stances of able disposition and well-concerted enterprise, which might fairly be attributed to his capacity as a general. You say that he has acquired nothing but honour in the field. Is the ordnance nothing? Are the Blues nothing? Is the command of the army, with all the patronage annexed to it, nothing? Where he got these nothings I know not; but you at least ought to have told us where he deserved them."

Charles Yorke.

BORN A. D. 1723.-DIED A. D. 1770.

THE honourable Charles Yorke, second son of Lord-chancellor Hardwicke, by Mary Cocks, niece of Lord Somers, was born 10th January, 1723. He received his education under Dr Newcomb at Hackney, whence he removed to Cambridge, and was admitted of Bennet college the 13th June, 1739, under the tuition of Mr Francis Aylmer. Here he pursued his studies for some years with unremitting attention, and then entered himself of Lincoln's inn, where he was called to the bar. His application and eloquence soon recommended him to the notice of the profession, and early produced him a considerable share of business. On the alarm of a designed invasion from France in 1743, he composed and published a tract on the law of treason, entitled, Some Considerations on the Law of Forfeiture for High Treason; occasioned by a clause in the late Act for making it treason to correspond with the Pretender's sons, or any of their agents,' &c. 8vo. This volume was afterwards republished in 1746 and 1748 with improvements.

He had been, in 1747, appointed, together with his brother John, joint clerk of the crown in Chancery, and soon after he became attorney-general to the princess of Wales. In 1747 he was chosen member for Ryegate,- -a borough he continued ever after to represent. On the 3d of July, 1751, he succeeded Mr Joddrell as solicitor to the East India company; and continuing to advance in the profession, on the 6th November, 1756, was appointed solicitor-general, which post he held until the 27th December, 1761, when he was promoted to that of attorney-general.

He had now arrived at that situation, the next step from which is generally to the highest honour and elevation the law affords; but the change of ministry obliged him, 2d November, 1763, to resign his post. At the same time he took his seat outside of the bar; but this measure being attended with some inconvenience to the practitioners, he accepted a patent of precedence to take place of all after the attorney-general. Early in 1770 Lord Camden resigned the great seal; and on the 17th of January, Mr Yorke was prevailed upon reluctantly to become his successor, with the title of Lord Morden, Baron Morden, in the county of Cambridge. He survived this appointment but a few days, dying before the patent for his peerage was completed.

Mr Yorke was twice married. By his first wife, Catharine, daughter of the Rev. Dr William Freeman of Hammells, in the county of Hertford, who died, July 10, 1759, he had one son, who became earl of Hardwicke. Besides some of the Athenian letters printed in his bro

ther's collection, Mr Yorke proved the truth of Mr Hawkins Browne's observation,

Three poems of singular taste and delicacy, by Mr Yorke, are to be found in Nichols's Collection of Poems,' vol. vi. p. 297.

John, Duke of Bedford.

BORN A. D. 1710.-DIED A. D. 1771.

THIS nobleman was born on the 30th of September, 1710. In 1744 he was added to the list of privy counsellors, and next year made lordlieutenant of Bedfordshire. In what was at the time called 'the Broadbottom ministry,' from its professing to be composed of all parties, the duke of Bedford was first lord of the admiralty; and, in 1748, he was appointed secretary of state on the resignation of the earl of Chesterfield. On the dismissal of Lord Sandwich, the duke resigned, and his place was filled by Lord Holdernesse. In 1756, on the elevation of Pitt to the premiership, the duke of Bedford was appointed to the chief government of Ireland. In the new ministry of 1763 the office of president of the council, vacant by the death of Lord Grenville, was given to the duke of Bedford; whose influence was so great in the government that this ministry came to be generally distinguished as the duke of Bedford's ministry.

In the session of 1765, the ministers, in the language of Junius, "having endeavoured to exclude the dowager (princess of Wales) out of the regency bill, the earl of Bute determined to dismiss them. Upon this the duke of Bedford demanded an audience of the king,-reproached him in plain terms with duplicity, baseness, falsehood, treachery, and hypocrisy,-repeatedly gave him the lie,-and left him in strong convulsions.' At this crisis the king made unsuccessful overtures to Pitt. Horace Walpole writing to Lord Hertford, under date 20th August, 1765, says: "Words cannot paint the confusion into which every thing is thrown. The four ministers,-I mean the duke of Bedford, Grenville, and the two secretaries,―acquainted their master yesterday that they adhere to one another, and shall all resign to-morrow, and perhaps must be recalled on Wednesday." On the 24th he writes: "On Wednesday the ministers dictated their terms; you will not expect much moderation, and, accordingly, there was not a grain."

The duke died on the 15th of January, 1771. He is accused by Junius of having outraged the royal dignity with peremptory conditions, and then condescended to the humility of soliciting an interview with his sovereign; of mixing with jockeys, gamesters, blasphemers, gladiators, and buffoons; of openly avowing, in a court of justice, the sale of a borough, the purchase-money of which, it is added in a note, he was compelled to refund; of being the little tyrant of a little corporation; and of having received private compensation for sacrificing public interests while ambassador to the court of France. "Your friends will ask," continues the anonymous libeller "Whither shall this unhappy old

man retire? Can he remain in the metropolis, where his life has been so often threatened, and his palace so often attacked? If he return to Wooburn, scorn and mockery await him. He must create a solitude round his estate, if he would avoid the face of reproach and derision. At Plymouth, his destruction would be more than probable; at Exeter, inevitable." "In another kingdom, indeed," Junius ironically adds, alluding to the fact of the duke having been governor-general of Ireland, "the blessings of his administration have been more sensibly felt; his virtues better understood; or, at worst, they will not, for him alone, forget their hospitality. As well might Verres have returned to Sicily!"

Henry Fox, Lord Holland.

BORN A. D. 1705.-DIED A.D. 1774.

THIS nobleman was the second son of Mr Stephen Fox, by his second wife, Christian Hope, daughter of the Rev. Charles Hope of Naseby in Lincolnshire. He was born in September, 1705. He had the misfortune to lose both his parents while he was yet a youth; and was early allowed to rush into the gaieties and frivolities of fashionable life. He became a reckless gamester, and quickly dissipated the greater part of his patrimony. Family occurrences restored him to independence, but the habits of his youth clung to him throughout life.

He left Oxford in 1724, and spent some years on the continent. At Aubigny he became acquainted with the duchess of Portsmouth, the mistress of Charles II., whose descendant he some years afterwards married; and it is said, that from her own lips he then heard what her son has stated in his historical work, that it was her firm persuasion that Charles died of poison. While abroad, Fox travelled for some time with Lord Hervey, one of the most accomplished noblemen of his day, the antagonist of Pope in satire, and of Middleton on Roman history. He was second to Hervey in his duel with Pulteney; but the two friends ultimately quarrelled about some matters not very creditable to either.1 Another of his noble friends was Lord Sunderland, afterwards duke of Marlborough, whose interest first introduced him to parliament. intimacy of these two friends was cordial and uninterrupted to the last.

The

Fox was returned to parliament, in 1735, for Hindon in Wiltshire. He espoused the cause of Sir Robert Walpole; and as his abilities were conspicuous, the minister was courteous and grateful. In 1737, Fox was appointed surveyor to the board of works; in 1743, on the fall of Sir Robert's opponents, he was appointed one of the commissioners of the treasury; and in 1746, soon after the abortive attempt of Lord Grenville to assume the premiership, he was named secretary at war. Two years before this latter elevation, Fox had married Lady Caroline Lennox, eldest daughter of the duke of Richmond. The marriage was a clandestine one, and at first gave great offence to the lady's family; but with the rise of Fox in public life and political influence, his noble father-in-law's prejudices towards him softened and ultimately he was fully recognised by his wife's relatives.

'Chesterfield.

1

Fox was a warm adherent of the duke of Cumberland, and drew upon himself no small share of the unpopularity which attached to that prince. He was accused of arbitrary principles, and branded as one of the most corrupt members of a corrupt political school. Still his talents, his energy, his habits of business, gave him great influence in the house; nor was the king displeased at Fox's adherence to the duke. In the discussions on the regency bill, Pitt and Fox, the two most rising men of the day, and upon one or other of whom it was generally expected the premiership would ultimately devolve, began to manifest considerable discordance of opinion and political views. Two parties were at this time secretly struggling for pre-eminence in the cabinet. One of these consisted of the Pelhams and their adherents; the other was headed by the duke of Cumberland and Bedford. The former party patronised Pitt; the latter, Fox; and then was begun that rivalry betwixt these two great men which was perpetuated in their still greater sons. The Pelhamites were successful in the struggle; but Fox was retained in office under them; and on the death of Mr Pelham, in 1754, was appointed secretary of state by the new premier, the duke of Newcastle. It seems probable that Pitt would have been preferred in this instance to his rival, but for the inveterate antipathy which the king was known to entertain towards him. Fox, however, insisted on being leader in the house of commons, and having a voice in the employment of the secret service money, and the nomination of the treasury members; and on these terms being refused, he declined the new secretaryship. It is believed that the princess of Wales and the chancellor prompted the duke of Newcastle to break with Fox on this occasion and although the king affected to interfere in the negotiation, and personally requested Fox to retain the office of secretary of state, yet he either did not or would not understand the reasons which Fox offered as the ground of his refusal, and declared that he would never again obtrude his favours on any one. Sir Thomas Robinson, a protegé of the duke, was appointed secretary of state and ministerial leader in the house of commons; and Fox, although he retained his office of secretary at war, became a leader of one of the opposition parties. In the next session the two rivals, Pitt and Fox, finding themselves equally slighted by the premier, united their opposition, after a formal reconcilement. The one singled out Lord Mansfield, the then solicitorgeneral, as his victim in debate; the other amused the house at the expense of his successor in office, Sir Thomas Robinson.

;

An opposition so formidably headed could not be long resisted; and the premier made overtures first to Pitt, and latterly to Fox. With the former he failed; but Fox, through the mediation of Lord Waldegrave, was brought to terms, and in November, 1755, appointed secretary of state. Sir Thomas Robinson was disposed of by being made master of the wardrobe. Fox's triumph, however, was but of short duration; the duke secretly hated him. The king, chagrined at the dismissal of Sir Thomas, and still more by the events of the war, and above all the loss of Minorca, conceived a dislike to the new secretary. Fox saw the approaching storm, and foresaw also the instability of the duke's ministry; he resolved to quit the sinking vessel, and suddenly threw up his employments. On the 11th of November, the duke gave in his own resignation, and the duke of Devonshire became premier with Pitt as secre

tary of state. This new ministry was driven from office in a few months; but eventually a ministry was arranged embracing both Pitt and Fox: the former as secretary of state and leader of the house of commons, the latter as paymaster of the forces. While in this high. ly lucrative office, which he held till 1765, Fox was boldly accused of enormous peculation. In an address from the city of London he was described as "the public defaulter of unaccounted millions." The charge, though evidently conveyed in terms of gross exaggeration, was not altogether foundationless. He amassed a princely fortune while in office, notwithstanding his well-known habits of luxury and profusion.

In 1763, at the solicitation of Lord Bute, Fox undertook to defend the peace of Fontainebleau in the house of commons. He discharged his task successfully, and received a peerage in reward. On the 6th of May, 1762, his wife was created Baroness Holland, and on the 16th of April, 1763, he was created Baron Holland of Foxley in the county of Wilts. On quitting office he made an excursion to the continent, and did not return to England until the autumn of 1768. The latter years of his life were spent in retirement. He died at Holland house, Kensington, on the 1st of July, 1774. By his marriage with Lady Caroline Lennox he had four sons: Stephen, who succeeded to his title; Henry, who died in infancy; Charles James, and Henry Edward.

Lord Holland was a statesman of high talent, and of considerable integrity for the times in which he lived. His first appearances in parliament were unpromising; but he rapidly improved, and became at last the most formidable rival of one of the greatest masters of oratory. Chesterfield says, and with too much apparent truth, that he had no fixed principles either in religion or morals; to his family he was indulgent beyond all prudence,-to his friends generous and sociable to excess. His manners were polished and uniformly urbane.

Clive, Baron Plassey.

BORN A. D. 1725.—died a. D. 1774.

ROBERT CLIVE was born at Styche, near Market-Drayton, in Shropshire, on the 29th of September, 1725. His father, Richard Clive, inherited the estate of Styche, the ancient possession of his family, but followed the business of the law. In his early youth, Robert was sent to a private school which was kept by Dr Eaton, at Lostock in Cheshire. The doctor soon observed that, in courage and sagacity, young Clive far surpassed his fellows, and is said to have predicted in the schoolboy the future hero. "If," said he, "that lad should live to be a man, and an opportunity be given for the exertion of his talents, few names will be greater than his." From this school, at the age of eleven, he was removed to another at Market-Drayton, whence he was sent to Merchant-tailor's school, London. He did not long continue at the lastmentioned seminary, his father having intrusted him to the care of Mr Sterling, of Hemel-Hempstead, a village in Hertfordshire, with whom he remained till he obtained the appointment of a writer in the service of the East India company. From a dislike to constraint, and an abhorrence of compulsion, the academical attainments of young