ence of these courts of international law. It does not appear that the doctrine was ever denied by any competent judge. The decision itself was acquiesced in by all parties; there being no appeal, which seldom happens in prize causes, where there is the least shadow of doubt.

CHAPTER VII.

JOURNAL-DEATH AND CHARACTER OF MR FOX LETTERS TO DR. PARR TO MR. MOORE TO MR. SHARP TO MR. MALCOLM LAING NOTICE OF PRIESTLEY-OF MIRABEAU-VISIT TO GOA AND MADRAS.

JOURNAL.

"JANUARY 1st.-The distribution of time into years, naturally disposes one to fancy that a new year, or a new combination of ciphers, denotes some new reality in nature. The conclusion of a year seems a sort of pause in the progress of time, which disposes the mind to retrospection. The year 1806 is almost a blank in this diary; so it almost was in fact. It was very barren in enjoyment and improvement. I begin the year 1807 with a firm resolution (I hope it may prove unshaken) to be more industrious.

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My last readings were Jacobi on the Doctrine of Spinoza,' and his letter to Fichte on German Philosophy, and Good's Translation of Lucretius.'

"Jacobi is a singular example of the union of metaphysical acuteness with mysticism. Like Hecla, burning in Iceland, his moral and devotional enthusiasm resists the freezing power of abstraction. His book on Spinoza is most ingenious; and when I read him, I think I understand his results; but when I lay down the book they escape the grasp of my mind.

"It seems to me that, according to Spinoza, extension and thought are the two ultimate facts of the universe, absolutely independent of each other; nothing is common to them but substance; which, divested of all attributes, must be the same in all things; which Spinoza, probably

to avoid the imputation of Atheism, called God; and which, being synonymous with existence, seems to be a mere logical form of words, necessary in affirmative propositions. The use of the word Deus has thrown great obscurity over Spinoza's system; and it has given plausibility to the popular arguments of Bayle.

"15th. I have just heard of the death of Mr. Fox. It is now about fifteen years since I was introduced to him by Mr. Ogilvie, the husband of his aunt, the Duchess of Leinster. It was in his house in South Street, and, I

think, in June, 1791.

"He was, before his death, led by misrepresentations to wrong me. But I feel unfeigned regret for his death; and I have the firmest confidence, that if he had lived he would have done me justice.

"Mr. Fox united, in a most remarkable degree, the seemingly repugnant characters of the mildest of men, and the most vehement of orators. In private life he was gentle, modest, placable, kind, of simple manners, and so averse from parade and dogmatism, as to be not only unostentatious, but even somewhat inactive in conversation. His superiority was never felt, but in the instruction which he imparted, or in the attention which his generous preference usually directed to the more obscure members of the company. The simplicity of his manners was far from excluding that perfect urbanity and amenity which flowed still more from the mildness of his nature, than from familiar intercourse with the most polished society of Europe. His conversation, when it was not repressed by modesty or indolence, was delightful. The pleasantry, perhaps, of no man of wit, had so unlaboured an appearance. It seemed rather to escape from his mind than to be produced by it. He had lived on the most intimate terms with all contemporaries distinguished by wit, politeness, philosophy, learning, or the

talents of public life. In the course of thirty years he had known almost every man in Europe, whose intercourse could strengthen, or enrich, or polish the mind. His own literature was various and elegant. In classical erudition, which, by the custom of England, is more peculiarly called learning, he was inferior to few professed scholars. Like all men of genius, he delighted to take refuge in poetry, from the vulgarity and irritation of business. His verses were easy and pleasing, and might have claimed no low place among those which the French call vers de societé. The poetical character of his mind was displayed in his extraordinary partiality for the poetry of the two most poetical nations, or at least languages, of the West, those of the ancient Greeks, and of the modern Italians. He disliked political conversation, and never willingly took any part in it.

"To speak of him justly, as an orator, would require a long essay. Every where natural, he carried into public something of that simple and negligent exterior, which belonged to him in private. When he began to speak, a common observer might have thought him awkward; and even a consummate judge could only have been struck with the exquisite justness of his ideas, and the transparent simplicity of his language. But no sooner had he spoken for some time, than he was changed into another being. He forgot himself and everything around him. He thought only of his subject. His genius warmed and kindled as he went on. He darted fire into his audience. Torrents of impetuous and irresistible eloquence swept along their feelings and conviction. He certainly possessed, above all moderns, that union of reason, simplicity and vehemence, which formed the prince of orators. He was the most Demosthenean speaker since Demosthenes. 'I knew him,' says Mr. Burke, in a pamphlet, written after their unhappy differ

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ence, when he was nineteen; since which time he has risen, by slow degrees, to be the most brilliant and accomplished debater that the world ever saw.'

"The quiet dignity of a mind roused only by great objects, the absence of petty bustle, the contempt of show, the abhorrence of intrigue, the plainness and downrightness, and the thorough good-nature which distinguished Mr. Fox, seem to render him no very unfit representative of that old English national character, which, if it ever changed, we should be sanguine, indeed, to expect to be succeeded by a better. The simplicity of his character inspired confidence; the ardour of his eloquence roused enthusiasm ; and the gentleness of his manners invited friendship. I admired,' says Mr. Gibbon, the powers of a superior man, as they were blended in his attractive character with all the softness and simplicity of a child. No human being was ever more free from any taint of malignity, vanity, or falsehood.' From these qualities of his public and private character, it probably arose, that no English statesman ever preserved, during so long a period of adverse fortune, so many affectionate friends, and so many zealous adherents. The union of ardour in public sentiment with mildness in social manners, was, in Mr. Fox, an inherent quality. The same fascinating power over the attachment of all who came within his sphere, is said to have belonged to his father; and those who know the survivors of another generation, will feel that this delightful quality is not yet extinct in the race.

"Perhaps nothing can more strongly prove the deep impression made by this part of Mr. Fox's character, than the words of Mr. Burke, who, in January, 1797, six years after all intercourse between them had ceased, speaking to a person* honoured with some degree of

*The writer himself.