572 



Account of tke late Paul Le Mejurier^ Efq. fJ^"* ^ > 



irentary eleftlon, the public indignation a- 

 gainft the InJia bill, irs fupporters and ad- 

 herents, appeared moft evident, by the rejec- 

 tio.i of thirty-one old members who had been 

 aOive in carrying it through the houfe of 

 commons, among whom was Sir Richard 

 H.itham (fince known for the Eognor fpecu- 

 la'.ion), who was unfeated in Southwark by 

 Sir Earnard Turner, then . Sheriff of London, 

 and Major of the Hon. Artillery Company. 

 The accif'ental death of this laft gentleman, 

 withir two months after his eleftion, again 

 cccaf:oning a vacancy, Mr. Lc Mefurier was 

 caliei fo;t!i to oppofe Sir R. Hotham's re- 

 n:«'ed pretcnfions ; upon which enfued one 

 O' th'.' moft arduous contentions thai even 

 this uicconiufting borough had ever expe- 

 rienced. After an exvence o: .early lo ooc/. 

 to oa<.h candidate, by the eleftion, peti''on, 

 and committce-fcrutiny, Mr. Le Mefurier 

 ■vizi left the vidlor by a majority uf eleven 

 votes. Ill his rcprefentative capacity, his 

 fuavity of manners, decorous demeanour, and 

 imremitting local attention, fo endeared him 

 to his conftitucnts, that at the next general 

 eledion in 1790 he was again returned with- 

 out oppolition, although not without exfencc ; 

 elcdlion mai^agemcnt being now too much im- 

 proved to admit of fuch a folecifni. Mr. Le 

 Mefurier's feiutorial conduft was a continu- 

 ation of alTiduous propriety and unvaried at- 

 tention to his public du ies, where he ob- 

 tained .much notice, not as a chorus finger, 

 t.iking t'lmt fiom the leader of the hand, but 

 as a man whofe unbi.ifled vote always waited 

 Sox th; decifion of his own conviction, or at 

 le.ift for hi^ confcientious opinion ; and from 

 his almoft general adherence to the meafures 

 o:" adminiftration, can only be deduced his 

 fmcere pcr.uafio.i of their rectitude, pro- 

 priety, or exrrdiency. Upon the diflblution 

 of parliament in 176, Mr. Le Mefurier's 

 wi/h to procure more time for his commercial 

 and private concerriS, prevented him from 

 engaging in the conteft which then took 

 place for the borough of Southwark ; and 

 was a caufe of his rt-rirlng from the iituation 

 which he had i"o worthily filled during eleven 

 years, in a crifis and concurrence of political 

 events and htuations as trying as any upon 

 hiftorical record. We have omitted in the 

 order of time the chronology of his civic 

 honours. In 17S4., upon the refignation of 

 Alderman Hart, he w.^.s iinanimoufly eledled 

 Alderman of Dowgate Ward, upon Mr. Skin- 

 ner (the prefent Alderman of J^ueenhithe) 

 declining a conteft wliere the habituated in- 

 teicourfe of noighbourhood infurcd the fac- 

 ccfs of Mr. Le Mefurier. In 17S7 he ferved 

 ti'.e expcnfive office of fccriff of London and 

 Mid.Uefex ; an office requiring an expenditure 

 of between 2 and 3CC0/. In 1793 he was 

 eh;clcd lord mayor, before the ufual rotation 

 »v.iu)d Iiave called him to that honour. In 

 riiis exalted feat of niagiftracy it was his lot 

 til meet with continual calls upon his aftivity, 

 ptrfcverauc:-, and refolution. The muld of 



10, coo/, and the judicial cenfure incurred by 

 the helitating chief magiftrate of the tumul- 

 tuary year 1780, will long remain in terroiem 

 to his fucceffors ! To avoid this ScyHa many 

 have run upon the Chary'~dis of unneceffary 

 afperity and unfeeling defpotifm. Mr. Le 

 Mefurier's judgment aftd philanthropy were 

 his prefervatives from cither extreme ; for, 

 in the courfe of that arduoi.s feafon, when 

 " The Rights of Man" were fpreading their 

 baneful principles, he Jiad the wifdom to 

 fteer the middle cc-urfe, infoMuch that a mif.. 

 take, committed in a niomait of ferious and 

 of founded alarm, when tie peace of the city 

 was in fome danger, only added another laurel 

 to his civic crown. \Vc allude to a verbal 

 coinh.ittal to the Poultry Counter ; the ap- 

 peal for v,'hich to a judicial tribunal obtained 

 the nominal d.^.ma^ti of one fartbirg, and 

 pr-.tured Mr. Le Mefurier the thanks and ap- 

 probation of Lord Chi^f Juftice Kenyon. 

 During his mayoralty alarming riotous at- 

 tacks were made on crimping houfes, he called 

 out the Honourabl" Artillery Company; and 

 rcftored peace in every part ; and, by a like 

 aftcntif^n, prevented riots at the time of the 

 trials of Haidy, Tooke, and ThcKvall. The 

 feftivities of the Manlion-houfe (no fecon 

 aaiy feature of a London mayoralty) were 

 fplendid, frequent, and general The di- 

 rctti>rs of the feveral chartered commercial 

 companies, the body of civilians, the foreign 

 protellant clergy, in addition to the ufual 

 corporation banquets and private parties, had 

 each (v.ith many others) a feparate ccnvl-vium ; 

 and the moft magnificent gala, with which 

 the Oriental vi£lor. Lord Cornwallis, was en- 

 tertained, upon being prefented with the 

 freedom of the city, will long remain in me- 

 mory as the triumph of lu.Kurious elegance. 

 Upon this occafion (which was of voluntary 

 and private expence to the amount of Jcd.) 

 nearly twenty peers of the realm, five of 

 whom v.-ere of the cabinet miniftry, honouei 

 the entertainment with their prefence, in 

 approbation of the lord mayor's public con- _ 

 dufl and fplendid munificence, an occurrence 

 whicii defies all precedent. In following Mr. 

 Le Mefurier to the domeftic {hade of private 

 life, it becomes the pleating talk of the bio- 

 grapher to record a character which neither 

 malevolence, envy, nor party-fpirit, has ever 

 been able to tarnilli. An indulgent and atr 

 tentivt hulband ; a kind and afte£tionate fa- 

 ther | a warm, faithful, and benevolent 

 relarf.e and friend, are but the faint outlines 

 of the delineation of a portrait, the colouring 

 of which can only be given by t: ofe who 

 were in happy intercourfe with the original. 

 It were fuperHuous to defcribe him with a 

 hand " c/jck us day tn milt'-r^ charily" for 

 few amid the benefieent iiiftitutions, which 

 form the moft brilliant oinamcnis ot our 

 metropolis, can be found unfupporteH by his 

 name and contribution. We liave rcfcrved 

 for the climax of this truly great and worthy 

 public charafler, his uneijuivocal and indil- 

 putable 



