parliament, as he was no longer capable of fulfilling its duties. Like Mr. Wilkes, Mr. Combe undoubtedly wished" to die in harness." Accordingly, his health was visibly affected by this measure; and his enfeebled constitution proved unable to surmount the shock of what he deemed not only an injury, but an insult, to a man who expected a far different return for his long and faithful services. On this occasion, he not only complied, as to his share in the representation *, but at the same time actually resigned all his civic honours.

The subject of this memoir did not long survive this mortification, having died at Cobham Park, on the 4th July, 1818, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. In private life, Mr. Combe was a good husband, and the fond father of a very numerous family of ten children, chiefly consisting of daughters. To his eldest son he gave an excellent education at Eton, after which he placed him in his brewery, with a view of giving stability to his early habits, and instead of pursuing folly and frivolity, making him a man of business, an useful citizen, a good subject, and an opulent and independent commercial man.

In his attention to the duties of the magistracy, the Alderman was impartial and upright. His attendance, too, was constant and unremitting, while health would permit, being always ready to sacrifice his time, and even his pleasures, to the performance of his duties.

In respect to political opinions, he not unfrequently differed from the principal merchants of London, both as to the justice and mode of prosecuting the late war; but his principles were marked by decision and consistency, and he was gratified with the full and frequent approbation of his constituents, who took every opportunity of evincing their respect, gratitude, and

esteem.

In his temper, he was ardent; in his practice, resolute; in his manners, frank, open, and courteous. His constitution

* His resignation took place June 10th, 1817; and at the election for a new member, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor (Mr. Alderman Wood) was returned without opposition.

too, which for a long series of years was robust, enabled him to undergo fatigues which few other men were capable of enduring. With these qualities he united a vigorous understanding and a correct judgment; and it was happily observed of him, "that no man had more personal friends, or deserved them better."

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The success of this gentleman in life was great and extraordinary; for, in the language of the city, he died worth " double plumb." He seemed to flourish, indeed, while all around him was bankruptcy and ruin. Mr. Boyce Combe, his eldest son, who was nominated sole executor, on proving his will, stated his personal effects at 140,000l.; and having real estates to the amount of at least 60,000l. more, he has thus left to his family the immense sum of at least 200,000%.!

No. III.

SIR RICHARD MUSGRAVE, BART.

OF TURIN, IN THE COUNTY OF WEXFORD; M. P. IN THE LATE IRISH PARLIAMENT.

THE family, of which this gentleman was a younger branch, is supposed to have come over from the continent with William the Conqueror, and to have settled at Musgrave in Westmoreland, whence they derive their appellation.* But, although the Musgraves are of English, or rather Norman descent, a branch of them has been long settled in the sister island, where they obtained very considerable possessions.

Of these, Richard Musgrave, the subject of the present memoir, has made a considerable figure in the history of Ireland. The exact year of his birth is unknown to the writer of this narrative, but it was, most probably, about 1757 or 1758. After receiving a good education, he entered early into the world, and was speedily enabled to gratify his' youthful ambition, by means of an alliance that pointed out the path both to honour and fortune. Having paid his addresses to the Honourable Deborah Cavendish + the daughter of a great heiress, descended paternally from the "Lord President Bradshaw," as he is usually called, who presided over the tribunal that presumed to decide on the fate of Charles I., he became the husband of that lady, December 20, 1780. She was a younger daughter of the late Sarah, Baroness Waterpark in her own right, by the Right Honourable Sir Henry Cavendish, of Doveridge Hall in the county of Derby, Bart., who, for many

* The first of this name noticed in ancient records, was Peter Musgrave, who lived during the reign of King Stephen. The present English baronet is the eighteenth or nineteenth in descent from this common ancestor.

This lady was then Miss Deborah Cavendish, her mother not having been ennobled until many years after. Ed.

years, held the lucrative and important office of Receiver General in Ireland.

Mr. Musgrave now became a Member of the Irish Parliament and was strenuous in his support of government. This seat, however, was soon resigned for an acquisition of a more permanent and advantageous nature, as, soon after this alliance, he was nominated Collector of the Dublin City Excise, and created a Baronet December 2, 1782, by the style and title of Sir Richard Musgrave, of Lismore in the county of Wexford, and province of Leinster.

One event of his life is very extraordinary, and appears almost incredible to an Englishman. When acting as sheriff of his county, during a very disturbed period, a prisoner, regularly convicted by a jury, was committed to his charge for execution; but the hangman was not to be found, and no deputy could be persuaded to execute the odious office. In this state of affairs, as the sheriff's department was merely ministerial, and he was consequently obliged to obey the orders of the Judges, after making every effort in his power to find a substitute, and offering a large sum of money, by way of recompence, in vain, the subject of this memoir was reduced to the fatal necessity of completing the sentence of the law, in propria

persona.

That he was a man unquestionably loyal, cannot be doubted; and, therefore, it is almost unnecessary to remark that the baronet was an uniform friend to and a most strenuous advocate for the preponderance of English councils and interests in Ireland. With an exception to the short administration of Earl Fitzwilliam, and perhaps also that of the Duke of Bedford, he was a most zealous supporter of the existing government, and even on these occasions he exhibited his political discernment, as these noblemen exercised the vice-regal power but for a very short period.

It is not without pain we recur to those unhappy times in the history of Ireland, when a large portion of her population was actually in rebellion, and a civil war ensued, during which many horrible and disgusting atrocities were perpetrated.

Soon after this insurrection was quelled, Sir Richard, who had remained firm to his principles and his duty, speedily distinguished his loyalty by a work expressly written on this subject.

So eager was the public to gratify its curiosity on this occasion, that the whole quarto edition, consisting of 1250 copies, was sold within the space of two months; another soon followed, and was exhausted, so that a third became necessary. To adopt the author's own words, "some obloquy and abuse have been levelled against this work," but these were attributed, in his "Justification," to "the malice of the Jacobins of England and Ireland." The "Papists" too, were not forgotten; and so very hostile to this sect was he, on this occasion, that he professes it to be his decided opinion, that two religions cannot exist at the same time in his native island, as in Germany. In respect to the latter country, he observes,

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They are all originally of the same stock or lineage, and the religious liberty of each is guaranteed by the treaty of Munster; so that the intolerant or ambitious designs of either against the other, is completely repressed; but in Ireland, the hope of recovering the forfeited estates, and of separating her from England, constantly fomented by bigotry, keeps alive their hereditary hatred to the latter, and of course to the members of the established church from their noted loyalty, and attachment to the sister kingdom, and gives full play to the deleterious doctrines of popery, which the Irish priests never cease to foment. In short," adds he, "for these reasons, no parallel can be drawn between the popery of Ireland, and that of any other country in Europe."

Sir Richard, doubtless, gave great offence, both in England and Ireland, by his "Observations on Whipping and Free Quarters," in which he was supposed, not only to apologise for, but even to justify the application of torture by way of obtaining evidence. In short, his conduct on this particular occasion, was far from proving conciliatory, and accordingly he neither satisfied his friends nor his enemies. Indeed, the Irish Government, at length, deemed it necessary to disavow