456 Memoirs of the late Moft. Noble Francis Duke of Bedford. [ Tune 1, 
the rank of the perfons with whom he con- 
verfed, he never made them feel any fupe- 
riority but that of his talents. He difliked 
praife or compliment, and in all his pur- 
fuits it never could be difcovered that 
vanity made any part cf the motive. 
A greatnefs of mind was confpicuous in 
every thing he underto.k. Though better 
acquainted with matters of bufinels in 
the detail than moft men, yet a great- 
nefs of defign is evident in all his plans ; 
he never undertook any thing upon a {mall 
or trifling fcale. The magnificence of the 
improvements on the Bioomfbury eftate 
were corre(pondent to. the taite of the pro- 
prietor. As his difpofition was fanguine, 
he was never lukewarm in any purtfuit y 
and to this he added indefatigable perfe- 
verance. Had it pleafed Providence to 
rolong his uleful lite, he would have pro- 
bably effected more for the improvement 
of his country than any individual of the 
prefent age, without excepting the Duke 
of Bridgewater himfelf. He was indeed, 
as we faid before, in all refpeéts, the man 
of the public. His occupations, and even his 
amufements were all connected with pub 
lic utility; aod he ftrongly verified Lord 
Bacon’s oblervation, that great improve- 
ments generally proceed from unmarried 
and childlefs men, who, unincumbered 
with the cares of a family, feem to have 
married and endowed the public. 
As a politician he was firm but mode- 
rate; he did not like to be confidered as a 
party-man. His oppofition to the late 
miniftry, we know, proceeded from the 
pureft principles. Of a family whom not 
only their rank and property, but the fuf- 
ferings of their ancefiors had attached to 
the caufe of the people, that caufe he made 
hisown. The foundnefs of his judgment 
could not fail to deteét the extravagant 
and puerile {chemes in which the weak 
ambition of the late minifters had involved 
the country ; he forefaw the iflue, he fore- 
told it, he lamented it, he in vain endea- 
voured to avert it. He was faltely and 
unjuftly charged with being favourable to 
French principles.—-No man faw more 
clearly, or regretted more ferioufly, the ab- 
furdities and atrocities in which miftaken 
notions of liberty had involved that nation ; 
and this very fentiment Jed him the more 
earneftly to oppofe meafures, which, by 
deranging our finances, were likely in this 
country to produce the dangers and difaf- 
tersofarevolution. He wasa Whig upon 
the good old principles, and never was poli- 
tical condu& more difinterefted than his, 
Since it was his decided refolution never 
to accept a piace under any sdminiftratior®. 
The goodnefs of his heart and the ex- 
cellence of his temper could be only known 
to thofe who enjoyec the happineis of his 
acquaintance. Though ardent in his 
friendihips, as well as his puriuits, we do 
not know that he ever made or ever had 
one private enemy. In his converiation 
nothing efcaped that could hurt the feel- 
ings of another; and we can only add, 
that all that has been ftated to his advan- 
tage upon this fubjeét, by Mr. Fox, muft 
corre(pond exa&tly with the fentiments of 
all who knew him. 
Wroarle he ved for the public, he was. 
unfortunately inattentive to himiclf; and 
while he was exa& and methodical to a 
great degree in the management of his 
affairs, he was often found negligent of 
thofe little comforts which many perfons 
in inferior fituations are ftudious to enjoy. 
Yet parfimeny made no part of his cha- 
ratter.—No mafter was ever more beloved 
by his domeftics, no landlord more refpect- 
ed by anumerous.tenantry. His private 
charities were great, but he was defirous 
of concealing them even from his moft 
intimate friends. On the other hand, he 
took an active and confpicuous fhare in 
every public inftitution for the promotion 
of thofe arts which are moft efiential to 
the welfare of a country ; and where his 
name and example could be of fervice, 
they were never withheld. Though his 
income was immenfe, he never thought of 
referving any part of it; it was all confu- 
med by his bounty and his improvements 5 
and fo great and extenfive were his plans, 
that, in the words of Mr.Fox, ‘his mu- 
nificence might, if he had lived, have en- 
gaged him in expences, to which even his 
princely fortune would have been found 
inadequate.” 
Such a character cannot but be efteem- 
ed asa ferious lofs to the public, in an 
age when a felfifh luxury feems to abforb 
all the better and more generous feelings, 
and when patriotifm is fo generally facri~ 
ficed at the fhrine of Corruption. His 
Grace’s memory mult not only live in the 
hearts of many whom he has individually 
ferved and obliged, but we cannot think 
fo ill of our countrymen as to fuppoie that 
the general forrow which his death occa- 
fioned was a momentary effufion; on 
the contrary we are convinced that his 
name will continue long to be refpeéted 
as the difinterefted patriot, the promoter 
of ufeful fcience, the benefactor of the 
induftrious poor, the patron of agricul- 
ture, and the friend of man. 
BIOGRA- 
