proper to communicate the heads of this scheme to the king; upon which his majesty made the following remarks, in a letter to Mr Pitt:

I have received Mr Pitt's paper, containing the heads of his plan, for a parliamentary reform, which I look on as a mark of attention. I should have delayed acknowledging the receipt of it till I saw him on Monday, had not his letter expressed, that there is but one issue of the business he could look upon as fatal, that is, the possibility of the measure being rejected, by the weight of those who are supposed to be connected with government. Mr Pitt must recollect, that though I have ever thought it unfortunate, that he had early engaged himself in this measure, yet that I have ever said, that as he was clear of the propriety of the measure, he ought to lay his thoughts before the house; that out of personal regard to him, I would avoid giving any opinion to any one, on the opening of the door to parliamentary reform, except to him; therefore, I am certain, Mr Pitt cannot suspect my having influenced any one on the occasion. If others choose, for base ends, to impute such a conduct to me, I must bear it as former false suggestions. Indeed, on a question of such magnitude, I should think very ill of any man, who took a part on either side, without the maturest consideration, and who would suffer his civility to any one, to make him vote contrary to his own opinion. The conduct of some of Mr Pitt's most intimate friends on the Westminster scrutiny, shews, there are questions, men will not, by friendship, be biassed to adopt.'

We are astonished at this day to learn, that Mr Pitt was at any period of his life a reformer, and this appears the more remarkable, as he, Mr Fox, Mr Burke, Mr Sheridan, and many other distinguished men came into parliament, and several of them there continued, for rotten boroughs. But Mr Pitt, early in the French revolution, opposed the very propositions which he himself had once made, upon the plea, that the feelings and circumstances of the people being greatly changed, any the least innovation, might lead to those disasters and disorders, by which a neighboring kingdom had been overtak

The same dread of innovation was then expressed ;-all united in calling the constitution glorious and venerable, all acknowledged its blemishes and defects, all expressed their gratitude and thankfulness for the freedom, security, prosperity, and happiness, which it had bestowed; but it demanded an eye and a hand, endowed and gifted with a skill and courage more than human, to restore and strengthen it.

We shall take advantage of this subject to present a statement of the house of commons in 1812, to which we are in

We observe by the last London list of books that the third volume of Dr Tomline's work is announced for publication. We shall therefore defer to another opportunity those subjects, which we have not been able to touch upon in this present article. We hope that we shall then have it in our power to present to our readers much information concerning the domestic and private life of Mr Pitt, the want of which, we believe, every one now feels.

We shall finish this article with a few remarks, which the reading of this work has suggested to us. There are several peculiarities in the British house of commons, that procure vast facilities and advantages to individuals endowed with great talents. The first peculiarity is, that the discussion is confined exclusively to half a score of members, for during the great debates, to which we have referred in this article, seldom more than that number took a part. It is true that occasionally there starts up, in these debates, a new member,

who makes what the reporters call a maiden speech, which is heard with great attention, reported with great care, and then, in all probability, the name and the voice are forever lost amidst the din and the shouts of the chiefs of the epic. In these maiden speeches we have observed that the most fatal symptoms are well set, and well prepared sentences and periods, certain moral truisms, and frequent references to the Greeks and the Romans. Such symptoms are commonly mortal. We quote the following as a specimen :

Mr Drake began ex abrupto-" This, Mr Speaker, is another picture of that abominable system of procrastination. The Roman patriots, sir, used to promote the welfare of their country; but, sir, the patriots of this day endeavor to oppose it." Here Mr Drake's memory failed him, and he was obliged to sit down.'

But unless those members speak with promise, they are heard a second time with great indifference, and finally scraped and groaned down, if the less positive expression of the feeling of the house, by one half the members going into the coffee rooms, and the other half going to sleep, is not accompanied by a prompt obedience. Respect is also had to the personal character of the member or of the powerful counties he may represent; but the members are prone to take advantage of the neighboring coffee rooms, and without speaking again of the instance of Mr Hartley and of many worthy and honorable baronets, we have seen it recorded, that Mr Burke, rising to speak and seeing many members leaving their seats, thought proper to resume his own. Whatever advantages may attend the practice of allowing the commons to select their own orator, it has the air of great rudeness; and we are able to account for its origin in no other way, than by supposing that it was first exercised under some of the arbitrary sovereigns to still those who were obnoxious to their censure. No such custom existed during the commonwealth, and as many members spoke then as now speak in our congress.

A great deal also may be learned from the constitution of the house. Many members are sent there merely to vote, who would probably greatly displease their patrons, if they should attempt to speak. Many others who spend great sums to obtain seats have no constituents, and an M. P. is only serviceable to such persons for the purpose of franking letters, of adding a little to their distinction and dignity in drawing rooms and at dinner parties, and as being one proof, besides the right to carry

a gun, that a man is a gentleman. And after all, this is one of the least expensive modes, which an Englishman adopts to prove his claims to that condition. Men seldom go to parliament for the mere purpose of speaking for their constituents, inasmuch as the members of the house of commons have constituents in a more enlarged sense than the members of the American congress, because from the circumstances of our country, there is a much greater variety of interests in it, requiring more specific representation. It often happens, however, that instructions are sent in relation to certain priviliges and customs, by virtue of which members of the house of commons are forced to speak; as was most particularly the case in relation to the slave trade. There is, notwithstanding, as we observed above, a class of members whose sole object is the honor and dignity of a seat in parliament. They care little in what way they get there; and being there, have no particular constituents, whose interests they are called to defend. They have not, as with us, each thirty five thousand constituents, who can reward them with their approbation and often with state offices, whereby such weight is acquired at home, that the national government is forced to extend its patronage to them:-by which circuitous process many a member of congress, who would be immediately defeated on the floor of the house in any attempt to gain influence by taking an active part in the debates, is still enabled by means of long speeches painfully composed and delivered, and diligently printed and distributed through the post office,—to acquire or sustain that popularity among his constituents, which shall send him up to the executive government, clothed in all the importance of a powerful local interest.

Another peculiarity of the English house of commons is, that a division takes place every night; and though such a subject as the Missouri question might be renewed for twenty nights successively, in committee on the state of the nation, yet there is always a certain degree of variety, freshness, and animation, produced by a knowledge, that a decision is about to take place. This peculiarity is a consequence of that which we have mentioned. The third peculiarity is, and it is one which will always make greater orators than we are likely to have in this country, because they will always have more experience, that men of great promise and ambition can enter the house of commons at the age of twenty one;

an age at which an individual seldom can enter even a state legislature in this country. Fox was chosen to the house before he was twenty, Pitt before he was twenty two.

Again, parliament is a profession, and a man becomes as skilful and as much attached to it, as to that vocation by which he earns his bread. The distinguished men in the house of commons remain there twenty and thirty years, and many of them as long as they live. The consequence of this is, that they not only become greater men themselves, but learn to do the business of the nation with greater despatch. We believe that the members from Virginia and South Carolina remain in congress longer than those from the New England states, where an opposite policy, either arising from the caprice of the people, or the circumstances of the candidate, prevails to a fatal degree. We may also observe, that all the distinguished English statesmen from the time of Queen Anne, appear to have been accomplished scholars, and particularly well versed in the Latin language. This was especially the case with the Pitts, father and son, though the practice of quoting Latin in parliament is much diminished, and we have seen it stated by a person of great experience in those matters, that Mr Pitt did not make more than a dozen citations from the classics, in the whole course of his ministry.

ART. XI.-Report upon Weights and Measures. By John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State of the United States. Prepared in obedience to a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of March 1817. 8vo. pp. 245. Washington.

To one who has never had occasion to turn his attention to the history and philosophy of weights and measures, it may appear surprising that the subject should have called for all the learning, and research, and wisdom, displayed in this work. Though foreign to the ordinary duties of a statesman, the senate of the United States seem to have been fully aware of the importance and difficulty of the question before them, and of the qualifications for treating it of the distinguished individual to whom they referred it; and we deem it matter of great congratulation, that congress have, by their prudence and caution, hitherto escaped the evils into which other gov