1798.] » 
ties, he betrayed none of the fervility of a cour- 
tier. So fatisfatory indeed was his conduct, 
that he was employed by the Marquis of 
Lanfdowne, then Lord Shelburne, and the 
efficient minifter of the cab'net, to regulate the 
king’s houthold, and dire€&t the reform agree- 
ably to the tenor of the aét. This he cxe- 
cuted with fo much care, that the then Pre- 
mier was preparing to entruft him with a 
more impor ant department, when. he. himfelf 
was obliged, by a fudden change in public 
affairs, to re ire from the helm. 
On Mr. Pitt’s acceffion to power, Mr. Gil- 
bert wes introduced in:o the fituation held by 
the late Sir Charles Whitworth, in conf¢- 
uence of which, he b>came chairman of the 
tae of Ways and Means, the dutics of 
which offic, wer: «xccuted by him with great 
impartiali y and attention, notwithitanding 
his incrafing age and infirmiies. Having 
now, as he thought. obiain.d the car of the 
minifter, Mr, G. oace more applied to his fa- 
yourite plan for bettering the condition of the 
poor, and eafing the expence of maintaining 
them. He accordingly prepared, and carried 
through the houfs of Peers and Commons 
two bills, oue for an: wr turn of the expences 
att-nding the main’enanc: ofthe poor; the 
othe;, fora 1i% of all charitabie donations, left 
for their fupport 
By the return made to the former of thefe, it 
appeared, that t!e increafed expences, in only 
fen years, wis fu'l half a million of money, 
the whole charge now exc-eding two millions 
fterling! This eyidently demonftrated the 
n:ceffity of an cficacious remedy, and Mr. G. 
fuggetted one, but could n ver procure the 
confidence of the Premier, fo asto induce iim 
fo give ic his decided fupport. Di:guited-with 
this negleét, he finaliy abandon-d his plan, 
which a very wortiiy member of the houfe has 
fince tak n up, but from the very fame mct've 
he alfo has been obliged to re!inquith it. Sub. 
f-quent tothat period, M:. Pitt brought forward 
bis own poor bill, in which he was expect d 
to have topped iintmortal glory, ard by imnrov- 
ing the fituation of a numeroys ciafs of the 
commuinity,to hay: becsme the benef Gtor of 
his country. It was however evidently ce- 
monftrat don this humiliating occafion, ‘hat all 
the gaudy tplendour of impaion. d eloquence, 
evén when backed by the acquicefcence of a 
Jarge mojority, was incapable of pzoppiag up 
aiyitem, razically defie:ent in ftability, erc&t- 
ed on difcorda t elements, and planned by a 
man, utterly ignoract of the nature of his ma- 
terias. Thus, a fchene forme in hafte, was 
abandoned with precipitatio-, and all gvod 
men were lefcto lament, tnat a vain defire of 
pre-eminence h.d deprived the original archi- 
tect of the glors of .onpleting his own w rks. 
But this worthy fenator did not confine his 
exertions for the good of his country :o the 
Heufe of Commons. Wie had a very confid:ra- 
ble fhare in prompting the execu ion of the 
fecord canal in point of confequence ia this 
Kingdom, that of the crasd Trunk, to the 
Mon tury Mac. No. xxxrx, 
Account of Thomas Gilbert, Eq. 485 
prom ition of wh'ch he dedicated a confiderable 
portion of his time. 
On the death of his fi: ft wife, Mr. G. mare 
ried Mails Crawfurd, fitter of P. Crawfurd, 
efg. an amiable woman, with whom he retired 
to fpend the evening of life at his paternal 
eftate at Cotten, afpot fituated among the 
barren moors of Staffordfhire, but which, wich 
‘great labour and confiderable expence he had 
converted into a defirable place of refidence. 
A moft patriotic motion was made by this 
gentleman in the Houle of Commons, during 
the American conteft, the object cf which was to 
lay a tax on all placemen and penfioners; a 
certain portion out of all their falarics and 
finecures, was to be returned into the public 
treafury, for the fupport of the war, It is 
aloft unneceflary to remark, that this was 
eppofed by the whole mipifterial phalanx 
that bolftered up Lord North’s adminiftration, 
and who, although they had plunged their 
country into an improvident and calamitous 
difpute, yet would not confent to alleviate 
the buagdens of their fellow fubjeéts, by fa- 
crificing even the cheefe-parings of office. A 
fimilar attempt, made in the prefent day, has 
experienced a fimilar fate. 
After {pending the better part of his life, 
in fchemes for bettering the condition of the 
community at large, Mr. Gilbert, towards 
evening of it, refided at his paternal eftate, and 
endeavoured in a happy obfcurity, to perform 
all the domeftic and focial duties, until he 
ceafed to be numbered with the living. 
WARWICKSHIRE. 
Married.) At Birmingham, Mr. Wood, of 
Hatton, to Mifs Dickinfon. 
At Aiton Church, Mr. John Hipkifs, mer- 
chant, to Mifs Colemore, of Camphill, near 
Birmingham. 
' At Brofeley, Mr. Richard Mafon, of Bir- 
mingham, to Mifs Grundy, of the former 
place. 
At Edgbafton, Mr. George Swain to Mifs 
Ann Earl. 
Died.| At Birmingham, Mr. Samuel Bol- 
ton. Aged 22, Mrs. Rebecca Pimlott. In 
his 44th year, Mr. John Weavell. Mary 
Letitia. Mellward.. Mrs. Pilcher. In. her 
Soth year, Mrs. Wilkinfon. 
At Coventry, George Lott, efq. barrack- 
mafter. Mits, Lee. Mr. Jofeph Watfon, 
Mis. Sarrow. Aged 61, Mr. John Piggott. 
At Sheepy Hall, Warwick, after a tew 
davs illne{s, the Countefs Dowager Carhamp- 
ton, widow of the late, and mother to the 
prefent Lord Carhampton, and the Duchefs 
of Cumberland. 
At Sutton, Mr. Wilkins. 
Mr. Dawes, parith clerk of Solihull. 
At Handf{worth, Mrs. Warner. 
At Sheldon, aged 79, Mr. Jofiah Moggs, 
At Afhted, in his 8-d year, Mr. Allport. 
At Redditch, Mr. Thomas Field. 
Mifs Ann Baines, daughter of the Rev. 
Rovert Baines, rector of aliord. oe 
At 
a 




