men, not only bewailed the manner in which it originated, but the mode in which it was carried on. His name accordingly appears in many of the divisions, during Mr. Pitt's former administration, which he opposed, sometimes spontaneously, and at other times at the express injunctions of the livery.

There is no point of which a member of the House of Commons ought to be more tenacious, than any assumed power on the part of the minister to meddle with the public purse. In 1796 this appeared actually to be the case, and accordingly became not only the subject of a very brilliant speech, but also of the following very pointed motion on the part of Mr. Fox, on the 14th of December:

"That his Majesty's Ministers having authorised and directed, at different times, without the consent, and during the sitting of parliament, the issue of various sums of money for the service of his Imperial Majesty, and also for the service of the army under the Prince of Condé, have acted contrary to their duty, and to the trust reposed in them, and have thereby violated the constitutional privileges of this House."

Mr. Alderman Combe, in obedience to the instructions of his constituents, who had met that day in the Common Hall of the city of London, and had desired their representatives to censure the conduct of ministers, in giving away the public money without the consent of Parliament, seconded the motion.

He spoke of the respectability of the meeting, and of the pride he should always feel in following the voice of his constituents, the Livery of London, who almost unanimously disapproved of the Minister's conduct on the present occasion; and it was with peculiar satisfaction he now obeyed their directions, as

his own sentiments entirely agreed with their opinion. After what had been advanced by his right honourable friend, he would not say a word upon the subject in a constitutional point of view. As the representative of the first commercial city in the world, het was well acquainted with the mischief produced by the money sent to the Emperor. The discounting of the bills drawn for the purpose of remitting money to the Imperial troops had swallowed up so much of the money of the Bank, as to compel that great body to narrow their discounts, and the British merchants were made to suffer, that the German troops might be supplied. The remittances to the allied armies on the Continent had, in fact, been a great cause of the alarming scarcity of money last year, and of most of the embarrassments which had been experienced in the commercial world."

He next adverted "to the professions which had been so recently made by members of Parliament, of love and respect for the constitution, and of regard and deference for the sentiments of their constituents, which he hoped had not already evaporated; on the contrary, he trusted that gentlemen would, on the present evening, give a proof of the contrary. He professed to be attached personally to no man, nor to have any prejudice against any of the Members of Administration. He voted with Mr. Fox, as a friend to human happiness, which was best secured by political liberty; and this evening he came down, to use the phrase of the right honourable gentleman, impregnated with the sense of his constituents, which was this day so fairly and decidedly given by the Common Hall." Į

In 1803, he opposed the principle of the income tax, at the express request of his constituents, whom he has always obeyed; while two of his colleagues voted in favour of that measure, in the very teeth of their instructions.

Soon after this (July 22), when the "General Defence Act" was brought forward, Mr. Alderman Combe declared his approbation of that measure, and obe

served" that every man in the country ought to go forth when the exercise of the King's prerogative called upon him. There should be no exemption, but on the ground of inability. From one end to the other, the city of London," he added, "were not only ready, but anxious to know how they could come forward with most effect. If there was any apprehension, it arose from the probability of embarrassment, by the myriads the city would pour out. In every ward, parish, and street, the people were waiting with impatience until his Majesty should point out the means of organizing their courage."

On another occasion, (March 19, 1804) he stated that the volunteer force in and about the metropolis, which the city of London had furnished, amounted to about twelve thousand men. "There was not one of these," he observed, who did not consider himself liable, in case of invasion, to be put under the command of a general officer, and marched to any part of the kingdom. He begged leave further to state, that no one could doubt that their offers originated in a pure patriotic spirit alone, because, as by their charters, they were exempt from those military duties to which other parts of England are liable, they had no occasion whatever to seek refuge from the ballots."

In the spring of 1805, Mr. Alderman Combe received the thanks of his constituents in Common Hall assembled, for his vote in respect of Lord Melville. On that occasion he, in conjunction with all the other city members, declared himself decidedly

of

of opinion that the supposed malversation of that nobleman, while Treasurer of the Navy, demanded immediate investigation, and they accordingly contributed a portion of the celebrated majority of one, upon that occasion.

Mr. Combe, being an excellent whist-player, is a member of several fashionable clubs, particularly Brookes's, which is chiefly frequented by the opposition. This circumstance, however, does not interfere with any of his duties, either official or domestic. In private life, he is a fond father and a good husband. Frank, hospitable, and open, he at once looks to be what he really is, a pattern of the good old English character.*

* George Ist, Ild, and IIId, have been entertained, in succession, by opulent individual brewers of the city of London, and Mr. Alderman Combe has lately revived the ancient custom of treating guests, the most illustrious in rank, with rump of beef and porter.c

He lately gave an entertainment of this description to the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duke of Cambridge, &c. &c. on which occasion the Stoker, apparelled in a white cap and jacket, broiled the steaks on his polished iron shovel, and served them up, hot and hot, on a table placed in the Brew-house, and very appositely covered with hop sacks. Pewter trenchers were at the same time laid for the party, while they were regaled with brown stout from wooden mugs.

We are afraid, however, that the degeneracy of the present age was visible even on this occasion, for turbot and salmon trout appear to have been served up also, while the retreat to the alderman's house, in Great Russel street, where a superb desert and the best foreign wines made their appearance, was not in strict conformity to ancient custom; we have been given to understand,

that

A numerous family of ten children, most of whom are females, requires no common-portion of care and attention; and they seem to be educated in such a manner, as to reflect no small degree of honour on Mrs. Combe, whom we have seen walking along the shores of Sandgate, at once surrounded and adorned by what one of the most celebrated ladies of ancient Rome termed "her most precious jewels." The Alderman also, in defiance of the absurd custom too frequently followed by those who have obtained wealth by means of that very commerce of which they ridiculously appear to be ashamed, instead of abandoning his sons to indolence and dissipation, which stifle all the virtues, has destined them, like himself, for the counting house. His eldest, after receiving an excellent education at Eton, with the children of our nobility and gentry, acts, at the same time, in the double capacity of a defender of his country, as an officer of the Westminster Light Horse, and an ornament of the city, as one of its principal traders.

that more majorum, the treat should both begin and end in the Brewhouse, and that porter and beef-steaks ought alone to be visible.

APPENDIX.