1831.] 



Biogrnphical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



457 



niitted of the Royal Acaileiiiy. The 

 subject was, the IMurder of the Young 

 Prince in the Tower. In this, the story 

 is strikingly told ; the drawing is per- 

 fectly correct ; and the assassins are 

 delineated with great character and 

 power. Alderman Boydell purchased 

 this painting for his splendid edition of 

 Shakspeare ; for which Mr. Northcote 

 also produced some other pieces of merit. 

 Another of his finest works is from the 

 story of Hubert and Prince Arthur. 

 One of his best portraits, and much in 

 the style of Sir Joshua Reynolds, is that 

 of a man holding a hawk. This is in 

 Lord Grosvenor's collection. 



In the Somerset House exhibition of 

 1796, iMr. Northcote produced a series 

 of moral pictui-es, the object of which 

 was to shew the opposite effects of 

 seriousness and levity in two young 

 women, in menial situations of life. 

 Clever they certainly were, but — as 

 may be seen by the engravings from 

 them — they had little of the Hogarthian 

 spirit. 



While in the vigour of his professional 

 powers, Mr. Northcote's colouring was 

 chaste, forcible, and distinct ; his pic- 

 tures having that breadth of light and 

 shade which is one of the most estima- 

 ble properties of a good painting. JMany 

 of his historical pieces display an accu- 

 rate and extensive acquaintance with 

 the subject treated, much study, and 

 that force of conception which is the true 

 characteristic of genius. 



Mr. Northcote was an acute obser- 

 ver — possessed excellent sense, quick 

 perceptions, and great conversational 

 powers. Confined, first to his chamber, 

 and then to his bed, he would talk for 

 hours together, almost to the day of his 

 death, with untiring vivacity and un- 

 ceasing intelligence. 



As an author, he did not altogether 

 appear to equal advantage. His greatest 

 work was the " I>ife of Sir Joshua Rey- 

 nolds." His " Fables," his "Conver- 

 sations," and his " Life of Titian," were 

 much indebted to the pen of Mr. Haz- 

 lett. As a critic, he was severe, and loo 

 frequently cynical. Yet, as a virtuous, 

 well-informed, and communicative man 

 — ever ready with good advice — he was 

 greatly esteemed. 



Mr. Northcote died at his house in 

 Argyle-place, on the i:$th of .July ; and, 

 on the 20th, his remains were interred 

 in the vault, under the new church, of 

 •St. Mary-le-bone. This, according to 

 one of the injunctions of his will, was, 

 that they might be near those of iiis long- 

 departed friend, Cosway. 



From his great protbssional success, 



M.M. New .SVWw.- VoL.XII. N0.70. 



and his penurious habits, Mr. North- 

 cote is said to have died worth £80,000. 



THE EAUI. OF NOHTHESK. 



The Right Hon. William Carnegie, 

 seventh Earl of Northesk, Lord Rose- 

 hill, and Inglismaldy, Admiral of the 

 White, K.C'B., &c. "was the representa- 

 tive of an ancient family, possessed of 

 the lands of Ballinhord, in the county of 

 Forfar, Scotland, in the thirteenth cen- 

 tury. The present earldom dates from 

 the 1st of November, 1647. Lord 

 Northesk's father was in the navy, and 

 attained the rank of Admiral of the 

 White. He married, in 1748, the Lady 

 Anne Leslie, eldest daughter of Alex- 

 ander, fifth Earl of Leven. His eldest 

 son, David, d^'ing without issue, in the 

 lifetime of his father, he was succeeded 

 in the family honours, by his second son, 

 William, the subject of this notice, in 

 1792. 



His Lordship was born on the 10th of 

 April, 1758 ; and, having been early 

 destined for the naval service of his 

 country, he embarked, in the year 1771» 

 with the Hon. Captain Barrington, in 

 the Albion. He next served with Cap- 

 tain Macbride, in the Southampton, and 

 Captain Stair Douglas, in the Squirrel. 

 He was made acting lieutenant in the 

 Nonsuch, and confirmed by Lord Howe, 

 in 1777, in the Apollo. He afterwards 

 served with Admirals Sir John Lockhart 

 Ross, and Lord Rodney. By the latter 

 he was made a commander, after the 

 memorable action of 1780 — in which he 

 served as a lieutenant in the Admiral's 

 ship — and appointed to the Blast, fire- 

 ship. 



In April, 1782, he was promoted to 

 the rank of Post Captain, and apjwinted 

 to the command of the Eustatius, in 

 which he had been present at the reduc- 

 tion of the island of that name. From 

 the Eustatius, he was ordered into the 

 Enterprize frigate, in which he returned 

 to England, and was pai<l off at the 

 peace, in 1783. 



In 1788, Captain Northesk succeeded 

 his brother, as Lord Rosehill ; and, on 

 the 9j.h of December, in that year, he 

 married Mary, the only daughter of 

 AVilliam Henry Ricketts, of I^ongwood, 

 in the county of Hants, Esq. (by Mary 

 Jervis, eldest sister of John, Earl St. 

 Vincent, G.C.B.), on whom, in A))ril, 

 1801, the title of Viscountess St. Vin- 

 cent was granted in remainder. 



On the death of his father, in 1792, 

 ills liordship succeeded to the Earldom ; 

 and, in .January, 1793, he was appointed 

 to tlie l$eaulicu, of 40 guns, in winch lie 

 sailed to the Leeward islands, anil 

 2 P 



