[270] Two letters, from Mr. Townshend to Mr. Pitt, on the offer of the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, are given in the Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. pp. 456, 464.--E. [271] Sir Charles Pratt, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. [272] He was Lord Chamberlain, and had married the only daughter of the late Duke of Devonshire, niece of Lord John Cavendish. [273] Lady Henrietta Harley, sole daughter of Edward second Earl of Oxford, and widow of William third Duke of Portland. [274] They contested the Parliamentary interest of the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where their estates lay. More of this rivalship will appear hereafter. [275] Sir James Lowther had married Lady Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of the Earl of Bute. [276] Francis Russell, Marquis of Tavistock, only son of John Duke of Bedford. [277] Richard Vernon, Esq., had married the Countess-dowager of Ossory, youngest daughter of John first Earl Gower. [278] He continued the leader of the Rockingham party in the House of Commons until his death, which took place at Nice in 1775. He left a family of eleven children, of whom one of his younger sons, the Rev. Dr. Dowdeswell, Canon of Christ Church, and Rector of Stansford Rivers, is the present possessor of his estates, having succeeded General Dowdeswell, an elder brother.--E. [279] Neither had he neglected his interests whilst he held the Great Seal. He had actually given a great sinecure to a trustee for his three daughters.--E. [280] Mr. Burke’s well-known tract,--a masterpiece of its kind.--E. [281] The pamphlet has been noticed in p. 345. An attack on Lord Temple also appeared, most bitter and personal, which was ascribed to Mr. Pitt. A curious extract from it is given in Belsham’s History, vol. i. p. 210.--E. [282] Brother of the Earl of Hardwicke and Charles Yorke. [283] The Cabinet Council is composed of the First Lord of the Treasury, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the two Secretaries of State, the Lord President, and the Commander-in-Chief; others are now and then added. Lord Chatham, as first Minister, was now necessarily one. [284] Admiral Augustus Keppel, brother of Lord Albemarle. [285] Son of the Comte de Virri, the late Envoy from Turin. Baron de la Perriere, who succeeded to his father’s title, married Miss Speed, an Englishwoman, mentioned in Mr. Gray’s long story, and was afterwards ambassador at Madrid and Paris. [286] Joseph, second son of the Empress Queen Maria Theresa, and of Francis Duke of Lorrain, and Emperor. [287] Count Kaunitz did not retire; he preserved his influence with occasional fluctuations during the life of Joseph, and he continued nominal Prime Minister until his own death in 1794.--E. [288] Hans Stanley, employed to negotiate the late peace.