Star.
London, England, 1830-03-15 00:00:00

CATTLR AT 11

Beaus.. 1.1371 Calves ... .. ........ ...... .. 111
Sheep and Lamlw 17,020 i Pip .. ..... ........ ... ... .. 17b
Beef 54 66-to is 24 Veal ....... —Ss Od t• 6. 04
Mutton 4l 2d 46 Oil Poo* ..L. 44 Od de Od
Lamb
Nay (per WA), ASV 15s. to .C 5 Os.—Cluver, ES 10.. to 4*5 la
Straw, .Cll Si. to .12 tie.

NEWGATE AND LEADENII.II.I., Nlancii I.
There was a good supply of melt at 111. se mark t. to.day
Mutton was about the saute price at on 3 curds". reor and
Veal were a Rule dearer.
By the Carease.—Per pone of nag.
Beef
3latton Chl 4s ed Pork "a 101 ts od
COAL RICHANGIL Nampo iv
_There was a eery abowilast supply be* of Soneittland and
Newcastle Coals at Nudist 141 ships having arrived since
Filday last. Ti. Coal Isoboodo was folly aimed by snerehante,
Wpm siviestibeag so ir4uteb..NOL
Oast ifolleend Cede ...... • :Ilo• ed. 344 Od.
Oeber arse o ...A...ice o'. us 04.
&fp at

. .

r

. • _ -

764

asp.

I

aimMi

LITERATURE.

tH4)” 7: ...DEN lIAM, Ott MEMOIRS OF A MAN OF THE

WORLD.
HENRY COLBURN.
A CELEBRATED LAWYER.
Broughton is of ancient family (as every Scotchman
is), but he was a youne•er brother, and, I need hardly
add, as poor as a gentleman could well be. He was sent
at the age of seventeen to Edinburgh to he educated,
having been easily billeted on an aunt who resided in
the city. Our youth soon came to the knowledge of
the valuable talents with which he was gifted, and,
being of an ambitions spirit, he set himself diligently to
work them. In a few years, his industry, no less than
his merits, placed him at the head of the students. No
man has embraced a wider range of science than Brough-
ton : he is conversant with every subject, from the politics
of Europe to the cochineal insect ; and, to give eim his
due, no man with such various knowledge has acquired
:o deep a smattering in each as Broughton. The bulk
or his learning he acquired during his residence at the
northern university. Ile took the lead in tho philoso-
phical, political, and metaphysical debating clubs. He
:let up periodicals, and of course wrote the best articles
in them. In short, the dons of the Caledonian Alma
Mater prophesied that George Broughton would become
a great man. But our hero, as might be supposed, soon
began to feel dissatisfied with this obscure celebrity, and
to look out for opportunities of accomplishing a more ex-
tended fame. The public mind was at -that time much
intent upon politics, several interesting questions in which
had been set afloat. Broughton, who was well prepared
for intellectual service of any kind, seized hold of one of
these, and wrote a book upon it. When he had finished
this pamphlet, he put it in his pocket, and came to Lon
don. P— was then in office ; and our friend had pru-
dently taken the Tory side of the question,—so he wrap-
ped up the pamphlet and forwarded it to the minister.
His sagacity, no doubt, enabled him to perceive at a
vlance that the author was a clever man, and as P
always liked to hare as many as possible of these at
command, he relieved the youne- adventurer from
his suspense, by desiring his attendance in Downing-
street at a certain day and hour. " I beg pardon for in-
terrupting you," said I; " but how old was Broughton
at this time ?" " Let me see—between three and four
and twenty. He had been seven years at Edinburgh
when he quitted it." Well, the result of his interview
with P— was an employment to write for government,
with the hope held out, though ambiguously, as ministers
are wont to intimate their promises of future promotion.
I am told that Broughton's impatient ambition and high
opinion of himself had led him to nonrish expectations
that his patron would have immediately brought him into
the House; but, be this as it may, he of course found
arguments to reconcile him to the postponement of this
eTanil step, and, satisfied that he was getting on as well
a.> lie could reasonably have hoped, he undertook with ala-
crity the service to which he had beeu appointed. He wrote
more pamphlets, indited articles for the ministerial jour-
nals, and other government periodicals, and wielded his
pen with much credit. After having continued in this
routine for nearly two years, be began to lack advance-
ment, and hinted as much to the head of affairs. But it
did not suit the chief to understand this suggestion, find-
ing, I suppose, our youth more useful in his present situa-
tion than ho could be in the higher department of his
service, which happened to be very satisfactorily filled.
Broughton said no more, but wrote on a little longer,
tinling„ as lie thought, a security against the ingratitude
of the minister in the private communications which that
personage had, from time to time, afforded him as the
materials of his labour. Accordingly, after an interval,
he signified his wishes to P— in plainer terms; and to
his surprise, indignation, and disappointment, he found
the premier's manner grown proportionably more frigid.
This indication was the more alarming, inasmuch as
strong and well-authenticated rumours had lately gone
abroad respecting the insecurity of the administration.
Broughton hastened (as I am credibly infornied) to
Downing-street, saw his patron, and discarding peri-
phrasis, asked him point blank, whether and when he in-
tended bringing him into parliament ? P— haughtily
and contemptuously replied, that he had no such mea-
sure in contemplation. Broughton remonstrated, but to
no purpose—then complained bitterly of his ill-usage,
but made no Impression. As a last resource, he reminded
P— that he was in his power, but the minister laughed
him and his menaces to scorn, and our adventurer quitted
the house, as a novelist would say, in a rage of conflict-
ing emotions. Seriously, it was vexatious to be deprived
of his recompense, after the long period of probation
which he had sustained, and to be dismissed with no other
reward than the pecuniary remuneration which lie had
received for his actual services. His first impulse was
to put his threats into execution, and to betray such of
the state secrets as he possessed. But that instinctive
caution and prudence which a Scotchman imbibes with his
mother's milk did not fail our adventurer at this crisis ,which
wes one of those trials of practical wisdom which every
man comes to more or less frequently in the course of his
life. He considered earnestly the state of parties, with
the view to ascertain which was likely to be permanently
uppermost, and the determination of attaching himself to
that. We were theta very much in the situation that we
are at present with respect to the probability of coming in,
and were sanguine of success. The tory minister had
had a long and uninterrupted spell of office; and, though
not superannuated, was worn out with care, and sadly
afflicted by the recent failure and consequent unpopula-
rity of measures, to which he had committed himself too
far to recede at his time of day. It was known that he
could not last much longer; and he was supposed to be
the great centre-stone which held together the Tory'
strong-hold, mouldered by age, and the batteries of Whig
wit and eloquence. On us the capricious sun of popular
favour, which had long shone upon. the other side of the
house, now began to smile, and the sun of Toryism was
said to have set for ever. Broughton was one of the
many who were persuaded thatWhiggism was the order of
the day; and he therefore determined to lose no time
in declaring his adhesion to our party. An elaborate pam-
phlet on the state of the nation was, the mode which he
selected of announcing his new opinions.. We know the
value of the man, and had long wished to possess him.
His past errors were forgotten, and Chepstow brought
him into Parliament. ' No elan is, I am sure, so tho-
roughly acquainted with Broughto'n't character as myself,
for it has been under my eye ever* since he joined our
party. His talents, thouglftery high, are not first-rate,
and 1 may state them as,Olonsinf to that • order which.,
approaches the nearest to genius, and just falls short of
it. He himself is' aware of tote. extent of hie abilities,
and he is galled bitterly by the conviction that there exist
many men equally gifted with, and. some Mors
.largety
than himself; for examples of the:Scini4V;' Besumaris,
Wriotheeley, aid, Paling Log. 04:tatter; Anitruther,
and singleton. Accordingly, he endeavours to make
up for his deficiency in genius, by the reputation of
universal knowledge, both in arts and sciences.
He lately gave a young painter two hundred pounds
far one of his works, and made all his friends sub-

scribe for a statuary, of whose genius he spoke in high
terms, although he is himself perfectly ignorant of both
painting and sculpture. His object was to gain the credit
of being a connoisseur and patron of the arts. In short,
George Broughton is the most completely ambitious per-
son I ever knew. He is equally possessed with the two
kinds of ambitions, that of power, arid that of praise. To

the one is to be referred the frequent and indi6criminating
use which he makes of his sarcastic powers; for .the dread

in which they are held, and the_manifest effects which

they frequently produce in the subjects upon whom they
are exercised, are most gratifying to his vanity. His
ridicule and satire have fixed several speakers in eternal
silence : these are the triumphs to which he reverts with
the greatest satisfaction. On tho other hand, his ardent
_

desire for power causes him to bear very patiently his
exclusion from office. Broughton is not naturally a
malevolent or selfish man ; he never wantonly shows

those qualities, and it is only toward his rivals that they
ever seem to be displayed. His desire of fame is that of
a passionate lover who cannot see his mistress barely civil
to others without being transported with jealousy and
hatred toward those who are favoured by her smiles.
He will not even suffer, if he can prevent it, to ho ap-
proached by those whose accomplishments are likely to
find favour in her eyes.