Chapter III 

 THE GENEROUS GRANBY 



1721-1770 



IN the reign of George III. there was no Englishman who 

 held a higher place in the esteem of his countrymen 

 than the Marquis of Granby. So great, indeed, was the 

 affection for Granby that the love for him may be com- 

 pared without exaggeration to that which the English 

 people felt for Nelson. Though the applause given to his 

 exploits has passed away with the generation that gave it, 

 the feeling which prompted it was more than the mere pass- 

 ing breath of popularity : it was a deep affection, won not 

 only by his services, but by the charm of his character. 

 Granby's virtues and his faults were those which people 

 admire and forgive, for while his courage and conduct in 

 war justly claimed high praise, he had, like Nelson, that 

 touch of human weakness, combined with capacity of mind 

 and physical courage, which is found so endearing by the 

 larger part of mankind. 



Whether because he had himself felt the disadvantage 

 of an imperfect education, or because the young Granby 

 showed signs of unusual gifts, the third Duke was care- 

 ful of the education of his son ; and Eton and Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, trained him, as they have trained so 

 many of our poets, statesmen and masters of hounds. Lord 

 Granby had the same love of literature as his father, with the 

 advantage of superior training, and he was noted through life 

 for his love for, and knowledge of, that classical literature 

 which Eton has never failed to give to those of her sons who 

 are able and willing to receive it, and which is probably the 



37 



