Perceval,

Perceval, SPENCER, English minister, was the second son of the second Earl of Egmont, and was born in London, November 1, 1762. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1786. He soon obtained a reputation as a diligent lawyer, and in 1796 he entered parliament for Northampton, and became a strong supporter of Pitt. In the Addington administration he was made Solicitor-general in 1801 and Attorney-general in 1802, and in the Portland administration of 1807 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was even then the real head of the government, being much trusted by George III. for his steadfast opposition to the Catholic claims. On the death of the Duke of Portland in 1809 Perceval became premier also, and retained office till his tragic death, 11th May 1812, when he was shot dead entering the lobby of the House of Commons, about five in the afternoon, by a Liverpool broker named Bellingham, whose losses had turned his head. Perceval's death was rather a private than a public calamity. He was a man of spotless integrity in his public and private character, but, though an effective parliamentary debater, his abilities were only moderate and his views were narrow.