Chevalier.  The case excited no little attention, for it was long since a bishop had been charged with high treason; it was added that his gaolers used him rudely; and, in short, public sympathy rather went along with him for a time.  In March, 1723, a bill was presented to the Commons, for ‘inflicting certain pains and penalties’ on Francis, Lord Bishop of Rochester, and it passed that House in April; but when carried up to the Lords, a defence was resolved on.  The bill was read a third time on May 15th, and on that occasion the Duke of Wharton, then only twenty-four years old, rose and delivered a speech in favour of the bishop.  This oration far more resembled that of a lawyer summing up the evidence than of a parliamentary orator enlarging on the general issue.  It was remarkable for the clearness of its argument, the wonderful memory of facts it displayed, and the ease and rapidity with which it annihilated the testimony of various witnesses examined before the House.  It was mild and moderate, able and sufficient, but seems to have lacked all the enthusiasm we might expect from one who was afterwards so active a partisan of the Chevalier’s cause.  In short, striking as it was, it cannot be said to give the duke any claim to the title of a great orator; it would rather prove that he might have made a first-rate lawyer.  It shows, however, that had he chosen to apply himself diligently to politics, he might have turned out a great leader of the Opposition.

Neither this speech nor the bishop’s able defence saved him; and in the following month he was banished the kingdom, and passed the rest of his days in Paris.

Wharton, however, was not content with the House as an arena of political agitation.  He was now old enough to have matured his principles thoroughly, and he completely espoused the cause of the exiled family.  He amused himself with agitating throughout the country, influencing elections, and seeking popularity by becoming a member of the Wax-chandlers’ Company.  It is a proof of his great abilities, so shamefully thrown away, that he now, during the course of eight months, issued a paper, called ‘The True Briton,’ every Monday and Friday, written by himself, and containing varied and sensible arguments in support of his opinions, if not displaying any vast amount of original genius.  This paper, on the model of ‘The Tatler,’ ‘The Spectator,’ &c., had a considerable sale, and attained no little celebrity, so that the Duke of Wharton acquired the reputation of a literary man as well as of a political leader.

But, whatever he might have been in either capacity, his disgraceful life soon destroyed all hope of success in them.  He was now an acknowledged wit about town, and what was then almost a recognized concomitant of that character, an acknowledged profligate.  He scattered his large fortune in the most reckless and foolish manner:  though married, his moral conduct was as bad as that of any bachelor of the day:  and such was his extravagance and open licentiousness, that, having wasted a princely revenue, he was soon caught in the meshes of Chancery, which very sensibly vested his fortune in the hands of trustees, and compelled him to be satisfied with an income of twelve hundred pounds a year.