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able anJ lucrative preferment. However, hh merit was re- 

 conipenfcd in 1 7 1 1 , by advancement to the dignity of a peer 

 of Grent Britain, under the title of lord Bathurll, baron 13a- 

 thurll of Battlefden iji the county of Bedford. Upon the 

 acceflion of kintj George I. tlie political friends of his lord- 

 fhip were in difgrace, and fomc of them were aftually ex- 

 pofed to the profecuiion of governnunt ; and yet his attacli- 

 ment to them remained finm and unchangeable. He even 

 avowed his difapprobation of the treatment they fuffercd, 

 which he confidered as fevcre and vindielivc ; and on this 

 occafion he is faid to have obftrvcd, in ilrong and poignant 

 terms, " that the king of a fadlion was only the fovereign 

 of half his fubjcas." His zeal in defence of his friends 

 was manii^eded by his joining in the protcfta agaiuil the at- 

 tainder of lord Bolingbroke and the duke of Ormond ; and 

 bv his oppofing the profecution, and concurring in the una- 

 nimous acq'ilttal, of lord Oxford. In 17 16, he oppofcd the 

 feplennial bill ; and united with thirty peers in entering his 

 reafons for dilfenting from it, as a violation of the conlhtu- 

 tion. From the commencement of the year 1718, he took 

 an aftive and diflinguiihed part, for the ("pace of twenty-five 

 years, in every matter of importance that came before the 

 upper houfe of parliament, and he ilcadily oppofed the niea- 

 fures of the court, and the adminillrati.-n of fir Robert 

 Walpole. Lord Bathurll was a zealous advocate for bifliop 

 Atterbury ; and dittingniilifd hirafcif, in 1723, on the third 

 reading of the bill for iiifliding pains and penalties on that 

 ingenious and celebrated prelate. In 1727, he opened the 

 debate on the king's fpeech, and (Irenucufly oppofed a war 

 with Spain, which then threatened the country. " What 

 (faid he) can ws get by the war, if it be a fuccefsful one ? 

 I'll fay it in one word, nothing. What can we lofe, if it be 

 improfperous ? I'll fay it in one word, in a fyllable, all." 

 In the year 1731, he fupported the bill againll permitting 

 penfioners to fit in the houfe of commons ; he moved an 

 addrefs to the king for difcharging the 1 2,ocX3 Heffian troojjs 

 in the pay of Great Britain ; and in the next parliament, 

 he very ably ri-fifted the undue taxation of the poor, on the 

 bill for the revival of the i'alt-duty. On another occafion 

 he difplayed his parliamentary talents, by the fupport of the 

 carl of Oxford's motion for reducing the number bt forces 

 to 12,000 efieilive men, and vindicated the expedience and 

 ufefulnefs of a national militia, as the moil proper and con- 

 ilitntional mode of defence in a free country. In a hibie- 

 quent debate on the mutiny bill, his lordftiip declared him- 

 felf, with great eloquence and fpirit, againll a large Hand- 

 ing army, and in'favour of a national militia. Among other 

 things, he particularly urged the importance of all men in 

 the k'Mgdom, or at leailall freeholders, farmers, and fubftan- 

 tial merchants and tradefmen, providing tliemfelves with 

 arms, and training themftlves to military difcipline. He 

 likewife declared his utter difapprobation of the method 

 .that had been adopted of alienating the finking fund, and 

 applying it to other objefts befides the payment of tlie pub- 

 lic debts. Lord Bathurll was uniform and a6tive in oppof- 

 ing the meafures of fir Robert Walpole's adminiftration, 

 particularly with regard to the tranfatlions that regarded 

 the Spanifli depredations, and the convention with Spain, 

 and the fubfequent conduft of the war with that kingdom ; 

 and he exerted himfclf, with fingular ability, in the debate 

 that lalled two days, on the queftion, whether an addrefs 

 fho'.ild be prcfented to the king for the removal of this minif- 

 Ue from his majefty's prefence and councils for ever. 

 When his lordfhip had accepted a place, in conjundion 

 with fome of his friends, his reafoning, in 1743, '" vindica- 

 tion of the propriety and ncceffity of retaining the Hano- 

 trcriati forces in the fervice of England, was i'oincwliat differ- 



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ent from the fentiments he had avowed on a former occa- 

 fion ; but- he was probably led to approve and defend this 

 meafure by the critical fituation of our foreign affairs, and 

 argued in its favour from a conviftion of its prudence and 

 reftitude. W^halcver opinions may be entertained of lord 

 Bathurll's political principles, and of the general reafons 

 upon which his oppofitiou to the whig minillry was found- 

 ed, the hiilory of that period will furuiih fcarcely any cha- 

 rafter, in which we may difcovcr lefs difcrepancy of con- 

 duel than in that of his lordlhip. We fliall clofe this brief 

 recital of his political hiilory with the teflimony of an ano- 

 nymous writer, who delivered it at a time in which his ta- 

 lents were in tlieir full exertion and difplay. " Lord Ba- 

 thurll, in all he fays, carries al.uig with him that conviftion 

 which arifes fron-' a warm fcnfe of liberty and virtue, diredl- 

 cd by great abilities and a moll cxquifite difcernment. He 

 was called to the lu.ufe of lords by means of the Tory inter- 

 eft, upon a particular exigence of Hate ; and therefore it 

 michthavc been prefumed,that he was entirely devoted to that 

 partv. Yet he has chofen his principles of government fo 

 happily from what is commendable in both parties, that, 

 upon whichfoever fide he fpeaks, he is always oblerved to 

 lean to the extremes of neither." Gent. Mag. vol. x, 



P- i°3- 



Lord Bathurll was married, in 1 704, to Catherine, daugh- 

 ter and heirefs of fir Peter Aplley, by whom he had four 

 fons and five daughters. Having refigned, in 17^14, the of- 

 fice of captain of his majefty's band of gentlemen penfioners, 

 to which he was appointed in 1742, his lordlhip was in no 

 public employment till the year 1757, when he was ap- 

 pointed trcafurer to the prefent king, then prince of Wales, 

 in which office he continued till the deatii of George II. 

 At his majefty's acceffion in 1760, he declined the accept- 

 ance of any employment on account of his age ; b'.K in con- 

 fideration of h'S diilinguilhed merit, he had a penfion on the 

 Irifli ellablilhment of 2000 1. a year. " As his lordfhip's abi- 

 lities and integrity," fays an impartial and candid biogra- 

 pher, " in public life, gained him the elleem even of his 

 political opponents, fo in private life, his humanity and be- 

 nevolence excited the affeiiion of all who were honoured 

 with his more intimate acqr.aintance.^' — " To his other 

 virtues lord Bathurll added ail the good-breeding, polite- 

 nefs and elegance of focial intercourfe. No perfon of rank, 

 perhaps, ever knew better how to unite " Otium cum dig- 

 nitate." The improvements he made round his feat at Ci- 

 renceller were worthy of his fortune, -and fliewed the gran- 

 deur of his tafte." In this refpeil Mr. Pope (Works, 

 vol. ii. p. 170. ed. 1776.) paid him a jud and fine com- 

 pliment : 



" Who then fliall grace, or who improve the foil I 

 Who plants like Bathurll, oiwho builds like Boyle?" 

 The fame excellent poet, in liis tpiille to Lord Bathurft on 

 the ufe of riches, has no lefs juUIy expreifed his lordfhip's 

 knowledge of the right mode of employing a large for- 

 tune : 



" The fenfe to value riches, with the art 

 T' enjoy them, and the virtue to impart, 

 Not meanly, nor ambitioufly purfued. 

 Not funk by floth, not railed by fervitude ; 

 To balance fortune by a juft expence, 

 Join with economy, magnificence ; 

 With fplendour, charity ; with plenty, health ; 

 Oh teach us, Bathurft, yet unfpoil'd by wealth ! 

 That fecret rare, between th' extremes to move, 

 Of mad good-nature, or of mean felf-love." 

 His lordHiip's wit, tafte, and learning led him to feck the 

 .^f quaintancc of men of genius j and he was intimately con- 



ncifled 



