Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 2 (of 4)Walpole, Horace
History
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 2 (of 4)
Walpole, Horace
Great Britain -- History -- 1760-1789; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
[30] Robert Henley, Earl of Northington.
[31] There was another reason given, and probably a more efficacious
one. This was the number of suits commenced against the General
Warrants, with which he did not care to meddle.
[32] The patent of precedence could not be _over_ the
Solicitor-General, whose official rank necessarily placed him next to
the Attorney, and above all other members of the bar. The elevation of
Mr. Yorke was of greater advantage to the senior barristers than to
himself, for otherwise they could not have held briefs with him; though
the Government cared, in those days, too little for the bar to have
attached much weight to that consideration, unless they had desired to
please Mr. Yorke.--E.
[33] Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, the famous man of wit.
[34] Mr. Cumberland says elegantly of the Primate, “No man faced
difficulties with greater courage, none overcame them with more
address: he was formed to hold command over turbulent spirits in
tempestuous seasons, for if he could not absolutely rule the passions
of men, he could artfully rule men by the medium of their passions.
He had great suavity of manners when points were to be carried by
insinuation and finesse; but if authority was necessary to be enforced,
none could hold it with a higher hand: he was an elegant scholar, a
consummate politician, a very fine gentleman, and in every character
seen to more advantage than in that, which, according to his sacred
function, should have been his chief and only object to sustain.”
Cumberland’s Mem. vol. i. p. 229.--E.
[35] Henry Boyle, a grandson of Roger, first Earl of Orrery. His
hypocrisy could not be very deep, if the saying ascribed to him be
true--“that he would not accept an honour whilst there was a shilling
in the Treasury.” He has been described as “a warm, sincere friend,
and undisguised enemy.” His peculiar sphere was the House of Commons,
not as an orator, but as manager; and few country gentlemen, we are
told, would continue a canvass in their respective counties without a
certainty of Mr. Boyle’s support, if petitioned against.--Hardy’s Life
of Lord Charlemont, vol. i. p. 88. He would have made an admirable
Secretary of the Treasury in corrupt or turbulent times.--E.
[36] Sir George Yonge, Bart., was the only surviving son of Sir William
Yonge, the eloquent and well-known supporter of Sir Robert Walpole. He
was appointed Secretary at War in Lord Shelburne’s Administration, and
subsequently became Master of the Mint. His last office was that of
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. He had many of his father’s parts
as well as failings, being kind, persuasive, industrious, reckless,
scheming, and dissipated. His last years were embittered by the failure
of a speculation into which he had entered in the neighbourhood of
Honiton, which borough he had long represented in Parliament. He died
at an advanced age at the beginning of the present century, and, having
no children, the baronetcy became extinct.--E.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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