Most of the mobility as well as the nobility of the realm, and a large majority of both houses of parliament, being decidedly in favour of the minister, he carried every thing before him with a high hand, ruled for years with a rod of iron, and his little finger became heavier than the loins of any of his predecessors since the revolution. A spirit was then by him awakened and set to work, which had lain fast asleep ever since the days of the Stuarts, and Lynn partook of it in no small measure. The friends of peace and constitutional freedom, were here looked upon and treated as ill-disposed persons, and unworthy characters, scarcely entitled to the common rights of citizens, or the lowest offices of humanity. Such were some of the rare blessings we derived from the administration of the last Pitt, who was at the same time hailed by multitudes as a heaven born minister, the saviour of his country, and the wisest and greatest of statesmen. Nothing more clearly evinces the utter dissimilarity between his character and that of his renowned father, than the insatiate vindictiveness of his disposition towards those who opposed his measures; {974} of which there have been many very glaring, and numerous instances. His reign terror was long and grievous. It lasted during nearly the whole length of the late war. His successor, Addington held the reins with a gentler hand, whatever may be said of his ministerial talents or capacity. He also restored to us the inestimable blessing of peace, which Pitt seemed incapable of effecting. That peace however, proved of but short duration, which yet might not be the fault of the minister. We were not, it seems, sufficiently humbled, or really tired of the horrid game of war, bloodshed and devastation: and so, without taking time to breathe, we rushed headlong into a new war, which has already lasted eight or nine years, and is likely to prove the longest and most disastrous of any we have been engaged in for many ages. God only knows when or how it will terminate.