Thanks, Dee. I don't know whether this particular article would have inspired JA -it might be just in time for MP. It reminds me of the trial of Earl Ferrars, who was hanged for the murder of his servant in 1711. This Hodge seems to be a really nasty character. Do we know any more about him? If he's a "Hon." then he's an aristocrat. Was he a member of Parliament, too? Where was he from?

The only member of the House of Commons that I know of who was also a plantation owner was a certain young man who had a rotten borough constituency, who inherited a plantation in the Caribbean in 1812, and promptly retired from politics, moved to his plantation, freed all his slaves immediately ,and basically lived out there for the rest of his short life, dying of yellow fever in 1818 (IIRC). He was born the same year as JA, and wrote his great book whilst she was writing P&P. I've often wondered just how 'aware' she was of him. His name? It was M.G. "Monk" Lewis.