436
RIDLEYS OF WILLIMOTESWICK, NORTHUMBERLAND.
erected in 1782, has an inscription which epitomizes his life and virtues;
it consists of a figure in statuary-marble as large as life, bearing a resem-
blance of the person and features of Mr. Ridley (at the period to which
the medallion and inscription allude), who is represented as sitting in the
curule chair, the seat of magistracy, in Roman habit, with a serious but
placid countenance, as considering the general welfare of the people over
whom he presided. Under the chair are placed the scales and fasces, as
emblems of justice and authority; beneath this is the entablature, con-
taining the following inscription:-
"To the memory of
MATTHEW RIDLEY, ESQ., of Blagdon and Heaton,
in the County of Northumberland,
senior Alderman of the Corporation of this Town,
and Governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers.
He four times served in the office as Mayor,
in which station, in 1745, he rendered essential service to his country,
averting by his prudence and activity, the attack meditated against his town by the
enemies of the House of Brunswick,
and thereby materially checked the progress of their arms.
He was unanimously elected by his fellow-burgesses to represent them
in five successive parliaments,
and retired from that position only when the declining state of his health rendered him
incapable of conscientiously fulfilling the duties of it.
He lived respected and beloved, and died unfeignedly lamented,
April 6, 1778, aged 66 years.”*
The base of the monument is formed by a medallion, on which the town
of Newcastle is represented by a female figure, having a shield by her,
bearing the arms of the town; near her is an urn, from which are issuing
salmon, the peculiar attribute of the River Tyne. This female figure is
attacked by a figure of Rebellion, who, treading on the crown and scep-
tre (insignia of royalty), bears in one hand the torch of sedition, and in
the other the sword of destruction; in an attitude of supplication she in-
clines herself toward an armed figure, who protects her with his shield,
and with a sword in his right hand resists the figure of Rebellion; on the
shield are represented the arms of the family of Ridley; the helmet is
ornamented with a bull, which is the crest. As a finishing, under the me-
dallion two cornucopias are introduced, representing the general effect of
plenty (attendant upon the care of good and active magistrates), con-
nected by a civic crown, the reward among the Romans, of civil virtue.
The figure of Mr. Ridley is placed against an obelisk of white marble, eight
feet high, on the top of which is a very elegant urn bearing the family
*April 6, 1778, died at Heaton, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, Matthew
Ridley, Esq., senior alderman, and lately one of the representatives of this town
(Newcastle) in Parliament. He was a gentleman of excellent natural parts, im-
proved by a liberal education. He was of a quick and clear conception of business,
and a peculiar address in the execution of it. These talents he early employed in
discharging the first offices of honour and trust in the corporation, where he since
continued an active, well-informed, and incorrupt magistrate. By a diligent atten-
tion to his duties in the senate he had acquired a consummate skill in the forms and
business of Parliament: to this he united a more general knowledge of the consti-
tution, applying both with a manly and disinterested spirit to the general welfare
of his country. These eminent qualities of the mind were adorned with a graceful
address, and polished manners. He was endeared to his friends by an hospitable,
generous and affectionate temper. Such are the outlines of this distinguished char-
acter, faintly but truly sketched by a friend who knew him well."-Newcastle Courant.
