Bedford; who unquestionably exhibited himself a steady and zealous
friend to his new adherent. The duke lent him money to pay his debts; gave
him the secretaryship for Ireland on his appointment to the viceroyalty;
gave him a seat in Parliament for Tavistock; was the means of his being
made a privy counsellor; obtained for him a sinecure of L.4000 a-year; and
at that period when most men are sincere, on his deathbed, appointed Rigby
his executor, and cancelled his bond for the sum which he had originally
lent to him.

We know few instances of such steady liberality in public life, and the
man who gave, and the man who received those munificent tokens of
confidence, must have had more in them than the world was generally
inclined to believe. The duke has been shot through and through by the
pungent shafts of Junius: and Rigby was covered with mire throughout life
by all the retainers of party. Yet both were evidently capable of strong
friendship, and thus possessed the redeeming quality most unusual in the
selfishness and struggles of political existence.

Amongst official men, Rigby is recorded as one of the most popular
personages of his time. One art of official popularity, and that too a
most unfailing one, he adopted in a remarkable degree--he kept an
incomparable table. Sir Robert Walpole, one of the shrewdest of men, had
long preserved his popularity by the same means. Rigby's paymastership of
the forces enabled him to support a splendid establishment, and it was his
custom, after the debates in the House of Commons, to invite the ministers
and the pleasantest men of the time, to supper at his apartments in
Whitehall. His wines were exquisite, his cookery was of the most
_recherche_ order; and by the help of a good temper, a broad laugh,
natural joviality, and a keen and perfect knowledge of all that was going
on round him in the world of fashion, he made his parties a delightful
resource to the wearied minds of the Cabinet.

Wraxall, a very pleasant describer of men and manners, thus sketches
him:--"In Parliament he was invariably habited in a full-dress suit of
clothes, commonly of a dark colour, without lace or embroidery, close
buttoned, with his sword thrust through the pocket. His countenance was
very expressive, but not of genius; still less did it indicate timidity or
modesty. All the comforts of the pay-office seemed to be eloquently
depicted in it; his manner, rough yet frank, admirably set off whatever