and integrity, which undoubtedly every man ought to consider himself as pledging to his creditors, and which, above all others, should be sacred in the eyes of a prince.

But the conduct of the Prince of Wales, on this interesting occasion, far from receiving that just tribute of public approbation which it was so well entitled to from the noblemindedness of its motive, became a subject of various animadversion. In itself undoubtedly, and taken abstractedly from any circumstance that had agitated the public mind relative to this illustrious personage previous, like that to which we have before alluded, it was entitled to the highest commendation. But it is equally certain, that it did not obtain from the nation. in general that full and unequivocal approbation which it so justly de

An anonymous, but candid and sensible political writer, speaking of this transaction, with equal truth and acuteness, observes, that the temper of the present age is a subject of curious speculation. It cannot be pretended, that we are entire strangers to dissipation and profligacy; but there is a prevailing humour, that renders us severe, almost cynical, upon the subject of virtue. In the great contest between Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, in the close of the parliament which was dissolved in 1784, undoubtedly there was many considerations, that co-operated with each other for the purpose of giving so entire a victory to the former. But of all these motives, perhaps the most cogent was that which was derived from the sobriety and purity of Mr. Pitt's conduct, and from the known disposition and propensity to gaming of Mr. Fox. It is

equally true, though not perhaps equally obvious, that nothing has tended to carry the present sovereign in safety through all the storms and calamities of his reign more than his perfect freedom from every irregular and vicious pursuit. The contrast in this respect between the prince upon the throne, and the heir apparent successor, was by no means favourable to the latter. There was scarcely any deviation, in which the Prince did not occasionally indulge, and it cannot be denied, that the world spoke in language of strong censure of the choice made by him of his most intimate companions. All these considerations were tenfold strengthened by the affair of the supposed marriage with Mrs. Fitzherbert. His admirers compared him with our favourite Henry V. and asserted that his present dissipation was only the ebullition and the first vio

lence of great and noble qualities, But to this it was replied, that the matter in question cut off all hopes. In this instance he had proved, that the wildness and inconsideration of his nature were rooted, and that he had no better and more worthy principles at bottom to check his excesses. To the gratification of a youthful inclination, he had sacrificed the dignity of his character, and the happiness of his country.

Not to detain our readers with any long comments on the observations of this spirited writer, it is just necessary to observe, that his language towards the Prince, though far from that of forbearance or vindication, falls infinitely short in severity of reproof of the terms of reproach and condemnation with which the press at this period teemed against him. It seemed as if the mercenary scribblers of the

metropolis had entered into a regular conspiracy to vilify and degrade the Prince of Wales, and scarcely any writer had the courage, or rather the hardihood, to brandish a pen in his defence. It is not to be supposed that the ministers of the day gave encouragement to their vile and unprincipled machinations, but this much is certain, that the efforts made to check them were languid and inefficient, and it was notorious that those who inveighed most bitterly against the prince, were the writers who most zealously supported Mr. Pitt's administration. Mr. Pitt's accession to power had been represented by the great leaders of the whig party, truly as it was, as an underhand and unconstitutional transaction by the minister and his friends it was pretended that it was necessary to rescue the crown from a dangerous combination, and as there was some