August, 1730, where he was
three years captain of the school, previous to his removal to Cambridge. He
was elected from Eton to King's College in 1736; took the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in 1740; and proceeded Master in 1744.

He attended the Duke of Marlborough, and his brother, Lord Charles Spencer,
at Eton, as their private tutor, and proved a valuable acquisition to that
illustrious house; and, what may be reckoned, at least equally fortunate,
his lot fell among those who knew how to appreciate his worth, and were
both able and willing to reward it. The Duke made him his private
secretary, in which capacity he accompanied his Grace during his campaign
on the continent, where he had the command of the British forces; and, when
he was made Master-General of the Ordnance, he appointed Mr. Bryant to the
office of Secretary, then about 1400l. per annum.

His general habits, in his latter years, as is commonly the case with
severe students, were sedentary; and, during the last ten years of his
life, he had frequent pains in his chest, occasioned by so much
application, and leaning against his table to write; but, in his younger
days, spent at Eton, he excelled in various athletic exercises; and, by his
skill in swimming, was the happy instrument in saving the life of the
venerable Dr. Barnard, afterwards Provost of Eton College. The doctor
gratefully acknowledged this essential service, by embracing the first
opportunity which occurred, to present the nephew of his preserver with the
living of Wootton Courtney, near Minehead, in Somerset; a presentation
belonging to the Provost of Eton, in right of his office.

Mr. Bryant was never married. He commonly rose at half past seven, shaved
himself without a glass, was seldom a quarter of an hour in dressing, at
nine rung for his breakfast, which was abstemious, and generally visited
his friends at Eton and Windsor, between breakfast and dinner, which was
formerly at two, but afterwards at four o'clock. He was particularly fond
of dogs, and was known to have thirteen spaniels at one time: he once very
narrowly escaped drowning, through his over eagerness in putting them into
the water.

Our author must be considered as highly distinguished, beyond the common
lot of mortality, with the temporal blessings of comforts, honour, and long
life. With respect to the first of these, he enjoyed health, peace, and
competence; for, besides what he derived from his own family, the presen