CUMBERLAND. 



503 



withstanding all his skill and economy, the expences 

 were pushed by his lordship's pride and extravagance 

 to L. 20,000, while there was only L. 12,000 to meet 

 them. In his own subordinate sphere he himself was 

 not much better. The fair income of his office was 

 about L. 300 per annum, which came considerably short 

 of his extraordinary expenditure ; and his mind was 

 too high or too honest to have recourse to the usual 

 means of aggrandizing his fortune. He would accept 

 of no gratuity which could be interpreted as a bribe ; 

 and had even the fortitude to refuse the rank of ba- 

 ronet, when it was offered by his patron as a mark of 

 approbation. This refusal, however, contributed to 

 weaken his interest with Lord Halifax, and to render 

 successful the attempts of more complying and syco- 

 phantish competitors for favour. His lordship's change 

 of sentiment and conduct towards him soon appear- 

 ed ; for when he received the seals of Secretary of 

 State, he declined, on some idle pretence, to appoint 

 Mr Cumberland to the place of Under Secretary, 

 which he naturally expected, and respectfully applied 

 for ; so that for the sacrifice of all his original pros- 

 pects, and the faithful and irksome services of ten or 

 eleven years he held a place (that of crown agent for 

 Nova Scotia) of only L. 200 a-year. His situation, 

 however, was bettered by the kindness of the Earl of 

 Hillsborough, First Lord of Trade and Plantations, who 

 made him Clerk of the Reports, and thus secured him 

 an additional annual revenue of L. 200. The duties 

 of his new office were neither numerous nor burden- 

 some, and left him abundance of leisure for his favour- 

 ite studies. He produced an opera, called The Summer's 

 Tale, of whose merit he himself entertained no high 

 opinion ; but which, on account of a few good songs in- 

 serted in it, with some original music furnished by Drs 

 Arne and Arnold, and the vocal powers of the per- 

 formers, had a run of nine or ten nights in moderate 

 houses, and without opposition. It was purchased and 

 published by Dodsley ; and though he gave a liberal 

 price, he did not complain of his bargain. 



In the course of the summer Mr C. paid a visit to his 

 father, who was now Bishop of Clonfert, in Ireland ; 

 and having returned to England in October, he produ- 

 ced, in the following winter, his first comedy, entitled 

 the Brothers, at Covent Garden. It brought advantage 

 to the theatre, and reputation to the author ; and soem 

 complimentary lines to Garrick, who was in the house 

 the first night of the performance, introduced him to 

 that celebrated actor, and laid the foundation of a last- 

 ing friendship. .In the ensuing year, having paid ano- 

 ther visit to his father at Clonfert, there, in a small un- 

 furnished closet, with no avocations to call away his at- 

 tention, with no interruptions to disturb his fancy, and 

 with no prospect from his window but that of a turf- 

 stack, he began to plan and compose his comedy of the 

 West Indian, which immediately after his return to 

 England he finished, and gave to Garrick, by whose as- 

 sistance it had been improved, and under whose aus- 

 pices it was ushered into life. Its popularity was de- 

 servedly great. It was performed with high applause 

 for eight-and-twenty successive nights, and realised for 

 the author a very handsome sum of money. His suc- 

 cess encouraged him to go on in dramatic composition, 

 and play after play came from him, perhaps with inju- 

 dicious rapidity. He stepped aside, however, from this 

 course, to vindicate the insulted memory of his grand- 

 father Bentley, who had been attacked and abused in 

 a pamphlet written by Bishop Lowth, which he did 

 with some spirit and success, in a Letter addressed to 



that dignitary. The publication of the West Indian 

 established Mr Cumberland's reputation ; he was now 

 accounted one of the most distinguished ornaments of Hul 

 English literature ; his company was courted by men 

 of taste and talents ; he became a member of the famous 

 club which was composed of Johnson, Reynolds, Burke, 

 Goldsmith, M'Pherson, Garrick, and other eminent 

 characters ,• and continued to enjoy their intimacy and 

 respect. His comedy of the Fashionable Lover was 

 very favourably received by the public. In point both 

 of moral and of diction, it is perhaps superior to the 

 West Indian, and at least supported the fame which 

 this charming production had procured for him. The 

 Choleric Man, another comedy, brought forward the 

 following season, was not quite so popular as the three 

 which preceded it, nor has it ever enjoyed the same 

 eclat ; it is, however, possessed of great merit, and re- 

 flects credit on the powers of its author. Having made 

 a tour to the lakes in Cumberland in company with 

 the Earl of Warwick, he took the opportunity of a few 

 leisure days at Keswick, to write an irregular Ode to the 

 Sun, which was published in 1 776, along with another 

 Ode addressed to Doctor James, by means of whose ce- 

 lebrated powders one of his children had recovered 

 from a dangerous fever. 



After writing several more plays, among which was 

 the tragedy of the Battle of Hastings, that failed in ex- 

 citing any interest, or in adding any thing either to his 

 fortune or his fame, a brighter scene appeared to open 

 upon him, in consequence of the death of Lord Halifax. 

 Lord George Germain, who succeeded in the colonial 

 department, promoted him to the secretaryship of the 

 Board of Trade, and not only did this in the most friend- 

 ly way, but shewed him every mark of kindness and 

 attention. It is pleasant to observe, that Mr Cumber- 

 land's promotion seems to have gratified him, chiefly 

 because it afforded him the means of giving a more am- 

 ple and liberal education to his children, whose welfare 

 was ever nearest to his heart, and who repaid his kind- 

 ness by their affection and their duty. At the request 

 of Lady Frances Burgoyne, he drew up the defence of 

 the unfortunate Robert Perreau, which was adopted by 

 his counsel Mr Dunning, and proved the means of sa- 

 ving the prisoner's life. So great indeed was his reputa- 

 tion at this time as a writer, that Dr Dodd applied to him 

 for his good offices, which he would very readily have 

 granted, had not the painful and hopeless task devolved 

 on his friend Dr Johnson. It deserves to be recorded 

 for the credit of Mr Cumberland, that it was chiefly, if 

 not wholly, through his exertions, that Sir George B. 

 Rodney received that naval command, which he execu- 

 ted with so much honour to himself, and so much ad- 

 vantage to the country. In 1780, he was sent on a pri- 

 vate diplomatic mission to the court of Spain, in order 

 to negociate a peace, for which he previously discover- 

 ed there was a favourable opening. But the project 

 failed. Whether the failure was owing to insincerity on 

 the part of Spain, or to mismanagement on that of the 

 British ministry, certain it is that Mr Cumberland did 

 not receive the treatment to which he was entitled from 

 his employers. The promises made to him before he 

 set out were not fulfilled — his bills upon his bankers 

 were dishonoured by the treasury — in consequence of 

 this, he was arrested at Bayonne on his way home, by 

 order from his remittancers at Madrid, while labouring 

 under the violence of a fever — he had incurred so much 

 expence, though abundantly economical, as to put him 

 under the necessity of selling every acre of his heredi- 

 tary estate, in order to liquidate his debts— all the ap« 



Cumber- 

 land, 

 Richard. 



