1810.] 
‘least, in the quiet possession of their 
seats, 
While these transactions were medi- 
tating in the north, a storm was pre- 
paring in the south, to erush the for- 
tunes, darken the expectations, and put 
an end to the influence, of the hardy 
Peer, who had thus presumed to counter- 
act the views of the favourite, and create 
an influence, in direct opposition to his 
family. By way of effectually prevent- 
ing the two friends of the Duke from 
reaping the benefit of his patronage, it 
was resolved to annihilate, by one single 
sweeping stroke of authority, the power 
and interest of’ the family of Portland, in 
the county of Cumberland. Accordingly, 
in the month of December, 1767, a grant 
was inade, in due form by the Lords of the 
Treasury, to Sir James Lowther, of an 
extensive and valuable estate, known 
by the name of Inglewood forest, being 
part of,, and appurtenant to, the manor 
of Penrith, in the county already men- 
tioned. To this was added, the peer- 
age of Carlisle, granted by King Wil- 
ham UI. to his favourite, the first Earl of 
Portland, by way of remuneration for his 
services, and which, whether -worthily 
bestowed or not, had hitherto been con- 
sidered as an inheritance, descending re- 
gularly from father to son, through seve- 
ral generations, without hindrance, ‘mo- 
lestation, or objection. Every thing on 
this Occasion was conducted with all the 
due forms of office. Sir James Lowther, 
by memorial, prayed a lease of the lands 
In question, and on a reference to the 
Surveyor-General, that gentleman, al- 
though no lawyer, was about to decide, 
““ that the premises were not comprised 
within the grant from King William to 
the Earl of Portiand, but remained still 
vested in the crown,?? He concluded a 
most elaborate report, by recommending 
to the Lords of the Treasury, to grant 
the lease demanded, at a very inconsi- 
derable reserved rent.* 
Hlowever secret these proceedings 
might be, they were at length disclosed, 
and the tenant in possession, being of 
course alarmed, adopted the necessary 
steps to counteract such a conspiracy 
against his fortune. His agents, how- 
ever, were refused permission to examine 
the rolls, on which the report was sup- 
posed to have been founded ; he himself 
was referred from Whitehall to the Survey- 
* The reserved rent for the forest of In- 
glewood, éc. &c. was thirteen shillings and 
four pence! 
Memoirs of the late Duke of Portland. 
589 
or’s office, and from the Surveyov’s office 
to Whitehall: in fine, the whole was in- 
volved in secrecy and equivocation. At 
length, notwithstauding a positive pro- 
mise, that nothing should be decided 
without a due hearing, the Duke, to his 
great surprise, received an official let- 
ter, dated Dec. 22, 1767, intimaring, 
that the grants were passed, and leases 
signed, although a caveut had been eu- 
tered at the proper place, to prevent be- 
ing taken by surprise. On Lord North, 
who had just become Chancellor of the 
Exchequer, being remonstrated with on 
this occasion, he replied, “That he had 
received directions to affix the seal zn- 
stanter, and that he was compelled, in 
virtue of his office, to obey all orders from 
the Treasury Board.” Perhaps, had he 
spoken his sentiments freely and confi- 
dentially, he would, like Dido, have im- 
puted the whole to the ‘ Novitas 
Regni,’ which forced him to do violence 
to his own feelings. 
At length, on the 20th of November, 
1771, this great cause, which had raised 
the expectations of the whule country, 
and aroused the indignation of the coun- 
ty of Cumberland, was tried before the 
Barons of the Exchequer, in Westmin- 
ster-hall; but it was greatly narrowed, 
so as to assume the form and substance 
of the following question: “ Whether 
the late grant of the forest of Inglewood 
to Sir James Lowther, Bart. was legal 
or not?’ The Earl of Rosslyn, then 
Mr. Wedderburne, was Counsel for the 
Crown, and Mr. Thurlow, afterwards 
Baron Thurlow and Chancellor, ded for 
the Duke of Portland. After a long 
trial, the new leases were adjudged to 
be invalid, as being in direct opposition 
to the statute of the ist Anne, declaring, 
“ that upon every grant from the Crown, 
there shall bea reserved rent, not Jess 
than the third part of the clear yearly 
value of such manor, estate, &c. as 
shall be contamed in such grant.” 
Daring the whole of the American 
contest, the Duke was eminently con- 
sistent, exhibiting on all occasions a de- 
gree of firmness, zeal, and resolution, 
that obtained for him, on one hand, the 
confidence of the opposition of that day 
—an opposition, in which nearly all the 
talents, and most of the wealth, of the 
country, were concentrated and combined 
—as well as the love of the people—a 
people not then subservient from influ- 
ence, or timid from the dread of power. 
No sooner had the members been - 
hunted into the toils, dismissed, and, as 
was 
