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364

No. VII.

JAMES HARRIS, EARL OF MALMESBURY;

BARON OF MALMESBURY AND VISCOUNT FITZHARRIS; KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE HONOURABLE PRIVY

BATH; ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST

COUNCIL; AND LORD LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM OF THE COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON.

THE Earl of Malmesbury, was the son of James Harris, Esq. of the Close, Salisbury; who for several years represented the borough of Christ Church in parliament, and filled the offices of Commissioner of the Admiralty and Treasury, and of Secretary and Comptroller to the Queen. This gentleman was well known in the literary world, as the author of "Three treatises," on music, painting, poetry, and happiness; Hermes ;" "Philosophical Arrangements;" and "Philological Enquiries."

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James, first Earl of Malmesbury, the subject of the present memoir, was born on the 9th April, O. S. 1746. He was educated under Dr. Wharton, at Winchester school; from whence he was removed to Merton College, Oxford, where he took the degree of D. C. L. After quitting Oxford he passed some time at the university of Leyden.

Having made choice of the diplomatic line, he went in 1768 to the Hague, where he lived, during several months, on an intimate and friendly footing with Sir Joseph Yorke, his Majesty's ambassador to their High Mightinesses the 'StatesGeneral of the United Provinces; under whose protection, and aided by whose experience, he laid the foundation of those acquirements, by which he was, at a more advanced period of life, so eminently distinguished.

In the same year, his Lordship was appointed secretary of

embassy, under Sir James Gray, at Madrid; and in July, 1769, on the recal of that ambassador, was left chargé des affaires at that court.

The discussions which arose between Spain and Great Britain, relative to the Falkland Islands, and which, at one time, threatened the most serious consequences, afforded a favourable opportunity for the display of his talents; and gave, throughout the whole course of an arduous and delicate negociation, an early promise of that happy mixture of temper, conciliation and firmness, by which, in after life, all his public transactions were marked; and which enabled him, finally, to bring the negotiation to a happy issue.

His services on this important occasion were duly estimated at home; and, in 1771, he was nominated minister plenipotentiary, till the arrival of Lord Grantham as ambassador.

In 1772 he received the appointment of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Great Frederick of Prussia; and he continued to reside at Berlin in that character till 1776.

In 1777 he married Harriet Mary, daughter of Sir George Amyard, Bart. by whom he had issue three sons and two daughters.

In the same year he was accredited envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of St. Petersburgh. He remained there till towards the close of the year 1782. During the whole of this period, our protracted warfare with our American colonies, and the distracted state of our councils at home, together with the active part taken by the Empress Catherine in the affairs of Europe, rendered the situation of a minister at that court one of extreme delicacy and importance; and although he was not able to prevent the court of St. Petersburgh from forming the armed neutrality, he mainly contributed, by his influence and address, to divest it of much of its hostile effects.

In 1778 he was made Knight of the Bath, and was invested with that order by the hand of the empress; who, also, in

the following year, stood godmother to his daughter, who was named after her imperial majesty.

He sat in parliament during many years, as member for the borough of Christ Church.

In the year 1784 he was sent, with the rank of ambassador in ordinary to their High Mightinesses the States General; and afterwards was raised to that of ambassador-extraordinary and plenipotentiary.

The troubles which, from the violence of party, broke out in Holland in the year 1787, afforded him an opportunity of displaying the sagacity of his mind, and the energy and decision of his character. By his activity and address, his carriage and firmness, during that arduous and eventful period, he greatly contributed to defeat the views of the revolutionary faction in Holland, to restore the legitimate power of the stadtholder, and to overthrow the influence of France in that republic. The immediate advantage which resulted from this favourable change of affairs was, besides those already mentioned, the renewal of the ancient connexion between Great Britain and Holland.

So highly, indeed, were his services estimated on this occasion, that the King of Prussia gave him permission to introduce the Prussian eagle, as an honourable augmentation to his arms; and the Prince of Orange allowed him to use the motto of the house of Nassau, "Je maintiendrai.”

At home, his services were rewarded with the peerage, under the title of Baron Malmesbury, of Malmesbury, in the county of Wilts, on the 19th September, 1788.

From this period to the year 1793 his Lordship was unemployed: but on the breaking out of the war of the French revolution, Lord Malmesbury did not hesitate an instant as to the line of conduct which it behoved him to adopt. The natural acuteness of his mind, aided by his long experience, and his thorough knowledge of mankind, enabled him to form a correct notion of the fatal consequences which must result from the disorganizing system pursued by France. His

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opposition to it was firm, steady, and consistent; never allowing himself to be disheartened by ill success, nor too much elated by good fortune. His intimacy with the Duke of Portland and his party, afforded him the means of contributing to effect that union between them and Mr. Pitt, which enabled that great and patriotic minister to save his country from the immediate dangers that menaced it; and laid the foundation of that systematic resistance to French aggression, which ultimately led to the deliverance of Europe.

At this period he was sent to Berlin to negociate a treaty of subsidy with Prussia; and he was afterwards accredited to the Prussian army on the Rhine. Here he remained till the close of 1794, when his Lordship received his Majesty's commands to repair to Brunswick, to demand in marriage her Serene Highness the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, for his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; and had the charge of conducting her Royal Highness to England.

During the years 1796 and 1797 his Lordship was employed in two separate negociations for peace at Paris and Lille. The circumstances of the times caused these negociations to to be viewed with the deepest interest and anxiety; and although they both eventually failed, the skill and address with which they were conducted on the part of his Lordship, and, at the same time, the firm and dignified, yet temperate, manner in which they were carried on, and which, at one time, in the course of the last of these negociations, held out well-founded hopes of ultimate success, will ever remain a proof that they could not have been entrusted to a more able negociator, or to one who could have better repressed the arrogance of a haughty enemy with mildness and dignity, or have upheld the honour and true interests of his country with more spirit and firmness.

The papers laid before parliament by his Majesty's command, on the rupture of these negociations, will ever remain a lasting monument of his Lordship's profound views as a statesman, and of his skill and address as a negociator.

On the 29th December, 1800, his Majesty was pleased to create him Earl of Malmesbury and Viscount Fitzharris, of Heron Court, in the county of Southampton; and in August, 1807, he was appointed his Majesty's lieutenant and custos rotulorum of the same county. His son, Lord Viscount Fitzharris, was, at the same time, named governor and viceadmiral of the Isle of Wight, for life.

His Lordship has acquired a title to be ranked among the literati of the present age, by a splendid edition, in quarto, of the works of his father, James Harris, one of the most elegant and profound scholars of his time. To this he has prefixed a brief, but well-written, life of the learned author, which at once evinces the elegance of a scholar and the affection of a son. This work was, by permission, dedicated to his late Majesty; and the dedication does equal honor to the sovereign and the subject.

His Lordship departed this life November 21st, 1820, in the 75th year of his age, at his house, in Hill-street, Berkeley

square.

After what has been already said, his Lordship's character may be summed up in few words.

Gifted by nature with an acute and penetrating mind, he acquired by habits of deep reflection, matured by long experience, a thorough knowledge of the interests of his country and of Europe, as well as of the most distinguished statesmen of the age. In all his public transactions, he added to manners the most engaging, a deportment the most dignified; and to a spirit the most conciliating, a character the most firm and decided: and, above all, a command of temper, which no language could ruffle, nor any provocation for a moment throw off its guard. This self-possession gave him, on many important occasions, a most decided advantage, of which the superiority of his talents enabled him, not unfrequently, to avail himself with the happiest effect. All his views were those of a statesman, and all his wishes were directed towards the happiness, the prosperity, and the glory of his country.

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