[133] James, Lord Hope, subsequently third Earl of Hopetoun, was born in 1741; he entered the army in 1758, and was present at the battle of Minden the following year; he left the army in 1764 to accompany his elder brother on a Continental tour; he succeeded to the earldom in 1781, and was afterwards elected a representative peer. He died on the 29th May, 1816, aged seventy-five. [134] Samuel Foote, the celebrated comedian, was born in 1720, at Truro, in Cornwall; he belonged to a respectable family, but he soon wasted his inheritance and his wife’s fortune by a course of dissipation. Compelled by necessity, he became a player, making his _début_ in the Haymarket Theatre in 1747. From a grotesque imitation of leading persons he attained popularity, accompanied with a rancorous feeling on the part of those whom he subjected to ridicule. He was an entertaining companion, but possessed few amiable qualities. He died in October, 1777, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. [135] George Lyttleton was born in 1709. As a commoner he entered Parliament in his twenty-first year. He opposed Walpole, and in 1732 was appointed secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales. On Walpole’s retirement he obtained a succession of offices, culminating in the Chancellorship of the Exchequer; in 1759 he was raised to the peerage. Henceforth he cultivated letters, producing various works in prose and verse. He was inclined to indolence, but was much esteemed for his high principle and moral worth. He died 22nd August, 1773. [136] Boswell has inserted this anecdote in his Life of Dr. Johnson. Sir James Macdonald, Bart., the “Scottish Marcellus,” was eighth baronet of Sleat, and male representative of the Lords of the Isles. Born in 1741, he early distinguished himself at Eton by the variety of his accomplishments, and high hopes were entertained of his career. He was unhappily seized with a complication of disorders, of which he died on the 26th July, 1766, at the age of twenty-five. [137] This anecdote is included by Boswell in his “Life of Johnson.” [138] James Quin, the player, was extremely pugnacious; he fought two duels, in one of which he killed his antagonist. His latter years, on his partial retirement from the stage, were spent at Bath. He died on the 21st January, 1766, aged seventy-three. [139] Boswell has published this anecdote in his “Life of Johnson.” [140] Boswell was on terms of friendship with the Rev. Dr. James Fordyce, author of “Addresses to the Deity.” He died at Bath on the 1st October, 1796. His nephew, Dr. George Fordyce, an eminent physician in the metropolis, became in 1774 a member of the Literary Club. He published numerous professional works, and died 25th May, 1802. [141] Miss Margaret Stewart, eldest daughter of Sir Michael Stewart, Bart., of Blackhall, married in 1764 Sir William Maxwell, Bart., of Springkell. She had a younger sister, Eleanora, who died unmarried.