The History of King George the Third. Horace Walpole
temper were no insignificant recommendations to the Speakership. He was a Lincolnshire country gentleman, of ancient family, and had inherited a great estate from his mother, the heiress of the Tyrconnels.—E.
123 Sir Hugh Smithson Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
124 John Berkeley, fifth and last Lord Berkeley of Stratton. He died without issue in 1773, having left his principal estates to Lord Berkeley.—E.
125 It is certain that Monsieur de Bussy told different persons what the Duke of Bedford had said to him, particularly to Lady Hervey, from whom I heard it.
126 George Spencer, Duke of Marlborough, K.G. He was son-in-law of the Duke of Bedford. He died in January 1817, aged 78.—E.
127 Thomas Lord Parker, eldest son of the Earl of Macclesfield, whom he succeeded in that title in March 1764. Like his father, he cultivated the mathematics successfully, and was much respected. He had been defeated in the great contest for the county of Oxford in 1757, but was seated on petition. He died in 1795, aged 72.—E.
128 The famous John Wilkes, member for Aylesbury, and author of “The North Briton.”
129 George Dempster, an East India Director, and for nearly thirty years member for the Perth district of Boroughs. He was the friend of Dr. Johnson, and the patron of Robert Burns; and is described by Mr. Croker as a man of talents and very agreeable manners. He took an active part in all the debates of the House on East India questions; and was one of the few who, after defending Warren Hastings, gave a zealous support to Fox’s India Bill. He died about the year 1790, at a very advanced age. Croker’s Boswell, vol. i. p. 418. Annual Necrology, vol. iii. p. 141.—E.
130 Peregrine Cust. He is mentioned in Churchill’s Satires.
131 Eliab Harvey, brother of William Harvey of Chigwell, in Essex, died in 1769.
132 During the administration of Sir Robert Walpole the Opposition propagated a report, which was universally believed, that the Spaniards, though at peace with us, had taken one of our ships, and cut off the captain’s ears.
133 This was the famous sentence so often quoted, and so often ridiculed, in the pamphlets of that time.
134 The Spanish Ambassador. See infra.
135 Percy Windham Obrien, Earl of Thomond, second son of Sir William Windham, and brother of the Earl of Egremont. Their sister was married to Mr. George Grenville.
136 Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis, having become male heir of this illustrious family by the death of the last peer, Henry Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, in 1738, he was created Lord Herbert in 1743, and Earl of Powis in 1748. His Lordship married Barbara, sole daughter and heiress of Lord Edward Herbert, brother of the last Marquis of Powis, and died in 1772, leaving a son, on whose death in 1801 the earldom became extinct.—E.
137 Next brother of the Duke of Devonshire.
138 Second son of Charles Lord Viscount Townshend.
139 Thomas Charles Bunbury, called, after his father’s death, Sir Charles Bunbury. [He represented the county of Suffolk for forty-five years, and died in March 1821, in his 81st year. He forsook politics for horse-racing, which he found a more congenial pursuit, and was long considered as the father of the turf. See more of him in Selwyn’s Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 180.—E.]
140 At the conferences held there previously to the Treaty of Utrecht.
141 In twenty-eight years, viz. to 1788, the King has not once been at Hanover, nor seems to design it.
142 Additional particulars respecting Colonel Barré are given in Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 41, 168–171. See especially the notes, containing extracts from the Mitchell MSS.—E.
143 Richard Glover, a merchant, who, by superior intelligence, great fluency of speech in public, and some reputation as a poet, had gained considerable influence in the City, and was thought of sufficient importance to be admitted into the councils of Leicester House. This distinction, and the success of his poems, which had all a political tendency, made him fancy himself on an equality with Pitt, Lyttelton, and the other men of talent who surrounded the Prince of Wales. The illusion was painfully dispelled. The sudden death of the Prince broke up the party; Mr. Glover’s services were no longer required; and happening to be at the time under commercial embarrassments, he sank into obscurity. In a few years, however, by diligent application, and a successful speculation in the copper trade, he retrieved his fortunes, but he never forgave the neglect of his former associates; and the memoirs he left behind him show the angry feelings he entertained, particularly against Mr. Pitt. To this circumstance he probably owed his seat for Weymouth, the borough being one of those which Mr. Dodington placed at the disposal of Lord Bute. Mr. Glover died in 1785, aged 73. His autobiography from 1742 to 1757 was published in 1813, under the title of Memoirs of a Distinguished Literary and Political Character. They are not without spirit, but show few signs of a powerful mind, and are in every respect inferior to what might have been expected from him.—E.
144 James Oswald, of Brunnikier, joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland.
145 Dr. George Hay, of the Commons, one of the Commissioners of the Admiralty.
146 George Cooke, Prothonotary, member for Middlesex.
147 Second son of John Duke of Argyle, for many years Lord Register of Scotland in Mr. Pitt’s administration.—E.
148 Robert Nugent, Esq., of Gosfield, in Essex, afterwards Earl Nugent. See infra.
149 This became a stronger truth every day.
150 Mr. Gascoyne was the only son of Sir Crispe Gascoyne, Lord Mayor of London, from whom he inherited a considerable estate. He had a strong understanding, and was esteemed highly as a man of business. His rough deportment had