Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 57.djvu/51

Tooke arrests were made, and the proceedings began by the trial of Hardy. Hardy's trial, however, resulted in an acquittal (5 Nov. 1794). The government foolishly persisted, and Horne Tooke was placed at the bar on 17 Nov. charged with high treason. He was defended by Erskine and Vicary Gibbs, but took an active part himself in examining witnesses and arguing various points of law. The letter from Joyce was explained, and the only ground for suspicion was the prisoner's relations with the corresponding societies. Chief-justice Eyre tried the case with conspicuous fairness, and the jury almost instantly returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’ on 22 Nov. Horne Tooke returned thanks in a short speech which seems to express the truth. His politics were those of the old-fashioned city patriots, who disliked the whig aristocracy, but would have been the first to shrink from a violent revolution. Major Cartwright quoted at the trial Horne's familiar remark that he might accompany Paine and his followers for part of their journey. They might go on to Windsor, but he would get out at Hounslow (State Trials, xxv. 330). He always disliked Paine and ridiculed his theories (, ii. 332). He enjoyed taking the chair at the Crown and Anchor and elsewhere to denounce the aristocracy and approve vigorous manifestoes, but he was always cautious and struck out dangerous phrases. He was too infirm and too fond of his books and his Wimbledon garden to be a real conspirator. The chief justice admitted, in his summing up, that Horne was apparently ‘the last man in England’ to be open to such a suspicion, and only regretted that his association with Hardy had given some grounds for hesitation. Horne from this time became more cautious, and was accused of timidity by the zealous. He returned to Wimbledon to be welcomed after months of absence by his family, and especially by a favourite tomcat. He was, however, poor, and thought of retiring to a cottage. His friends thereupon raised a subscription and bought for him from Sir Francis Burdett an annuity of 600l. This, with a legacy from his eldest brother, put him at ease.

At the general election of 1796 Horne Tooke again stood for Westminster, against Fox and Admiral Sir Alan Gardner [q. v.], the ministerial candidate. He spoke frequently, and claimed support as a political martyr and the candidate ‘most hated by Pitt.’ The poll lasted fifteen days, and he received 2,819 votes, 5,160 being given for Fox, and 4,814 for Gardner. The election cost 1,000l., which was, however, advanced to him by a ‘man of rank.’ His old enemy Wilkes spoke in his favour, and plumped for him on the first day of the poll. Horne Tooke now made the acquaintance of Sir Francis Burdett, who became his political disciple, and of other men of similar opinions. Among them was Thomas Pitt, second lord Camelford [q. v.], the duellist, who at the general election of 1801 brought him in for Old Sarum. He made two or three speeches in opposition to the ministry, but a protest was at once made by Lord Temple against the eligibility of a person in holy orders. After examining precedents, a bill was introduced by Addington, declaring the ineligibility of the clergy. Horne Tooke proposed as a compromise that clergymen elected to the house should be incapable of holding preferment or accepting offices. The bill, however, passed; though opposed in the House of Commons by Fox, Horne Tooke's old enemy, and in the lords by Thurlow, who had prosecuted him in the libel case of 1777, but had since become his friend at Wimbledon. Horne Tooke retained his seat for the short remainder of the parliament. Thenceforward he lived quietly at Wimbledon. William Tooke, with whom he had had some difficulties, died on 25 Nov. 1802, and, instead of making Horne Tooke his heir, left him only 500l., besides cancelling certain obligations due from him. Horne Tooke, it is said by Stephens, had insisted that half the property should be left to a Colonel Harwood, William Tooke's nephew, and had further agreed with Harwood to divide the property equally. William Tooke now left the bulk of his fortune to a great-nephew; but Horne Tooke, in virtue of this agreement, claimed 4,000l. from Harwood. A violent dispute and a suit in chancery followed; and Lord Eldon declared that one or other of the disputants must be lying. Apparently Horne Tooke invested the money in buying annuities from Burdett for his daughters and their mother.

In 1805 Horne Tooke published the second part of the ‘Diversions of Purley,’ by which he made a considerable sum. According to Stephens (ii. 497), he received between four and five thousand pounds on the whole, partly by subscriptions. He had written, it seems, as much as would make another volume, but in his last illness he burnt all his papers, including this and a voluminous correspondence.

Tooke's house at Wimbledon still remains, though altered since his time. It is the southernmost in the line of houses which bounds the common on the west, extending