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bids him "go and see sir Robert," will be more durable than monumental brass, and shews his estimable private worth:

Seen him I have; but in his happier hour

Of social pleasure, ill exchang'd for pow'r :
Seen him, uncumber'd with the venal tribe,
Smile without art, and win without a bribe.

Lord Orford did not long survive his resignation. Mankind in general look forward to the calm of declining life with complacency and satisfaction:. but the ambitious mind, used to the tumult of business or intrigue, is seldom happy in the shade, We are the creatures of habit, and pine for the gratifications which we have lost; and at the close of our days find it too late to form new connexions, and to adopt new pursuits. When life is once brought into method, and established in principle, every deviation gives us pain; and every change, however much it may flatter in prospect, is sure to disappoint us in possession. Happy is he who can early sit down content, nor ever heaves a sigh for change!

JOHN DALRYMPLE,

EARL OF STAIR.

Born 1678.-Died 1747.

From 24th Charles II., to 20th George I. SOME men dazzle for a time by a specious lustre; but suddenly glide, like an unsubstantial meteor, from our sight. Others, with qualities fitted to adorn the highest stations, being cramped in their energies and confined to a narrow sphere, cast, like the glow-worm, a feeble light, which is noticed only by near observers. It was however the happier fortune of lord Stair, to possess those talents and virtues which are honourable and useful to mankind, and to be called to the discharge of

duties which made these appear to the best advantage. Born to high rank, and invested with great commands, he reflected more honour on place and title than he received from them; and not only was the idol of his own times, but will be a theme of applause to all posterity. As a hero, a politician, and a man, he exhibited an example of all that is great and good; so that he may safely be held up as a model of imitation to future ages, as well as the ornament of his own.

This accomplished nobleman was the eldest son of the first earl of Stair. Even when an infant he displayed his ruling passion, the love of military glory. He mustered a regiment of boys of his own age, which he called by his name; and in a short time rendered them so perfect in such evolutions as suited his youthful fancy, that his future heroism and success might even then have been foreseen by a penetrating eye. Being warmed with the enthusiasm of virtue, and possessing a magnanimity beyond his years, he shewed his aversion to whatever was dastardly or mean in his associates, and encouraged in them whatever was manly and becoming.

By the age of ten he had made astonishing progress in the learned languages, under a private tutor; the French of course became an easy acquisition. At fourteen he had run through the usual course of academic studies at the university of Edinburgh, and was equally distinguished for his natural and acquired accomplishments.

But though his attachment to a military life had displayed itself so early, his father at first intended him for the law. The earl of Stair, however, at once yielded to the importunity of his son. He sent him, while still a boy, into Holland, where he initiated himself in the study of arms, under that excellent commander, William prince of Orange; who testified for the young hero both the respect due to his promising talents, and the affectionate derness of a father.

Here he made a rapid progress in fortification and gunnery; and in various modern languages, which he afterwards spoke with purity and fluency. Here too he imbibed that spirit of liberty and independence which he afterwards displayed in all his conduct.

About the era of our glorious Revolution he returned to his native country; and, through his eloquence and his address, drew over numbers to the cause of William, by his pathetic representation of what the Protestants suffered on the continent, and the dangerous ambition of the house of Bourbon. All were charmed with his manners and his sentiments, and almost all who heard or saw him became converts to his principles.

William was not unmindful of his youthful zeal. He took him in his service to Ireland, where the young nobleman displayed the greatest personal resolution; and in the beginning of the year 1691 he accompanied his royal master to Holland.

The reception which Dalrymple found here was flattering in the extreme. He was caressed by all ranks, and soon after received a colonel's commission; nor was it long before he had an opportunity of particularly distinguishing himself in the glorious but unsuccessful battle of Steenkirk, fought in 1692. All the officers behaved well, but Dalrymple performed prodigies of valour. He rallied his regiment after the ranks had been broken by the enemy's artillery, and stopped the pursuit till the rest of the brigade had time to form.

From this time nothing remarkable occurs in his life till 1702; when he appeared again at the head of his regiment in Flanders, under the victorious duke of Marlborough. He served in most of his grace's campaigns; and by his military genius, his unshaken fortitude, and amiable manners, won the regard and esteem of that great commander. It is impossible to do justice to the achieve ments of Dalrymple, in a long series of the most brilliant

actions and successes, crowded into so narrow a space of time. Scarcely any memorable affair took place in which he did not participate, and bear away his full share of glory.

When the duke of Marlborough returned home in 1709, he introduced colonel Dalrymple to queen Anne, with the most liberal encomiums on his services: and his father dying soon after, her majesty, as a reward for his military services, and a trial of his political talents, sent the young earl of Stair ambassador-extraordinary to Augustus the Second, king of Poland; who, charmed at least, if not influenced by his lordship's amiable qualities, entered into all the measures of the allies, which the ambassador was commissioned to recommend and enforce.

After residing four years at the Polish court, with honour to himself and advantage to his country, he was recalled; and the political friends, with whom he was connected by every tie of gratitude and esteem, being displaced, he was involved in their fate. On this occasion, his integrity was proved beyond a doubt: so little had he regarded his private interest that he had contracted a considerable debt; and his plate and equipage would have been seized, had it not been for the generous interference of his countryman lieutenant Lawson, who offered him a sum of money to redeem them. The gratitude of the earl of Stair to this gentleman ever after, was as honourable as the friendship which he had experienced.

He now retired to a country life, but was not long doomed to inglorious inactivity. On the accession of George the First he was appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber, sworn of the privy-council, and soon after made commander-in-chief of the forces in North Britain. His influence in his native country was so great, that he rendered the highest service to the minis try in the returns to the new parliament that met in 1715, and was himself elected one of the sixteen peers of Scotland. At this crisis, an ambassador of genius, forti

tude, penetration, and address, was peculiarly wanted at the court of Versailles; and the earl of Stair was pitched on as possessing all these qualities in an eminent degree. The high expectations entertained of him were amply gratified. Though he had to counteract the policy of the most intriguing court on earth, he developed its latent designs with so much sagacity, and contended for the interest of his country with so little fear, that he was no less respected than dreaded by the French government. He penetrated into the deepest counsels of Louis and the Pretender; and frustrated their designs, in general, before they were ripe for execution. On the death of the king of France, he intimidated the regent to such a degree by a spirited memorial, that the latter reluctantly withdrew the promised assistance to the Pretender; and thus the efforts to excite a rebellion in Scotland came to nothing.

As a negociator the earl of Stair attracted a deserved notice, and shone unrivalled in his time. His disinterested character gave force to his remonstrances, and his high spirit would not brook equivocation or delay. He supported the honour and dignity of his country with a boldness that, in ordinary men, would have been deemed insolence or rashness. When the duke of Orleans, regent of France, came in great state to visit him; and had set one foot on the ground, but kept the other fixed on the step of the coach; lord Stair, who advanced, ob serving this posture, stopped; and asked the attendants on his highness, "whether their master came to visit him as his Britannic majesty's ambassador, or as earl of Stair?" Receiving no answer, he added, "If he comes to see me as lord Stair, I shall reckon it my greatest bonour to receive any officer of the crown, much more the duke regent, at the door of his coach; but if he comes to visit me as ambassador of my august and royal master, I should deem myself unworthy of the trust reposed in me, if I went a step further than I have done." This

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