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Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



and sister of the Hon. Spencer Perceval, 

 Premier of England, who fell by the hand 

 of Bellingham, the assassin. Her mother 

 was Katherine, in her own right, Baroness 

 Arden, of Lohort Castle, sister of Spencer 

 Compton, eighth Earl of Northampton. 

 Receiving a considerable addition to his 

 fortune by the death of W. G. Freeman, 

 Esq., he, in consequence took the name 

 and arms of Freeman, in addition to those 

 of Mitford, by royal sign manual, on the 

 2th of January, 1800. 



By his marriage, Lord Redesdale had 

 one son, John Thomas, his successor, born 

 in 1805 ; and two daughters, born, respec- 

 tively, in 1804, and 1807- Of his daugh- 

 ters, only Frances Elizabeth, the elder, 

 survives. 



His lordship died at his seat, Batsford 

 Park, Gloucestershire, on the 17th of 

 January. 



THE RT. HON. GEOKGE TIERNEY, M.P. 



Mr. Tierney was the last of his school 

 the last remnant of the old English Oppo- 

 sition. He had not only sat in the same 

 House with those worthies, but he had 

 taken an active part in the debates in which 

 Burke, Fox, Pitt, Wyndham, Sheridan, 

 Whitbread, Romilly, and others, had often, 

 by their full, powerful, and commanding 

 eloquence, enchained the ear of the listener, 

 and carried conviction to his mind. As an 

 orator, however, he was, strictly speaking, 

 sui generis ; for, as it has been justly ob- 

 served, his style displayed neither the poetry 

 of Burke, the comprehensiveness of Fox, 

 the logic of Pitt, the sarcasm of Wyndham, 

 the dazzling wit of Sheridan, the bitter vi- 

 tuperation of Whitbread, nor the soft and 

 oily persuasion of Romilly. His language 

 was simple, idiomatic, and colloquial ; his 

 manner cool, dry, and caustic ; his own 

 features remaining stoically unmoved, whilst 

 those of his hearers were frequently con- 

 vulsed with laughter. 



Here, however, we have not room to exa- 

 mine, to analyse, or to display his charac- 

 ter ; we must speak of him merely with 

 reference to some of the leading facts of his 

 life. 



Mr. Tierney was born in the year 1756. 

 He was the son of a London merchant, 

 trading unc'er the firm of Tierney, Lilly, 

 and Roberts, in Lawrence Pountney-lane ; 

 but, whether he first saw the light in Lon- 

 don or in Dublin, appears not to have been 

 .ascertained. He was bred to the bar; a 

 -profession for which, by his natural acute- 

 ness and discrimination, he was eminently 

 suited ; but coming unexpectedly into the 

 possession of a good fortune, by marriage, 

 he exchanged the arena of the law courts for 

 that of the House of Commons. But he 

 was an author before he became a statesman. 

 His first publication, entitled, " The Real 

 Situation of the East India Company con- 

 sidered with reference to their Rights and 



Privileges," was put forth in 1787 ; and it 

 is by no means improbable that it would be 

 found to possess considerable interest at the 

 present moment. 



At the very commencement of his public 

 life, Mr. Tierney attached himself to the 

 Opposition. Patronised, as it was under- 

 stood, by a noble Duke, he, at the election 

 of 1790, offered himself as a candidate for 

 the representation of the Borough of Col- 

 chester. The contest proved a severe one : 

 Tierney not only lost his election, but was 

 saddled with expences to the amount of 

 twelve thousand pounds. His talents were 

 now known ; and, on the invitation of the 

 Southwark electors, who pledged themselves 

 to indemnify him, he contested that bo- 

 rough, in 1796, with Mr. Thelluson, the 

 opulent Government candidate, with whom 

 he happened to be connected by marriage. 

 Thelluson was returned, but was petitioned 

 against as ineligible, on the ground that he 

 had violated the treating act. Tierney 

 acted as his own counsel before the Com- 

 mittee of the House of Commons. The 

 Committee reported to the House, that the 

 election was void, and that Thelluson was 

 incapacitated to serve. However, on the 

 issue of a new writ, that gentleman re- 

 newed the contest, and was again success- 

 ful on the poll. A new petition was pre- 

 sented by Mr. Whitbread ; the case was 

 referred to a Committee; the Committee 

 reported, that Mr. Thelluson was not, but 

 that Mr. Tierney was, duly elected; and 

 the latter took his seat accordingly. Mr. 

 Tierney continued in the representation of 

 Southwark till the year 1806, when he re- 

 signed : he has since represented, succes- 

 sively, Athlone, Bandon-Bridge, Appleby, 

 and Knaresborough. In the last of these 

 he has been succeeded by Mr. Brougham. 



Tierney proved a frequent debater on 

 every great and important subject in the 

 House, and immediately rose to celebrity. 

 He may be said to have been a sharp thorn 

 in the side of Mr. Pitt. Soon after the 

 meeting of Parliament in the autumn of 

 1797) he gave notice that he should move 

 the House, " not to acknowledge the Right 

 Hon. Henry Dundas, in any parliamentary 

 capacity." This proceeding originated in 

 a supposed legal disability on the part of 

 Mr. Dundas, in consequence of his acting 

 in the capacity of third Secretary of State. 

 " If he spoke on that occasion in a style of 

 asperity," Mr. Tierney observed, " it was 

 not because he felt any personal dislike or 

 private animosity to the right honourable 

 gentleman, but that he thought the whole 

 transaction of which he complained a most 

 corrupt job a job not avowed, but detected 

 a job that never would have been brought 

 to light if it could have been kept in con- 

 cealment, and which was at last brought to 

 light by the labours of a committee." The 

 defence of Mr. Dundas was feeble ; yet, on 

 a division of the House, only eight members 

 supported the mover, while- no fewer than 



