sentiments he uttered in Parliament. Like Jenkinson, he borrowed neither
from ancient nor modern authors; his eloquence was altogether his own,
addressed not to the fancy, but to the plain comprehension of his hearers.
There was a happy audacity about him, which must have been the gift of
nature--art could not obtain it by any efforts. He seemed not to fear, nor
even to respect, the House, whose composition he well knew; and to the
members of which assembly he never appeared to give credit for any portion
of virtue, patriotism, or public spirit. Far from concealing those
sentiments, he insinuated, or even pronounced them, without disguise; and
from his lips they neither excited surprise, nor even commonly awaked
reprehension."

But this flow of prosperity was to have its ebb. The jovial placeman was
to feel the uncertainties of office; and on Lord North's resignation in
1782, and the celebrated Edmund Burke's appointment to the paymastership,
Rigby found himself suddenly called on for a considerable arrear. It had
been the custom to allow the paymaster to make use of the balances in his
hands until they were called for, and this formed an acknowledged and very
important part of his income. But his expenses left him no resource to
meet the demand. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Sir Thomas Rumbold,
the recalled governor of Madras, had just then returned to England, under
investigation by the House of Commons for malpractices in his office. It
was the rumour of the day that Rigby, on the advance of a large sum by
Rumbold, had undertaken to soften the prosecution against him. Whether
this were the fact or not, it is certain that the charges soon ceased to
be pursued, and that Rigby's nephew and heir was soon after married to
Rumbold's daughter. Rigby, who had never been married, died in 1788, in
his sixty-seventh year.

His letter to Selwyn, in 1745, is characteristic of the man and the time.
"I am just got home from a cock match, where I have won forty pounds in
ready money, and not having dined, am waiting till I hear the rattle of
the coaches from the House of Commons, in order to dine at White's.

"I held my resolution of not going to the Ridotto till past three o'clock,
when, finding that nobody was willing to sit any longer but Boone, who was
_not able_, I took, as I thought, the least of two evils, and so went
there rather than to bed; but found it so infinitely dull, that I retired
in half an hour. The nex