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299

No. XIV.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

JOHN HOPE, EARL OF HOPETOUN;

VISCOUNT AITHRIE; LORD HOPE; BARON HOPETOUN OF HOPETOUN; BARON NIDDRY, CO. LINLITHGOW; HEREDITARY KEEPER OF LOCHMABEN; LORD LIEUTENANT OF LINLITHGOWSHIRE; A PRIVY COUNSELLOR IN IRELAND; K. G. C. B. A GENERAL IN THE ARMY; COLONEL OF THE 92d foot (rOYAL HIGHLANDERS); GOVERNOR OF THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND; CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE ROYAL COMPANY OF ARCHERS, &c. &c.

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THE surname of Hope is of great antiquity in Scotland. John de Hope swore fealty to King Edward the First, when he overran Scotland, in 1296. Another John de Hope had a protection from King Henry the Fourth, in 1405. Thomas de Hope had a charter of some lands near Leith, in 1488. John de Hope, the immediate ancestor of the family of the noble and gallant subject of this memoir, is said to have come from France during the reign of Magdalen, Queen of James the Fifth, in 1537. Settling in Scotland, he married, and had a son, Edward, who was one of the most considerable inhabitants of Edinburgh in the reign of Queen Mary; and who, being a great promoter of the Reformation, was chosen one of the commissioners for that metropolis to Parliament, in 1560. He was the father of Henry Hope, an eminent merchant; who, having frequent occasion to visit the continent, in one of his excursions married a French lady, Jaqueline de Tott, and by her had two sons: Henry, the ancestor of the great and opulent branch of the Hopes, long settled at Amsterdam; and Thomas, who, entering on the study of the law, made so

rapid a progress in juridical knowledge, that he was at an early age called to the bar. His practice was, however, limited, until 1606, when he undertook the defence of the six ministers tried for high treason in denying that the king possessed authority in ecclesiastical matters. At that important trial, he conducted himself so much to the satisfaction of the Presbyterians, that they never afterwards engaged in any business of consequence without previously consulting him; and he came into the best practice in the kingdom. By this means, in a few years, he accumulated one of the largest fortunes ever acquired at the Scots bar, which enabled him to make very extensive landed purchases in the counties of Edinburgh, Haddington, Stirling, Berwick, and Fife. His reputation now advanced so high, that he was constituted King's Advocate, jointly with Sir William Oliphant of Newton; and was created a Baronet, February 11th, 1628. Sir William Oliphant dying in the course of a few months, King Charles the First was pleased not only to appoint Sir Thomas Hope his sole advocate, but likewise to grant him several honourable privileges not enjoyed by his predecessors. Sir Thomas published "Carmen Seculare in Serenissimum Carolum I., Britanniarum Monarcham. Edin. 1626." His grandson, Sir John Hope, fixed his residence at the castle of Niddry; but, embarking on board the Gloucester frigate with the Duke of York, and several persons of quality, was lost in that ship, when it was wrecked on the 5th of May, 1682. He left a son, Charles, who was created a peer, April 5th, 1703, by the titles of Earl of Hopetoun, Viscount Aithrie, and Lord Hope. He greatly increased the family estate by several advantageous purchases in various counties; and the noble seat of Hopetoun House, which he caused to be erected under the direction of Sir William Bruce, remains a conspicuous monument of the magnificence of his taste. His son, John, second Earl of Hopetoun, was thrice married. By his first marriage, which was with Ann Ogilvy, daughter of the Earl of Findlater and Seafield, he had several children, among whom was James, who became the third Earl of

Hopetoun. By his second marriage, which was with Jane, the daughter of Robert Oliphant of Rossie, in the county of Perth, Esq., he had also several children; of whom his second child, and only son, was John, the subject of the present memoir.

The Honourable John Hope was born at Hopetoun House, in the county of Linlithgow, on the 17th of August, 1766. He completed an excellent education, by foreign travel, in which he was attended by Dr. Gillies, now His Majesty's Historiographer.

Mr. Hope joined the army as a volunteer, in his 15th year; and on the 28th of May, 1784, entered it as a cornet of the 10th Regiment of Light Dragoons. He served with great bravery and distinction. On the 24th of December, 1785, he was appointed to a lieutenancy in the 100th Foot; on the 26th of April, 1786, to a lieutenancy in the 27th Foot; on the 31st of October, 1789, to a company in the 17th Dragoons; on the 25th of April, 1792, to a majority in the 2d Foot (during the time he held which he served in Gibraltar); on the 24th of April, 1793, to a majority; and on the 26th of April, 1793, to a lieutenant-colonelcy, in the 25th Foot.

Lieutenant-Colonel Hope was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces serving under the late gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby in the Leeward Islands, in 1794. He received the brevet of colonel on the 3d of May, 1796; but he had the rank of brigadier-general in the West Indies; where he was actively employed in the campaigns of 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797; being particularly noticed in general orders, and in the public dispatches of the commander-in-chief; especially as having " on all occasions most willingly come forward and exerted himself in times of danger, to which he was not called from his situation of Adjutant-General."

In 1796, he was elected M. P. for the county of Linlithgow.

In 1797, he resigned his place as Adjutant-General to the Forces in the West Indies.

On the 27th of August, 1799, he received the colonelcy of the North Lowland Fencibles.

Colonel Hope accompanied the British troops into Holland, in August 1799, as Deputy Adjutant-General; having been appointed to that station on the 13th of that month; but he was so severely wounded at the landing at the Helder on the 27th, that he was compelled to return. On his recovery, he was, on the 19th of October, 1799, appointed Adjutant-General to the Army serving under His Royal Highness the Duke of York; and on the same day the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Hope, his halfbrother, by his father's third marriage, was appointed to succeed him in the station of Deputy Adjutant-General.

In 1800, Colonel Hope accompanied Sir Ralph Abercromby as Adjutant-General on the memorable expedition to Egypt; and on the 13th of May, in that year, was appointed Brigadier-General, in the Mediterranean only. He was in the actions of the 8th and 13th of March, 1801. At the battle of Alexandria, March 21. 1801, he was wounded in the hand; and the army was thus, for a time, in the words of its gallant commander, "deprived of the services of a most active, zealous, and judicious officer." He, however, proceeded with the army to Cairo, where, in June 1801, he settled with General Belliard, the French commander, the convention for the surrender of that place," after," again to quote the words of the highest authority, "a negociation of several days, which was conducted by Brigadier-General Hope with much judgment and ability."

On the 11th of May, 1802, he was promoted to the rank of a Major-General. On the 30th of June, 1805, he was appointed Deputy-Governor of Portsmouth; an office he resigned the same year, on being nominated to a command with the troops sent to the continent under Lord Cathcart. On the 3d of October, 1805, he was made Colonel of the 2d Battalion of the 60th Foot, and on the 3d of January, 1806, Colonel of the 92d Foot. On the 25th of April, 1808, he was made a Lieutenant-General.

In 1808, Lieutenant-General Hope accompanied the British army to Spain and Portugal. He was second in command in the expedition to the Baltic under Sir John Moore, in the month of May; and then accompanied the British forces to Portugal, where he landed in August. On the 24th of December, he marched with his division to Majorca. On the 30th, he marched within two leagues of Astaga, where he halted.

At the battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January 1809, in consequence of the death of Sir John Moore, and the wounds of Sir David Baird, the command devolved on LieutenantGeneral Hope, "to whose abilities and exertions," said the dispatches from Sir David Baird, "in the direction of the ardent zeal and unconquerable valour of his Majesty's troops, is to be attributed, under Providence, the success of the day, which terminated in the complete and entire repulse and defeat of the enemy at every point of attack."-The following admirable report from Lieutenant-General Hope to Sir David Baird, was transmitted by the latter in his dispatches to his Majesty's government:

"Sir, Audacious, off Corunna, Jan. 18. 1809. "In compliance with the desire contained in your communication of yesterday, I avail myself of the first moment I have been able to command, to detail to you the occurrences of the action, which took place in front of Corunna, on the 16th instant. It will be in your recollection, that about one in the afternoon of that day, the enemy, who had in the morning received reinforcements, and who had placed some guns in front of the right and left of his line, was observed to be moving troops towards his left flank, and forming various columns of attack, at that extremity of the strong and commanding position, which on the morning of the 15th he had taken in our immediate front. This indication of his intention was immediately succeeded by the rapid and determined attack which he made upon your division, which occupied the right of our position. The events which occurred during that period of

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