicuous
point of view, the subjects over which it rolled, and sweeping before
it all the slime of formal hesitation, and all the entangling weeds of
chicanery. Yet the servants of the crown we