But the distinguishing criterion of his character was ambition.

To this he sacrificed the punctilios of honour and decorum, in deposing his own father-in-law and uncle; and this he gratified at the expense of the nation that raised him to sovereign authority.

He aspired to the honour of acting as umpire in all the contests of Europe; and the second object of his attention was the prosperity of that country to which he owed his birth and extraction.

Whether he really thought the interests of the continent and Great Britain were inseparable, or sought only to drag England into the confederacy as a convenient ally, certain it is he involved these kingdoms in foreign connexions which in all probability will be productive of their ruin.

In order to establish this favourite point, he scrupled not to employ all the engines of corruption by which the morals of the nation were totally debauched.