FIT
the House of Commons." Lord Lausdowne died on 7th May 1805, aged 67, and his remains were interred in the church of High Wycombe. The following sum- mary of his character is from Knight's Cyclopccdia :—" TYxQ Earl of Shelburne was not a great statesman; but he was a highly cultivated and well-informed one, liberal in his general views, and pos- sessing a wider acquaintance with foreign affairs and sounder commercial principles than most of the political men of his time. He was, moreover, an able debater, assidu- ous in his attention to business, and there can be now little doubt, honest in purpose, and less swayed than many of his eminent contemporaries by mere party motives : but he was proud, unaccommodating, and wanting in frankness ; so that, while he made many enemies by his assumption, he failed to secure a character for sincerity, earnestness, and firmness. In private life he was highly esteemed. He was the friend of men of talent and genius, and his love of letters led him to form one of the noblest libraries which had ever been col- lected in England by a private individual. It was in his librai-y that his last years were chiefly spent, though he continued to superintend personally as much as possible his extensive estates. On his death, his collection of printed books was dispersed by auction ; but his MSS. were purchased for the British Museum — a parliamentary grant of £4,925 being voted for the purpose." The Edinburgh Review (January 1877) says : "History has not done justice to the character of the first Marquis of Lansdowne, ivho only wanted the opportunity to have taken his place in the first rank of English statesmen. During his short adminis- tration he concluded a disastrous war by a peace in which the interests and the honour of the country were duly regarded, and the domestic policy which he pursued was only in fault inasmuch as it was in advance of the knowledge and morality of the time. His personal failings were certainly not those of casuistry and du- plicity, which are popularly attributed to liim. He rather erred from a stubborn faith in the virtue of principle, and a contemptuous neglect of those party connexions, without which, even in this improved age, it is difficult to carry any measure bearing the stamp of novelty or progress. But in truth Lord Shelburne was even more of a political philosopher than a statesman ; and his political phi- losophy was far above the level of his own age. He was an ardent champion of American independence. He hailed with enthusiasm the French Kevolution. He
FIT
had always firmly maintained that France ought not to be the enemy, but the friend and ally of England. He was the stre- nuous advocate of free trade. He was for Catholic emancipation and complete re- ligious equality before the law ; he would have proposed a Keform Bill and the disenfranchisement of nomination bo- roughs ; he was in favour of the rights of the neutral flag in time of war ; he did institute a close search into the gross abuses that pervaded every branch of the administration ; his house became, what it continued to be for two generations, a centre of cultivated and liberal society, for Priestley, Price, Morellet, Dumont, Romilly, Bentham, were among his most constant associates. On all these points Lord Shelburne was fifty years ahead of his own times ; and whatever place may be assigned to him in the ranks of party, he was undoubtedly one of the most genuine liberals who has ever played a part in the affairs of England. If his public life was on the whole a failure, it was throughout consistent in its adherence to these liberal principles ; it was neither stained by corruption nor disfigured by faction ; and in one respect Lord Lans- downe was most fortunate ; his declining years were cheered by the early promise of a son who ultimately inherited his honours and added lustre to his name." He was twice married — in 1765 to Lady Sophia Carteret, and after her death, to Lady Louisa FitzPatrick in 1779. One of his sons by the first marriage succeeded him as 2nd Marquis of Lansdowne, and another by the second became 3rd Marquis. "^ '^^ 201 t 30s
FitzPatrick, Sir Bamaby, Lord of Upper Ossory, was descended from an old Milesian family, and succeeded to the title on his father's death, about 1 550. In his youth he served in the French army, and was a personal friend of Edward VI., by whom he was greatly beloved. He was knighted in 1558 for bravery at the siege of Leith, and Sidney in his report concern- ing the condition of Ireland in 1575 bears testimony to the ability with which he then governed his territories. He completely reduced the O'Mores and O'Conors, and in 1578 attacked and killed Rory Oge O'More, and was recommended to the Eng- lish council " for that, of his own chardge, and with his owne forces onelye, without her Majesty's pay,hehath adventured hym- selfe in the service, and so happelye hath atchieved to his greate esttmacion and creditt." Of the 1,000 marks due for Eory's head, he accepted only £100, which I he distributed amongst his followers. In 203
