Editing John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (section)

== Political career ==
===Rise to prominence===
In 1737, he was elected a [[Scottish representative peer]]; despite being in London in December of that year, he did not participate in deliberations in the [[House of Lords]].<ref name=":0" /> Because of his support for Argyll against [[Horace Walpole|Walpole]], he was not re-elected in 1741.<ref>{{Cite book|title=John, 3rd Earl of Bute : patron & collector|last=Russell|first=Francis|date=2004|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=0951259512|location=London|page=8|oclc=56640554}}</ref> For the next several years he retired to his estates in Scotland to manage his affairs and indulge his interest in [[botany]]. 
[[File:John Stuart, Earl of Bute.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Bute (1770)]]
In 1745, Bute moved to Twickenham, Middlesex where his family rented a house for forty-five pounds per annum.<ref>{{Cite book|title=John, 3rd Earl of Bute : patron & collector|last=Russell|first=Francis|date=2004|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=0951259512|location=London|page=16|oclc=56640554}}</ref> He met [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], in 1747 at the [[Egham]] Races and became a close friend.<ref>{{Cite book|title=John, 3rd Earl of Bute : patron & collector|last=Russell|first=Francis|date=2004|publisher=Merrion Press|isbn=0951259512|location=London|page=17|oclc=56640554}}</ref>

After the Prince's death in 1751, Bute was appointed tutor to [[George III of the United Kingdom|Prince George, the new Prince of Wales]] (later George III).<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://history.blog.gov.uk/2015/01/28/john-stuart-3rd-earl-of-bute-whig-1762-1763/|title=John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (Whig 1762-1763) - History of government|website=history.blog.gov.uk|date=28 January 2015 |language=en|access-date=21 March 2019}}</ref>

Bute arranged for the Prince and his brother [[Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany|Prince Edward]] to follow a course of lectures on [[natural philosophy]] by the itinerant lecturer [[Stephen Demainbray]]. This led to an interest in natural philosophy on the part of the young prince and may have led to George III's collection of natural philosophical instruments.

Bute furthermore became close to Prince Frederick's widow, [[Augusta of Saxe-Gotha]], the [[Dowager]] [[Princess of Wales]], and it was rumoured that the couple were having an affair. Indeed, one of the Prince of Wales's associates, [[John Horne Tooke]], published a scandalous pamphlet alluding to the liaison, but the rumours were almost certainly untrue, since Bute held sincere religious beliefs against adultery and, by all indications, appeared happily married.

In 1780, Bute was elected as the first President of the [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smellie|first=William|date=1792|title=An Historical Account of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland|url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/arch_scot_vol_001/01_prelims.pdf|journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|volume=1|page=iii}}</ref>