Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 38.djvu/129

 the time of his father's death he was at Turin in the capacity of plenipotentiary. He died a few months after his succession to the title and was succeeded by his brother Richard, who is separately noticed. Molesworth's second daughter, Mary, who married George Monck, is also separately noticed. Her father prefixed to her 'Marinda' (1716) a dedication to the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline.

A portrait of Molesworth by Thomas Gibson (1680?–1751) [q. v.] was engraved by P. Pelham (1721), and E. Cooper.



MOLESWORTH, WILLIAM (1810–1855), politician, born in Upper Brook Street, London, on 23 May 1810, was son of Sir Arscott-Ourry Molesworth, by Mary, daughter of Patrick Brown of Edinburgh. The Molesworths had been settled at Pencarrow, near Bodmin, Cornwall, since the time of Elizabeth. Sir Arscott was the seventh holder of the baronetcy, created in 1688. William had a bad constitution and was disfigured in his childhood by scrofula. His father disliked him, and he was sent very early to a boarding-school near London, where the boys teased him on account of his infirmity. His father died 30 Dec. 1823. His mother was then able to bestow more care upon him; his health improved under medical treatment; and he was sent to the school of a Dr. Bekker at Offenbach, near Frankfort, where he made good progress. He was then entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, and gave promise of mathematical distinction. He quarrelled with his tutor in his second year, sent him a challenge, and crossed to Calais with a view to a duel. The tutor did not fight, however, and Molesworth was expelled from Cambridge. His mother then went with him and his two sisters to Edinburgh (about 1828), where he finished his education at the university. He then broke away 'for the south of Europe,' and stayed for a time at Naples, where he found some young Englishmen, with whom he indulged in 'some youthful follies.' His follies, however, did not prevent him from studying Arabic for several hours a day with a view to eastern travel. His treatment by his father and at Cambridge had made him dislike all authority; in Germany he had become democratic; in Scotland, sceptical; and he had found Cambridge at a period of remarkable intellectual 'activity' (Philosophical Radicals, pp. 50-3). The utilitarian propaganda had been actively carried on there by Charles Buller [q. v.] and others. Receiving news at Naples of the growing excitement about parliamentary reform, he thought it a duty to take part in the contest. He made his first public appearance at a reform meeting in Cornwall in 1831; and he was returned as member for East Cornwall (December 1832) in the first reformed parliament. His Cornish connection made him known to Charles Buller, who had also been his contemporary at Cambridge, and was returned at the same election for Liskeard. He made the acquaintance of Grote in the House of Commons, and by Grote was introduced to James Mill. Mill thought highly of his abilities, and he was accepted as one of the faithful utilitarians. Grote was for some years his political and philosophical mentor. He was also a favourite of Mrs. Grote, to whom he confided more than one love affair at this period. Two young ladies, to whom he made offers, appear to have regarded him with favour; but in both cases their guardians succeeded in breaking off the match on account of his infidel and radical opinions. Molesworth was embittered by his disappointments: and for some years tried to console himself by study, and received many reproaches from Mrs. Grote for his unsocial habits. He declared that he preferred to be disliked.

Molesworth was again returned for East Cornwall at the general election at the end of 1835. He had meanwhile projected the 'London Review,' of which the first number appeared in April 1835 [see under ]. James Mill contributed to it his last articles, and J. S. Mill was practically editor; while it was supported by the 'philosophical radicals' generally. In 1837 Molesworth transferred it to J. S. Mill.

Molesworth continued to follow Grote's lead in politics. He voted against the repeal of the malt-tax under Peel's short administration in 1835, because he could not bear to vote against Grote, though many radicals differed from him. He was also a staunch supporter of the ballot—Grote's favourite measure—but his especial province was colo-