1802, ] 
individuals of this refpeCtable party were 
the ingenious, fprightly, and eloquent 
Dr. Goffet; Mr. Henley, no lefs xemark- 
able for his profound learning than for 
his mild and amiabie chara@ler; the Jearn- 
ed bibliographer, Mr. Paterfon; the ingé- 
pious Mr. Walker, to whom the art of 
{peaking,and the theory of elocutionare fo 
much indebted; Mr. Tocke, whohas obliged 
the public with fo many _hiftorical works 
on the immenfe empire of Ruffia. . . 2. » 
- &€ Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit.” 
London, F. DaMIANL, 
Feb. 6, 1802. 
oe 
AccounT of the late THOMAS LORD 
FAIRFAX. 
HIS nobleman, defcended from a very 
ancient family in Yorkfhire, was 
born in the latter end of the feventeenth 
century; the precife year is unknown, 
But it is fuppofed to have been about 
1691.* He wasthe eldeft fon of Thomas 
fitth Lord Fairfax, of Cameron, in the 
kingdom of Scotland, by Catherine only 
daughter and heirefs of Thomas Lord 
Culpepper ; and inherited from his mo- 
ther a princely fortune, confifting of feve- 
ral manors and eftates in the county of 
Kent, among which were the venerable 
manfion in the vicinity of Maidftone, 
ealled Leeds Caftle, with the lands apper- 
tenant; landed property to a confiderable 
amount in, the Ifle of Wight; and that 
immenfe tract of land in Virginia, called 
the Northern Neck, comprifed within the 
boundaries of the rivers Potowmac and 
Rappahanock, containing by eftimation 
five millions, feven hundred thaufand 
acres. 
The early part of his Lordfhip’s life is 
unknown. We know, however, that his 
father died while he was yet young, and 
that in confequence of this he, two bro- 
thers, and four fifters, were left under the 
guardianfhip of their mother Lady Fair- 
fax, and the Dowager Lady Culpepper, 
who was a Princefs of the Houfe of Heffe- 
Caffel. Thefe ladies, who feem to have 
been difagreeable in many refpeéts to their 
ward, took care, however, to give him a 
good education ; and he was fent at a pro- 
per age to the Univerfity of Oxford, where 
he became highly efteemed for his Jearning 
andaccomplifhments. The circumftance 
of his being one of the writers in the 
Speétator, a work that did honour to our 
* See Dr, Burnaby’s Travels, 34 edition, 
Fage 135. 
MONTHLY Mac, No, 84« 
Account of the late Thomas Lord Fairfax.’ 
137 
nation, is a/high proof of his carly profi- 
ciency ; and in addition to this we learn, 
that his judgment was frequently appeal- 
ed toon literary fubjects. 
‘It may be eafily imagined that, to a 
young man fo qualified by nature and 
education a military life could not have 
many charms; we find, however, that he 
entered into the regiment of horfe, called 
the ‘* Oxford’ Blues ;”’ but in this, per- . 
haps, as on other occafions, he was over- 
ruled by his female guardians, who feem 
to have exerted their authority in a man- 
ner that could not fail to be difagreeable 
to a young man of fpirit and difcernment. 
One circumftance in particular‘ made'a 
deep impreffion on his mind, and even 
gave bias to his future life. When his 
brother Henry had attained the age of 
twenty-one, the ladies Culpepper. and 
Fairfax, actuated byjthe fpirit of family. 
pride, threatened to deprive him of the 
proprietary lands in America, if he did 
not confent to cut off the entail, and feld 
Denton Hall, and the Yorkfhire eftates 
which had been in the poffeffion of the 
Fairfaxes for fome centuries, in order to 
redeem the manors that de{cended to his 
mother as heirefs of the late Lord Culpep- 
per. With this propofition he reluce 
tantly complied, and the lands in queftion 
were fold for lefs money than the timber 
alone produced, | 
On the death of the old ladies, againft 
whom he had conceived a violent difgutt, 
Lord Fairfax left the army, and began ta 
inquire into the fituation of -his affairs, 
After the proper inquiries he difcovered, 
that his mother had been greatly impofed 
upon by her agent in America, woo had 
enriched himielf by mal-verfation. On 
this he wrote to/his firft coufin Mr. Wil- 
liam Fairfax, who refidedin NewEngiand, 
and prevailed upon that gentleman to re- 
move to Weltmoreland county in Vir- 
ginia, and undertake the management of 
the Northern Neck. On this,’ his affairs 
in America inftantly aflumed a more fa- 
vourable afpedt; for, as the lands were let 
at the moderate rate of two fhillings for 
every hundred acres, they were {peediiy® 
occupied, and a large and permanent 
income was obtained for the proprie- 
tor... 
His Lordfhip about the year 1739 hav~ 
ing conceived the idea of vifiting Virginia, 
and fuperintending the cultivation of the 
immenfe_territory of which he was the 
proprictor, embarked for the Trans 
Aulantic Continent, and, on his arrival 
there, en twelve months at the houle 
0° 
