mount.

honours than Honiton; and Sheridan was too conversant with established usages in such cases to rely solely upon the profession of his love of liberty, or his persuasive powers of speech, without presenting to the electors the charm to which they had been so long habituated. Hardly any subject has been more agitated in this free country than the abuse of the elective franchise, and the evil arising from what are called rotten boroughs. Yet these two instances prove, and many more might be added to the number, that in those places which are least under private influence, corruption prevails to as great an extent as in close boroughs, where that influence is paraThe election at Stafford was conducted in a way which manifested no other discrimination on the part of the voters than what arose from the immediate gratification of their passions. The favourite candidate was wholly unknown to them, and, therefore, they could not have the merit of selecting a man of extraordinary talent and virtue, because they were as entirely ignorant of his political wisdom as they were of his private character. Mr. Sheridan succeeded, as most men do on these occasions, by the pleasantry of his manners, the freedom with which he could enter into the humours of the lowest part of the community, and, more than all, by enabling them to indulge their sensual inclinations for the moment, and by treating them with ample promises of future benefits.

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They who cared little for any thing beyond present enjoyment had their wishes gratified without any restriction; and others, who were mindful of remote advantages, were promised places in the event of success; which condition was fulfilled whenever any of them came to London, by orders for admission at Drury Lane and the Opera House. But though a petition was presented against the return, on the charges of bribery and corruption, it failed for want of positive proof, and the sitting members for the borough of Stafford were declared to be duly elected. When the petition was brought into the house, Mr. Sheridan treated it as frivolous and malicious, in a speech which drew some droll remarks from Mr. Rigby, who was sarcastically severe upon that part which manifested in the speaker a tender regard for the moral character of his constituents. Mr. Sheridan was relieved by the address of his friend Mr. Fox from the embarrassment into which he had been thrown by his own precipitancy, and the arch insinuations of an experienced veteran in electioneering matters; but the conversation was closed by the authority of the chair, on the ground that there was no question before the house.

This was the first essay of Mr. Sheridan as a parliamentary orator; and though the subject was comparatively one of little interest, he was heard with marked attention, the members being uncommonly still all the time he was speaking. A

few days afterwards he had occasion to deliver his sentiments upon public affairs, when a motion for a vote of thanks to Earl Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton was made by Mr. Coke. Though Mr. Sheridan did not oppose the motion, he seized this opportunity of expressing his entire disapprobation of the American war; but he seems to have been principally induced to rise in the course of the debate out of pique at what had shortly before fallen from Mr. Rigby, who, having again exercised his wit at the expense of some of the gentlemen in opposition, laid himself fairly open to an attack in return.

CHAPTER VI.

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Mr. Sheridan's Motion on the Police of Westminster.His Observations on Lotteries.-His spirited opposition to Mr. Fox on the Marriage Act.

THE scandalous riots which had disgraced the metropolis, and astonished the kingdom, in the preceding summer, afforded Mr. Sheridan an opportunity of displaying his powers to great advantage on the meeting of parliament. It was a fact well known, that the inactivity of the magistrates during those outrages, and especially at the commencement, had rendered the interference of the military indispensable. Upon this occasion Mr. Sheridan brought forward, on the fifth of March, a motion for an inquiry into the subject. In this speech he apologized for having undertaken to bring so important a question before parliament, and which he was but ill qualified to discuss. He then proceeded in a strain of declamation to inveigh bitterly against the employment of the military in civil disturbances; and having quoted that part of His Majesty's speech in which the necessity of the case was alleged as a justification of the measure, he called upon ministers to

apply for a bill of indemnity, that they might stand excused for having adopted an unconstitutional measure in desperate circumstances. Having descanted largely upon the danger of trusting to the interposition of soldiers for the suppression of outrages and riots, Mr. Sheridan lamented, justly. enough, the defective state of the metropolis as the main cause of the mischief, and concluded a desultory speech, with moving the following resolutions:-1st, "That it is illegal and unjustifiable to order the military to act without the intervention of the civil magistrates, except in cases of the most extreme necessity, when the civil power is absolutely borne down. 2ndly, That it appears from the necessity of employing the military to quell the riots in June last, that there is some great defect in the civil constitution, or police of the City of Westminster. 3rdly, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the state of the police of the said city, and report to the House such improvements as shall appear to them necessary for constituting a police that might prove equal to the preservation of the peace and tranquillity thereof."

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This motion was seconded by the Honourable Richard Fitzpatrick, who, in allusion to his own military rank, declared that he was, in common with his fellow soldiers, extremely anxious to have the question brought to a final issue, so that it might no longer remain in doubt and perplexity.