¹ Charles Jenkinson (1729–1808): MP for various constituencies 1761–1786; 1786 Baron Hawkesbury, 1796 Earl of Liverpool. ‘Politically timid, Jenkinson attached himself to the Crown as the one stable element in the political scene; a born bureaucrat, of restricted sympathies, his passion was for the detail of office’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/jenkinson-charles-1729-1808 (accessed 9 October 2019). BL dates the letter to 1761.

² The enclosure is not retained, but the cases are probably those in Members/Speaker (1781 edn), 204–208. JH quotes Sir Edward Coke on this point: ‘the King makes a prorogation; but this House adjourns itself’.

³ For the text of the section, see Members/Speaker (1781 edn), 219.

⁴ Jenkinson was a lord of the Treasury December 1767–January 1773. The letter probably dates from this period.

⁵ John Ley (1733–1814): Clerk Assistant 1768–1797, Deputy Clerk 1797–1814. See Introduction, pp. 6–7 and 10–11.

⁶ John Wilkes (1725–1797): MP for Aylesbury 1757–1764, Middlesex 1768–1769, 16–17 February 1769, 1774–1790. Referring to Wilkes, Edward Gibbon noted in his diary: ‘I scarcely ever met with a better companion; he has inexhaustible spirits, infinite wit and humour, and a great deal of knowledge; but a thorough profligate in principle as in practice; his character is infamous, his life stained with every vice, and his conversation full of blasphemy and bawdy’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/wilkes-john-1725-97

⁷ Clerk of the King's Bench Treasury. He deposited a Record of the proceedings ‘for a Libel’ and the proceedings ‘for Blasphemy’ in the House on 23 November 1768: C.J., xxxii, p. 58.

⁸ On 31 January, Wilkes ‘submitted to the House that the entries in the votes of this House […] of the title of the copy of the record of the proceedings […] for blasphemy, were not founded’. PH, XVI, 541. The House ordered that the Vote entries of 23 November ‘be so altered, as particularly to express, that the Words “for a Libel,” and “for Blasphemy,” contained in the said Entries, were Part of the Titles indorsed by the Officer who presented the said Copies, and no Part of the said Records; nor intended to convey any Opinion of the House concerning them’: C.J., xxxii, pp. 169–170. The error for which Hatsell took responsibility ‘turned out to be a boon for Wilkes because the vote to expunge effectively swept away the accusations of blasphemy which had alienated many potential followers’. Cash, Arthur H., John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty (New Haven, CT, 2006), 243Google Scholar.

⁹ Nathaniel Ryder (1735–1803): MP for Tiverton 1756–1776; 1776 Baron Harrowby. ‘His great ambition was a peerage’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/ryder-nathaniel-1735-1803

¹⁰ The Middlesex election was held on 13 April: Wilkes polled 1,143 votes, Luttrell 296.

¹¹ George Onslow (1731–1814): MP for Rye 1754–1761, Surrey 1761–1774; 1801 Earl of Onslow. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/onslow-george-1731-1814

¹² Sir Alexander Gilmour Bt (c.1737–1792): MP for Edinburghshire (Midlothian) 1761–1774. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/gilmour-sir-alexander-1737-92

¹³ C.J., xxxii, p. 385.

¹⁴ Hon. Henry Lawes Luttrell (1737?–1821): MP for Middlesex 15 April 1769–1774, and other constituencies at various intervals 1768–1821. Luttrell, wrote Horace Walpole, ‘for some months did not dare to appear in the streets or scarce quit his lodgings. He was the most unpopular man in the House of Commons’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/luttrell-hon-henry-lawes-1737-1821

¹⁵ C.J., xxxii, p. 385.

¹⁶ C.J., xxxii, p. 387.

¹⁷ The House of Lords ruled against the claims of Charles Knollys (1662–1740) to the title of ‘Earl of Banbury’. L.J., xv, p. 187; 17 January 1692/93.

¹⁸ Hatsell noted this 1703 case on the question: ‘Whether an action lies at common law for an Elector, who is denied his vote for Members of Parliament’. Lords/Supply (1785 edn), 56–57.

¹⁹ In Bishopsgate Street. Venue for inaugural and some subsequent meetings of the Society of Supporters of the Bill of Rights, a group established to help Wilkes with his debts and foment opposition to the administration: Treloar, W.P., Wilkes and the City (London, 1917), 102–103, 151Google Scholar.

²⁰ The ‘massacre’ at St George's Fields on 10 May 1768, the day of the opening of the new Parliament, was a clash between Wilkes's supporters and the authorities: Rudé, G., Wilkes & Liberty (Oxford, 1962), 49–52Google Scholar.

²¹ Burke criticised ‘the court of examining surgeons’ as ‘a rank libel on the trial by juries’. PH, XVI, 587; 15 April 1769.

²² Sir Fletcher Norton (1716–1789): MP for Guildford 1768–1782; Speaker of the House of Commons 1770–1780. ‘He was satisfied that the seldomer he mixed in debate, the more likely he would be to avoid giving offence to either side of the House’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/norton-fletcher-1716-89

²³ Edward Thurlow (1731–1806): MP for Tamworth 1765–1778; 1778 Baron Thurlow of Ashfield. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/thurlow-edward-1731-1806

²⁴ Jeremiah Dyson (1722?–1776): MP for various constituencies 1762–1776; Clerk of the House of Commons 1748–1762. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dyson-jeremiah-1722-76

²⁵ William Beckford (1709–1770): MP for Shaftesbury 1747–1754, London 1754–1770. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/beckford-william-1709-70

²⁶ Thomas Townshend (1733–1800): MP for Whitchurch 1754–1783; 1783 Baron Sydney; 1789 Viscount Sydney. ‘In the debates over Wilkes and general warrants he was a frequent speaker’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/townshend-thomas-1733-1800

²⁷ Sir William Meredith, 3rd Bt (1725?–1790): MP for Wigan 1754–1761, Liverpool 1761–1780. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/meredith-sir-william-1725-90

²⁸ Edmund Burke (1729–1797): MP for various constituencies 1765–1794. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/burke-edmund-1729-97

²⁹ George Grenville (1712–1770): MP for Buckingham 1741–1770; Prime Minister 1763–1765. On 3 February 1769 Grenville spoke against the expulsion of Wilkes; the text is drawn from the ‘original edition’ of J. Almon. PH, XX, 546. This ‘mode of proceeding is not only new and unprecedented, it is likewise dangerous and unjust’. 551. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/grenville-george-1712-70

³⁰ As Hatsell predicted, the King prorogued Parliament on Tuesday 9 May 1769. C.J., xxxii, p. 453.

³¹ Ryder's parents-in-law were Richard Terrick (1710–1777), fr. 1764 Bishop of London, and Tabitha Terrick, née Stainforth. She survived her husband, dying in 1790. DNB.

³² Robert Walpole (1736–1810): son of Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolverton (1678–1757); thus ‘Bob’ Walpole's uncle was Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), Prime Minister 1721–1742.

³³ Ellipsis in original.

³⁴ Hon. Thomas Walpole (1727–1803): MP for various constituencies 1754–1784. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/walpole-hon-thomas-1727-1803

Younger brother of Bob, he was also a nephew of the late Prime Minister and cousin of the memoirist Horace Walpole.

³⁵ Sir John Lambert, 2nd Baronet (1690–1772): French-born English merchant, whose father and son were also named John Lambert. All three did business on behalf of British clients through London bankers, with the Lamberts having notable connections to C. Hoare & Co. That company acquired various private documents of John Hatsell which the company gifted to the Parliamentary Archives in 1983. The account books referenced in the Introduction, p. 7, were included in this trove of documents. The Hoare family is well known for Luscombe Castle in Devon, whose architect was John Nash. In 1799 Hatsell described his visit to ‘Luscombe House’.

³⁶ Probably Richard Ellison (1721–1792): self-made man; he made his fortune by investing in inland navigation.

³⁷ Hans Sloane (1739–1827): MP for various constituencies 1768–1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/sloane-hans-1739-1827

³⁸ Wilkes indeed topped the poll for Sheriff of the City of London, with 2,315 votes.

³⁹ William Eden (1744–1814): MP for New Woodstock 1774–1784, Heytesbury 1784–1793; 1789 Baron Auckland [I]; 1793 Baron Auckland of West Auckland; commissioner for conciliation with America 1778–1779; envoy to France on special commercial mission 1785–1788; ambassador to Spain 1788–9, to the United Provinces 1789–93; president Board of Trade 1806–7. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/eden-william-1744-1814

In The Principles of Penal Law (1771) Eden ‘advocated a reduction in the number of capital offences in English law and for a reformatory rather than a punitive basis for punishment in general’, ODNB.

⁴⁰ Thomas Whately (c.1728–1772): MP for Ludgershall 1761–1768, Castle Rising 1768–1772. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/whately-thomas-1728-72

Whately was appointed to the sinecure post of keeper of the King's roads in June 1771, although the appointment did not take formal effect until January 1772. Whately authored Observations on Modern Gardening (London, 1770)Google Scholar, the first study of the English landscape garden.

⁴¹ Dudley Ryder (1762–1847): the son of Nathaniel Ryder, sat as MP for Tiverton 1784–1803; fr. 1803 2nd Baron Harrowby, 1809 Earl Harrowby. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/ryder-hon-dudley-1762-1847

⁴² PH, XVII, 245–297; 6 February 1772.

⁴³ Hans Stanley (1721–1780): MP for St Albans 1743–1747, Southampton 1754–1780. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/stanley-hans-1721-80

⁴⁴ Lord Frederick North (1732–1792): MP for Banbury 1754–1790; Prime Minister 1770–1782. North was ‘a consummate master of debate. […] The bitter sarcasms and severe accusations levelled at him’ during the American war ‘seemed to sink into him like a cannon ball into a wool sack’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/north-frederick-1732-92

⁴⁵ Lord John Cavendish (1732–1796): MP for various constituencies 1754–1796; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1782, 1783. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/cavendish-john-1732-96

⁴⁶ Sir George Savile, 8th Bt (1726–1784): MP for Yorkshire 1759–1783. ‘He was a Whig who never wished for office and never belonged to a party, and who valued the approbation of his constituents as his sole reward’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/savile-sir-george-1726-84

⁴⁷ Alexander Wedderburn (1733–1805): MP for various constituencies 1761–1780; Solicitor General 1771–1778, 1780 Baron Loughborough, Lord Chancellor 1793–1801. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/wedderburn-alexander-1733-1805

⁴⁸ Augusta, Princess of Wales (1719–1772): widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales, mother of George III.

⁴⁹ Henry Seymour (1729–1807): MP for various constituencies 1763–1780. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/seymour-henry-1729-1807

⁵⁰ Hon. Charles James Fox (1749–1806): MP for various constituencies 1768–1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/fox-hon-charles-james-1749-1806

⁵¹ ‘He drank, though perhaps not so hard as many men in his position, and was much addicted to gambling’, DNB.

⁵² John Sawbridge (1732–1795): MP for Hythe 1768–1774, London 1774–1780, 1780–1795. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/sawbridge-john-1732-95

⁵³ William Pitt (1708–1778): MP for various constituencies 1735–1766; Secretary of State 1756–April 1757, July 1757–1761; 1766 Earl of Chatham; Prime Minister 1766–1768. A hugely successful war minister, on 7 July 1766 ‘the King sent for Pitt [who was] at last given a chance to form an Administration, united under his lead and backed by the full confidence of the Crown; and a sad mess he made of it’, HoPT. JH employs ‘Chatham’ to refer to Wm. Pitt the Elder as do we. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/pitt-william-1708-78

⁵⁴ Richard Grenville, later Temple-Grenville (1711–1779): fr. 1752 2nd Earl Temple; Chatham's brother-in-law. ‘After 1770 Temple largely abandoned the maelstrom of political life and devoted his attention, his talents, and much of his wealth to making Stowe a rival to the greatest houses of England’. ODNB.

⁵⁵ Charles Watson-Wentworth (1730–1782): fr. 1750 2nd Marquess Rockingham; Prime Minister 1765–1766 and 1782. DNB.

⁵⁶ Prince Henry Frederick (1745–1790): 1766 Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn. His marriage to Anne Horton, née Luttrell (1743–1808), on 2 October 1771 incurred the wrath of his eldest brother, the King. Cumberland was largely barred from royal company and the marriage led to the Royal Marriages Bill.

⁵⁷ See p. 32 n. 22. Norton's participation in proceedings on the Bill did not endear him to the court: Laundy, Philip, The Office of Speaker (London, 1965), 278Google Scholar.

⁵⁸ Richard Rigby (1722–1788): MP for various constituencies 1745–1788. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/rigby-richard-1722-88

⁵⁹ Gilbert Elliot (1722–1777): MP for Roxburghshire 1765–1777. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/elliot-gilbert-1722-77

⁶⁰ William Dowdeswell (1721–1775): MP for Tewkesbury 1747–1754, Worcester 1761–1775; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1765–1766. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dowdeswell-william-1721-75

⁶¹ Isaac Barré (1726–1802): MP for Chipping Wycombe 1761–1774, Calne 1774–1790. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/barreacute-isaac-1726-1802

⁶² John Dunning (1731–1783): MP for Calne 1768–1782. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dunning-john-1731-83

⁶³ Hon. John Yorke (1728–1801): MP for Higham Ferrers 1753–1768, Reigate 1768–1784. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/yorke-hon-john-1728-1801

⁶⁴ James Grenville (1742–1825): MP for Buckingham 1770–1790, Buckinghamshire 1790–1797. He was ‘an amiable and ingenious man, who had improved parts, and a most pleasing manner’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/grenville-james-1742-1825

⁶⁵ Hon. Henry Seymour Conway (1719–1795): MP for Thetford 1761–1774; Commander-in-Chief of the Army 1782–1783. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/conway-hon-henry-seymour-1719-95

⁶⁶ Richard Croftes (c.1740–1783): MP for various constituencies 1767–1780. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/croftes-richard-1740-83

⁶⁷ Granville Leveson Gower (1721–1803): MP for various constituencies 1744–1754; fr. 1754 2nd Earl Gower, 1786 Marquess of Stafford. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/leveson-gower-granville-1721-1803

⁶⁸ William Petty (1737–1805): MP for Chipping Wycombe 1760–1761; fr. 1761 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 2nd Baron Wycombe; 1784 Marquess of Lansdowne; Prime Minister 1782–1783. ‘A keen reformer, patron of Priestley, Bentham, and Richard Price, he was an aristocratic forerunner of the philosophic radicals’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/petty-william-1737-1805

⁶⁹ Hon. William Murray (1705–1793): MP for Boroughbridge 1742–1756; 1756 Lord Mansfield; Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench 1756–1788; 1792 Earl Mansfield. ‘He remained involved in the drafting of parliamentary bills as Lord Chief Justice, and seems to have been largely responsible for the Royal Marriages Act of 1772’, ODNB. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/murray-hon-william-1705-93

⁷⁰ In the early 1770s Richard John Atwood established a club on St James's Street; the historian and freemason Edward Gibbon was a member.

⁷¹ John Spencer (1734–1783): MP for Warwick, 1756–1761; 1761 Viscount Spencer; 1765 Earl Spencer. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/spencer-john-1734-83

⁷² George Spencer (1739–1817): fr. 1758 4th Duke of Marlborough. DNB.

⁷³ JH writes from Geneva.

⁷⁴ François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778): under his pen name Voltaire, he composed novels and poetry along with history and philosophy. NBG.

⁷⁵ ‘The sick old man of Ferney is more ill than ever before; tomorrow, if he is not dead, it will be an honour to see the gentlemen for a moment. If he is dead, then it was [the case that] death is the final boundary of things’. Voltaire concludes his note to his British visitors with the motto ‘mors ultima linea rerum est’. Hor.Ep. 1.16.79.

⁷⁶ Richard Neville Aldworth (1717–1793): MP for various constituencies 1747–1774; Aldworth changed his name to Neville in 1762. Minister plenipotentiary at Paris 1763. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/aldworth-richard-neville-1717-93

⁷⁷ David Garrick (1717–1779): actor, playwright, manager of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, leading exponent of Shakespeare.

⁷⁸ John Strange (1732–1799): diplomatist and author.

⁷⁹ The commission for conciliation with America was appointed 22 February 1778, with Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748–1825) as notional head. Eden took the leading role, however. The letter has a year, but no date, and is assumed to come shortly before the formal appointment.

⁸⁰ Frederick Montagu (1733–1800): MP for Northampton 1759–1768, Higham Ferrers 1768–1790. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/montagu-frederick-1733-1800

⁸¹ George Johnstone (1730–1787): MP for various constituencies 1768–1787; governor of West Florida 1763–1767. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/johnstone-george-1730-87

⁸² Richard Jackson (1721?–1787): MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 1762–1768, New Romney 1768–1784; Agent for Connecticut 1760–1770, for Pennsylvania 1763–1770, and for Massachusetts 1765–1770. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/jackson-richard-1721-87

⁸³ Richard Oliver (1735–1784): MP for London 1770–1780; alderman of London 1770–1778; sheriff of London 1772–1773. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/oliver-richard-1735-84

⁸⁴ Richard Hopkins (c.1728–1799): MP for various constituencies 1766–1799. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/hopkins-richard-1728-99

⁸⁵ William Graves (1724?–1801): MP for West Looe 1768–1774, East Looe 1775–1783, 1784–1786, and 1796–1798; treasurer Middle Temple 1794. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/graves-william-1724-1801

⁸⁶ Archibald Macdonald (1747–1826): MP for Hindon 1777–1780, Newcastle-under-Lyme 1780–1793. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/macdonald-archibald-1747-1826

⁸⁷ Hon. Augustus Keppel (1725–1786): MP for New Windsor 1761–1780; 1782 Viscount Keppel. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/keppel-hon-augustus-1725-86

⁸⁸ Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby (1754–1787): MP for Cambridge University 1774–1779; fr. 1779 4th Duke of Rutland. ‘In his first reported speech, 5 April 1775 […] he disavowed the Government's system, as commenced in iniquity, pursued with resentment, and bound to terminate in nothing but blood […] it shall, from me, meet the most constant, determined, and invariable opposition’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/manners-charles-1754-87

⁸⁹ The letter may be dated to February or March 1778.

⁹⁰ Sir Henry Belasyse (c.1648–1717), MP for various constituencies, 1695–1715. Appointed a commissioner to inquire into forces in Italy and the Peninsula in 1711, the House expelled Belasyse in 1712 for accepting an office of profit. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/belasyse-sir-henry-1648-1717

On this case and others (probably referred to in the enclosure) see Members/Speaker (1785 edn), 13–14.

⁹¹ Unidentified.

⁹² Charles Henri d'Estaing (1729–1794): commander of the National Guard at Versailles, admiral, guillotined in 1794. NBG.

⁹³ Hatsell refers to the successful British evacuation of Philadelphia before the arrival of French fleet commanded by d'Estaing.

⁹⁴ Members/Speaker (1781 edn).

⁹⁵ Lord George Sackville, afterwards Germain (1716–1785): MP for various constituencies 1741–1782; 1782 Viscount Sackville; Secretary of State for America 1775–1782. ‘So very contemptible is the rebel force now in all parts, and so vast is our superiority everywhere’, Germain declared in March 1781, ‘that no resistance on their part is to be apprehended that can materially obstruct the progress of the King's arms in the speedy suppression of the rebellion’, HoPT. Resigned in February 1782. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/sackville-lord-george-1716-85

⁹⁶ Charles Cornwallis, Viscount Brome (1738–1805): MP for Eye 1760–1762; fr. 1762 2nd Earl Cornwallis, 1792 Marquess Cornwallis; Governor General of Bengal 1786–1793. ‘Although opposed to the American war he served in America, and it was his surrender at Yorktown in October 1781 which ended the war’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/cornwallis-charles-1738-1805

⁹⁷ Thomas Powys (1743–1800): MP for Northamptonshire 1774–1797; 1797 Baron Lilford. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/powys-thomas-1743-1800

⁹⁸ John Fitzpatrick (1745–1818): MP for Bedfordshire 1767–1794; fr. 1758 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory [I], 1794 Baron Upper Ossory [GB]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/fitzpatrick-john-1745-1818

⁹⁹ Robert Henley Ongley (c.1721–1785): MP for Bedford 1754–1761, Bedfordshire 1761–1780, 1784–1785; 1776 Baron Ongley [I]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/henley-ongley-robert-1721-85

¹⁰⁰ George Byng (1735?–1789): MP for Wigan 1768–1780, Middlesex 1780–1784. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/byng-george-1735-89

¹⁰¹ Hon. William Pitt (1759–1806): MP for Appleby 1781–1784, Cambridge University 1784–1806; Prime Minister 1783–1801, 1804–1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/pitt-hon-william-1759-1806

¹⁰² Hon. John Townshend (1757–1833): MP for Cambridge University 1780–1784, Westminster 1788–1790, Knaresborough 1793–1818. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/townshend-hon-john-1757-1833

¹⁰³ Sir John Griffin Griffin (1719–1797): MP for Andover 1749–1784; fr. 1784 4th Baron Howard de Walden; 1788 Baron Braybrooke. ‘After serving in the war of the Austrian succession, Griffin was returned for Andover on the interest of his uncle [and] continued to represent Andover till he became a peer in 1784’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/griffin-john-griffin-1719-97

¹⁰⁴ Sir James Lowther, 5th Bt (1736–1802): MP for various constituencies 1757–1784; 1784 Earl of Lonsdale. ‘But of the twelve Members returned by Lowther at the general election of 1784 or at by-elections before 1790 [not] one of the twelve reached any sort of distinction in the Commons, and most could never have been returned without a patron’, Ho PT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/lowther-sir-james-1736-1802

¹⁰⁵ George John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1758–1834): MP for Northampton 1780–1782 and Surrey 1782–1783; fr. 1783 2nd Earl Spencer. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/spencer-george-john-1758-1834

¹⁰⁶ Warren Hastings (1732–1818): Governor General of British India. During his second tour of duty he was appointed Governor of Calcutta (1771) and, via the Regulating Act 13 Geo. 3 c. 63 (1773), Governor General. After serving in that role (1773–1784), impeachment proceedings were commenced in House of Commons, extending over 8 years (1787–1795). Hastings won an acquittal in the House of Lords. DNB.

¹⁰⁷ John Scott (1747–1819): MP for West Looe 1784–1790, Stockbridge 1790–1793; aide-de-camp to Warren Hastings 1778. In 1798 he took additional name of Waring. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/scott-john-1747-1819

¹⁰⁸ Andrew Stuart (1725–1801): MP for Lanarkshire 1774–1784, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 1790–1801. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/stuart-andrew-1725-1801

¹⁰⁹ Holwood was Pitt's country estate near the village of Keston, in Kent. Eden lived in Beckenham; Thurlow, Lord Chancellor, lived at Knight's Hill, near Dulwich; Jenkinson lived in Addiscombe, Surrey. Pitt's house at Holwood was close to all three. See p. 90.

¹¹⁰ Richard Price (1723–1791): nonconformist minister. He was a prolific writer on morals, politics, and economics. DNB.

¹¹¹ Charles Stanhope, Viscount Mahon (1753–1816): scientist; MP for Chipping Wycombe 1780–1786; fr. 1786 3rd Earl Stanhope. He was the brother-in-law of Pitt the Younger. ‘His maiden speech, made on the first day he sat as a Member, was a declaration of outright opposition to the North ministry and all its works’, HoPT. Stanhope was also the father of Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839), who became Pitt's political hostess and a famous traveller and archaeologist. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/stanhope-charles-1753-1816

¹¹² Published in AJC, I, 355–357.

¹¹³ The House of Commons agreed an Address advocating ‘a fixed Plan for the Reduction of the National Debt’ on 25 January 1786. C.J., xli, p. 5. The subsequent Bill established a Sinking Fund of the surpluses each quarter.

¹¹⁴ Francis Maseres (1731–1824): mathematician, historian, and reformer; Maseres was the author of The Principle of Life Annuities explained in a Familiar Manner (1783). ‘The lord chancellor obtained for him the place of cursitor baron of the exchequer, worth between 300l. and 400l. a year […] He filled this position from August 1773 until his death in 1824’, DNB.

¹¹⁵ We assume that JH appended this memorandum to his previous letter to Wm. Pitt; hence we have conformed the dating to 6 February 1786.

¹¹⁶ Dating this writing to 9 February 1786 allows for the previous exchange of notes to which this letter refers.

¹¹⁷ We assume that JH appended this memorandum to his previous letter to Wm. Pitt; hence we have conformed the dating to 9 February 1786.

¹¹⁸ Jacques Necker (1732–1804): Genevan banker and finance minister under Louis XVI. NBG.

¹¹⁹ The Bill as subsequently enacted provided for the redemption of the stock of public annuities.

¹²⁰ Mid February is conjectured.

¹²¹ Cecil de Cardonnel (1735–1793), 2nd Baroness Dynevor, w. of George Rice (1724?–1779): MP for Carmarthenshire 1754–1779. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/rice-george-1724-79

¹²² Pitt appointed Eden in December 1785 to negotiate a commercial treaty with France. Eden departed for Paris (March 1786). ‘After a surprisingly speedy set of preliminary negotiations Eden was able to forward to London on 17 April 1786 a French project which advocated the principle of reciprocity and mutual convenience’. Ehrman, John, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I: Years of Acclaim (New York, 1969), 487Google Scholar.

¹²³ William Woodfall (1746–1803): parliamentary reporter and critic. DNB.

¹²⁴ Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816): MP for Stafford 1780–1806, Westminster 1806–1807, Ilchester 1807–1812. ‘The son of an Irish actor and teacher of rhetoric, Sheridan made his way by his brilliant literary gifts, while his wit and charm made him sought after in the most fashionable society, as well as the literary and theatrical world. […] In 1776 he purchased Drury Lane and went into theatrical management, a connexion which lasted till his death’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/sheridan-richard-brinsley-1751-1816

¹²⁵ Unidentified.

¹²⁶ Letter damaged; word illegible.

¹²⁷ Sir George Howard (1718–1796): MP for Lostwithiel 1761–1766, Stamford 1768–1796. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/howard-sir-george-1718-96

¹²⁸ Lloyd Kenyon (1732–1802): MP for Hindon 1780–1784, Tregony 1784–1788; Chief Justice of King's Bench 1788–1802. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/kenyon-lloyd-1732-1802

¹²⁹ William Wyndham Grenville (1759–1834): MP for Buckingham 1782–1784, Buckinghamshire 1784–1790; Speaker of the House of Commons from January to June 1789; 1790 Baron Grenville; Prime Minister 1806–1807. In 1785 Grenville enjoyed ‘the second place in Pitt's favour and friendship at this period of his political career’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/grenville-william-wyndham-1759-1834

¹³⁰ Hon. Constantine John Phipps (1744–1792): MP for various constituencies 1768–1790; fr. 1775 2nd Baron Mulgrave [I]; 1790 Baron Mulgrave [GB]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/phipps-hon-constantine-john-1744-92

¹³¹ Philip Francis (1740–1818): MP for various constituencies 1784–1807. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/francis-philip-1740-1818

¹³² Lord Thurlow, see p. 32.

¹³³ Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy (1756–1791): Famous for the affair of the Queen's necklace. Sentenced to be whipped and branded with a V on each shoulder for ‘voleuse/thief’, she was imprisoned for life. NBG.

¹³⁴ Published in AJC, I, 377–378.

¹³⁵ Henry Dundas (1742–1811): MP for Edinburghshire 1774–1782, 1783–1790, Newton I.O.W. 1782, Edinburgh 1790–1802; 1802 Viscount Melville; commissioner, Board of Control 1784–1793. Dundas was the ‘second man on the Government side in the House of Commons, on the closest terms, public and private, with Pitt’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dundas-henry-1742-1811

¹³⁶ We assume that JH appended this memorandum to his previous letter to Wm. Pitt; hence we have conformed the dating to 26 March 1787.

¹³⁷ JH refers to the Honourable Secret Committee of the Honourable Court of Directors of the East India Company.

¹³⁸ The ‘Paper mark'd A’ does not survive. Case 12 is the impeachment of Lord Chief Justice Scroggs, Mr Justice Jones and Mr Baron Weston in 1680 which arose from a select committee inquiry on the proceedings of judges in Westminster Hall. See Conference/Impeachment (1796 edn), 116–117. Case 19 regarding later Judges in Ireland is that of Thomas Lord Coningsby and Sir Charles Porter, Lord Justices in Ireland, where the House itself examined witnesses and determined that the case did not merit impeachment. Ibid. 241.

¹³⁹ Robert Clive (1725–1774): MP for Mitchell 1754–1755, Shrewsbury 1761–1774; 1762 Baron Clive of Plassey [I]; Governor of Bengal 1758–1760, 1764–1767. He successfully resisted charges against him in 1772 and 1773, in part by speeches in the House in his own defence. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/clive-robert-1725-74

¹⁴⁰ William Penn (1621–1670): MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis 1660, 1661–1670; an ‘Irish Cromwellian’ Penn struggled with the transition into Restoration politics and found himself answering an Article of Impeachment in the House of Lords, dated 24 April 1668, arising from his (alleged) lack of energy in pursuing prizes in an engagement during Second Anglo-Dutch naval war (1665–1667). HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/penn-william-1621-70

See also Conference/Impeachment (1796 edn), 114.

¹⁴¹ Sir John Somers (1651–1716): MP for Worcester 1689–1693; Lord Keeper 1693–1697; 1697 Baron Somers; Lord Chancellor 1697–1700. Impeached by Commons in 1701 along with other former Ministers for ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanours’, but acquitted by Lords after Commons failed to prosecute the case: see Conference/Impeachment (1796 edn), 236, 247–248, 277–278. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/somers-sir-john-1651-1716

¹⁴² Sarah Siddons (1755–1831): celebrated actress; her roles at this time included Cordelia and Cleopatra. DNB.

¹⁴³ Vicary Gibbs (1751–1820): MP for various constituencies 1804–1812. Although conjectural, this identification is supported by Gibbs's credentials as a rising star in the legal world: Eton 1764, King's College, Cambridge 1771, admitted Lincoln's Inn 1769, and called to the bar in 1783. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/gibbs-vicary-1751-1820

¹⁴⁴ John Ekins (1732–1808): dean of Salisbury 1786–1808; JH's brother-in-law.

¹⁴⁵ Rutland was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1784 until his death in Dublin on 24 October 1787.

¹⁴⁶ Thomas Steele (1753–1823): MP for Chichester 1780–1807. Steele did not become Secretary to Ireland, remaining as Secretary to the Treasury. ‘As Pitt's junior secretary to the Treasury his talent for business was widely recognized’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/steele-thomas-1753-1823

¹⁴⁷ Charles Cornwall (1735–1789): MP for various constituencies, 1768–1789; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1780–1789. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/cornwall-charles-wolfran-1735-89

¹⁴⁸ Beilby Porteus (1731–1808): Bishop of Chester from 1776 until his translation to Bishop of London in 1787. DNB.

¹⁴⁹ Francis Hastings (1729–1789): fr. 1746 10th Earl of Huntingdon.

¹⁵⁰ Hatsell refers to the passage in Members/Speaker (1785 edn), 61: ‘In the Parliament which met on the 31st October, 1780, there were several Lord Stewards, each of whom executed a deputation to swear the Members, immediately after his appointment to that office’.

¹⁵¹ Written from Paulton on which, see Memorabilia Entry 49, p. 208.

¹⁵² JH refers to William, Prince of Orange (1650–1702): fr. 1689 King of England, Scotland and Ireland. On 23 December 1688, he summoned the Convention Parliament to meet on 26 December: C.J., x, p. 5.

¹⁵³ Grenville was elected Speaker on 5 January 1789, but approbation did not take place at that time. Grenville subsequently excused this omission in a Memorandum placed in the Journal, justifying events by ‘the Precedents of the Restoration and Revolution’. C.J., xliv, p. 93; 2 February 1789. Hatsell later wrote: ‘How far these precedents authorized a similar proceeding in the House of Commons, in the choice of Speaker, on the 5th January, 1789, under circumstances not exactly similar with those of 1660, or 1688, it would be presumptuous in me to discuss’, Members/Speaker (1818 edn), 220.

¹⁵⁴ L.J., xiv, p. 488, p. 493. JH is citing the opinion of the judges on the Bill for the Exercise of the Government by Her Majesty during His Majesty's Absence. See also material in Vols 9 and 10, Grey's.

¹⁵⁵ Henry Addington (1757–1844): MP for Devizes 1784–1805; Speaker of the House of Commons 1789–1801; Prime Minister 1801–1804; 1805 Viscount Sidmouth. Welbore Ellis (1713–1802) declared that Addington ‘had completely fulfilled the expectations of his friends, and by his propriety and impartiality engaged and secured the general good opinion of the House’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/addington-henry-1757-1844

Ellis's details are noted at p. 208 n. 478.

¹⁵⁶ The House met on Monday 22 March 1790 and adjourned to Wednesday 24 March. JH's reference to ‘Your Bill’ is to a Bill that granted Addington an annual salary of £6,000: see C.J., xlv, pp. 316 and 320. See p. 80 n. 168.

¹⁵⁷ Jane Gordon (1748?–1812): Scottish political hostess; wife of Alexander Gordon (1745?–1827), 4th Duke of Gordon. DNB. In Robert Burns's lines: ‘She kiltit up her kirtle weel | To show her bonie cutes sae sma’ | And walloped about the reel | The lightest louper o’ them a’!’.

¹⁵⁸ Jeffery Ekins (1731–1791): dean of Carlisle, native of Barton-Seagrave, Northamptonshire, of which parish his father, the Rev. Jeffery Ekins, MA, was rector. Ekins was JH's brother-in-law. DNB.

¹⁵⁹ Richard Beadon (1737–1824): Bishop of Gloucester (1789–1802), subsequently Bishop of Bath and Wells. DNB.

¹⁶⁰ Sir George Onesiphorus Paul (1746–1820): philanthropist. The county gaol at Gloucester, with a penitentiary annexed – for which Paul was the prime mover – was opened in 1791. It had a chapel, a dispensary, two infirmaries, and a foul-ward (for patients suffering from venereal diseases) in the upper story. The gaol provided workrooms for debtors. Those who were unable to obtain work from outside were given it on application to a manufacturer and were allowed to retain two-thirds of what they earned. DNB.

¹⁶¹ Charles Grey (1764–1845): MP for Northumberland 1786–1807, Appleby 1807, Tavistock 1807; Viscount Howick 1806–1807; fr. 1807 2nd Earl Grey; Prime Minister 1830–1834. ‘He was often lethargic, indecisive, selfish and petty, rarely capable of feeling or inspiring enthusiasm and increasingly outmoded in his adherence to a high-minded, narrow political creed. Yet he never abandoned his basic belief in the need for parliamentary reform, and it eventually fell to him to head the ministry which effected it’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/grey-charles-1764-1845

¹⁶² Messengers from negotiations with the Spanish over Nootka Sound.

¹⁶³ The House of Lords put questions to the Judges of the Exchequer in 1790 on the propriety of questions which the managers (appointed by the House of Commons) proposed to put to witnesses in Hastings’ impeachment trial. The Chief Baron was Sir James Eyre (1734–1799).

¹⁶⁴ ‘By the end of 1790, Pitt was indeed in a powerful position. […] Nootka in some ways was his peak in diplomacy; certainly in his personal direction of it’. Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, I, 571.

¹⁶⁵ Edward Phelips (1753?–1792): MP for Somerset 1784–1792. A ‘staunch supporter of Pitt’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/phelips-edward-1753-92

¹⁶⁶ Richard Pepper Arden (1744–1804): MP for various constituencies, 1783–1801; Master of the Rolls 1788–1801; 1801 Baron Alvanley; Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1801–1804. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/arden-richard-pepper-1744-1804

¹⁶⁷ The motion was subsequently moved by the Master of the Rolls; Phelips seconded. C.J., xlvi, p. 6; 25 November 1790.

¹⁶⁸ The Act relating to the Speaker's salary (‘better Support of the Dignity of the Speaker’) received the Royal Assent on 1 April 1790. C.J., xlv, p. 354. 30 Geo. 3 c. 10.

¹⁶⁹ Reflections on the Revolution in France, published November 1790.

¹⁷⁰ Lord George Gordon (1751–1793): MP for Ludgershall 1774–1780. HoPT. ‘Agitator’, DNB. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/gordon-george-1751-93

¹⁷¹ The Address was moved on Tuesday 30 November 1790; a motion to consider the state of the impeachment proceedings was not moved until Thursday 9 December: see C.J., xlvi, pp. 10 and 47.

¹⁷² Probably the Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords on precedents for proceedings against Hastings. See L.J., xxxix, pp. 125–169.

¹⁷³ Anticipating Burke's speech of 6 May 1791 on events in France, when, speaking on the Quebec bill, he declared that ‘one would have thought that Pandora's box had opened, and that Hell had vomited out its fiends of Outrage, Fury, Distraction, Discord, Violence, Civil War and Mutual Assassination’. BWS, IV, 324–350.

¹⁷⁴ Charles William Newton (1762–1808): went by the name Newton during his lifetime and referred to himself as ‘Newton’ in his will. He was one of JH's two stepsons. JH was instrumental in obtaining a position for him as private secretary to Addington. After a promising start –‘Newton writes to us from Downing Street almost every day’– he died by drowning in Worthing, Sussex. Williams, Clerical Organization, 80. Newton never married and had no issue.

¹⁷⁵ Thomas Paine (1737–1809) and the Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836) exchanged public letters on the subject in 1791.

¹⁷⁶ Edmund Burke, An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs, appeared in print 3 August 1791. Richard Burke (1758–1794), Edmund's son, contributed to works of his father, as noted in the 1803 edition of Reflections. BWS, VIII, 160.

¹⁷⁷ John Mitford (1748–1830): MP for Bere Alston, 1788–1799, for East Looe, 1799–1802; Solicitor General, 1793–1799; Attorney General 1799–1801; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1801–1802. ‘The King thought that he would make a good Speaker, with practice, but his year in the Chair was not particularly happy’. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/mitford-john-1748-1830

Termed ‘the Lawyer’ by JH to distinguish him from his brother, William Mitford (1744–1827).

¹⁷⁸ Henry Temple (1739–1802): MP for various constituencies 1762–1802; fr. 1757 2nd Viscount Palmerston [I]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/temple-henry-1739-1802

¹⁷⁹ William Windham (1750–1810): MP for various constituencies 1784–1810. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/windham-william-1750-1810

¹⁸⁰ Charles Pratt (1714–1794): MP for Downton 1757–1762; 1765 Baron Camden; 1786 1st Earl Camden. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/pratt-charles-1714-94

¹⁸¹ Barré attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1761, serving with Wolfe at Quebec, and thereafter sitting in Commons for 29 years, 1761–1790; Barré ‘was one of the severest critics of the American war. Even before Saratoga he warned the Administration that the conquest of America was doubtful and the holding of it without the affection and goodwill of the natives impossible’, HoPT. See p. 39.

¹⁸² Identification uncertain.

¹⁸³ Jeffrey Amherst (1717–1797): Field-Marshal. ‘His steady support of the American war and the value of his popularity to the government endeared him to the king. In 1776 he became Lord Amherst. His chief services were as adviser to the government on the American war, and in suppressing the Gordon riots in 1780’, DNB. Today best known for advocating distribution of smallpox-infected blankets in North America.

¹⁸⁴ C.J., xxvii, p. 717; 17 February 1757 [Address]. C.J., xxvii, p. 724; 21 February 1757 [Estimates]. C.J., xxviii, pp. 38–39; 18 January 1758 [Address].

¹⁸⁵ ‘I swear to you that the honour of bringing about the most sublime events in Europe is a serious challenge; the man who possesses wisdom will seek a lesser brilliance, marked by the pleasures of personal independence and lassitude. These enable him to forget these worldly cares. Such a man is, in my opinion, happier and this is the fate of the wisest of men in this world’. Oeuvres de Frédéric le Grand (Berlin, 1851), XVII, 156Google Scholar.

¹⁸⁶ Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790): author, statesman, and diplomat. The Universities of St Andrews 1759 and Oxford 1762 awarded Franklin honorary degrees and interest in Franklin's accomplishments remained high. Brightly and Childs, of Bungay, Suffolk, published The Life and Works of Benjamin Franklin (1815).

¹⁸⁷ Eleanor Elliott Eden (1758–1818): daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliott.

¹⁸⁸ Published in AJC, II, 513–515.

¹⁸⁹ Alan Gardner (1742–1809): MP for Plymouth 1790–1796, Westminster 1796–1806; Rear Admiral 1793; 1806 Baron Gardner. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/gardner-alan-1742-1809

Gardner's squadron was stationed at English Harbour, Antigua the headquarters of the Leeward Islands Station. Gardner prevailed on the Admiralty to supply his expedition to Mauritius (1793) with lemons to counteract the effects of scurvy.

¹⁹⁰ Charles Lennox (1735–1806): fr. 1750 3rd Duke Richmond. Although on bad terms with other members of the Cabinet, he remained a member of it until January 1795. DNB.

¹⁹¹ Lord Hood's proclamations of 23 and 28 August 1793 declared that Toulon would be held in trust for Louis XVII.

¹⁹² Sir John Jervis (1735–1823): MP for various constituencies 1783–1794; Vice-Admiral 1793; 1797 Earl of St Vincent; First Lord of the Admiralty 1801–1804. His ‘improvements in naval discipline and his victory at St Vincent were to establish him as one of the great naval figures of his time’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/jervis-sir-john-1735-1823

¹⁹³ Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey (1729–1807): general. Grey ‘sailed in command of troops from England to Barbados on 23 November 1793. With Admiral Sir John Jervis commanding the naval expedition, the campaign was to attack the French West Indies’. ODNB. On his son, the future Prime Minister, also Charles Grey, see n. 160.

¹⁹⁴ James Harris (1746–1820): MP for Christchurch 1770–1774, 1780–1788; 1788 Baron Malmesbury; 1800 Earl of Malmesbury; envoy to Holland 1788–1789; ambassador 1793–1794 on special mission to Prussia and Holland. In 1794–1795, he was posted to Brunswick to negotiate the marriage of the Prince of Wales, and to France in 1796–1797 to negotiate peace. ‘James Harris was the foremost diplomat of his age’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/harris-james-1746-1820

¹⁹⁵ Samuel Hood (1724–1816): MP for Westminster 1785–1788, 1790–1796, Reigate 1789–1790; fr. 1796 Viscount Hood. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/hood-samuel-1724-1816 Admiral Hood commanded allied forces at the temporary occupation of Toulon, the principal French naval base in the Mediterranean, for several months in the fall of 1793. French republican forces recaptured the port, with Napoleon Bonaparte playing a significant role in the recapture of Toulon. JH's first mention of Bonaparte is in 1798. See p. 116.

¹⁹⁶ Hatsell's letter is a shameless attempt to induce the Prime Minister to pay a visit to his country home, a distance of twelve miles from Holwood. Bradbourne Hall was demolished in 1937 and its site is now occupied by a housing estate, near Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks.

¹⁹⁷ William Dickinson (1745–1806): MP for various constituencies 1768–1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/dickinson-william-1745-1806

¹⁹⁸ William Gore Langton (1760–1847): MP for various constituencies 1795–1847. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/gore-langton-william-1760-1847

¹⁹⁹ Stanhope's experiments in steam navigation resulted in the launch of his ‘ambi-navigator’, The Kent. The experiment failed and it was Robert Fulton who built and put into service the first commercially successful steamboat (on the Hudson River, 1807).

²⁰⁰ John Barton (1760?–1803): JH's stepson. Educated at New College, Oxford, becoming vicar at Sonning (Berkshire), the parish of Addington's country residence, and rector of Chiddingfold (Surrey); Chaplain to the House of Commons, 1801–1802. His retirement is noted at C.J., lvii, p. 659; 25 June 1802. He obtained the post of Prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral in 1802.

²⁰¹ Holy Roman Empire.

²⁰² Possibly John Toke (1738–1819) of Godinton House, near Ashford, Kent, or a member of his family.

²⁰³ Sir Francis Basset, 1st Bt (1757–1835): MP for Penryn 1780–1796. ‘A restless, grasping wealthy man’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/basset-sir-francis-1757-1835

²⁰⁴ Louis Monneron (1742–1805), French businessman, banker and politician. NBG.

²⁰⁵ Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor; after 1806, Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

²⁰⁶ Sir Ralph Payne (1739–1807): MP for New Woodstock 1795–1799; 1795 Baron Lavington [I]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/payne-sir-ralph-1739-1807

²⁰⁷ Sir John Honywood, 4th Bt (1757–1806): MP for various constituencies 1784–1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/honywood-sir-john-1757-1806

²⁰⁸ Paul Benfield (1741–1810): MP for various constituencies 1780–1802. ‘Perhaps the most notorious of the nabobs, Benfield returned from India in disgrace for the second time in 1788, worth £400,000 by one estimate’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/benfield-paul-1741-1810

²⁰⁹ John Rosier (?–1796). A clerk in the Commons from before 1769, Clerk of the Fees from 1774, and agent for Treasury bills. McKay; Lambert, Sheila, Bills & Acts (Cambridge, 1971), 47CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²¹⁰ A Select Committee on Waste Lands chaired by Sir John Sinclair (see p. 96 and note) reported (on 23 December 1795) a proposal for a general system to facilitate the division of Waste Lands and Commons by agreement, enabled by a General Inclosure Bill, thus greatly reducing the need for separate Bills of Inclosure and the associated fee income for JH. The Bill was presented on 23 February 1796, but did not progress beyond Committee stage: C.J., li, pp. 255–70, 433.

²¹¹ Lewis Watson (1728–1795): MP for Boroughbridge 1750–1754, Kent 1754–1760; 1760 Baron Sondes. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/watson-hon-lewis-1728-95

²¹² John Stuart (1713–1792): 3rd Earl of Bute; Prime Minister 26 May 1762–8 April 1763. DNB.

²¹³ Sir John Sinclair, 1st Bt (1754–1835): MP for various constituencies 1780–1811. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/sinclair-sir-john-1754-1835

²¹⁴ On a motion of censure of Pitt's conduct in relation to bills of exchange which might otherwise have been negatived without division, Sir William Young forced a division by shouting Aye, but then divided with the Noes. Pitt and Young asserted the right of any member to divide the House, but the Speaker said that what had happened was ‘unbecoming, and inconsistent with the rules and practice of the House’. CDC, I, 38–39; Members/Speaker (1818 edn), 199–200; C.J., li, p. 451.

²¹⁵ Sir William Young (1749–1815): MP for St Mawes 1784–1806, Buckingham 1806–1807. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/young-sir-william-1749-1815

²¹⁶ Arthur Onslow (1691–1768): MP for Guildford 1720–1727, Surrey 1727–1761; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1728–1761. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/onslow-arthur-1691-1768

‘Onslow foreshadowed the modern conception of the Speaker's role, and set new standards for impartiality and independence’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/onslow-arthur-1691-1768

²¹⁷ Anthony Bacon (c.1717–1786): MP for Aylesbury 1764–1784. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/bacon-anthony-1717-86

²¹⁸ Possibly a relation of John Benson (c.1744–1827) or Arthur Benson (1753–1827); the Benson brothers were Clerks in the House of Commons: McKay.

²¹⁹ Note at bottom of page in original: ‘(not L^d Auckl^d)’.

²²⁰ John Dorington (c.1753–1827): from 1796 Clerk of the Fees and Rosier's successor as Treasury agent. McKay; Lambert, Bills & Acts, 71.

²²¹ George Rose (1744–1818): MP for various constituencies 1784–1818; Secretary to the Treasury 1782–1801. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/rose-george-1744-1818

²²² Thomas Parker (c.1726–1804): a Clerk in the Commons from c.1754. McKay.

²²³ The volume is subtitled Conference/Impeachment. Published in 1796, it is the fourth and final volume of Hatsell's series Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons. See Introduction p. 5.

²²⁴ Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor; after 1806, Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

²²⁵ Elizabeth Weddell, widow of Wm. Weddell (1736–1792): MP 1766–1792. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/weddell-william-1736-92

²²⁶ Camilla, A Picture of Youth (1796), novel by Frances Burney (1752–1840).

²²⁷ John Horne Tooke (1736–1812): MP for Old Sarum 1801–1802. Added Tooke in 1782. ‘This political dinosaur was John Horne Tooke, returned for Old Sarum by the crazed radical 2nd Baron Camelford, allegedly because his return was what […] would annoy government most’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/horne-tooke-john-1736-1812

²²⁸ Charles Hardy (1752–1832), radical politician. ‘In January 1792 Hardy with a few friends founded The London Corresponding Society, with the object of promoting parliamentary reform’. Hardy's zeal in promoting reform and his connections with French radicals brought on a prosecution for treason. Following his acquittal (5 November 1795), Charles Stanhope (see n. 111) held a dinner in Citizen Hardy's honour at the Crown and Anchor. DNB.

²²⁹ Sir George Robinson, 5th Bt (1730–1815): MP for Northampton 1774–1780. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/robinson-sir-george-1730-1815

²³⁰ The ‘Quota Acts’, introduced into the House of Commons on 18 October 1796, were designed to make good losses in the Low Countries and the Caribbean in response to the threat of invasion. The first two Acts required counties to raise a specific number of recruits for the army and navy while the third placed a levy on those paying the horse tax for a provisional cavalry. The fourth Act provided for the augmentation of the militia. C.J., lii, pp. 42, 110; PH, XXXII, 1208–1224. See Cookson, J E, The British Armed Nation 1793–1815 (Oxford, 1997), 28, 33, 114CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²³¹ Hon. Charles Townshend (1725–1767): MP for various constituencies 1747–1767; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1766–1767. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/townshend-hon-charles-1725-67

²³² William Wilberforce (1759–1833): MP for Yorkshire 1780–1825. ‘Wilberforce's dream of the abolition of the slave trade by the civilized world under British leadership, and its corollary of the emancipation of the slaves who were its victims, was the main theme of his parliamentary career’, HoPT. Parliament abolished the slave trade in 1807. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/wilberforce-william-1759-1833

²³³ Burke's Second Letter on a Regicide Peace had appeared in 1796. He had begun work on The Third Letter on a Regicide Peace by the close of 1796, but it was unfinished when he died in July 1797. BWS, IX, 296–297.

²³⁴ The letter refers to Eleanor Agnes Eden (1777–1851). ‘It was in January 1797 that Pitt decided not to marry Lord Auckland's daughter Eleanor, his only known matrimonial flutter’. Further details are related in Ehrman, John, The Younger Pitt, Vol. II: Consuming Struggle (Stanford, CA, 1996), 70–74Google Scholar. ‘Tall and fair, and, by all accounts, beautiful, lively and intelligent, it was observed that Pitt enjoyed her company’. Pitt's letter to Auckland is dated 20 January 1797.

²³⁵ The original of this letter has not been located.

²³⁶ C.J., lii, p. 719.

²³⁷ The Finance Committee submitted the first nineteen reports to the House on 19 and 20 July 1797, when they were ordered to be printed: C.J., lii, pp. 752–754; CDC, I,116. The first 13 reports were concerned with the collection of the public revenue.

²³⁸ Sir Archibald Edmonstone, 1st Bt (1717–1807): MP for Dunbartonshire 1761–1780, 1790–1796, Ayr Burghs 1780–1790. HoPT. Edmonstone was revealed as receiving income from the Receiver General of Customs and Salt Duties in Scotland. See Fourth Report from the Select Committee on Finance, Session 1796–97, p. 95. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/edmonstone-archibald-1717-1807

²³⁹ Charles Abbot (1757–1829): MP for Helston 1795–1802, New Woodstock 1802–1806, Oxford University 1806–1817; 1817 Baron Colchester; bencher M. Temple 1802, reader 1805; Speaker of the House of Commons 1802–1817. JH also spells his last name ‘Abbott’. ‘The choice of a pugnacious dwarf as Speaker of the House of Commons, endorsed with only a token opposition in public, 10 February 1802, was the subject of much private criticism. George Tierney maintained that there was very general disgust and that Addington could hardly have found a man in the whole House so unpopular, while Lord Minto thought that Abbot's manner was rather pert than dignified, and he has the tournure of a clerk, which he was, rather than of a Speaker’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/abbot-charles-1757-1829

²⁴⁰ Adam Duncan (1731–1804): Admiral. The Battle of Camperdown was a naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between the British North Sea Fleet and a Dutch fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral de Winter. DNB.

²⁴¹ Arthur Benson (1753–1827): Deputy Committee Clerk 1789, Clerk of the Journals and Papers 1796, Clerk without Doors 1803.

²⁴² John Harrison (1738–1811): MP for Great Grimsby 1780–1796, Thetford 1796–1806. Moved motion on 13 March 1797 for abolition of sinecures. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/harrison-john-1738-1811

²⁴³ Thomas Powys (1743–1800). See p. 49.

²⁴⁴ Thomas Powys (1775–1825): 2nd Baron Lilford, married Maria Vernon Atherton on 5 December 1797 at Penwortham, Lancashire.

²⁴⁵ Assessed Taxes additional Duty Bill; read the first time, 7 December 1797. C.J., liii, p. 141. The Bill as first published ‘contained no information’ because all charging provisions were left blank and added in Committee: see Lords/Supply (1796 edn), 162.

²⁴⁶ JH attributes the quotation to Field-Marshal Jeffery Amherst (see n. 182), who died 3 August 1797, after the immediate danger posed by the Spithead and Nore mutinies had passed in the early summer of that year.

²⁴⁷ Thomas James Mathias (1753/4–1835): satirist and Italian scholar; he became Queen's Treasurer and Librarian. Mathias published the Pursuits of Literature, or, What you will in four parts, from 1794–1797.

²⁴⁸ Venanzio Rauzzini (1746–1810): singer, composer, and teacher; active in Bath 1787–1810. DNB.

²⁴⁹ Alexander Hood (1727–1814): Viscount Bridport, Admiral, younger brother of Samuel, Viscount Hood. DNB.

²⁵⁰ James Maitland (1759–1839): MP for Newport 1780–1784, Malmesbury 1784–1789; fr. 1789 8th Earl Lauderdale [S]. ‘His maiden speech, 26 February 1781, praised Burke as one who had made it policy to be generous, commended economical reform, and attacked North fiercely as a minister supported by corruption’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/maitland-james-1759-1839

²⁵¹ Murrough O'Brien (1726–1808): MP for Richmond 1784–1796, Liskeard 1797–1800; fr. 1777 5th Earl of Inchiquin [I]; 1800 Marquess of Thomond [I]; 1800 Baron Thomond (UK). HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/obrien-murrough-1726-1808

²⁵² Two of three Antrobus brothers who entered London financial circles were still active as of 1798. Edmund (1752–1826) became a partner in Thomas Coutts’ bank (1777) and Philip (1754–1816) founded the stock brokerage which would become James Capel & Co. Edmund seems, therefore, likely to be the Antrobus named.

²⁵³ Samuel Thornton (1754–1838): MP for Kingston upon Hull 1784–1806, Surrey 1807–1812, 1813–1818; director, Bank of England 1780–1836; governor, Bank of England 1799–1801; governor, Russia Company 1810–1838; brothers Henry and Robert also noted in HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/thornton-samuel-1754-1838

²⁵⁴ Eden was joint Postmaster General 1798–1804.

²⁵⁵ John Palmer (1742–1818): designer of mail-coaches. DNB.

²⁵⁶ JH may be referring to the following events: The sympathy of William Cavendish (1748–1811), 5th Duke of Devonshire, towards Pitt's measures in the face of revolutionary agitation and invasion from France led him to make his second recorded speech in the Lords, supporting an address to the king on Irish affairs on 15 June 1798. It was said that when he voted with the government on an anti-Jacobin measure, his Whig nominees as members for Knaresborough in Yorkshire arrived at Devonshire House the next day to submit their resignations. Devonshire responded: ‘I never interfere with your vote – I don't see why you should interfere with mine’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/constituencies/knaresborough

²⁵⁷ The letter was probably composed in the summer of 1798.

²⁵⁸ The 1798 reports from the Committee were reported in late June and published thereafter: C.J., liii, pp. 703–705. The Twenty-Seventh Report addressed courts of justice.

²⁵⁹ Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821): Bonaparte's success at the Battle of the Pyramids 21 July 1798 would be followed by Nelson's defeat of the French navy at the Battle of the Nile 1–3 August 1798. NBG.

²⁶⁰ Although JH dated the letter 24 October, omitted text indicates the letter was finalized and posted the preceding day.

²⁶¹ Presumably this letter follows that of 23 October on the same subject.

²⁶² Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was awarded the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile, November 1798. ‘Ministers felt they could not be more generous to a subordinate commander’, ODNB.

²⁶³ Strab. 4.4.5. Hatsell connects this passage in Strabo's Geographica to Verg.Aen. 8.658; Vergil's lines relate the story of the Gauls’ successful attack on Rome (various dates proposed between 395 and 390 bc).

²⁶⁴ William Pulteney (1729–1805): MP for Cromartyshire 1768–1774, Shrewsbury 1775–1805; like John Sinclair, a Scot. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/pulteney-william-1729-1805

²⁶⁵ The date of this letter seems to fall between the end of November or beginning of December. The income tax proposal was opened on Monday 3 December and the income tax Bill presented the following day. C.J., liv, pp. 49 and 56.

²⁶⁶ Mathias paid tribute to the Precedents as ‘a most judicious work […] which all senators will do well to consult frequently’. He had termed Hatsell ‘very learned, polite, and respectable’ and referred to his ‘clerkly tone, clear, loud and shrill’. The volume containing this half-page note (‘T.J. Mathias’ Correspondence, M.S. 1780–1817’) does not include the ‘Extracts’ referred to.

²⁶⁷ Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1729–1800): Russian General, celebrated for his well-organized retreat in the face of superior French forces in Switzerland, 1799; recalled to Russia in 1800.

²⁶⁸ Dating late in 1799 is likely.

²⁶⁹ Henry Strachey (1736–1810): MP for various constituencies 1768–1807; Master of the King's Household 1794–1810. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/strachey-henry-1736-1810

²⁷⁰ Nelson landed at Yarmouth on 6 November 1800. DNB.

²⁷¹ John James Hamilton (1756–1818): MP for East Looe 1783–1784, St Germans 1784–1789; 1790 Marquess of Abercorn. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/hamilton-john-james-1756-1818

²⁷² Lord Frederick Campbell (1729–1816): MP for Glasgow Burghs 1761–1780, Argyllshire 1780–1799 and Mary, Lady Frederick Campbell (1727–1807) of Combe Bank, Kent. He was a Middle Templar, but seldom an active parliamentarian. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/campbell-frederick-1729-1816

Formerly Lady Ferrers, Mary was granted a separation from Earl Ferrers in 1758 for ‘cruel treatment’, as well as the protection of both Houses pending passage of the Bill. The Earl was later executed after a trial for murder by his peers. Lord Frederick was her Counsel during proceedings on the Bill. They married in 1769. ‘She was in the year 1807’, Hatsell noted in Conference/Impeachment (1818 edn), 346 n. 2, ‘unfortunately burnt to death, in a fire which commenced in her dressing-room at that place at midnight’.

²⁷³ Nathaniel William Wraxhall (1751–1831): MP for various constituencies 1780–1794; m. Jane Lascelles. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wraxall-nathaniel-william-1751-1831

²⁷⁴ Luke Hansard (1752–1828): printer to the House of Commons. DNB.

²⁷⁵ Arthur Benson (c.1753–1827): Clerk of the Journals and Papers. McKay.

²⁷⁶ John Henry Ley (1778–1850): additional Clerk at Table from 1801; Clerk Assistant, 1814–1820; Clerk of the House, 1820–1850.

²⁷⁷ Isocrates (436–338 bc) composed well-modulated sentiments for his readers; this passage might be what JH had in mind: ‘The base honor their friends only when they are present; the good cherish theirs even when they are far away’.

²⁷⁸ Samuel Gunnell (1762–1850): a committee clerk. McKay. As Chief Secretary for Ireland, Abbot had sought to give Gunnell an additional role as ‘Clerk of the Irish Affairs’, with a power to appoint two clerks under him. Hatsell wrote to Gunnell on the same day asserting his right to appoint such clerks. Abbot subsequently gave way on these posts.

²⁷⁹ In 1802 Henry Dundas accepted the title of Viscount (to Pitt's surprise). DNB.

²⁸⁰ John Pitt (1756–1835): fr. 1778 2nd Earl of Chatham. Holding several posts in his brother's cabinets from 1789, he resigned with Wm. Pitt in 1801 but remained as Master General of the Ordnance from 1801–1806. ODNB. ‘Chatham strongly resembled his father in face and person and in nothing else’, DNB.

²⁸¹ ‘Steele remained loyal to Addington, sitting on the civil list committee, 2 February 1804; mediating between Pitt and the premier later that month he failed to induce Addington to make another bid for Pitt's help’, HoPT. See p. 72.

²⁸² Thomas Grenville (1755–1846): MP for various constituencies 1779–1818; brother of Wm. Wyndham Grenville. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/grenville-thomas-1755-1846

Generally an ally of Fox, Grenville spoke against him in debate on Middlesex election petition on 2 February 1804; Parl. Deb. vol. 1, cols 996–1025.

²⁸³ The letter was addressed to William Eldred (1765–1842) who was under treasurer of the Middle Temple 1785–1838. The identification of ‘Hammond’ is uncertain.

²⁸⁴ Elizabeth Bridget Armistead or Armitstead (1750–1842). ODNB, DNB. Deborah Hale, Confessions of a Courtesan (Charleston, SC, 2011) offers a fictionalized account of the life of Elizabeth Charles, later wife of Charles James Fox.

²⁸⁵ Napoleon Bonaparte; the Empire was declared 18 May 1804.

²⁸⁶ Also published in AJC, IV, 205.

²⁸⁷ Hdt. 1.207.2. ‘I must first teach you this: men's fortunes are on a wheel, which in its turning does not allow the same man to prosper forever’.

²⁸⁸ Napoleon I.

²⁸⁹ Maj. William Hatsell (1736–1811): long-time resident of Bath, residing at Green Park Place.

²⁹⁰ Lord Henry Petty (1780–1863): MP for various constituencies 1802–1809. Petty was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Ministry of All the Talents 1806–1807. He introduced the Budget which raised the property tax from 6½% to 10%. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/petty-henry-1780-1863

²⁹¹ Also published in AJC, IV, p. 279.

²⁹² Anne Grant (1755–1838): poet, essayist, and early enthusiast for travel in the Scottish highlands. ODNB. Also known as Anne Macvicar Grant and Anne Grant of Laggan. Hagglund's, BettyTourists and Travellers: Women's Non-fictional Writing about Scotland, 1770–1830 (Bristol, 2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar includes a chapter devoted to Grant's life and works.

²⁹³ Mrs Grant's publishers.

²⁹⁴ Nathaniel Jefferys (1758?–1810): MP for Coventry 1796–1803. Titles of Jefferys’ scurrilous pamphlets include ‘A Review of the Conduct of the Prince of Wales’ and ‘Facts are Stubborn Things’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/jefferys-nathaniel-1758-1810

²⁹⁵ Thomas Cochrane (1775–1860): MP for Honiton 1806–1807, Westminster 1807–1814, 1814–1818; fr. 1831 10th Earl of Dundonald [S]; later Admiral Cochrane. Disgraced and expelled for financial misconduct in 1814, but immediately re-elected. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/cochrane-thomas-1775-1860

²⁹⁶ Sir Gilbert Elliott Murray Kynynmound (1751–1814): MP for various constituencies 1776–1795; 1778 took additional name Murray Kynynmound; 1797 Baron Minto; 1813 Earl of Minto. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/elliot-murray-kynynmound-sir-gilbert-1751-1814

²⁹⁷ Minto had just been appointed Governor General of Bengal. ODNB. A tear in the page is the basis for the conjectured phrase in brackets.

²⁹⁸ Sir Henry Halford (1766–1844): royal and society physician, including George III; born Henry Vaughn. DNB.

²⁹⁹ Published in AJC, IV, 285–286.

³⁰⁰ Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838): Duke of Talleyrand, a French politician and diplomat. The pamphlet is noted below, p. 138.

³⁰¹ Hon. William Frederick Elliot Eden (1782–1810): MP for New Woodstock 1806–1810; son of William Eden; Private Secretary to Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1802–1804; secretary to Commissioners to negotiate treaty with United States 1806–1807. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/eden-hon-william-frederick-elliot-1782-1810

³⁰² See below.

³⁰³ Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, A Dialogue between Buonaparte and Talleyrand […] on the subject of peace with England (London, 1806; ‘Price sixpence’; 24 pp.)

³⁰⁴ Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820): 1778 President of the Royal Society; 1781 Baronet. DNB. Banks was a close friend of Auckland and, according to ODNB, a virtual ‘Minister of Science’.

³⁰⁵ George Tierney (1761–1830): MP for various constituencies 1789–1830; President of the Board of Control 1806–1807. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/tierney-george-1761-1830

³⁰⁶ Samuel Whitbread II (1764–1815): MP for Bedford 1790–1815. A prime mover in the impeachment of Dundas (April 1806), his closing remarks exhibited ‘defects of taste and judgment [that] provoked cruel ridicule. Melville was acquitted on all ten charges’. Whitbread ‘indignantly refused a peerage’ when his appointment to the War Office failed; the failure was occasioned by the intervening dissolution of Parliament in October 1806. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/whitbread-samuel-ii-1764-1815

³⁰⁷ Appointed peace negotiator with Napoleon, ‘his mission proved impossible’, and he left Paris on 8 October 1806. ODNB.

³⁰⁸ The ‘explanation’ may concern Richmond's declining health. DNB. See p. 88.

³⁰⁹ Sir George O'Brien Wyndham (1751–1837): fr. 1763 3rd Earl of Egremont. DNB. Elizabeth Ilive or Iliffe (1769–1822) m. Wyndham (1801) with whom she had eight children, only the last of whom was legitimate. She left him shortly after their marriage. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth-house-and-park (accessed 25 February 2020) offers pathways to a number of articles on the life and times of Elizabeth Iliffe, Countess of Egremont.

³¹⁰ See p. 140.

³¹¹ Charles Bragge (1754–1831): MP for various constituencies 1790–1823; took additional name of Bathurst 1804; Master of the Mint 1806–1807. ‘Bragge was a contemporary and close friend of Henry Addington, followed his political debut with keen interest and in 1788 married his youngest sister’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/bragge-%28afterwards-bragge-bathurst-%29-charles-1754-1831

As to the ‘appointment’ JH mentions, to avoid a by-election, Bragge did not take up his ministerial appointment until after the 1806 general election.

³¹² Hugh Percy (1785–1847): MP for various constituencies 1806–1812; fr. 1812 Baron Percy; fr. 1817 3rd Duke Northumberland. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/percy-hugh-1785-1847

³¹³ William Frederick Elliot Eden was elected for New Woodstock in 1806. See p. 137.

³¹⁴ In 1806 Abbot vacated New Woodstock and successfully stood for Oxford University. See p. 107.

³¹⁵ Philip Francis had just been knighted. Hitherto a staunch Foxite, he fell out with Fox in 1806 and his hopes for a lucrative posting were dashed even after Fox's death. HoPT. See p. 65.

³¹⁶ Charles Moss (1763–1811): 1806 Bishop of Oxford. DNB.

³¹⁷ Samuel Horsley (1733–1806): 1802 Bishop of St Asaph. DNB.

³¹⁸ Having been elected at the by-election at Westminster following Fox's death, Percy withdrew on the instructions of his father, of whom he was said to be ‘a complete puppet’, HoPT.

³¹⁹ Sir Samuel Hood (1762–1814): MP for Westminster 1806–1807, Bridport 1807–1821. ‘He filled an awkward vacuum, without being involved in the constituency's political animosities and, standing jointly with Sheridan, but on a separate expense account, headed the poll’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/hood-sir-samuel-1762-1814

³²⁰ Henry Bathurst (1744–1837): Bishop of Norwich 1805–1837. He fathered eleven children. DNB.

³²¹ Ludwig I (1753–1830): Bringing his principality into the Confederation of the Rhine, Ludwig exchanged his (inherited) title of Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt for the title of Archduke of Hesse which Napoleon conferred along with new territories. ADB.

³²² Frederick William III (1770–1840): fr. 1797 King of Prussia. ADB.

³²³ Luisa Augusta Wilhelmina Amalie (1776–1810): Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; fr. 1797 Queen of Prussia. Famous for her beseeching Bonaparte not to inflict harsh terms on Prussia prior to the Treaty of Tilsit (9 July 1807), after Bonaparte inflicted total defeat on Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt (14 October 1806). Moffat, Mary Maxwell, Queen Louisa of Prussia (New York, 1907)Google Scholar.

³²⁴ JH's ‘Two Great, Wise & Able Men’ are Chatham (Pitt the Elder) and Henry Fox (1705–1774). Fox was MP for various constituencies 1735–1763 and in 1763 became Baron Holland of Foxley. As to ‘Fox's career after 1754, years during which his power drive soon turned into despondency and self-effacement. […] The determining factor in this political fade-out was Pitt, a man of unbounded courage and in most things the opposite of Fox who feared and hated him, talked of him as a madman, but in reality was conscious of his own inferiority’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/fox-henry-1705-74

³²⁵ Charles William Ferdinand (1735–1806): Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, military leader and father of Caroline of Brunswick (see footnote following). ADB.

³²⁶ Princess Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821): daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. These unsavoury rumours led to the setting up in 1806 of an official commission of inquiry known as the ‘delicate investigation’. The report found that the rumours about a pregnancy were false, but censured Caroline's ‘levity of conduct’. George III demanded the cabinet's advice: it recommended that he should warn the princess about her future conduct, but, to the prince's fury, advised that she should not be excluded from the court. Caroline continued to enjoy the king's support, although the queen, who had taken a dislike to her from the outset, always sided with her son. After the king's relapse into insanity in 1810, Caroline's position accordingly became weaker.

³²⁷ Hon. Spencer Perceval (1762–1812): MP for Northampton 1796–1812; Chancellor of the Exchequer 1807–1809, Prime Minister 1809–1812. ‘His talents were admirable […] Nothing could be so gentlemanlike and fair as his management of the House of Commons. Indeed, I do not believe that in the height of his prosperity he ever showed the least mark of insolence’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/perceval-hon-spencer-1762-1812

³²⁸ Sir Thomas Plumer (1753–1824): MP for Downton 1807–1813. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/plumer-sir-thomas-1753-1824

³²⁹ The House of Commons had made two grants for the repair of the Church, said (in 1799) to be ‘in a very defective State, particularly in its external Walls’. Report from the Committee on Petition for Money to complete the Repairs of St Margaret's Church, Westminster, 20 May 1802 and Report from the Committee on Petition of the Ministers, Churchwardens and Vestry of St Margaret's, Westminster, 25 June 1813.

³³⁰ The subject of the debate on Monday 5 January 1807 was negotiations with France. William Eden was not recorded as making a maiden speech until 17 March of that year. HoPT.

³³¹ Nicholas Vansittart (1766–1851): MP for various constituencies 1796–1823; 1823 Baron Bexley. HoPT. Nicholas (Eden's son-in-law) seems the most likely Vansittart here; JH mentions Nicholas most frequently in his letters. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/vansittart-nicholas-1766-1851

³³² William Wickham (1761–1840): MP for various constituencies 1802–1807; lord of the Treasury 1806–1807. ‘Wickham was left without a seat at the dissolution of 1807’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wickham-william-1761-1840

³³³ Lord Grenville: Prime Minister 1806–1807. See p. 65. ‘As a peer Grenville, an able, serious-minded, reserved and austere man, widely known as “Boguey”, remained a major political figure for most of this period and achieved the highest office’, HoPT.

³³⁴ ‘Those whom Jupiter wishes to destroy, he first makes mad’. Origins for this epigram range from a fragment of Euripides to a Latin proverb.

³³⁵ This is Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth.

³³⁶ Lord George Augustus Herbert, (1759–1827): MP for Wilton 1780–1784, 1788–1794; fr. 1794 11th Earl of Pembroke; Ambassador Extraordinary to Austria 1807; Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1794–1827. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/herbert-george-augustus-1759-1827

³³⁷ George Venables Vernon (1735–1813): MP for various constituencies 1757–1780; fr. 1780 2nd Baron Vernon. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/venables-vernon-george-1735-1813

³³⁸ Also published in AJC, IV, 304–305.

³³⁹ JH apparently intended this note to serve as an addendum to the previous letter.

³⁴⁰ See n. 41.

³⁴¹ Perceval, Spencer, A Letter to the Rev. Dr Mansel on the Curates’ Bill (London, 1808)Google Scholar. The date of the letter is conjectured from this publication and its distribution. Harrowby, a close friend of Perceval since school, cooperated on Perceval's plans to improve financial support for curates where the holder of the living was non-resident. Gray, D., Spencer Perceval: The Evangelical Prime Minister 1762–1812 (Manchester, 1963), 22–24Google Scholar.

³⁴² 36 Geo. 3 c. 83, An Act for the further Support and Maintenance of Curates within the Church of England.

³⁴³ In the History of Gil Blas of Santillane by Alain-René Lesage (1668–1747), the canon was the narrator's uncle, ‘as fat as you can conceive’ who ‘thought of nothing but good living, I mean in the flesh as well as in the spirit’.

³⁴⁴ ‘Make haste slowly’ is the Onslow family's punning motto.

³⁴⁵ William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (1738–1809): fr. 1762 3rd Duke of Portland; Prime Minister 1783 and 1807–1809; chancellor of Oxford University 1792–1809. DNB. Following his death (30 October 1809), Grenville's candidacy was mooted; he was subsequently elected. The Cambridge chancellor alluded to was the Duke of Grafton, who had become a Socinian.

³⁴⁶ William Van Mildert (1765–1836): Bishop of Durham. He authored An Historical View of Infidelity, with a refutation, 2 vols (London, 1806)Google Scholar, based on the Boyle lectures he gave at St Paul's. DNB.

³⁴⁷ Edward Gibbon (1737–1794): MP for Liskeard 1774–1780, Lymington 1781–1784; author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vols (London, 1776–1789)Google Scholar. ‘I have uniformly asserted’, he declared, ‘the justice of the American war’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/gibbon-edward-1737-94

³⁴⁸ Robert Smith (1752–1838): MP for Nottingham 1779–1797; 1796 Baron Carrington [I], president Board of Agriculture 1801–1803. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/smith-robert-1752-1838

³⁴⁹ Izaak Walton (1593–1683) authored first biography (1651) of Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639). A diplomatist and poet, Wotton sat as MP for Appleby 1614, Sandwich 1625. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/wotton-sir-henry-1568-1639

³⁵⁰ Published in AJC, IV, 333–334.

³⁵¹ JH's prediction that Sheridan would distinguish himself in the 1810–1811 Regency crisis was borne out by later events. In his speech of 2 January 1811, Sheridan deprecated ‘the animosity and factious spirit that had then prevailed: he wished the Regent to have full majesty’, HoPT. See p. 64.

³⁵² Prince William (1765–1837): 1789 1st Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, third son of George III. DNB.

³⁵³ Prince August Frederick (1773–1843): 1801 1st Duke of Sussex, sixth son of King George III. DNB. The dukes of Clarence and Sussex voted with the opposition against a proposal to adjourn the House of Lords.

³⁵⁴ Published in AJC, IV, 361.

³⁵⁵ Henry William Paget (1768–1854): MP for Caernarvon Boroughs 1790–1796, Milborne Port 1796–1804, 1806–1810; fr. 1812 2nd Earl of Uxbridge; styled Lord Paget 1784–1812. HoPT. Divorced in Scotland 1810 by Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers, daughter of George Villers, 4th Earl of Jersey. The divorce proceedings cost him over £30,000, but was, he thought, ‘a good and cheap bargain notwithstanding’. This caused him to vacate his seat and retire from public life. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/paget-henry-william-1768-1854

³⁵⁶ Patrick Hepburn (1512–1556): fr. 1513 3rd Earl of Bothwell. ‘Bothwell had, previous to November 1543, been divorced from his wife, Agnes Sinclair, lady of Morham, whom he married about 1535’, DNB.

³⁵⁷ Douglas Hamilton (1756–1799): Scottish peer, 8th Duke Hamilton; granted divorce by Act of Parliament (1794). DNB.

³⁵⁸ Lord John Douglas Edward Henry Campbell (1777–1847): MP for Argyllshire 1799–1822. In 1808 he divorced his first wife Elizabeth, whom he had married against the wishes of his father in 1802. ‘He made a bad marriage, which his father, it was later reported, tried to prevent by offering to buy off the young lady with £10,000. The liaison was short-lived’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/campbell-lord-john-1777-1847

³⁵⁹ This takes the form of a newspaper cutting. Sun (London), 15 December 1810 p. 3.

³⁶⁰ Also published in AJC, IV, p. 362.

³⁶¹ Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840) lived in exile in Britain following a break in relations with his older brother Napoleon. The Royal Navy captured Lucien when he attempted to flee Italy in 1809. He returned to France in 1814 and supported his brother's attempt to retake power during the ‘Hundred Days’ in 1815.

³⁶² On 10 January 1811 the House voted to issue a new writ for Gloucestershire by a vote of 30 to 24. C.J., lxvi, p. 31.

³⁶³ What is being reflected upon is the slight surprise that Prince Regent stuck by current administration. ‘Nothing came of speculations about a change of ministry and on 4 February the Prince gave up the Whigs and confirmed Perceval in office, though in a cold manner which suggested that the sudden prospect of the King's recovery was his chief anxiety’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/perceval-hon-spencer-1762-1812

³⁶⁴ On 4 February, Abbot gave (in Committee of the whole House) a powerful speech supporting the institution of a regency by bill rather than by address.

³⁶⁵ Published in AJC, IV, 365–366.

³⁶⁶ William Wildman Barrington, (1717–1793): MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1740–1754, Plymouth 1754–1778; fr. 1734 2nd Viscount Barrington [I]. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/barrington-john-1717-93

³⁶⁷ Amelia Anne ‘Emily’ Stewart, née Hobart (1772–1829). She married Robert Stewart in 1794 the same year that he was elected to sit for Tregony in Cornwall. Viscount Castlereagh (courtesy title 1796–1821 as eldest son of the Marquess of Londonderry) sat as MP for various constituencies 1794–1822; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1812–1822. He ‘died after cutting his throat with a penknife, 12 Aug 1822. He had borne for years the abuse of political opponents, but the persecution mania that preceded his suicide was a symptom of the destruction of a constitution undermined by the strain of public life’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/stewart-hon-robert-1769-1822

Emily Stewart became well known as a hostess in London during the Regency (1810–1820) and is portrayed in the genre of Regency novels. The couple had no children.

³⁶⁸ Charles Callis Western (1767–1844): MP for Maldon 1790–1806, 1807–1812, Essex 1812–1832; 1833 Baron Western; ‘heir to an Essex estate’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/western-charles-callis-1767-1844

³⁶⁹ Sinclair had stepped down as an MP for Caithness in June 1811, in deep financial difficulties, in return for the sinecure post of Scottish cashier of excise, worth £2,000 a year, to be succeeded by his eldest son, George Sinclair. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/sinclair-george-1790-1868

Also published in The Correspondence of the Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, 2 vols (London, 1831), I, 477–479Google Scholar.

³⁷⁰ ‘A healthy mind in a healthy body’. Juvenal, Satura X, 4.10.356.

³⁷¹ Also published in AJC, IV, 384.

³⁷² Sarah Jennings Churchill (1660–1744): wife of John Churchill (1650–1722): 1st Duke of Marlborough. Through her daughter Henrietta (1681–1733) the title passed to Charles Spencer (1706–1758), fr. 1733 3rd Duke of Marlborough. DNB. Field, Ophelia, The Favourite: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (London, 2002)Google Scholar.

³⁷³ Elizabeth Trevor (1713–1761): wife of Charles Spencer; fr. 1729 5th Earl of Sunderland. Spencer was, from 1722, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. DNB.

³⁷⁴ Hon. John Spencer (1708–1746): MP for New Woodstock 1732–1746. Sarah Churchill settled the career of her favourite grandson, declaring: ‘I design to set up the only grandson I have now that is a commoner, John Spencer, who has a very considerable fortune for a younger brother, and I will make it as good as most elder brothers’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/spencer-hon-john-1708-46

³⁷⁵ John Spencer (1734–1783): MP for Warwick 1756–1761; fr. 1733 3rd Duke of Marlborough. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/spencer-john-1734-83

³⁷⁶ Lord Charles Spencer (1740–1820): MP for Oxfordshire 1761–1801; lord of the Admiralty 1768–1779. HoPT. He was the second son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/spencer-charles-1740-1820

³⁷⁷ Georgiana Cavendish, née Spencer (1757–1806): daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer and Margaret Georgiana Poyntz, Countess Spencer (1737–1814).

³⁷⁸ Georgiana Dorothy Howard, née Cavendish (1783–1858): Countess of Carlisle. DNB.

³⁷⁹ Nicholas Fazakerley (?–1767): lawyer and politician. DNB.

³⁸⁰ The work comprised six volumes and was published in 1812–1815. According to DNB, it was ‘an invaluable bibliographical and biographical storehouse of information’. John Treadwell Nichols (1745–1826), printer and author, was the organizing spirit behind the work. Nichols also composed articles for the Gentleman's Magazine from 1792 to his death. He authored, in that journal, the first biographical notice of Hatsell's life and work. Hatsell's obituary appears in the 1820 issue of the Gentlemen's Magazine, pt. 2, p. 372.

³⁸¹ David Ricardo (1772–1823): MP for Portarlington 1819–1823; authored On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation (1817). Ricardo was ‘a radical reformer for uniform and equal but not universal suffrage, very strong for the ballot’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/ricardo-david-1772-1823

³⁸² William Conyngham Plunket (1764–1854): MP for Midhurst 1807, Dublin University 1812–1827; 1827 Baron Plunket. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/plunket-william-conyngham-1764-1854

³⁸³ John Cam Hobhouse (1786–1869): MP for various constituencies 1820–1851; 1851 Baron Broughton. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/hobhouse-john-1786-1869

³⁸⁴ George Canning (1770–1827): MP for various constituencies 1793–1827; Prime Minister for 119 days in 1827. ‘His undisguised ambition, his insatiable love of intrigue, his insufferable arrogance and, perhaps above all, his outrageous wit and sometimes vulgar conduct, aroused the unshakable suspicion of his professional colleagues and the savage hatreds of his bitter adversaries on both sides of the party divide’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/canning-george-1770-1827

³⁸⁵ Queen Caroline: see p. 145 n. 326.

³⁸⁶ Princess Charlotte Augusta (1796–1817): She died after a 50-hour labour; Caroline and the Prince Regent were criticised for their absence from her bedside.

³⁸⁷ Bartolomeo Bergami (or Pergami) was ‘a pretended Milanese baron […] tall, handsome, and of superb physique’. He became successively Caroline's courier, bodyguard, groom of the bedchamber, and major-domo. ODNB.

³⁸⁸ Sir Matthew Wood (1768–1843): MP for London 1817–1843. HoPT. The main organizer of Caroline's return from the continent to London, which became the scene of great public rejoicing. ODNB. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wood-matthew-1768-1843

³⁸⁹ Sir Peter Burrell (1754–1820): MP for Haslemere 1776–1780, Boston 1782–1796; 1796 Baron Gwydir. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/burrell-sir-peter-1754-1820

³⁹⁰ Hon. Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770–1828): MP for Rye 1790–1803; fr. 1808 2nd Earl of Liverpool; Prime Minister 1812–1827. He was, in Brougham's estimate ‘a good, plain man of business […] a man of the pen and the desk like his father before him – and who never speaks when he is not wanted’. To ‘respectable mediocrity’, he added ‘extraordinary prudence’ and ‘rare discretion’, with the result that ‘while great measures were executed, no one thought of Lord Liverpool’, HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/jenkinson-hon-robert-banks-1770-1828

³⁹¹ A bill of pains and penalties to strip Caroline of her title and to end her marriage by Act of Parliament was introduced into the House of Lords on 17 August. Proceedings on the bill which the Queen attended were dubbed her ‘trial’. The bill passed the Lords, but was abandoned. ODNB.

³⁹² Sir Thomas Dyke Acland 10th Bt (1787–1871): MP for Devon 1812–1818, 1820–1831, Devon North 1837–1857. HoPT. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/acland-sir-thomas-dyke-1787-1871