_Il alte se volto, &c._ This defies translation. Tickell perhaps
deliberately garbled Barré’s Italian.
_Alderman Oliver’s letter._ Richard Oliver (1734?-1784), Alderman of
Billingsgate Ward and M.P. for the City of London; remembered for his
defiance of the House of Commons in the case of the printer Millar, for
which he was committed to the Tower, 1771. On 6 September 1778 Oliver
wrote a letter, soon published in the papers, declining nomination as
Lord Mayor and quitting his seat in Parliament in view of a prospective
visit to his property in Antigua, W.I., which he feared stood in danger
of seizure by France; _The Annual Register_ for 1778, “Chronicle,” pp.
200-201.
_Mr. H. Stanley._ Hans Stanley (1720?-1780), M.P. for Southampton,
Governor of the Isle of Wight, and Cofferer of the Household. He had
lived for some years in France and was regarded as an authority on the
affairs of that nation.
_Mr. Byng._ George Byng (1735-1789), nephew of the third Viscount
Torrington; M.P. for Wigan. An ardent supporter of Fox, he here acts in
the role of party whip.
_Mr. Robinson._ John Robinson (1727-1802), M.P. for Harwich and a
Secretary of the Treasury. A favorite of George III’s, Robinson
managed the Treasury boroughs and served as the King’s personal agent
in Parliament. In _The Castle of Infamy_, 1780, an anonymous satirist
describes
how Rob[in]son’s quick Eye
Controll’d the _pension’d, plac’d_, expectant Fry....
At his shrewd Look, his pregnant Nod, or Wink,
The Spirits of all Parties rise or sink.