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Kay's Originals Vol. 1

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196 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. LXXXI. THE EARL OF HOPETOUN, WITH A DISTANT VIEW OF THE HOPETOUN FENCIBLES. THE immediate ancestor of the Earls of Hopetoun was Henry Hope, a merchant of considerable extent in Edinburgh, who married Jacquiline de Tott, a French lady, by whom he had two sons. The eldest, Thomas, was bred a lawyer ; and, by his eminent talents, obtained great practice and amassed a considerable fortune, with which he made extensive landed purchases. He was appointed Lord Advocate by. James VI., and created a Baronet in 1628. His grandson, Charles, was the first Earl of Hopetoun. Henry, the second son, went to Amsterdam, and was the ancestor of that opulent branch of the family long settled there. He entered the army when very young, and held an ensign's commission in the 3d Regiment of Foot Guards. He was with the troops in Germany ; and, when only eighteen years of age, was engaged at the memorable battle of Minden, in 1759, where the British infantry signally distinguished themselves. He continued in the same regiment till 1764, when he retired from the army, in consequence of the ill health of his elder brother, Lord Hope, with whom he travelled some time on the Continent, but without producing any beneficial change in the state of his health, and who died in 1766. On the death of his father, in 1781, he succeeded to the earldom, and was chosen one of the sixteen representative Peers of Scotland at the general election in 1784. The Earl took an active part in all political questions, and continued to sit in the House of Lords during a great many succeeding years. On the death of his grand-uncle, the third Marquis of Annandale, in 1792, Lord Hopetoun succeeded to the large estates of that nobleman, on which occasion he added the surname of Johnstone to his own. On the breaking out of the French war in 1793, when seven regiments of fencibles were directed by his Majesty to be raised in Scotland, the Earl, who was firmly and sincerely attached to the British Constitution, stood forward in defence of his country, and embodied a corps called the Southern or Hopetoun Fencibles, of which he was appointed Colonel. The officers belonging to this regiment were men of the first rank and respectability : Lord Napier was Lieutenant-colonel ; the veteran Clarkson, Major ; the Earl of Home, Captain of Grenadiers ; Mr. Bailie of Mellerstain, and Mr. M'Lean of Ardgower, Captains, etc. etc. The Earl assiduously attended to his military duties, and soon brought the discipline of the corps to great perfection. While the regiment was stationed at Dalkeith, several attempts were made JAMBthSir,d Earl, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1741.
Volume 8 Page 275
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