"In hujus modi re tantoque bello, maximæ curæ est, ut quæ copiis et opibus tenere vix possumus, ea mansuetudine et continentiâ nostrâ, sociorum fidelitate teneamus." THIRD EDITION. CIC. EPIST. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES AND ORME, PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND J. RIDGEWAY, PICCADILLY. 1806. [Price Five Shillings] CN 1 AN INQUIRY, INTRODUCTION. SINCE the constitution of this country acquired its present form, and public business came to be transacted regularly in the great council of the nation, it has been customary in all important junctures, for our representatives to undertake a general investigation of the state of our affairs. The method of conducting this examination has varied at different periods. Sometimes a motion for inquiry has been |