550 
He turned his attention chiefly towards sta- 
tistical subjects, in the study of which he 
became a proficient. Shortly after his call 
to the bar, he was returned M.P. for the 
county of Louth. He soon became as con- 
spicuous for talents as for knowledge. He 
particularly distinguished himself by the 
introduction of a new system of corn laws 
for the kingdom of Ireland; through the 
adoption of which, that country, from being 
unable to supply more than two-thirds of 
her people with bread, was enabled not only 
to feed the whole of her inhabitants, but 
actually to export grain to the amount of 
£200,000 annually. 
Mr. Foster’s next great object was the 
linen manufacture of his native country ; 
and by the regulations which, on his advice, 
were from time to time introduced, the 
character of the fabric was greatly raised, 
and the demands of the foreign markets 
secured and widely extended. Notwith- 
standing these salutary efforts, Mr. Foster 
was exceedingly unpopular amongst the 
lower classes. ‘The manufacturers of the 
capital were either starving for want of em- 
ployment, or kept alive by eleemosynary 
contributions. Resisting, upon philosophi- 
cal principles, the introduction of protecting 
duties in favour of these famished artizans, 
he incurred the hatred of the people, who 
regarded the measures which he conscien- 
tiously, and patriotically opposed, as calcu- 
lated to give them bread. His having de- 
clared an opinion against promoting the 
silk manufacture of Ireland, also raised him 
a host of enemies; and at one time, such 
was the general detestation, it was thought 
necesary to give him a guard for the safety 
of his person. 
In the year 1785, Mr. Foster was ap- 
pointed Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, 
an office for which, by his comprehensive 
and methodical mind, added to his exten- 
sive knowledge of the resources of the coun- 
try, he was admirably qualified. In 1786, 
however, he resigned the chancellorship, on 
being chosen speaker for the House of Com- 
mons. For several years he most ably dis- 
charged the duties of that high office. 
As a politician, Mr. Foster was generally 
thought to be more favourable to the in- 
terests of Britain than to those of Ireland, 
whenever there might be a difference or 
competition between them. He always 
professed himself adverse to the admission 
of Roman Catholics to the privileges of the 
constitution ; and, upon the introduction of 
the bill for allowing them to vote at elec- 
tions, he delivered a speech against that 
measure, confessedly the best that was made 
in either house upon the subject. However, 
he proved a strenuous opponent of the union 
between Great Britain and Ireland ; and, 
since the accomplishment of that event, he 
has not made a very conspicuous figure in 
the sphere of politics. 
Mr. Foster married, in the year. 1764, 
Margaretta Amelia Burgh, daughter of 
Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 
‘life at New York, early in the month of 
[Nov. 
Thomas Burgh, of Birt, in the county of 
Kildare, Esq.; who was created Baroness 
Oriel, of Collon, in the county of Louth, 
in 1790, and Viscountess Ferrard, of Oriel, 
in her own right, in 1797, with remainder 
to the male issue of her husband. Mr. 
Foster was raised to the English peerage, 
by the title of Baron Oriel, in July, 1821. 
By his lady, who died in 1824, he had two 
sons and a daughter. His eldest son is 
dead: his second, now Lord Oriel, mar- 
ried, in 1810, Harriet Sheffington, Vis- 
countess Massereene in her own right, 
daughter and sole heiress of Chichester, 
fourth and last Earl of Massereene ; and his 
daughter married, in 1801, the present Lord 
Dutterin and Claneboye. 
Lord Oriel was a high-bred man, dis- 
playing more of the lofty manners of the 
last age, than of the easy and familiar 
habits of the present. Yet, in private life, 
most amiable and respectable —a kind 
friend, an indulgent landlord, a truly esti- 
mable man. His style of living was mag- 
nificent ; and his ardour for the improve- 
ment of his estates, grounds, &c., amounted 
almost to a passion. 
His lordship died at his beautiful seat at 
Collon, on the 23d of August. 
GOVERNOR CLINTON. 
George De Witt Clinton was the young- 
est son of Samuel Clinten, formerly the 
British Governor of the State of New York. 
He was born in that town in the year 1740, 
and educated to the bar. He continued in 
his profession until the commencement of 
the Revolution in 1775, when he entered 
into the military service of America, in 
which he soon attained the rank of Colonel 
and Major-General. He acquired much re- 
putation in the two first campaigns. - When 
the independence of America had been de- 
clared, he took an active part in forming a 
constitution for the state of New York ; 
and, in 1787, after the completion of its 
code of laws, he was elected its Governor. 
The estimation in which he was held by his 
countrymen could not be better attested than . 
by the fact that, with, we believe, only two 
exceptions, he has been always re-elected to 
the same high and honourable office. In 
1795, having expressed his wish to retire on 
account of ill health, Mr. Gay was elected 
as his successor; but, in’ 1801, that gentle- 
man’s health having also declined, and 
Mr. Clinton’s been restored, he was again 
elected. Since that period, he has been 
elected Vice-President of the Union. 
Governor Clinton’s efforts were uniformly 
directed towards the benefit of the state over 
which he presided, by promoting education, 
and every description of internal improve- 
ment. The great canal which is to join the 
Western waters with Hudson’s river was 
undertaken and prosecuted chiefly through 
his influence. This patriotic and esteemed 
individual terminated his long and useful 
