Early in the year 1809 issued from the press a work, in two volumes, 8vo. entitled, “Characters of the late Charles James Fox, by Philopatris Varvicensis.” This was soon recognised as the production of Dr. Parr. Though it bore a strange and repulsive appearance; yet they, who had the resolution to search into its contents, soon found that it possessed intrinsic worth, sufficient to claim for it more attention than, from the form in which it was presented to the public, it could hope to obtain. It proved to be the last of Dr. Parr’s publications; and he often reflected upon it with pleasure, as consecrated to the memory of a friend and a patriot, whom most of all he loved and revered. Those who felt disappointed at not receiving from the pen of Dr. Parr “the Life of Mr. Fox,” which public rumour had promised, were yet pleased to witness the honours here rendered, upon a less extended scale, by the first scholar, to the first statesman of his age.
Of the two volumes, of which some account
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 35 |
Next to the characters, taken from the diurnal and weekly journals, others,
more carefully composed, are selected from magazines, reviews, pamphlets, sermons,
speeches, and poems. Among all these, the praise is due to the Universal Magazine of having preserved in its pages, perhaps,
the best detailed account hitherto given of Mr. Fox;
and it may surely be regretted that no able pen has yet been employed to record, in an
extended biographical memoir, the great principles which formed his political system, and
the noble and amiable qualities which distinguished his public and private character. The
time is now distant enough to admit of weighing, in the balance of impartial consideration,
all the transactions of his important and eventful life; and by longer delay
| 36 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
Three solemn and affecting testimonies are next inserted, borne to the merits of the departed statesman, in public discourses, delivered to their respective congregations, on the Sunday succeeding his funeral, by Mr. Aspland, Mr. Belsham, and Dr. Symmons: of which, the first is fervid and animated; the second, dignified and energetic; and the third is a fine burst of grief, from a heart filled with veneration and gratitude, pouring its sorrows, in strains of touching pathos, over the grave of the friend and benefactor of his country and the world. These are followed, among other articles, by a splendid eulogy, ascribed to Sir James Mackintosh, and by two sketches of character, drawn with uncommon ability and spirit; the one by Mr. Godwin, the other by the Rev. Robert Fellowes.
Though it was a matter of general surprise that Dr. Parr should stoop to the humble task of compiling articles from newspapers, magazines, and other productions of the day; yet there are few persons who will not be glad to reap the fruit of his labours, in the possession of these “selected characters:” nor is it improbable that, thus preserved, they may prove not uninteresting to a distant posterity, by the views which they exhibit of the merits or demerits of an illustrious statesman, as estimated by some of his intelligent contemporaries.
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 37 |
The first volume closes with a delineation of Mr. Fox’s character, by the Editor himself, conveyed in the form of a letter, addressed to Thomas William Coke, Esq. It is a grand portrait of a glorious character, drawn with much discrimination of judgment, wrought up with powerful effect, and adorned with splendid colouring, by the hand of a master. Who can help wishing that this admirable sketch had been so filled up as to form “a life” of the orator and the statesman, who possessed indeed various and almost unrivalled excellencies; but whose proudest title, in his own estimation, was “the Man of the People?”1
Having traced, in bold outline, the great character intended to be represented, Dr. Parr enters into a detail, somewhat minute, of Mr. Fox’s attainments as a scholar, his talents as a speaker, his merits as a statesman, his conversational powers, his private pursuits, his moral qualities, and his social habits.
The detail begins with the employment of his retired hours. Among these were, poetical and prose composition; of which the former has ever been admired for the easy flow of its numbers, and the varied tints of its expression; and the latter for its perspicuity, its purity, its simplicity and elegance.2 Mr. Fox studied much, and with ever
1 “Animus vere popularis saluti populi consulens.”—Cic. 2 Mr. Prior, in his Life of Mr. Burke, vol. ii. p. 27, relates that “Dr. Parr, though so staunch a friend of the man of the people, expressed himself slightingly of the taste and literary merit displayed in Mr. Fox’s ‘Letter to the Electors of Westminster:’ observing, that there are passages in it at which Addison would |
| 38 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
His reading in metaphysical books was confined and desultory: yet he possessed many of the greatest advantages, which metaphysical studies are supposed to bestow on the operations of the human understanding. His habit of taking large and comprehensive views, and of looking at every subject on every side, enabled him to find the shortest way to the stronger probabilities, and the more important results; and his good sense led him to acquiesce in them when found.
He studied law; for he was not so absurd as to imagine that this study is wholly separate from that of politics. He distinguished, however, between the duties of a legislative assembly and a court of judicature; and he thought that lawyers do not often make good senators, and still less
have smiled, and Johnson would have growled.” This account is opposed to all that the writer ever heard, and he has heard much, on the subject, from Dr. Parr, who often spoke with admiration of that “Letter,” expatiating, sometimes almost rapturously, on the “matchless felicities of its simple style”—“so perspicuous, that the most ignorant might understand it; and so pure and energetic, that the most accomplished scholar must be delighted with it.” He thought it in many respects superior to the style of Mr. Fox’s historical work. |
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 39 |
In the social circle, it is allowed that Mr. Fox was often silent, though never contemptuous; often reserved, but never morose. At times, however, he took his full share in the liveliest or in the gravest discussions; and then he could trifle without loss of dignity, or dispute without loss of temper. Whenever, in short, by the importance of the subject, or by the cheerfulness of his spirit, he was induced to talk, his conversation was not unworthy of his general fame.1
Of his habits in private life, it is said, such was the superiority of his mind to simulation and dissimulation, such the exemption of his temper and manners from petty conceit and wayward singularity, that they who approached him oftenest esteemed him most. Their admiration was excited, when they observed that he, who was eminent in great things, had the power without effort, and without art, to please friends, strangers, and domestics, upon all those little occasions, on which other men are rarely found to unite simplicity with propriety, and to preserve dignity without indulging self-importance.2
Speaking of the moral qualities, which distin-
1 Page 185. 2 Page 579. |
| 40 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
Something is said by Dr. Parr, though obscurely said,2 about Mr. Fox’s religious opinions: the amount of which, however, seems to be what follows. He had not much considered the evidences of Christianity, and had not attained to a clear and decided conviction of its heavenly origin; yet he held in the highest reverence its leading doctrines, and its moral precepts: but could find no sufficient reasons for admitting some other doctrines as part of it,3 which many wise and good men have believed to be so. It seems, indeed,
1 Page 190. 2 Page 219. 3 During the period of the great controversy between Dr. Horsley and Dr. Priestley, the subject being mentioned to Mr. Fox, he observed, in the hearing of a friend of the writer, that he was certainly no reader of theological books; that he understood little of the state of the argument between the two mighty disputants; but that his mind had sometimes glanced towards the main question, which the one affirmed and the other denied; and that as far as such a glance might entitle |
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 41 |
As a British senator, he had deeply explored the essential and characteristic properties of a mixed government; and upon balancing their comparative conveniences and inconveniences, he avowedly preferred them to the more simple form. Yet he was aware that, sometimes from the slow, and sometimes from the sudden operation of external circumstances, liberty may degenerate into licentiousness, and loyalty into servility; and from
him to speak, it did appear to him that all the appearances of reason, and all the probabilities of truth were on the side, not of the hierarch, but of the heresiarch. 1 When some gentleman expressed to Dr. Parr his surprise at having heard Mr. Fox say “he should be a Christian, even if the divine authority of Christianity could not be proved;”—“because,” said that gentleman, “I supposed that Mr. Fox knew little, and thought little about religion at all”—“Oh!” replied Dr. Parr with warmth, “do you think that in such a mind religion did not hold a seat, though the waves of the world rolled over it?” |
| 42 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
His claims to the glorious title of the “People’s Friend” are thus set forth:—
“Ready he was, not to irritate or delude, but to protect those fellow-subjects who are doomed to toil and die without the cheering hope of distinction. Ready he was to procure for them the attentions and aids which substantial justice would grant without reluctance, and sound policy proffer without solicitation, to their wants, their numbers, their rights from nature, and their usefulness to society. Ready he was to put their reason, their gratitude, their self-interest on the side of government, by securing for them mild and equitable treatment; and thus to soothe the galling and dismal feelings, which lurk and throb within the heart of man, from the consciousness of neglected indigence, of slighted merit, and of weakness alarmed by insult bordering upon oppression.”2
As an orator, his distinguished quality is stated to be simple and native grandeur. In the opening of his speeches, it is allowed, he was sometimes tame and uninteresting; but, as he advanced, he never failed to summon up growing strength with the growing importance of the subject. The luminousness and regularity of his premeditated speeches are acknowledged by all; and if there was an apparent neglect of method in his extemporaneous effusions, it should be remembered that, in arrangement as well as expression, genius may
1 Page 217. 2 Page 203. |
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 43 |
As a minister, it was not till the decline of life, that a short and scanty opportunity was granted him of unfolding his views, and of reducing his great principles into action: but he remained long enough in office to exhibit a mind, stored with a perfect knowledge of the complicated relations in which the British empire stood to foreign powers. Even in the few measures which he proposed, and in the spirit which he inspired both at home and abroad, he manifested the extraordinary superiority of his practical abilities; and if he had been permitted to live and to accomplish the wise and salutary plans which he had formed, what happy consequences might have been expected, instead of the multiplied and aggravated calamities that followed!2
Concerning that great and amazing event of his time, the French revolution, Mr. Fox thought that, by a wise forbearance, early adopted and steadily maintained on the part of the European states, or by a most considerate and cautious interference, if any just occasion for it offered, the licentious uproar of popular frenzy might have been hushed in the beginning of the contest—the savage triumphs of sanguinary upstarts might have been prevented—the awakened spirit of reform and improvement might have proceeded wisely and happily in its course—the constitution of
1 Pages 225. 229. 2 Page 304. |
| 44 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
Adverting to one of the most extraordinary publications of Mr. Burke, his “Letter to the Duke of Portland,” Dr. Parr enters into a refutation of the amazing charges there exhibited against Mr. Fox, amounting some of them to no less than sedition, disloyalty, and “almost to treason.” But can such charges need refutation?—charges, opposed to all probability, and destitute of all evidence—charges, never believed in any one serious moment by any one sane person—not even by the accuser himself, except when by rage deprived of reason.2
After having directed his attention more particularly to Mr. Burke, and remarked with some severity, though with much truth and fairness, on the line of conduct which he pursued during the period of the French revolution, Dr. Parr returns once more to his great subject—dwells with fond lingerings of delight on the measures of Mr. Fox’s short administration, abruptly terminated by death—touches lightly and pathetically on the grief of his friends and the sorrows of his country, upon the saddening occasion—and closes with describing the last mournful honours of his funeral; which, though private, was yet impressively and solemnly grand.3
The series of slight details given in the few preceding pages, may serve to place before the reader,
|
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 45 |
Turning from the first to the second, and by much the larger volume of this work, comprising five hundred pages closely printed in small letter, the reader will be surprised to find that it consists wholly of notes, and of notes upon notes, together with additional notes, and additions to notes.
Of these, the first which arrests attention, by its length and its importance, might be termed a disquisition on the state of the criminal laws in England. It occupies more than two hundred pages, and well deserved to have been given to the public as a separate treatise. It is to be lamented that an intention, which Dr. Parr had signified, of publishing it in that form, with English translations of all the passages quoted from other languages, was frustrated by his death. In that form, no doubt, it would be well received by the public; especially at a time when the spirit of inquiry is laudably directed to objects of such supreme importance, as the penal code and the due administration of justice.
It is impossible that the present writer, within
1 Page 299. |
| 46 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
His great object, then, is to propose a complete reform of the penal code; to be effected not by a repeal of one statute after another, but by a revision of the whole. For this great purpose, it is proposed that a committee of both Houses should be appointed, to continue from year to year; consisting not of professional men only, but of other persons also, whose experience in the affairs of life is large and various, and whose minds are richly stored with that knowledge, which is supplied by the science of ethics, and the history of ancient and modern legislation.
The proposed reform is to be conducted upon the following principles:—that crimes and penalties should be more equitably proportioned; that some of the milder punishments should be softened, and others increased; that transportation, imprisonment, and hard labour, should be substituted for death, in all cases, except those of the highest offences; and that the whole code, thus reformed, should be arranged in some regular systematic order, and expressed in language, clear, precise, and intelligible to all.
It is conceived that punishments ought invariably to follow conviction of
crimes; and that the
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 47 |
Treason, premeditated murder, barbarous assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, robbery and burglary attended with personal violence and cruelty, and, perhaps, one or two others, are the only crimes to be punishable with death; and most solemn and most weighty are the arguments, drawn from considerations of policy, of humanity, of equity, and of religion, which are here powerfully enforced, to show the inexpediency, the inefficacy, the cruelty, and the iniquity of shedding human blood in any case, but that of the most heinous and most dangerous offences.
Public executions, under this projected code, being extremely rare, will be, for that reason, the more awfully impressive; and to increase the effect, they ought to be conducted with the utmost publicity, with the greatest order and solemnity, in the presence of magistrates; and they should generally take place as near as may be to the spot where the crime was committed.
In cases of murder, that part of the law which
| 48 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
Against the opinion of Dr. Paley, who denies the popular maxim—“it is better for ten guilty men to escape, than for one innocent man to suffer:” a strong protest, supported by strong reasons, is here entered. In such a case, death to the innocent sufferer is to be considered, says Dr. Paley, as a misfortune, which he ought to bear resignedly; but Dr. Parr more justly terms it a dreadful wrong, of which he and every one else ought to complain loudly. For, it is most fallacious to contend, that the whole question lies between the individual and the community; since when one innocent man suffers, all others are endangered; or at least disturbed in that sense of personal security, which is the greatest blessing the social state has to offer.
In cases of crimes to which discretionary punishment is annexed, it is proposed, that the measure of it should be determined by the jury, and not by the judge. For surely the law, it is remarked, may be so well explained by the court, and so well understood by the jury, as to qualify them for apportioning the punishment, when they have pronounced the verdict.
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 49 |
It is absolutely necessary, to the due administration of justice, as here strongly asserted, that a place of refuge, and the means of employment should in all cases be found for criminals, set at liberty; and of course sent back to society, stamped with that ignominy, which excludes them from all honest occupation. Without some provision of that kind, is it possible that criminals should be withheld from repeating the same offence, or committing others in succession, without end? Necessity is above all law, and mocks at all dangers.
Great stress is here laid upon the importance of a vigilant and active police; and above all, upon the due promulgation of laws. Statutes, recently enacted, it is proposed, should be read by every minister to his congregation, at the end of every parliamentary session; and a judicious abridgment of the whole code should, at certain times, be printed; and copies placed for public reading, or individual perusal, in all churches and chapels. Religious discourses, adapted to the occasion, should always accompany the public recitation of the laws.
Such is a slight and imperfect analysis of an admirable disquisition, on
one of the most important subjects, that can engage the attention of moral and social
beings. In the course of it, Dr. Parr not only
delivers his own opinion, but constantly appeals to the authority of several great
names—names in this connexion, so truly endeared to every lover of mankind—Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, Beccaria, Voltaire, Eden,
Dagge,
| 50 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
With the labours of these distinguished men, in a cause, above all others, sacred to justice and humanity, Dr. Parr has thus associated his own; and has united the sanction of his name, and the force of his reasoning, with theirs, in recommending, instead of a severe and sanguinary code, the infinitely preferable system of mild and lenient government, of which the advantages are summed up by himself, with impressive effect, in the following beautiful passage:—
“Oh, my friend! this celestial virtue—lenity in the exercise of judicial power—brings with it blessings innumerable and inestimable. It soothes the unquiet, and charms the benevolent. It is welcomed as an appeal to the good sense and the gratitude of mankind, rather than their fears. It calls forth our admiration, reverence and affection; and binds our judgment and our hearts to the seat of justice, and to the throne of majesty. It is ascribed to conscious integrity, reposing on its own substantial worth, and to conscious strength, disdaining alike to seek and to accept any foreign succour.”1
Amidst a vast variety of notes, consisting of quotations from ancient and modern authors, besides the lengthened note on the penal laws, a second, nearly as long, occurs, extending through one hundred and eighty pages, of which the subject is, a review of Mr. Fox’s unfinished work, entitled “History of the early part of the Reign of
1 Page 386. |
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 51 |
A large part of this second long note is occupied with remarks, in reply to
the animadversions of the British Critic on
the principles and conduct of Mr. Fox, as well as on
his historical work: some of which, however, are quite unworthy of
| 52 | MEMOIRS OF THE |
In order to complete the view of Dr. Parr’s literary labours, given in these pages, the titles of two other publications, in which he was concerned, are here subjoined.
The first is a reprint of five metaphysical tracts.—1. “A Demonstration of the impossibility of an External World,” by Arthur Collier.—2. “A Discourse on Gen. i. 1,” by the same.—.3. “Man in search of himself,” by Abraham Tucker.—4. “Conjecturæ de sensu, motu, et idearum generalione,” Dav. Hartley auctore.—5. “Enquiry on the origin of the Human Appetites and Affections.”
These treatises were printed more than twenty years ago; and it was Dr. Parr’s intention to publish them, with a preface, as he thus announces to his friend, Mr. Roscoe: “With all the difficulties which impede me, in throwing my thoughts on paper, I shall venture to sit down and write a preface to some metaphysical tracts, which I have reprinted, and which are likely to be not uninteresting to such readers as yourself.” This intention, however, was never fulfilled; and the whole impression still remains in the printer’s warehouse.
|
1 Page 208. |
| LIFE OF DR. PARR. | 53 |
The other publication edited by Dr. Parr consists of four sermons:—1. A Sermon preached at Bishop-Stortford on the anniversary of the school-feast, by Dr. John Taylor. 2. A Fast Sermon before the House of Commons, 1757, by the same. 3. A Visitation Sermon, preached at Durham, by Bishop Lowth. 4. A Sermon before the Lords, January 30th, 1749, by Bishop Hayter.
“Taylor’s sermons,” says Dr. Parr, “are masterly, indeed, both in the matter and the composition; and show the goodness of his head, the soundness of his judgment, and the elegance and vigour of his English style.”
Bishop Lowth’s sermon at Durham was once well known and very celebrated. It afterwards became extremely scarce. It is an admirable discourse, written in the spirit of enlightened wisdom, virtue and piety, on the importance of promoting religious knowledge, Christian charity, and moral purity, as connected with the support and progress of Christianity in the world. It well deserves the sanction, which it has here received, of Dr. Parr’s approbation.
“Of the amiable and venerable Bishop Hayter, who was for some time preceptor to George III.,” says Dr. Parr, “scarcely any vestiges remain. The sermon now republished strongly marks the correctness of his judgment, the delicacy of his taste, the candour of his spirit, and the soundness of his opinions on morals, politics, and religion.”
| ≪ PREV | NEXT ≫ |
