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which is not more than ordinarily eminent: many are illustrious. They are
closely tied together in their kinship, and they extend through ten
generations. The main roots of this diffused ability lie in the families of
Sydney and Montagu, and, in a lesser degree, in that of North.
The Sydney blood—I mean that of the descendants of Sir William Sydney
and his wife—had extraordinary influence in two different combinations.
First with the Dudleys, producing in the first generation, Sir Philip Sydney
and his eminent brother and sister; in the second generation, at least one
eminent man; and in the third generation, Algernon Sydney, with his able
brother and much be-praised sister. The second combination of the Sydney
blood was with the Harringtons, producing in the first generation a literary
peer, and Elizabeth the mother of the large and most remarkable family that
forms the chief feature in my genealogical table.
The Montagu blood, as represented by Sir Edward, who died in the
Tower, 1644, is derived from three distinct sources. His great-grandfather
(gF.) was Sir John Finnieux, Chief Justice of the King's Bench; his
grandfather (g.) was John Roper, Attorney-General to Henry VIII.; and his
father—by far the most eminent of the three— was Sir Edward Montagu,
Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Sir Edward Montagu, son of the Chief
Justice, married Elizabeth Harrington, of whom I have just spoken, and had
a large family, who in themselves and in their descendants became most
remarkable. To mention only the titles they won: in the first generation they
obtained two peerages, the earldom of Manchester and the barony of
Montagu; in the second they obtained two more, the earldom of Sandwich
and the barony of Capel; in the third five more, the dukedom of Montagu,
earldoms of Halifax and of Essex, the barony of Guilford,
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