ey 
468 
was a merchant in the Virginia trade, 
which he began with a very inconsiderable 
capital 5 but his rigid honesty and dexterity 
in business, having recommended him to some 
great mercantile houses, they adopted his in- 
tetest, and by liberal loans enabled him to 
extend the circle of his commerce: from this 
assistance the house of Baring soon rose to 
consideration, in a city where wealth and ta- 
lents for business are estimated at their pro- 
per Value. With parental fondness Mr, 
Baring watched over the education of his son, 
in order to render him a complete man of 
business, till he was sent to a reputable school 
under a Mr. Coleman, the author of several 
zhathematical treatises. Jt was here he ac- 
quired the talent for which he was must dis- 
tinguished; for in calculations made on the 
spot, admitting of no previous study, he was 
certainly considered as unequalled. Upon 
the death of his father he was esteemed a 
most worthy successor; and the richest 
Houses, and the most wealthy heiresses, at 
the east-end of the town, considered him asa 
@esirable partner. He at length married the 
daughter of Mr. Beston, an opulent mer- 
chant. Mr. Baring, from a proprietor, ha- 
wing become a director of the East India 
Company in the -year 1784, canvassed the 
©orpish borough of Grampaund, and took 
his seat in the House of Commons. The 
nation was then just beginning to recover 
from the effects of the American revolution, 
and Mt. Baring bad the honour of being con- 
sulted by the Premier with respect to the 
means te be adopted on this occasion. ‘His 
wealth, talents, and activity, augmented his 
favour and importance with Mr. Pitt’s admi- 
mistration. He was considered as one of the 
strongest links of the monied aristrocracy; and 
was created 2 baronet in 1793. It is well 
known that.the system of this country, with 
segard to all its foreign possessions, has ever 
been that of exclusive monopoly; according- 
3y, when the whole body of English mere 
_chants demanded some participation in the 
Kast Indian traffic, Sir Francis came forward 
as the advocate of the company. He in- 
sisted that their heavy expence and their ac- 
tual public services composed'a debt, to the 
discharge of which an eternal monopoly of 
the East India trade would scarcely be suffi- 
cient! It is needless-to add, that the charter 
was again renewed; andthe relief of the bdoy 
.of English merchants, from what their peti- 
tion cailed ** oppressive monopoly,” was left, 
like other evils, to 
or the shock.of some revolution. 
e. gradual effect of time, 
In 4796, 
upon Sir John Jervis being rewarded witha - 
peerage, and vacating his seat for Chipping 
Wycombe, Sir Francis Baring was elected for 
Account of the late Sir Francis Baritg, Bart. 
[Dec. 1, 
that borough 3 and at the general election in 
1802, he was again returned for the same 
place. Sir Francis was esteemed as not less 
amiable in domestic than in public life. Al- 
though of a grave cast of mind, he was not 
without a relish for social enjoyments, and 
was, till within a few years past, seldom ab- 
sent from the parties and entertainments of 
his friends The routes-of his lady were 
reckoned among some of the most brilliant 
in town; but he preferred the more 
tranquil enjoyments of a domestic circle, to 
those gay, but promiscuous, assemblies. His 
table was such as became his wealth, and his 
solid hospitality was perfectly suitable to the 
opulent character of an English merchant. 
His talents were of a very superior cast, and 
highly improved by reading. Few men under- 
stood the real interests of trade better; and it 
may surely beadded, few men ever arrived to 
the highest rank and honour of commercial 
life with mote unsullied integrity. At his 
death, he was unquestionably the fitst mer- 
chant in Europe; first in knowledge and ta- 
Jents, and first in character and opulence. 
His name was known and respected in every 
commercial quarter of the globe; and by the 
East India company, and other public trading 
‘bodies, he.was consulted as a man of con- 
summate knowledge and inflexible honour. 
Throughout his long and respectable life, he 
acted on those steady principles which seldom _ 
fail to raise men to opulence and credit, al= 
though they may not always enable them ta 
shine with such superior lustre. -One ob- 
struction Sir Francis Baring had to contend 
with from his earliest days, an incurable 
deafness. By the usual helps, however, he 
‘contrived that this should very little impede 
his communications, and both in Parjiament, 
and as chairman to the East India company, 
his opinion was so highly valued, that every 
pains was taken to prevent the subject in de- 
bate from suffering by his infirmity. ‘Hig 
private, as well as public life, if faithfully 
delineated would form a most instructive lese 
son to the mercantile world, and a lesson par- 
ticularly necessary at a time when so many 
seem to forget or despise the genuine attri- 
butes of an English merchant, and aspire at 
sudden and unspbstantial wealth and credite 
by the paltry speculations of mere fraud and 
low cunning. On the contrary, the soundest 
principles and truest policy laid the founda. 
tion of Sir Francis Baring’s fortune and cha- 
racters and guided hiin in all his transactions. 
Jn future annals he will rank with the illus- 
trious names of Gresham, Firmin, and Bay- 
nard, men who have formed the English chia- 
Facter, and te whom English commerce is ine 
debted for its superiority. 
’ 
PROVINCIAL — 
