castle had nobody to attend him but Sir Edward Montagu, who kept pushing him all up the gallery. From thence he went into the hazardroom, and wriggled, and shuffled, and lisped, and winked, and spied, till he got behind the Duke of Cumberland, the Duke of Bedford, and Rigby; the first of whom did not deign to notice him; but he must come to it. You would have died to see Newcastle's pitiful and distressed figure. Nobody went near him; he tried to flatter people; they were too busy to mind him; in short, he was quite disconcerted; his treachery used to be so sheathed in folly that he was never out of countenance; but it is plain he grows old. To finish his confusion and anxiety, George Selwyn, Brand, and I, went and stood near him, and in half-whispers, that he might hear, said, 'Lord, how he is broke! how old he looks!' Then I said, 'This room feels very cold; I believe there

Duke of Newcastle had recently paid a high compliment to a speech made by his former colleague in the House of Lords; his object was evidently to prepare the way for a reconciliation (which was afterwards effected principally through the agency of Fox), and thus array himself against the increasing influence of his more formidable colleague, Mr. Pitt.

* Richard Rigby, a personal friend of the Duke of Bedford, and of the first Lord Holland; a man of considerable talent, remarkable for his wit and other social qualities, but lax in his morals, and addicted to wine and the gaming-table. His name is frequently mixed up both in the political intrigues and private scandal of the period. He died on the 8th of April, 1788.

VOL. III.

R

never is a fire in it.' Presently afterwards, I said, 'Well, I'll not stay here; this room has been washed to-day.' In short, I believe, we made him take a double dose of Gascoign's powder when he went home." Whatever may be our opinion of the Duke's contemptible spirit and treacherous disposition, it is impossible not to deprecate these unfeeling attacks of a set of fashionable coxcombs, on the personal infirmities of an old and falling man.

It was certainly to the credit of the Duke of Newcastle, that, on his dismissal from office in 1762, he again declined a pension, which was offered him by George the Third. Lord Barrington writes to Sir Andrew Mitchell, on the 1st of June, 1762, "Perhaps you have not been told what passed at the last audience the Duke of Newcastle had of the King, when he resigned last Wednesday. His Majesty said he was sorry to lose him, and should always remember his services; that he feared the Duke's private fortune had suffered by his zeal for the House of Hanover; that his Majesty was desirous to make any amends in his power in any way that should be most agreeable; and added, that it was a debt due to his Grace.

The Duke answered, that, in office, he had never considered the profit of employment; that, out of office, he could never bear the thought of being a burthen and charge on the Crown; that, if his private fortune had suffered by his loyalty, it was his pleasure, his glory, and his pride; and that he

desired no reward but his Majesty's approbation."*

On the 31st of December the same year, a Mr. Symmer writes to Sir Andrew Mitchell, "At present we have nothing to talk of but changes, which fall heavy on the Newcastle party. All those of his Grace's friends, whom he has drawn into opposition with him, some of whom are little able to make such a sacrifice, are, or will be turned out. It moves one to compassion to think of the poor old Duke himself. A man, once possessed of 15,000l. per annum of landed estate, with 10,000/. in emoluments of government, now reduced to an estate of scarcely 60007. per annum, and going into retirement (not to say sinking into contempt) with not so much as a feather in his cap, and with such a circle of friends as he has deprived of their places. The three lieutenancies he had, the last things he continued to hold, have this week been taken from him. That of Middlesex has been given to Lord North, which will greatly increase his lordship's power and interest in this county."

The Duke survived his loss of power about six years; expiring, 17th November, 1768, at the age of seventy-five. By his Duchess, Henrietta, eldest daughter of the Earl of Godolphin, he left no children. During his administration, however, he had credit enough to obtain the reversion of his titles for his nephew, Lord Lincoln, who

* Ellis's Orig. Letters, vol. iv. pp. 445, 446.

† Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 454, 455.

244 THOMAS PELHAM, DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.

succeeded him as Duke of Newcastle. This, it may be remarked, was the only dukedom conferred by George the Second: the Earls of Northampton and Ailesbury, indeed, were offered advancement to that rank, but having no children they declined the honour.

CHARLES SEYMOUR,

DUKE OF SOMERSET.

Born in 1662.-Succeeded to the title in 1678, on the death of his brother, the fifth Duke.-The latter's tragical end. His successor created a Knight of the Garter by Charles the Second.-Made a Privy Counsellor, and Lord of the Bedchamber, by James the Second.-Anecdote of his patriotism. -Joins the standard of the Prince of Orange. - Appointed Master of the Horse by Queen Anne.-Remarkable circumstances under which he resigned his employments in 1715.Figures in the pageants and politics of six reigns.-Curious anecdote related by William the Fourth.-The Duke's unbounded pride.-Opinions of him by his contemporaries.— Ridiculous instances of his arrogance and assumption.-Sir James Delaval and his wager.-Anecdote of Seymour the artist. The Duke's marriage to Lady Elizabeth Percy.Remarkable circumstances in the latter's early life.—The Duke's second marriage to Lady Charlotte Finch.-Anecdotes of his haughty behaviour to his family.-His death in 1748.- Inscription on his statue in the Senate House at Cambridge.

CHARLES SEYMOUR, commonly called the proud Duke of Somerset, was born on the 12th of August, 1662. He succeeded to the title on the 20th of April, 1678, in consequence of the death of his brother Francis, the fifth Duke, who met with