often distracted by measures which have no relation to his purpose,
and obliged to bend himself to things which are in some degree
contrary to his main design. The ocean which environs us is an
emblem of our government, and the pilot and the Minister are in
similar circumstances. It seldom happens that either of them can
steer a direct course, and they both arrive at their port by means
which frequently seem to carry them from it. But as the work
advances the conduct of him who leads it on with real abilities
clears up, the appearing inconsistencies are reconciled, and when it
is once consummated the whole shows itself so uniform, so plain, and
so natural, that every dabbler in politics will be apt to think he
could have done the same. But, on the other hand, a man who
proposes no such object, who substitutes artifice in the place of
ability, who, instead of leading parties and governing accidents, is
eternally agitated backwards and forwards by both, who begins every
day something new, and carries nothing on to perfection, may impose
awhile on the world; but a little sooner or a little later the
mystery will be revealed, and nothing will be found to be couched
under it but a thread of pitiful expedients, the ultimate end of
which never extended farther than living from day to day. Which of
these pictures resembles Oxford most you will determine. I am sorry
to be obliged to name him so often, but how is it possible to do
otherwise while I am speaking of times wherein the whole turn of
affairs depended on his motions and character?

I have heard, and I believe truly, that when he returned to Windsor
in the autumn of 1713, after the marriage of his son, he pressed
extremely to have him created Duke of Newcastle or Earl of Clare,
and the Queen presuming to hesitate on so extraordinary a proposal,
he resented this hesitation in a manner which little became a man