1822.] 
In polities he sided with the administra- 
tion, and was a staunch advocate for the 
established church. He was particularly 
zealous in the House of Commons in pro- 
moting the interest of Scotland; and, 
amongst other beneficial measures intro* 
duced by him, that of compelling the 
Scotch counties to bear a proportion of 
the expense of rebuilding and repairing the 
jails of the Royal Barghs, has proved of the 
first importance. In private life he was 
beloved by men of all parties, and his me- 
mory will long be cherished in the county 
of Wigton, which lie had represented since 
the retirement of Sir William Stewart in 
1817. 
At North Cray, Kent, aged 53, Robert 
Stewart, Marquess of Londonderry, better 
known by the name of Lord Castle- 
reagh, under which he has filled various 
public employments during the last 
twenty-six years; and, for the last ten 
years, has been regarded as the efficient 
minister of the country. Having died by 
his own hands in a sudden fit of delirium, 
while in the plenitude of power, and only 
a few days before he was to set out on 
another expedition to one of those con- 
gresses of sovereigns held for the apparent 
purpose of retarding liberty and civiliza- 
tion, the sudden catastrophe has excited 
an universal interest, and: induced the 
editors of newspapers to give details 
which supersede our biographical collec- 
tions. He was the only surviving son of 
Robert Stewart, esq. of Mount-Stewart in 
the county of Down, by Lady S. F. Sey- 
mour, sister of the late Marquis of Hert- 
ford. He was educated at Armagh, sent 
to Cambridge in 1786; and, in 1789, was 
elected m.pP. for his native county to the 
Irish parliament by the patriotic interest, 
and succeeded, owing to the violence 
with which, in speaking and writing, he 
declared himself in favour of parliamen- 
tary and other reforms. In 1796, his 
father was created an earl, and he became 
Lord Castlereagh ; and, in 1798, he filled 
the office of chief secretary of the Lord 
Lieutenant Camden, and was the object of 
much reproach on account of the cruelties 
agin against the unsuccessful Irish. 
e afterwards co-operated under Corn- 
wallis in effecting the union, and soon after 
was appointed president of the Board of 
Controul. In 1805 he became minister- 
of-war. He retired from office on the 
death of Pitt; and, in the subsequent 
general election, lost his election for 
Down, but obtained a seat for Borough- 
bridge. In 1807, he again became war- 
minister, but resigned after the Walcheren 
expedition, and had a duel with Canning, 
in which the latter was wounded. Jn 
1811, he was appointed minister-of-foreign- 
affairs, and held that important office till 
his death, and at a time when Europe has 
been more than once re-modelled, in which 
The Marquess of Londonderry. 
179 
arrangements he played a very distin- 
guished and influential, if not a praise- 
worthy or British part. The length of the 
late session of parliament, (during which 
he was the acting minister in the House of 
Commons,) the ill-success of the conspi- 
racy in Spain, the degree of his connexion 
with which has not yet transpired, and 
some alledged, thongh not yet acknow- 
ledged differences with his royal master on 
Friday the 9th, seem to have upset his 
mind, and led him on Monday the 12th to 
commit suicide. But, as the circumstances 
of this tragical event are given to the 
world in the clear evidence of Dr. Bank- 
head before the coroner’s inquest, we shall 
preserve it entire.—‘ On Friday afternoon, 
at 5 o’clock, I received a note from Lady 
Londonderry, desiring me to come as soon as 
I could to see the Marquis of Londonderry, 
at his house in St. James’s-square. Her 
note stated that she was very anxious 
about his lordship, as she thought he was 
very ill and very nervous ; that they were 
to leave town for North Cray at seven 
o’clock in the evening, and that she hoped 
I would come before that hour, I arrived 
in St. James’s-square at six o'clock, and 
found my lord and lady alone in the draw- 
ing-room. Upon feeling his pulse I con- 
ceived him to be exceedingly ill. He 
complained of a severe head-ache, and of a 
confusion of recollection. He looked 
pale, and was very much distressed in his 
manner. I told him that I thought it was 
necessary that he should be cupped, and 
that I would stay and dine with his lady 
and himself whilst the cupper came. The 
cupper soon arrived, and took seven 
ounces of blood from the nape of his lord- 
ship's neck. After the operation was per- 
formed, he stated that he was very much 
relieved, and I advised him to lay himself 
quietly down on the sofa for half an hour; 
and, as he had scarcely eaten the whole 
day, to take a cup of tea before he got into 
the carriage to return to North Cray. He 
followed my advice, and laid himself down 
on the couch, where he remained very 
tranquil. After this he drank two cups of 
tea. I waited until I saw my lady and 
himself get into the carriage in order to re- 
turn to North Cray. Before his depar- 
ture, his lordship said, that, as I must be 
sure he was very ill, he expected that I 
would come to North Cray, and stay all 
Saturday night; and, if possible, all 
Sunday. I sent with him some opening 
medicines, which he was to take early on 
Saturday, in order that I might know the 
effect they had produced on my arrival. I 
know that he took these powders on Satur- 
day. I arrived at North Cray about seven 
o’clock on Saturday evening. I understood 
that his lordship had not been out of bed 
all day, and [ immediately proceeded to his 
bed-room. On entering his bed-room, I 
observed that his manner of looking at me 
expressed 
