namely, that of dissolving the commercial yoke, which she pretends is imposed by England. Earl Grey still looks coldly on our efforts, which, as well as his reformation-endeavours, looks very like obstinacy; we cannot call this firmness, unless we could suppose that the despotism of Buonaparte, and the licentiousness of the first revolutionists appeared equally excellent; and unless we conceived him to be incapable of making common observations on what passes.

Voltaire, in his admirable story of Candid, or the Optimist, ridiculed obstinacy still more completely than he did the absurd theory of Leibnitz, but he did not succeed so well in reforming obstinate men as he did in exploding the Optimist's theory; and the reason is plain- Men do not think themselves obstinate even when they are so; on the contrary, if there is any one point in which our obstinacy is usually carried to the greatest pitch, it is in maintaining that we are not obstinate; and on this subject there are many curious observations to be made.

Even sceptics, who doubt of every thing else, are. very obstinate in thinking that they are not obsti

nate.

David Hume, who doubted of every thing, inso

much that he said, that even when he doubted, he was in doubt whether he doubted or not, yet he never once doubted that Dr. Beattie was wrong, and that men who believe in revealed religion are labouring under prejudice. That is to say, that this great philosopher, (and great in many respects he certainly was), had no doubt but that he himself was right, though he doubted whether he existed or not, and though the existence of every thing appeared to him to be doubtful.

Earl Grey owes his title, to the perseverance of British ministers, in the system he has uniformly condemned; for if his brave and good father had not fought well, his son would not have been an earl; and if the French had not been resisted, his estate would not now have been in his possession, and perhaps it would not have been worth cultivation; for one of the plans of the French was, if they could not keep England, to render it not worth keeping*; so that his lordship is highly obliged to

The ferocious general Augereau promised, if he could not keep the island, to spoil it, so that it should not be worth keeping. It is strange that any man of probity and property can think of such a marauding banditti without horror; yet so it has heen. Earl

those whom he has so uniformly opposed in their line of politics.

Let it, for the sake of other obstinate men, be observed, that though the opposition gentlemen have been guilty of obstinacy, in following one line of politics, when circumstances changed, their opponents were not guilty of a similar error, for with them the aim never changed; they only wanted to keep the English constitution as it is, till a better is discovered, and therefore, in resisting the mad jacobins, or the despotic military chief, or the wild reformers of parliament, they were perfectly consistent; and there was no obstinacy, but a patriotic firmness, that, under the will of Providence, has preserved the country.

Grey is certainly a man of property, and we have always believed him to be a man of good principles. Such is the inconsistency of men who are led away by party.

EARL GROSVENOR.

A NOBLEMAN of immense wealth, and with very few family incumbrances. His chief pride was, when a young politician, to show his learning by speaking Greek, without recollecting, that none of the country gentlemen, and very few of the other members, (who ought, in contradistinction, to be called the city gentry), understood that elegant dead language*. His lordship, in the language of

* The absurdity of dedicating the best part of the youthful years to the study of dead languages, is now pretty well over, and it is indeed full time that it were so, for the same reasons do not now exist that did very forcibly prevail, when the knowledge of the dead languages constituted the greatest part of living learning.

During the dark ages that succeeded the fall of the Roman empire, and that continued for above a thousand years, the only vestiges of learning were preserved in religious houses, and all books that were worth reading, were in Greek or Latin; and even of the few writers of those times, the most part wrote in those languages; but that practice is now laid aside, and it is found to be better to study science in our own language, than to neglect science, to study the dead languages exclusively.

the courts of justice, took nothing for his motion: he raised a laugh, much to the disgrace of his illiterate hearers, and to his own confusion.

His lordship left off that practice, and has never since spoken much, but now and then has favoured the house of peers with a lofty set speech, as it is technically called. A set speech seldom produces

In order to enforce, as much as possible, however, the study of the dead languages, it is asserted by teachers, that there is no possibility of understanding modern languages well, unless we understand Greek and Latin. Did it never occur to those who make that assertion, or to their hearers, that the Greeks, who spoke with great elegance and correctness, knew no language but their own, very few understanding the Egyptian? Or do they not also know, that Latin was spoken with great purity at Rome, before the Roman youth studied Greek?

There is nevertheless no doubt a great advantage in understanding Latin and Greek; but, like every thing else, its value may be overrated, and it certainly has been so.

If, however, the practice is to continue, it is a pity that some better and readier method is not taken than has hitherto been adopted; for seven years are generally employed to enable a young man to understand, very imperfectly, a language which, he seldom reads after he ceases his studies. Amongst twenty who learn Latin, (as it is called learning), not one can write it, and not one in two hundred can speak it at all.