FREDERICK NORTH, EARL OF GUILFORD.
This nobleman, better known as Lord North, was the minister of George III., under whose administration England lost her American colonies. He succeeded Charles Townshend, as chancellor of the exchequer; and, in 1770, the Duke of Grafton, as first lord of the treasury, and continued in that high, but laborious office, till the conclusion of the war. As a public character, Lord North was a flowing and persuasive orator, well skilled in argumentation, and master of great presence and coolness of mind; and, in private life, he was very amiable, cheerful, and jocose in conversation, the friend of learned men, and correct in conduct. In his policy towards America, he was stern and uncompromising. On first coming into power, he was inclined to be conciliatory; but soon he adopted restrictive and oppressive measures, more so than his predecessors, and, at length, declared that he would omit no means but that he would bring America in humility at his feet. The faithful warnings of Pitt, Burke, Fox, and others, had no restraining influence, and the consequence was, that America was lost to the British crown. Lord North, in the latter years of his life, was afflicted with blindness. He died July, 1792, aged sixty.