Wharton, Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquis of

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin

(1648-1715)


Statesman and writer of "Lillibullero," s. of the 4th Baron W., was one of the most profligate men of his age. He was a supporter of the Exclusion Bill, and consequently obnoxious to James II. His only contribution to literature was the doggerel ballad, "Lillibullero" (1688), which had so powerful a political effect that its author claimed to have sung a King out of three kingdoms. He was generally disliked and distrusted, but held for a short time, from 1708, the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, when he had Addison as his chief sec.

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