[289] Sir George Maccartney had travelled with Lord Holland’s eldest son. The Czarina obtained a Polish blue riband for him, which he afterwards laid aside on being made Knight of the Bath, while Secretary in Ireland to Lord Townshend, to whom he was recommended by Lord Bute, whose second daughter, Lady Jane Stuart, he married. [He subsequently filled many other employments, having been in succession Governor of Grenada, Governor of Madras, Ambassador to China, and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1794–5 he was created Earl Maccartney, and in 1796 an English Peer. He died in 1806. He had the merit of being amiable, disinterested, and well informed. His life has been written by his secretary, Mr. John Barrow, in 2 vols. 4to.--E.] [290] The letters that passed between Lord Chatham and his colleagues on the proposed Northern Alliance may be seen in the second volume of his Correspondence. The scheme was a noble one, and had probably been contemplated by Mr. Pitt during his former Administration, as it certainly would have been an appropriate termination of his brilliant prosecution of the war. Unhappily, Lord Bute’s diplomacy had altered the feeling of foreign powers towards this country, and the King of Prussia, especially, was thoroughly alienated from British connections--partly from personal resentment, partly from distrust of the strength of the Government. His Majesty received the proposal most ungraciously; and it certainly reflects no credit on Lord Chatham’s discretion, to have engaged in this difficult negotiation so precipitately. He had not even consulted Sir Andrew Mitchell, the minister at Berlin--his personal friend, and the person, above others, best qualified to furnish correct information as to the views of the King of Prussia.--E. [291] George Brudenel, Earl of Cardigan, had married the second daughter and co-heiress of the last Duke of Montagu, and had taken the name of Montagu. [292] Sir T. Robinson, Lord Grantham, formerly Secretary of State. [293] Vide Parl. Hist. p. 251, for an eloquent summary of the arguments against the suspending and dispensing prerogative.--E. [294] Henry Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, Knight of the Garter, and afterwards Duke of Newcastle. [295] John, only son of Sir John Shelley, (whom he succeeded in the baronetage,) by Margaret Pelham, his second wife, sister of Thomas Duke of Newcastle. [296] Sir John Shelley had also a personal claim on Lord Chatham, for, although on confidential terms with Lord Temple, he had not followed that nobleman into opposition. He died in 1783.--E. [297] George third Lord Edgcumbe, [and first Earl Edgcumbe, distinguished himself on some occasions in the navy, and rose to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue in 1762. Before entering the House of Lords, which he did in 1761, he sat in the Commons for Fowey. At his death, which happened in 1795, he was Admiral of the Blue, Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Cornwall, &c. &c.--E.]