Shelburne

Abstract

This chapter turns to the second Earl of Shelburne, William Petty. He was referred to as Lord Shelburne during his life, and by his many antagonists as ‘Malagrida’, after the notorious Portuguese Jesuit Gabriel Malagrida, who had described the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 as the judgement of God upon a sinful people, and who was later executed for purported involvement in a plot to assassinate King José I. Shelburne was likened to Malagrida for calling himself a patriot while encouraging faction and opposition to George III, for associating with so-called republicans and levellers, for supporting John Wilkes's campaign for reinstatement as a member of parliament, and for lacking any sense of humour. For Shelburne's opponents, he was a dangerous Whig, a constitutional meddler, a friend to radicals and dissenters, and likely to cause the collapse of the country if he ever gained power. For the Genevan rebels, Shelburne's involvement in Whig politics was to have profound consequences.