alluded to had no authority for the conduct they had pursued, and he trusted that such expedients would not be allowed in future, and that such a construction of the act would not be sustained.

Lord Sidmouth replied, that he was utterly ignorant of the circumstances of the case alluded to; but all he could say was, that there was no clause in the act in question which could justify such an interpretation as had been mentioned. It certainly never was the intention of the framers of the bill to put a stop to all political discussion.

A similar assurance was given in the House of Commons by Mr Bathurst.

The last proceedings in parliament, consisted in Mr Brougham's general motion on the state of the nation. The honourable gentleman took an extended review of the conduct of ministry, and of all their recent proceedings, parliamentary, financial, commercial, and diplomatic; all of which he inveighed against in the strongest terms. Lord Castlereagh defended the conduct of ministry, and insisted, that if the honourable gentleman entertained such an opinion of them as he had now expressed, he ought long before to have moved their impeachment. Sir F. Burdett and Mr Bennett spoke against ministry; the Attorney-General, Mr H. Addington, and Mr Canning, in its favour. As the debate consisted merely in a general review of former matters, all parties could have nothing to say but what had been already said. Mr Brougham, whose object had merely been to express his opinion, and display his oratory, did not attempt to divide the House, but allowed the motion to be negatived without a division.

On the 12th of July, the Prince Regent closed the Session with the following speech:

VOL. X. PART I.

"My Lords, and Gentlemen, "I cannot close this session of parliament, without renewing my expressions of deep regret at the continuance of his Majesty's lamented indisposi

tion.

"The diligence with which you have applied yourselves to the consideration of the different objects which I recommended to your attention at the commencement of the session, demands my warmest acknowledgments; and I have no doubt that the favourable change which is happily taking place in our internal situation, is to be mainly ascribed to the salutary measures which you have adopted for preserving the public tranquillity, and to your steady adherence to those principles by which the constitution, resources, and credit of the country have been hitherto preserved and maintained.

"Notwithstanding the arts and industry which have been too successfully exerted in some parts of the country to alienate the affections of his Majesty's subjects, and to stimulate them to acts of violence and insurrection, I have had the satisfaction of receiving the most decisive proofs of the loyalty and public spirit of the great body of the people; and the patience with which they have sustained the most severe temporary distress cannot be too highly commended.

"I am fully sensible of the confidence which you have manifested towards me, by the extraordinary powers which you have placed in my hands; the necessity which has called for them is to me matter of deep regret; and you may rely on my making a temperate but effectual use of them, for the protection and security of his Majesty's loyal subjects.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "I thank you for the supplies which

K

you have granted to me, and for the laborious investigation which, at my recommendation, you have made into the state of the income and expenditure of the country.

"It has given me sincere pleasure to find that you have been enabled to provide for every branch of the public service without any addition to the burthens of the people.

"The state of public credit affords a decisive proof of the wisdom and expediency, under all the present circumstances, of those financial arrangements which you have adopted.

"I have every reason to believe that the deficiency in the revenue is, in a great degree, to be ascribed to the unfavourable state of the last season; and I look forward with sanguine expectations to its gradual improvement.

"My Lords, and Gentlemen, "The measures which were in progress at the commencement of the session, for the issue of a new silver coinage, have been carried into execution in a manner which has given universal satisfaction; and, to complete the system which has been sanctioned by parliament, a gold coinage of a new denomination has been provided for the convenience of the public.

"I continue to receive from foreign powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition towards this country, and of their desire to preserve the general tranquillity.

"The prospect of an abundant harvest throughout a considerable part of the continent is in the highest degree satisfactory.This happy dispensation of Providence cannot fail to mitigate, if not wholly to remove, that pressure under which so many of the nations of Europe have been suffering in the course of the last year; and I trust that we may look forward in consequence to an improvement in the commercial relations of this and all other countries.

"I cannot allow you to separate without recommending to you, that upon your return to your several counties, you should use your utmost endeavours to defeat all attempts to corrupt and mislead the lower classes of the community; and that you should lose no opportunity of inculcating amongst them that spirit of concord and obedience to the laws, which is not less essential to their happiness as individuals, than it is indispensable to the general welfare and prosperity of the kingdom."

THE present year may justly be considered as forming a memorable era in the annals of Scotland, less from any prominent events that occurred, than from the great change which was wrought, or at least disclosed, in its political mind. This change, unless in a few of its detached symptoms, may probably have escaped the notice of our southern readers; and to them, therefore, it may not be unacceptable to receive the observations of those who could mark on the spot the steps of this revolution, and the secret causes by which it was prepared.

For a very long period preceding, the current of public opinion had been observed, in Scotland, to run very strongly in favour of prerogative. The French Revolution, indeed, excited a somewhat brisk ebullition, the ele ments of which, however, were rather active than widely diffused; but when it subsided, the principles of loyalty, and of acquiescence in the established order of things, seemed to derive only new strength from the efforts necessary to suppress their opposites. A

strong influence in this direction was doubtless produced by the energy, address, and popular manners of the late Lord Melville. Lord Melville. The national pride was flattered by seeing a Scotchman hold so high a place in the public councils; his attention to its interests was unremitting; and there remained always in his whole character and deportment something so decidedly Scotch, that this people never ceased fully to consider him as a Scotchman. In short, during this whole period, the great mass of the landed proprietors, all that high nobility whose fortunes enabled them to emulate regal pomp, even the bulk of the middling and trading classes, stood firmly arrayed on the side of administration. The party of opposition was supported rather by a few clever and zealous detached individuals, than by any regular or established body. Yet, amid this smooth outward appearance, the seeds of an active democracy were se cretly ripening. The revolutionary spirit, during its prevalence, had acted powerfully on the youthful votaries of

learning, of whom the University of Edinburgh was then rearing many, destined to act a distinguished part in the intellectual professions and literary history of their country. Talent is naturally democratic, spurning at all distinctions not founded on itself. At the private debating societies, into which the students of the Scottish universities form themselves, political discussion became a prominent feature; and it was reported, that the most bold and perilous questions were frequently agitated. The alarm hence felt by the votaries of established order gave rise to a species of proscription, which barred in some degree the first efforts of these young men to bring themselves into notice. The indignation thus inspired failed not, even after their first fervour had been tempered by maturer judgment, to fix them strongly in an opposite interest. In Scotland, abilities, unsupported by great wealth, can with difficulty obtain a public field for their display. Talent, however, must always find its level; and its possessors were not long of discovering a theatre where they could act a conspicuous part, in the eye of their country, and even of the world.

Edinburgh, though it possesses much of the brilliant and polished society, wants many of the usual accompaniments, of a metropolitan city. It is neither the residence of a court, nor the resort of the high nobility, nor the theatre of any grand political deliberations. In the absence of these, the lead is taken by the inferior gentry, and more particularly by the intellectual professions. Among these last, the most brilliant class, beyond comparison, is that of the practitioners at the bar, or, as they are here called, Advocates. This class, be it observed, follow a very different train of life from the lawyers of the English metropolis; who, shut up in their inns in al

most monastic seclusion, poring over the pandects and the digests, and immersed in the routine of daily practice, are in a great degree estranged from the circles both of literary and fashionable life. In Edinburgh, on the contrary, the title of Advocate is an introduction equally into the gay as into the busy world; it is assumed even as an ornament by young men of fortune, who never mean to engage in practice. In regard to intellectual culture, the Advocate of the old school was not accustomed to travel much beyond the record. His week was spent in close attendance on the Parliament-house, while the Saturday, and other occasional intervals of relaxation, were devoted to loud mirth and ample potations. To indulge a taste, or employ time, in any of the branches of literature or science, was considered a dangerous species of idleness, and as disqualifying him for his main occupation. The young practioners, nursed in the school we have just described, introduced an entirely different train of ideas. The belles lettres, poetry, history, and antiquities, were now stu died with the same zeal as the Institutes and Decisions, and came to be considered almost as essential to their credit and place in society. Such a train of pursuit, among a number of young men of splendid and highly cultivated talents, soon placed this body at the head of the literature of Scotland. Their wits, indeed, must be greatly sharpened by constant collision. Every morning their whole number repairs to what is called the Outer House, a magnificent hall, not rivalling indeed the forensic dimensions of Westminster-hall, but serving for more dig. nified uses.

This hall forms a vast coffee-house, in which all things connected with business, literature, and the world, are daily debated. Especial regard is, indeed, had to whatever conduces to the production of mirth;

but this does not supersede many grave and serious discussions. Great benefit must also accrue from the extensive observation of human nature, and the affairs of life, which is afforded upon the continually varying theatre of civil and criminal proceedings. This body have thus completely given the tone to Scottish literature. They have infused into it a very different character from that which rendered it illustrious in the former age. The tone was then given by the presbyterian church of Scotland, and produced a grave and highly respectable literature, which busied itself little with ephemeral topics, but was chiefly employed upon immutable truths, and the permanent interests of society. The literature of the present day is gay, busy, alive to the present scene;-periodical criticism, popular political discussion, and the painting of manners, form its ruling themes. The knowledge of the world, the gaiety, and the businesslike style, conspicuous in its productions, have rendered them the most extensively popular of any in the present, or perhaps any former age.

We have already hinted at the causes which directed towards the popular side a large proportion of the rising Scottish talent. From other causes connected with the observations now stated, the great mass of it directed itself to the bar. This profession, from the ample share of government patronage included within its limits, might have seemed calculated to turn the views of some into a new channel. Principle, however, and the pride of independence, was more powerful than interest: and the emoluments of a highly employed advocate are such as to render a seat on the bench eligible only in the decline of life. Meantime, the very circumstance of the great proportional number of the Scottish judges causes a continual drain upon the loyal part of the bar; and the

transference of an adherent from the habits of an active and zealous lawyer, to the tranquil and routine life of a judge, is very disadvantageous to the interests of administration. From one cause or another, so it happened, that at the period now under consideration, all the most eminent and illustrious characters at the bar stood in direct opposition to the ruling powers. It would be difficult, amid all the shifting scenes which Scottish society has presented, to select a more brilliant groupe. We need only mention Clerk, the son of an illustrious father, whom he surpassed, at least as to public life; whose age, long established practice, and thorough legal knowledge, placed him at the head of his party, and of the bar. This gentleman belonged, indeed, rather to the old school, being more distinguished for deep law and forcible pleading, than for general knowledge. Some eccentricities of manner, and effusions of humorous spleen, by the repetition of which society was amused, aided in rendering him a conspicuous personage in the city. Cranston presented a quite different personage, marked by a deportment eminently correct, polished, and dignified-the model of a lawyer and a gentleman; and, in short, one of the most accomplished characters of which any bar can boast. Here, by the way, we cannot help remarking how slowly these high qualities are recognized, when not rendered piquant by some admixture of weakness and eccentricity. Mr Cranston remained long without any employment whatever; insomuch, that at one time he quitted the bar in despair, and for several years employed his splendid talents in marshalling a troop of dragoons. Jeffrey, whose fame in letters admits only of one rival, is also the most popular speaker in the Scottish courts; involving his auditors in a thread of lively, delicate, rapid, and