THOMAS OSBORNE,

EARL OF DANBY,

AND

DUKE OF LEEDS.

Ir is by no means necessary to say any thing of this lord. He appears in every page of the reign of Charles the second. Burnet treats him severely; the Peerage vindicates him by a dedication of Dryden, which one must allow is authority to such a book; for nothing can exceed the flattery of a genealogist, but that of a dedicator. If the earl of Danby was far infe rior in integrity to Clarendon and Southampton, he was as much superior to Shaftesbury and Lauderdale. Leeds was one of those secondary characters, who, having been first minister, submitted afterwards to act a subordinate3 part in an administration. 4

Vol. i. p. 351.

3 [Lord North and lord Sidmouth, in after-time, condescended to do the same, rather than reconcile themselves to the dignity of retirement.]

[Dunton, the bookseller, gave him the character of a great statesman, and a true son of the church: liberal to the poor, and courteous to all; neither were his graces and virtues blemished by vanity or affectation. Life and Errors, p. 425.]

His grace published,

"Memoirs relating to the Impeachment of Thomas, earl of Danby (now Duke of Leeds), in the Year 1678; wherein some Affairs of those times are represented in a juster Light than has hitherto appeared; with an Appendix; containing the Proceedings in Parliament." Lond. 1710.

"The Earl of Danby's Letters in the Years 1676, 77, and 78; with particular Remarks upon some of them." 1710.

[Mr. Gyll pointed out in his manuscript jottings, "The Answer of the Right Honourable the Earl of Danby to a late Pamphlet, entitled An Examination of the impartial State of the Case of the Earl of Danby." 1680, fol.

"The Thoughts of a private Person about the Justice of the Gentleman's Undertaking at York, Nov. 1688."

Printed in the year 1689; and reported to be the earl of Danby's production. 5

Thomas Osborne, first duke of Leeds, was greatgrandson to Edward Osborne, who in the reign of Henry the eighth was put apprentice to sir William Hewet, a merchant of considerable eminence, then residing on London-bridge. It happened that his master's only daughter fell from the arms of her maid

5 See Echard's Hist, vol. iii. p. 920.

into the Thames, and must inevitably have perished, had it not been for the heroism of young Osborne, who plunged into the river and brought her safe to shore. As a recompense for this act of magnanimity, sir William bestowed on the courageous youth his ́daughter and his fortune; which procured him the civic honours of sheriff in 1575, and lord-mayor in 1582; when he was knighted at Westminster. He served in parliament for the city of London in 1585, and died in 1591.6 This anecdote, though irregular in point of time, can hardly be thought irrelevant to the present publication; since it forms the basis, or plinth of a column, to what Mr. Burke happily termed "the Corinthian capital of polished society."?

Sir Thomas Osborne, from adhering to the royal interest, and co-operating with others to restore Charles the second, was by that king made treasurer of the navy 1671, lord high-treasurer of England 1673, baron of Kiveton and viscount Latimer 1673, viscount Dumblain and earl of Danby 1674, and a knight of the garter 1677. On the accession of king William the third, he was constituted president of the council, and lord-lieutenant of the West-riding of Yorkshire. In 1689 he was advanced to the title of marquis of Carmarthen; and in 1694 created duke of

6 Collins's Peerage, vol. i. p. 235.

7 The argument of nobility, said Harvey, is a gallant and plausible argument; but what common-place so honourable as the common-place of virtue? Can any thing be obscure where desert is famous; or any thing famous where desert is obscure? Foure Letters, &c. 1592.

Leeds. In 1695 he was impeached by the house of commons, for receiving money for promoting the charters of the East India Company; but the parliament being prorogued by king William, a few days afterward, there was no prosecution carried on against him. In the reign of queen Anne, he distinguished himself at the trial of Dr. Sacheverell; and on that occasion, spoke with great freedom concerning the Revolution, which he had signally assisted in bringing about. He died in 1712, at the age of eighty. 8

Dryden, in his dedication to " All for Love," remarks, that "his lordship had not only an inborn, but an hereditary loyalty:" and adds, "There is somewhat of a tie in nature between those who are born for worthy actions, and those who can transmit them to posterity: and though ours be much the inferior part, it comes at least within the verge of alliance. Nor are we unprofitable of the commonwealth, when we animate others to those virtues which we copy and describe from you. It can be only their interest to discourage historians, who endeavour the subversion of government, for the best which can happen to them is to be forgotten. But such who, under kings, are the fathers of their country, and by a just and prudent ordering of affairs preserve it, have the same reason to cherish the chroniclers of their actions, as they have

8 In 1722 was advertised "The Lives and Characters of the most illustrious persons, British and Foreign, who died in the year 1712." Among the former of these was mentioned "the Duke of Leeds."