The Sun.
London, England, 1812-09-29 00:00:00

JOHN HORNE TOOK E.

For the following masterly delineation lof the
character, conduct, and,labours, intellectual and
political, of this man, which is founded upon a lite
of.him, lately published, but of which only a pass-
ing notice is taken, we are indebted to The Quar-
terly Review,

" think it somewhat discreditable to the Ja-
cobin school, that thcy.have not been able to pro-
duce a better account of a person who, with all
his faults, was in this country their principal or
nament and support. A good memoir upon th;d
subject would b an,useful occasion to our stock
of biography, literary .and political. When we
speak of a .memoir, we of course do not mean a
large quarto, or two large quartos, for with such
it is said we are threatened—eked out with decla-
mat!ons, and his cries about the American war—
dissertations • upon the anthor of JUnius—e dia-
tribeS'. upon the :French revolution, and the
speeches of the Attorney-General anti Mr. Erskine
a-book resembling this before us in size, and
in nothing which. credit shall be given-
to the reader for a general acquaintance with the
history of the last fifty years—fo.which ihercfore
the ruain!,lidos OA_ not be overwhelmed by a
mass of extraneous matter,—in short,. a life of
Mr. Tooke, in which Mr. Tooke shall be the prin-
cipal feature, and in which all that is material to
be known of this extraordinary man shall be dia_.
gently collected; fairly arranged, anci fairly related.
We feel it the more necessary to give this warn.
ing, because it has been very much the practice
of late years, under pretence of writing biography,
to deluge the public with vast quantities of con-
temporaneous history, whicli serves no other pur-
pose than, that of puzzlingand.fatiguing the read-
er, and adding to the size and price of the vo-
lume.

" A king, a minister, or a general, may he so
distinguished, that all the transactions of the age
in. which he lived may, without impropriety, ~be
considered in reference to him : but, generally!.
speaking., the,object of biography is to furnish not
that which is, but that which is not to be found
inthe history of the times, and great public trans-
actions ought only to: be .meutioned. incidentally,
with just so much of detail as is necessary to pre-
vent confusion, and to preserve the thread of the
narrative unbroken. -

" But thou.rh we sec how the life of Mr. Tooke
ought to be written,-it is not our duty, nor indeed
do we possess the means to .supply tf-at desider7:-
tum in literature. We can only offer a few de-
tached remarks upon his history- and character,
which, probably though they will have no other
merit, will at least have that of itopqrtiality. Dur-
ing hiS life we were not exempt from those feel-
ings of hostility Which great and irreconcilable dif-
ference upon political questioOs; at an anxious and
difficult period, is calculated to excite; hut we
know oursel: es ill if we casino! now speak as calm,
ly and fairly of the philosopher and • politician of
Wimbledon, as if he had flourished in Rome or
Athens five and twenty centuries ago.
" lacoasidering his political career, the most
material circumstance; that wh ch it is most neces-
sary to keep steadily in view, in order to-form a
correct and candid estimate of his ,tllll.-acter is,
that he was, from- beginning to end, -a man la-
bouring onder.great perpetual, irremovable- civil
disabilities.„ He had been unfortunate (we say so
without fear of being misinterpreted) in his choice
of a profession; for-it is i real misfortune to a
man of an enterprising disposit ion, notus rebus agenl
dis, to become -a member- of an order in which
property,ald duty enjoin a sparing and partial-in-
terference with the concerns of the world, and in
which, if property and duty arc found too feeble
restraints, the law interposes, with a strong aria,
to curb profane activity and unprofessional exer-
tions. What a-man ought to du under such eir-
enmstances is obvious ; but Such is toe .wealiness
of human nature,what we ought to do is, ,we are
afraid, not what he is . always likely to do--cer-
tainly the very revers. of what Mr. Tooke did do.
In fact, his whole life seems to have been spent in
an unavailing and ungraceful struggle to extricate
himself from the restraints which his situation ill],
posed upon him. He was for ever beating
self against the bars of his cage; and such is the
power of his passion over reason, that neither the
exercise of his peuetr4ting and vigorous under-

3!--n4ing, nor the experience of constant failure.
weresalicient.to,prerent him • from wasting his
strength in an idle endeavour to pas's the magic
circle which law and custom had drawn around
him. Hence all his exertions wanted both dignity
and effect; and his extraordinary talents werepro-
ductive of little true glory to himself, and scarce-
ly of any benefit to the world.

fir
..tooke was born with an iron constitution
of body and mind; tie was endowed with. Fem.-
vering industry, armed with
,unshakeh courage,
and stunuiated by a restless ambition.
,These qua-

lities should carry their possessor very far in a
free coniitry.—Bn t the barrier, was insurmounta-
ble. Gifted With the talents of a great performer,
he was'compelled throughout to play inferior parts.
As a politician he was always below himself ;: al-
ways acting in subordination to .his equals, or on

a Ifvel with those whom nature and education had

placed' at an immeasurable distance beneath him.
He began his career.t4 an assistant in a. struggle,
from which the mock patriot Wilkes derived all the
glory, and all the adva9tage7; and he ehded it.by
dividing the credit, Of turbulent, unsuccessful., and
unpopular resistance to sound principles and law-
fui authority with MeArs, Hardy and Thelwall.
• He codld'not.be a lawyer, therefore he resisted the
law, and reviled those who administered it. He

could not be a statesnm, nay, not, even a devna-

gogue, and therefore hemag content to become a
factious partizan; a- low.lagitatcr, to insult those
whom he epuld not rival, and to: disturb
.a
cone-
try- in the t),xverintient of which he never could
have a share. Disappointment and envy had taken
possession of his whole soul, soured his :temper,
narrowed his viekvs, and perverted his jtDigment,
it was' his habit to speak evil of "dignities,'. to
assail by ridinde or invective all-those persons and
• things, which, by the common feeling of the rest
of the world, were marked out as objects of.reve?
:rence and admiration. He professed, indeed, to,
al mire the constitution of his country ; but it was
the constitution 25 it was said to exist at some re
mote and never-defined period, not. the
.constitu-
tion such as it now is, under which, accordinglo
him, every species of corruption and injustice had
grown up and nourished ; and he delighted to carp
at that beneficent system 'of law, to 'which, of all
men, living, he, was the most deeply indebted.-7-
The mild spirit and lenient administration of Eng-
lish- justiee, were never more clearly exemplified
than in the impunity of a man who was constantly
treading upon the very verge of crimes that aimed
at nothing less than the entire ruin of the state,
and WhoSe delightit was to insult the best feel-
ings of the country at a time of universal danger,
and irritation. The same temper of mind
rendered him unjust to almost every species of ex-
cellence in his contemporaries.—Aniong the oh,
jects of his
.particular and personal antipathy, are
to he numbered nearly all the great men of his age
and countcy. He hated. Dr. Johnson,. he hated
Mr. Burke, he hated Lord Mans he hated Mr.
.k'itt, he hated Mr. Vox, and he spoke of them with-
outany of that respect or forbearance which great
talents and hi(rh station., and. the esteem of tite
,
gre4 test part of the world generally extort from less
resolute, -or less acrimonious adversaries.

(Tobe concinued.)

MA7i.

ARRIVV:9-1 Cadiz, 1 MAW., LlTalifax and Quebec, 1 Dub-
I Waerford. Dir L—l Cadiz, 1 Lisbon, 2 Got..tenbilr;ll.,

THE SUN.

soLLA Quin nte.cfif. 1...‘Lt.,1NE Aunt:AT?

L O. D

TUESDAY, SETTEnBER 29, 1812.

This; morning we received Cadiz and Gibraltar
Papers. The contents of the former have been
generally anticipated by the last Lisbon Papers,
and by' the Dispatches from the Marquis of
NVELLINGTON, but-some of the details' which we
have extracted arc interesting. The French con-
tinue their retreat, and:are followed With great
vigour by.the Spaniards. The active and gallant
BALLAATEROS harasses them incessantly.

We have not received any further accounts
from ta:e•North, we are therefore unable either to
confirm or contradict the reports contained in the'
last French Papers. -

The Proclamation for the Dissolution of Par-
iiitnent will appear in the gazette of this evening.

WINDSOR, SEPT. 28.—Yesterday the PRINCESS
of WALES arrived at Atigusta7lodge, stopped..and
dined with her daughter, and at seven o'clOck set
off for Kensington.—This .morning the Princesses
CHARLOTTE of WALES, AUGUSTA, and. SOPHIA, I
took dieir usual morning ride.' in the Great .Park ;
they were accompanied b..- the Duke of CLAIIENCF., •
r. FITZ,CLARENCE, Lord WALSINGHAM, Lady
PACILET, General WYNYARD, Colonels TAYLOI,I •
and .4z.saanw.

Yesterday the Earl of LI vEnr 01, had an audience
theVEA::CE' REGENT, at Cariton-hoAse;
Sir GEGEGE WARRENDER, Bart. and Mr. Os 7
soli of Sir GEORGE O JUNE, it is said,
.are to bc., appointed Lords of the Admiralty, in
the room of Lord WALroLE and col. ROBINSON.

Dispatches were , yesterday received from Sir
SIDNEY SMITH and Sir EDWARD PELLEW. •

This day being Michaelmas-day the City-Hall
proceed to the choice of a Lord Mayor for the
year cn:nittg.
On Friday se' 'nnight, the Recorder of Limerick
prt:etied tro:ta thence to Newport, in the county
Tipneraq, where he arrested Anthony Burke,
iormeri, a Captain in the Army, on the in-
k :!'arttion of Ph iiip Brouthan, publican. The in-
which was sworn before the Recorder,
c!t,irg,2s -Mr. Burke with meeting at the inform-
's house, in that city, and submitting. to him
-A. Van for organising theinhabitants of Limerick,
the adjacent coo ties, for seditious purposes.

NAVAL NEWS.

DovER, SErT. 2k---Last night about 10 o'clock;
a light collier frinn Ilr.yOle was boarded off: this
port by a French lugger: p-rivateer, and taken ;
the master'and two -men made their escape in the
boat and landed here. lle,reports there were se-
veral mare light vessels in company, aril he thinks
more must have been taken. -

DE.iL, SEPT. 23.—Arrived his Majesty's ship'
indian, with a few f•iiips, from Halifax, last front
Portsmouth;, his Majesty's, cutter Gamhie, with
a convoy from Exmouth ; and •Rosamond and Mis-
sletoe, with a convoy from Portsmouth and Ply-
,
mouth, which sailed for the River.

TORBAY, SEPT. 27.—Arrived the Mar&lonian,
with the Inglis East Indianian, the former has
landed two French prisoners who made, their es-
cape aiew days ago from Dartmolli Prison; they
were taken in the Channelosith a boat belonging
to Paington, in this, bay.
A large fleet are now passing up Channel.

PoßTsmotrrii, SEPT. 28.—Arrived his M:?iesty's
ship Jasper, with a convoy Of iransports, from
Lisbon; his 111.ajesty.:. Frcvoyante from the
Mediterranean ; Niobe from off Cherhourgh ; N,e-
melt, SpiOre, Partriitge, and Sharpshooter, from a
cruize. •

Sailed his Majesty's ship Dexterous on a cruize.
The NarOissus, With the West. India fleet, re,
main wind-bound in VartnouthAtoads. •

LYMINGTON, SEPT. 26.-7—Ai-rived in our Roads
-the Narcissus frigate and Childers stoop of w:?..r from
Portsmouth, with convoys for tbc West Indies and
Bermuda, and remain with theilluros sloop of war ,
and her convoy for Newfoundland.

CORK, SEPT. -Majesty's sllip
Capt. FELLOWES, and Helena, Capt. MoNTaEss:,:.,
\yid'•the ships for the West Indies, Madeira, &c.
and his. MgOsty's sloop T,,1b0.t, Capt. SWAY ^ F.,
with the ships tor Lisbon,. &c. got under wcigh
yesterday morning, and by three o'clock in the
afternoon the whole of them were clear the
harbour. The Helena goes ,as tar as Darbadoes—
the Fuwn down to Jamaica.

. , .
The Stork shop of war, Capt. COULTERS, sailed
yesterday for Plymouth, to undergo the necessary
repairs.
, .

The Priizce Adolphus paclitt,, from Surinam,
Ranger, HEARD , from St. Domingo, and the Boyd,
ScorT, from New. Providence, are taken and
carried into Philadelphia. ,

DISTRIBITTION Or PRIZE MONEY .—The Royal,
Artillery, 2d and 34 Dragoon Guards, for the stor6, &c.
taken at Flushing, ou the 21st Oetoher, 'at the Sa►•oy-square.

NAVAL APPOINTMENTS.-Captain .1".• Eve!eigh
to be-Captain of the Lion, 74, at the Cape sf Good Hope, in-..
tended.to be Flag. Captain to:Admiral Tyl V, who goes out in
the Semirainis to relieve Admiral Sionford, as Commander-
i F.-Chief On. that station ; Captain -A A. Gordon to command
tiechorse Lieutenant W. B. Byland, to •be Flag-
()dicer to Admiral Cockburn; Lieutenant J. W. Purelie3,.to
the Parthian; Lieutenant BrMerick, to the • Iphigenia ;11"
'Lieutenant J. C. Wooitiongli; to the Afab ; Lieutenant It.
Helmer, to the Insolent.; Lieutenant C. Haw Has, to the
Cordelia; Lieutenant. E. Tarberville and J. F. La,;celles, to
the Mulgravi; Lieutenant J. Nixon, to the Peruhrolse ; Lieu-
tenant J. imrie, to the Boxer; :Lieutenant J. Eaton, to the
Beiver; Lieutenants H. King, N. Duff, and G..Pratt.(2)-, to
the Seaborne; Mr. Amyott, from the Saracen, to be
Purser of the Dover; Mr. G. Whitehead, to, he Purser
of the 'Dartmouth; Mr. E. Aldridge, to be Purser of
the Andromache; Mr. C. R. Palmer,-
.to be, Purser of the
Pegasus; Mr. M. Corney, to he Purser of the Delight; Mr.
J. H, Band, Purser of the Lynx,. to be in the Partrdge ; Mr.
R. Cotton, to be Purser of the Daedalus; Mr. D. Bradley, to
be Purser of the Bittern; Mr. W. H. Hamilton, to he Purser
of the Champion, in the room of Mr.. Bradley Mr. C. Davies,
to be Purser of the Bold; Mr. C,-Nos-Man; to be.Porser of
the'Beriundai Mr. W. Dyer, tb he 'Ptir:;er of 'the Pheasant
Mr. Gifford, to be-Purser of the Success; Mr. T. Neibe4, to:
be Purser of the Manly.

COVENT,-GARDEN.—The Tragedy of Othello was
represented last night at this Theatre. Mr.
YOUNG'S merits in the part of .the unhappy Moor
are already well knOwn. A Mr. ELRINCTON,
from the bpblin Stage, appeared in the'part of
/ago.. Its perforniance was by no means such as
to entitle him to much praise. He possesses a
tolerable-fighre, an expressive. conn.t.enance, and
a clear full-,toned voice, but his judgment
.is .not
upon a level - with his ,natural pretensions, He
was much too 'pompous in his utterance,
frequently was maimed by the practice termed
mouthing. :In characters of an inferior
may prove • useful, but in the knowledge,
subtlety, and other qualities requisite for so dif-.
ficult a part as /ago; he, was very deacient.----
A Miss COOKE, who has appeared in very .infe-
rior characters at Bath and cheltenhain, was last
night, the Desdenwpa. She is a very handzome.
young Lady, -and in her face strongly resembles
Mrs. 1-I,saTt.r.Y in her best days. lien form,
though not of hcroic.kind, is wellvfortned 1. her
voice is. clear and musical; her 'manner is simple
and elegant ; her performanct throughout was
unaffected, and very inteoSting. Indeed, it *as
one of the most pleasity: tiz-st appearances that we
ever witnessed. Mr. and Mrs,: C. li.!:TVIBLE, .we
understand, had the merit oldiic64,ering the to
lents Of thiS young Lady, and of recommending
her to the London Managers. An apology was
made on account of the indisposition of llifrzz
POWELL,' 'and the part of Emilia was allOtted to
Mrs. EGILRTON.

THEATRE.—Mr. TALBOT, whose talents
have not been called sufficiently into action during
the season, performed Young Wilding, in The Liar.).
at the Haymarket Theatre on Saturday last. ,
together he is the best representative of the part
that we have seen since the days of that admirable
performer PALIVIX;R: He was gentlemanly, lin,
morous, and spirited, and yet contrived to throw
Over. his performance something of a college for.,
mality suitable to the supposed pupil of Papillon,
in the study of Town Life. He was warmly and
deservedly applauded, and,so was 41ArtivotA.; who
was highly diverting in Papillon.