CHARACTERS.

ANTOINETTE, LATE QUEEN OF FRANCE.

It is now (1791) fixteen or seventeen years fince

T

I faw the queen of France, then the dauphiness, at Verfailles; and furely never lighted on this orb, which the hardly feemed to touch, a more delightful vifion. I faw her juft above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated fphere fhe juft began to move in-glittering like the morning-ftar, full of life, and fplendor, and joy. Oh! what a revolution! and what an heart muft I have, to contemplate without emotion that elevation, and that fall! Little did I dream when the added titles of veneration to thofe of enthufiaftic, diftant, refpe&tful love, that fhe fhould ever be obliged to carry the fharp antidote against difgrace concealed in that bofom; little did I dream that I fhould have lived to fee fuch difafters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousands fwords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with infult.-But the age of chivalry is gone. That of fophifters, œconomifts, and calculators, has fucceeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguifhed for ever. Never, never more, fhall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and fex, that proud fub. miffion, that dignified obedience, that fubordination of the heart, which kept alive, even in fervitude itfelf, the fpirit of an exalted freedom. The un

bought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurfe of manly fentiment and heroic enterprize is gone! It is gone, that fenfibility of principle, that chastity of honour, which felt a ftain like a wound, which infpired courage whilft it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled whatever it touched, and under which vice itself loft half its evil, by lofing all its grofsnefs.Reflections on the Revolution in France.

ARTOIS (COMTE DE)

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THE Comte d'Artois fustains ftill better the fentation of his place than Monfieur. He is eloquent, lively, engaging in the highest degree, of a decided character, full of energy and activity. In a word, he is a brave, honourable, and accomplished cavalier. Their brethren of royalty, if they were true to their own caufe and intereft, instead of relegating these illuftrious perfons to an obfcure town, would bring them forward in their courts and camps, and exhibit them to, what they would fpeedily obtain, the esteem, refpect, and affection of mankind. -Memorial on the Affairs of France in 1793.

BENFIELD (PAUL, ESQ;)

OUR wonderful minifter, as you all know, formed a new plan, a plan infigne recens alio indictum ore, a plan for fupporting the freedom of our conftitution by court intrigues, and for removing its corruptions by Indian delinquency. To carry that bold paradoxical defign into execution, fufficient funds and apt inftruments became neceffary. You are perfectly fenfible that a parliamentary reform occupies his thoughts day and night, as an effential member in this extraordinary project. In his anxious researches upon this fubject, natural inftinct, as well as found policy, would direct his eyes, and fettle his choice on Paul Benfield. Paul Benfield is the grand par

liamentary reformer, the reformer to whom the whole choir of reformers bow, and to whom even the right honourable gentleman himself muft yield the palm; For what region in the empire, what city, what borough, what county, what tribunal, in this kingdom, is not full of his labours. Others have been only fpeculators; he is the grand practical reformer; and whilft the chancellor of the exchequer pledges in vain the man and the minifter, to increase the provincial members, Mr. Benfield has aufpicioufly and practically begun it. Leaving far behind him even Lord Camelford's generous defign of beftowing Old Sarum on the Bank of England, Mr. Benfield has thrown in the borough of Cricklade to reinforce the county reprefentation. Not content with this, in order to station a fteady phalanx for all future reforms, this public-fpirited ufurer, amidft his charitable toils for the relief of India, did not forget the poor rotten conftitution of his native country.. For her, he did not difdain to stoop to the trade of a wholefale upholsterer for this houfe, to furnish it, not with the faded tapeftry figures of antiquated merit, fuch as decorate, and may reproach fome other houses, but with real, folid, living patterns of true modern virtue. Paul Benfield made (reckoning himself) no fewer than eight members in the last parliament. What copious ftreams of pure blood muft he not have transfufed into the veins of the prefent!

But what is even more ftriking than the real fervices of this new imported patriot, is his modefty. As foon as he had conferred this benefit on the conftitution, he withdrew himself from our applause. He conceived that the duties of a member of parliament (which with the elect faithful, the true believers, the Ifam of parliamentary reform, are of little or no merit, perhaps not much better than fpecious fins) might be as well attended to in India as in England, and the means of reformation to parliament itself, be

far better provided. Mr. Benfield was therefore no fooner elected than he fet off for Madras, and defrauded the longing eyes of parliament. We have never enjoyed in this houfe the luxury of beholding that minion of the human race, and contemplating that vifage, which has fo long reflected the happiness of nations.

It was therefore not poffible for the minister to confult perfonally with this great man. What then was he do? Through a fagacity that never failed him in these pursuits, he found out in Mr. Benfield's reprefentative, his exact resemblance. A specific attraction by which he gravitates towards all fuch characters, foon brought our minifter into a clofe connexion with Mr. Benfield's agent and attorney; that is, with the grand contractor (whom I name to honour) Mr. Richard Atkinfon; a name that will be well remembered as long as the records of this house, as long as the records of the Birtifh treasury, as long as the monumental debt of England fhall endure.

This gentleman, Sir, acts as attorney for Mr. Paul Benfield. Every one who hears me, is well acquainted with the facred friendship, and the fteady mutual attachment that fübfifts between him and the prefent minifter. As many members as chofe to attend in the first feffion of this parliament, can best tell their own feelings at the fcenes which were then acted. How much that honourable gentleman was confulted in the original frame and fabric of the bill, commonly called Mr. Pitt's India bill, is matter only of conjecture; though by no means difficult to divine. But the public was an indignant witness of the oftentation with which that measure was made his own, and the authority with which he brought up claufe after claufe, to stuff and fatten the ranknefs of that corrupt act. As faft as the claufes were brought up to the table, they were accepted. No hesitation; no difcuffion. They were received by the new minifter, not with approbation, but with

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implicit fubmiffion. The reformation may be efti. mated, by feeing who was the reformer. Paul Benfield's affociate and agent was held up to the world as legiflator of Indoftan. But it was neceffary to authenticate the coalition between the men of intrigue in India, and the minifter of intrigue in England, by a ftudied difplay of the power of this their connecting link. Every truft, every honour, every diftinction, was to be heaped upon him. He was at once made a director of the India company; made an alderman of London; and to be made, if miniftry could prevail (and I am forry to fay how near, how very near they were prevailing) reprefentative of the capital of this kingdom. But to fecure his fervices against all rifque, he was brought in for a minifterial borough. On his part, he was not wanting in zeal for the common caufe. His advertisements fhew his motives, and the merits upon which he flood. your minifter, this worn-out veteran fubmitted to enter into the dufty field of the London conteft; and you all remember, that in the fame virtuous cause, he submitted to keep a fort of public office or counting-house, where the whole bufinefs of the laft general election was managed. It was openly managed by the direct agent and attorney of Benfield. It was managed upon Indian principles, and for an Indian intereft. This was the golden cup of abominations; this the chalice of the fornifications of rapine, ufury, and oppreffion, which was held out by the gorgeous eaftern harlot; which fo many of the people, fo many of the nobles of this land, had drained to the very dregs. Do you think that no reckoning was to follow this lewd debauch? that no payment was to be demanded for this riot of public drunkennefs and national proftitution? Here! you have it here before you. The principal of the grand election manager must be indemnified; accordingly the claims of Benfield and his crew must be put above all enquiry.