daughter of William Anne Keppel, Earl of Albemarle, by whom he had issue three sons; first, Francis, late Duke of Bedford; second, John, born July 6th, 1766, now Duke of Bedford; and a posthumous son, William, born August 20th, 1767, married, July 11th, 1789, Charlotte Anne, daughter of the late Earl of Jersey; by whom he has issue, first, Gertrude Frances, born November 25th, 1791; second, Francis, born March 7th, 1793; third, George, born April 7th, 1795; fourth, John, born July 11th, 1796. His Lordship represented Surry in parliament till the dissolution in 1807, when he was returned for Tavistock. This excellent young nobleman unfortunately fractured his skull by a fall from his horse (when hunting) of which he died, universally lamented, on March 22d, 1767, and was buried at Cheneys, to the inexpressible grief of his noble parents, and of his amiable consort, who, inconsolable for her loss, languished under a consumption (the effect of her sorrow) till November 2d, 1768, when she died at Lisbon, aged twenty-eight; and her corpse being brought to England, was interred with her husband's. His Grace had also another son, born in June, 1745, who died an infant; and a daughter, Lady Caroline, who was born in January, 1742-3; was one of the ten unmarried ladies (daughters of Dukes and Earls) who supported the train of Queen Charlotte, at her nuptials, on September 8th, 1761, and wedded, on August 23d, 1762, to George Duke of Marlborough.

His Grace was constituted first lord commissioner of the admiralty, in December, 1774; and on the 27th of the same month was sworn at St. James's, one of his Majesty's most honourable privy-council. On May 28th, 1745, he was constituted Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Bedfordshire; and at the rebellion breaking out, he raised a regiment of foot for his Majesty's service. On February 12th, 1745, he was constituted warden and keeper of New Forest, in the county of Southampton, but afterwards resigned; and on February 13th, 1747-8, his Majesty was pleased to appoint his Grace one of his principal secretaries of state; but he soon resigned the seals in disgust. In October, 1748, he was chosen one of the governors of the Charter House. On June 22d, 1749" his Grace was elected one of the Knights Companions of the most noble order of the Garter;

i Coffin Plate.

* See Coxe's Memoirs of Lord Walpole, p. 276. m Ibid. p. 382.

1 Ibid. p. 376.

Pote's Hist. and Antiq. of Windsor, P 430, 431

and installed at Windsor, on July 12th, 1750. On April 13th, 1751, he was constituted Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Devonshire, and of the city and county of Exeter; and in June following, resigned the seals of office as one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state. His Grace was one of the lords justices during his Majesty's absence in his German dominions, in the years 1745, 1748, and 1750. On February 28th, 1755, his Grace was appointed major general, and on February 1st, 1759, lieutenant general, of his Majesty's forces. On December 15th, 1756, he was declared lieutenant general and governor general of Ireland: and his Grace being in that kingdom, when the famous M. Thurot, on February 21st, 1760, landed with a body of French troops at Carrickfergus, took such measures to frustrate the attempts of that daring adventurer, that in a few days he was obliged to put to sea, and meeting with captain John Elliott, commander of his Majesty's ship Æolus, and captains Clements and Logie, of the Pallas and Brilliant, was defeated and slain, and the three ships under his command taken, on the 28th of that month. In June, 1761, his Grace was nominated vice admiral of Devonshire; and acted as lord high constable of England, at his Majesty's coronation, on September 22d that year. His Grace was appointed to be keeper of the privy-seal November 25th, 1761. On September 4th, 1762, was nominated minister plenipotentiary to the court of France (the custody of the privy-seal being committed to deputies, during his absence) and on November 3d ensuing, signed, at Fontainbleau, the preliminary articles of peace with France and Spain. On the 3d of next month, he signed the ratification of the said preliminaries; and on February 10th, 1763, subscribed the ratification of a definitive peace between the belligerent powers, Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal; which ratifications he exchanged with the ministers of those powers, on March 10th ensuing. Upon his arrival in London, on June 12th, he immediately waited on the King, and was most graciously received; and having in April resigned the privy-seal, was declared president of the council, on November 2d that year; his Grace was also colonel of the first regiment of the Devonshire militia; high steward of the corporation of Huntingdon; recorder of Bedford; an elder brother of the Trinity House; and president of the Foundling Hospital. His Grace departed this life at his house in Bloomsbury-square, London, on January 15th, 1771, and was interred at Cheneys among his ancestors.

"His name," says Andrew Stuart in his Letters to Lord

Mansfield, "must ever be held in high veneration, while there remains in this country, any attachment to real goodness, and to an honourable, manly, generous, and exalted character. No man held in greater detestation than he did, every thing unfair; and if with all the information, which he had so good opportunities of receiving at Paris, he had found reason to believe, that there was any thing reprehensible in my conduct, the first and most severe attack upon me would have come from that quarter. There was no disguise nor deceit in the character of this nobleman : you must likewise have observed, that though distinguished by his abilities, and talents, he possessed the firmness and integrity of his mind, untainted by that duplicity and timidity, which so often attend and degrade eminent abilities; pursuing candidly and ardently, what appeared to him right and honourable, he was equally careless of vain applause, and of unjust or factious clamour. I must be excused for indulging my admiration of a character so seldom to be met with; and for paying this just tribute to the ashes of one, whose death I shall ever sincerely lament, as a national loss, as well as a real misfortune to all who had the honour and happiness of his particular acquaintance."

He was succeeded in his titles and estates by his grandson, FRANCIS, the FIFTH DUKE OF BEDFORD. He died March 2d, 1802, at Woburne, aged thirty-one, unmarried, of a mortifiIcation in his bowels.

Mr. Fox on moving for a new writ for Tavistock, in room of his brother John, who succeeded to the Dukedom, pronounced the following eloquent eulogium on him.

Mr. Fox said, the motion he was about to make, led him to the contemplation of an unfortunate event, the death of the late Duke of Bedford, which was not only a private but a public loss; he hoped, therefore, he should be excused in saying a few words upon the subject, previous to making his intended motion. He was perfectly aware that was not the place, nor was it the time to enter at large into such a subject, but he felt the loss to be so important, that he could not avoid saying a few words with respect to it. The noble person to whom he alluded, and whose death was, he believed, as generally lamented as that of any sub. ject ever had been in this country, had something so peculiar and so marked in his character, as to render him a person of the greatest importance. He was unfortunately snatched away at a period of life when he was still young enough to enjoy life, and still active enough to labour for the public good: at a period too,

when from his previous conduct, the most vigilant and benevolent exertions for the public benefit, were to be expected as the result of his future life. It not unfrequently happened, that the fairest hopes derived from the dawn of life, were disappointed in maturity; but with respect to the noble person alluded to, the hopes which had been afforded in the early period of his life, were confirmed in maturity, in which his character became firmly and decidedly fixed. That noble person came into the possession of high rank and immense wealth at a time of life when he was surrounded by the greatest danger, by those dangers to which persons in his situation were peculiarly exposed, from the seductions of temptation and the influence of flattery: but though thus situated, in the midst of prosperity, his character, his mind, acquired all the firmness and energy which could be derived from adversity. There never was a man who gave himself up more completely to the public good to that he was continually looking in all his actions; that was the sole object of his life. Enjoying a splendor almost princely, still every selfish consideration was postponed, whilst the good of others formed the constant object of his wishes and his exertions. It was frequently remarked that people grew wiser as they grew older; it often happened however that as they advanced in years, they lost some of that warmth of feeling by which they had been actuated at an earlier period of life. Not so with the noble person he was now alluding to, no man ever cultivated any favourite science, or pursued any art, or followed any trade, with more solicitous and assiduous industry, than that noble person did the art of doing good; whilst he improved every day not only in that, but in the most generous warmth of feeling. The great value of his character was his desire of public utility, the great object of his life, the public good. Instances were not wanting, or unknown; to mention, however, only one-the agriculture of the country, it was well known, was more indebted to him than to any other man. With respect to the politics of that noble person, he found some difficulty in speaking of them before such an assembly, as his political principles were those for which, though he might think he was entitled to the highest praise, yet others might think they demanded an apology. He believed there were few, however, who would not sometimes confess that their adversaries were entitled to admiration and esteem. If in Rome a descendant of the family of Claudii was permitted to be aristocratical, in his opinion surely it might be allowed to one who bore the name of Russell to cherish the political principles

of his ancestors. He could not forget that his ancestors had been attached to liberty; but whatever might be his opinions, his conduct had been firm and patriotic, manly and sincere. He now came to the close of what he had to say, and those who were solicitous to see the perfection of the human character, would find that the death of this great and good man was conformable to his life. It might have been expected that his thoughts would have been concentrated in the extreme bodily torture which he endured, and in that awful event to which he had to look forward; he died, however, as he had lived, regardless of himself, and only solicitous to make those arrangements which might conduce to the happiness of others. He did not wish, in saying what he had said of the noble person, whose death was so deservedly lamented, merely to strew flowers upon his grave, but to raise a monument to his fame in the memory of all around, that they might relate his virtues and his actions to their children, and talk of them to their friends. He concluded by moving, "That the speaker do issue his warrant to the clerk of the crown, for a new writ for the borough of Tavistock, in the room of Lord John Russell, now Duke of Bedford."

Mr. Sheridan seconded the motion, which was agreed to.

His next brother Lord John, succeeded him, as SIXTH DUKE OF BEDFORD. He was born July 6th, 1766, and while a commoner represented Tavistock in parliament. He married, first, at Brussels, March 21st, 1786, Georgina Elizabeth, second daughter of Viscount Torrington, by whom he had, first, Francis Marquis of Tavistock, born May 13th, 1788; second, Lord George William, born May 8th, 1790, a lieutenant in the first regiment of dragoons; third, Lord John, born August 19th, 1792. Their mother died October 11th, 1801; and his Grace remarried, June 23d, 1803, Lady Georgina Gordon, daughter of Alexander, present Duke of Gordon, by whom he has a son, born May 18th, 1804; and another son born April 24th, 1805. His Grace, in 1806, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which he resigned in spring 1807.

Titles. John Russell, Duke of Bedford, Marquis of Tavistock, Earl of Bedford, Baron Russell of Cheyneys, Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, and Baron Howland of Stretham.

Creations. Baron Russell of Cheneys, in com. Bucks, by letters patent, March 9th, 1538-9, 30 Henry VIII. Earl of the county of Bedford, January 19th, 1549-50, 3 Edward V1. Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, in com. Northampton, July 21st, 1603,