a pension of 1,500l. a year. His political career was decided by his marriage in 1764 with Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Charles Jenkinson, and sister of Charles Jenkinson, then secretary-at-war, and afterwards Lord Hawkesbury and Earl of Liverpool. In the parliament of 1768 he represented Grampound, in those of 1774 and 1780 Winchelsea, and in that of 1784 Rye. Having fallen out with his brother-in-law, he attached himself for a short time to Shelburne's party, and acted with the whigs in the Middlesex election case and some other like matters. His defection, however, did not last long. He held office as a lord of the treasury in North's government from 1774 to 1780, and was made chief justice in eyre of the royal forests north of the Trent, and a privy councillor. At the meeting of the parliament of 1780 he was chosen speaker of the House of Commons, being proposed by Lord George Germaine, seconded by Welbore Ellis, and elected by a large majority in the place of Sir Fletcher Norton. 'As speaker,' Wraxall says, 'he possessed a sonorous voice, a manly as well as an imposing figure, and a commanding deportment.' He seems, however, to have owed his position rather to family influence than to any peculiar merit, for he was not a man of ability. His habit of relieving the weariness of his position during the debates of the house by frequent draughts of porter is noticed by Wraxall and commemorated in the 'Rolliad:'
There Cornwall sits, and ah! compelled by fate,
Must sit for ever, through the long debate.
Like sad Prometheus fastened to the rock,
In vain he looks for pity to the clock;
In vain th' effects of strengthening porter tries,
And nods to Bellamy for fresh supplies.
He was re-elected in the parliament of 1784. On 27 Feb. 1786 Pitt brought forward a motion for fortifying the dockyards; the house divided, and the numbers being equal, 169 on each side, Speaker Cornwall gave his casting vote against the government. He died, while still holding office, on 2 Jan. 1789. Being master of St. Cross Hospital, near Winchester, he was buried in St. Cross Church. A long epitaph was inscribed on his monument. He left no children. His wife survived him until 8 March 1809, and was buried with him. Wraxall, in his spiteful way, says: 'Never was any man in a public situation less regretted or sooner forgotten.'
{{smaller block[Manning's Lives of the Speakers, 456-61; Return of Members of Parliament, ii.; Parliamentary History, xxv. 1156; Wraxall's Historical and Posthumous Memoirs (ed. 1884), i. 259-61, iii. 385, iv. 269; Gent. Mag. lix. i. 87.]}}
CORNWALLIS, CAROLINE FRANCES (1786–1858), authoress, was the daughter of the Rev. William Cornwallis, rector of Wittersham and Elham in Kent. When only seven years old Caroline produced 'histories, poems, commentaries, and essays' which would fill volumes, and at fifteen she made a vow 'to forsake all the follies' of her age. From 1810 to 1826, although suffering frequently from ill-health, she devoted herself to the acquirement of knowledge, while never neglecting her home duties. She learnt Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and German, and acquired some knowledge of philosophy, natural and social science, history, theology, law, and politics.
Sismondi, who at an earlier period had offered her marriage and had ever since remained her warm friend, lent her his house at Pescia in 1826. She studied Tuscan criminal procedure, and made an abstract of the Tuscan code. She was delighted by the 'contrast between polished society and wild nature,' and 'enjoyed life for the first time for many years.' Her father's death in December 1827 necessitated her return to England, but in 1829 she returned to Italy. In 1842 the outcome of much thought and study appeared in her first work, 'Philosophical Theories and Philosophical Experience, by a Pariah.' It was the first volume in a series entitled 'Small Books on Great Subjects,' a series projected and carried out by Miss Cornwallis with the assistance of a few friends. By far the greater number of the twenty-two volumes were from her pen. The series embraced such various subjects as Greek philosophy, theology, geology, chemistry, criminal law, the philosophy of ragged schools, and grammar. These volumes, published anonymously,were widely read both in England and America. In 1853 she was bracketed with Mr. Micaiah Hill for the prize of 200l. offered by Lady Byron for the best essay on 'Juvenile Delinquency.' She was an ardent advocate for the higher education of women, and for the removal of the legal disabilities under which they suffered. On the latter subject she contributed two articles to the 'Westminster Review' (1856, 1857). She also wrote on 'Naval Schools' for 'Fraser.' After many years of bodily weakness, but with unabated vigour of mind, she died at Lidwells in Kent on 8 Jan. 1858, having lived to see many of her hopes realised in the improvement of the laws relating to women, and in the establishment of ragged and industrial schools. In appearance Miss Cornwallis was large-featured, tall, and thin. Her 'Letters,' published in 1864, are remarkable for thoughtfulness, variety, and grasp of subject, and a delightful play of humour.
