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110 The Autobiography of Archbishop Thomas Seeker
Lord Egmont, one of his parishioners. At that time, by the undue
influence of ministers and court in the legislature, he saw "as evidently
as two and two make four, that our constitution is irrecoverably going.''
On the other hand, by making it compulsory for members to declare on
oath whether or not they had pensions, and of what sort, Seeker feared
that perjury would be encouraged. Egmont thought this might be a way
whereby his rector might square his conscience to vote against the bill on
the next day, and to earn thereby the gratitude of the government. In the
event, Seeker had supported the bill, as did his friend Benson of
Gloucester, and Reynolds, bishop of Lincoln {Egmont Diary III, pp.
122-23, 18-19 March, 1740). The Place Bills served the same purpose of
opposition.
Earl of Orfords Conduct: Walpole, after his defeat in January, 1742,
was pensioned off and created earl of Orford. A number of proposals
between March and June 1742 to prosecute him for ministerial corruption
while he was in office were defeated. The campaign against Walpole
was abandoned after a spectacular defeat on 1 December, 1742 [A.S.
Foord, His Majesty's Opposition 1714-1830 (Oxford, 1964), pp. 240-42].
Select Vestries of Westminster: for the evidence at St. James's see C.J.
xxiv, pp. 232-38. The vestry was complained of, as having, in years past,
exceeded its legal powers, in the assessment, collection and use of the
several parish rates, and in the management of special collections for the
poor, an accusation which Seeker may have had in mind in his careful
description of how the fund for the poor in the winter of 1739-40 had
been run. There certainly seemed to be some evidence that property of
vestrymen and parish officers was lightly assessed. The country market
owned by one of the Ludbeys along with others was curiously exempt
from rates and other Ludbey property semed rated favorably (p. 234).
Lord Powlett, a vestryman, was even reported as having said that "we
that sit at the Board must take the Burthen off ourselves" (p. 235). On
the other hand, the complainants assured the committee that they "had
no Charge against the present Vestry," and that "it were much to be
wished they could transmit their Integrity to their Successors" (p. 236).
To christen one of the Princes Children: Seeker's return to St.
James's must have been for some other reason. None of the Prince of
Wales's children was born between 1740 and 1743.
Dr Wishart: William Wishart (d. 1753), who was elected principal and
first professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh in 1737 and
called as minister of the New Greyfriars Church probably the same year
(1738?) [Hew Scott, FastiEcclesiae Scoticanae (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 140].