[172] Robert Percy Smith (1770–1845), better known as ‘Bobus’ Smith. He was the eldest son of Robert Smith, and Maria Ollier, the daughter of a French refugee. He was at Eton with Lord Holland, and continued from that time in the closest friendship and intimacy with him. He was appointed Advocate-General of Bengal, by Lord Lansdown’s influence, in 1803, and remained seven years in India. He entered Parliament in 1812, but never took much part in the debates. The sprightliness and originality of his wit and conversation obtained for him a fame to which he could never have attained by his performances in public life. [173] Miss Caroline Vernon was second daughter of Evelyn, first Countess of Upper Ossory, and Richard Vernon, whom she married after the death of her first husband. Her eldest sister, Henrietta, married George, Earl of Warwick, in 1776, and the youngest, Elizabeth, died unmarried in 1830. Robert Vernon Smith, the son of this marriage, married Emma Mary, a natural daughter of the second Earl of Upper Ossory, and was created Lord Lyveden in 1859. [174] Lord Thurlow (1731–1806) was Lord Chancellor from 1778 till 1783. After the fall of the Coalition he resumed that office, and retained it until 1792, when he was compelled to resign on account of his opposition to Pitt. [175] This was Pitt’s proposal to treble for a year the Assessed Taxes payable on houses, windows, carriages, horses, &c. By this means he proposed to provide the necessary funds for the year without increasing the national debt; and by a system of graduation he considered that the tax would only fall on those who could reasonably afford to contribute towards the revenues of the country. The tax, in effect, did not nearly approach the figure Pitt estimated it would produce. [176] On the Assessed Taxes Bill. [177] James, eighth Earl of Lauderdale (1759–1839), second son of James, seventh Earl of Lauderdale, whom he succeeded in the titles in 1789. He first entered the House of Commons in 1780, and was elected a Scotch representative peer in 1790, but was not re-elected during the next two Parliaments on account of his advanced views on social questions. His ideas, however, underwent a marked change later in life, and he even opposed the Reform Bills. He married, in 1782, Eleanor, only daughter of Anthony Todd, Esq.