is never softened by grace or elegance. In his sentences, he is quaint, and affected; having acquired from intercourses with books of legal disquisition, the stiff and unbending formality of the writers on law, none of whom, except Lord Bacon and Sir William Blackstone had any skill in the art of composition. Nor is this apparent quaintness relieved by his newly acquired habit of thrusting Latin quotations into his speeches, without duly considering how far they illustrate or apply to the subject on which he is discoursing, and by means of which his diction is sometimes ludicrously pyeballed, and incongruous. For these defects, an imperfect or irregular education will account. But it is easy, notwithstanding, to observe in the speeches of Lord Kenyon, the operations of a strong understanding, illuminated by clear and distinct perceptions.

Delicacy forbids us to say much concerning the political character of the noble Lord. It would have contributed more to the genuine and durable reputation of his Lordship, if he had on no occasion exhibited, in his judicial station, a mind heated and exasperated by the politics of the day. It is a reflection, which ought to be impressed on the minds of all in high and elevated rank, that the fame which is acquired by a subservience to the intrigue or passions of the times, is fugitive and precarious; that the instrument of a party is soon forgotten, and the very memorial of his name soon buried in oblivion. But he who, in the discharge of his duties to his country, holds a steady course betwixt the contending factions, neither tempted by the hope of professional

004

sional preferment, nor terrified by the menaces of ministerial hatred, has secured a reputation, which is beyond the reach of political caprice, or personal malice.

His Lordship is much esteemed in private life.* He married, in 1773, his cousin Mary, daughter of George Kenyon, Esq. of Peele, in Lancashire, by whom he has three sons, Lloyd, George, and Thomas. X.

MR. WARREN HASTINGS.

THE prospects of Mr. Hastings, in the early part of his life, were not very favourable. Although descended from an ancient family that formerly held considerable landed possessions, his more immediate ancestors were not in affluent circumstances. His father, who was a clergyman, and enjoyed a benefice at Churchill, a village near Daylesford, in Worcestershire, seems to have left him without fortune: for the expence as well as the care of his education devolved on an uncle, Mr. Howard Hastings, who sent him to Westminster school; on whose death

He is perhaps one of the most temperate and regular men of his rank of the present time. He rises by six in the morning, and retires to rest, except. when engaged in public business, by ten in the evening. He seldom drinks wine or spirits, is always punctual in his attendance at divine service, and in his family and among his relatives is greatly respected and beloved. His benevolent attention to the numerous distressed and injured persons, who apply to him for legal advice, is an amiable trait of his character, which cannot be too much known,

+ Vide the Memoirs of Mr. Greaves in the early part of the volume.

he was thrown entirely on the benevolence of stran gers, Doctor Nichols, the head master of Westminster, having generously offered to furnish money to complete his education at Oxford, where he then was, and Mr. Creswick, an India Director and executor to his uncle, proposing to send him to Bengal with a writer's appointment. Whatever Mr. Hastings' pecuniary circumstances were at this period, the offer of Dr. Nichols is a strong presumption in behalf of his talents and character as a youth; and the philosopher may be allowed to lament that he did not prefer a continuance at college, where there was a chance of his becoming a benefactor to human nature, through the medium of literary employments.

Mr. Hastings accepted of the India Director's of fer; and, sailing from England in the winter of 1749, arrived at Calcutta in the ensuing summer. The education of Mr. Hastings for public life may be properly dated from this period. Mr. Hastings says of himself, in his defence during the impeachment,

With the year 1750, I entered the service of the East India Company; and from that service I have derived all my official habits, all the knowledge which I possess, and all the principles which were to regulate my conduct in it." This school, it must be confessed, is not vrey fit to produce a mind of comprehensive philanthropy. An able agent for a trading company, or a skillful task-master of provinces subjugated to a foreign yoke, it might well prepare; but it seems to possess no circumstances that in their pature could go beyond those objects. Whatever

were

were its capacities, Mr. Hastings was fairly provided to avail himself of them all. He was acute, observing, and enterprising; and he was soon placed in the midst of affairs, with great exterior advantages. He was at first attached to one of the factories in Bengal; from which he was soon sent on business into the interior parts of that province, where to novelty of scene were added opportunity for study, and various interesting motives for enquiry. Mr. Hastings was not accustomed to throw away any means of improvement. He applied himself assiduously to the study of the Persian language; to the general cultivation of his talents; and to a minute observation of the circumstances and nature of the English establishments in India.

In 1756, Surajah Doula, having made himself master of Calcutta, issued orders for the scizing of all the English in Bengal, and Mr. Hastings was one of those who were carried prisoners to Moorshadabad, that tyrant's capital. Even at that court, Mr. Hastings had already acquired protectors. He received many marks of favour; and was permitted to reside at the Dutch factory of Calcapore. When Colonel Clive (afterwards Lord Clive) retook Calutta, Mr. Hastings served as a volunteer in his army, and was present at the night attack of the Nabob's

camp.

On the restoration of the company's affairs by Colonel Clive, Mr. Hastings returned to his civil employments; and when Surajah Doulah was deposed, Mr. Hastings was appointed the English minister at

the

the court of his successor. In that post he recommended himself to further notice; and, in 1761, was made a member of the government of Bengal. He returned to England about four years after this last appointment; but having brought with him only part of his acquisitions, and his remittances of the remainder in some manner failing, he endeavoured to make interest to return to India; and it is a curious fact, that this man who afterwards became all powerful with the company, could not at that time obtain such a permission.

Mr. Hastings now lived in England, cultivating literature, and enjoying the society of men of genius among whom were the great Lord Mansfield and Dr. Samuel Johnson.*. In 1766, the year after his return, he made a proposition to establish a professorship of the Persian language at Oxford, with a view, among other motives, to his obtaining the emoluments of that situation, in aid of his own income which is said to have been very narrow: but a surprising

*Three letters to him from the Doctor have been preserved by Mr. Boswell; who, speaking of the condescension with which Mr. Hastings communicated to him these letters, delineates the following short sketch of his character: "Warren Hastings, a man whose regard reflects dignity even upon Johnson; a man, the extent of whose abilities was equal to that of his power; and who, by those who are fortunate enough to know him in private life, is admired for his literature and taste, and beloved for the candour, moderation, and mildness, of his character. Were I capable of paying a suitable tribute of admiration to him, I should certainly not withhold it at a moment when it is not possible that I should be suspected of being an interested flatterer. But how weak would be my voice, after that of millions whom he governed."

revolution