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called a judicious plan. He looked for the hour, it was slow, but it was not the less certain. Kings are the best judges what quality of statesmen are most suitable to their cabinets. It is petulant in Montesquieu to say, 'That after all he cannot help having some pity for sovereigns, who are generally surrounded from the cradle to the grave, with knaves and sycophants.' It is easy to be eloquent, and men in their closets may rail at the insidious policy and treacherous arts of statesmen, but insidious policy and treacherous arts are necessary to a government!
The Earl of Shelburne is a man who must prosper in a court. He knows when to relax, and when to tighten the line. Look at his conduct upon the late volunteer bill; 'You ought to have power to force the people,' said Lord Stormont—'I admit your principle,' replied the Earl of Shelburne; 'Government, for true political uses, should have a power of compelling the subjects. Your maxim is excellent; but we must retort to gentler methods. The policy would be better to adopt bolder means, but this is not the season.' And if you will enquire the particulars of the progress of this bill, I believe you will find, that
