JB/009/117/001

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17

indignation – one Shilling for a man torn away from his family
& perhaps ruined by the Law process.

I have exhibited the early impressions of Bentham respecting Lord
Shelburne – the later opinions were these:

Lord Shelburne had a way of talking in fits & starts. His mind
seemed always in a state of agitation with the passion of ambition
& the desire of splendor. He was never much at ease for he
always outran the constable, & involved himself monstrously
in debt. He showed me his rent roll – There was an enormous sum of
£300,000 which I did not understand, – it was so due due to
his creditors. He had had a most wretched education, & a brutish
father & mother of whose management of him he always talked
with horror. When I ever spoke to him of the family mausoleum
he refused to show it to me for he said it was associated
with such disgraceful recollections. His father gave all the
property he could to a younger brother Fitzmaurice, amounting
to £10,000 a year. The Petty's had been Barons of some place
(whose name I forget) for four & twenty generations. They were
among the first conquerers of Ireland. He did not however talk
in the pride of ancestry. What endears his memory to me is that
though ambitious of rising he was desirous of rising by means
of the people – he was really radically disposed, –& he
witnessed the French revolution with sincere delight. He had
quarrelled with the Whig aristocracy who did not do him
justice, – so he had a horror of the clan & looked towards them
with great bitterness of feeling. That bitterness did not break
out in words, – though of him they spoke most bitterly. There
was artifice in him, but also genuine good feelings. His head
was not clear & he felt the want of clearness. He spoke in
the house with grace & dignity, yet he uttered nothing but
vague generalities. He took much pains to consult particular men

Identifier: | JB/009/117/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 9.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	009	Main Headings
Folio number	117	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles
Category	biographical material	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner		Watermarks	1831
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1831
Notes public		ID Number	3418
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