The Chancellor may in theory deny an application, although the last time this happened was to Viscount Chelsea in 1842. In the debate over expelling the fugitive James Sadleir in 1856, the Government committed to refusing any potential application he would make. After Edwin James was appointed to the Chiltern Hundreds upon fleeing to the United States with a £10,000 debt, the letter of appointment was revised to omit the customary mention of the position as one of honour. When Charles Bradlaugh took the Chiltern Hundreds in 1884 to seek a vote of confidence from his constituents, Lord Randolph Churchill and the Conservative press were highly critical of the Gladstone government for allowing Bradlaugh a new opportunity to demonstrate his popularity with the electors of Northampton.