BAT 



344 



BAT 



P He 



Unburst, sian troops, then in the pay of Great Britain ; though 

 he afterwards, in 17-13, vindicated the propriety of 

 continuing the Hanoverian troops, on account of the 

 peculiarly critical situation of affairs at that time, 

 le opposed the bill for reviving the salt duty, as an 

 undue taxation upon the poor ; supported the Earl 

 of Oxford's motion for reducing the standing army ; 

 and vindicated the utility of a national militia, as the 

 most proper and constitutional defence in a free coun- 

 try. He constantly resisted all application of the 

 sinking fund to any other purpose than the liquida- 

 tion of the public debts. In the transactions which 

 took place respecting the Spanish depredations, he 

 bore an active part in arranging the conduct of those 

 who were in power ; and particularly exerted himself 

 in the memorable debate upon an address to the king, 

 for the removal of Sir Robert Walpole from his 

 councils and presence for ever. 



In 1740 Lord Bathurst was chosen a privy coun- 

 sellor ; and in 1757 was appointed treasurer to the 

 Prince of Wales. Upon the accession of his present 

 majesty in 1760, he was continued in the privy coun- 

 cil j and, as he declined, on account of his advanced 

 age, to accept of any public employment, he received 

 a pension of JS2000 per annum. He spent the re- 

 mainder of his life in dignified retirement, employing 

 himself chiefly in agricultural improvements, and other 

 rural relaxations. The following extract from one of 

 his letters to Dr Swift, furnishes a very pleasing pic- 

 ture both of his lordship's country occupations, and 

 of his amiable disposition of mind : " I hige enter- 

 ed upon a new scheme of life, and am determined to 

 look to my own affairs a little. I am now in a small 

 farm-house in Derbyshire ; and my chief business is 

 to take care, that my agents do not impose upon my 

 tenants. I am for letting them all good bargains, 

 that my rents may be paid, as long as any rents can be 

 paid ; and when the time comes, that there is no mo- 

 ney, they are honest fellows, and will bring me in 

 what corn and cattle I shall want." He had married 

 very early in life, Catherine, the daughter and heir of 

 Sir Peter Apsley, his maternal uncle, by whom he 

 had four sons and five daughters ; and he lived to 

 see his eldest surviving son several years lord high 

 chancellor of Great Britain. He retained his activty 

 and vivacity to the last ; and died, after a few days 

 illness, at his seat near Cirencester, in the 91st year of 

 his age, on the 16th of Sept. 1775. 



Earl Bathurst was considered, even by his contem- 

 poraries, as one of the most consistent and disinterest- 

 ed public characters of the period in which he lived ; 

 and is represented, as having chosen his principles of 

 government so happily from what was commendable 

 in both parties, that, uoon whatever side Ik- spoke, he 

 was never observed to lean to the extremes of either. 

 His abilities and integrity gained him the esteem even 

 of his political adversaries ; nor was he, on the other 

 hand, insensible to the merits of many of his opponents; 

 but often treated them, when divested of their public 

 offices, with so much delicacy and tenderness, as to 

 secure their personal friendship and regard. He was 

 distinguished in private life by humanity, politeness, 

 and elegance of manners ; and was always accessible, 

 hospitable, and beneficent. He was intimately ac- 



quainted with the most eminent literary characters, 

 who adorned the beginning of the 18th century ; ma- 

 ny of whom were happy to cultivate his friendship, 

 and proud to have the honour of his correspondence. 

 To Lord Bathurst Mr Pope addressed one of his 

 Epistles on the use of riches ; and the following lines 

 from that poem may be given as a very good summa- 

 ry of his lordship's character, as well as a very suit- 

 able conclusion to this sketch of his life : 



The sense to value riches, with the art 



T'enjoy them, and the virtue to impart. 



Not ineaniy nor ambitiously pursu'd. 



Not sunk by sloth, nor rais'd by servitude ; 



To balance fortune by a just expence, 



Join with ceconomy magnificence ; 



With splendour, charity : with plenty, health : 



Oh ! teach us, Bathurst ! yet imgpoil'd by wealth '. 



That secret rare, between th' extremes to move. 



Of mad good nature, and of mean self love. 



(?) 



BATIS, a genus of plants, of the class Dioecia, 

 and order Triandria. See Botany, (to) 



BATNI ANS, the inhabitants of a country in the 

 north-east of Hindostan, bounded on the north by 

 the Pendjab, and the river Setiedge, and on the east 

 by the district of Hurrianah, on the west by the De- 

 sert, and on the south by the Beykaneer. The ter- 

 ritory of the Batnians is about 75 geographical miles 

 wide from east to west, and 150 long from north to 

 south. The cultivated part of the country extends 

 along the banks of the Cuggur, from Futtahbad to 

 Batnir, the capital. The inundation of the country 

 by the streams with which they are traversed, occa- 

 sions an uncommon fertility in the soil, and enables it 

 to produce wheat, rice, and barley, in great quantities. 

 The higher parts of the country produce the grain 

 which is common throughout India; but in the other 

 districts, where they are deprived of water, the soil is 

 extremely barren. 



Batnir, the capital of the district, and the resi- 

 dence of its rajah, is about 200 miles west of 

 Delhi, and 40 miles south of Batinda. The other 

 cities are Arroah, Futtahbad, Sirsah, and Ranyah ; 

 and these, with the numerous villages around, contain 

 a population sufficient to furnish an army of 20,000 

 men, without any injury to agriculture. For some 

 years past, however, the emigration of the Batnians 

 to the countries west of Auhd, has considerably re- 

 duced the population. Though the territory of the 

 Batnians is separated from the countries west of the 

 Indus by an extensive desert, about 100 miles in 

 length, they often venture in bodies across this track- 

 less waste, to invade the territories which it bounds. 

 Furnished with all the implements of war, and having 

 their camels loaded with bread, water, and other provi- 

 sions, which they deposit in different parts of the de- 

 sert, they select guides, whose orders are implicitly 

 obeyed during the journey, but who lose all their autho- 

 rity as soon as they reach the frontier of their enemies. 

 In this adventurous march the guides conduct them- 

 selves by the sun during the day, and by the pole 

 star at night ; and in cloudy weather, without any of 

 these bodies to direct them, they frequently reach the 

 very spots where their provisions are deposited, though 



