_Mr. T. Townsend._ Thomas Townshend (1733-1800), nephew of the third
Viscount Townshend; M.P. for Whitchurch, 1754-83; cr. Baron Sydney of
Chislehurst, 1783, and Viscount Sydney, 1789, the city in Australia
being named for him. He was one of the most voluble and pertinacious
speakers in debates. His contemptuous reference in the House of Commons
to Johnson’s pension earned Townshend a passing glance in Goldsmith’s
_Retaliation_, where Burke is said to be,
Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat
To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote.