Note 484 — Chapter XXVIII

Charles sixth Earl and first Marquis of Drogheda, K.P.—The Primate had four years before importunately pressed Mr. Pitt to give this nobleman the rank of colonel; and although the application was supported by the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Besborough, Mr. Pitt was firm in resisting it. “Among the very many lieutenant-colonels,” he said, “above Lord Drogheda on the list, there were not a few who could not be postponed without great hardship, and loud complaints in the army. He had publicly pledged himself to that most meritorious class of officers, that he would never contribute, from any considerations of family or parliamentary interest, to their depression.” The Primate’s letter and Mr. Pitt’s reply are given in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 59. The transaction reflects great honour on Mr. Pitt, and furnishes an additional proof of the high sense of public duty entertained by that illustrious statesman, in this, as in many other respects so superior, to most of his cotemporaries, not excepting the Primate of Ireland. Lord Drogheda obtained his rank in 1762, and eventually reached almost the head of the army list, having in his old age been appointed Field-Marshal. He died at Dublin in December 1821, in his ninety-second year. He saw little, if any, foreign service, but he had been constantly employed in his own country, where he was much esteemed. He preserved to the last a remarkable elegance and amiability of deportment.—E.