This pertinacity, however, so far, gave way at length, that he accepted from ministers a judicial situation in one of the remote dependencies of the empire, where he resided for several years. His acceptance of this office was considered by his party as tergiversation, and he was reproached by them accordingly. One example of this reproach is commemorated as having been made by a very distinguished friend of opposition, on the occasion of the trial of O’Connor and his friends at Maidstone. It is too well known to require repetition. At length he returned to his native country, and great were the political changes which had occurred in the interval of his absence. What did he do? It might have been supposed that government possessed some claims upon his gratitude; it might have been presumed, that having witnessed the follies and the pernicious effects of the revolutionary principles he had once advocated, he would shrink from the peril of being even the suspected partisan of a power which had been exercised to the destruction of every thing, which by the wise and the good was contemplated with the strongest attachment and sincerest veneration. He nevertheless went back to the Magi, by whom he had formerly been deluded, and was quickly initiated in all the greater and lesser ceremonies of the Gallic Eleusis, Madame de S. being the high-priestess. It was, however, reported of him, that even in the midst of his wanderings in the labyrinths of politics, he not only meditated, but actually commenced, a great and arduous historical labour, to which his talents were fully adequate, and which promised to place his name on a pedestal, far more lofty and substantial too, than any fabrick which could possibly be raised by a subtle, ingenious, but powerless minority. On the subject of this gentleman, with the exception of a few scattered notices, nothing more of importance appears in our Recollections. There is reason to apprehend, that at this period, the Sexagenarian retired from the world, and totally lost sight of his former associates. Eam laudem hic ducit maximam, cum illis placet Qui vobis universis et populo placent, Quorum operæ in bello, in otio, in negocio Suo quisque tempore usus est sine superbia. CHAPTER XXI. Another individual of the society was a Member of Parliament, of elegant connections, elegant manners, and elegant accomplishments. He had travelled a great deal, and was familiarly acquainted with most European languages, but he more particularly directed his attention to the literature of his own country. In this he was pre-eminently skilled, and has transmitted proofs of his knowledge and taste in this way, which will probably endure as long as the language. His society was peculiarly agreeable; he had seen a great deal of the world, was acutely observant, had much to communicate, which he always was prompt to do, and which he always did with vivacity, eloquence, and a considerable degree of _dry_ humour.