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 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924027986748 
 
DA 437.058146""'"""' "-'""^ 
 
 Life of Sidne' 
 
 3 1924 027 986 748 .,„ 
 
THE 
 
 EAEL OF GODOLPHIN, K.G. 
 
PRINTED BY 
 
 SfOmSWOODE AND CO., NEW-BTBEET SQUARE 
 
 LOKDON 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 SIDNEY, EAEL OF GODOLPHIN, KG. 
 
 LOBD HIGH TBEASUKEB OF ENGLAND 
 1702 TO 1710 
 
 BY THE 
 
 HON. HUGH ELLIOT 
 
 A- 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK : 15 EAST IG'" STEEET 
 1888 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 ® 
 

PEEFACE. 
 
 In publishing this volume, I desire to state that I 
 have done my best to collect all the information in 
 my power concerning Lord Godolphin. I am, how- 
 ever, conscious that no biography of Lord Godolphin 
 can be really complete till much material which is 
 at present entombed in family archives is rendered 
 accessible to the author. 
 
 Of the material which I have employed in con- 
 structing this ' Life,' some is new, most of it is old, 
 and all of it is dispersed. The material which is 
 new has been drawn principally from manuscripts in 
 the British Museum and Public Record Office, and 
 comprises among other things many extracts from 
 letters written by Sidney Godolphin to his family 
 when he was a young and undistinguished man ; 
 the material which is old is scattered through books 
 and prints, some of them well known, but is so 
 mingled and confused with other matter that it has, 
 if one may use the expression, to undergo a process of 
 literary smelting before any result of Liographical 
 
vi THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN. 
 
 value is obtained. My object has been to collect, 
 arrange, and publish this material in a readable shape, 
 and furnish to the public, to the best of my ability, 
 some account of a man who was undoubtedly great, 
 but who, as every reader of English history will 
 admit, is much less known to the public generally 
 than are most of his distinguished contemporaries. 
 
 HUGH F. ELLIOT. 
 
 Srptemher 1888. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CITAPTEB TAfiE 
 
 I. THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY I 
 
 II. EAELY COEEESPONDENCE AND MAEEIAGE . . . 34 
 
 III. EAELY POLITICAL LIFE: 1670-1685 .... 72 
 
 IV. UNDER WILLIAM III 120 
 
 V. LOED HIGH TEEASUEEE 197 
 
 VI. ADMINISTEATION IN 1703 246 
 
 VII. THE ACT OP SECURITY 275 
 
 VIII. SUNDEELAND JOINS THE GOVEENMENT . . . 297 
 
 IX. SPAIN AND SAVOY . 320 
 
 X. HAELEY AND GODOLPHIN — DIFFEEENCES BETWEEN 
 
 MAELBOEOUGH AND GODOLPHIN . . . . 357 
 
 XI. DISMISSAL AND DEATH 401 
 
THE 
 
 EARL OF GODOLPHIN, KG. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY. 
 
 In some books, and especially in old ones, it is the 
 custom to place in a frontispiece a portrait of the 
 person whose life is to come under the notice of 
 the reader. We shall attempt here, in some sort, to 
 follow a fashion which has much to recommend it, 
 only employing the pen instead of the pencil. 
 
 Sidney Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer of Eng- 
 . land, was one of those men whose merits rarely re- 
 ceive the full recognition which they deserve. Patient, 
 industrious, clear-headed, and prudent, he rose to 
 eminence by the resolute exercise of qualities which 
 are reckoned common, but which are in fact possessed 
 by few. His life, when it is recollected that he was 
 only the younger son of a Cornish squire, was a 
 most perfect success ; yet we are tempted to say of 
 him, that of all the distinguished m.en of whom we 
 
 B 
 
2 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 have ever read, lie is the least distinguished and 
 the least conspicuous. Nearly all his famous con- 
 temporaries in politics are known by some pecu- 
 liarity of genius or character. Godolphin's life by 
 the side of theirs seems absolutely featureless. He 
 was neither an orator, nor an author, nor a poet, nor 
 a philosopher ; he was not even remarkable for the 
 magnificence of his living, for he always lived unpre- 
 tentiously ; or for the readiness of his wit, for he was 
 reserved in manner, and we should imagine somewhat 
 clumsy in speech. Yet Godolphin, unassuming and 
 laborious, was undeniably one of the greatest men 
 of his age in England ; and his government in the 
 reign of Queen Anne achieved results which, botli 
 at home and abroad, enormously affected the future 
 welfare of the country, and which for all time to come 
 will place an ineffaceable mark on its history. 
 
 The same vexatious indistinctness of outline half 
 hides Godolphin even in the domain of history. Par- 
 liamentary literature is the source towards which 
 we naturally turn to discover memorials of a great 
 statesman ; but the records of Parliament may be 
 searched in vain for information concernmg one 
 whose whole life was absorbed in the business of 
 politics. In Parliament, however, he undoubtedly 
 exercised great influence, and we are told that his 
 words were listened to as if they proceeded from an 
 oracle ; yet the few fragments of his speeches and con- 
 versations which have descended to us give us the 
 impression that he was a sententious rather than a 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 3 
 
 skilful or persuasive speaker. Godolphin's success 
 as a public man depends in reality rather upon his 
 solid and useful work as an administrator and an 
 official, than npon the brilliancy of his parliamentary 
 capacity ; it is in the dusty archives of the Treasury 
 that his fame lies buried. 
 
 Sidney Godolphin was a frugal and cautious finance 
 minister. During the period that he was chief of the 
 Treasury some of the greatest financial changes which 
 were ever made by an English Government were first 
 put into operation. The raising of money by life and 
 terminable annuities,^ the issue of exchequer bills, the 
 establishment of the Bank of England, the funding of 
 the National Debt, all date from this time. Yet we 
 doubt whether any of these changes were economically 
 more beneficial or important than the example which 
 he set to public men of vigilantly guarding the na- 
 tional treasure. No reforms could be completely 
 successful while the men whose duty it was to protect 
 the wealth of the people preyed upon it instead. At 
 the end of the seventeenth century English statesmen 
 were scandalously corrupt, yet no sei'ious charge of 
 personal corruption was ever made against Godolphin. 
 Even Swift, who has written everything which malice 
 could suggest to blacken his character, acquits him 
 of such an off'ence. His predecessors, one and all, 
 amassed fortunes either through or in consequence 
 of their office : Godolphin left office towards the 
 
 ^ Parliamentary Return, Public Income and Expenditure : Mr. 
 Gladstone, 1869. 
 
4 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 end of Queen Anne's reign a poorer man than he had 
 been when he accepted it eight years before, on her 
 accession to the throne. 
 
 The Calendar of State Papers during Godolphin's 
 admmistration testifies to the care with which he 
 scrutinised all claims on the public purse. Nothing 
 seemed too trivial for his inspection. Thus, on 
 March 7, 1705-6, the Treasury received a warrant for 
 the supply of a new silver trumpet for the trumpeter 
 of the third troop of guards. In Godolphin's hand- 
 writing is minuted on the back, ' What has become of 
 the old one ? ' ^ To this scrupulous regard for the public 
 interest, and his determination to introduce economy 
 and method into the conduct of affairs, which had 
 hitherto been marked by reckless extravagance and 
 criminal confusion, it is probable that Godolphin in 
 a large degree owes his high reputation as a financier. 
 Daring and skilful measures such as are attributed 
 to Charles Montague may restore public credit, but 
 punctuality, method, and good faith can alone confirm 
 it ; and it was for his regularity and integrity that 
 Godolphin was most highly distinguished. Yet, in. 
 spite of Godolphin's great ability as a finance minister 
 it was his fate during the long war of the Spanish 
 succession greatly to increase the national burthens • 
 on the other hand, he reduced some very objection- 
 able expenses, and while he was the prime, or to 
 speak more strictly, the chief Minister of Queen 
 Anne, we find that the annual charge for secret 
 
 ' Calendar of Treasury Papers : Domestic, Anne, 1705-6. 
 
THE GODOLPEIN FAMILY 5 
 
 services alone was little more than half what it had 
 been in the reign of William III.^ 
 
 Sidney Godolphin was of an amiable and aflfec- 
 tionate disposition, and ia an age when the good- 
 will of a powerful man was often bought with honours 
 and bribes, there was no surer way of enlisting 
 his friendship than by appealing to his personal 
 feelings.^ He was modest, and his modesty is hap- 
 pily illustrated by a short story. Lord Rochester, 
 his predecessor in the office of Lord Treasurer, when 
 he went out in his sedan-chair always had his white 
 wand carried before him, that people might be aware of 
 his approach. Godolphia, on the other hand, had the 
 wand cut down, so that he might hide it in his chair, 
 and thus pass unrecognised through the streets.' 
 
 In his spare time Sidney Godolphin was fond of 
 horse-racLQg, and he had a house at Newxnarket. It 
 is said also that he gambled, but to what extent there 
 is no certain evidence, and the vice does not seem one 
 in which a man who was notoriously poor and frugal 
 would indulge to great excess. He probably had a 
 taste for the fine arts, for we find Methuen, the English 
 ambassador at Lisbon, apprising him of a sale of 
 pictures T\'hich was to take place in Spain. He was 
 fond of chess,^ and apparently also, in spite of fre- 
 
 ' Parliamentary Return, Public Income and Expenditure ; Mr . 
 Gladstone, 1869. 
 
 2 Duke of Marlborough to William III., Jan. 27, 16|f. Dai- 
 ry mple's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 248. 
 
 ' An Account of the Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough, p_. 98. 
 
 ^ Additional MSS. 28056, f. 29, British Museum, Methuen to 
 Godolphin, ^^, 1703. 
 
6 THE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 quent attacks of gout, of Spanish and Portuguese 
 wines, which Methuen sent him in casks. 
 
 For the rest, his person, as it has been handed 
 down to us by the brush of Sir Godfrey Ivneller, 
 was not prepossessing, and the picture is absolutely 
 unlike the bust which is erected near his grave in 
 Westminster Abbey. The painter has depicted a man 
 of solid, heavy, and placid countenance ; the work of 
 the sculptor-, on the other hand, reveals to us a thin, 
 anxious face, with a long and straight nose, a mouth 
 surrounded with somewhat peevish lines, refined 
 features, and an expression of suffering. Boyer, the 
 historian, who had probably seen Godolphin, and 
 must certainly have received accurate descrijjtions of 
 his apjDcarance, tells us that he was of middle stature, 
 well-set, of strong constitution ; that his face was 
 of a brown complexion, and somewhat disfigured by 
 small-pox ; that his eye was quick and piercing, that 
 his smile was sweet, that his judgment was exquisite, 
 that his words were few and always to the purpose, 
 and that he never promised what he could not 
 perform. 
 
 No part of the south coast of England is more 
 beautiful than that which lies between the Lizard 
 and the Land's End. For centuries the ocean has 
 been engaged in fashioning it according to its own 
 wayward fancy. Buttresses and caves, columns and 
 
THE aODOLPHIN FAMILY 7 
 
 half sunken rocks, pyramids of stone, so carefully 
 sized and so neatly joined as to seem the work of 
 human hands, have been laboriously carved from the 
 solid cliff, and have assumed the fantastic forms 
 which delight the eye of the lover of the picturesque. 
 So clear and blue is the unruffled water of the land- 
 locked cove, that it appears like a gem of crystal or 
 sapphire which earth wears in her bosom. So wild 
 is the turmoil and confusion about each promontory, 
 that headland and cape seem constructed only more 
 effectually to display the terrific war which is eter- 
 nally waged between land and water. Islands dot 
 the coast ; sea-birds cling to the massive and isolated 
 rocks, or scream mid air about the dizzy precipices 
 which overhang the surge ; while the distant shores 
 of the bay fade into an undistinguishable blue mist 
 of sea and sky. Inland the scene is less attractive. 
 The landscape is for the most part flat and treeless, 
 and is divided into innumerable enclosures by walls 
 which are generally half concealed by gorse. About 
 three miles from Helston the monotony of the coun- 
 try is a little varied. Two low round hUls rise 
 gradually from the surrounding plain. They are 
 bleak, uninteresting, and, like the rest of the country, 
 treeless. No bold outline or jagged peak relieves 
 them fi-om the charge of sombre dulness. Their 
 sides, rendered sterile by nature, have been scarred 
 and defaced by human hands. Miserable buildings 
 and masses of debris mark the spots at which the 
 earth has been compelled to disgorge her wealth of 
 
8 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 tin ; while great blocks of granite, strewn over the 
 entire surface of the ground, render the appearance 
 of the country still more inhospitable, desolate, and 
 neglected. On the slope of one of these hills, and 
 within a walk of the sea-coast, is situated a house 
 which, as long as it stands, must ever be interesting 
 from its association with a great historical name. 
 
 Godolphin Hall, once the ancestral home of the 
 old Cornish family of Godolphin, is now a farm- 
 house ; yet it retains in its old and inglorious age 
 many signs of its former greatness. As is usual 
 when we contemplate the decay of any human crea- 
 tion, the mind is apt to adopt the work of recon- 
 struction. The palaces of the Caesars may shelter 
 shepherds, but whoever looks at them, though he 
 beholds their ignoble and everyday use, will connect 
 them with persons and events which have long since 
 passed away. The dead man, as if reluctant to strip 
 himself of all his associations with humanity, seems 
 still to clutch at these products of his genius and 
 labour, by forcibly capturing the moral and imagina- 
 tive parts of our nature. It is impossible to look at 
 Godolphin Hall without some such reflections. Every- 
 thing about it speaks in unmistakable language of 
 past generations, and the fine trees, the old gardens, 
 the fishponds, the weather-stained walls marked 
 here and there by lines which infallibly indicate days 
 when roofs and rooms were more plentiful, lead 
 our minds insensibly to repair the damage which 
 many years of decay have inflicted. Once more the 
 
THE GODOLPEIN FAMILY 9 
 
 porch is thronged, once more the broken horse-block 
 at the door is sought for its proper use, once more 
 the mullioned windows are filled with living faces ; 
 for one brief moment all are peopled by the spectral 
 figures of the imagination. 
 
 But, in spite of the changes which have taken 
 place in the old house, the banqueting-hall still 
 remains intact. There is an interesting story attached 
 to it. It is said that when Sidney Godolphin, as Lord 
 Treasurer, used in the eighteenth century to pay 
 occasional visits to Godolphin Hall, he found himself 
 in this remote corner of England completely cut off 
 from the world. In those days no public conveyance 
 ran further west than Exeter. The Lord Treasurer 
 directed that a messenger should at the end of every 
 week collect the letters and papers accumulated at 
 Exeter during the seven previous days and bring 
 them to Godolphin Hall. The time at which the 
 messenger was due at Godolphin Hall on his return 
 from Exeter was known through the neighbour- 
 hood, and in expectation of it the gentlemen of 
 the district were wont to assemble in the banquet- 
 ing-hall to hear the news.^ The circumstance is 
 curiously illustrative of the social manners of the 
 age. 
 
 Such was the home fi^om which Sidney Godolphin 
 sprang. Before proceeding with our narrative we 
 
 ^ Gilbert's History of Cornwall, ii. 59. It will save the necessity of 
 frequent references to state once for all that the material for this 
 chapter has been principally derived from such well-known authorities 
 as Lysons, Camden, and Carew. 
 
10 THE EAEL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 propose to touch very briefly upon the history of 
 his family and of his immediate ancestors. 
 
 The origin of the Godolphin family is shrouded 
 in an obscurity which we shall not attem^st to pene- 
 trate. All that need be said of it in this place is that 
 an ancient family called De Godolghan was settled in 
 Cornwall under the Norman kings, that in 1400 it 
 came to an end in the male line, that in 1504 John 
 Godolphin — the first to spell his name in that way — 
 was high sheriff of the county of Cornwall, and that 
 his grandson. Sir William, several times represented 
 the same county in Parliament. Sir William was a 
 soldier as well as a politician, and a soldier too who, 
 according to Carew, beautified his fame at the expense 
 of his face. His scars lost him no friends, and the 
 foUoTvdng quaint epitaph in Finchley Churchyard 
 probably attests the esteem of some devoted follower 
 who had shared his perils by land and by sea, and 
 who had seen him hack his foes, and be hacked in 
 return by them, on the plains of Picardy : 
 
 Godolphin his race to rest hath run, 
 
 Where grace affords felicity. 
 
 His death is gone, his life hath wone 
 
 Eternal perpetuity. 
 
 Tho' William his corps here dead doth lye 
 
 Barnes' faith in him shall never dye.' 
 
 Sir William Godolphin died in 157.5, and, as he left 
 no issue, his nephew Francis succeeded to the family 
 property. 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28071, f. 7, British Museum. 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY U 
 
 Tlie estate which Francis Godolphin inherited 
 was one of the richest in Cornwall. It had not 
 always belonged to the Godolphins, but it had been 
 the seat of an important family from time imme- 
 morial. Ancient records speak of the castle of 
 Godolphin, situated upon the property, as of great 
 antiquity ; but its glory had, at a very early period 
 of history, almost entirely passed away. In the reign 
 of Edward IV. it was in a state of dilapidation ; a 
 century later it was in ruins. Traces still existed, 
 indeed, of the ditch which in early times surrounded it, 
 but many of the stones of the edifice had disappeared, 
 probably removed for the purpose of building other 
 and humbler dwellings in the neighbourhood. At 
 what time the transformation occurred which con- 
 verted the crumbling remains of Godolphin Castle into 
 a comfortable hall, celebrated even among the hospit- 
 able homes of Cornwall for its plenty and good cheer, 
 we have no precise means of ascertaining. Sufl&ce 
 it to say that by the end of the sixteenth century the 
 reputation of Godolphm Hall was established for a 
 bountiful but unpretentious hospitality. 
 
 Nor can we explain with any greater accuracy the 
 manner in which the Godolphins became possessed of 
 an estate which appears to have conferred upon them 
 its name. In the reign of Henry VI. the property 
 belonged to the Arundels, who sold it to a person 
 called Stephens. Stephens held the lands subject to 
 a quaint but vexatious form of tenure. Once a year 
 the steward of the manor of Peransand came to 
 
12 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Godolphin, boldly entered the hall, jumped upon the 
 table, and there stamped or bounced with his feet or 
 club. When this eccentric behaviour had collected 
 the household about him, he addressed its assembled 
 members in the. following words : ' Oh yes, oh yes, 
 oh j^es, I am the reeve of the manor of Lambourne in 
 Peransand, come here to demand the old rent, duties, 
 and customs due to the lords of the said manor by 
 the lords of Godolphin.' When this proclamation 
 had been thrice repeated there were brought to him 
 two shillings and eightpence in rent, a quart of 
 strong beer, a loaf of wheaten bread worth sixpence, 
 and a cheese of the same value. The relief must have 
 been great when this noisy rent- collector, having 
 tasted and approved of the victuals, and pocketed the 
 two shillings and eightpence, retired to Lambourne to 
 pay to his master the fruits of his estate. Centuries 
 have brought us low rents, foreign competition, and 
 agricultural distress ; there is compensation in the 
 circumstance that they have also removed those 
 stewards who, in the collection of rents, added insult 
 to a disagreeable duty by stamping and bouncing on 
 the tenant's table. 
 
 The estates which Francis Godolphin inherited 
 were large ; by the favour of the Crown they became 
 still larger, for Elizabeth made over to him the lease, 
 and with it the military command, of the islands of 
 Scilly. Scattered like a handful of dust in an ocean, 
 which from the shores of America to the shores of 
 Britain meets nothing to break its violence, the islands 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 13 
 
 form a crumbling rampart against the encroachments 
 of the Atlantic, and compose a territory which few 
 men would covet from any special advantages to be 
 derived from their resources. Nor did their posses- 
 sion at first bring to Sir Francis Godolphin any great 
 addition of wealth. Arts and industries, which at a 
 later period rendered them valuable, were at that 
 time unknown. Communication with the mainland, 
 even now occasionally difficult, was then sometimes 
 impossible, and always precarious, and its inefficiency 
 formed an insurmountable obstruction to the easy 
 intercourse which encourages trade. 
 
 But though the productive worth of the Scilly 
 Islands was small, their geographical position rendered 
 them, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, of the highest 
 military importance. They were bulwarks against 
 invasion, they were sentinels to guard the great high 
 road between England and Ireland. To the Scillies 
 ships fled for shelter from an enemy, and from the 
 scarcely less dreaded storms of the tempestuous 
 Atlantic. At the Scillies they touched to refit, 
 or to supply themselves with stores, or waited 
 patiently till contrary winds changed into propitious 
 gales. Thus, while the Scilly Islands protected the 
 commerce of England, they to a certain extent 
 blocked up the entrance to the Irish Channel — a 
 matter of great importance when England was not 
 mistress of the seas, when Spanish squadrons were 
 constantly crawling about our shores, and when 
 Ireland, in chronic rebellion, was a harbourage for 
 
14 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Spanish soldiers. No one would have been entrusted 
 ■with the command of a post so important but a man 
 of estalilished reputation. No man of established 
 reputation could hold it long without increasing his 
 own influence. "When, therefore, Francis Godolphin 
 became governor of the Scilly Islands, and com- 
 mandant of the fort of St. Mary, he received a great 
 accession to his political power, if not at first to his 
 fortune. 
 
 Sir Francis Godolphin — for Queen Elizabeth 
 honoured him with knighthood — was an able and 
 energetic man, and contributed largely to the wealth 
 and reputation of his family. His marriage with the 
 daughter of Sir John Killigrew of Arwenack, whose 
 old manor-house is still known to all who are familiar 
 with Falmouth, strengthened his social position in 
 the county, and increased by another link the pro- 
 verbial cousinship which at that time was said to 
 exist between Cornish families. Francis Godolphin 
 was a thoroughly Cornish man, and remained one to 
 the end of his life. His ancestors had earned a name 
 in France as soldiers ; his posterity were to make 
 themselves famous at court or in Parliament ; but 
 Sir Francis rose to greatness in his own county and 
 on his own estate. Circxunstances, indeed, rendered 
 a career in his native county more possible to him than 
 either to those who preceded him or to those who 
 followed him. During the period at which the power 
 of Spain was at its height the exposed position of 
 the southern seaboard of England was very favourable 
 
THE GODOLPEIN FAMILY 15 
 
 to the development of great men in certain localities. 
 The queen and her ministers required leaders in the 
 maritime counties whom they could trust as soldiers 
 and on whom they could rely as counsellors. There 
 was, moreover, work to be done of sufficient impor- 
 tance to satisfy the ambition of men who would other- 
 wise have sought a career elsewhere. Thus for many 
 years the south-western counties of England produced 
 a class of men which they have never produced since. 
 Of this class Sir Francis Godolphin was an example. 
 He was at once a soldier and a statesman, and played 
 both parts with credit and distinction. 
 
 It was, however, as a country gentleman that Sir 
 Francis was best known and most celebrated. Eesiding 
 among a people whose social virtues we are told would 
 have satisfied the demands of the severest moralist, 
 who were liberal without being extravagant, who 
 were on terms of amity among themselves, who were 
 hospitable but prudent, balancing profits against 
 expenses, and who, last but not least, were blessed 
 with wives who cared not for dress, he was 
 a pattern gentleman in a society which itself de- 
 served to be the pattern of the world. Carew, whose 
 survey of Cornwall is so well known, is an unim- 
 peachable witness to Godolphin's merits. 'Zeal in 
 religion,' says Carew, ' uprightness in justice, pro- 
 vidence in government, and plentiful housekeeping, 
 have given him a very great and reverent reputation 
 in his country.' 
 
 But Sir Francis Godolphin was something more 
 
16 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 than a perfect model of what was requisite in a 
 Cornish squire. If the morals of his neighbours were 
 benefited by the spectacle of his justice and upright- 
 ness, their pockets were infinitely enriched by the 
 methods which he invented for the improvement of 
 their estates. The wealth of the Cornish landowners 
 consisted chiefly in tin. To produce the ore easily, 
 to work it cheaply, to sell it dearly, was to them as 
 to all producers a matter of the first importance. But 
 they neither worked it cheaply nor sold it well. From 
 the moment of production to the moment of realisa- 
 tion the process was one of perpetual friction and of 
 perpetual loss. Many as were their excellent qualities, 
 the landlords of Cornwall did not evince in the 
 sixteenth century any extraordinary aptitude for the 
 amelioration of their lands. Their predecessors the 
 Phoenicians would probably have blushed at their 
 ignorance, and have developed with far greater success 
 the resources of the soil. Much of the material from 
 the mines which was really of great value was thrown 
 aside as useless, while the miners worked barely four 
 hours a day, spending their spare time in playing at 
 quoits or ninepins. Nor was this waste and indo- 
 lence redeemed by the skill of the landowner as 
 salesman. The merchants who rode down from 
 London to purchase the tin came laden with tales 
 tliat were calculated to impose on the rustic credulity 
 of the Cornish gentry. Foreign wars they said were 
 imminent, invasions of the Cornish coast certain, tin 
 was at a discount m London and could not be sold 
 
THE aODOLPHIN FAMILY n 
 
 a dozen fables were invented and circulated to 
 cheapen the article which they intended to purchase. 
 The first bargain struck usually fixed the price of tin 
 for the season. 
 
 The genius of Sir Francis was too lofty to be 
 bound by the rude ideas which were in vogue with 
 his neighbours. A system of production and sale 
 which was at once clumsy and extravagant was cer- 
 tain never to secure his sanction. He discarded the 
 old wives' tales, which tempted landowners to dig ia 
 places mysteriously revealed, as mischievous imposi- 
 tions. He declined to be guided by prophetic dreams, 
 or to believe that the young girls who usually 
 dreamt them were discoverers almost equal to Hawkins 
 or Drake, or were, in short, anything but wilful 
 impostors or sickly visionaries. Steady determina- 
 tion and good sense rapidly did more to develop the 
 Cornish mines than all the dreams dreamt by all the 
 women and children since the Conquest. Never did 
 knowledge and science win a more golden triumph 
 over superstition. The Godolphin mines grew yearly 
 in wealth, the men employed increased yearly in 
 number, the revenue derived waxed yearly in value, 
 and huge mountains of refuse were converted into 
 small mountains of gold. The successful projects 
 of Godolphin added 10,000Z. to the public revenue. 
 Nearly sixty years after the death of Sir Francis his 
 reputation as a mineralogist had not been forgotten, 
 and in a petition to Richard Cromwell for recover- 
 ing the drowned and deserted mines of Mendip his 
 
 c 
 
18 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 authority is quoted along with that of the famous 
 Lord Chancellor Bacon.^ 
 
 But unfortunately it was impossible for Sir 
 Francis Godolphin to apply his time and his talents 
 exclusively to an attempt to develop the material 
 resources of himself and his neighbours. The days 
 of Queen Elizabeth were not days in which men 
 could devote the leisure of a peaceful life to the entire 
 pursuit either of wealth, amusement, or benevolence. 
 Peace, happiness, goodwill among nations, however 
 much enjoined by the maxims of religion, had more 
 than two centuries and a half to wait before they be- 
 came the practical creed of any school of politicians. 
 The sword was the sole arbiter of the age, and settled 
 equally both domestic and foreign politics. The ru- 
 mours of war which the tin-merchant scattered hither 
 and thither as he jogged through the narrow and 
 tortuous Cornish lanes were rendered highly probable 
 by the circumstances of the time. Strife in some shape 
 was the normal condition of the people. Europe of 
 the sixteenth century was a bubbling caldron of inter- 
 national commotions and civil discords. . The laws of 
 mutual obligation between nation and nation were' no 
 less unsettled than the principles of internal govern- 
 ment. Disturbances rent the surface of inchoate 
 society in a manner similar to the convulsions which 
 ao-itated the face of the earth before her crust had 
 hardened and her features had settled into their pre- 
 sent rigid and stony outline. The Englishman who 
 
 ' Seventh Report of Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, p. 82. 
 
THE aODOLPHIN FAMILY 19 
 
 witnessed tte Spanish Armada recollected also within 
 three years the execution or assassination of three 
 princes, and a most sanguinary civil war in the 
 country nearest the English frontier. His national 
 liberties were insecure, the very wealth which he had 
 accumulated with toil might be violently snatched 
 from him by a foreign invader. To protect himself 
 against these mighty risks he had nothing to depend 
 upon but his own vigilance and courage, and thus 
 the personal obligation of defence was strong within 
 him. In such an age every man is to some extent a 
 soldier, and every gentleman in the position of Sir 
 Francis, if he intends to preserve his influence, is 
 bound to be a leader. As might therefore be ex- 
 pected, we find that the avocations of Sir Francis 
 involved him in warlike quite as much as in peaceful 
 projects. He occupied one of the highest military 
 posts in the county — not, indeed, the very highest, 
 for the lord-lieutenancy had been conferred on Sir 
 Walter Raleigh — but he was deputy-lieutenant, with 
 the governorship of the Scilly Islands, and the com- 
 mand of perhaps the finest regiment in the west, 
 consisting of 1,200 men armed with pikes, muskets, 
 and calivers. 
 
 Sir Francis Godolphin carried into his military 
 profession the spirit of improvement which was so 
 strong a characteristic of his nature. His genius 
 seemed to touch ruin and neglect with a magic wand 
 wherever he came across them. In the Scilly Islands 
 he found the fortress of St. Mary decayed and its 
 
 c 2 
 
20 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 garrison reduced. His energy repaired the defects of 
 tlie one, and his solicitations induced the Government 
 to swell the numbers of the other. He constructed, 
 moreover, a fortress which taste and science com- 
 bined to render at the same time a secure stronghold 
 and a commodious dwelling ; while money judiciously 
 employed hi the improvement of the islands increased 
 in process of years his private revenue. The gallant 
 manner in which the Scilly Islands held out for 
 the Crown under Sir John Granville, during the 
 parliamentary wars of the next century, testifies 
 to the strength of the defences which Godolphin 
 erected. 
 
 Sir Francis was a brave soldier, but there was 
 one enemy whom he dreaded. He feared the power 
 of Spain as he probably feared nothing else upon 
 earth. In this he only shared the feelings of his 
 fellow-countrymen. Whatever precautions he took, 
 whatever preparations he made, were all directed 
 against the Spaniards. The Spanish power had 
 become a frightful bugbear to the English people, 
 which the misfortunes of the great Armada had 
 done something, but not everything, to dispel. 
 While the strength of Spain was yet unbroken, the 
 Inquisition and its abominable tortures were terrible 
 possibilities to a nation which had fresh in its recol- 
 lection the barbarous persecutions of the Low Coun- 
 tries. No wonder that nations trembled and states- 
 men paled before this hideous phantom of religious 
 madness. The frustration of Spanish aggression 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 21 
 
 formed the centre of Godolphin's military policy. 
 The grand invasions, the new invincible armadas 
 which were always on the point of coming but never 
 came, gave his thoughts and pen constant employ- 
 ment ; but though the Spaniards did not again send 
 a flotilla which could threaten the national existence, 
 they despatched smaller expeditions, which in their 
 nature were rather piratical than military, with the 
 object of harassing the English coasts and of terrify- 
 ing the people. With one of these Sir Francis had 
 an engagement. The action occurred on July 23, 
 1595. Though taken unawares, it is quite clear 
 that he had expected an attack, as on July 10 
 he had written to Sir Robert Cecil that ' the ga- 
 thering of the Spaniards seems as a cloud that is 
 about to fall.' ^ The words, though used as a figure, 
 turned out to be absolutely descriptive of what hap- 
 pened. The attack did take place as he predicted, 
 and came literally out of a cloud, as on the morning 
 of the 23rd, when the sun had chased away the fog, 
 four Spanish galleys were observed standing in for 
 the coast. As so often occurs when events long fore- 
 seen and prepared for at length arrive, everything 
 went wrong. The deputy-lieutenant was not on the 
 spot, the posse comitatus could not be called out ; 
 and the natural courage of the hardy Cornish men, 
 whose aptitude for hedge-fighting Lord Clarendon 
 at a later date so much eulogised, deserted them. 
 
 ' Hatfield MSS. Sir Francis Godolpliin to Cecil, dated Godolphin, 
 July 10, 1595. 
 
22 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 Strangely enough the old Cornish rhyme was fulfilled 
 
 to the letter : 
 
 There shall be landed on the rock of Merlin, 
 
 Men that shall burn Paul's church, Penzance, and Newlin. 
 
 The enemy rapidly made themselves masters of the 
 position. Farms, villages, and churches were in a 
 blaze, and a county which had it in its power to raise 
 or resist an army was left to the mercy of a few 
 marauders. Sir Francis happened by chance to be 
 riding, when the news reached him that the Spaniards 
 were devastating the county. He at once repaired 
 to the spot. He found his soldiers panic-stricken, 
 and their courage absolutely paralysed. With a few 
 men he courageously disputed the streets of Penzance, 
 till, deserted by his followers, and having very nearly 
 lost his life, he was compelled to retreat and wait for 
 reinforcements from Plymouth. But the enemy had 
 no intention of allowing Sir Francis to punish them 
 for their audacity or to retrieve his own honour. 
 They departed as expeditiously as they came, wafted 
 from the shore by a fortunate change of wind, ' as if,' 
 to use the words of the chronicler of the story, ' God 
 had it in purpose to preserve them His rods for a 
 longer time.' 
 
 During the rest of his life Sir Francis Godolphin 
 regarded the Spaniards with implacable hostility and 
 with augmented fear. He was unable to recognise 
 that even then the power of Spain was waning, that 
 its natural decay scarcely required the acceleration of 
 external agencies, that an attack which he conjectured 
 
THE aODOLPHIN FAMILY 23 
 
 sprang from the exuberant strength of the nation was 
 but a spasm of an expiring struggle. The picture of 
 a fresh Spanish invasion was always before his eyes. 
 He urged upon the CouncU of State the necessity of 
 strengthening still further the fortress of Scilly, 
 and even went so far as to advise the fortification of 
 MUford Haven, that the Spaniards might be ' dis- 
 appointed of convenient stable-room for their wooden 
 horses.' ^ Nor was his restless and vigorous mind 
 satisfied with planning the destruction of the 
 Spaniards. The Irish wars attracted his attention, 
 and induced him to submit his reflections on the 
 subject to the Council of State. On October 8, 1601, 
 he wrote to Cecil from Tavistock saying that he had 
 framed 'a project touching the wars in Ireland.'^ 
 The project was never seriously canvassed, as Godol- 
 phin's old foes the Spaniards took a step which 
 rendered it entirely abortive. They landed a force 
 at Kinsale, a measure which, to use Godolphin's own 
 language, ' will require a speedier and rounder kind 
 of proceeding.' 
 
 The precise date of Sir Francis's death is not 
 known. The last letter which he wrote to Sir 
 Robert Cecil, dated February 14, 1604, was pro- 
 bably written a very short time before he died — at 
 all events, after this time we hear no more of him, 
 and his son Sir William reigned in his stead. Sir 
 Francis was a man fertile in resource, of great energy 
 
 ' Hatfield MSS. Sir Francis Godolphin to Cecil, August 13, 1599. 
 ' Hatfield MSS. Sir Francis Godolphin to Cecil, October 8, 1601. 
 
24 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 of character, and one whose friendships with such 
 contemporaries as Raleigh, Cecil, and Carew, prove 
 him to have been on an intellectual equality with 
 the most illustrious men iia the land. 
 
 Of this second Sir WUliam, the grandfather of 
 the Lord Treasurer, we do not gather much informa- 
 tion. No friendly Carew appears to record his 
 triumphs or to excuse his defeats. No uncouth 
 Barnes sings a requiem over his grave, or builds ' the 
 lofty rhyme ' to his memory. His own letters to 
 Cecil are short and fragmentary, and do little more 
 than notify to us that he corresponded familiarly 
 with one of the most powerful men in England. 
 He has passed along the high road of history, and 
 his footsteps have scarcely left a trace. We know, 
 however, enough to affirm that he was neither a 
 degenerate son of his father, nor an unworthy an- 
 cestor for a great English minister. We know that Sir 
 William was engaged in the Irish wars under Essex, 
 and that he so far distinguished himself in them as to 
 receive the honour of knighthood. We know that 
 his participation in these wars was entirely owing to 
 his spirit of enterprise, for the letter is still extant at 
 Hatfield in which he attempts to arrange with Cecil 
 that he may be ordered to attend Lord Essex's 
 person lest a voluntary absence from Scilly should 
 prejudice his interests there.^ We know, too, from 
 the same interesting sources that some years later, 
 
 ' Hatfield MSS. Sir William Godolphin, written in his father's 
 lifetime, to the Earl of Essex, November 22, 1598. 
 
TEE 60D0LPHIN FAMILY 25 
 
 in 1606, he was employed by the Government on 
 an embassy to Paris. Of the precise object of this 
 embassy we are, however, ignorant. Two things 
 alone are apparent from it. First, that Sir William 
 was on very familiar terms with Cecil ; secondly, 
 that his private means were inadequate to defray 
 the expenses of a mission, and that Cecil gene- 
 rously assisted him.^ We know, too, that Sir 
 William Godolphin was also member of Parliament 
 for the county of Cornwall. If we are to believe 
 Cobbett's ' Parliamentary History,' he was a member at 
 the opening of James I.'s first Parliament. According, 
 however, to a more authentic record,^ he was not 
 returned to the House of Commons till October 1605. 
 Whether, therefore, he heard James's first speech — 
 probably the most extraordinary ever addressed by a 
 sovereign to his people, in which the king laboriously 
 sought to prove that he succeeded to the throne of 
 England by right divine, when he lectured bishops, 
 statesmen, and judges with equal severity in an 
 address studded with Latin quotations, and em- 
 bellished with allusions to David and the Philistines, 
 Bellona and Astrgea, Paul and ApoUos, Rehoboam 
 
 • Hatfield MSS. Sir William Godolphin to CeoU, Westminster, 
 June 10, 1606. ' Had not your honourable care prevented my neces- 
 sity, I must have misspent this afternoon in trying my credit amongst 
 the merchants as I did the morning ' ; and further on he says that he 
 is ambitious of some ' borrowed bravery ' to supply his other defects, 
 but cannot press Cecil to adventure with him more than the value of 
 his poor estate. 
 
 '' Return to an order of the House of Commons : Members of 
 Parliament, 1878. 
 
26 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 and Ezekias — or whether he shared the fate of those 
 unlucky members of the House of Commons whom 
 an insolent doorkeeper drove from the door of the 
 Upper House with the exclamation, ' Goodmen 
 Burgesses, you come not here,' or whether he was 
 not then in Parliament at all, we cannot precisely 
 say, and we may perhaps be pardoned for declining 
 to decide. All that can be declared with certainty is 
 that Sir William sat in King James I.'s first Parlia- 
 ment, but that it is not recorded that he took any active 
 part in its proceedings. He died in the year 1613. 
 
 Sir William GodoljDhin left four children. Francis, 
 the eldest, succeeded to the property, and was the 
 father of Sidney Godolphin, who became Lord 
 Treasurer. Sidney, Sir William's second son, was 
 celebrated as a minor poet, and was killed at the 
 beginning of the Civil War ; while William, the third 
 son, died in 1638, distinguished for nothing that we 
 know of, but commemorated by an epitaph^ placed in 
 Bruton Church by his brothers and sister. The name 
 of the daughter, the moestissima soror of the epitaph, 
 was Penelope. In an unobtrusive way she probably 
 had some considerable share in building her nephew's 
 fortune, for she connected him with a house both 
 powerful and wealthy. Penelope married Sir Charles 
 Berkeley, and became the mother of that Sir Charles 
 Berkeley who was created by Charles II. Lord Berkeley 
 of Rathdowne, Viscount Fitzhardinge, and finally 
 Earl of Falmouth. By the terms of the patent 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28071, f. 7, British Museum. 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 27 
 
 Penelope's husband, Sir Charles Berkeley, was made 
 heir to the Fitzhardinge title of her son, and thus 
 Penelope Godolphin lived to be Lady Fitzhardinge. 
 The value of this alliance must have been great 
 to the Grodolphins, when the Restoration placed 
 Charles. II. on the throne, and when Sidney's first 
 cousin Charles became first favourite, not only of 
 the king, but also of the Duke of York. 
 
 Francis Godolphin, the Lord Treasurer's father, 
 seems to have been one of those men who do what 
 they ought to do, but who do no more. He fought 
 for the king, but before the king's death he com- 
 pounded with the Parliament.^ He did not evince 
 that inveteracy in the royal cause which induced one 
 of his family to risk all in the defence of Scilly, and 
 engaged another in the campaign which terminated 
 so disastrously at Worcester.'-^ The dauntless and 
 devoted resolution in the field which displayed itself 
 so conspicuously among the followers of Charles I. 
 formed no feature in the character of Sir Francis 
 Godolphin. Yet he did not desert the son of the 
 fallen monarch, and is reported to have sent sums of 
 money to support the prince in his exile. He was 
 certainly trusted by the king on his restoration, for, 
 besides the honour of knighthood, there was conferred 
 upon him the custody of the State prisoners Vane and 
 Ireton.^ "We should surmise, from the little which 
 
 ' Journals of the House of Commons, January 5, 1646. 
 " Whitelock's Memorials, p. 476, October 1650. 
 » Calendar of State Papers: Domestic, 1661-1662, p. 169. Mr. 
 Secretary Nicholas to Sir Francis Godolphin, December 5, 1661. 
 
28 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 we really know of him, that he was a man not with- 
 out family ambition, but desirous to advance its 
 interests by more secure methods than by engaging 
 deeply in the perilous politics of the age. He was 
 highly esteemed by his neighbours, and was generally 
 a man of sterling worth rather than of any intellectual 
 superiority, and of prudence rather than sagacity. 
 At an early age he was chosen member of Parlia- 
 ment for St. Ive's, and continued to sit in the House 
 of Commons for various constituencies, till he was 
 finally ejected by the famous resolution of 1643, 
 levelled against those members who had deserted the 
 service of the House and were in the king's quarters. 
 
 Francis Godolphin married Dorothy, daughter of 
 Sir Charles Berkeley, of Yarlington, sister of the 
 future Lord Berkeley of Stratton. Thus Sidney 
 Godolphin was -closely connected with both branches 
 of the great Berkeley family. With the Berkeleys 
 of Stratton he appears to have been on very intimate 
 terms. In early days he was a constant inmate of 
 Berkeley House, which, standing upon the site of the 
 present Devonshire House, was, in the reign of 
 Charles II., one of the most splendid private resi- 
 dences in London. No doubt the connection was of 
 the highest importance to his future success. Sir 
 Francis Godolphin died in 1667. As we proceed 
 with Sidney's life, we shall again have to recur to 
 the circumstance. 
 
 Sidney Godolphin, the brother of Sir Francis, 
 alone of Sir William's three sons has attained any 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 29 
 
 historical reputation, and he deserves a short notice 
 here, if only to distinguish him from his nephew, 
 with whom he is so often confused. Of small body, 
 of sharp wit, of excellent judgment, with consider- 
 able knowledge of foreign countries, and with a good 
 post at court, Sidney Godolphin became intimate at 
 an early age with many of his most illustrious con- 
 temporaries. He was equally the friend of Claren- 
 don, of Falkland, of Waller, and of Hobbes. In 
 spite, however, of the many excellent qualities which 
 ensured him the esteem of the world, his character 
 was remarkable for its caprice, and his temper was 
 tinctured with melancholy. A little wind or rain 
 would divert him from a short journey. A little air 
 in the face would cause him to turn his horse's head 
 and ride home. Such were the whims of his cha- 
 racter. Subsequent events proved that they were 
 only whims, and that he was deficient neither in 
 vigour of body nor mind. He was for many years 
 a member of the House of Commons. Three times 
 did Helston return him as its representative, and on 
 at least two of these occasions he signally displayed 
 his loyalty. In his second Parliament he espoused 
 the cause of Strafford ; in his last, the Long Parlia- 
 ment, he zealously supported the tottering cause of 
 the king. 
 
 There is no absolute proof that Sidney Godolphin 
 displayed any great parliamentary ability, but there 
 are some indications which lead us to conjecture that 
 as a member of the House of Commons he was more 
 
30 THE EASL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 active than tis brother Sir Francis. The Godolphins 
 were early out of favour with what Clarendon calls 
 the ' Aaolent party ' in the Long Parliament, and it is 
 natural to infer that the hostility which this party 
 displayed against them was inflamed by something 
 more than passive opposition. It was soon dis- 
 covered that the Godolphins were not of those in 
 whom the House could confide. They loved the 
 idolatrous worship of the Anglican Church. They 
 honoured the Upper Chamber, full though it was of 
 • rotten-hearted lords.' Such symptoms of malig- 
 nancy received from Parliament an early mark of dis- 
 approbation. On December 3, 1641,^ the House of 
 Commons resolved to take into consideration some 
 offensive words spoken by Mr. Godolphin. The words 
 themselves are not disclosed in the resolution ; nor 
 does it appear that the House ever visited them with 
 a penalty. That it was Sidney who offended seems 
 likely, as on a later occasion he proved that the terrors 
 of the House could not conquer his audacity. When 
 the king at last desired all members of the House of 
 Commons to withdraw from the Parliament at West- 
 minster, then, and not tUl then, did Sidney relinquish 
 his place in the House. As he retired he uttered a 
 warning both bold and true : ' By a war,' he pro- 
 claimed, ' the Parliament would expose itself to un- 
 known dangers ; for when the cards are shuffled, no 
 man knows what the game will be.' ^ 
 
 ' Journals of the House of Commons. 
 ^ Somers' Tracts, vol. vi. p. 574. 
 
THE GODOLPHIN FAMILY 31 
 
 But it is not as a politician or as a soldier that 
 Sidney's fame, such as it is, has descended to posterity. 
 It rests upon his poetry, and it is in regard to poetry 
 that we think confusion principally exists between 
 himself and his nephew. It is alleged that Sidney 
 Grodolphin, the Lord Treasurer, was a scribbler of 
 verses. It may be so ; if it is, the Lord Treasurer 
 only occupied himself in the same manner as nearly 
 every one of his political contemporaries. It is, how- 
 ever, singular that, as far as we know, not a single 
 specimen of his verse is extant. Sidney Godolphin 
 the uncle, on the other hand, wrote poetry extensively, 
 and his productions have most certainly been attri- 
 buted in some instances to the nephew. For instance, 
 the epitaph by Sidney Godolphin on Lady Rich at 
 the end of G-auden's ' Fimerals made Cordials,' in the 
 Bodleian Library, is ascribed by the editor of Wood's 
 ' Athense ' to the Lord Treasurer. The book itself 
 was, in fact, published in 1658, when Sidney Godol- 
 phin, the Lord Treasurer, was but nine years old. 
 The epitaph is clearly, therefore, we should ima- 
 gine, the work of the uncle. There is a similarity 
 also between the presumed poetry of the Lord 
 Treasurer and the acknowledged poetry of his uncle 
 which lends colour to the hypothesis that the compo- 
 sitions of the one may have been mistaken for those 
 of the other. Swift charges the Lord Treasurer in a 
 somewhat offensive manner with scratching out songs 
 in praise of his mistresses. The best productions 
 of Sidney Godolphin the uncle are undoubtedly his 
 
32 THE EABL OF OODOLPEIN 
 
 love-songs. Thus, no difference of theme marks differ- 
 ence of authorship, and mistaken identity is thereby 
 rendered more possible. So great, indeed, is the con- 
 fusion which universally exists between the two 
 Sidney Godolphins, that in the absence of direct proof 
 that the Lord Treasurer dabbled in verse of any sort, 
 we should be inclined to question whether he ever 
 wrote any at all. Of the poetic gifts of the uncle 
 there can be no doubt, and we offer the following song 
 as an example of his talent : 
 
 SONG.' 
 
 Or love me less, or love me more, 
 And play not with my liberty : 
 Either take all, or all restore ; 
 Bind me at least, or set me free ! 
 Let me some nobler torture find, 
 Than of a doubtful wavering mind. 
 Take all my peace ! but you betray 
 Mine honour, too, this cruel way. 
 
 'Tis true that I have nurs'd before 
 That hope of which I now complain ; 
 And having little, sought no more. 
 Fearing to meet with your disdain. 
 The sparks of favour you did give, 
 I gently blew to make them live : 
 And yet have gain'd by all this care, 
 Nor rest in hope, nor in despair. 
 
 I see you wear that pitying smile. 
 Which you have still vouchsaf'd my smart, 
 Content thus cheaply to beguile 
 And entertain an harmless heart : 
 
 ' Ellis's Early English Poets, vol. iii. p. 229. Other specimens of 
 Sidney Godolphin'a poetry are to be found in the British Museum 
 Additional MSS. 6017. 
 
THE OODOLPHIN FAMILY 33 
 
 But I no longer can give way, 
 To hope which doth so little pay ; 
 And yet I dare no freedom owe, 
 Whilst you are kind, though but in show. 
 
 Then give me more, or give me less : 
 Do not disdain a mutual sense ; 
 Or your unpitying beauties dress 
 In their own free indifference ! 
 But show not a severer eye. 
 Sooner to give me liberty ; 
 For T shall love the very scorn, 
 Which, for my sake, you do put on. 
 
 Sidney Godolpliin is by the many now forgotten, 
 
 or only remembered to be confounded Avith the great 
 
 statesman his nephew. But no distance of years will 
 
 ever quite subdue his light, nor will his name ever 
 
 entirely perish from off the page of history, for three 
 
 of his greatest contemporaries have combined to 
 
 immortalise his memory. Clarendon has written a 
 
 description of his appearance and character. Waller 
 
 has collected his poems. Hobbes has written his 
 
 epitaph : 
 
 Thou 'rt dead, Godolphin, who lov 'dst reason true. 
 Justice and peace ; soldier, belov'd, adieu.' 
 
 He was killed at Chagford in 1643 during the 
 Civil War, and his body rests beneath the chancel of 
 the church of Okehampton in Devonshire. 
 
 ' Wood's Athense Oxonienses. 
 
 T) 
 
34 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EAELY COREESPONDENCE AND MAERIAGE. 
 
 Sidney Godolphin, the future Lord Treasurer, was 
 born at Godolphin Hall in the summer of 1645, and 
 was christened in the parish church of St. Breage on 
 June 15 of that year. The village of St. Breage 
 is adjacent to Godolphin Hall, and but a short walk 
 from its gates. The church is connected with the 
 Godolphin family by the most sacred associations. 
 Here the children of the family were christened, 
 here its dead were buried. Here Sidney Godolphin, 
 prostrate with sorrow, laid the young wife to rest 
 whom Evelyn declared to be incomparable among 
 women. 
 
 "We might, were we so inclined, snatch at the 
 announcement of Sidney Godolphin's baptism to 
 moralise on the inscrutability of the ways of Pro- 
 vidence, and the impotence of man to forecast the 
 future. At the moment of Sidney's birth the war 
 between king and Parliament was at its height, and 
 the condition of the royal cause was desperate. The 
 fatal battle of Naseby was fought a month after his 
 christening. The complete, absolute, and, as it then 
 
EABLY COBEESPONDENCE AND MARRIAGE 35 
 
 appeared, final overthrow of both monarch and 
 Anglican Church occurred at no distant date after it. 
 Yet, at this supreme instant, there was lying in his 
 cradle m a remote country-house in Cornwall, a child 
 who was destined not only to see the Stuarts restored 
 and again deposed, but to see a Dutch prince on the 
 throne, and a German elector heir-presumptive to it ; 
 to be himself during three reigns one of the chief 
 ministers of the Crown, and in a fourth the last but 
 two of those great officers of State who, from the 
 time of the Conquest to the death of Queen Anne, 
 held the wand of Lord High Treasurer of England. 
 
 Sidney was the third son in a lai'ge family of 
 brothers and sisters. Sixteen children in all blessed 
 the union which bound Francis Godolphin to Dorothy 
 Berkeley. Nine of these children died unmarried. 
 Some of them probably never emerged from infancy. 
 Thirteen were, however, still living when Lady 
 Godolphin drew up her will in November 1668, for 
 in this document she mentions by name six sons and 
 seven daughters.^ The names of the sons were 
 WilHam, Francis, Sidney, Henry, Charles, and 
 Edward ; those of the daughters, Elizabeth, Jael, 
 Frances, Penelope, Margaret, Katharine, and Anne. 
 All the sons, with the exception of Edward, became 
 more or less distinguished in after life. Of the 
 daughters, two made excellent marriages — Elizabeth 
 to Sir Francis Northcote, and Jael to Mr. Edward 
 Boscawen. 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28071, f. 3, British Museum. 
 
36 
 
 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Unfortunately we know nothing very definite as 
 to ttie manner in which Sidney Godolphin spent his 
 youth. It was said of him when he was a statesman 
 that he had completely mastered classical learning.^ 
 Whether, however, he ever studied at Oxford or 
 Cambridge we do not know.^ His brother Henry 
 worked his way from an Oxford fellowship to the 
 provostship of Eton, and finally to the deanery of 
 St. Paul's ; but we are inclined to think that Sidney 
 never attended either university, and that his classical 
 proficiency must have been acquired elsewhere. On 
 the whole, it seems probable that at a very early age, 
 in fact when almost a boy, he joined King Charles H. 
 on the continent.^ If so, he was perhaps old enough 
 to recollect at Paris much of that motley life of 
 spurious royalty which Evelyn so well describes, 
 and which was admirably calculated to tincture 
 the fresh mind of a boy — a court brilliant with the 
 false brilliancy which emanates from dowerless titles, 
 rotten with that rottenness which is produced by 
 intrigue incited by no higher motive than by malice 
 and spite, crowded with statesmen without oflfices, 
 peers and gentlemen without lands or fortune, all 
 plotting, like Milton's Lucifer, to creep, crawl, or 
 intrude into that happy paradise from which 
 
 ' North's Life of Lord Keeper Quilford. 
 
 ^ It is stated in Gates's Dictionary of General Biography that Sidney 
 Godolphin was educated at Oxford ; but there is no authority which we 
 know of for the statement ; it is probably a mistake for the uncle, who, 
 as we learn from Wood's Athenae Oxonienses, was educated at Exeter 
 College, Oxford. 
 
 '■' Dryden's Satire to his Miise. See Cooksey's Life of Lord Somers. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 37 
 
 the fortunes of war had expelled them. From the 
 littleness of the exile's life, he may have turned with 
 a natural loathing to an exile's death, and beheld the 
 body of a sober English gentleman, banished even in 
 death from the resting-place of his family, as in life 
 he had been banished from its halls, buried in a sub- 
 urban cabbage-garden at Charenton. Such specta- 
 cles as these undoubtedly filled the minds of those 
 who witnessed them with a horror of revolutionary 
 changes, and had great influence in moulding the 
 political character of the generation of Englishmen 
 which immediately succeeded the Civil War. 
 
 Nothing, however, is really known of Sidney 
 Godolphin till he appears as a page^ in the court 
 of Charles II., about the time when the Count de 
 Grammont was dazzling society with his humour, 
 when the intrigues of Lady Castlemaine were dis- 
 tracting the heart of the queen, and those of Miss 
 Stuart arousing the fury of Lady Castlemaine ; when 
 Miss Jennings, the most beautiful of court ladies, 
 dressed as an orange -girl, was seUing oranges at the 
 door of the theatre, and when the foolish and ugly 
 Lady Muskerry, at one time masquerading as a 
 princess of Babylon, and at another exposing her 
 shapeless figure to derision at the queen's ball at 
 Tunbridge, was covering herself and her husband 
 with ridicule. Such was the theatre of life upon 
 which Sidney Godolphin .first emerged. When in 
 the future we criticise his character or condemn his 
 
 1 Calendar of State Papers, 1664, April 7. 
 
38 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 morality, it would be unjust to forget the nature of 
 the society in which his early youth was passed. 
 
 Sidney Godolphin must have been about nineteen 
 years old when we thus find him as a page to 
 Charles II., embarked on those fortunes which were 
 finally to land him in a position almost as splendid 
 as has ever been attained by an English statesman. 
 Like most young men when they go into the world 
 for the first time, he did not at once sever his connec- 
 tion with his relations at home. A series of letters, 
 unfortunately not a very great many of them, carry us 
 over the next eleven years, when the chapter of his 
 private life, such as it is, closes, and henceforward he 
 becomes a public man whose actions can hardly be 
 called entirely his own. As these letters are too few in 
 number, and too fragmentary to enable us to combine 
 them into a narrative, we think that a knowledge of 
 Sidney's character, and of the habits of the family 
 from which he sprang, may best be obtained by the 
 publication of a few letters and extracts. 
 
 The home which Sidney had left was composed 
 as yet of most of the family. His father and mother 
 were both alive. His younger brothers were still 
 boys, and most of his sisters unmarried. Under 
 these circumstances it is not strange that many of 
 the earlier letters are chiefly concerned with such 
 purely personal matters as the marriages and educa- 
 tion of the children. Nearly the first topic touched 
 upon in. the cori-espondence is one which, if things 
 had gone as desired, might have had considerable 
 
EARLY COBBESPONDBNCE AND MABBIAGE 39 
 
 effect upon Sidney Godolpliin's comfort in later life. 
 In 1663 Sir Francis considered that it was time that 
 his eldest son should marry, and he therefore wrote 
 the following letter to the lady whom he had selected 
 for his daughter-in-law : 
 
 ' Madame,' ^ wrote Sir Francis, ' the fame of your 
 person and fortune, extending itself towards the Mount 
 (i.e. Godolphin Hall), has raised a presumption in 
 me to offer my son to be listed by your favour 
 amongst the most devoted to honour and serve you, 
 on whom, at his return out of Italy, about two years 
 since, his majesty was graciously pleased to confer 
 the honour of baronet ; it will not become me to 
 praise my son, but to praise God for his great bless- 
 ing to me in him. I shall testify my esteem of your 
 ladiship and him by the tender of putting into his 
 hands on his marriage a thousand pounds a year 
 maintenance, and the same thousand pounds a year 
 for jointure, all let for 21 years to good tenants 
 exactly for so much ; your ladiship need not doubt 
 that I will settle upon him and his heirs all my 
 lands of inheritance after myself, and mines of tin 
 of greater yearly value. (I may speak it without 
 vanity) I know no young man in England has more 
 near kindred and friends at court, yet I must tell 
 you he is no courtier. All the discouragement I can 
 
 ' It may be as well to state here that nearly all the letters in the 
 family correspondence are without the date of the year in which they 
 were written ; it is, however, generally easy to fix the date from allu- 
 sions to current events, and where this has been done, the date has 
 been inserted in brackets at the head of the letter. 
 
40 THB EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 give your ladiship is that he is very modest. If your 
 ladiship -will either do me the honour of a line, or 
 any other way you please, by this bearer, my trusty 
 servant, signify your favourable leave for my son to 
 wait upon you. I will add wings to his ambition, and 
 in the meantime beg your pardon for this bold in- 
 trusion.'^ 
 
 Like most proposals of this kind when couched 
 in writing, the letter had only been despatched after 
 careful deliberation. Curiously enough, a rough draft 
 of it is preserved with the copy of the letter itself. 
 Sir Francis had occasion to make several alterations 
 before it was completed entirely to his satisfaction. 
 In the draft he assured his correspondent that the 
 fame of her beauty knew no bounds but the ocean, 
 in the letter that it extended merely to the confines 
 of Godolphin Hall. The draft also asserted that the 
 joint fortunes of himself and the lady to whom the 
 proposals were made would, if united by means of 
 a marriage with his son, be sufficient to support the 
 dignity of a baron. This, too, was omitted. For- 
 tunately for Sidney, the negotiations were unsuc- 
 cessful, his brother died many years afterwards 
 unmarried, and he himself succeeded late in life, 
 and at a moment of great poverty, to the family 
 estates. 
 
 The Godolphins do not at this period seem to have 
 been very fortunate in matters relating to marriage. 
 In 1665, apparently, one of Sidney's sisters became 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 5, British Museum. 
 
EABLY C0BBE8P0NDENCE AND MABBIAOE 41 
 
 engaged to marry a Mr. Dryden. The marriage 
 never took place, and we only mention the matter at 
 all as circumstances which attended it throw a side 
 light on Sidney Godolphin's character. 
 
 In preparation for the marriage Lady Godolphin 
 desired to provide a trousseau for her daughter, and 
 being herself in the country she confided this impor- 
 tant duty to her son Sidney. Even at this early age, 
 Sidney, the courtier and the Londoner, was clearly 
 the man of business of the family. Charles IL's 
 description of him as a minister in later days was 
 equally true of him in his youth. ' Godolphin,' 
 said the great master of apothegms, ' is never in the 
 way, and he is never out of it.' But on this occa- 
 sion we think that there are signs that even Sidney's 
 equanimity was at fault, and he writes to his mother 
 almost with an air of impatience. ' Since I came home 
 I have been in doubt whether I should have some 
 [clothes] made up new, or endeavour to buy those of 
 Mrs. Stuart which were sent her out of France just 
 before the court went into mourning, and are now 
 useless to her ; and, therefore, more likely to be a 
 good penniworth. Your messenger is extremely 
 impatient, else for aught I know I would expect an 
 answer of this before I determine this matter, as also 
 whether you stay only for the wedding clothes, for 
 there is a report (however it comes to pass, not 
 having your authority) that there is a demur in the 
 affair ; if so, I would rather venture on Mr. Dryden's 
 anger at Robin when he comes home, and his at 
 
42 THE EABL OF GOBOLPHIN 
 
 me here, than commit any more errors in this busi- 
 ness.' . . .^ 
 
 It is amusing to observe in this letter with what 
 minuteness the future treasurer balances the risk of 
 losing the price of a dress against the probabilities of 
 a marriage. His mind from youth to age was essen- 
 tially a bargaining and a balancing one, and he was 
 as eager now to secure a good pennyworth for his 
 father's money as in later days he was to obtain for 
 the country the full value for the subsidies which 
 were paid to foreign Powers. 
 
 The next letter which we shall quote hurries us 
 from a family marriage to what is even still more 
 eventful in all families — the death of its chief. On 
 receiving the news of the death of Sir Francis Godol- 
 phin, Sidney wrote as follows — the person with whom 
 he corresponded is not named, but the context clearly 
 shows it was with Sir William Godolphm, his eldest 
 brother : 
 
 ' March 23 (1667). 
 
 ' Yesterday morning Robin wak'd me with your 
 letter, and the most dejolorable news for all our family 
 that it was possible for them to hear ; though I have all 
 the affliction in the world which the loss of the best and 
 kindest of fathers can cause in the heart of the most 
 grateful chUd, yet it does not equal that which I 
 feel when I reflect upon my dear mother's grief. I 
 beseech God Almighty of his infinite goodness and 
 compassion to send her, and all hers, that consolation 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 31, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COJRBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 43 
 
 which he alone is able to bestow ; as soon as I had 
 got myself ready I went directly to the king, who 
 being the tenderest natured man in (the world) 
 seemed to be much concerned for the loss we had all 
 received in my dear father, and made no scruple of 
 promising me that his offices should be continued to 
 you ; after which I went to my lord of Bath,^ told 
 him what I had done, and delivered him your letter, 
 and desired that he would go to the king (without 
 taking notice of me, and upon the information of your 
 letter) to ask the king those offices for you, and 
 receive his commands to my lord Arlington for the 
 speedy preparing your warrants, which accordingly 
 was done, and I think you need not doubt the having 
 of either, my lord of Bath bid me remember his service 
 to you and assure you of his kindness, and I must 
 needs do him the rights to say that I never saw any 
 man in my life more ready upon all occasions to do 
 good offices to another than he has been for you 
 therefore T think you would do very well upon this 
 to write him a letter, and take notice to him of this 
 matter from me, and pray don't take it ill that I pre- 
 tend to advise you in this matter, you may be sure 
 that I will never do it in anythmg, but when I know 
 it is a thing fit for you to do, for no man living has 
 more kindness and esteem for a brother than I have 
 for you, and more because I am very well satisfied 
 that you love me extremely, besides you are now to 
 
 ' Lord Bath's name occurs constantly in the correspondence. He 
 was the celebrated Sir John Granville, whose exploits during the 
 parliamentary wars are so well known. He died in 1701. 
 
44 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 consider that we are now to be a father to one another 
 or at least that you are to be so to me, and as I am 
 sure I shall always have the respect due to a parent 
 for you, so I do confidently believe you will not want 
 a father's tenderness for me. I am afraid the post 
 will be gone so that I can now say no more to you, 
 pray God of Heaven keep you.' ^ 
 
 The death of Su* Francis filled Sidney's mother, 
 Lady Godolphin, with the deepest grief. A letter 
 which she wrote to her sister-in-law. Lady Fitz- 
 hardinge, immediately after her husband's death testi- 
 fies at once to her affection for her husband, and also 
 to the fact that he was not on the best of terms with 
 one of his nearest and most influential relations. ' As 
 this dear person,' Lady Godolphin writes, 'was the 
 worthiest husband and the tenderest father so he was 
 the kindest brother that ever I knew, how far soever 
 passion might have transported him when he writ 
 last to you. . . . Sir Francis was taken off from the 
 world without having opj)ortunity of speaking one 
 word about wife, children, or estate.' ^ 
 
 Pecuniarily Sidney gained little by his father's 
 death. Sir Francis, after a full consideration of his 
 debts, found himself unable to leave more to his 
 children than 120^. a year to some, and to others only 
 40^. We are not told whether Sidney succeeded to 
 the greater or the lesser portion. 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 62, British Museum. 
 » Additional MSS. 28052, f. 51, British Museum. 
 
EARLY CORRESPONDENCE AND MARRIAGE 45 
 
 Thus the patrimonial inheritance of Sidney 
 Godolphin was small ; but this circumstance did not 
 induce him to despair of a project which he had 
 already formed of entering Parliament. In April 
 1667 his brother reported to him that a vacancy 
 might possibly occur before long in some borough 
 in the west. This seat Sidney determined, if he 
 could, to win. The ambition to enter the House of 
 Commons was no new one ; for two years earlier 
 than the time we have now reached, evidently re- 
 volving the same idea in his mind, he wrote to his 
 mother concerning the borough of St. Mawes, that he 
 should think himself extremely happy if anything 
 could be done for him in that quarter for love or 
 money. But neither love nor money was suffi- 
 cient to return Sidney to Parliament on that occa- 
 sion, and, like many an aspiring politician of later 
 times, he had to repress his ardour till the arrival of 
 a more fitting opportunity. That this opportunity 
 was afforded to him after a delay of only two years 
 was a matter concerning which he might consider 
 himself fortunate ; for Sidney lived in an age when 
 no legal limit was imposed on the duration of a 
 Parliament, and a candidate who looked forward to 
 the next general election had to be prepared to wait 
 from youth to middle age. The Parliament which 
 Sidney now attempted to enter had already sat for 
 six years, and was destined to sit for eleven more 
 before it was dissolved. Sidney wrote to Sir William 
 as follows : 
 
46 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 ' AprU 8 (1667). 
 
 ' I sit down with so many things in my head to 
 say to you, that I fear I shall go near to forget some- 
 thing, but to be sure that it may not be my own 
 business, I will begin with that which is concerning 
 the burghership ; if you remember, I spoke some- 
 thing of it to you before you went away ; that which 
 makes me now put you in mind of it is that my lord 
 of Bath goes next week post to Plymouth, and I have 
 fairly engaged him to use his utmost with my lord 
 Arundell, and all the gentlemen of the country upon 
 whom he has influence ; now that which I desire of 
 you is that you would endeavour to engage Mr. 
 Boscawen, by yourself or by my brother Boscawen, 
 and what other people of good interest you can easily 
 make friends of, and then when you see my lord of 
 Bath (as I imagine you will do, of course, before he 
 comes out of the country) that you would confer 
 with him of this matter, and let him know what you 
 have been able to do towards the furtherance of it, 
 because I believe it will be necessary for me he should 
 be acquainted with what we have to trust to ; and if 
 you will be contented to take this trouble for me, I 
 shall reckon myself pretty fair for the first vacancy, 
 especially if the Pari : sit again while my lord of Bath 
 is in the west, where I suppose he will be till very 
 near Christmas ; I intend to write often to his lord- 
 ship of this business, so that you need not fear 
 when you come to sjaeak to him of it and find him 
 
EABLY CORBESPONDENCE AND MARRIAGE 47 
 
 unprepared. . . . — I am my dear brother's most 
 faithful 
 
 ' Sid G-odolphin.' ^ 
 
 The events of the summer of 1667 were such as 
 to interrupt Sidney's peaceful aspirations after parlia- 
 mentary fame. In June the Dutch fleet sailed up 
 the Medway. Terror and confusion reigned supreme. 
 The court prepared for immediate flight to Windsor. 
 The citizens of London fled into the country. Plate 
 and goods were removed from the vicinity of the 
 river banks. The Dutch fleet dropped down to the 
 mouth of the river with the next tide. Immediate 
 measures of defence were, however, adopted. An 
 army of 12,000 men was collected. Commissions 
 were granted to ofiicers, and it was held a mark of 
 zeal for the king to apply for one. Sidney Godolphin 
 from his post at court did what was most likely to 
 advance him in the royal esteem ; he obtained a com- 
 mission and became a cornet of horse, thus — like 
 another great minister, the first Lord Chatham — 
 ofi^ering an example of a cornet of horse who has 
 subsequently become first minister of the Crown. 
 Concerning the above events Sidney writes to his 
 brother Sir "William in the following fashion : — 
 
 ' Sat. June 15 (1667). 
 
 ' You must needs have heard something before 
 this of the burning of some of our best ships in the 
 
 5 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 49, British Museum. 
 
48 THE EAEL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 river at Chatham by the Dutch fleet, we depending too 
 much upon the french promises of peace and having 
 nothing in readiness to oppose them ; in order to the 
 preventing of the most frightful consequences of this 
 misfortune the king intends to raise a land army, 
 and I am resolved to take a cornet's place in my lord 
 Sundei'land's troop, but finding I shall not easily get 
 money any other way to put myself in an equipage fit 
 for it, I shall be forced to think of parting with the 
 annuity which my dear father has left me, and if you 
 think it may be more convenient for you to buy it 
 of me than any other, propose your own conditions 
 for I am sure what you do I shall think reasonable. 
 All officers being ordered to repair to their commands 
 upon this occasion, my lord of Bath parted from 
 hence this morning, and I believe as soon as he comes 
 into the country you will soon have some orders from 
 him ; I have been such a beast as not to take my 
 leave of him, but the truth of it is I could not easily 
 do it, for from the time he was commanded to go 
 till the time he was gone, I was not six hours in 
 town, but however I can't pretend to excuse myself 
 wholly to him, but hope to make amends by keeping 
 a good correspondence with him while he is in the 
 country, and this I hope if you see him, you will be 
 kind enough to say to him for me ; pray let me hear 
 from you as soon as you can, and if you have any 
 good men about you that will be glad to ride in our 
 troop they need only make haste hither to me, and 
 bring every man a horse. Hats, coats, boots, and 
 
EARLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 49 
 
 arms they shall be provided with here, but the chief 
 thing requisite is that they make haste. — I am, my 
 dear brothers, ' S. G. 
 
 ' P.S. My humble duty to my dear mother.' -^ 
 
 That Sidney's military enthusiasm was not en- 
 couraged by his family the following letter from 
 himself makes clear, while it brings strongly to light 
 the worldly wisdom of the writer : 
 
 ' July 2. 
 
 ' I hope my dear brother wiU. excuse me that I 
 have not sooner returned him my thanks for his 
 money and his good council, both which I take as 
 kindly as he mtended them ; for the reasons which 
 persuade me from parting with my annuity I refer 
 you to my mothers letter, but for my place in the 
 army as you call it, that is a matter so far advanced 
 that there is now no declining of it if I had never 
 so great a desire to be disengaged which I do assure 
 you since my first offer of it 1 have not once had ; 
 and yet I think I have pretty well considered all 
 those reasons against it which your kindness has laid 
 before me and some others, not but that (as you 
 seem to apprehend this business) your reasons are 
 extream good, for methinks your letter seems to 
 expect a formal landing of an enemie, and coming at 
 least to one battle for it, when I believe of the other 
 side that there is no intention of any such thing, 
 that there can nothing of the kind be feared but from 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 59, British Museum. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 the Frencli whose ambassadors at Breda, and the 
 Swedish ambassadors likewise, have positively told 
 the Dutch that the king of Englands propositions 
 were so reasonable that if they would not accept 
 them they should think themselves at liberty to 
 make peace without them, and when we have once 
 peace with the French will have nothing to fear at 
 land, and truly I do now believe we shall have it 
 presently ; now granting this tis an even lay the 
 troops now raised will be quite reduced, if they be 
 not, my employment will not oblige me to be 3 [?] 
 days in a month from the king, nor to quit that 
 which I have near him already till His Majesty be 
 pleased to bestow a better on me, which time I do 
 confess I cannot imagine to be very far off, nor I am 
 sure will not be the further for the readiness I have 
 shewed to engage in this matter, but quite contrary 
 I hope to receive benefit from it in these main pre- 
 tentions, and as to what my mothers letter says that 
 you thought it was beneath what I might well pre- 
 tend to, I take it to be the thing that in all reason 
 ought to do me the most good, for there is nothing 
 better in the world than not to stand upon ones 
 punctilios when the king's service once comes to 
 press, and so much for my matters.'^ 
 
 The active services of Sidney in the field were 
 never required. His troop, indeed, was ordered to 
 Harwich, which was threatened by the Dutch, but he 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 55, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 51 
 
 was not at first with it. Riding to London from 
 Lee, where his men were quartered, he met with 
 an accident which temporarily disabled him. Here 
 one episode in his life closes. His military career was 
 at an end. It is true that before he actually took 
 leave of the army, if we may call the levies by that 
 name, his bruise had so far recovered as to enable him 
 to rejoin his regiment, but he did so only with the 
 intention of seeing it dissolved, and its dissolution 
 was doubtless to him a source of unmitigated satisfac- 
 tion.-^ Thus terminated a service for which he was 
 unfitted both by character and disposition, and which 
 he had only undertaken to ingratiate himself with his 
 royal master at a moment when, to use the words of 
 Clarendon, courtiers were professing that they would 
 wUlingly serve the king if only in the ofiices of 
 corporals or Serjeants. 
 
 The danger of an invasion passed, Sidney's mind 
 turned again to the more congenial career of politics. 
 As the existence of this long Parliament drew itself 
 out, death made gaps in the ranks of its original 
 members. In 1665, Sir William Godolphin, Sidney's 
 brother, had been returned as one of the two members 
 for Ilelston in Cornwall, owing to the decease of 
 Thomas Robinson. In 1668 Sir Peter Killigrew, 
 the other member, also died, thus creating another 
 vacancy in a borough which had always been 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 53, British Museum. ' Our troop 
 is there [Harwich], but my bruise does not yet suflFer me to go a horse- 
 back, and recompenses the pain I felt by saving me a troublesome 
 journey.' 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 remarkable for its fidelity to the Godolphins. Sir 
 William at once communicated the interesting iatel- 
 liffence to his brother. The announcement did not 
 come one instant too soon, as an opponent was already 
 in the field. 
 
 Sidney replied as follows : 
 
 'Aug. 8(1668). 
 ' I have received your letter and find myself 
 extremely obliged to you for the kindness and care 
 you shew for my concerns, and for the timely inti- 
 mation of this vacant burghership which I set my 
 heart upon extremely, and if I can obtain it by your 
 means will be a very great furtherance to my preten- 
 tions here ; indeed more than you can imagine or I 
 can let you know conveniently ; after this I hope I 
 shall not need to press you very much to use your 
 utmost for the effecting of this matter ; to contribute 
 what I can myself towards it I have acquainted my 
 lord of Bath with the business who is extremely 
 ready to give me his council and assistance ; he tells 
 me that Mr. Evitley [?] has not long ago owed very 
 particular obligations to him, and believes tis very 
 possible that he may be able to prevail with him to 
 wave his pretentions ; however he advises me by no 
 means to press a speedy election nor to move for the 
 writ upon August 10, but in case anybody else should, 
 to take care with my lord keeper that it should be 
 put into my hands which I think I can easily do. 
 My lord of Bath's reason for gaining time is in case 
 his letter to Mr. Evitley [ ?] should not have the effect 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAOE 53 
 
 lie imagines it will, that lie may send [some] one down 
 into the country to him to discourse particularly with 
 him upon the business, and to tell him some things he 
 says can't be so directly done by a letter ; pray will 
 you let me hear constantly from somebody or other 
 while this matter is in. agitation how it proceeds, and 
 whether anything that I am able to do here may be 
 of use, and thats all the trouble you shall have from 
 me about it at this time. ... I am extremely glad 
 to hear that my mother is so well again ; pray God 
 continue her so, and my dear brothers kindness to 
 his most affectionate S. G. 
 
 'P.S. I have asked the kings leave to stand for 
 this place, and he seems desirous I should do so.' ^ 
 
 A few days later (August 20), writing from Al- 
 thorpe, he again renews the subject of the election : 
 
 ' My last letter from London will have told you 
 that I am come hither where I received yours of the 
 12th just now, and am very glad to find by it that 
 you see no impossibility of bringing this business to 
 a pass. Before I came out of town I had got the 
 Speakers order to the Clerk of the Crown for the writ, 
 and left it to Mr. Bridgemans care to see it dis- 
 patched as soon as was possible, and sent to you, 
 who promised me faithfully it should be done ; I 
 write to him now by my lady Hervey, who will be 
 at London to-morrow night to quicken him a little ; 
 so that I hope you will have the writ with you very 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 47, British Museum. 
 
54 THE EAJRL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 soon ; I intend also to desire by this post that Mr. 
 Treasurer would try what he can do with Mr. Grisley 
 without naming you in the business, and as soon as 
 I know who the other pretenders are which your 
 letter speaks of, I will acquaint my lord of Bath with 
 it, and I think you may be confident of what assist- 
 ance his authority upon them will bring us. This 
 matter being like to be determined in a short time 
 one way or the other, I would wish with all ray heart 
 that there was no necessity of your going to Scylly at 
 least till the election were passed (your own kind- 
 ness and vigilance in this matter being what I 
 chiefly depend on) and though I can't desire you to 
 stay if it be any inconvenience to your own affairs, 
 yet I may ofi'er my service in case you do, to make 
 your excuse to anybody you can desire. ... I dont 
 very well understand what you say of Robinson and 
 Gr. Colling [ ?] but if it will be as I apprehend it, my 
 opinion is that one enemy may do us more hurt than 
 one friend can do us good, and so if you can be rid 
 of both I think you will have made at least a saving 
 bargain, but perhaps it mayn't be good to come to 
 any extremities, you that are upon the place are the 
 best judge of it.' ^ 
 
 On Michaelmas Day, September 29, he forwarded 
 a letter, or, as it would probably be called now, ar 
 address, to the town of Helston, setting forth, no 
 doubt, the many particulars which qualified him to 
 represent the borough in Parliament. That he was 
 
 > Additional MSS. 28052, f. 39, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 55 
 
 but slightly, if at all, known to the electors whom 
 he was courting, the following letter will make ap- 
 parent : 
 
 ' With this,' he says to his brother, ' I send you 
 enclosed and unsealed my letter to the town of 
 Helston which I desire you would peruse and mend 
 what you dont like in it, which you may do safely, 
 and get one of my sisters to transcribe it, for I sup- 
 pose nobody there knows their hand any more than 
 mine. I have deferred my writing to you this week 
 because I hoped every post to have sent you the writ 
 which Mr. Treasurer has undertaken to get for me 
 but not yet performed. I must now leave it wholly 
 to his care, being myself to go to-morrow morning 
 to Newmarket with the king who will not be in town 
 again till the end of October. ... I would fain hear 
 that my mother is perfectly recovered.' -^ 
 
 From Audley End he writes on October 20 : 
 ' Since I came from London, I understand my friends 
 have not solicited heartily enough for me to keep Sir 
 P. K. (by the help of his acquaintance with my lord 
 keepers secretary) from deceiving us of the writ ; 
 however, I hope there will be no other ill consequence 
 arise from it but a little more trouble and pains ; I 
 have not yet heard from you concerning my letter 
 to the town of Helston, though tis possible your 
 answer stays for me at London where we shall be 
 again I hope within three weeks at farthest. The 
 King will be sometimes here and sometimes at New- 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 41, British Museum. 
 
56 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 market till the end of this month ; here is no kind of 
 news but what we read in the gazette ; my lord of 
 Bath who is yet at London, will be here next week, 
 he had your excuse and your letter before we parted. 
 Your excuse to the general shall be made as soon as 
 we come to London, your sickness will make it very 
 easy. Pray try what may be done at Helston. If I 
 were apt to believe reports I ought not to be con- 
 fident of success.' ^ 
 
 On October 26, Sidney Godolphin returned to 
 town, and the first news he received was that he 
 had been elected member of Parliament for Helston. 
 The date of the return was ofiicially made for Oc- 
 tober 15. But London was a very long way from 
 Helston, and Audley End farther still, so that for 
 eleven days Sidney's business had been satisfactorily 
 concluded without his knowledge. How different 
 from the present day, when the triumphant candi- 
 date flashes his victory half over the world at the 
 very moment that the numbers of the poll are being 
 declared ! 
 
 ' October 27 (1668). 
 
 ' I came to town so late yesterday night, that I 
 could not then tell you how sensible I was of the 
 good success of our business at Helston. I intend 
 to write to Dr. Sleeman [?] to thank him for his pains 
 and vigilance in this matter, and to desire him to let 
 me know constantly what things I can do to keep 
 the good will of the town of Helston. For all the 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 65, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 57 
 
 news and the secretaries papers that he talks of, those 
 they shant fail of after I have had one weeks time 
 here to look about me a little. I mean to write to 
 them by this post, and to thank them as elegantly 
 as I can for the kindness they have shewed me, and 
 intend for the time to come to be very punctual in 
 sending them such kind of intelligence from home, 
 as I imagine they care for. ... I think in one of your 
 letters to me you took notice that my brother Frank 
 has written an angry letter to you concerning my 
 having the burghership. I confess if there were any 
 right in the case, he ought to expect it before me, 
 and I would certainly not have thought of it to his 
 prejudice, if I had not known perfectly well that 
 it will be of ten times more advantage to me than it 
 could possibly have been to him. ... I am sure if 
 you were here I could easily make it very plain to 
 you. He has never taken notice of it to me, nor I 
 wont begin with him, because I would not rub an old 
 sore, but if it must be meddled with I would do 
 
 my endeavour to have it perfectly cured ' ^ 
 
 Thus Sidney was, at the age of twenty-three, a 
 member of Parliament, with his foot upon the first 
 rung of the ladder upon which he was to mount so 
 high. It does not appear that, according to the fashion 
 of modern elections, he ever addressed his constitu- 
 ents. He was not called on to- offer a detailed expla- 
 nation of Lord Clarendon's impeachment, he was not 
 compelled to name the particular traitor who deserved 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28062, f. 63, British Museum. 
 
58 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 death in consequence of the expedition of the Dutch 
 fleet up the Medway, he was not obliged to answer 
 inconvenient questions as to the extravagance of the 
 court or the licence of its manners. The inquisitive 
 elector, who now asks questions about everything, 
 and alone knows the correct answers to all the ques- 
 tions he puts, was, fortunately for the politicians of 
 the age, not then in existence. 
 
 The election of Sidney for Helston did not pass 
 unchallenged, though no trace of a dispute in reference 
 to it is to be found in the Journals of the House 
 of Commons. Possibly the accusations against him 
 were never formulated ; as the following letter will 
 show, they scarcely even ruffled the mind of the new 
 member : 
 
 ' Sat. morn. Oct. the last (1668). 
 
 '. . . It does not at all appear to me how the 
 election may possibly be questioned, nor if it be, 
 that it can do any hurt when a member of the House 
 that was present off'ers to witness it a fair election. 
 I did write a letter of thanks to the mayor at the same 
 time.' ^ 
 
 Halcyon days indeed for members of Parliament 
 when the testimony of a single member was con- 
 sidered sufiicient to establish the validity of a 
 disputed election. 
 
 The pleasure of Sidney in his return to Parliament 
 did not come to him without alloy, for in the early 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 69, British Museum. 
 
EARLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIA&E 59 
 
 winter of the same year lie lost his mother. The 
 death of Lady Godolphin must have been the cause 
 of deep grief to Sidney, whose letters to his mother 
 testify to his strong affection for her, as well as a 
 serious misfortune to a large and young family. She 
 was evidently a woman of most amiable disposition, 
 and the terms which she was on with her children 
 were frank, easy, and affectionate. The death of Sir 
 Francis had left his numerous children to her sole 
 charge, and the success which most of them met with 
 in after life is the best proof of the careful manner in 
 which she had trained them. Lady Godolphin's will, 
 as has been already stated, is dated November 17, 
 1668, she being then sick in body but sound in 
 mind. When she made it she was clearly at the 
 point of death. How it came that her condition was 
 not known to Sidney till after all was over is not 
 easy to understand ; but on December 3 he writes 
 to his brother — doubtless Sir William Godolphin — 
 that not having heard from his brother Frank for 
 some time he is surprised to hear of his mother's 
 death, not being aware that she was in any ex- 
 tremity. ' Pray God Almighty comfort you and 
 my dear sisters (for whom I feel even more than 
 for myself).' ^ The death of his mother probably 
 added but little to Sidney's income, as after a 
 legacy of 80^. to her eldest son and 5/. apiece 
 to her married daughters, Lady Northcote and 
 Mrs. Edward Boscawen, the residue of her fortune 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 35, British Museum. 
 
GO THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 she divided in equal portions among her ten other 
 children.^ 
 
 A break of several years here occurs in the 
 correspondence, and it is not till 1675 that Sidney's 
 next letter appears in the family collection. This 
 letter too has reference to a death. His brother 
 Frank, who in earlier years had shown himself 
 somewhat jealous of the return to Parliament of 
 his younger brother Sidney for Helston in prefer- 
 ence to himself, had been selected by Lord Berke- 
 ley to accompany him as secretary to Ireland on 
 his appointment to the Lord- Lieutenancy of that 
 country. Lord Berkeley had departed from London 
 with no inconsiderable pomp. ' My lord Berkeley,' 
 writes Charles Godolphin on April 12, 1670, 'was 
 waited on yesterday by at least four score coaches 
 with six horses, my coz Nell [was] not up soon 
 enough to make one in that solemn cavalcade, though 
 she had her share of the magnificent treat which was 
 prepared for him at St. Albans.' ^ With such a chief 
 it is not surprising that the secretary should have con- 
 tracted habits of display, and another family corre- 
 spondent describes, probably during Lord Essex's 
 viceroyalty, the departure of Frank Godolphin from 
 London in his own coach with six hired horses, ' and 
 a very fine perfuming pot a present for my lady 
 Essex.' ^ Frank Godolphin served both under Lord 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28071, f. 3, British Museum. 
 = Additional MSS. 28052, f. 75, British Museum. 
 ^ Additional MSS. 28052, f. 13, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 61 
 
 Berkeley and his successor Lord Essex witli distinc- 
 tion. In August 1775, upon his return to Dublin 
 after the transaction of some important business in 
 London, he unfortunately fell ill. Sidney Godolphin 
 despatched his brother Charles to take care of him, 
 and Charles, on August 13, wrote to Sidney from 
 Dublin informing him that Frank was dead, and 
 requesting Sidney to forward the news to the rest of 
 the family. 
 
 This letter^ is a curious mixture of grief, of 
 painstaking description of the nature of the disease, 
 of his own desire now that he is in Dublin to obtain 
 some employment from his brother's patron. Lord 
 Essex, and of the pecuniary arrangements of his 
 brother. Like Lady Godolphin, Frank had carefully 
 divided his small fortune among his brothers and 
 sisters. To his younger brothers he left 100^. each ; 
 to his unmarried sisters 300/. each, with the exception 
 'only of mistress Anne,' who was to have 1,000Z. 
 Sidney, when he received the letter from Dublin, was 
 residing at Berkeley House ; while his sister, Mrs. 
 Boscawen, was also in town. He thus breaks the 
 news to the family in Cornwall : 
 
 'Aug. 19(1675). 
 
 ' I am very sorry never to write but when it is to 
 tell you ill news, but I choo=ie rather to do it myself 
 than give my sister Boscawen that trouble, who 
 needs no addition to her grief in the conditions he is 
 in, yet I hope she will bear it so well as not to receive 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, f. 67, British Museum. 
 
G2 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 any prejudice by it. The story of my poor brothers 
 death, and the circumstances you will best see by my 
 brother Charles' letter to me, which I here send 
 you enclosed. The greatest consolation I can collect 
 from his account of it is that it pleased God to give 
 him his senses very perfectly many days together 
 before he died, though during his sickness he was 
 very subject to extravagances and fits of raving. I 
 think it fell out well in many respects that my brother 
 Charles went over and should be very glad if my lord 
 Lieutenant has consideration enough of him and of 
 his brothers memory, to give him some employment 
 that might in some measure recompense the un- 
 comfortable task as is fallen upon him. I think of 
 writing to his excellency to night to see if I am able 
 to say anything that may induce him to it. I pray 
 God send you and my dear sisters all necessary con- 
 solation. I would say something particularly to Mrs. 
 Anne because I fancy she wUl be more troubled because 
 of the distinction that my brothers kindness has made 
 in her behalf, but as she is goodnatured as anybody 
 can be, so I am sure she is very religious, and too wise 
 not to know one must not take anything too much 
 to heart, but that submitting with patience to God 
 Almighty's wUl is the duty of every good Christian, 
 and is best shown in the greatest afflictions. I hope 
 you will both forgive me this sermon and be always 
 kind to your most faithful and obedient 
 
 ' S. GODOLPHIN.' ^ 
 1 Additional MSS. 28052, British Museum. 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAQE C3 
 
 With Frank's death the private correspondence of 
 Sidney Godolphin with his family may be said to 
 close. Other letters do appear at intervals addressed 
 to his various relations, but there is no connection 
 one with the other, and little contained in them to 
 display the turn of his mind or his character. With 
 this correspondence too, and the little that is related 
 by Evelyn of Sidney Godolphin's marriage, ends all 
 we know of his domestic life ; and that it may not 
 be necessary to return to the subject again, it will 
 be as well to mention here, only a little out of place, 
 the circumstances of his marriage to Miss Margaret 
 Blague, and the calamity which attended it. 
 
 Among all the beauties who shone at court in 
 the early part of the reign of Charles II., there was 
 none who, according to Evelyn, could vie with Miss 
 Margaret Blague. Her mind was in every respect 
 equal to her person, and in a court renowned for 
 licentiousness she was an example of virtue and 
 religion. It is extraordinary that so great an admirer 
 of the fair sex as the Count de Grammont never 
 mentions her name in the whole course of his memoirs. 
 Perhaps her youth saved her from his notice, or it is 
 possible that the rigidity of her conduct may have 
 repelled the admiration of the witty and amorous 
 Frenchman, as tinctured with the moroseness of 
 puritanism. De Grammont required food for scandal, 
 and food for scandal about Miss Margaret Blague 
 there was absolutely none. Her sister Henrietta, like 
 herself a lady of the court, De Granunont treats with 
 
G4 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 liis usual raillery. If, according to De Grammont, 
 she was not quite so bad as some ladies about her, 
 it was only because the temptation was not thrown 
 in her way. He describes her as foolish, frivolous, 
 and, what in his estimation was worse, plain. No 
 greater contrast can possibly be found than between 
 the characters of Evelyn's Margaret, and De Gram- 
 mont' s Henrietta, Blague. While the one was prac- 
 tising a religion which in its austerity would have 
 more than fulfilled the requirements of a strict con- 
 ventual life, the other was flaunting about at masques 
 and balls, vainly attempting to entangle the affections 
 of the Marquis de Brisacier, a person with as few 
 attractions as herself. 
 
 Henrietta's faults were her own. Margaret's 
 virtues were those of her family. Their ancestors 
 had been both pious and loyal. Their great-grand- 
 father, in the reign of Henry VIII., had, indeed, very 
 nearly lost his life as a martyr to his religion. 
 Though a favourite of the king, so great a favourite, 
 indeed, that Henry used to call him his 'pig,' 
 he was thrown into Newgate under the statute 
 of the Six Articles, and sentenced to be burnt. 
 Representations on his behalf were made to the king, 
 who ordered the Lord Chancellor with his own hand 
 to draw out his pardon and to order his liberation. 
 As soon as Blague appeared in the royal presence, 
 ' Ah, my pig ! ' the kmg exclaimed to him. ' Yea,' 
 replied Blague, ' if your Majesty had not been better 
 to me than your bishops were, your pig would have 
 
EASLY C0BBE8P0NDENCE AND MABBIAGE C5 
 
 been roasted ere this time.' The pig-face must have 
 been hereditary, for a century later much the same 
 title was bestowed, though, perhaps, not in affection, 
 on Henrietta Blague by her supposed lover Brisacier. 
 Brisacier had spoken of the fairness of her skia, and of 
 her eyes as ' marcassins.' The lady's French was in- 
 sufficient to translate the compliment, and she sought 
 for an explanation from a friend. To her rage and mor- 
 tification, she was informed that Brisacier had compared 
 her eyes to those of a sucking-pig. Sidney Godolphin 
 appears to have in some respects resembled the 
 family into which he married, as by a curious coinci- 
 dence he became known in later days by the name of 
 ' Bacon-face.' 
 
 Miss Blague's father distinguished himself during 
 the civil wars, and like other royalists, at their 
 conclusion, suffered the fate of the vanquished. 
 His daughter Margaret was fortunate enough to 
 obtain the protection of the Duchess of Richmond, 
 and was by her carried abroad and educated in 
 Paris. At the Restoration she returned to England, 
 and was, when old enough, appointed one of the 
 ladies of the court to the Duchess of York, and at her 
 death, in 1671, to the queen. It was doubtless at 
 court that Godolphin first made the acquaintance 
 with Miss Blague which led to their betrothal. 
 
 The engagement of Sidney Godolphin to Miss 
 Blague was destined to be a long one. There is 
 every reason to believe that it already existed in 
 1670. One of Sidney's sisters, writing from London 
 
6G THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to GodolpMn Hall in that year, observes that 
 she has seen Mistress Blague, ' and made dis- 
 coveries that have uicreased our familiarity, but you 
 are not to make much reply to this or imagine 
 by it a marriage, for I dont think 'tis so yet, 
 and these are ill times to set up with upon their 
 foundation. I pray God send better.' ^ During 
 their protracted courtship the lovers indulged in the 
 language which has in all ages been used by persons 
 in their circumstances. He talked of going abroad, 
 she of retiring to a religious retreat, and both 
 eagerly desired to exchange a lot, promising and 
 almost splendid, for the seclusion of some rustic 
 home — 
 
 A country cottage near a crystal flood, 
 A winding valley, and a lofty wood — 
 
 where, remote from the entanglements of the world,^ 
 and free from the duties which they were each so 
 eminently fitted to perform, they could lead a soft 
 and inglorious life in their own society. After five 
 years the time of trial and suspense ended. The 
 marriage took place on May 16, 1675. Sidney Go- 
 dolphin was then Groom of the Bedchamber to the 
 king, and Miss Blague was twenty-three years old. 
 The income which Godolphin derived from his em- 
 ployment at court seems to have amounted at that 
 time to about 1,000/. a year.^ 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28052, f. 13, British Museum. 
 
 ^ ' There was nothing which they both did breathe after more than 
 to have settled somewhere remote in the country from all entangle- 
 ments of the world.' — Evelyn's Mrs. Godolphin. 
 
 3 Gakndar of State Papers, 1703 (about July 20). 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE G7 
 
 It is a curious feature both of- the times and of 
 the characters of Sidney Godolphin and his wife, 
 that though married they did not actually live as 
 husband and wife till, to use the words of Evelyn, 
 'they had made their families and equipage com- 
 plete.' In April 1676, we find them in posses- 
 sion of a house, or rather an apartment with the 
 conveniences of a house, which their friend Evelyn 
 had prepared for them, on the banks of the Thames, 
 in the neighbourhood of Scotland Yard. Here they 
 took up their abode, and here Sidney Godolphin 
 continued to cultivate a friendship for Evelyn, which 
 terminated only at his death, and which was extended 
 afterwards to his descendants.'- 
 
 But the years of Godolphin's happiness as a 
 married man were soon at an end ; and at an end, 
 too, were all those little expeditions to Lambeth to 
 buy marble chimney-pieces, or to Blackwall to pur- 
 chase Indian curiosities, all those little charities which 
 Evelyn loved to commemorate, all that pleasant social 
 intercourse with the husband and wife which made 
 him regard himself almost as their father. On 
 September 3, 1678, Evelyn had gone up to London 
 — probably from Sayes Court — to dine with the Go- 
 dolphins. His first intelligence on his arrival was that 
 Mrs. Godolphin had been confined. For a few days 
 aU went well ; but on the fifth alarming symptoms 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 16949, British Museum. John Evelyn (Evelyn's 
 grandson) writes, September 15, 1712 : ' God has pleased to put an end 
 to the languishing state of our never enough to be lamented friend 
 and benefactor.' 
 
 r 2 
 
G8 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 became manifest. Sidney, in his distress, at once 
 cast himself for sympathy upon his friend Evelyn. 
 The messenger found Evelyn in church, and placed 
 the following note in his hand : ' My poor wife is 
 fallen very ill of a fever, with lightness in her head. 
 You know Who says the prayer of the faithful shall 
 save the sick. I humbly beg your charitable prayer 
 for this poor creature and your distracted servant.' 
 Prayers as well as other remedies were equally in- 
 effectual. Her death and the misery of Sidney are 
 inimitably described by Evelyn : ' She died in the 
 twenty -sixth year of her age, to the inexpressible 
 affliction of her dear husband and all her relations, 
 but of none in the world more than of myself, who 
 lost the most excellent and inestimable friend that 
 ever lived. Never was a more virtuous and invio- 
 lable friendship ; never a more religious, discreet, and 
 admirable creature, beloved of all, admired of all, for 
 all possible perfections of her sex. She is gone to 
 receive the reward of her signal charity and all 
 other her Christian graces, too blessed a creature to 
 converse with mortals, fitted as she was by a most 
 holy life to be received into the mansions above. 
 She was for wit, beauty, good-nature, fidelity, dis- 
 cretion, and all accomplishments the most incompar- 
 able person. How shall I ever repay the obligations 
 to her for the infinite good offices she did my soul by 
 so oft engaging me to make religion the terms and 
 tie of the friendship there was between us ! She 
 was the best wife, the best mistress, the best friend 
 
EABLY COBBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAQE 69 
 
 that ever husband had. But it is not here that I 
 pretend to give her character, having designed to 
 consecrate her worthy life to posterity. 
 
 ' Her husband, struck with unspeakable affliction, 
 fell down as dead. The king himself and all the 
 court expressed their sorrow. To the poor and 
 miserable her loss was irreparable, for there was no 
 degree but had some obligation to her memory. So 
 careful and provident was she to be prepared for all 
 possible accidents, that (as if she foresaw her end) 
 she received the heavenly viaticum but the Sunday 
 before, after a most solemn recollection. She put 
 all her domestic concerns into the most solemn order, 
 and left a letter directed to her husband to be opened 
 in case she died in chUdbed, in which, with the most 
 pathetic and endearing expressions of a most loyal 
 and virtuous wife, she begs his kindness to her 
 memory might be continued by his care and esteem 
 of those she left behind even to her domestic 
 servants, to the meanest of which she left consider- 
 able legacies, as well as to the poor. It was now 
 seven years since she was maid-of-honour to the 
 queen, that she regarded me as a father, a brother, 
 and, what is more, a friend. "We often prayed, 
 visited the sick and miserable, received, read, dis- 
 coursed, and communicated in all holy offices to- 
 gether. She was most dear to my wife and affec- 
 tionate to my children. But she is gone ! This 
 only is my comfort, that she is happy in Christ, 
 and I shall shortly behold her again. She desired 
 
70 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to be buried in the dormitory of bis family, near 300 
 mUes from all ber other friends. So afflicted was her 
 husband at this severe loss, that the entire care of 
 her funeral was committed to me. Having closed 
 the eyes and dropt a tear upon the cheek of my dear 
 departed friend, lovely even in death, I caused her 
 corpse to be embalmed and wrapt in lead, a plate of 
 brass soldered thereon, with an inscription, and other 
 circumstances due to her worth, with as much dili- 
 gence and care as my grieved heart would permit me. 
 I then retired home for two days, which were spent 
 in solitude and sad reflections.' ^ 
 
 Sidney's grief for his wife was inexpressible. 
 His misery would hardly permit him to watch her 
 sufferings, and her death, to use again the words of 
 Evelyn, left him drowned in tears and prostrate at 
 the mercy-seat. 
 
 It is needless to say that the last wishes of such 
 a wife were not neglected by a husband so afflicted 
 as Sidney Godolphin. Her body was carried to 
 Godolphin Hall. Thirty relations and servants 
 followed the hearse. Sir William Godolphin, the 
 head of her husband's family, formed one of the 
 mournful band ; other brothers-in-law and sisters- 
 in-law were also there. Her husband alone was ab- 
 sent, overwhelming grief rendering him incapable of 
 physical fatigue. 
 
 Nor in the course of years was it destined, as it 
 so often is, that the grave should reunite those who 
 
 ' Evelyn's Diary, vol. ii. p. 447; also his Life of Mrs. Godolphin. 
 
EABLY CORBESPONDENCE AND MABBIAGE 71 
 
 have been separated for half a lifetime. Poverty- 
 had separated Sidney from his wife in youth ; rank, 
 fame, honour, and great reputation divided them 
 after death ; for while the body of Margaret Blague 
 reposes under the church at St. Breage, that of 
 Godolphin has found a more splendid resting-place 
 amidst the sacred dust of the greatest men of the 
 nation. 
 
72 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EARLY POLITICAL LIFE : 1670-1685. 
 
 With the loss of his wife Sidney Godolphin's family- 
 history ends. We must now turn back a few years 
 to take up the thread of his political career. 
 
 It is somewhat strange, and adds greatly to the 
 perplexity of our task, that a statesman of such great 
 reputation as Sidney Godolphin should have left 
 behind him so very few memorials of his early 
 life ; most men who have achieved greatness by their 
 own exertions are apt, from various motives, to dwell 
 upon the period of their aspirations. To some the 
 vulgar contrast between poverty and affluence may 
 be the subject of agreeable reflections. But to all, 
 even the most refined, it must be pleasant to scan 
 the devious track which led from insignificance to 
 importance, and to regard calmly and with sensations 
 of triumph the obstructions which nothing but the 
 rarest fortitude could have surmounted. Thus, auto- 
 biographies, journals, diaries, and papers arranged 
 for printing after death are common enough ; for 
 even if a great man is indifferent to the praise of 
 posterity, he is anxious, at all events, that his 
 actions should not be misrepresented when he is no 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 73 
 
 longer able to defend himself. But of Sidney 
 Godolphin there are no such remains. He has be- 
 queathed to those who have come after him nothing 
 in the shape of justification, or of narrative, or of 
 selected letters to add to our knowledge of him, or 
 to vindicate his policy or his conduct. 
 
 Nor has the work which he was too indolent or 
 too careless to perform for himself been performed 
 by others. His fame inspired no contemporaneous 
 writer to preserve, if he could do no more, those 
 records of his career which must have been common 
 during his life and for a short time after his death. 
 Such information as is to be incidentally gleaned 
 from historical sources is often absolutely misleading. 
 Errors concerning him abound, and pursue him 
 through every branch of literature. For instance, the 
 references in the various editions of Pepys's memoirs 
 to Mr. Grodolphin, which are ascribed by the editors 
 to Sidney, nearly in every case refer to William 
 Godolphin, Lord Arlington's secretary, afterwards 
 ambassador at Madrid. Even a work so authentic 
 as the Journals of the House of Lords is not free 
 from mistakes, as in the roll of the peers the 
 Christian name of Sidney Grodolphin' s brother, Henry 
 Godolphin, is on one occasion substituted for that of 
 the Lord Treasurer.^ 
 
 Thus the traces which Sidney Godolphin has left 
 are few, faint, and uncertain. The reputation of 
 which he was himself so careless has, not unnatu- 
 
 ' Journals of the House of Lords, March 11, 1702. 
 
74 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 rally, been uncared for by others. No unconscious 
 action, tlie result of occupation or amusement, throws 
 a casual and helpful light upon his history. Unlike 
 most of his great contemporaries, he has transmitted 
 no literary work by which we can judge of the cha- 
 racter and fibre of his mind. Such speeches as he 
 made are scarcely preserved. When he dropped into 
 the grave a mighty silence fell upon his name and 
 upon his past, and an obscurity which is almost im- 
 penetrable still defies the most painstaking inquiry 
 into some of the most important matters of his life. 
 
 Unfortunately, the collection of family letters 
 from which we have already quoted does nothing to 
 supply the blank in Sidney Godolphin's history. His 
 relations who visited London had something else to 
 think of than the pursuits of their young kinsman, 
 and confined themselves in their communications 
 with those at home almost entirely to a narrative of 
 their own adventures. They detailed all the news 
 and wonders of the capital. Balls at Chelsea, fetes 
 at Mulberry Garden, quarrels worthy of the pen of 
 St. Simon between the ladies of the court, were 
 doubtless two centuries ago read with a zest rendered 
 all the greater from contrast with the dulness of life 
 in a secluded county. But it is impossible to believe 
 that such gossip was the only or most welcome news 
 which the post brought to the inmates of the grey old 
 house, whose children had for several generations 
 made Godolphin one of the most distinguished names 
 in the west of England. The successes which led 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 75 
 
 Sidney step by step to the highest honours, which 
 caused his star to grow gradually brighter, till a time 
 arrived when that of his great ancestor Sir Francis 
 paled in its light, could not have been achieved with- 
 out the keen appreciation of those at home. Letters 
 describing the dawn of his career must have been 
 written, and were they existing still would tell us 
 much which is now only matter of conjecture. 
 
 For many years, then, after his return to Parlia- 
 ment for Helston, little is known of Sidney's life. 
 He probably remained an undistinguished, though 
 not unimportant, member of the House of Commons. 
 Scanty as are the parliamentary records of that age, 
 they may still be trusted to mention the names of 
 those who took a very prominent part in debate. 
 Concerning Sidney Godolphin ' there is an absolute 
 silence, which is the more singular, as when he first 
 appears conspicuously in public life upon a diplomatic 
 mission he was already undoubtedly a person of some 
 consequence. Moreover, incidental observations in 
 the family correspondence prove that Sidney, on 
 occasions, took an active part in the proceedings of 
 the House. In 1670 his brother Charles writes that 
 a proviso moved by Sidney to a bill, the title of 
 which he never mentions, was only lost by one vote. 
 The very rareness of these remarks leads us to the in- 
 evitable conclusion that his ultimate success was not 
 grounded on any early display of parliamentary talent. 
 Like most of his contemporaries, he owed his start in 
 life almost entirely to his address at court. He looked 
 
76 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 for promotion to the king alone, and the king did not 
 disappoint his expectations. In 1678 he was sent as 
 envoy extraordinary to the Spanish Netherlands. 
 
 For several years the congress of Nimeguen had 
 been vainly striving to restore the peace of Europe. 
 For several years its efforts at pacification had re- 
 sulted in disastrous failure. It had not only failed 
 to restore the peace of Europe, but it had been 
 utterly unable to establish harmony among its own 
 members. Questions of etiquette and punctiho di- 
 vided the plenipotentiaries. Trifles were magnified 
 into matters of consequence. Who should pay the 
 first visit of ceremony, when that visit should be 
 returned, became points of as transcendent import- 
 ance as the diplomatic business which had drawn the 
 congress together. Nothing was done, and nothing, 
 it seemed, could be done, in such a discordant as- 
 sembly. It was in vain that Charles II., who really 
 desired peace, urged his ambassador to press upon 
 his colleagues the mischief of delay. ' My opiaion 
 is,' wrote Secretary Coventry to Sir William Temple, 
 ' that if you were put to run from house to house, 
 the king our master may sooner kill all his ambas- 
 sadors than beget a peace.' ^ Such was the assembly 
 with which Godolphin's mission now brought him 
 into contact — not, indeed, as plenipotentiary, but as 
 envoy extraordinary to the Duke of Villa- Hermosa, 
 the Spanish governor of Flanders. 
 
 A few trips to the continent and back speedily 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 25119, f. 53, British Museum. Sir Henry 
 Coventry to Sir William Temple, August 1, 1676. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 77 
 
 convinced Godolphin that peace was impossible. He 
 was wrong. Peace was not only possible, but it was 
 at hand ; and its advent was predicted by Sir William 
 Temple. The difference of opinion between Grodolphin 
 and Temple as to the probabilities of peace gave rise 
 to a somewhat curious incident, and caused, at all 
 events on Sir William Temple's side, a slight, though 
 temporary, coolness. Godolphin jestingly, as it ap- 
 pears to us, declared to Temple, who was despatched 
 to Mmeguen to conduct the negotiations, that if he 
 secured a peace, he would move in the House of 
 Commons that a statue should be erected in his 
 honour. Temple's mission succeeded, and peace was 
 concluded, but no motion was ever made for a statue. 
 Temple somewhat peevishly, we think, complained 
 bitterly of Godolphin's breach of faith, coupling the 
 charge with a far more serious accusation. He alleged 
 that he was never reimbursed for the private expenses 
 which he had incurred on behalf of the public while 
 he was minister, and laid the blame upon Godolphin 
 when, at a later period, he became Chief Commissioner 
 of the Treasury. The accusation is probably true — 
 similar accusations were made at that time from all 
 quarters, but the reproach, in so far as it is merited, 
 must be borne by the age rather than by any par- 
 ticular statesman. The dispute between Godolphin 
 and Temple, if it deserves the name, had no serious 
 result. In the following -year an attempt was made, 
 upon Temple's advice, to estabKsh the Privy Council 
 as a new power in the constitution. He submitted 
 Godolphin's name to the king as a suitable member of 
 
78 THE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 the new board. ^ The king sanctioned the appoint- 
 ment, and in 1679 Godolphin became, if we may 
 use the word, a member of the Government. In 
 1678 he had been made Master of the Eobes to 
 Charles II. ; in 1679 he was nominated a commis- 
 sioner of tlie Treasury. 
 
 When Godolphin became a minister of the Crown 
 the affairs of the king and the country were at a 
 crisis. The peace of England was threatened by a 
 complication of difficulties, any one of which would 
 have been of itself sufficient to excite alarm. The 
 fancied discovery of a Catholic plot for the destruction 
 of English liberty and religion had plunged the 
 nation into most abject terror. The chief minister of 
 the Crown was accused of conniving with the king to 
 sell the interests of his fellow countrymen to a foreign 
 potentate ; an agitation was in existence for excluding 
 the Duke of York from his birthright ; the Parliament 
 which had met in 1661, and which had served the kina" 
 faithfully for seventeen years, had just been dissolved, 
 and a new Parliament, composed to a great degree of 
 zealots hostile to the royal prerogative, and inflamed 
 with hatred against the Roman Catholics, was seated in 
 its place at Westminster. Upon a government ^ experi- 
 
 ' Burnet says that ' the new council was his (Temple's) work except 
 the bringing in of the Lord Shaftesbury. ' 
 
 ^ It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain that a government in 
 the modern sense of the word had no existence in the seventeenth 
 century. The chief executive power belonged exclusively to the king. 
 I shall, however, continue to employ the designation, as it seems to me 
 to describe better than any other word the position of those whose duty 
 it was to serve and advise the king, as well as to manipulate parties. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 79 
 
 mental in nature, and comprising every element of dis- 
 cord, devolved the duty of pacifying the people and of 
 healing the dissensions which sprang from the violent 
 rehgious and political passions of the age. A govern- 
 ment such as was proposed by Temple could not suc- 
 ceed. It was an experiment and an anachronism, 
 and it failed, as it was sure to fail, But its failure 
 did not necessarily involve the fate of those who 
 were its members, nor did it affect that of Godolphin. 
 Grovernments might come and go, but Godolphin's 
 credit continued to rise. The very difficulties of 
 the situation only rendered his judgment and capacity 
 the more conspicuous. In the midst of an agitation 
 which was not only embarrassing but in some degree 
 infectious, he evinced both moderation and good 
 sense. He preserved his presence of mind when 
 those around him were either swept away by the 
 flood of public opinion, or thought it prudent to float 
 with the stream. He condemned the religious ex- 
 cesses of the Protestants, but he determined to protect 
 himself and the country against the future excesses 
 of the Catholics. While, therefore, he opposed in the 
 House of Commons the violent proceedings against 
 the Papists, he combined with Lord Sunderland and 
 the Duchess of Portsmouth to exclude the Duke of 
 York from the throne. 
 
 The connection of Godolphin with Sunderland 
 and the Duchess of Portsmouth was unfortunate for 
 himself, if he cared to preserve a character for political 
 purity. He could indeed hardly have entered a worse 
 
80 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 school of politics, for, in an unprincipled age, his 
 associates were notorious for a shameless destitution 
 of morality. The Duchess of Portsmouth was 
 mistress to the king, and a professed French intri- 
 gante, while no politician of the epoch of the Revolu- 
 tion has bequeathed to posterity so contemptible a 
 reputation as Sunderland. Selfish, ambitious, adroit, 
 and unscrupulous, he was a master of the art of 
 intrigue and dissimulation ; he made friends with 
 all, and deceived all equally. It is perhaps one of 
 the most remarkable facts about him that, in spite of 
 the notorious falseness of his character, few statesmen 
 of the age seem to have been so much trusted. How 
 Godolphin secured the friendship of Sunderland we 
 are not informed. His own abilities probably in- 
 troduced him to one who was first a patron and a 
 colleague, and afterwards an opponent. Sunderland 
 was quick to recognise and employ useful talent 
 wherever he found it, and it is not improbable that 
 he may have thus been prompted to assist Godolphin 
 in the public service as in later days he attempted to 
 assist Swift. With such a master Godolphin could 
 hardly become inspired with any high notion of 
 political honour. Political honour, however, was not 
 an attribute of the age so much as loud-mouthed 
 professions of political principles. The corruption in 
 which Sunderland wallowed stained even the virtuous 
 patriotism of Algernon Sidney. 
 
 But political associates, like private friends, must 
 be selected with care by men who have regard for their 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 81 
 
 own integrity and reputation. The alliance of Godol- 
 phin with Sunderland was hardly cemented before 
 the truth of this aphorism made itself apparent, and 
 Godolphin became involved in the insidious machina- 
 tions of his colleague. The king's brother, the Duke 
 of York, was his friend. Godolphin was induced 
 not only to oppose him, which was perhaps proper, 
 but he was persuaded to do so under the mask of 
 friendship, which was treacherous and disgraceful. 
 
 At the period when Godolphin joined Sunderland, 
 the condition of England was one which even the 
 most hopeful could only regard with apprehension. 
 The political horizon was unpromising and overcast. 
 Bitter persecution threatened the Catholic religion, 
 deadly hostility imperilled the succession of the 
 Duke of York. Convulsions and calamities seemed 
 impending over the nation, and the worldly eyes of 
 many time-serving politicians scanned the heavens in 
 search of signs and tokens which might assist them 
 in forming a judgment which they never left to con- 
 science. Such are the seasons in which men like 
 Sunderland thrive. The storm, says a writer of the 
 age, is the seedtime for the politician : and Sunder- 
 land was never backward in sowing his intrigues, 
 and reaping the rank harvest of his cunningly laid 
 schemes. The time appeared to him to be ripe for 
 a master-stroke of policy. The Duke of York was 
 in banishment at Brussels, the Catholic religion in 
 England was on the verge of political extinction ; even 
 Halifax, generally so reasonable and humane, was con- 
 
 G 
 
82 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 templatrng a bill which would drive all Catholics into 
 exile ; ^ whUe Monmouth, the rival of the Duke of York, 
 in the full tide of favour, commanded the king's army, 
 monopolised his affections, and figured before the 
 people as the champion of their religion, if not as the 
 lineal heir to the throne. 
 
 Sunderland, with instinctive prevision, noted the 
 signs of the times. It appeared to him that the old 
 order of things was about to change, and he charac- 
 teristically determined to change with it. He at- 
 tached himself rapidly to the popular party, intrigued 
 with Shaftesbury, and flung himself into hostility to 
 James. That he was the friend of James, and desired 
 in appearance to remain so, was to Sunderland a 
 matter of the smallest importance. Deception was 
 the method by which he worked ; he preferred, while 
 crushing, to deceive his victim, and James was per- 
 haps of all men his most frequent dupe. James him- 
 self tells us that Sunderland was one of the specious 
 friends whom he most dreaded, and that every fresh 
 act of treachery administered to him a fresh shock of 
 surprise. The credulity of James and the treachery 
 of Sunderland are equally matters of history ; but it 
 is with pain that we must record that Godolphin also 
 stooped to flatter James at Brussels with the sem- 
 blance of friendship while he opposed him in England, 
 and that he took advantage of that melancholy faculty 
 of self-deception which perhaps more than anything 
 
 1 James II., writing of the events of 1680, saya that ' Halifax had 
 long meditated this project.' 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 83 
 
 else led the unfortunate prince a few years later to 
 his ruin. 
 
 The events which gradually, in the course of the 
 years 1679 and 1680, unfolded to James the true 
 sentiments of Sunderland and Godolphin towards him- 
 self are neither very clear nor altogether free from 
 historical discrepancies. For the purposes of explana- 
 tion, however, the leading features of the situation 
 are sufficiently distinct. It is certain that in the 
 summer of 1679 the Duke of York was in Brussels, 
 that he had been sent there by the king because his 
 presence in England was embarrassing, that from 
 Brussels he persistently petitioned the king to permit 
 him to return to London, and that for long the king 
 as persistently refused to grant his request. 
 
 Such was the state of things when, towards the 
 end of August or beginning of September, James 
 unexpectedly received a secret message summoning 
 him to England. The reasons which prompted 
 Charles to change his resolution so frequently 
 expressed of keeping James in banishment have 
 been variously explained by different authorities. 
 By some it is stated that a sudden indisposition of 
 the king alarmed Essex and Halifax, who dreaded 
 that in the event of his death Monmouth would 
 succeed him; that Shaftesbury, their inveterate foe, 
 would be Monmouth's minister ; that under these cir- 
 cumstances their fortunes and perhaps their lives 
 might be jeopardised, and who consequently thought 
 that the best method of securing their own safety was 
 
 a 2 
 
84 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to induce Charles to recall his brother. By others, 
 again, it is asserted that some members of the Council 
 of State desired the co-operation of the duke in public 
 matters, and hoped to earn his gratitude and good- 
 will by putting an end to his exile. 
 
 Both versions of history are probably true, but 
 for the present purpose it is a matter of little import- 
 ance which consideration at the time was most effec- 
 tive. It is certain, and it is enough to know, that the 
 duke was recalled, and that the pretext assigned for 
 recalling him is also beyond dispute. The king's 
 health, it was pronounced, was in a bad state,^ and 
 James was commanded to return to his brother. The 
 order was instantly obeyed. Leaving Brussels with 
 a secrecy which reminds us of his last fatal flight from 
 England, and crossing the Channel in a small boat in 
 the teeth of a gale, James arrived absolutely unknown 
 at Sir Allen Apsley's house in London. His first 
 measure was to send for Hyde and Godolphin, a step 
 which shows how implicitly he relied on their friend- 
 ship. Hyde and Godolphin advised him to repair at 
 once to the king at Windsor. The advice was good ; 
 it was probably the only friendly advice which he 
 received at this time from Godolphin. James, when 
 he reached Windsor, rapidly discovered that his pre- 
 sence at court was not wanted. Circumstances had. 
 changed ; the king was better, he himself was re- 
 garded as an encumbrance. His own unpliant nature 
 rendered the party in the council which might have 
 
 ' Reresby in his Memoirs (p. 37) calls the king's illness pretended. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 85 
 
 befriended him equally adverse, for the ministers 
 who had counted upon his co-operation in gratitude 
 for his recall speedily found out their mistake. Grati- 
 tude, indeed, was not at any time a feature in James's 
 character, and certainly on this occasion there was 
 no great reason for him to show it. He resolutely 
 refused to comply with their wishes, and as a con- 
 sequence his residence in London was soon found 
 highly inconvenient. After some negotiations with 
 the king, and a compromise effected in regard to 
 Monmouth, he was again directed to quit the king- 
 dom. In determining this matter the king chiefly 
 took counsel with Essex, Halifax, Sunderland, Hyde, 
 and Godolphin ; the most earnest in pressing for the 
 banishment of James was Godolphin. That James 
 should have continued to trust Godolphin after this 
 act of opposition appears extraordinary, but so it 
 was, and the scales of bhndness still sealed his eyes. 
 
 James went back to Holland, and from Holland 
 almost immediately returned to the mouth of the 
 Thames, when he received the king's instructions to 
 repair to Scotland. He remained in Scotland during 
 the winter of 1679, tUl, in February 1680, obeying the 
 command of his brother, he reappeared at court in 
 London. He had scarcely been in London more 
 than a few weeks before Shaftesbury indicted him as 
 a popish recusant. 
 
 Again the duke's presence in England became a 
 source of extreme embarrassment ; again he had an 
 opportunity of sifting his true friends from his false ; 
 
86 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 again Godolphin appeared among his opponents — and 
 now the time had at length come when the sentiments 
 of Godolphin could no longer be concealed from 
 James. In the autumn of 1679 Grodolphm had ener- 
 getically contended for the duke's banishment without 
 apparently exciting the duke's suspicions. In the 
 spring of 1680 he had acted as an intermediary between 
 the king and the Duke of Monmouth, the hated rival 
 of James ; yet James, with native dulness, still failed 
 to perceive that Godolphin was his enemy. In the 
 summer of 1680 the opposition of Godolphin was un- 
 mistakable and avowed, he was an unconcealed ex- 
 clusionist, and James recognised and denounced him 
 as a foe. 
 
 James was highly, and not unnaturally, incensed 
 at Godolphin's behaviour. To no other subject, with 
 the exception of Sunderland, had he shown such con- 
 descension, and he bitterly resented conduct which, 
 in the event of the king's death, was calculated to 
 deprive him of the crown, and render him a miserable 
 outcast, the object of the charity and compassion of 
 foreign princes. But, great as was his wrath, perhaps 
 his amazement was even greater. He could hardly 
 conceive the cause which could prompt Godolphin to 
 become his enemy. He could only explain a circum- 
 stance so unintelligible by attributing it to the evil 
 influence of his brother-in-law.-' From the beo-innina: 
 to the end of his life James never could understand 
 how he came to have enemies. It never occurred to 
 
 ' Clarke s James II. p. 595 (note 3). 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 87 
 
 him to turn his eye upon himself, and to ask whether 
 the qualities which distinguished him were likely 
 either to endear him to his subjects or to command 
 the confidence of his adherents. 
 
 The cabal between Sunderland, Godolphin, and 
 the Duchess of Portsmouth continued to flourish with 
 more or less vigour until the end of the reign of 
 Charles IT./ and of its various aims it pursued for 
 two years none more pertinaciously than the exclu- 
 sion of the Duke of York from the throne. It may 
 seem strange that three persons who were intimately 
 connected with the court, and who could certainly 
 boast of no high political principle, should have 
 attached themselves with such determination to a 
 cause, which was not only the popular cause, but 
 the cause also of popular liberty. The slightest 
 examination of the characters of the three partners 
 of the cabal at once elucidates the difficulty. First 
 in rank, as she was highest in the favour of Charles, 
 was the Duchess of Portsmouth ; but her position, 
 splendid and degraded, was as insecure as it was 
 magnificent, and might at any moment, on the death 
 of the king, or a violent change of government, be- 
 come one of the gravest peril. The exclusionist 
 leaders saw her danger and appreciated the advantage 
 which it gave them over her. They threatened, un- 
 less she agreed to support them, to indict her as a 
 
 ' Barillon writes to Lewis XIV., February 19, 1685: 'Milord 
 Sunderland, Madame de Portsmouth, at Milord Godolfin posaddoient 
 seuls toute I'autoritd auprfes de feu Roi d'Angleterre.' 
 
88 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 common nuisance, and to throw her, as they expressed 
 it, into the lump of their grievances. If she sided 
 with them, they would not, they said, forget her in 
 their reforms. Such threats and promises were suf- 
 ficient to intimidate or lure a stronger character, and 
 she joined with the enemies of the Duke of York. 
 The motive which governed her was fear. 
 
 Sunderland was actuated by other sentiments. 
 He was ambitious and greedy, and principally ambi- 
 tious because he was greedy. It was not in his 
 nature to adhere to either persons or principles, but 
 to regard both persons and principles as the specu- 
 lator regards investments and stocks, to be relin- 
 quished when they cease to be remunerative, and to 
 be taken up when they are likely to pay. Thus 
 Sunderland was never to be found intentionally on 
 the losing side. Whenever Sunderland's side lost, we 
 always find that he had already in some way com- 
 menced to cross over to the other. Sunderland 
 deserted James because he thought that James was 
 deserted by fortune. The motive which governed 
 him was simply self-interest. 
 
 Of Godolphin's motives we are inclined to take 
 another and somewhat more favourable view. It is 
 true perhaps that he, like Sunderland, would not have 
 deserted James, unless James had apparently been 
 deserted by fortune ; but he did not, we believe, 
 abandon him on that account alone. His character 
 was of that temperate sort which recoils from ex- 
 tremes in whichever direction they go. The exercise 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 89 
 
 of arbitrary and unreasonable authority on the part of 
 the ruler was as abhorrent to his mind as insubordi- 
 nation and rebellion on the part of the people. Such 
 excesses were precursors of future strife, and he shrank 
 from their possibility as from the shadow of a great 
 evil to come. Nor could he have doubted that 
 James, if he ever became king, combining as he 
 did to a very great degree religious fanaticism with 
 the constitutional obstinacy of a narrow mind, was 
 certain to bring about the misfortune he most 
 dreaded. Already the duke's religious fervour 
 had permitted, or rather encouraged, him to dis- 
 play a nature which a more worldly disposition 
 would have taught him to disguise. Already he 
 had proclaimed that he was prepared to sacrifice 
 every hope of an earthly crown for the reward of a 
 spiritual one — in other words, that he was deter- 
 mined to coerce the people to his will, be the cost 
 what it might. Such declarations alarmed men less 
 habitually cautious than Godolphin. It was there- 
 fore natural that he should wish to evade a danger 
 which appeared to him to be a serious one, and he 
 made the attempt. The policy which he adopted 
 thus was in every respect consistent with our 
 knowledge of his character. He joined the cabal. 
 He threw himself iuto hostility to James. He 
 inexorably opposed his pretensions, he vehemently 
 demanded that he should be driven into exile. ' If 
 the Duke of York does not leave at present,' said 
 Godolphin on one occasion, 'he will be obliged 
 
90 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to go in a week, and the king with him.' ^ Unlike 
 the policy of Sunderland or the Duchess of Ports- 
 mouth, that of Godolphin was, we believe, guided 
 neither by fear, nor by ambition, but by prudence. 
 
 The breach of Godolphin with James had a result 
 no less important than inevitable. It led him to 
 jDay his court to the Prince of Orange. Godolphin 
 was already personally acquainted with the prince. 
 His mission to the Low Countries during the nego- 
 tiations of Nimeguen had enabled the two men, who, 
 had it been possible to raise the veU of futurity, 
 would have recognised each other as future king and 
 minister, to make personal estimates of each other's 
 characters. When Mrs. Godolphin died, William 
 disclosed an interest in the bereavement of the 
 husband which testified to his respect, if not to his 
 regard ; ^ and now, after several years, and after 
 their paths had widely diverged, the circumstances 
 of the time brought them once more into communi- 
 cation. As Godolphin drifted from his old partisan- 
 ship with James, he was of necessity drawn to the 
 only other centre of gravitation which existed in 
 English pohtics, and which, like the other pole of 
 the magnet, attracted whatever atoms the cause of 
 James repelled. 
 
 Thus Sidney Godolphin was soon regarded as 
 one of the chief adherents of the Prince of Orange, 
 and his credit rapidly rose with the party of his 
 
 ' Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 351. 
 
 ^ Clarendon and Rochester Correspondence. Prince of Orange to 
 Hyde, October 1678. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 91 
 
 adoption. Sydney, afterwards Lord Romney, a father 
 of the Revolution, but who is described by Swift, 
 with his customary asperity, as a vicious, illiterate 
 old rake, pronounced him one of the only honest 
 men in a court which was filled with rogues. 
 William sought his opinion as readily as he did 
 that of Temple, and that on matters of the greatest 
 importance. To Godolphin no less than to Temple 
 did he turn for advice, in 1681, on the important 
 question as to whether he should visit England, 
 and it was the advice of Godolphin rather than of 
 Temple which he followed. How high Godolphin's 
 credit stood with the Prince of Orange this circum- 
 stance alone is sufficient to prove ; ^ how low with 
 the Duke of York may be judged from the Duke's 
 own words : ' Nothing,' he exclaimed to Lawrence 
 Hyde, ' would go well till Godolphin and all the 
 rotten sheep at the end of the gallery were turned out.' ^ 
 But Godolphin's adhesion to William and his 
 hostility to James were not destined upon this occa- 
 sion to endure. In 1682 the cabal abandoned its 
 efforts to exclude James from the throne. The 
 manner in which this change of policy was effected 
 was as sudden as it was contemptible. So long 
 as it appeared that the king would consent to the 
 exclusion of the Duke of York, Sunderland dis- 
 played the most exemplary spirit of self-sacrificing 
 
 ' Dalrymph's Memoirs, vol. i. app. to pt. 1, b. 1, p. 70. 
 ^ Clarendon and Rochester Correspondence. Duke of York to 
 Hyde, December 14, 1680. 
 
92 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 patriotism. He submitted to expulsion from ofl&ce, 
 and frequented the clubs and cofFee-houses of the 
 popular party. James, who regarded political clubs 
 with the same eye as the modern Tory once regarded 
 the Birmingham caucus, and who declared that by 
 their means the popular party transferred the govern- 
 ment not only from the kmg to the Parliament, but 
 from the Parliament itself to the Sun Tavern and 
 King's Head Club,^ could not have been more openly 
 defied. But when it became obvious that the cause of 
 the Duke of York was to be triumphant, the Duchess 
 of Portsmouth used her influence to recall the Duke, 
 and to obtain for Sunderland the office of Secretary 
 of State. Thus ended an intrigue characteristic of 
 the time, but still more characteristic of the various 
 persons concerned in it. All breaches were apparently 
 healed, amity was re-established ; the Duchess of 
 Portsmouth, Sunderland, and Godolphin exchanged 
 the society of Shaftesbury for that of Hyde ; and a 
 tone of greater reserve and smaller encouragement 
 was adopted in the correspondence with the Prince 
 of Orange. 
 
 In 1684 Godolphin was appointed for the first 
 time to an office which, on various occasions, he 
 was afterwards destined to fill with distinction. 
 He became First Commissioner of the Treasury. 
 Rochester, the head of the Treasury board, was ac- 
 cused of malversation, and was unable to clear him- 
 self of the charge. Even in the days of Charles II. 
 
 '■ Clarke's James II., p. 619. 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 93 
 
 sucli an offence committed by such an officer 
 
 could not be condoned, and it was necessary to 
 
 remove him from his post. He was made President 
 
 of the Council, and Godolphin succeeded him at 
 
 the Treasury. But before this event took place 
 
 Godolphin had already ceased to be a member of 
 
 the Treasury board, as, in April 1684, he had, upon 
 
 the resignation of Sii' Leoline Jenkins, accepted the 
 
 seals of Secretary of State. The appointment, it 
 
 was said, had not been a happy one. Godolphin was 
 
 accused of being taciturn and mysterious, while his 
 
 colleague Sunderland was an inveterate schemer. 
 
 Both secretaries were what Lord Keeper North calls 
 
 court artists.^ It is stated that from the moment of 
 
 Godolphin' s accession to the office of Secretary of 
 
 State, the affairs of the king began to suffer ; and the 
 
 blame is laid on Godolphin. The charge is evidently 
 
 unjust, as it is scarcely possible that between the 
 
 months of April and August 1684 — the period of 
 
 Godolphin's short tenure of the office of Secretary of 
 
 State — he could have inflicted much injury on the 
 
 public service. 
 
 The reconstruction of the ministry in 1684, by 
 which Godolphin was advanced to the office of Chief 
 -Commissioner of the Treasury, is an event of great 
 magnitude in his life. For two other reasons it also 
 deserves our attention : in the first place, it marks 
 a decided progress in the political morality of the 
 nation ; and in the second, it is an excellent illus- 
 
 ' Life of L^rd Keeper Guilford, p. 230. 
 
94 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 ti'ation of the spirit of intrigue which characterised 
 the age, and which was particularly displayed in the 
 conduct of the small body of men with whom 
 Sidney Godolphin habitually acted. The offence of 
 Rochester would have been insufficient to compel the 
 king to remove him from his office had not the moral 
 sense of the people been wakened, and the moral 
 condemnation of the people would have been insuf- 
 ficient to expel him from it without the assistance of 
 party intrigues. The two influences combined caused 
 Rochester's overthrow and Godolphin's elevation. 
 
 To us in the reign of Queen Victoria no apology 
 would be required for removing a minister who had 
 been accused of an abominable ofi"ence, and who had 
 completely failed to clear himself. It would be 
 enough by way of explanation to say that Rochester 
 had abused a sacred trust, and that Godolphin was 
 already esteemed one of the most rising ministers of 
 the day. But in the time of Charles II. the case 
 was different. Only a few years before, the king 
 had closed the public exchequer, and the unhappy 
 bankers, who were his chief creditors, had been 
 flagrantly robbed of their money. The statesman 
 who conceived this alarming and dishonest expedient 
 for settling the king's debts was made a peer ; the 
 statesman who executed it was appointed Lord 
 Treasurer. "With such an example of almost fraudu- 
 lent corruption before our eyes, there seems absolutely 
 no reason why Rochester should, as far as the king 
 at least was concerned, have suffered deprivation 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 95 
 
 of office for his official misconduct had the royal 
 judgment been left free and unfettered. Nor can 
 the manner of his removal from office be for a mo- 
 ment accepted as a mark of the king's displeasure. 
 Rochester, when he committed the offence with 
 which he was charged, was First Commissioner of 
 the Treasury ; it was resolved to make him Presi- 
 dent of the Council. The Presidency of the Council 
 was higher in dignity, though it was certainly less 
 in influence than that of First Commissioner of the 
 Treasury. Halifax correctly stated the position 
 when he jocosely observed that his old adversary 
 had been kicked upstairs. Never, we may safely 
 assert, did a powerful king exhibit his displeasure 
 in a manner so inadequate and so senseless. He 
 obliged Eochester to change from one office of 
 honour to another : from an office in which he 
 could squander much, into an office in which he 
 could squander less. The action of the king was 
 prompted by no sense of abhorrence, either of crime, 
 or of neglect amounting to crime. It was the un- 
 wilhng recognition of the judgment of the public 
 conscience and of the power of public opinion. 
 
 But, as we have said, another influence was at 
 work to favour the success of Godolphin : the 
 intrigues of faction expressed in the manoeuvrings 
 of Sunderland and the cabal which practically 
 governed England. Rochester had always been 
 devoted to the Duke of York. Sunderland and 
 Godolphin had never lost touch of Monmouth and 
 
9(5 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 the anti- Catholic party. The recall of the Duke of 
 York, after the dissolution of the Oxford Parliament 
 in 1681, had skinned over the breach which had ex- 
 isted between Sunderland's cabal and the adherents 
 of James ; a certain alliance or fusion had taken place 
 between them, but it was a settlement which was 
 more apparent than real.^ Quietly and unostenta- 
 tiously both tried to obtain advantages over the other. 
 Rochester did his best to bring his friends into 
 power ; ^ the cabal was equally determined that its 
 members should not be left in the cold. Thus 
 Godolphin had owed his appointment of Secretary of 
 State to the representations of the Duchess of Ports- 
 mouth ; and it was probably to influence of a similar 
 kind, joined to the inveterate hostility of Halifax for 
 Rochester, that his further removal from the Secretary- 
 ship of State to the First Commissionership of the 
 Treasury may be ascribed. The immediate circum- 
 stances which occasioned the fall of Rochester and 
 the rise of Godolphin were not clear even to so well 
 informed a contemporary as Reresby. Reresby 
 hesitatingly assigned them to the agency of Halifax, 
 though he said that he did not understand how the 
 finger of Halifax could prevail against the shoulder 
 of the Duke of York.^ The finger of Halifax was 
 certainly of itself insufiicient to produce so great a 
 change. It was only one of the disturbing influences 
 upon which Sunderland, with his usual adroitness, 
 
 ' Barillon's Letters to Lewis XIV., February 19, 1685. 
 
 ^ Reresbifs Mrmoirs, lfi84. ■' Ibid., Aug. '21, 1684. 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 97 
 
 reckoned to promote his own ends ; a momentary 
 display of fondness on the pai-t of Charles for Mon- 
 mouth was another ; and Sunderland seized the 
 propitious moment when public opinion was in his 
 favour to push the tottering supporter of the Duke 
 of York from his insecure position, and establish 
 his friend and follower in one of the most important 
 offices in England. 
 
 Godolphin was at Windsor when Charles ac- 
 quainted him with his design of removing Rochester 
 from the Treasury, and of conferring the office on 
 Godolphin himself ; and he directed Godolphin to 
 undertake the unpleasant task of informing the man 
 whom he was supplanting of this resolution. He 
 wrote as follows : — 
 
 ' Aug. 1684, Hampton Court, Tues. 5 a'clook. 
 
 ' Not coming to London to-night as I intended, 
 when I saw you last, I would not defer to tell you 
 that last night the king called me into his closet, and 
 told me, that having lately known you had been 
 some time uneasy enough with your employment in 
 the Treasury, and desirous to leave it, upon any 
 good occasion, and having a great deal of considera- 
 tion for your services to him, with much more to 
 this purpose, that he was resolved to make you 
 president of the Council, and at the same time to 
 put me into your place at the Treasury with many 
 gracious expressions of the trust and confidence he 
 had in me, he knew very well he said that the place 
 
 H 
 
08 THE EAEL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 I was in was of much more advantage and that I 
 must not, nor should not be a loser by this change, 
 but that he thought it of absolute necessity for his 
 service ; and could not think of putting anybody but 
 me into this place. I told him that if I were at 
 liberty to consider either my advantage or my inch- 
 nation, I should most earnestly beg of his Majesty 
 that he would be pleased to let me continue where I 
 was, but in the manner that he spoke of this thing, 
 that I had nothing to do but submit myself entirely 
 to his pleasure with abundance of thanks for his 
 favourable opinion of me which I should still en- 
 deavour to deserve to the best of my power. I went 
 this morning to the Duke to acquaint him with what 
 the king had said to me. My lord Sunderland was 
 by the Duke to-day, the king had told him the 
 same thing yesterday morning in the drawing- 
 room, and that he had spoken to the king upon 
 it, that the Lord of Clarendon might be secretary of 
 state, but that he found the king was very averse to 
 it, yet he desired my lord of Sunderland to speak to 
 the king of it too, and he said he had already desired 
 the same of the duchess of Portsmouth who had 
 promised him to do it ; I did not know this when 
 the king spoke to me, but he seemed to me very 
 much at a loss for somebody to put into my place, 
 and said he could not like any one that had been 
 named to him, or that he could think of himself ; 
 he asked me my opinion of Mr. Trumbull, and of 
 Mr. Blathwaite, and bade me name such as came into 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 99 
 
 my thoughts, I did not presume to put him in mind 
 of anybody, but those that have the honour to serve 
 him abroad at this time as my lord Preston, Mr. 
 Chudleigh, and Mr. Skelton ; he seemed not to like 
 any of these, but to incline more to Mr. Blathwaite, 
 than any other that had been named to him, and 
 so this matter remained to-day at noon when I left 
 Windsor ; my lord Sunderland made me promise 
 him to come back again to-night, being in great pain 
 till he sees the king has fixed upon somebody that 
 he can live with, as he calls it ; so that not being able 
 to come to London myself, I hope you will excuse 
 the trouble of this hasty account from 
 
 ' Yours, 
 
 ' GODOLPHIN.' ^ 
 
 The letter is a remarkable one. It was written by 
 a statesman in the full tide of success, who had just 
 been appointed to an office from which his colleague 
 and correspondent had been, to all intents and pur- 
 poses, ignominiously expelled. The writer was filled 
 with triumph, yet under the smooth and friendly 
 phrases of the letter there is not the slightest sign 
 either of undue elation or of affected sympathy. 
 The tone of the letter is indeed such as to render 
 it almost incredible that its import profoundly con- 
 cerned the interest and reputation of two great 
 statesmen. The testimony of contemporaries is, 
 
 ^ Hyde Correspondence, British Museum Additional MSS. 15892. 
 This letter has already been published. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE EAJRL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 however, decisive as to the reluctance of Rochester 
 to quit the Treasury. He had not even the tact or 
 the philosophy to conceal the disgust which he felt 
 only too keenly. Nor could Godolphin, in spite 
 of his self-possession, have altogether escaped some 
 sensations of pain. Hyde was one of his earliest 
 friends, and he could hardly supplant him without 
 feeling the pangs which must accompany the first 
 breaches in an old friendship. He could, however, 
 unlike Rochester, console himself with reflecting upon 
 his great success and rapidly improving prospects. 
 His promotion in the Government was attended with 
 a corresponding elevation in society. He was made 
 a peer, with the title of Lord Godolphm of Rialton. 
 His term of office was not, however, on this occasion, 
 destined to endure long. Five months had scarcely 
 elapsed, when an event occurred which not only 
 reduced him from the high level to which he had 
 attained, but threatened to be very prejudicial to his 
 future prospects. King Charles II. died, and was 
 quietly succeeded by his brother James, Duke of 
 York. 
 
 The accession of James to the throne of England 
 may well have filled Godolphin with consternation. 
 The event seemed absolutely fatal to his success. 
 His offences against James were numerous and unpar- 
 donable, and of a sort which any man would resent, 
 and which a harsh man might, with the full appro- 
 bation of the world, revenge. He had been the friend 
 of James, and had wilfully violated his friendship ; he 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 101 
 
 had attempted to deprive him of his right to the 
 throne, and when this design had failed he had never 
 cordially coalesced with the duke's partisans. More 
 than all this, he continued to the end of the late 
 king's reign to court the Prince of Orange — not, it 
 is true, with the same zeal which he had displayed 
 before the measure of exclusion was lost, but with 
 sufficient energy to excite the animosity of a being 
 so suspicious and tyrannical as James 11. The very 
 light of the new reign dawned upon an act which 
 James can have regarded in no other aspect than as 
 a transgression. Of all his adherents, Rochester had 
 been the most faithful. He had served him loyally 
 both in storm and in sunshine, and so deep was the 
 sense of obhgation which James entertaiued for his 
 service, that he was only waiting to be declared king 
 to appoint him Lord Treasurer. Yet Godolphin, a 
 very few months before James's accession, had been 
 instrumental in driving this faithful follower from a 
 coveted office, and obliging him, amidst the ridicule of 
 society, to submit to the insult of a mock promotion. 
 Circumstances both before and after James's succes- 
 sion proved how obdurate was the heart of the king, 
 when once his sullen humour had doomed an adver- 
 sary to destruction. The retribution which it was 
 within his power to inflict might now with confidence 
 be expected to fall. Sure and condign punishment 
 seemed the certain fate of Godolphin and Sunderland. 
 To the surprise of all, they speedily assumed impor- 
 tant posts in the new king's government. Sunder- 
 
102 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 land's extraordinary subtlety had saved them. He 
 beguiled Rochester, whom but a few weeks before 
 he had almost driven in desperation to accept as a 
 species of exalted exile the post of Lord Lieutenant 
 of Ireland,^ into the belief that their fortunes were 
 identical, while the queen was encouraged to regard 
 him as a support against her step-daughters. Suc- 
 cess attended his stratagems. Sunderland was made 
 Secretary of State ; Godolphin, Lord Chamberlain 
 to the queen. 
 
 The short and stormy reign of James IL was 
 not suited to the character and genius of Godolphin. 
 His nature and the king's were absolutely opposed. 
 The king was violent, irrational, and above all things 
 imprudent. Godolphin was an easy-going, matter- 
 of-fact man, whose excess of prudence was perhaps 
 his greatest defect. Any great or lasting cordiality 
 between them on questions of policy was impossible ; 
 yet the king greatly admired Godolphin, and Godol- 
 phin was one of the last to abandon James, when 
 ministers, generals, favourites, and children had 
 flocked to the Prince of Orange. Thus, though 
 Godolphin played no very prominent part while 
 James was on the throne, his reputation continued 
 to rise and his material prosperity to increase. 
 
 Unfortunately for the credit of Godolphin, he was 
 concerned at the very commencement of the neAv reign 
 in a transaction which hardly finds a parallel in 
 English history. With Charles it might well have 
 
 1 Barillon's Letters, February 19, 1685. 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 103 
 
 been hoped had been buried the venality and cor- 
 ruption which rendered his rule inglorious, if not 
 infamous. But James was hardly seated on his 
 brother's throne before he evinced proofs that he 
 was as ready to sell his subjects under the name 
 of religion, as Charles had been to procure money 
 for his own self-indulgence. The curtain of the new 
 reign lifted on a spectacle which would have been 
 comic but for its sadness. We behold James, the 
 monarch of one of the proudest kingdoms in Europe, 
 deliberately abasing himself before the ancient enemy 
 of his people and their religion. James had on his 
 accession to the throne convoked a parliament ; it was 
 one of the few constitutional acts of his reign ; for this 
 praiseworthy measure he apologised immediately to 
 Lewis XIV. of France, and expressed his determina- 
 tion in future to govern arbitrarily and alone. He 
 was the governor of a Protestant nation, and the 
 natural protector of its religion, yet he intimated to 
 the French ambassador in London that he would em- 
 ploy every effort to uproot the Protestant faith and re- 
 establish the supremacy of the Pope. To enable him 
 to accomplish these great and pious designs, he wanted 
 nothing, he hinted, but money and the protection of 
 the French king. The suggestion thus broadly 
 thrown out was greedily snatched at by Lewis, and 
 he presented the King of England with a huge sum 
 of money, practically on condition that it should be 
 used to the injury of James's English subjects. The 
 King of England, sobs almost choking his utterance, 
 
104 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 implored the French ambassador to convey his grati- 
 tude to Lewis for a donation so magnificent and for a 
 purpose so acceptable. Only one thing was wanting. 
 James desired to convert this munificent gift into an 
 annual tribute. A treaty was set on foot. Sunder- 
 land, Rochester, and Godolphin were the ministers 
 employed by James to negotiate it. The terms they 
 proposed were that the King of France should pay 
 3,000,000 of livres down, and 2,000,000 of livres for 
 two years, on the condition, virtually, if not literally, 
 expressed, that the English Parliament should be 
 superseded.^ 
 
 Such was the terrible crime which Godolphin and 
 his colleagues, in conjunction with James, committed 
 against England. Kings have been deposed and 
 ministers beheaded for a smaller offence. Religious 
 fanaticism may be pleaded for James as a feeble and 
 doubtful apology for an absolutely inexcusable 
 action ; for a spiritual crown he hazarded a temporal 
 one ; in his madness he risked all, and he lost all. 
 To his perverted mind the declarations and pro- 
 mises which he had made to his people were mere 
 earthly obligations, to be broken and discarded in 
 the service of what he considered a divine cause. 
 
 My vow was earthly, thou a heavenly love, 
 
 My vow was breath, and breath a vapour is ; 
 Then, thou fair sun, that on this earth doth shine, 
 Exhale this vapour vow ; in thee it is : 
 
 ' Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. i. pt. 1, b. 2, p. 168. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 105 
 
 If broken, then it is no fault of mine. 
 If by me broke, -what fool is not so wise 
 To lose an oath, to win a paradise ? 
 
 In spite of his gigantic faults, his bigotry, his cruelty, 
 his vindictiveness, and his falseness, there are few- 
 people in the present day who will not entertain for 
 James that sort of compassion which is extended to 
 those who are scarcely accountable for their actions, 
 and which may even induce the most censorious to ex- 
 tenuate in some degree the enormous treason which he 
 meditated against his people. James, at all events, 
 had the courage of his opinions ; but what excuse can 
 there be for Sunderland, Rochester, and Godolphin, 
 whose minds were utterly untinctured with any reli- 
 gious enthusiasm, who lost nothing and who gained 
 everything by the injury which they proposed to 
 inflict upon their fellow-countrymen ? ^ 
 
 We do not know whether it will be considered any 
 palliation of Godolphin's crime to allege that he cer- 
 tainly assisted in negotiating the treaty with France 
 against his will, and probably did his best to modify its 
 most obnoxious provisions. It was no part of his 
 policy — ^in so far as he ventured to have a policy of his 
 own — to dispense with parliaments, or to destroy the 
 Church of England. He yielded, on this occasion as 
 
 ' It should be said, perhaps, as some slight vindication of the conduct 
 of Godolphin and his colleagues, that the best-informed people believed 
 that no danger was incurred by the Protestant religion through the 
 exertions of James to establish the Roman Catholic faith in England. 
 Barillon, on March 5, 1685, writes to Lewis XIV. : ' C'est un projet si 
 difficile dans son execution, pour ne pas dire impossible, que les gens 
 sensi^s ne I'appr^hendent pas.' 
 
106 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 on many others, to the commands of the king ; but 
 he did so with reluctance. In this respect he differed 
 from his former chief. Sunderland was prepared to 
 go any length which the king suggested. Godolphin 
 would probably have gone any length which the 
 king required. The French ambassador, Barillon, 
 noted this difference between the characters of the two 
 ministers, and, from the first, regarded Godolphin with 
 some suspicion, while he accurately weighed the degree 
 of danger which might be attached to his hostility. 
 Hostility in an active sense was not to be dreaded 
 from Godolphin. His object was to mould policies, 
 not to create or to destroy them. He desired to 
 establish himself at court by a reputation for wisdom 
 and moderation, an effort which would have been 
 doomed to failure had he commenced by pronouncing 
 the king's favourite project a wicked one. Thus 
 Godolphin rose in the king's estimation. James, 
 to his surprise, found him a bold and energetic man, 
 and spoke of him in high terms of approval. It is 
 extremely probable that Godolphin may have em- 
 ployed the influence which he had acquired with the 
 king to effect some change in mitigation of James's 
 furious designs upon English liberties. We know 
 on Barillon' s authority that he regarded them with 
 some aversion. If so, like so much that he did, it 
 was done in the dark, and by following the crooked 
 paths, which it is almost impossible for those of the 
 present age to track. What, unfortunately, is only too 
 clear to us is that he participated in a policy which 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 107 
 
 amounted to treason to his country, and that he did so 
 with his eyes open, and unblinded by the religious 
 bigotry of his master. Even in the days when it was 
 not the fashion for ministers to sacrifice their offices for 
 their opinions we might have supposed that a minister 
 would resign his office before he sacrificed his country. 
 In 1686 Godolphia again became a Commissioner 
 of the Treasury. His nomination to the Treasury 
 was, as on a previous occasion, in consequence of 
 Rochester's dismissal from it. Rochester had been 
 as compliant a servant as the king was ever hkely 
 to find. He had been concerned in arranging the 
 French treaty. He had supported James's arbitrary 
 measures at home, and, in defiance of the law, was 
 a member of the new Court of High Commission. 
 He was compliant upon every point but one ; he 
 refused to make public recognition of the Church of 
 Rome. Why he should logically have checked him- 
 self abruptly at this point, it is not very easy to see. 
 The whole end of James's government was to prosely- 
 tise, or rather coerce, the English to Roman Catholi- 
 cism. It was the explicit object of his treaties with 
 France, it was the almost proclaimed object of the 
 illegal Court of High Commission. There was no 
 reason in common sense why Rochester should have 
 refused to profess a religion which he was employing 
 illegal means to establish. Weakness, rather than a 
 late return to virtue, appears the best interpretation 
 of his inconsistency. Like many weak-minded or 
 self-indulgent men, he deliberately refrained from 
 
108 TEE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 contemplating the nature and the consequences of 
 the course which he wished to pursue, till his welcome 
 ignorance was suddenly dispelled by being brought 
 face to face with a name. 
 
 Some credit, however, is due to Rochester for 
 demonstrating that he possessed opinions which he 
 would not even yield to his own interests or to the 
 commands of the king. His abject professions, his 
 tears and his entreaties, whUe they represent him in 
 an undignified and ridiculous light, evince the magni- 
 tude of the sacrifice he was making. His conduct 
 proved, if it proved nothing else, that he possessed 
 the principle which lies at the root of all noble 
 actions and induces men to sacrifice themselves to an 
 ideal notion of right. A religious pledge such as the 
 king would have exacted from Rochester was probably 
 in some negative fashion exacted from Godolphin. A 
 declaration was not demanded, but there can be 
 little doubt that Godolphin gave assurances concern- 
 ing his religious opinions which were held by James 
 to be satisfactory, and were morally undistinguish- 
 able from a public declaration of the old faith. The 
 grain of individualism which we find in Rochester 
 we miss in Godolphin. His religious opinions may 
 not have been so violent as those of Rochester, or, 
 with a more refining mind, he may justly have con- 
 cluded that where the substance has been accepted it 
 was unreasonable to disown the name. But we are 
 still brought to the conclusion that, whether from 
 real indilFerence to any high principles, religious, 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 109 
 
 political, or moral, or merely because his principles, 
 whatever they were, were outbalanced by a regard 
 for his own interests, he did not care to profess on 
 this occasion opinions which he undoubtedly held. 
 He was a Protestant, and probably intended to re- 
 main one, but he was anxious to have it understood 
 that he might be converted. Before James had been 
 on the throne six weeks Godolphin was an attendant 
 at mass, and so skilfully did he practise his hypocrisy 
 that each party was confident either of keeping or of 
 winning him. No pursuit is more eagerly rehshed 
 than that in which the victim barely but perpetually 
 eludes the grasp of its pursuer. Godolphin was 
 always on the verge of becoming a professed Roman 
 Catholic. The king, whose priests were ever on 
 the point of catching him, regarded him with the 
 affectionate eye with which the sportsman regards 
 the quarry that he has often hunted and is deter- 
 mined to bag. Masses were daily said in the king's 
 chapel for his conversion, and vaunts were loudly 
 expressed that he would at length be gathered 
 into the fold. ' Lord Godolphin is in doubts,' 
 triumphantly exclaimed Ellis, one of the four popish 
 bishops, to the Protestant Sir Thomas Dyke. ' If he 
 is in doubt with you, he is not in doubt with me,' 
 was the reply. Thus, with infinite tact and prudence, 
 Godolphin secured the support, or we should perhaps 
 say avoided the animosity, of both the great religious 
 parties of the State. 
 
 In his new position at the Treasury it is pleasant 
 
110 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to record that GodolpTiin was able to perform a 
 service for an old friend and an eminent man. 
 Since his wife's death, he had always maintained 
 an intimate acquaintance with Evelyn, a friendship 
 which, originating with Mrs. Godolphin, endured 
 through life. In 1687 Evelyn, like many other 
 suitors, was vainly applying to the Government for 
 consideration of his claims. In the late Dutch war 
 he had been one of the commissioners for the sick 
 and wounded. Like so many others in public em- 
 ployment in this age, he found it impossible to re- 
 cover from the Crown the arrears due for necessary 
 outlay or salary. The petition is still extant in 
 which he prays that his full claims may be allowed, 
 and reminds the Government that when fifty thou- 
 sand people were dying weekly of contagion he alone 
 remained true to his duty while his brother com- 
 missioners shifted for themselves. Godolphin's in- 
 fluence procured for this petition a favourable reply, 
 and Evelyn learnt, probably not for the first time, 
 that a powerful friend commands speedier attention 
 than a just cause.^ 
 
 The short reign of James is crowded with some of 
 the most startling incidents in English history, and 
 perhaps for this reason no period is so extensively 
 known or so generally attractive. He who has read 
 nothing else is pretty sure to be familiar with the trial 
 of the Bishops, the ejection of the Fellows of Magdalen 
 
 > Additional MSS. 15949, British Museum. Evelyn's Diary. 
 June 2, 1087. 
 
EARLY POLITICAL LIFE 111 
 
 College, and the landing of William at Torbay. The 
 epoch has been fortunate in its historians, and no less 
 fortunate in circumstances which endue it with an 
 almost theatrical interest. The variety of incidents, 
 the energy of action, the violence of passion, and the 
 last tremendous catastrophe, embrace all the elements 
 essential to dramatic effect. It needs but the hand 
 of a Shakespeare to invest the follies of James II. 
 and the duplicity of his ministers with as tragic an 
 interest as that which immortalises the weakness and 
 childishness of Richard II. 
 
 But the period is a great deal richer in events 
 than in actors. The person of the king occupies 
 nearly the whole field. With the exception of 
 Sunderland, there is scarcely a figure which draws 
 our eyes away from him ; and even Sunderland plays 
 an inferior part, somewhat similar to that of a 
 meddlesome and ubiquitous schemer, whose machina- 
 tions are endless, but who acts as much behind the 
 scenes as before them. Tyrconnel blusters, Clarendon 
 and Rochester whimper, but the real hero of the 
 piece must be looked for in the king. 
 
 James was in fact his own minister. If he asked 
 for advice he asked it of those only who would 
 give but one answer, who were his advisers merely 
 because of their meritorious determination to agree 
 with whatever he proposed. Parliament, the Church, 
 the Bench, had all been fashioned, or were in pro- 
 cess of being fashioned, to square with his views of 
 autocracy. Independence of thought was his rooted 
 
112 THE EABL OF OODOLPEIN 
 
 aversion, and if he did not suffer it in the pubhc in- 
 stitutions which were to some extent beyond his con- 
 trol, far less was he likely to tolerate it in that small 
 circle of advisers whose persons and fortunes were 
 at his mercy, and upon whom he could inflict all 
 the punishments which a capricious tyranny might 
 suggest. For these reasons, probably, James's 
 ministers appear less frequently in the record of 
 events than might have been expected. Godolphin's 
 name is especially conspicuous by its absence, though 
 when it is mentioned, it is mentioned in a manner 
 and on occasions to convince us that he was regarded 
 as a person of considerable importance. 
 
 The prosperity of the king had stifled all opposition; 
 his calamities called countless agencies to life which 
 had before apparently no existence. While every- 
 thing was favourable to the king's views, his ministers 
 clung to him in silent expectation that they were 
 buHding their own fortunes ; circumstances were no 
 sooner adverse, than each was obhged to strike for 
 himself, and to exchange his former silence for the 
 loud voice of justification which compels attention. 
 The political career of Godolphin, like that of other 
 of his contemporaries, revives at the very moment 
 that that of James was about to end. As a nest of 
 ants which is rudely disturbed discovers numberless 
 insects rushing hither and thither anxious to repair 
 damage or to secure safety, so the destruction of 
 James's plans roused hundreds of his ministers, 
 dependents, and sycophants into eager activity to 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 113 
 
 restore their shattered hopes or to seek for favour 
 from new patrons. 
 
 Thus as the fall of James approached, a change be- 
 came manifest in Godolphin's conduct. In 1688 there 
 was no person in the whole of England so powerful 
 or so much dreaded as Jeffreys, the Lord Chancellor. 
 He was the king's most useful tool, and he was 
 utterly unscrupulous in attaining his objects. It is 
 highly improbable that Godolphin would have ven- 
 tured to make an enemy of this man, whose position, 
 character, and manners were of a kind to overawe his 
 somewhat timid nature, had he not desired to make 
 his peace with the future, and to separate himself 
 slightly from the past ; yet, in September, Godolphin 
 resolutely opposed the Chancellor in council. The 
 Chancellor accused him, and probably not without 
 reason, of trimming.^ The whole of England was 
 trimming, and it was not likely that Godolphin, with 
 his studiously acquired knowledge of men and things, 
 should be less provident than his neighbours. 
 
 The events which led to the fall of James hurried 
 themselves on apace. In the universal collapse of 
 his government, he was deserted by nearly all — by 
 those attached to him by ties of blood, as well as 
 by ties of kindness. He was not even true to him- 
 self ; had he been so, the history of William's invasion 
 might have been written in other characters. It must 
 be said to Godolphin's credit that he was one of the 
 
 ' Clarendon and Rochester Correspondence, Saturday, September 
 22, 1688. 
 
 I 
 
lU THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 last to abandon a desperate cause. As far as we can 
 learn, he did his best to fortify the unfortunate king 
 with good advice. He attempted to procure an 
 interview between the kijig and the Bishop of Ely, 
 with the object of conciliating the Church. He, along 
 with others, advised the king, late as it was, to call a 
 Parliament, and he employed his influence in pre- 
 venting the popish lords attending a council at which 
 their jiresence could have done nothing but excite 
 observation.^ He was one of the three commissioners 
 whom James appointed to meet William of Orange 
 at Hungerford,^ and a story is related that, when 
 James finally determined upon flight, Godolphin lent 
 him a hundred guineas, which had been refused to him 
 by his own Treasury. Godolphin acted in the last 
 few months of the reign of James IT. in a manner 
 
 ' Clarendon and Rochester Correspondence, September 26 and 
 November 27, 1688. 
 
 ^ It was asserted in a debate on the state of the nation, December 
 14, 1689, that the reason why Godolphin, Halifax, and Nottingham 
 were sent by James as commissioners to William ' was not because 
 they were in King James's interest, but rather because they had all 
 along disapproved of his Majesty's conduct, and as such had the 
 general approbation of the nation, and were most likely to be agree- 
 able to his Highness.' This assertion was made in answer to an attack 
 of Hampden's upon the king for employing these ministers. (Cobbett's 
 Parliamentary History, vol. v. p. 479.) Had Godolphin strongly disap- 
 proved of James, it is likely that he would have joined William sooner ; 
 but it seems very probable that he had established a reputation for 
 moderation, which made him generally an acceptable agent. It may, how- 
 ever, be right to observe that there are historical traces of a connection 
 between the Prince of Orange and Godolphin some weeks before the 
 landing of William at Torbay. According to Lord Dover, Godolphin 
 and Churchill had apparently, in August 1688, spoken to the Prince 
 of Orange in favour of Lord Dartmouth. If this is true it implies a 
 friendly intercourse. (Macpherson's Original Papers, vol. i. p. 157.) 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 115 
 
 which, having regard to the conduct of his con- 
 temporaries, redounds greatly to his honour ; and if 
 it is true, as is stated by Sunderland, that he also 
 strongly resisted at an earlier period the proposed 
 repeal of the Act of Settlement ^ in Ireland, it 
 must be admitted that he lived to some purpose, 
 even in the short, stormy, and despotic reign of 
 James II. 
 
 The growth of Godolphin's material prosperity 
 in the reign of James II. is to some extent the 
 measure of his political success. At the time of his 
 wife's death he had a house in Scotland Yard ; under 
 James he acquired a country residence near Windsor. 
 Godolphin could hardly have selected a spot more 
 indicative of the position he had already attained, or 
 of the importance of his official ties. 
 
 There is perhaps no pleasanter resort for a states- 
 man than Windsor Park. Near to the capital, and 
 still nearer to the residence of the sovereign, but not 
 too near either of them, he enjoys, with tenfold relish, 
 a leisure which may at any moment be interrupted by 
 business. Here he may steep liimself in the delights of 
 the country, without experiencing the weariness which 
 rural life often brings to a man whose mind has been 
 immersed in the pleasures or labours of cities. The 
 occupations which pursue him afford to his idleness 
 the same exquisite flavour which we imagine that a 
 dog derives from a bone that he tosses about and plays 
 
 ^ Sunderland's letter of justification, Chandler's Debates, vol. xv. 
 p. 347. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 THE EABL OF GOBOLPHIN 
 
 with before he devours it. He has no intention of 
 escajjing altogether from business ; it is the knowledge 
 that business is there, that he will soon return to it, 
 that he will gorge himself with it, that he wUl grow 
 fat and powerful on it, which makes leisure grateful. 
 We fancy that there are but few who, like the Roman 
 emperor, would prefer the cultivation of cabbages to 
 the pursuit of power. Were it not for the reflection 
 that we might at any moment escape from it, a 
 cabbage-garden would be a very dreary place in- 
 deed. 
 
 In the nineteenth century we still talk of the 
 seclusion of Windsor Park ; in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury it was a solitude. It required twelve strong 
 horses to drag Lady Sunderland's coach from London 
 to visit Godolphin in his new house — twelve horses 
 there, and twelve horses back, twenty-four in all; 
 and the magnitude of the undertaking can be imagined 
 when we recollect that only a few years before the 
 Speaker of the House of Lords had tendered as an 
 apology for his absence from the Upper House the 
 impassableness of the roads between Kensington and 
 Westminster. A quieter spot Godolphin could hardly 
 have chosen. The villages and heaths of his native 
 county could scarcely have furnished him with a 
 more peaceful retreat. 
 
 The name of this new property was Cranbourne 
 Lodge.^ Its site, close to one of the park entrances 
 
 ' There seems to be no record in the Office of Woods and Forests 
 of Godolphin's occupation of Cranbourne Lodge. On January 7 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 117 
 
 is familiar to all who are acquainted with Windsor. 
 Only a fragment of the orginal house is left, and 
 that, converted into a keepers' lodge, bears no trace 
 of its former dignity to remind us that a couple of 
 centuries ago its humble roof sheltered not only nobles 
 and ministers of State, but even sovereigns. But 
 time, who has dealt hardly with the old mansion, has 
 been kinder out of doors. The knoll upon which the 
 house stands is surrounded by fine trees, and over- 
 looks the rich undulating woodland which composes 
 this portion of Windsor Forest. At a distance of some 
 miles Windsor Castle rises abruptly into view, and, 
 elevated above the surrounding woods, crowns the 
 landscape in a picturesque confusion of battlements 
 and towers. Two hundred years ago, however, 
 things were very different. Evelyn was just about 
 to put into execution those plans for planting, of 
 which we now reap the full benefit, and which 
 resulted in the splendid avenue known as the Long 
 Walk. Godolphin besought Evelyn to visit Cran- 
 bourne, and it is to Evelyn that we owe our know- 
 ledge of it as it existed in the reign of James II. 
 Evelyn's description is short and concise ; the 
 picture presented the reverse of agreeable. The place 
 was environed with rotten old pollards which cor- 
 rupted the air.^ The house itself was tolerable, the 
 
 (7 Will, III.) there is, however, a record of a grant to him at Windsor 
 of ' a piece of ground then late within the possession of the Board of 
 Works, and adjoining to his lordship's gardens.' 
 
 ' The trees, however, were spoken of as very fine in 1707. In that 
 
118 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 park was pretty, the gardens convenient, the ground 
 clayey and moist, and the water vile. The trees 
 which now form the chief attraction of Cranbourne 
 were probably planted under the directions of Evelyn. 
 The house when Godolphin bought it was not without 
 some of that interest which is attached to a connection 
 with great names. It had belonged in the preceding 
 reign to Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy. 
 Carteret had pulled down the larger portion of the old 
 house, leaving only the room in which the Duchess 
 of York had been born, and rebuilt the mansion 
 with commodious and extensive additions. While 
 in Carteret's hands Cranbourne had obtained some 
 celebrity. It was here that Charles II., in one of 
 those unworthy frolics in which he was ever too 
 prone to indulge, was induced, in drunken obedience to 
 the commands of his armourer, to drink on his knees 
 a health to the Duke of York. It was here that 
 Pepys, bearing the ill news of the attack on Bergen 
 to Sir George Carteret, found that the only method 
 of reaching the bedroom of the Secretary of the 
 Admiralty in his unfinished house was up a steep 
 ladder, and that the only way of imparting his infor- 
 
 year Lord Ranelagh represented to Lord Godolphin the irreparable 
 loss which was falling on Cranbourne by the felling of ' the old but 
 beautiful trees. ' It was true, Lord Ranelagh said, that the trees were 
 old, but still growing, and making a noble show and shade every summer, 
 their number great, and no young trees could pretend to match them 
 in fifty years. When cut, Cranbourne would look like Bagshot Heath. 
 He prayed his lordship's pity for the old trees, ' and for his devoted 
 servant old Ranelagh.' In reply it was said that Ranelagh was mis- 
 taken. No trees within a mile of Cranbourne had been marked. 
 Calendar of State Papers, March 24, 1706-6. 
 
EABLY POLITICAL LIFE 119 
 
 mation was to be achieved by creeping into his bed. 
 It was here that the noisiest revels of the time were 
 conducted, that hospitality existed without discipline, 
 that gentlemen and ladies practised the pastime of 
 cushion-fighting, that the respectable and drowsy 
 were shocked by the levity of the company or ren- 
 dered sleepless by its noise. Such was the house 
 which now came into the possession of Sidney 
 Godolphin, and here it was that he occasionally re- 
 sided for some years. 
 
120 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 UNDER WILLIAM III. 
 
 Good unexpected, evil unforeseen, 
 Appear by turns, as fortune shifts the scene ; 
 Some rais'd aloft, come tumbling down amain, 
 And fall so hard, they rise and bound again. 
 
 SiE Robert Walpole had commemorated his im- 
 prisonment in the Tower by scrawling his name on a 
 pane of glass, and thus Lord Lansdowne moralises on 
 the vicissitudes of his career. A maker of epigrams 
 or composer of rhymes, had there been one in readi- 
 ness in 1688, might have described the various 
 shifts and turns of Godolphia's fortune in much the 
 same language. Twice had he risen to the pinnacle 
 of prosperity, to find himself face to face with ap- 
 parent failure. He had opposed James when he 
 was Duke of York, and James had become King of 
 England. He had opposed William when Prince 
 of Orange, and William, contrary to the laws of 
 nature and man, had mounted upon James's throne. 
 Nine men out of ten would have quarrelled with 
 their fate and surrendered themselves to despair. 
 Not so Godolphin. Nobody knew better than he 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 121 
 
 did how to repair a loss, or how to convert disaster 
 into victory. He was versed in the intrigues of 
 court, the knowledge of public business, and the 
 management of men. The tools which had enabled 
 him to construct his fortunes were still in his pos- 
 session if he desired to restore them. Thus fortune, 
 as men too often call the personal qualities which 
 command success, still proved faithful, and the 
 course of his official life was hardly interrupted by 
 a change of sovereigns. 
 
 On February 14, 1689, Godolphin was ap- 
 pointed by William a Commissioner of the Treasury. 
 Lords Mordaunt and Delamere were the other 
 Commissioners, and Mordaunt was placed at the 
 head of the Board. They both hated Godolphin, and 
 were furious at having him for a colleague. Nor 
 was the Whig party in general better pleased. The 
 Whigs regarded the offices and places in the gift of 
 the Crown as their legitimate booty. They had been 
 the authors of the Revolution. They had risked their 
 lives and estates for William, and for the liberties of 
 the country. Were they, they asked, not to gather 
 the fruits of their own harvest, or were those to be 
 placed in authority over the people who had failed to 
 defend their liberties ? The sentiments of the Whigs 
 were not unnatural. A king less politic and wise than 
 William would in all probability have considered 
 them reasonable, and would have acted upon them. 
 
 It was, however, no portion of the policy of 
 William III. to sufifer the vanquished partisans of 
 
122 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 James II. to be utterly crushed. From the beginning 
 to the end of his reign he shunned the thought of 
 relying solely upon either Whig or Tory party. He 
 dreaded the revolutionary principles of the Whigs, 
 though the Whigs had placed him on the throne of 
 England ; he dreaded the power and factiousness of 
 the Tories, and would fain have governed without 
 them, though he admitted that upon the Tories the 
 safety of the monarchical system chiefly depended. 
 On this account, in all probability, William showed 
 from the earliest moment of his reign a prepossession 
 for the Tories, and a preference for men like Godol- 
 phin over men like Howe. Unfortunately for William, 
 the Tories were not prepared to acknowledge that he 
 had a claim to the attributes which they freely ad- 
 mitted were the property of the sovereign. Between 
 his person and his function William as ruler was rent 
 in twain. ' The Whigs love me best,' he said ; ' but 
 the Tories are the best friends to the monarchy.' 
 ' Ay,' answered Sunderland, ' the Tories are better 
 friends to the monarchy than the Whigs ; but your 
 Majesty must remember that you are not their 
 monarch.' William was, however, determined that 
 there should be no appearance of proscription, and 
 thus Godolphin, with other eminent Tories, was called 
 upon to take part in his government. The merits of 
 the Tory minister added to the dislike which already 
 inspired his colleagues, and pointed with envy the 
 natural malice of party hatred ; but hated, envied, as 
 he was, no man in England was so well versed in the 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 123 
 
 duties of the Treasury, nor could the king have made 
 a more fitting selection. 
 
 Godolphin, indeed, possessed high qualifications 
 for ofiice, but there were objections to employing him 
 which it is difficult to perceive how even William, with 
 all his magnanimity and policy, contrived to surmount. 
 Godolphin was the recognised agent of the fugitive 
 king. Recent events had rendered this circumstance 
 notorious. At a meeting of peers, convened, after 
 the landing of William and the flight of James, to de- 
 cide upon the steps to be taken for the security of 
 the country, he acted almost in the capacity of his 
 attorney.^ James had left a letter behind him. 
 This document it was proposed to read to the Lords. 
 Godolphin, who had it in his possession, refused to 
 read it. ' I grieve to say,' he said, ' that there is 
 nothing in it which will give your lordships any 
 satisfaction.' Nobody disputed the right of Godol- 
 phin to refuse to read the paper, nobody for a moment 
 questioned that had it been for the advantage of 
 James he would have read it, and nobody who has 
 ever studied it can doubt that he did well to conceal 
 from the public a document as vain and futile as was 
 ever penned by fallen monarch to lure rebellious sub- 
 jects to their duty. But his opposition to William 
 took a more active shape than expressions of regret 
 for the folly and obduracy of James. When the 
 Convention Parliament met he was found in the 
 
 ' Shrewsbury's Correspondence, December 1696 : Somers to 
 Shrewsbury. 
 
124 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 ranks of the prince's opponents. In the disputes 
 concerning the succession he voted with the party 
 which favoured a regency ; while in the House of 
 Commons his brother Charles was openly charged by 
 the Whigs with corresponding with James. It is 
 certainly strange that under such circumstances 
 William should have asked Godolphin to join his 
 Government, and the explanation that the king 
 desired to govern by a mixed administration seems 
 scarcely sufficient. 
 
 The magnanimity of William was great, but it 
 would not have been magnanimity, but folly, to have 
 employed a statesman in high office whom he knew 
 to be violently hostile to himself and anxious to 
 frustrate his designs. However tolerant a ruler may 
 be, he would be insane to call to his councils men 
 whose object it is to overthrow his power. It would 
 be equally rational to arm the man who desires to 
 take our lives. Yet, unless William had grounds for 
 believing that Godolphin was attached to his cause 
 to a greater extent than has generally been supposed, 
 it is this inconceivable folly of which he is accused. 
 
 It seems, therefore, probable to us that Godolphin, 
 after WUliam was once established on the throne by 
 law, was neither so staunch to James nor so adverse 
 to William as is frequently conjectured, and that 
 William, who was well acquainted with Godolphin's 
 character and inner political opinions, was able to 
 discriminate between an hostility emanating from an 
 objection to a certain fixed settlement of the crown, 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 125 
 
 and an hostility inflamed by personal opposition to 
 himself as a usurper. Godolphin might quite con- 
 sistently, after the abdication of James was a recog- 
 nised fact, have partially favoured the Revolution, and 
 at the same time have wished to modify its results 
 in regard to the succession, without implying an in- 
 veterate antagonism to William's cause. It is one 
 thing to accept a change in principle, and another 
 thing to accept it to the smallest details which its 
 advocates demand. 
 
 Nor when we consider Godolphin's relations at 
 this time with William should we forget, as confirm- 
 ing the opinion which we have expressed, the poUcy 
 which he had professed in the reign of Charles II. 
 Godolphin had then desired to exclude James from 
 the throne, and place WUliam on it. Circumstances, 
 it is true, had altered his plans. The accession of 
 James to the crown, and Godolphin's own increasing 
 prosperity, had no doubt led him to regard the pre- 
 tensions of the Prince of Orange with less satisfac- 
 tion than when his fortunes were less assured. The 
 final risks attending revolution must have been as 
 distasteful to him as to most men who are about 
 to change a government under which they have won 
 wealth and honour, for a government which they 
 know nothing about. Yet, the step once irrevocable 
 and the revolution made, Godolphin was not un- 
 likely to recur to those views which he had formerly 
 held, now that there were no considerations of in- 
 terest or timidity to weigh against them. Thus it is 
 
12G THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 possible that William may have considered that the 
 opposition of Godolphin was directed rather against 
 the conditions under which he was to govern than 
 against the circumstance of his sovereignty. 
 
 The reasons, therefore, for disbelieving that 
 Godolphin was very hostile to William are strong ; 
 but had the reasons been weak instead of strong 
 they would probably have sufficed to satisfy the 
 king. No monarch was ever more anxious than 
 William III. to put a favourable construction on 
 the doubtful acts of his subjects. He proved over 
 and over again in the course of his reign that he 
 preferred to be ignorant of information which 
 many Governments would have lavished fortunes to 
 purchase. His object was to find out what was 
 good, not what was bad, among his peojile. Had 
 it been otherwise, the task of government, difficult 
 as it was, would have been rendered well-nigh im- 
 possible. Nearly all his great English subjects had 
 some connection, however slight, with the Court of 
 St. Germains. Numbers of the gentry regarded the 
 exiled king with deep affection,' and were incapable 
 of separating themselves abruptly from past asso- 
 ciations. At the very moment when William was 
 hovering off our shores, the long winter evenings in 
 many an old hall and manor were probably beguiled 
 in relating round the blazing fire the history of some 
 exploit in the Civil War which had become the theme 
 of family pride. The Stewarts had lived, suffered, 
 governed, died, in England for several generations. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 127 
 
 and to hope that James at St. Germains would be 
 forgotten would have been to hope that the revolu- 
 tion which had changed England had changed human 
 nature. Such being the condition of England, William 
 was precluded, as much by necessity as by choice, 
 from inquiring too closely into the sentiments of his 
 servants. Every sovereign, however, has not the 
 wisdom to discover what the necessities of his situa- 
 tion are, or if he discovers them the resolution to act 
 upon them. William was both conscious of them, 
 and determined to be guided by them. He pursued 
 his ends with a tenacity of purpose which no mortifi- 
 cation or resentment could tui-n, and in a manner 
 which displayed incredible self-restraint and sagacity. 
 From the Whigs, however, Godolphin could expect 
 no such toleration ; nor did he get it. They hated 
 him both for what he was doing and for what he 
 had done. But for the present every effort to dis- 
 lodge him from office proved abortive. It was in 
 vain that Hampden directed against him a resolution 
 which would have driven him from power, that he de- 
 clared that Henry IV. of France might as well have 
 chosen a minister from the League, or the Dutch 
 when redeemed from popery a ruler from among the 
 agents of Alva, as that William III. should call to 
 his Government a servant of James II. It was in 
 vain that the Indemnity Bill was so woven that its 
 meshes should not prove large enough to permit his 
 escape. He maintained his position till the dissolu- 
 tion of Parliament filled the House of Commons again 
 
128 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 with Tories, when, for some inexplicable reason — 
 from dislike, perhaps, of occupying a subordinate place 
 at a Board over which he had once presided, or from 
 motives of more profound policy — he retired from the 
 Government, to appear in it again, after the lapse of a 
 few months, in the higher office of First Commissioner 
 of the Treasury. 
 
 The commission of Godolphin as First Commis- 
 sioner of the Treasury was dated November 15, 1690. 
 He was hardly installed in ofl&ce before his name be- 
 came involved in those mysterious and treasonable con- 
 spiracies which have cast so deep a shadow upon his 
 own fame and upon that of some of his most illustri- 
 ous contemporaries. The haze which shrouded the 
 intercourse between the fallen king at St. Germains, 
 and the adherents who supported, or pretended to 
 support him in England, was never fully penetrated 
 at the time, and has never entirely lifted since. To 
 this day it conceals or distorts the history of nearly 
 every statesman of the reign of William III. To 
 form, therefore, any just opinion of Godolphin's 
 public life at this period, it is absolutely essential 
 that we should first of all attempt to understand 
 the medium through which we see him, in the same 
 way that a man who desires accurately to describe 
 an object which he sees through imperfect glass, 
 must, before doing so, study the imperfections of the 
 glass and its effects upon the object whose likeness it 
 is his ambition to portray. We shall therefore briefly 
 discuss the character of the charges of treason which 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 129 
 
 were made against Godolphin at intervals througli the 
 reign of William III. The charge made against him 
 by Bulkeley in 1691 is a fair example of all. 
 
 In 1691 there a})peared in London a man of the 
 name of Bulkeley. Of Bulkeley we know little, 
 except that he was an agent of James II., and an old 
 friend of Godolphin. From his occupation, however, 
 we may safely conclude that he possessed many of 
 the characteristics of that mischievous class of busy- 
 bodies whose love of excitement and intrigue, or 
 almost insane attachixient to a most undeservinjj 
 monarch, led them to trade upon the misfortunes of 
 the times, and compromise the fame of honest men. 
 Like others of his vocation, he was almost certainly a 
 fanatic or a rogue ; and to either fanatic or rogue the 
 temptation to secure for James the submission, real 
 or pretended, of a great officer of State was enormous. 
 Nobody probably knew better than Bulkeley how in- 
 tense would be the exultation at St. Germains if he 
 could assure James that Godolphin, who seemed lost 
 to his cause, was still his devoted servant, and that 
 the Exchequer of England had for its president a 
 resolute but secret foe of the usurper William. Nor 
 did the obstacles in his way seem by any means in- 
 superable. He was the friend of Godolphin. He 
 could procure interviews with him. He could en- 
 tangle him in conversations in which words might 
 be dubious and meanings perverted. If Godolphin 
 refused to become a traitor, he might at all events 
 represent him as prepared to become one. The 
 
 K 
 
180 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 inducement was great, the task was hopeful, and he 
 made up his mind to accomplish it. Thus Bulkeley 
 laid his plans. He only waited for an ojoportunity 
 of executing them. And an opportunity such as he 
 sought is not as a rule long in coming, for it is 
 usually manufactured. The tempter called upon 
 Godolphin in his office, and commenced to unfold 
 his scheme of treason. Godolphin conducted him- 
 self as anj' honest man might have done who was 
 nevertheless friendly to his visitor. He did not 
 refuse to converse, but when the conversation drifted 
 in a dangerous direction he prepared to leave the 
 room. For the moment Bulkeley was thwarted, but 
 not for long. A few hours later, meeting Marl- 
 borough and Godolphin walking in the park, he in- 
 vited them to dinner, where he declares that Godol- 
 phin's reserve forsook him, and he gave utterance to 
 professions of attachment to James.^ 
 
 This is the singular story which Macpherson tells 
 as an illustration of Godolphin's treason in 1691. If 
 by it we are intended to understand that Godolphin 
 was prepared to jjlot for the restoration of James, the 
 tale is indeed a marvellous one, for it is absolutely 
 opposed to every estimate of his character, whether 
 friendly or hostile. It has been said of him that if 
 there was one thing in the world which he detested 
 more than revolution, it was counter-revolution, that 
 his nature was so timid and his poltroonery so great, 
 that he not only feared to encounter the storm, but 
 
 ' Macpherson's Orhjinnl Papers, vol. i. p. 2.36. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 181 
 
 that he shrank from its very approach ; ^ yet we are 
 asked to believe that Godolphin had no sooner, with 
 unexampled good fortune, escaped from one revolu- 
 tion, than he was actually anxious to plunge head- 
 long into the vortex of another, and that, oblivious of 
 the perils of the tempest which had passed over him, 
 he was engaged in manufacturing the elements of a 
 fresh and perhaps more fatal storm. Nor was any- 
 body more astonished with Bulkeley's story than 
 James himself when he became acquainted with it. 
 He considered Godolphin deeply engaged in the revo- 
 lution, and it seemed to him highly improbable that 
 he, of all others, should be already proffering him his 
 service. The news was unquestionably strange, and 
 it behoves us to receive it with at least as much sus- 
 picion as did the credulous outcast for whom it was 
 intended. 
 
 It must be admitted that accusations such as 
 Bulkeley's are vague, shadowy, and unsatisfactory, 
 easy to make, and difficult to repel. An agent of 
 James makes a statement, and James believes it, and 
 upon these flimsy grounds we call for an elaborate, 
 perhaps impossible, refutation to a charge made by a 
 man of whose veracity we know nothing, and believed 
 in with difficulty by another who was notoriously the 
 victim of a hundred impositions. Justice demands 
 that if we have no method of weighing the evidence 
 
 What did he e'er in all his life perform, 
 But shrink at the approach of every storm. 
 
 ' Faction display'd,' SUde Poems. 
 
13-2 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 of such men as Bulkeley, we should at least thoroughly 
 establish then- character for trustworthiness before 
 creditmg statements which seem contrary to all 
 probability. But while there is not the slightest 
 presumption, as far as we are aware, in favour of 
 Bulkeley's accuracy, there is considerable presumption 
 in favour of his want of it. James's agents naturally 
 wished to convey to him such news as he would like 
 to hear. Their reputation, their hopes of reward, 
 all depended upon the favourable reports which they 
 could give of their proceedings in England. They 
 were highly interested m James's success, and were 
 eager that he should contribute to their efforts such 
 personal support as would most likely lead to success, 
 and there was no better way of stimulating his energy 
 and securing his co-operation than by flauntmg the 
 prospect of success before his eyes. They were 
 highly interested in extolling their own services, and 
 there was no better method of domg so than by 
 enumerating the many great men whom their artifices 
 had entrapped. The inducement, indeed, to colour 
 and misrepresent was always before their eyes. We 
 do not mean to assert that they were all wilfully 
 false, and we are quite prepared to admit that there 
 were many who were false who were unconsciously 
 false. But the minds and morals of men are coloured 
 by the circumstances of their lives ; and the casuistry, 
 the perverted morality, the twisting of nearly every 
 natural sentiment of honour, duty, and patriotism 
 for the purpose of endowing a bad cause with the 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 133 
 
 semblance of justice was as fatal to tlie honesty of 
 the Jacobite agents as a prolonged intercourse with 
 rogues is to the virtue of good men. It is just, 
 therefore, to those whom they accused to weigh the 
 testimony of the agents of James with great care, 
 and where there is any incompleteness in it to dis- 
 count very largely from its value. 
 
 The particular attributes of the age should also 
 not be forgotten in weighing the testimony of James's 
 informers. The scrupulous regard to accuracy which, 
 as a rule, at the present time characterises any 
 serious charge ag'ainst the honour of an individual was 
 then totally unknown. It was the age of false 
 witnesses, of false plots, of innocent victims, and of 
 hardened and abandoned perjurers. The fabrication 
 of fictitious evidence, an oiFence far worse in degree 
 than the loose and unauthentic assertions with which 
 we charge the Jacobites, was the odious fashion of the 
 day. Preachers, writes Macaulay, designated it as our 
 peculiar sin, and prophesied that it would draw upon 
 us some awful national judgment.^ To some extent 
 the prediction has been verified. Had it not been for 
 the Jacobite plot-mongers, their countless and reck- 
 less intrigues, their false plots, their undoubted and 
 pernicious power over men by the exercise of threats 
 and of promises, we believe that many of the great 
 names which have descended to us besmirched and 
 blackened would at the present moment shine bright 
 and unsullied on the pages of history ; but, however 
 
 ^ Macaulay, vol. vi. p. 1T7. 
 
134 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 this may be, it is clear, on the one hand, that the 
 testimony of the Jacobite agents must be received with 
 caution, and, on the other, that the professions which 
 they extorted from public men must be regarded in 
 many respects in the same manner as we regard 
 declarations wrung from accused persons by the 
 terror of consequences. 
 
 And if such were the agents of James — men 
 whose patriotism, if it deserved the name, was for the 
 most part alloyed with sentiments of a very different 
 description — what manner of man was James himself, 
 upon whose record we largely rely for furnishing us 
 with a correct recital of these intrigfues ? Through 
 life he was singularly distmguished for his utter 
 incapacity to appraise at their true value the pro- 
 fessions of his servants. At the very crisis of his 
 fate those whom he most trusted fell away from him, 
 and the last days of his reign were the first daj's of 
 his disillusionment. If he trusted those whom he 
 should have doubted, he was even more foolish in 
 doubting those whom he should have trusted. Lewis 
 XIY., with his own hand, wrote to inform him of 
 William's threatened invasion. James gave him no 
 credit. Sir Bevill Skelton, his ambassador at Paris, 
 induced D'Avaux to take the only steps which could 
 avert disaster. James recalled him and sent him to 
 the Tower.^ Truly did the unfortunate king say that 
 Providence designed to lead him through the paths 
 of affliction to the grave. But the affliction was 
 
 ' Macplierson's Orhjinal Papers, vol. i. p. 203. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 135 
 
 entirely of his own making, and not the work of 
 Providence further than that Providence had endowed 
 him with a stupid and a purblind mind. Why then 
 should we expect from the king at St. Germams — 
 where his natural shortness of vision was still further 
 impaired by distance, where he was surrounded by 
 unscrupulous and irresponsible advisers, where his 
 natural self-mystifications could find no possible 
 correction — a clearness of sight which he never pos- 
 sessed under more favourable circumstances ? Why 
 should we admit that he was grossly deceived by 
 Sunderland and Marlborough when they pretended 
 to serve him while he still had power to reward 
 them, and deny that it is highly probable that he 
 was equally deceived by those who protested their 
 willinirness to serve him now that to serve him was 
 as likely to be rewarded by death as by distinction ? 
 And why, last of all, should he not have been deceived 
 by his own agents, whose vocation absolutely re- 
 quired that they should employ dissimulation and 
 play upon the credulity of men ? But it may be 
 urered for James that the rude shock of his sta- 
 pendous misfortune had opened his eyes. Not so. 
 James, the rash, the bigoted, the impolitic, the 
 deluded King of England, learnt absolutely nothuig 
 in his exile. His errors were confirmed, and not cor- 
 rected by his fall ; if he was rash before, he was rasher 
 afterwards ; if he was bigoted before, he was more 
 bigoted afterwards ; if he was easily deceived before — 
 we say it with conviction — it was infinitely easier to 
 
136 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 deceive him afterwards ; that he was deceived by- 
 God olphin and many others we do not deny, nor do 
 we for a moment desire to extenuate their guilt ; but 
 in the moral gravity of the guilt there is all the 
 difference between mere insincerity and an almost 
 inexpiable crime. 
 
 The extraordinary facility which James possessed 
 of self-deception is a circumstance not to be forgotten 
 by those who have to weigh his testimony ; and 
 for this reason we should also carefully note the de- 
 gree of faith which his best-informed contemporai'ies 
 reposed in his veracity. He deceived himself con- 
 stantly, completely, and honestly ; but we greatly 
 doubt whether he ever really deceived those about 
 him. The French minister, Louvois, was an able and 
 astute man. France, during a great part of William's 
 reign, "was at war with England, and it was specially 
 the duty of Louvois to collect all the information that 
 could be obtained as to the condition of the English 
 peo2)le. Yet Louvois studioiisly and almost rudely 
 ignored the advice and the communications which 
 poured in upon him in torrents from St. Germains. 
 Melfort was perhaps as faithful a supporter of James 
 as was to be found among the small band of exiles 
 which had shared the fortunes of their fallen kins" ; but 
 it is doubtful whether even Melfort alto2:ether believed 
 the gossip which came from England concerning the 
 friendly disposition of the English ministers. '^ Nor is 
 
 ' ' If the men of rank who are in the Prince of Orange's interest, 
 and at the same rime correspond with the King of England, are sincere 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 137 
 
 the scepticism of either Louvois or Melfort surprising 
 — scarcely a month passed which did not furnish 
 to the world an example of James's extraordinary 
 ci'edulity. If he was convinced of one thing more 
 than another, it was that the English fleet under 
 Russell was unflinchingly loyal to his cause. The 
 English fleet no sooner encountered the French fleet, 
 which represented his fortunes, in the Channel than it 
 inflicted upon it at La Hogue one of the most fatal 
 defeats which has ever befallen the naval arms of 
 France. If there was one point which he considered 
 more absolutely indisputable than another, it was 
 that the populations of the north and west of 
 England were panting for his restoration ; yet 
 Tourville's squadron, bearing an invading force, was 
 scarcely descried from Torbay before the whole 
 coast of Devonshire swarmed with a mighty host of 
 people, determined at all hazards to repel the soldiers 
 whom Lewis had devoted to his cause. Thus, the 
 allies and adherents of James learned to doubt h's 
 knowledge and accuracy, and smiled incredulously 
 when he boasted of the multitude of his friends, and 
 of the great English statesmen who, enjoying honour 
 and safety under William, were prepared to risk all 
 which they had won and all which they possessed to 
 place the crown again upon his head. .N^or was their 
 scepticism wonderful ; what does seem incredible is that 
 
 in tlieir professions, which, though, difficult to he believed, is very pos- 
 sible,' &c. , &c. Memorial in Melfort's writing intended for the French 
 Ministry, November or December 1692, or January 1693. Macpher- 
 son's Original Papers. 
 
138 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 the assertions of James, vrliich were utterly insuf- 
 ficient to convince contemporaries so well informed 
 and interested as Louvois on the one hand and, as 
 it afterwards proved, William on the other, should 
 have received so large a measure of assent from 
 posterity. 
 
 Moreover, James held out no inducements to 
 men, who had already everything in the world they 
 most wanted, to revolt. In return for neutrality 
 only, he promised pardon and confirmation of 
 privileges ; ^ and more than neutrality there is no 
 reason to suppose that Godolphin ever pretended to 
 ofi^er. It is hardly, then, possible to suppose that 
 a statesman like Godolphin, bearing rank, enjoying 
 ofiice, exercising influence, possessuig, in short, 
 everything that the heart of a successful and am- 
 bitious man holds dear, was prepared to risk his 
 fortunes on a promise extorted by the cruelty of 
 circumstances from one who was more likely to be 
 mindful of his revenge than of his word. It seems 
 utterly incredible that a man, no longer young, with 
 a large experience of afi'airs, with a reputation for 
 prudence and talent which was eventually to justify 
 itself in the very highest degree, should have deserted 
 James merely for the pleasure of deserting William a 
 few months afterwards; that he should have rated 
 his life and fortune at so cheap a price that, having 
 incurred the terrible dangers of treason once, he was 
 
 ' Macpherson's Original Papers, August 1094. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 139 
 
 prepared to encounter them a second time to place 
 upon the throne a man whom he had mortally 
 offended, whose vindictive temper was known never 
 to pardon, and whose voice even from exile breathed 
 punishment rather than mercy. The proof must be 
 very strong, indeed, before it can convince us that 
 a man of Godolphin's character would voluntarily 
 jeopardise his social position and even his very 
 existence in any active plot against Wilham. That 
 he desired James to think precisely what James did 
 think — namely, that he was his sincerest friend 
 and earnest well-wisher — is probable enough. His 
 courtly phrases and friendly messages were seed 
 not intended to flourish unless fertilised by the 
 blood which the impending storm of counter-revolu- 
 tion seemed to threaten. Then, uideed, it was to 
 bring forth fruit in due season ; but Godolphin, 
 unless his character was very different from our 
 conception of it, was glad to see the storm pass 
 away, glad to think that the seed he had so pru- 
 dently sown should remain unfruitful in the soil, and 
 that his established fortunes should not be hazarded 
 in the vicissitudes of civil war. Such are some of 
 the reasons, at all events, which induce us to regard 
 the reports of Godolphin's treason with suspicion. 
 There still remain some other points to consider. 
 
 Through the whole of the period from 1690 to 
 1696, when Godolphin's complicity with the Jacobites 
 is supposed to have been greatest, he was anxious to 
 resign office. Now we are informed upon the most uu- 
 
140 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 deniable authority ^ that he was by the exjiress orders 
 of James commanded to remain at the Treasury. It 
 is curious that this shouhi have been so, as we are 
 also told that Shrewsbury's resignation was exacted 
 by James as a pledge of his fidelity, and it is diffi- 
 cult to see what special reasons existed to separate 
 the case of Godolphin from that of Shrewsbury. 
 There can be, however, no doubt about the matter. 
 James certainly directed Godolphin to remain at his 
 post, and Godolphin, in spite of this command, 
 determined to retire, and assigned three reasons for 
 his decision. To Sydney he pleaded domestic 
 obstacles to public life : he had, he said, just 
 married ; an elderly man engaged aU day in busi- 
 ness would not do well to brmg his wife to 
 court.^ To William he offered another excuse : his 
 health was bad ; the duties of office onerous ; his 
 strength was unequal to their discharge. To the 
 emissaries of James he furnished yet another reason. 
 It was impossible for him, he said, to betray his trust ; 
 to serve James he inust retire, for he could not serve 
 him and at the same time remain the confidential 
 servant of William. There are some cases which 
 
 ^ Macaulay. 
 
 ^ The allusion to Godolphin's second marriage will be found in one 
 of the appendices to Dalrymple's Memoirs in a letter from Sydney to 
 the king dated February 3, 1691, N. S. It is the only reference to a 
 second marriage which I have come across. In 1G79, about a year after 
 the death of Mrs. Godolphin, there was a report that Godolphin was 
 going to be married again. It was without foundation, and Godolphin 
 was annoyed at it. Sydney's Diary. A letter from Lady Sunderland 
 to Sydney, December 16, 1679. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 141 
 
 acquii'e strength from an array of cumulative reasons 
 produced in tlieir support ; others which on this very 
 account lose whatever strength they possess. Godol- 
 phin's explanations convince us of nothing, except 
 that he did not choose to state his true reason for 
 desiring to leave office. It is, however, perfectly 
 certain that his intention to retire could not have 
 been otherwise than oifensive to James, and that had 
 James been restored to the throne such conduct 
 woidd not have been forgotten or forgiven. Nor 
 would at least one of his reasons, and that the most 
 honourable, have justified him before the late king. 
 James could not have understood or appreciated the 
 scruple which forbade Godolphin to betray the master 
 whose bread he ate. The great object of James's life 
 had been to persuade men to violate the most sacred 
 trusts. By him judges had been induced to betray 
 the law, clergymen to betray religion, and statesmen 
 to betray those whose interests they should have 
 protected. Treason was the lesson which he taught 
 to all, which he exacted and expected from all — 
 treason to everything and every one but himself. 
 Godolphin's refusal to betray William would un- 
 doubtedly have been regarded by James as treason 
 to himself. 
 
 One point alone remains to be noticed. James 
 directed Godolphin to remain in office. Godolphin, 
 as we have just said, declared on the other hand 
 that he would resign it. He did not resign for five 
 years. Why was his resignation so long deferred ? 
 
142 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Does it indicate a cliange in favour of James ? We 
 tliink not : William was as anxious as James that 
 Godolpliin should remain in the Government, and it 
 was to the solicitations of William rather than to 
 those of James that Godolphin yielded. Godolphin, 
 we are persuaded, wished to leave the Government in 
 spite of the arguments of both his present and his 
 past masters ; but he was utterly unable to do so in 
 the face of William's opposition. 
 
 It may seem strange that a minister in such a 
 matter should not have been able to follow his own 
 inclinations. But a study of the correspondence be- 
 tween William III. and Shrewsbury in connection 
 with Shrewsbury's either resigning or accepting office 
 will show how great were the difficulties thrown in 
 the way of the minister who desired to do what he 
 liked. It required a very determined man to resist 
 the importunities of the king, and a very strong 
 man, if he did resist them, not to suffer severely for 
 so doing. In 1690 Shrewsbury left the Government ; 
 in 1694 he returned to it. Before he was permitted 
 to retire from office the obstinacy with which the 
 king opposed his wishes threw him into a fever ; 
 before he consented to return to it he suffered an 
 absolute persecution. It was not enough that he 
 said that he did not wish for office, that if he 
 accepted it he should find no party to support him, 
 that his health was bad : the king descended even to 
 intrigues to win him, and employed the services of his 
 own mistress, Mrs. Villiers, to obtain an end which was 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 148 
 
 beyond his own powers of persnasion or authority. 
 When Shrewsbury came to town in the winter to 
 attend Parliament, the ladies of the court arranged 
 plots to bring him into the king's presence. His life 
 was rendered miserable, and he bitterly lamented that 
 he was not buried under the snows which then .lay deep 
 around his country-seat. To go abroad, he said, was 
 the onljr way to escape from the pursuit of the king. 
 Entreaties and arguments were backed by promises of 
 promotion. A. dukedom, he was told, would be the 
 reward of compliance. He, however, had the firm- 
 ness — or the obstinacy, as the ladies of the court 
 called it— temporarily to resist either entreaties or 
 temptations. But, ineffectual as the king's pro- 
 ceedings may have been for a time with Shrews- 
 bury, they may have prevailed with weaker or less 
 confident men. They might easily have induced 
 Godolphin to offer a grumbling support to a Govern- 
 ment which his own inclinations would have led him 
 to quit. That Godolphin, however, wanted to resign 
 is certain. He was probably actuated by a combina- 
 tion of reasons — in part by some of those which he 
 himself stated, in part by the uncertainty of the 
 continuation of William's occupation of the throne ; 
 but mostly, we feel convinced, in consequence of 
 the great confusion of the public finances, coupled 
 with the king's reckless methods of procuring and 
 spending money. 
 
 All the letters written by Godolphin to the king 
 or by the king to Godolphin during the years 1691- 
 
144 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 1694, all the debates that have been preserved in parlia- 
 mentary history, confirm this impression. The beha- 
 viour of Goilolphin, which is inexplicably mysterious 
 when ascribed alone to illness, sedition, or domestic 
 precaution, becomes as clear as daylight when judged 
 by a more honourable and common- sense test. His 
 policy becomes natural to his character, and his charac- 
 ter is in harmony with our conjectures of his policy; 
 what has irritated us with its perverse unhttingness, 
 only to be unsatisfactorily accounted for by the subtle 
 shifts of a Machiavellian mind, falls at once into 
 its place with the facility and neatness of a child's 
 puzzle. As has often been said, prudence was the 
 strong feature of Godolphin's character ; a prudence 
 which was not timidity, as timidity implies that 
 reason is dominated more or less by fear — but a 
 prudence so sensitive that it was imconsciously 
 affected by every external circumstance. His mind 
 was of a sort which, to use the ^jolitical phraseology 
 of the present day, always inclined to be ' in touch ' 
 with the controlling influences of the kingdom. In 
 his second period of office there was much in public 
 affairs to alarm a sensitiveness so delicate. Godolphin 
 observed that the pohtical heavens were dark and 
 threatening, and his peculiar training naturally indi- 
 cated to him the quarter from which danger was to 
 be apprehended, and upon whom the bolts of the 
 tempest would fall. He was an excellent and 
 experienced financier. Nobody knew better than 
 he did how great was tlie confusion of the national 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 145 
 
 finances, nor tlie constantly increasing drain which 
 the war imposed upon the resources of the country. 
 Nobody was more alive to the fact that the House of 
 Commons was daily growing more jealous of this 
 lavish and uncontrolled expenditure ; that angry 
 murmurs against the Commissioners of the Treasury 
 had already been uttered within its walls ; that party 
 enemies had already hinted that the faults of a valiant 
 and wise prince might be properly visited on his 
 advisers. Godolphin, with his long experience of 
 the Treasury, with the consciousness of the abuses 
 existing in it, with his profound and, as his whole 
 life proved, accurate insight into the future of poli- 
 tical and parliamentary progress, must have been 
 well aware that his office was not only a difficult, 
 but was fast becommg a dangerous one. Under 
 the circumstances, that he should have been driven 
 either to remonstrate or to resign was exactly what 
 might have been expected, and precisely what oc- 
 curred. 
 
 Nor was Godolphin inclined to suffer for abuses 
 with which he had no sympathy. He condemned 
 many of the objectionable practices which regulated 
 the busmess of the Treasury. A methodical man, he 
 could not approve of an utter want of method. A 
 careful man, he could not but object to the most pro- 
 fuse prodigality. He remonstrated with the king 
 on the mismanagement of his finances in the very 
 strongest terms — in terms, indeed, so strong that we 
 do not recollect to have seen any letters of what may 
 
146 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 be termed so ' downriglit ' a description during the 
 whole of this period. His advice, too, was eminently 
 good, and the king, though he did not always follow 
 it, was wise enough to value the man who gave it. 
 It was also conceived in an absolutely different spirit 
 to that of Marlborough, and is therefore interesting, 
 not only as an illustration of Godolphin's views in 
 respect of finance, but in respect also of his fidelity 
 to the king. Mai-lborongh would have ruined 
 William III. by constitutional means; he would have 
 placed him in a dilemma in which he would either 
 have been confronted by his Parliament, or stripped 
 of the power of resisting his enemies. Grodolphin, 
 it was also alleged, desired to restore King James 
 by constitutional methods, and it was asserted that 
 his prudent opposition to violent methods did the 
 Jacobite cause great harm. Here was an oppor- 
 tunity of testing his professions. As head of the 
 Treasury, he might have encouraged the king in ex- 
 travagance, and involved him in ruin, not only con- 
 stitutionally, but in a manner almost to defy detection. 
 The Jacobite intriguers, with all their running to 
 and fro, their chattering and their gossiping, never 
 hatched a scheme which would have been more likely 
 than a policy thus simple and astute to precipitate 
 WiUiam from the throne of England. Why did 
 Godolphin, steeped as he was said to be to the very 
 lips in treason, neglect this golden opportunity of 
 destroying the king in a manner so conformable to his 
 alleged professions ? Why did he offer William ad- 
 
UNDEB ]VILLIAM III. 147 
 
 vice so sound and so wholesome, but so unpalatable 
 that the king almost quarrelled with him for giving 
 it ? Why did he actually warn him against the dangers 
 into which the friends of James wished to lure him ? ^ 
 Had Godolphin been inspired by Marlborough's re- 
 fined treachery, he would not have attempted to check 
 an expenditure which was more certam than any- 
 thing else to bring a headstrong king, an enthusiast 
 in a great cause, a cause which could only thrive by 
 being gorged with gold, into opposition with a parsi- 
 monious Parliament, just acquiring a knowledge of 
 its own powers, and hating the Dutch nearly as much 
 as it did the French. Here are all the elements of 
 one of those deep-laid plots which rejoiced Marl- 
 borough's heart, and in which posterity is too 
 ready to believe that Godolphin shared. Yet this 
 glorious opportunity was lost, and the statesman 
 who, if the accusations against him are true, should 
 have blasted the cause of the usurper with curses, 
 blessed it instead with words of beneficial counsel. 
 
 If, then, we wish to discover the reason which 
 prompted Godolphin' s desire for resignation in the 
 early part of the reign of William III., we are satisfied 
 that we must study the financial history of the time 
 even more carefully than the secret correspondence of 
 Jacobite busybodies. 
 
 The autumn of 1690, in which Godolphin accepted 
 office as First Commissioner of the Treasury, brought 
 
 1 Dalrymple, vol. ii. pt. ii. b. i. app. p. 32 ; Godolphin to 
 William, 1694. 
 
 T. 9. 
 
148 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 with it every prospect of financial distress. The want of 
 money had already been greatly felt, and, as was quite 
 natural, complaints were made of the large amounts 
 lavished upon pensions and upon secret services. 
 The Government was in truth almost bankrupt, the 
 people were groaning under the necessary expenses 
 of the war. The general poverty, it was said, was 
 unknown to the king. He, it was complained, who 
 saw nothing but coaches and six, and feasted nowhere 
 but at great tables,^ was necessarily unacquainted 
 with the grinding want which was rapidly ruining 
 the country. But, however ignorant William was 
 of the poverty of his subjects, he was quite aware of 
 his own. His speech on opening Parliament, in 
 October 1690, was a confession of absolute impecu- 
 niosity. He returned from his victory of the Boyne 
 to inform the House that his army was in arrears, and 
 his revenue so pledged that, unless at once cleared, it 
 would very shortly be completely engaged in paying 
 off the debts already charged against it.^ The House 
 voted supplies, and within two months after his first 
 speech the king made another, informing Parliament 
 that there was no provision for the civil government. 
 During the year 1692 affairs grew, if possible, worse. 
 The pay of the army was, as usual, in arrears. A 
 motion made to postpone consideration of the navy 
 and army estimates for a few days was met by 
 the objection that even this delay^was impracticable. 
 
 > Cobbett's Pari. Hist, vol. v. p. 562, 1690. 
 
 ' Ibid., October 2 and November 25, 1690 ; December 3, 1691 ; 
 November 25, 1692. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 149 
 
 The exchequer was empty. Its credit was not 
 even worth a thousand pounds. ' We have not sub- 
 sistence for the army,' said Sir Stephen Fox, ' not for 
 one day more.' To complicate the situation still 
 further, a spirit of inquisition had been aroused in the 
 House of Commons, and the more that was disclosed, 
 the more need there seemed for inquiry. Many of 
 the public accounts were irregularly audited ; those 
 of the king's household had not been made up for 
 ten years. Confusion and debt existed everywhere, 
 and it appeared that a financial crisis, accompanied in 
 all probability by a parliamentary explosion, might at 
 any moment be anticipated. 
 
 The position of the First Commissioner of the 
 Treasury was clearly not a pleasant one. He had to 
 serve two imperious and exacting masters. He was 
 the servant of a Parliament which was suddenly 
 inspired with the flame of the purest virtue, and of a 
 king who intended to circumvent his Parliament in 
 every way which he could. The king naturally 
 leant to the somewhat arbitrary methods of his prede- 
 cessors ; and he had the practice, if not the spirit, of 
 the Constitution on his side. The House of Commons 
 was rapidly preparing to turn the spirit of the Con- 
 stitution into its practice. Godolphin had succeeded 
 to an oflice where the abuses of generations were 
 rampant, and which it would take the work of genera- 
 tions to pui-ify. He was distraught between the two 
 great contending powers. He had to obey the king 
 and to satisfy the Commons, and he succeeded in this 
 
150 TH£: EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 task as well, perhaps, as it was possible for any man 
 to do. 
 
 Under the circumstances, however, it is neither 
 wonderful that Godolphin wished to retire from the 
 Government, nor that William determined to keep 
 him in it. Nor is it extraordinary that in his almost 
 compulsory occupation of office Godolphin, short of 
 treason, should have shown some coldness to an 
 administration which he notoriously desired to leave. 
 He ceased to attend Cabinet councils, and confined 
 himself entirely to the business of the Treasury.''- 
 
 Such conduct could not pass without observation 
 and criticism in an age when every public man was 
 suspected, and when every one who was suspected 
 was watched by the eyes of a hundred self-constituted 
 informers. The conduct of Godolphin excited the 
 suspicions of Sydney, and the king's English favourite, 
 as he was called, transmitted to William on the con- 
 tinent his doubts of Godolphin's fidelity. ' The Club,' 
 he wrote to the king, July 1692, alluding to a small 
 body of disaffected men,^ was framing measures hos- 
 tile to him. He could not say for certain whether 
 Godolphin acted with the Club or not ; but it was a 
 remarkable fact, and one which he hoped William 
 would notice, that, in spite of Godolphin's constant 
 talk of leaving town and going to Tunbridge to drink 
 the waters, he still remained in London. 
 
 ' Sydney to Vl^iUiam, February 27, 1|||, and March G, 1691. Dal- 
 rymple's Memoirs, vol. iii. pp. 180, 248. 
 
 ' July 12, 1G92, Sydney to William. Dalrymple's Memoirs. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 151 
 
 To any dispassionate person many reasons might 
 have suggested themselves as likely, perhaps as more 
 likely, to account for this delay than participation in 
 treasonable designs. The king's service might seem 
 as good a reason as the king's disservice for the 
 uncertain plans of the First Commissioner of the 
 Treasury in a time of peculiar trial and embarrass- 
 ment. But Sydney, with the readiness to convict 
 which was charactei'istic of the age, at once concluded 
 that as Godolphin did not start for Tunbridge so soon 
 as was expected he remained in town for the purpose of 
 concocting treason with the Club. The suspicion was 
 absolutely groundless. Godolphin was not anxious 
 to remain in London. He was, on the contrary, 
 eagerly petitioning the king to permit him to take 
 some rest in the country. And far from it being re- 
 markable that he was still in London when Sydney 
 on July 12 wrote to the king, it was not tillJuly 17 ^ 
 that the king, writing from Genappe, accorded him 
 the permission for which he begged, and even then 
 with the reservation that it should be confirmed by 
 the queen. Nor, in fact, did he ever go to Tunbridge 
 at all, but to Cranbourne, where, as he observed to 
 Blathwayte, he was, in case of pressure, only three 
 hours from London.^ 
 
 Such instances of error should make us cautious 
 how we accept the vague and damaging accusations 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 24905, f. 20, British Museum. July 17, 1692, 
 William to Godolphin. 
 
 " Additional MSS. 9735, British Museum. This letter is not 
 dated, but I think was clearly written in the summer of 1692. 
 
152 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 which were freely made, and too freely accepted, at 
 this period in regard to public men. Had WilHam 
 entertained the slightest doubt of Godolphin's loyalty, 
 he could have hardly concealed it in 1692. The 
 year was one of the most gloomy in his whole reign. 
 The fear of a formidable invasion from France was 
 rendered more terrible by the knowledge of a formid- 
 able conspiracy in England. Yet neither before nor 
 after Sydney's insinuations did William seem for a 
 moment to question Godolphin's fidelity. ' I con- 
 fess,' he wrote to Godolphin early in the year 1()92 
 on the subject of his proposed resignation, ' when I 
 think of it I cannot persuade myself that you will 
 continue in this resolution, and that you have too 
 much friendship for me to wish to abandon me in 
 such a conjuncture. The personal friendship that I 
 have had for you ever since I knew you makes me 
 hope that you will return it on this occasion. I can 
 with truth assure you that the wish I have to see 
 you continue in my service does not so much proceed 
 from the benefit that I shall draw from it, as to have 
 the satisfaction of having near me a person for whom 
 I have such a personal friendship, and of whom I 
 have so good an opinion. If you have the least for 
 me, I am sure that when you have well considered 
 the thing, you will not contmue in your resolution, 
 and will give me this satisfaction which will certainly 
 be a great relief to me in all the disagreeable affairs 
 which I have upon my hands.' ^ And again, about 
 
 ^ William to Godolphin, Hague, February yj, 1691. Additional 
 MSS. 24905, f. 3, British Museum. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 153 
 
 a month after lie had received Sydney's letter, August 
 28 : ' I hope that you and all my other friends will 
 assist me in surmounting all the difficulties which 
 are foreseen, the cabals which are already forming to 
 give me trouble and to do harm to the Government, 
 and to all Europe. God grant that we may surmount 
 them.' ^ No monarch would pen such a letter to a 
 minister who he knew was prepared to betray him. 
 Such conduct would not even have had the merit of 
 successful hypocrisy, for it would have deceived no- 
 body. As William, therefore, dismissed such charges 
 as Sydney's against Godolphin, so may we. Wilham 
 knew with what manner of men he had to deal. He 
 knew Sydney well, and probably knew well also the 
 sources of his intelligence. He knew, too, the secrets 
 of the Jacobites, which were never well kept, far better 
 than we know them ; yet he not only conferred upon 
 Godolphin offices of the highest responsibility, but 
 he treated him as a friend whom he trusted. With 
 all William's great generosity to enemies whom he 
 respected, it is scarcely credible that he should have 
 written to Godolphin the letters he did had he not 
 been confident of his fidelity. William himself was 
 once heard to declare that though he could profit by 
 treason, he could never bear the traitor. If William 
 was indeed conscious of Godolphin's guilt it would 
 be impossible to reconcile his conduct with this 
 sentiment, and of all the self- contradictory cha- 
 acters of the age that of William III. of England 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 24905, f. 23, British Museum. 
 
154 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 would have been the most enigmatical, crooked, and 
 incomprehensible. 
 
 The Jacobite tendencies of Godolphin filled WilJiam 
 with no apprehension, and appear to have given him 
 no uneasiness. It was very different in regard to 
 his conduct concerning the affairs of the Treasury. 
 Here master and servant were in constant collision. 
 A correspondence, unfortunately a very short one, 
 which passed between William and Godolphin in 
 the years 1691-93 still exists in the British Museum. 
 Perhaps correspondence is hardly the word for a 
 series of letters, which on the king's part contain 
 little more than a constant demand for money, and 
 on Godolphin's a remonstrance against giving it. 
 
 Godolphin, both directly in letters to the king and 
 indirectly in letters to the king's secretary, Blathwayte, 
 represented the difficulties into which the king was 
 plunging. His letters unfortunately are few, but 
 they are highly characteristic. They are short, 
 manly, and straightforward ; there is no appearance 
 of any of those circumlocutions or periphrases which 
 courtiers adopt to avoid injuring the sensibilities of 
 their sovereign. What he thought he said, and if he 
 put his name to many things which he deemed 
 wrong, he did so with a grumble, which was all that 
 the most conscientious minister could do before resig- 
 nation became the fashion, and when obedience was as 
 much expected from a minister as advice. 
 
 But if the correspondence does not add much 
 material to history, it at least brings the characters of 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 155 
 
 the two men into striking contrast. To William the 
 necessity for money was apparent on every side. The 
 alliance of which he was the presiding spirit was 
 cemented together by nothing else. The army in Ire- 
 land required it, and was falling to pieces for want of 
 it; secret services swallowed it in mountains, favourites 
 absorbed it in oceans.^ That the money was wanted, 
 that great events depended upon its forthcoming, was 
 enough for William. He expected to be supplied 
 with it, as a soldier in an action expects to be sup- 
 plied with powder and shot. The objects of his 
 life were so large that their magnitude dwarfed the 
 interests of the country over which he ruled ; he 
 swept the political horizon with his eyes to provide for 
 the distant storm, he rarely cast them to his feet to 
 examine the crazy, dangerous craft which bore him. 
 
 Godolphin's nature was a different one. Both 
 character and circumstances led him carefully to cal- 
 culate the cost of any object which he desired to 
 acquire, before he proceeded to action. He never 
 took a step without full assurance that he could stand 
 where he planted his foot. In his leisure hours, it 
 was said that he gambled. No statesman, probably, 
 who has ever governed England displayed so little 
 of the gambler in his public career, or left so few of 
 his actions to chance. This innate determination to 
 reconcile means and ends contributed largely to make 
 him the great finance minister which he became. He 
 could not save the country from debt, he could not 
 
 ' In 1691 the vast sum of 279,000^ was spent in secret service. 
 
156 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 induce his countrymen to refrain from undertakings 
 for which they were unable t6 pay ; but he could, and 
 did, reduce such extravagance to a minimum, and he 
 could, and did, convert financial confusion into a 
 methodical order which greatly relieved the country 
 and added immensely to its credit. Unlike William, 
 Godolphin's eyes rarely strayed to the horizon ; they 
 were turned to the crazy bark on which he stood, 
 and he saw, and told William, that it was sinking. 
 
 William was neither wilfully blind nor deaf. He 
 was only careless and preoccupied. He entirely 
 agreed with Godolphin in his gloomy vaticinations 
 regarding money. ' I assure you,' he writes to Go- 
 dolphin in August 1692, ' that I shrink as well as you 
 [' que je shrink aussi bien que vous ' is his curious 
 expression in the original], when I consider the 
 state in which the Treasury now is.' ^ Nevertheless, 
 he took no measures to check the exorbitant calls 
 upon it. 
 
 The offhand manner in which William treated 
 the Treasury shows how great Godolphin's difl&culties 
 must have been in saving the wealth of the nation 
 from the rapacity of the king. William's orders 
 were no less diverse than peremptory. The Commis- 
 sioners of the Treasury are immediately to pay 2001. to 
 every battalion in Flanders for the purpose of buying 
 and maintaining a waggon. His secretary has lost 
 his horses, plate, and equipage in a voyage to the 
 Low Countries ; the Treasury must compensate him 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 24905, f. 23, British Museum. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 157 
 
 with 2,000L The Duke of Schomberg's pay is to 
 be increased.^ The arrears due to the troops in 
 Savoy are to be paid. Godolphin no doubt found 
 the execution of the king's commands a very delicate 
 task. Certain sums of money had been voted by 
 Parliament for certain purposes, more could not be 
 furnished without adding recklessly to the debt. ' I 
 beg of you,' he writes to Blathwayte,^ ' to represent to 
 the king that the consequence of all this is loading 
 his revenue with more anticipations and plunging it 
 into [such ?] fresh engagements as he will be very sorry 
 to see at his return, and not only [this ?] but the debt 
 to his household and family is all this while increas- 
 ing, by the necessity of applying all the money that 
 can any way be borrowed to the extraordinary charges 
 of the public' In regard to the necessity of the 
 expenses he had nothing to say. They might be 
 necessary, or they might not. Their consequences, 
 he affirmed, however, would be most inconvenient.^ 
 
 The opinion of Godolphin as to the necessity of 
 many great public expenses was so thinly disguised as 
 to be quite transparent. His opinion as to incurring 
 heavy expenses for individuals he did not disguise 
 at all. He had already, early in 1690, shown unequi- 
 vocal symptoms of revolt against the abominable 
 practice which the sovereign exercised of making 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 9735, British Museum. William to Godolphin, 
 March 28 and April 3, 1692. 
 
 » July 5, 1692, Godolphin to Blathwayte. Additional MSS. 
 9735, British Maseum. 
 
 3 Godolphin to Blathwayte (no date). Additional MSS. 9735, 
 British Museum. 
 
158 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 summary orders upon the exchequer. The queen, 
 the king being then abroad, desired him to sign 
 papers placing the Lord President's pension for 
 twenty- one years on the post office, and for paying 
 the Lord Bath 16,000/. of arrears. Godolphin 
 frankly stated in a letter to the king ^ how very un- 
 advisable such transactions were ; as to these parti- 
 cular ones bethought the objects bad, but, according 
 to his almost invarable practice, he left the object as 
 much as possible out of sight, and addressed himself 
 to financial considerations. He warned the king that 
 such proceedings could scarcely escape the secretary 
 of the Commissioners of Accounts, whose powers 
 were large and strained to the uttermost. He, how- 
 ever, obeyed the queen's order, and the reason he 
 gives for doing so is a strange one. He was anxious, 
 he said, to leave the king's service, but should like 
 to do so with the king's permission rather than with 
 the appearance of a breach. Thus, for the sake of 
 appearances, he committed an act which he strongly 
 condemned. 
 
 In the following year Grodolphin repeated his 
 remonstrances on a similar subject. The king had 
 signed a warrant for paying Count de Solmes lil. a 
 day. Now the highest allowances ever made by a 
 Government to a general had been 10/. a day. That 
 was the amount received by the Duke of Schomberg, 
 by the Duke of Monmouth, and by the Duke of 
 Albemarle before him. There was no instance of a 
 
 ' Dalrymple's Memoirs. Godolphin to William, March 13, 1690. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 159 
 
 larger allowance on the Treasury books. Godolphin 
 accordingly wrote to Blathwayte strongly urging him 
 to induce the king to reconsider the warrant, or at 
 all events to take the prudent course of placing upon 
 the establishment a sum not exceeding 10^.-^ The 4/., 
 he said, might be credited to some other account. 
 Perhaps the suggestion may savour rather of a device 
 than a protest, but the proposal at all events testifies 
 some respect for public decency. 
 
 The remonstrances of Godolphin passed unheeded. 
 The king effected neither reform nor retrenchment, 
 while, to make matters worse, as time passed on, the 
 news from abroad became alarming. The years 1693 
 and 1694 were years of intense gloom in England. 
 Every speech from the throne was a petition for 
 money, or contained an announcement of a naval or 
 military miscarriage. The charges for the war were 
 boundless and continuous. Extravagant bounties 
 to foreigners further swelled the gigantic total of 
 expenditure ; while treason and conspiracy, which 
 were ever imminent, seemed all the more threatening 
 because the rumours which announced them were 
 intangible and undefined. In the House of Commons 
 there existed a strong opposition to the court. 
 Clarges, Foley, and many other members of influence 
 and repute persistently attacked the Government for 
 its prodigality, for its foreign policy, or for its cor- 
 ruption. England, they proclaimed, was handed over 
 
 ^ Additional MSS. 9735, British Museum. Godolphin to the king, 
 July 22, 1692. 
 
160 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to the Dutch, or, to use an offensive nickname of the 
 day, to the "' froglanders.' One of the plagues of 
 Egypt they said had fallen upon the country ; the 
 croak of frogs was heard over all : in the dwellings 
 of the king, in the chambers of Whitehall and St. 
 James's, in the palaces of the hereditary m onarchs of 
 England.'^ 
 
 And if this was the state of affairs in England, 
 matters abroad were even worse. On the Continent, 
 the grand alliance was tottering. Spain was severely 
 pressed by France ; Barcelona, one of her most im- 
 portant towns, was threatened. Eussell was sent 
 out to avert the disaster ; but Russell only filled 
 England with miserable lamentations over the hard- 
 ship which obliged him to spend more than six con- 
 secutive months at sea.^ Never were the prospects 
 of William darker. He was threatened at home and 
 abroad by open violence, by secret insurrection, by 
 the frailty of his instruments, by the machinations of 
 his enemies. Sound advice was of all things essential 
 to the welfare of his cause. Sound advice was forth- 
 coming, but it came from a mouth the very last from 
 which, if the report of such men as Bulkeley was true, 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. v. p. 850 ; March 24, 1694, 
 speech by Sir John Knight. 
 
 ^ Russell's behaviour on this occasion, and his regret at being six 
 months at sea, is worth comparing with an observation made by 
 Nelson in hia diary. Nelson on arriving at Gibraltar in 1805 writes : 
 ' On the 20th (July) I went on shore for the first time since June 16, 
 1803, and from having my foot out of the Victory two years wanting 
 ten days.' James's Naval History. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. ici 
 
 we should have been led to expect it, for it came from 
 no other than Sidney Godolphin. 
 
 The state of parties, the state of the revenue, the 
 state of the war, perhaps his own personal safety — his 
 enemies had called him Judas because he carried the 
 purse ^ — inclined Godolphin, in a letter of singular 
 frankness and cynical worldliness, to represent to the 
 king the dangers which surrounded him, and the 
 means which should be taken to avoid them. He gave 
 a sketch of the condition of parties, of the state of 
 the revenue, and of the probable consequences of an 
 eventuality then much discussed, a dissolution of 
 Parliament. There is much in this curious letter 
 which foreshadows the policy that he himself at- 
 tempted to carry out in the following reign. The 
 king's great difficulty, he declared, would be to mani- 
 pulate the Whig and Tory parties, so as to maintain 
 himself against his enemies abroad, and at the same 
 time preserve his authority at home in a manner that 
 would not deprive him of the services of either. The 
 task, he freely admitted, was a difficult one ; the Tories 
 were so mixed up with the Jacobites that to trust 
 them during the war would be dangerous. The dis- 
 affection of the Tories threw the whole government 
 upon the Whigs. But this was also a source of 
 danger, as the Whigs were inspired by opinions hos- 
 tile to the authority of the king. They were quite 
 prepared to vote any supply to keep James out of 
 England, but not a sixpence would ever be wrung 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. v. p. 777. 
 
 M 
 
162 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 from them to support the just rights of the king 
 against what Godolphin sneeringly remarks they are 
 pleased to call the interests of the people. 
 
 Godolphin strongly urged the king to conclude a 
 peace during the summer. The king's expenses he 
 said were far outrunning his means of defraying them. 
 His revenues were already pledged to the hilt ; he 
 would soon be absolutely at the mercy of the House 
 of Commons, and neither peace nor happiness would 
 ever be the lot of an English king who had yearly 
 to petition Parliament for a million of money for his 
 common and necessary support. The king thought 
 that a new Parliament might liberate him from his 
 difficulties. This, in Godolphin' s opinion, was a 
 mistake. Another Parliament, however friendly it 
 might be, would have no other way of giving than 
 had its predecessor. Whatever revenues of the king 
 remained uncharged would speedily be burthened, 
 as men, he cynically observed, infinitely prefer mort- 
 gaging the revenues of the Crown to encumbering 
 their own land. ' As to this Parliament,' Godolphin 
 continues to William, ' it seems to be unquestionably 
 your interest, if the war continue, to continue the 
 Parliament ; and if the war ends, to let that end 
 with it, and my reasons for this opinion are : 
 
 ' (1) These are the same men that engaged your 
 majesty in the war, and are obliged by their votes to 
 support you in it. 
 
 ' (2) The experience you have that this house will 
 do it, ought to be an unanswerable argument against 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 1G3 
 
 parting -with it, for a new one, when you do not 
 know whether they will be for you or not. 
 
 ' (3) The great reason that's given for dissolving 
 this, being because it's said they have an ill reputa- 
 tion, ought not to sway in this affair, but the con- 
 trary ; since that is only a scandal raised by the 
 enemies of the government ; and supporting your 
 majesty being the crime they lay to their charge, 
 your majesty's friends ought to esteem them for that 
 for which they are hated by their enemies. 
 
 ' (4) Your Majesty has for this four years last 
 past been giving all employments to members of the 
 House which, though it has not signified much in 
 any party business, yet in the grand affair of carrying 
 on the war, they have been of mighty service ; for 
 there is but very few instances of any of them, but 
 which upon occasion appear to be hearty for your 
 government, in relation to the foreign dispute, and 
 many of these will be left out in a new choice, which 
 will be no small prejudice to your majesty, consider- 
 ing that most of your enemies in the House of 
 Commons are made so because they have not places 
 like the rest. 
 
 ' But what's the most dangerous consequence of 
 a new election is, that it wUl throw the ballance too 
 much on the one side or the other ; for either the 
 Whigs will according to their expectation, get it into 
 their hands entirely, and then I fear your Majesty 
 will think the impositions they'll be laying upon you 
 unreasonable ; or otherwise the Tories will have the 
 
164 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 • 
 
 ascendent, and then it's to be doubted that they in 
 revenge to the Whigs, will, for the major part, be 
 governed by the artifices of the Jacobites, and from 
 such a misfortune nothing less than destruction can 
 proceed. 
 
 ' Whereas, as the house is now constituted, the 
 Whigs are not strong enough to make use of the 
 necessities of your government as much as they are 
 inclined to do ; neither are the Torys numerous 
 enough to resent your majesty's favoring the Whigs. 
 Sir, upon the whole I shall presume to conclude as I 
 began, that the parliament that begun with the 
 war, should likewise end with it and not before. 
 
 ' And if it pleased God to grant your majesty an 
 honorable peace, and you would then be pleased to 
 set up for a party of your own, and let all people see 
 that if they expected your favour they must depend 
 upon you for it, and not let anyone hope for promo- 
 tion for being true to a faction, but by serving you ; 
 I presume to say that the war being ended, a new 
 parliament called, and such measures pursued, your 
 majesty would quickly find that the Jacobites would 
 turn moderate churchmen, and loyal subjects, and the 
 Whigs much more obsequious courtiers and easier 
 servants than now they are.' ^ 
 
 The king could hardly have received better or, 
 at all events, more worldly counsel, nor could words 
 more clearly establish Godolphin's own position in 
 reference to parties. Had he lived a few genera- 
 
 ' Dalrymple'd Memoirs, vol. ii. pt. ii. b. i. app. p. 32. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 165 
 
 tions later he would have been called ' a king's 
 friend,' though of the clique of scheming and in- 
 terested men who surrounded George III. there was, 
 perhaps, not one who could have given his sovereign 
 advice at once so prudent and statesmanlike. Such 
 arguments were, however, not likely to make him a 
 favourite with either the Whig or Tory party. 
 Neither Whig nor Tory was likely to appreciate a 
 policy which was coldly calculated to wear out one 
 against the other, and which was finally to substitute 
 for both a royal bodyguard of mercenary politicians. 
 Godolphin regarded Whigs and Tories with impartial 
 disdain. In his opinion avarice and disappointment 
 ruled their conduct. Those of them who were ene- 
 mies were enemies because there was not enough 
 money or enough places to purchase their friendship ; 
 those who were friends were friends only because their 
 adhesion had been gained by gold. 
 
 The cynical views of Godolphin were hardly 
 likely to make him popular, as men aspire to have 
 credit for virtue even when they know that they do 
 not possess it. Thus the attacks upon him in the 
 House of Commons became violent and frequent. 
 His position as First Commissioner of the Treasury, 
 the fountain head, as it were, from which the stream 
 of patronage flowed, rendered him liable to bitter 
 assaults not only from those who were conscien- 
 tiously opposed to his politics, but from those who 
 had solicited him for honours or preferment and 
 been denied. In the extravagant manner of this and 
 
16G THE EABL OF OODOLPEIN 
 
 tlie ensuing century — a manner aifected by Burke 
 no less than by Clarges — Scripture was ransacked 
 to furnish a fitting illustration of his iniquities, and 
 the so-called treason of ministers was compared to 
 the betrayal of our Lord. ' We have some resem- 
 blance,' said Clarges, ' to the first Christians, who 
 were twelve apostles, and one of them was a devil ; he 
 kept the purse ; for thirty pieces of silver he betrayed 
 his master.' Such language to modern ears sounds 
 almost blasphemous ; it becomes remarkable when we 
 reflect that the Commons of that day pressed few 
 topics on the king more strenuously than the neces- 
 sity of putting an end to ' prophaneness.' 
 
 The advice which Godolphin gave to William 
 was excellent ; it is alleged that this very same year 
 he off'ered advice no less excellent to James. We 
 decline to believe the allegation, as to believe it seems 
 to us to be tantamount to believing in two absolutely 
 contradictory propositions. 
 
 A story is somewhere related in fairy lore of a 
 prince, over whom had been flung a subtle spell of 
 ^vitchcraft. During the particular periods of its 
 influence his virtues, which were naturally noble, 
 were transformed into the most brutish vices, totally 
 at variance with his disposition. His friends, his 
 places of resort, in fact everything about him except 
 his own person, changed during the special hours of 
 the day or night when he was subject to the control 
 of the enchantment. The story is pretty, and is not 
 without its moral, but it ranks with such tales as 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 167 
 
 Beauty and the Beast, and affords us amusement 
 while it wisely refrains from taxing our credulity. 
 Godolphin's political transformations are scarcely less 
 incredible if we credit the numberless reports which 
 exist concerning his connection with the Jacobites ; 
 the contradictions of his conduct are inexplicable ; 
 his hypocrisy that of a demon rather than of a human 
 being. At one moment he bows before his Majesty at 
 Kensington, and speaks of the exile at St. Germains ; 
 at another, he salutes his Majesty at St. Germains, 
 and plans the destruction of the Prince of Orange ia 
 London. He fortified William with counsel which 
 was artfully calculated to keep him on the throne ; 
 he inspired James with designs which had no object 
 but to fling William from it. Floyd, a Jacobite 
 agent, in a curious letter to James written in the 
 spring of 1694, assured his master that, amidst 
 professions of the profoundest loyalty, Godolphin 
 suggested that, if the war did not end in the ap- 
 proaching summer, James should invade England 
 with a large French army, and that he added to this 
 pernicious advice the treason of betraying the in- 
 tention of the English to invade Brest.-* That 
 Godolphin should have served either William or 
 James with the best advice at his command is 
 intelligible ; but it is difficult to believe that he 
 was at the same time the best adviser of both, that 
 his treason w^as so impartial that, like a man who 
 plays some game against himself, he was for ever 
 
 ' Macpherson's Original Papers. 
 
168 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 engaged in trying to frustrate his own plans and 
 counteract his own moves. Godolphin could not act 
 like some careless onlooker of a game, who offers his 
 honest opinion first on one side and then on the other. 
 He was very deeply mterested in the result himself, 
 quite as much so in his own degree as either William 
 or James. 
 
 Thus, as history offers two versions of Godolphin's 
 conduct, we can take our choice as to which we shall 
 believe, but we cannot believe botli. If we are told 
 that such and such a man is doing such and such a 
 thing at such and such a time, and somebody else 
 tells us that he is doing something quite different, 
 we conclude at once that one of our informants is 
 mistaken, and not that the person alluded to was 
 doing two opposite things at the same moment. So 
 it is with Godolphin. He may have given excellent 
 advice to either James or William. He certainly did 
 not give it to both. The proof that Godolphin during 
 this year gave advice of a very admirable character to 
 William can scarcely be successfully disputed. Floyd's 
 accusation against him, on the other hand, rests en- 
 tirely on his own authority. We have no means of 
 testing it. We know nothing of his reputation for 
 veracity. Moreover, the Jacobite reports of the con- 
 dition of England in the year 1694 vary profoundly, 
 and therefore cast doubts upon their own accuracy. 
 According to Floyd, England, in the spring of 1694, 
 was prepared to receive James with enthusiasm. In 
 the summer James received intelligence of a very 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 109 
 
 different kind from another agent. He was told tliat 
 his cause was desperate, that the common people of 
 England were venomous, that the magistrates in the 
 towns were malignant, that distrust of himself was 
 universal, that the thousand stories which were 
 poured into his ears of the Protestants who were 
 panting to join his standard were the idlest tales. ^ 
 Floyd had asserted that the secret of the expedition 
 against Brest was betrayed by Godolphin and Marl- 
 borough. According to Rapin it was the talk 
 of the town quite a month before it took place. 
 This is the evidence, slight and conflicting, mixed up 
 with common rumour and common gossip, which 
 alone exists to confront the living testimony of 
 Godolphin' s own letters, and the proofs of confidence 
 which William in nearly every page of his corre- 
 spondence furnishes in favour of his accused minister. 
 Posterity must form its own opinion as to the value 
 of evidence so directly opposed. 
 
 In 1695 Godolphin's name became associated with 
 an institution which was destined to a magnificent and 
 beneficent future. William III., adopting the wishes 
 of Queen Mary, decided upon converting Greenwich 
 Palace into a hospital for worn-out seamen. Wren 
 was called on to enlarge and embellish the palace, 
 and a subscription list was opened for its benefit 
 upon which the names of the king and the chief 
 nobUity were immediately placed. The post of 
 treasurer to the new hospital was one of some emolu- 
 
 ' Macpherson's Original Papers, August 1694. 
 
170 THE EABL OF aODOLPHIN 
 
 ment, and probably also of some influence. A man 
 of taste who resided near the spot, who was com- 
 petent to advise, and who had sufficient authority to 
 direct, would no doubt be an invaluable acquisition to 
 the formidable board of peers and Privy Councillors 
 which composed the commission for endowing and 
 inaugurating the work. Godolphin thought of his 
 old friend Evelyn, and on February 17 offered 
 him the appointment of Treasurer of the Hospital. 
 The post, as it turned out, was probably one of more 
 honour than value, as two years later Evelyn com- 
 plained that he had not received one penny of his 
 salary. Towards this great benefaction Godolphin 
 subscribed two hundred pounds. Others had put 
 down their names for larger sums, but Godolphin 
 was the first of the subscribers who actually paid in 
 his subscription. For more than a century and a 
 half this noble fabric continued to serve the purpose 
 for which it was projected ; it afforded a splendid 
 asylum for those who had fought under Rooke, under 
 Hawke, under Nelson, and imder Napier, who had 
 shared the fatigues of Anson's voyage round the 
 world, or had braved the cold and darkness of 
 Ross's expedition to the Arctic regions ; for its 
 original purpose it has now ceased to exist, but the 
 memories which cling to its past will clothe it with 
 an interest more abiding and attractive than the 
 architecture of Wren, the decorations of Thornhill, or 
 the inspired masterpieces of Lely and Yandyck. 
 
 The following year, 1696, was pregnant with 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 173 
 
 events affecting Godolphin's future. Before half of 
 it had elapsed he found himself involved in a serious 
 charge of treason. 
 
 The abortive conspiracy of Sir John Fenwick to 
 assassinate William IIL, in which Godolphin's name 
 is unfortunately mixed, administered a shock to 
 society due entirely to the abominable crime which 
 its authors contemplated. A mere conspiracy to put 
 James on the throne and William off it, would have 
 excited, at that time, no very great attention, and 
 certainly no general reprobation ; the people were ac • 
 customed to social convulsions ; only within the last 
 few years a rebellion had been brought to a success- 
 ful issue ; rebellions were still the talk of both town 
 and country ; the shadow of future rebellion clouded 
 the otherwise peaceful prospects of the nation. So 
 great, indeed, was the popular demoralisation that 
 there were Englishmen who would have rapturously 
 welcomed to English shores armies of foreigners in 
 support of their favourite cause, and would have 
 beheld with exultation a revolution which was purely 
 English perish from the violence of a coup dfetat 
 which was almost purely French. But with all their 
 great culpability there were few Jacobites who did 
 not shrink from the name of assassination, who did 
 not blush to think that what they deemed an honour- 
 able struggle was degraded to the level of a base, 
 vulgar, and criminal conspiracy. Whatever was 
 chivalrous or noble — and perhaps no cause has in 
 modern times inspired so much chivalry as that of the 
 
172 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Stewarts — vanished at the first rumour of Fenwick's 
 plot. A great change in the popular sentiment 
 was immediately manifested. The nation had un- 
 doubtedly been out of humour with William : it had 
 been offended by his affection for the Dutch ; it had 
 been affronted by his coldness to the English. Now 
 every symptom of enmity disappeared in the common 
 triumph that so shameful, so detestable, a crime had 
 been frustrated. The nation did not love William, 
 but had he been the most beloved monarch that was 
 ever worshipped by a devoted people, they could 
 hardly have evinced a more loyal interest in his de- 
 fence. The House of Lords, the House of Commons, 
 the clergy, the people entered everywhere into 
 associations for his protection, and, for the first time 
 perhaps since William's accession, the affections of 
 his subjects were unanimously centred in his person. 
 We do not propose to give here any lengthened 
 account of an event which is familiar to every reader 
 of English history. The discovery of Fenwick's con- 
 spiracy was made known to Parliament by WUliam in 
 a speech from the Throne on February 24. Fenwick 
 himself was not arrested till the following June. The 
 king was then absent on the continent, having left the 
 government in the hands of Lords Justices, among 
 whom was Godolphin. Fenwick attempted to pur- 
 chase his own life by making disclosures to William 
 and to the House of Commons. He declared that 
 Shrewsbury, Marlborough, Godolphin, and Russell 
 were reconciled to James ; that they had sought and 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM 111. 173 
 
 received pardons from him ; that they were, in fact, 
 traitors. Godolphin, upon a suitable opportunity, in- 
 dignantly repudiated the charge in the House of Lords. 
 It was true, he stated, that he had remained loyal to 
 James vip to the moment of his abdication, it was no 
 doubt possible that, in consequence, James may have 
 attributed to him more friendly sentiments than he 
 in fact possessed ; but he absolutely denied ever 
 having planned any manner of treason against 
 WUliam.^ But before Godolphin had made this 
 declaration the king and the Parliament had already 
 decided that Fenwick's accusations were calumnies. 
 The House of Commons in those days was never 
 mealy-mouthed in expressing opinions which it had 
 once formed ; it voted the charges false and scan- 
 dalous. Nevertheless they had the effect of greatly 
 damaging the characters of both Godolphin and 
 Shrewsbury. Godolphin retired from the Govern- 
 ment, while Shrewsbury was only prevented from 
 doing so by the prayers of the king and his party. 
 Godolphin's resignation has been attributed to a cause 
 injurious to himself. It has been interpreted either 
 as a confession of guilt on his own part or a suspicion 
 of it on the part of the king. We think it was neither 
 one nor the other, but that it resulted from party 
 intrigue acting upon the mind of a man who lacked 
 confidence in the political security of his position. 
 His colleagues disliked and desired to undermine 
 him, and they therefore constructed a trap which was 
 
 ' Shrewsbury's Correspondence, December 1-11, 1696. 
 
174 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 skilfully and successfully contrived to secure his 
 fall. 
 
 The position of Godolphin in the Government in 
 the year 1696 was indeed a peculiar one, and must 
 have been no less irksome to himself than exaspe- 
 rating to his enemies. He as a Tory had no proper 
 place in an administration which was daily growing 
 more Whig. He certainly felt no cordiality towards 
 his colleagues, and his frequent requests to the king 
 to permit him to retire make it extremely likely that 
 lie was finally no unwilling victim of a plot which 
 was certainly constructed for his injury. Had it not 
 been, however, for the machinations of the Whigs, he 
 would probably have clung to ofiice with the hesitat- 
 ing grasp which marked the conduct of Shrewsbury. 
 But between Shrewsbury and Godolphin there was 
 a great gulf fixed — the impassable division between 
 Whig and Tory. The Whigs hated Godolphin as 
 much as they idolised their own amiable but feeble 
 Shrewsbury. To them Godolphin was one of those 
 who had more or less steeped himself in the iniquities 
 of the last reign, one of those whom the great wave 
 of revolution was designed to overwhelm, one of 
 those who had risen upon its crest and found un- 
 deserved honours in its violence. For Godolphin, 
 and politicians like Godolphin, the Whigs entertained 
 no sympathy, and they would accept of no excuse. 
 
 The division between Whig and Tory was broad, 
 and the natural antipathy of the parties was great, 
 but between Godolphin and the Whigs there was a 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 175 
 
 separation broader than the ordinary distance between 
 parties, and an aversion, on one side at least, greater 
 than that which, as a rule, inspires the breasts of 
 political opponents. Godolphin had not only been 
 the minister of the late king, but in the opinion of 
 the Whigs the character of his services had been dis- 
 graceful. The actions of the servant of James and 
 of the colleague of Jeffreys had been of a nature to 
 render it impossible for the Whigs to reconcile them 
 with any regard to public liberty ; and thus in the 
 reign of William they could not condone his delin- 
 quencies. They might forget or forgive a corre- 
 spondence with James when he became a fugitive. 
 To such an extent their own great leader Shrewsbury 
 was reported to have sinned. To such an extent, 
 and even to a greater extent stUl, to the extent of 
 betraying the fleet under his command, was Eussell, 
 the great apostle of Whiggism, the brother of the 
 murdered Russell, the subject of accusation. But 
 the Whigs very properly drew a distinction between 
 these great crimes and the crimes which had been 
 committed by the servants of James. The motive 
 which inspired Russell to commit treason against 
 WUHam was very different from that which had once 
 actuated Sunderland and Godolphin when, at the 
 command of James II., they consented to sell the 
 interests of England to France. The same obstinate, 
 somewhat mutinous independence which engaged 
 Russell against James would have engaged him 
 against any ruler who happened to be on the throne. 
 
176 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 It was the spirit of independence, very ill regulated no 
 doubt, which had diverted Russell from his allegiance 
 to James and induced him to bestow it upon William, 
 which diverted it from William to oiFer it again to 
 James. Russell could not have served James as 
 Sunderland and Godolphin had served him, or as they 
 might both, as far as any moral scruple was concerned, 
 have perhaps served William. Russell regarded the 
 king with that jealousy of supreme authority which is 
 inseparable from democratic thought. Sunderland 
 and Godolphin, with the calculating eyes of worldly 
 men, contemplated the personal advantages and dis- 
 advantages which adherence to his cause might bring 
 to themselves. There was between them the whole 
 breadth of the distinction between a pohtical and per- 
 sonal motive ; one meditated treason agamst the 
 king on behalf of the people, the others meditated 
 treason against king and people alike for the achieve- 
 ment of a personal end. The Whigs understood all 
 this, and were prepared, therefore, to make great 
 allowances in their judgment of some men — allow- 
 ances which were certainly in their own favour, but 
 not on that account altogether unjust — while they 
 firmly refused a pardon to others. In this determina- 
 tion they were inexorable — inexorable to the degree 
 of harshness. It was in vain that Sunderland 
 declared himself a Whig, that he schemed to recon- 
 cile the Whig party to the king, that he laboured to 
 compose its factions and its differences ; he always 
 remained an outcast from its ranks, and failed 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 177 
 
 ignominiously to win the smallest particle of its 
 confidence. Equally in vain was it in 1696 to 
 expect that the Whigs had forgotten that Godolphin 
 too had served the tyrant, that he had voted for a 
 regency, that he was still the reputed partisan of 
 James, and that remembering these things they 
 should not have attempted his expulsion from office, 
 and determined that at length he should make atone- 
 ment for his past offences. 
 
 At the time of Fen wick's conspiracy more than six 
 years had elapsed since the accession of William to 
 the throne of England, but there was as yet no dimi- 
 nution in the hostility which the Whigs bore to the 
 ministers of the late king. They were still hungry 
 for revenge, and still their vengeance was delayed. 
 The dislike of the king to rely on either party alone 
 had hitherto prevented the existence of a solid Whig 
 Government, and had greatly straitened the Whig 
 power ; but in 1696 the administration was more 
 decisively Whig than it had ever been before, and the 
 Whigs waited with impatience for an opportunity 
 to rid themselves of any that remained of their 
 obnoxious Tory colleagues. Fenwick's accusations 
 against Godolphin and Marlborough offered the op- 
 portunity they desired ; unfortunately the evidence 
 against them was lacking in strength. But this diffi- 
 culty was not insurmountable, and Monmouth, after- 
 wards the celebrated Lord Peterborough, to his own 
 everlasting disgrace attempted to supply the deficiency 
 and ruin his old colleague Godolphin. 
 
 N 
 
178 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 With this object in view, Monmouth attempted to 
 extort from Fenwick fresh evidence against Godol- 
 phin and Marlborough, and promised as the price of 
 compliance to do what he could to protect him. To 
 a prisoner in Fenwick's position such an offer 
 amounted to no more nor less than a bribe ; nor was 
 Monmouth contented with instigating revelations 
 which he hoped would be injurious to Godolphin ; he 
 actually prompted Fenwick as to what he should say. 
 A correspondence between Godolphin and James and 
 Hilary of Modena was supposed to exist. The proof 
 of it lay in the king's hands. The king was to be 
 catechised as to his knowledge of it. It does not 
 appear that Monmouth had any fresh evidence on the 
 subject ; it was a hunt after evidence, rather than an 
 accusation based upon evidence. This miserable con- 
 spiracy, for it deserves no better name, came to nothing, 
 and its author finally found his way to the Tower. 
 Nothing can prove more clearly how unsubstantial 
 the charges against Godolphin were than that his 
 enemies had to resort to such discreditable expedients 
 to ruin him. The attacks did him but little harm 
 even at the time, and must for ever continue a lasting 
 monument of the party rancour of the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 Thus the attempt to ruin Godolphin, whether 
 by the unworthy methods employed by Monmouth 
 or by the open assaults of party warfare, failed, 
 and his enemies had to resort to new modes of 
 attack. It occurred to them that they might attain 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 179 
 
 their object, by working upon the king, and upon 
 Godolphin's natural sensitiveness of character. The 
 accusations against Shrewsbury and Godolphin were 
 in reality very similar, but an offence may some- 
 times be accounted great or small, criminal or the 
 reverse, according to the manner in which it is re- 
 garded by those who have the power in their hands 
 to inflict punishment. The sound, the unanswerable 
 reasoning, which Somers and Russell employed to keep 
 Shrewsbury in the Government, may, we can easily 
 imagine, have been exchanged for arguments of 
 another kind when they wished to drive Godolphin 
 out of it. When they wrote to Shrewsbury it was 
 to enjoin him to consult his own honour, to offer 
 him every expression of good- will and affection. What 
 they said or wrote to Godolphin we have no means 
 of knowing, but it is not difficult to conjecture that 
 there was more stress laid upon safety than upon 
 honour, and nothing said at all about affection. 
 
 So the Whigs turned towards the king, and the 
 course which they adopted, if it was less public, was 
 perhaps more certain in its results than accusations in 
 Parliament. Sunderland, the most artful of schemers, 
 was the tool chiefly employed to undermine his 
 ancient colleague. The occupation was not a new 
 one. For some time he had been using his great 
 credit with William to obtain the removal of Godol- 
 phin from office. So far the king had been obdurate. 
 But now Fenwick's discoveries, or pretended dis- 
 coveries, furnished Siinderland with a fresh handle 
 
180 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 for intrigue. The lever was such a one as he never 
 had before, as he was never likely to have again, and 
 the Whigs with whom he now desired to enlist, and 
 whom he now served in the vain hope that they would 
 some day forget that he also had served James, were 
 determined that he should work it with all his energy. 
 It was bad enough for them that the Tories should 
 have thus far escaped so promising an opportunity of 
 attack ; but it would be ten times worse if any con- 
 fusion in the public mind should confound their own 
 misdeeds with those of their adversaries ; it was ab- 
 solutely necessary for their own reputation that 
 some distinction should be publicly made between a 
 Whig who was accused of treason, and a Tory under 
 the same charge. Thus Sunderland laboured for the 
 overthrow of Godolphin as a man who strives to make 
 expiation for a great offence, and on the last day of 
 October it was triumphantly announced that Godol- 
 phin was no longer a member of the Government. 
 
 Godolphin was driven from office, but it is diffi- 
 cult, in spite of the gracious distinction which the 
 king was thus asserted to have made in favour of 
 the accused Whigs, to see any great mark of his 
 displeasure towards Godolphin. A minister who 
 vacates office owing to a charge of treason would 
 hardly be allowed to resign. Dismissal would more 
 clearly signify the king's anger. Nor does the 
 language of the Whig chiefs among themselves at all 
 bear out the assumption that the king had specially 
 marked out Godolphin for punishment. ' Give me 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 181 
 
 leave to say,' writes Somers to Shrewsbury/ that my 
 Lord Godolphin is directly tricked in this matter, 
 and has suffered himself to be cozened into an offer 
 to lay down, and is surprised at having his offer ac- 
 cepted.' ^ Wharton, ten days later, writes in much 
 the same strain. ' I am apt to think there never was 
 more management than in bringing it about.' ^ This 
 language shows us clearly enough that Godolphin' s 
 resignation was voluntary, and that it had been pro- 
 cured by the machinations of those who wished to 
 get rid of him. That the king stooped to dealings of 
 such a nature is improbable, both from his position 
 and character ; they bear the ineffaceable stamp of 
 Sunderland's genius. The part which the king 
 actually took in the affair, and the part which it was 
 intended people should think he had taken, is mani- 
 fest. Godolphin's resignation of office, with Shrews- 
 bury's continuance in it, was desired by the Whig 
 leaders for the purpose of instilling into the public 
 mind the impression that in the opinion of the king 
 tlie Whig chiefs were not guilty of an offence for 
 which he had to dismiss their Tory colleague. Their 
 anxiety was very great that Godolphin's resignation 
 should appear to be the work of the king ; and even 
 between themselves they attempted, though unsuc- 
 cftssfuUy, to keep up the illusion. But the king in 
 
 • Shrewsbury's Correspmideiice, jq-^^g^-^er 10' ^^^^^ P- ^^^- '^"^^ 
 Keeper Somers to the Duke of Shrewsbury. 
 
 " Shrewsbury's Goi-respondence, p. 428. Lord Wharton to the Duke 
 of Shrewsbury, November |§, 1090. 
 
182 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 reality did not dismiss Godolpliin at all, and was 
 probably quite unconscious that he was acting in a 
 comedy got up for the amusement of the public, and 
 for the benefit of the Whig party. The intrigue was 
 a triumph of Sunderland's art, it was far beneath the 
 dignity of so eminent a statesman and so excellent a 
 man as Somers. 
 
 Thus Fenwick's plot put an end for a time to 
 Godolphin's ofl&cial career. But Godolphin had not 
 yet done with Fenwick. It soon became his duty 
 to sit in judgment upon a man whose reckless and 
 wicked conduct had wrought him so much injury. 
 The king and Parliament had determined that 
 Fenwick should be brought to justice. The ordinary 
 forms of law could not be employed ; witnesses had 
 been tampered with, of the two witnesses which the 
 law of England required to prove a charge of treason 
 only one could be produced, the other having been per- 
 suaded to fly from the country, and thus sufficient 
 evidence was not forthcoming. It was clear that if 
 no extraordinary step was taken, Fenwick must 
 escape. It was decided to bring in a bill of attainder. 
 The bill passed the House of Commons ; in the 
 House of Lords it met with strong oj)position. It 
 was monstrous, it was argued, to propose a measure 
 of so arbitrary, of so unconstitutional a spirit against 
 so insignificant a man as Fenwick ; if the common 
 methods of justice were ever to be overridden, let it 
 be in the case of some great and dangerous enemy to 
 the public peace. The manner of inflicting punish- 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM IIL 183 
 
 ment, the departure from the law affecting evidence 
 in cases of treason, the description of evidence, the 
 whole procedure, in short, were, it was urged, all 
 equally objectionable. The bill came on for a second 
 reading. Godolphin voted against it. Before the 
 third reading opposition had waxed in strength 
 and determination. The debate was protracted flxr 
 into the shades of a December evening ; it was not 
 till between seven and eight that the division was 
 called ; it was not till nine that its excitement 
 and formalities released the weary members from 
 their attendance. The bill had been carried by seven 
 votes only. Godolphin had again given his voice 
 against it. All the Lords Justices present (except 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury) had joined him ; 
 while many great Lords, such as Ormond and 
 Somerset, who had supported the second reading, now 
 opposed the third reading. A protest was signed and 
 placed upon the Journals of the House of Lords, 
 but the name of Godolphin, earnestly as he had 
 opposed the bill, is not to be found among the signa- 
 tures. 
 
 The conduct of Godolphin on this occasion 
 creates a strong presumption that he had no connec- 
 tion with Fenwick's plot, or even with the other 
 Jacobite intrigues of that period. Had Fenwick's 
 charges been true, or had the general suspicion of 
 Godolphin's loyalty amounted to a moral conviction 
 of his treason, and had William dismissed him from 
 office on one account or the other, Godolphin could 
 
184 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 not without the most brazen effrontery and the 
 gravest peril have lent himself to the defence of a 
 person who in fact accused him of being accessory 
 to his own crime. A man in the position of Godol- 
 phm accused or suspected of treason, and anxious to 
 escape the charge, would naturally display his inno- 
 cence by an active prosecution of the traitor, or at 
 the very least by an assumption of indifference and 
 neutrality. Godolphin did the very contrary. The 
 most foolish thing which a man in such circumstances 
 could do would be to excite the animosity of a king 
 who it was popularly supposed held evidence which 
 might hang him. This again Godolphin did. It has 
 been stated that the king was not anxious to promote 
 a bill of attainder against Fenwick, and that there- 
 fore Godolphin's opposition was not regarded with 
 displeasure by the court. Both William's behaviour 
 at the time and after it discredits this statement. All 
 his friends voted for the bill, the Bishop of Salisbury, 
 Portland, Sydney, and many others of his closest 
 adherents ; nearly all those who voted against it 
 were made sooner or later to feel the weight of his 
 resentment. To the end of William's reign they 
 never recovered his confidence ; they would have 
 done as much, the king said, as Sir John Fenwick if 
 they durst. The utmost that can be made of the 
 charge against Godolphin may, we think, be summed 
 up in the king's words ; he might have been dis- 
 loyal 'if he durst,' and even this assumption we are 
 not prepared to admit. Nor could the king's reproach 
 
TJNBEB WILLIAM III. 185 
 
 have been intended for Godolphin, for he was not one 
 whom WiUiam persistently banished from office. On 
 the contrary, a few years later, it was the king who 
 solicited Godolphin to serve him, and Godolphin wdao 
 was reluctant to do so.-^ 
 
 The retirement of Godolphin from the Treasury 
 in 1696 seems the proper place to say one or two 
 words in regard to the great financial measures which 
 were passed during his occupation of office. 
 
 The Tonnage Bill from which sprang the Bank of 
 England, the Recoinage Bill which effected the restora- 
 tion of public credit, are acts which mark epochs in the 
 history of English finance. To enter into any de- 
 scription of these measures would be superfluous ; 
 they are admirably explained by Lord Macaulay, 
 and are generally understood by educated people of 
 the present day ; it is the authorship of the Acts of 
 which we desire to speak, and which should deservedly 
 render the man who framed them famous. The 
 
 ' An argument against the charge of treason so resolutely brought 
 against Godolphin at this time is to be discovered, we think, in the 
 letter which Sir J. Fenwick wrote to his wife, Lady Mary Fenwick, 
 immediately upon his apprehension. In this he tells her what men of 
 influence she should try and gain, and enumerates Keppel, Portland, 
 and Godolphin ; Godolphin, Fenwick thinks, may be influenced by 
 Lady Montgomery, Keppel and Portland by Lords Selkirk and 
 Carlisle. Now it seems to us somewhat strange that if Godolphin was 
 in fact an adherent of James II. the same methods should have been 
 required to procure his interest as that of two men who were well 
 known to be the warmest friends of William. Moreover, it is also 
 very improbable that Godolphin, had he been an active Jacobite, 
 should have incurred a risk out of friendship for Lady Montgomery 
 which he was not prepared to incur for the exUed king, to whom he 
 would naturally look for reward. 
 
186 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 entire credit of these great reforms has hitherto been 
 conferred upon Montague ; that Montague was an 
 able and deserving statesman is indisputable, but we 
 think that thepraise so lavishly poured upon him should 
 have been more generously and widely distributed. 
 The bills must cei'taiuly have received the carefid 
 study and approval of Godolphin. 
 
 Godolphin was the head of the department in 
 which Montague was Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 and the office of First Commissioner of the Treasury 
 carried with it in the reign of William III. the 
 full obligation of departmental administration. In 
 the present age the First Lord of the Treasury is 
 usually Prime Minister, two hundred years ago he 
 was merely a departmental chief Godolphin's great 
 reputation particularly depended on his skill at 
 the Treasury board ; he was selected as the head 
 of the Treasury board by one sovereign after another 
 almost apart from any other consideration. It 
 seems therefore most improbable that bills vitally 
 affecting his department should not to a great extent 
 have been the result of his experience and ability. 
 
 It is however perfectly true that the name of 
 Montague is connected with these reforms in a way 
 in which that of Go lolphin is not. The reason is not 
 far to seek. The bills were money bills. They all 
 emanated from the House of Commons, and the House 
 of Commons was in the reign of William III. pecu- 
 liarly sensitive to the interference of the House of 
 Lords in regard to money. Godolphin, had he been 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 187 
 
 SO minded, could scarcely have taken any active part 
 in the introduction of these bills. When they came 
 to the Upper House, he had them — as appears from 
 the Journals of the House of Lords — under his charge, 
 which was the only possible public connection which 
 he could have with them. Nor is it rational to sup- 
 pose that because Montague was the exponent of a 
 policy in Parliament he was necessarily the author of 
 the policy as well. Indeed, it is stated that the plan for 
 the recoinage of the silver was the work of Sir Isaac 
 Newton,^ and that Montague followed his directions ; 
 while as to exchequer bills, the introduction of which 
 has also been ascribed to Montague, Shrewsbury tells 
 us that in June 1696 the Lords of the Treasury Avere 
 employing all possible methods to establish them. 
 Shrewsbury does not distinguish between the action 
 of the man and the action of the Board ; and it would 
 be well, perhaps, if his example had been more widely 
 followed. 
 
 Two years after the proceedings on Fenwick's 
 conspiracy, an event occurred which probably had 
 great influence on Godolphin's future. In 1698 his 
 only son Francis married Henrietta Churchill,^ Marl- 
 borough's eldest daughter. The bridegroom was only 
 
 ' Francis's History of the Bank of England. 
 
 ' Lady Henrietta Godolphin is thus mentioned in a contem- 
 porary poem called the ' Toasters ' ; 
 
 ' Godolphin's easy and unpraotis'd air, 
 Gains without art, and governs without care. 
 Her conqu'ring race with various fate surprise ; 
 Who 'scape their arms, are captives to their eyes.' 
 
188 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 twenty years old, the bride was but eighteen. The 
 match it was said was a love match ; Lord and 
 Lady ]\Iarlborough had determined not to force the 
 inclinations of their daughters. Such a delicacy was 
 somewhat unusual at the time, and seems incon- 
 sistent with the characters of two persons who 
 united between them in a very marked degree the 
 qualities of pride, ambition, and avarice. Perha[)s 
 they considered that daughters w^hose preferences 
 inclined them to such creditable matches as the 
 eldest sons of Lord Godolphin and Lord Sunderland, 
 might be trusted to look after themselves without the 
 interpositionof parental authority. The marriage was 
 hailed on all sides with joy. According to the notions 
 of the age the young couple would be but poor. 
 Godolphin had but little money to spare ; he had 
 laboured long and fcithfuUy at the public finances 
 without amassing wealth. Marlborough's fortune 
 was yet m its infancy, and he had several daughters 
 to provide for. Five thousand pounds w^as the 
 largest sum he was able to settle on the bride. 
 Princess Anne, extravagantly liberal where her affec- 
 tions were touched, wished to endow her wdth a sum 
 often thousand pounds. Lady Marlborough, with a 
 moderation which her whole history shows was 
 absolutely foreign to her character, declined to accept 
 so magnificent a present. The half of it indeed she 
 was prevailed upon to take. For the rest she re- 
 turned her dutiful thanks. 
 
 This alliance proved highly beneficial both to 
 
UNDER WILLIAM IIL 189 
 
 Godolphin and Marlborough in future years, for it 
 bound two men together who could never have ful- 
 filled their highest destiny by following separate paths. 
 Each to a great extent supplied what the other wanted. 
 It is doubtful whether Marlborough would have been 
 so successful abroad had he not been able to rely upon 
 the wise and prudent friend whom he left at the head 
 of the Government in England. Indeed it is said, and 
 probably with truth, that in the commencement of 
 the next reign he determined to refuse the conduct of 
 the war unless Godolphin was placed in charge of the 
 Treasury. It is certain that Godolphin would never 
 have taken so prominent a position in politics had it 
 not been for the active talents of Marlborough, and 
 for the romantic friendship which existed between 
 the duchess and the queen. The stars of these two 
 great men rose, culminated, and set together ; they 
 illuminated the same heaven and suffered the same 
 eclipses. Thus the marriage between Francis Godol- 
 phin and Henrietta Churchill was profoundly calcu- 
 lated to augment the prosperity of the parents. 
 Grandchildren alone were wanted to complete their 
 fortune, and children, it appeared, were to bless the 
 union. In February 1699 Lady Henrietta was 
 delivered unexpectedly of a boy. Had fate doomed 
 the new-born infant to a chequered and turbulent 
 career, his biographer might have discovered at his 
 birth many ominous presages of his futu.re life. 
 The letter which announces the nativity of Godol- 
 phin's grandson and Marlborough's heir announces 
 
190 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 the occurrence of a furious and destructive tempest. 
 Trees were blown down, tiles stript oiF the roofs, and 
 several people were killed.-^ 
 
 During the last few years of William's reign but 
 the faintest traces are left of Godolphin's public life. 
 In 1698 an East India Bill was passed through 
 Parliament, through the efforts of the Whigs, but 
 mostly through the exertions of Montague. Its ob- 
 ject was to create a new East India Company by the 
 side of the old one, and the measure has been praised 
 as one of Montague's legislative masterpieces. We 
 see nothing to praise about it. It was to a large 
 extent an attempt to extort money to supply the 
 necessities of the Government, ;ind it proposed to 
 accomplish this end by putting up the East India 
 trade to auction. It introduced no new and bene- 
 ficial principle into our commercial system, and 
 perpetuated much which was bad. The exclusive 
 trading of the old East India Company had been the 
 cause of boundless mischief and of innumerable com- 
 plaints, but Montague's bill instead of abolishing 
 all monopoly, merely created a new one. Trade had 
 hitherto been crushed by one oppressor, it was now 
 to be smothered by two ; while to make matters 
 worse the monopolists disturbed the peace of every 
 quarter of the globe where they came into contact. 
 This mischievous bill Godolphin opposed, and he also 
 signed a protest against the tack by which the 
 
 ' Letter (witliout signature) from Althorpe to Mrs. Boscawen, 
 February 7, KI'S- Additional MSS. British Museum, 15949, f. 31. 
 
UNDEB WILLIAM III. 191 
 
 Commons endeavoured to ensure its passage through 
 the House of Lords ; but there is nothing to dis- 
 tinguish his action, on this occasion, from that of his 
 political associates ; and there is no appearance what- 
 ever that those who opposed Montague took a more 
 enlightened view of the principles of trade than did 
 Montague himself. 
 
 As the century drew to a conclusion Godolphin 
 once more became conspicuous. The elections of 
 1698 had been very adverse to the Whigs, and 
 their power, which had seemed securely established, 
 began rapidly to decline ; first one Whig minister, 
 then another, fell and was replaced by a Tory. 
 At length in 1700 the king sought to make Go- 
 dolphin First Commissioner of his Treasury. Godol- 
 phin at first declined to accept office, but he finally 
 yielded to the pressure of the king, and in No- 
 vember was once more installed at his old post at 
 the Exchequer. The event surprised no one. ' It 
 will be no news to you,' writes Charles Trelawny 
 on November 7, ' that Lord Godolphin will be at 
 the head of the Treasury ; ' and after referring to 
 the rumour of an approaching dissolution of Par- 
 liament he goes on to say, ' My lord, I, and the 
 brigadier hath put our heads together more than 
 once about it, and we find no way so sure, as to 
 have Mr. Godolphin chosen for the county, and you 
 to come in at Helston ; would my lord Godolphin 
 but let his son appear for the county, I will wager 
 my head he shall be chosen by the unanimous consent 
 
192 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 of the gentlemen, a few canting rogues excepted.' ^ 
 Godolphin had clearly consolidated power in his 
 native county since those days, thirty-two years ago, 
 when he had so carefully but so doubtfully laid his 
 plans for being elected member for Helston. 
 
 Godolphin' s term of office was on this occasion 
 destined to endure only for a few months, as he was 
 hardly installed at the Treasury before he again 
 surrendered his post. Like all his resignations during 
 William's reign, there is some mystery about it, and 
 various explanations of it. It was said that he was 
 dismissed for opposing the war which the king 
 wished to make upon France. It is also stated that 
 he resigned office under William in the expectation 
 that Anne, in the event of William's death, would 
 appoint him Lord High Treasurer. 
 
 There seems to us to be no clear evidence that 
 Godolphin resigned office because he was opposed to 
 a war -with. France. The Tory party, it is true, 
 objected to war, but on this point, in the following 
 reign, and fi-om the very commencement of it, Godol- 
 phin was in constant antagonism to his party. It 
 has been urged that his reluctance to engage in 
 hostilities was ultimately overcome by a promise 
 made by Queen Anne that the Duke of Marl- 
 borough should be appointed commander in-chief. 
 It was, however, frequently affirmed and widely 
 believed that William shortly before his death had 
 
 ' Charles Trelawny to Colonel Godolphin, Governor of Scilly. 
 Additional MSS. British Museum, 28052, f. 100. 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 193 
 
 recommended Anne to appoint Marlborongli com- 
 mander-in-chief as the most efficient officer in his 
 service. Under these circumstances, and from the 
 probahihty that the infirmities of the king would 
 prevent him from ever again taking command in 
 the field himself, there was every prospect, even 
 had the war broken out in William's reign, that 
 Marlborough would have had the chief command, 
 and thus the inducement which it was said was 
 sufficient to persuade Godolphin to take office under 
 Queen Anne should have been sufficient to keep him 
 in it under her predecessor. 
 
 The second allegation, that Godolphin resigned 
 office under William that upon the king's death he 
 might be appointed Lord High Treasurer by Anne, 
 is equally improbable. When Godolphin resigned, it 
 was impossible to foretell how long William might 
 yet live, and, as it happened, he only died when he did 
 in consequence of an accident, an event quite beyond 
 the limits of human calculation or powers of predic- 
 tion ; nor, further, does there appear any sort of reason 
 why the fact of Godolphin being First Commissioner 
 of the Treasury to William should preclude his being 
 Lord Hiffh Treasurer to Anne. 
 
 We believe that a combination of reasons — re- 
 luctance to serve in the Government at all, the embar- 
 rassment which the Tory administration had brought 
 upon the king, and his own relations to the Princess 
 Anne — probably induced Godolphin to quit office. 
 
 Godolphin evidently did not wish to assume office 
 
 o 
 
191 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 in 1700. He had declined it, but the king had forced 
 it upon him. Throughout his connection with 
 William's governments he never appeared ambitious 
 of office and was always anxious to leave it. There 
 is nothing, indeed, to show that he was on bad terms 
 with William, but he was on a much more friendly 
 footing with Anne, and his friendship for Anne 
 undoubtedly, to a certain extent, affords a plausible 
 explanation for his disinclination to serve William. 
 
 The connection between Godolphin and the 
 Princess Anne was already, in 1701, of old date. 
 From almost the moment of William's accession to 
 the throne, Godolphin appears to have been on 
 friendly relations with the princess. When the dis- 
 putes took place between Anne and the king in 
 regard to her settlement, he espoused her cause, and 
 his position at the Treasury was held by the Duchess 
 of Marlborough to be a guarantee that her interests 
 would not be neglected. In or out of office he 
 carried on with her an intimate correspondence, 
 while she, on her side, wrote to him in the most 
 unreserved manner, and in such terms as to render 
 it clear that whatever Godolphin might be to the 
 king she regarded him in the first place as her own 
 friend ; he had arranged her debts and had earned 
 her deepest gratitude ; he was also on personal 
 terms of friendship with her exiled family, and this 
 alone m 1701 was a powerful recommendation to her 
 favour. Private resentment against William had 
 stirred in her bosom sentiments of affection and 
 
UNDER WILLIAM III. 195 
 
 pity for her relatives which natural duty had failed 
 to inspire. In her irritation against William, or 
 in the expression of her new-born love for her 
 parents, she turned to Godolphin. Godolphin must 
 have found her confidences embarrassing. He was 
 a minister of the Crown ; he w^as the servant of a 
 master whose reputation he was bound to shield 
 from every injurious breath ; it was impossible for 
 him, with due regard to his honour, to listen to con- 
 versations full of reproaches against the monster 
 William, and to receive letters loaded with revilings 
 against Caliban.^ Such was, however, the painful 
 position in which he was placed while he remained 
 in office. Godolphin's connection with the Princess 
 Anne is almost sufficient, without any expectation 
 of future favours, to account for his disinclination 
 to enter William's service, and for his desire to 
 abandon it. 
 
 Political reasons, probably, as well as personal 
 ones prompted Godolphin to resign office in 1701. 
 The general election of 1700 had, it is true, filled the 
 House of Commons with Tories, but, in the first place, 
 their power was shortlived, a circumstance which a 
 discerning statesman like Godolphin might have fore- 
 seen would be the case ; and in the second place, the 
 Tory party was extremely violent, which Godolphin 
 was not. Godolphin was moderate from natural 
 
 1 British Museum Additional MSS. 28070, f. 2. In a letter from 
 Queen Anne to Godolphin of 1701, she says : ' It is a very great 
 satisfaction to me to find that you agree with Mrs. Morley concerning 
 the ill-natured, cruel proceedings of Mr. Caliban.' 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 disposition, but the time was now approaching when 
 he began to gravitate towards the Whigs on the 
 most important issue which for a whole reign was 
 to separate Whig from Tory, tlie question of foreign 
 policy, and at such a moment it is probable that a 
 moderate man would be more moderate still ; on the 
 whole, the explanation that he retired from office be- 
 cause of his relations with the Princess Anne, and 
 because his views of public jjolicy differed from those 
 of the Tory party, seems simplest and most natural. 
 When he retired from the Government, his 
 services to William were at an end. On March 8, 
 1702, the king died ; and a new reign commenced in 
 which Godolphin was destined to run a great and 
 glorious career. 
 
197 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LOED HIGH TREASURER. 
 
 There is no better method of appraising a man's 
 material prosperity than by observing the house in 
 which he lives. A rich man may have holes in the 
 elbows of his coat when he might be clothed in purple 
 and fine linen, or a millionaire may prefer a plain 
 mutton chop and a glass of water for his dinner 
 when he might, if it so pleased him, indulge himself 
 with the chefs-d'oeuvre of French cookery and a 
 bottle of the best Leoville ; but however simple or 
 even penurious a rich man's style and manner of 
 living may be, he is quite certain to dwell in a house 
 which in situation and size is consistent with his 
 fortune.^ Very rich men often live in large houses 
 in a very poor way, but it is rare to see a poor house 
 inhabited by a rich man. 
 
 ' This is an assertion which I have lately seen doubted in the 
 examination of a witness before a select committee in the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 Question. The rent that a man pays, the style of a house that he 
 occupies is, is it not, the best of all indexes to his income ? — Ansioer. 
 Yes, if you have got the house properly rated. 
 
 Question. Does not the house that a man occupies form a test of 
 his income 1 — Answer. It does in the middle and lower classes, but 
 not in the upper classes. Rating and Valuation (Scotland) Committee, 
 4612, 4616. 
 
198 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Tried by this almost unfailing standard, Godol 
 phin's fortunes had unceasingly been on the rise. 
 His early life, or at all events a j^ortion of it, had been 
 apparently spent in chambers in the Temple, his mar- 
 ried life in apartments in the fashionable neighbour- 
 hood of Whitehall, his middle age in the dignified 
 but active seclusion of Cranbourn. In the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century a further change indicated 
 his advancing prosperity. Towards the end of 
 William's reign he sold Cranbourn to the Princess 
 Anne, and established himself in St. James's Park. 
 Godolphin House,^ as his residence in London was 
 named, was situated on the present site of Stafford 
 House, and was designed in the severest Jacobean 
 style. Built entirely of red brick, it was so con- 
 structed that each wing of its southern face formed 
 a slight bow. In the centre of the house and be- 
 tween the bows was a garden door, while the garden 
 itself divided the house from tlie Park. The house 
 was undoubtedly ugly, but its position was ex- 
 cellent. Almost in the country, but yet for a man 
 
 ' A sketch of Godolpliin House is preserved in the British Museum, 
 and a plan of it is still to be found at the Office of Woods and Forests. 
 The original house seems to have been built by Lady Oglethorpe, 
 who held by lease from the Crown, about 1685. A new lease was 
 granted by the Crown to Lord Lexington in 1691. This lease must 
 have been acquired by Lord Godolphin previous to the year 1701. 
 Godolphin House remained in the Godolphin family until the death 
 of Lady Godolphin, the widow of the last Lord Godolphin, in 1803. 
 The pictures and other effects were shortly afterwards sold by Messrs. 
 Christie and Manson, who still possess catalogues of the sale. The 
 ho'jse seems to have been pulled down and rebuilt by the Duke of 
 York about 1825. For the greater part of thia information 1 have to 
 thank Mr. Helland, of the Oflice of Woods and Forests. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEA8TJBEB 199 
 
 whose vocation was politics sufficiently in tlie town, 
 close to St. James's Palace, Whitehall, and the 
 Houses of Parliament, yet remote from the crowded 
 slums which render life in a great city obnoxious, 
 it would have been impossible to name a locality 
 in London more suited to the requirements of tlie 
 future Lord Treasurer. Strolling in his garden, 
 and within the very confines of the metropolis, 
 Godolphin may indeed have fancied that he again 
 wandered in the shady groves which surrounded his 
 beautiful Cranboui-n. No town west of St. James's 
 had then risen to disturb the repose of the thrushes 
 and nightingales ; Knightsbridge and Kensington were 
 picturesque villages ; the suburban villa of a great 
 peer stood on the site 'R'hich is now occupied by 
 Buckingham Palace ; one undulating plain of hill 
 and dale, one gay carpet of sober field and verdant 
 pasture, swept from the palace of St. James's in 
 Westminster to the country solitudes of Windsor. 
 
 But St. James's Park in the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century was no longer what it had been 
 in the past after its lake had been planned and 
 its avenues planted by Charles II., or what it was 
 to become in the future under the tasteful care 
 of Brown, the great landscape gardener of last cen- 
 tury. In 1702 it had fallen into unsightly decay. 
 Godolphin must have found it difficult as he passed 
 through his garden door and strolled towards the 
 Park to reconcile what he saw with what he remem- 
 bered. To Godolphin the days of Charles II. were 
 
200 TEE EARL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 but as yesterday. The pleasure-worn voluptuary, 
 with his reckless friends and worthless mistresses, 
 his spaniels and his ducks, was still a striking 
 figure in the landscape of memory. Nor could 
 the Park itself, as it was in his youth, have faded 
 from his recollection. There he used to see herds of 
 deer browsing in picturesque confusion, or animated 
 groups of people whose faces were almost as familiar 
 to him as his own, and whose characters are familiar 
 to those of us, even now, who have lingered in the 
 historical picture galleries with which the great 
 masters Evelyn and Pepys have enriched the nation. 
 But there had been vast changes since those days. 
 The persons who had rendered the Park famous had 
 disappeared, and its charms had withered with them ; 
 Charles and the Stewarts had gone, and with them 
 beauty and pleasure. A Dutch successor had for 
 many jqslYS. occupied the English throne. London 
 had given place to Hamp)ton Court, the artistically 
 arranged park of St. James's to the frigid gardens of 
 Kensington. A dozen years of neglect had trans- 
 formed the splendid pleasure-ground into a suburban 
 meadow ; private encroachments threatened its boun- 
 daries on every side ; great flights of stone steps 
 protruded from the neighbouring houses upon the 
 sacred precincts ; huge walls surmounted with ]3ali- 
 sades obstructed the view ; private doors permitted 
 ingress and egress without any proper supervision. 
 The privileges of the royal domain had not only 
 been violated, but its very face was deformed ; the 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 201 
 
 water of the artificial lalce was sometimes so high 
 as to flood its banks, and sometimes so low as to 
 stagnate in pools ; the trees along its margin were 
 dying or dead, large ant-hills disfigured the turf; 
 vehicles of every description jostled each other on 
 the roads ; roughs loafed along the footpaths ; dogs 
 fought upon the grass plots ; a disorderly public- 
 house stood at the decoy, and bade defiance to the 
 authorities ; women in masks, and half-drunken bullies 
 rendered the Mall not only disreputable but insecure. 
 The Park, once the most favoured in London, the 
 resort of all who were ]3olished and noble, had 
 become scarcely better than a bear-garden. 
 
 The earliest documents found in the public 
 archives after Godolj^hin became Lord Treasurer 
 relate to the improvement of St. James's Park. 
 Whether the meditated improvements originated 
 with Godolphin or were only suggestions for his 
 consideration there is no means of knowing. It is, 
 however, safe to conjecture that they were drawn up 
 by his directions, for when a powerful minister 
 suffers from a public nuisance it is reasonable to 
 suppose that the nuisance will soon be considered too 
 great for the public to bear. It is, however, by no 
 means unlikely that the scheme for improving St. 
 James's Park actually emanated from Godolphin 
 himself. Such a labour would have been to him one 
 of love as much as of duty. The friend of Evelyn, 
 the companion of one whose taste in landscape 
 gardening was considered a marvel of the age, and 
 
202 THE EABL OF GO DOLPHIN 
 
 wIlo was the designer of half the fashionable gardens 
 about London, was not likely to regard the ruin of 
 St. James's Park with composure. To Godolphin, 
 therefore, the task of its embellishment may have pre- 
 sented itself as a pleasure ; and indeed his somewhat 
 methodical mind, as well as his recognised tastes, lead 
 us to the conclusion that the p>roposed improvements 
 were actually his own. His code of regulations was 
 vigorous and efficacious ; paths were to be cut out, 
 dead trees removed, live ones planted ; roughs were 
 to be expelled, dogs banished to a more appropriate 
 playground ; carriages were to be licensed ; a new 
 force for public superintendence to be raised. It had 
 been found that no reliance could be placed upon the 
 sentries, who, after being posted, soon left their duty ; 
 it was now proposed to keep a servant with the 
 queen's badge who should look after the sentries as 
 well as the people.-^ 
 
 But the Park was not more changed than was the 
 position in life of the man who looked upon it. In 
 the early period of the reign of Charles II. Godolphin 
 was a very young politician, indeed he was scarcely 
 more than a boy, while now he was about to assume 
 the most important functions which can fall to the 
 lot of an English citizen, for on May 6, 1 702, Queen 
 Anne appointed him Lord Treasurer. 
 
 The Lord Treasurership was almost the highest 
 office which it was in the power of the Crown to 
 
 ' Calendar of State Papers, Novemlier 21, 1702, and October 14, 
 1700. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASVBEB 203 
 
 bestow. From the time of the Earl of Kent in 
 the reign of William the Conqueror to the tirre of 
 Eochester, only a few years before, it had been filled 
 by a long succession of distinguished men. Occupied 
 for two centuries almost exclusively by Churchmen, 
 whose liberal education pre-eminently fitted them for 
 the discharge of duties requiring considerable culti- 
 vation of mind, the office had, as time passed on and 
 knowledge became diffused, been supplied from the 
 laity as well as from the clergy. Since the reign of 
 Elizabeth, the two Cecils, Burleigh and Salisbury, 
 Dorset and Southampton had all been Lord 
 Treasurers, and had not only derived reputation 
 from their office, but had shed lustre on it. The 
 Lord Treasurer took precedence of all other officers of 
 state. His person was in some degree endowed with 
 the royal sanctity, as to kill him in discharge of his 
 duty was to perpetrate the crime of high treason. 
 His patronage was enormous ; the popular respect 
 paid to him boundless ; no office so singularly com- 
 bined honour, power, and the means of amassing 
 wealth. A post at once more lucrative or more 
 honourable could not have been offered to Godolphin ; 
 he might well have accepted it with sentiments of 
 honest pride. He was, so to speak, a self-made man ; 
 he was not, like Eochester, the son of a Lord 
 Chancellor, or like Shrewsbury, the inheritor of a 
 great name ; he inherited nothing but the abilities 
 of his father and grandfather and a family reputation 
 for suffering loyalty whicli the Stewarts were as apt to 
 
204 THE EAIIL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 ignore as to reqiiite. With much that was against 
 him he had outstripped in the race of life those wlio 
 seemed to have everything in their favour. The 
 crown of victory was most fairly earned ; the prize 
 struggled for by so many, won by so few, lay at his 
 feet. Incredible as it may seem, he refused, when it 
 was first offered, to stretch forth his hand and pick it 
 up. For long he persisted in declining one of the 
 highest posts which a sovereign of England could 
 offer to a subject. His modesty provoked a smile 
 of incredulity among his self-seeking contemporaries. 
 "We think that his reluctance was probably sincere, 
 and not altogether unnatural ; of its existence, real 
 or assumed, there is no doubt at all. Burnet, who 
 had every means of knowing, and who had no 
 motive for exhibiting Godolphin's character in a 
 favourable light, is an unimpeachable witness. That 
 Dartmouth and men like Dartmouth should have 
 discredited a sentiment which they could not under- 
 stand and which does not find common expression 
 in human nature, is not remarkable ; for few men, 
 even the most unambitious and idle, after a life of 
 toil will put aside the golden crown for which they 
 would gladly not have competed, but which having 
 won they are willing enough to wear. 
 
 It is not, however, difficult to offer at all events 
 a plausible explanation of the inconsistency which 
 induced Godolphin first to refuse the post of Lord 
 Treasurer and then to accept it. He may have 
 .seriously desired to occupy no high office, and yet 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 205 
 
 have found himself compelled by the inexorable force 
 of circumstances to do so. Great political leaders are 
 not free to follow their own inclinations. To refuse 
 or to retire from office is not always in their power. 
 They are the slaves of circumstances. Those who 
 follow them and hope to rise by them, or, as in the 
 case of Marlborough and Godolphin, desire their co- 
 operation, will not suffer them to be indolent. They 
 reign supreme, but their sovereignty, if a splendid, is 
 also a compulsory one. Few party leaders have ever 
 succeeded in abdicating till they have ceased to be 
 serviceable. Lord Chatham in vain sought sanctuary 
 at Hayes from the persecutions of his partisans, and 
 attempted in its seclusion to shroud his infirmities 
 from the notice of mankind. Messages, deputations, 
 appeals, memorials, pursued him into the very abode 
 of sickness. So impossible is it for the ordinary 
 mind to conceive a voluntary surrender of power, 
 that there were those who believed that Chatham 
 actually withdrew from public life for the purpose of 
 surrounding himself with a mysterious interest. But 
 what matter is it for surprise that men who like 
 Godolphin have led a life of toil, or who like 
 Chatham are bowed down with ilLiess, should sigh 
 for a moment's repose, and become conscious of the 
 weight rather than of the honour of their burthen ? 
 The dream of an easy life is ever before the eyes of 
 men who are destined to live a hard one. The peace, 
 the verdure, the freshness of the country are always 
 most desirable to those to whom they are denied. No 
 
206 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 grass is so ricli or green, no flowers so sweet, no 
 rivers so sparkling, no summer breezes so cool, no 
 woods so fragrant or inviting, as those which fill the 
 visionary landscape of the overwrought citizen. It 
 is a dream, and perhaps all the more cherished because 
 the dreamer is conscious that his dream will never be 
 realised. Such dreams Godolphin undoubtedly had. 
 The wish to retreat from public life was constantly 
 in his mind. Through the whole of his career he 
 never accepted office with half the alacrity with 
 which he laid it down. Dartmouth sneeringly 
 observes that Godolphin often refused what he 
 ultimately intended to take. It may be retorted that 
 he was often ultimately obliged to take what he 
 would have only been too glad to refuse. And 
 so it was in 1702. It was not only necessary that 
 Godolphin should join the ministry ; it was abso- 
 lutely essential that he should be at the head of it. 
 The queen pressed him ; Marlborough declined to 
 take command of the army unless the revenue was 
 under his control. Godolphin yielded. He probably 
 saw from the first that he should have to yield, and 
 perhaps tliis very knowledge made him cling more 
 tenaciously to the hopes of a life which to tiie busy 
 statesman was to remain for ever an ideal. Poet as 
 some say that he was, there was a strain of poetic 
 sentiment and romance in Godolphin's mind. The 
 time had been, years ago, when he would have fled 
 with Margaret Blague to some rustic cottage. 
 Visions of rustic cottages and country pursuits were 
 
LOBB HIGH TBEASUEEB 207 
 
 always floating before his eyes, and luring him away 
 from the rough stony road of his career. It was for- 
 tunate for him that the path of his duty was adorned 
 with such pictures, dreams of delight to himself, 
 subjects of ridicule to the satirist who turned into 
 mockery a sentiment which was too simple and 
 natural for him to understand — 
 
 Granville shall seize the long expected chair, 
 
 Godolphin to some country seat repair, 
 
 Pemhroke from all employments be debarred. 
 
 And Marlborough for ancient crimes receive his just reward.' 
 
 Thus in 1702 Godolphin became Lord High 
 Treasurer and Chief Minister in Queen Anne's first 
 Government. His colleagues were for the most 
 part men whose political reputations were already 
 made. Rochester, who had been Lord Treasurer 
 under James II., became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ; 
 Mai'lborough became General of the English forces at 
 home and abroad ; Normanby, perhaps better known 
 as Lord Mulgrave, and who was afterwards created 
 Duke of Buckingham, became Privy Seal ; Nottingham 
 and Hedges became Secretaries of State ; they were 
 all Tories, and selected for office by the queen because 
 they were Tories. The influences which acted upon 
 the new administration, and which rapidly tended 
 almost entirely to revolutionise its material and 
 principles, deserve some attention from those who 
 desire to understand Godolphin' s future conduct, and 
 
 ' Walsh's Poems : ' Golden Ages Restored, 
 
208 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 we projDose to consider them slightly here before pro- 
 ceeding further with the narrative of his life. 
 
 Few Grovernments have ever undergone so com- 
 Y)\ete a transformation as that over which Godolphin 
 in 1702 consented to preside. It began by being- 
 Tory, it ended by being Whig ; it was selected by 
 the queen especially for its partiality to the Church, 
 yet it engaged in one of the most serious conflicts 
 which has ever occurred between the English Church 
 and an English Grovernment. Events so important 
 and unexpected could hardly take place without 
 the most violent internal convulsions ; nor were 
 they destined to do so now. The G-overnment 
 through the whole course of its existence was torn 
 with discord ; it was hardly established before there 
 were disputes at the council table, followed by the 
 resignation of one of the highest officers of State ; it 
 had hardly endured three years before the great 
 process of mutation from Tory to Whig had begun. 
 
 The disintegration of Godolphin's Government was 
 hastened by the manner in which its members had 
 been chosen by the queen. The ministers differed 
 profoundly on matters of the commonest policy, and 
 were alike only in so far as they divided the favour 
 of the sovereign. Thus Godolphin and Eochester 
 were colleagues, but the connection between the 
 statesmen was in name alone ; in reality they were 
 relentless opponents and inveterate rivals. So well 
 were their differences understood that the Whigcs 
 rejoiced in the appointment of Godolphin to office 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 20& 
 
 as an excellent means of counteracting the violence 
 of the obnoxious Rochester ; ^ they discovered the 
 poison and the antidote in the same Grovernment. 
 It is clear that the members of such a Government 
 were certain soon to come into collision, and that 
 some would fall in the strife. 
 
 Nor could any Government endure long in the 
 same shape under the system of ministerial selection 
 which prevailed when Queen Anne came to the 
 throne. The choice of ministers was made without 
 any view of constructing what we should term in these 
 days a solid and harmonious Government. It was a 
 system which had worked well in bygone days, when 
 the Crown was strong, when Parliament was weak, 
 and when the power of party was non-existent ; but 
 it was becoming ill adapted to the requirements of 
 modern times. An administration formed by the 
 Stewarts had depended almost entirely upon the 
 caprice of the sovereign. No sanction of public 
 opinion had been required as a qualification for its 
 creation. Since the Revolution, indeed, the wishes of 
 the people had made themselves more felt than they 
 had been before, and the Crown had found increasing 
 difficulty in maintaining ministers who had not the 
 support of Parliament. But still, though the support 
 of a parliamentary majority had become a desirable, 
 it was not as yet an essential consideration in the 
 manufacture of a ministry. Both the theory and the 
 
 ' Maynwaring in a letter to Duchess of Marlborough, September or 
 October, 1710. Diichess of Marlborough's Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 408. 
 
 P 
 
210 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 practice of the constitution permitted the sovereign 
 to choose what minister he liked to take part in the 
 government, without any regard to the favour of 
 Parliament or the confidence of the country. The 
 power of WUliam was, however, to a certain extent 
 more limited in this respect than that of his prede- 
 cessors. He was a parliamentary kmg, with a par- 
 liamentary title to the throne, and as he owed his 
 existence as sovereign to Parliament he was also 
 compelled to yield it some submission. Nor were the 
 people themselves inclined to be more compliant to 
 the wishes of the king than their representatives. 
 The English people always regarded William with 
 suspicion. He was a foreigner, a Dutchman, a great 
 European statesman, they thought, to whom the in- 
 terests of England were about on a level with the 
 interests of Austria, and far beneath those of Holland ; 
 he was no true-born Englishman — nor could all De- 
 foe's power of satire induce them to believe that he 
 possessed the sentiments of one. The people watched 
 him with jealousy, scanned his ministerial apj)oint- 
 ments with vigilance, and imposed restraints upon 
 him such as never, except in periods of agitation, had 
 been placed upon an English monarch. 
 
 The position of Anne was very different to that 
 of William. She was heir to the Crown not only by 
 law, but by descent, and she was well aware of the 
 importance which her subjects attached to the circum- 
 stance. Her first words almost on her accession 
 were an assurance to her Parliament that her heart 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 211 
 
 was entirely English. There were persons who con- 
 sidered that this expression was merely an Ul-natured 
 allusion to the foreign origia and policy of the late 
 king ; but, whether this was so or not, she was in fact 
 only stating a distinction which many people consi- 
 dered to exist between herself and King William, and 
 which explains how it was that she came to possess 
 a power over her subjects and countrymen which 
 William with all his talents was never able to win. 
 The people never for a moment suspected that she 
 would sacrifice the interests of England for the con- 
 jectural interests of continental nations. Nor did 
 continental nations expect to find the same friend in 
 Anne that they had found in WUliam. Her accession 
 to the throne was the cause of panic to half the Powers 
 of Europe, and the acuteness of this panic is some 
 measure of the confidence with which she inspired her 
 people. Foreigners as well as Englishmen believed 
 that henceforth if England were to engage in war it 
 must be because English policy demanded it, and not 
 for some large-minded scheme for the general welfare ; 
 and the more her people trusted her and believed in 
 her, the less were they inclined to interpose in her gov- 
 ernment or to interfere in the choice of her servants. 
 There was thus on the accession of Anne an 
 inclination to revert to the practice of older times in 
 reference to the selection of ministers, which poli- 
 ticians failed to perceive was rendered unworkable by 
 a great, though unrecognised, development of popular 
 and parliamentary power. The people were getting 
 
 p 2 
 
212 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 more powerful, the Crown less powerful. The cer- 
 tain result of a lapse to the old order of things was 
 the creation of a condition of ministerial instability 
 and disturbance ; the ministers had got their patent, 
 so to speak, from the wrong master, and two oppos- 
 ing powers were immediately brought into conflict, a 
 power which pleaded prescription against a power 
 which pleaded strength. Nothing but confusion 
 could ensue till these rival claims were adjusted. 
 During Grodolphin's administration, and while they 
 were in process of adjustment, the Government was 
 naturally subject to the most violent convulsions. 
 
 An administration formed in the manner and 
 under the circumstances which we have described 
 may, perhaps, nominally exist for a long time ; but 
 from the nature of its construction the elements 
 must be fleeting, and thus it was with Godolphin's 
 Government. It possessed no ministerial solidarity, 
 and no inter-ministerial responsibility. The condi- 
 tions which a minister now makes on entering office, 
 that he shall have such another for his colleague, 
 were then unknown, or known only as a degrading 
 stipulation to impose upon the Crown. There was 
 an odour of Pym and of Hampden in such bargains 
 which stank in the nostrils of the sober-headed poli- 
 ticians of the reign of Queen Anne. Godolphin, 
 indeed, impelled, as time went on, by inexorable cir- 
 cumstances, attempted to select the ministers who 
 were to serve under him ; but his conduct was made 
 a matter of severe censure. He was accused of in- 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 313 
 
 troducing a new phraseology into the court style. 
 ' Madam, I cannot serve you while such a one is in 
 employment.' ' I desire humbly to resign my com- 
 mission if W continues Secretary of State.' ^ In 
 
 1702, it was no part of the duty of a minister to 
 make conditions with the queen ; the construction of 
 a ministry was not a ministerial, but in fact, as well 
 as in name, a royal function. Thus Godolphiu's 
 Government was in a sense doubly weak ; for it was 
 efficiently protected neither by the Crown nor by 
 party connection. It became the shuttlecock of oppos- 
 ing forces ; while it adhered to the Crown it was in 
 daUy peril of destruction by the Whigs, when it 
 attached itself to the Whigs it was very soon de- 
 stroyed by the intrigues of the Crown. Exposure to 
 political storms sapped, altered, and finally under- 
 mined it. To most people it will occur that no ad- 
 ministration ever, before dissolution, underwent such 
 vital changes, or had so many premonitory warnings 
 of its coming end. During the eight years of its 
 existence it had almost entirely changed its member- 
 ship, it had largely shed its principles, and its chiefs 
 had for many months been standing on the brink of 
 the precipice of royal displeasure. Yet when the end 
 came Burnet declared that ' so sudden and so entke 
 a change of the ministry is scarce to be found in our 
 history.' 
 
 The differences of object and policy which naturally 
 existed in such a Government were further accen- 
 
 ^ The Examiner, December 7-14, 1710. 
 
214 THE EABL OF OODOLPSIN 
 
 tuated by personal animosities. Rochester had been 
 appointed by Queen Anne Lord-Lieutenant of Ire- 
 land. He was one of Godolj)hin's earliest friends 
 and oldest colleagues. The careers of the two 
 ministers had been remarkably similar. Courtiers, 
 plenipotentiaries, members of Parliament together, 
 they had gradually drifted from terms of easy friend- 
 ship to those of friendly rivalry, and from friendly 
 rivalry to a condition of complete and permanent 
 estrangement. Rochester's credit had not kept pace 
 with his success. As he rose in life, he lost in 
 character. When he was First Commissioner of the 
 Treasury, he was accused of fraudulently farming the 
 revenue ; when he was Lord Treasurer of England 
 he was a member of that Court of High Commission 
 of which the law of England knew nothing ; when he 
 was Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland in the late reign, his 
 violent temper had led him to address the king in a 
 manner which few kings would tolerate, and which 
 none was less likely to forgive than William. 
 Illustrious as Rochester was, he had missed his 
 mark, and probably nobody was more painfully 
 aware of the fact than he was himself. But the 
 sting of failure lay in the sense that his reverses had 
 opened to Godolphin the road to fortune. Where 
 Rochester failed Godolphin invariably profited. When 
 Rochester had, according to Halifax, been kicked 
 upstairs, and been made to accept the post of Presi- 
 dent of the Council, it was Godolphm who was 
 appointed to fill the vacant post at the Treasuiy. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 215 
 
 When, in tlie reign of James, Rochester had floundered 
 hopelessly in the political quicksands, Godolphin had 
 trodden them in comparative safety. In the reign of 
 William and Mary, Rochester, indeed, owed a brief 
 gleam of fortune to Godolphin ; but he owed it to his 
 enmity, not to his friendship. Godolphin had in- 
 flamed the Princess Aime against him, and the dis- 
 like of one sister was sufiicient to induce the other 
 to take him into favour ; and now, as a crowning 
 ofifence, Anne appointed Godolphin to Rochester's old 
 post of Lord Treasurer. Rochester and Godolphin 
 were hardly colleagues before they came into collision. 
 Godolphin was a moderate man, and he counselled 
 moderate measures. Rochester, with his usual in- 
 temperance and impetuosity, strenuously urged a 
 step which would have rendered his own name and 
 that of the Government justly odious ; he proposed 
 to make a sweeping change in every ofiice, however 
 subordinate, where the appointment had been made 
 in the previous reign, and over which the Govern- 
 ment had control. Godolphin firmly and successfully 
 refused to sanction such a cruel and imprudent pro- 
 ceedmg. The incident, though of not much impor- 
 tance, is sufiicient to testify to the difi'erences which, 
 even at this early period, displayed themselves be- 
 tween the two most prominent members of the 
 Government. A few months later Rochester was 
 compelled to leave the administration. 
 
 Nor were other leading members of the Govern- 
 ment on better terms with Godolphin than Ro- 
 
216 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 Chester. Normanby was Lord Privy Seal. He was 
 more brilliant than Rochester, less esteemed than 
 Kottmgham, less absolutely pledged to party than 
 either. He had truckled to the priests when James 
 was king, and, like so many others, implored that he 
 might be instructed as to his faith ; but under William 
 he had acted with the Whig Shrewsbury, though 
 probably with widely different ends to those of his 
 colleague. Normanby was hardly m office before he, 
 too, was in opposition to Godolphin. He had already 
 opposed the declaration in favour of a Protestant 
 successor ; he now protested against the order that 
 the Princess Sophia should be prayed for in church. 
 He ua vain appealed to the Council against it ; the 
 Council, acting on the advice of Godolphin, rejected 
 the appeal and confirmed the order. 
 
 The differences between ministers were unhappily 
 not even concealed in the privacy of the council- 
 chamber, but were soon to be manifested conspicuously 
 before Parliament. The Whigs had been charged with 
 mtending, on William's death, to acknowledge a 
 Hanoverian prince, to the exclusion of Aiane. The 
 accusation was a complete fabrication, as was proved 
 by the most careful investigation into the late king's 
 papers. In the House of Lords it was proposed to 
 pass a severe censure upon the shameless pamphleteers 
 who had ventured to publish these scandalous libels. 
 Though chief of a Tory Government, Godolphin felt 
 that such reparation was due to his political op- 
 ponents, and that it was not onlv un'ust but unwise 
 
LORD HIGH TBEA8UBEB 217 
 
 to pass over without reproof an aspersion which 
 could have no other effect than to rouse the resent- 
 ment of a high-spirited and powerful party. But in 
 this wise and conciliatory pohcy his Tory colleagues 
 were unable to agree with him, and while the resolu- 
 tions condemning these malicious prints were under 
 debate Nottingham was doing all he could to mini- 
 mise the guilt and responsibility of the writers. 
 
 There was still one other circumstance besides 
 those that we have described which tended to accele- 
 rate changes in the policy as well as in the material 
 of the admmistration, and this was the method of 
 government which Godolphm and Marlborough at- 
 tempted to adopt. They were determined, if they 
 could help it, to lean neither upon Whig nor Tory. 
 They desired to construct in the House of Commons 
 a party of their own — a party which was, indeed, to 
 pay a nominal allegiance to the queen, but which 
 in fact they intended to lead and direct themselves.^ 
 The experiment of governing without party, or, to 
 put it more accurately, the attempt to dominate the 
 two existing parties by the formation of a third, has, 
 we think, hardly been sufficiently noticed by the 
 
 ^ It may be proper to remind the reader that in the reign of Queen 
 Anne the power of party was very imperfectly understood. It is, 
 however, a great mistake to suppose, as some do, that party power 
 was not then a great and recognised engine in pohtics. As early 
 as 1693, Sunderland explained to William III. that the policy of 
 balancing one party against the other was impracticable, and that 
 his Majesty must make up his mind to give a marked preference to 
 the Whigs or the Tories. Sunderland's advice on this occasion proves 
 that his conception of the value of political forces was more accurate 
 than that of Godolphin or Marlborough. 
 
218 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 historians of Queen Anne's reign. The matter is, 
 however, very noteworthy for two reasons. First, 
 on account of the absolute failure of the plan, and of 
 the evidence which is consequently supplied of the 
 great progress of party power in the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century ; and secondly, because the 
 circumstance explains naturally and satisfactorily 
 changes in Godolphin's political conduct which have 
 often, for want of a better reason, been ascribed to 
 weakness of character. 
 
 The scheme of a third party in the reign of 
 Queen Anne had in it much which was at first 
 sight plausible. The Crown, as has just been said, 
 was still a power in the State — a waning power, 
 it is true, but still a power which, in the skilful 
 hands of an adroit statesman, might be used with 
 great effect in the work of government. It had 
 places and pensions at its command, it had honours 
 and wealth to bestow. There seemed to be no in- 
 superable difficulty in the way of collecting a parlia- 
 mentary party of time-serving politicians who would 
 be prepared at any moment to execute the orders of 
 their leaders. To the sovereign, perhaps, no scheme 
 of government could well be more alluring. It pro- 
 mised, were it successful, to render Anne almost 
 as absolute as her neighbour Lewis XIV., and she 
 clung to it long after it had been abandoned by its 
 authors. To Godolphin and Marlborough it was 
 scarcely less attractive, for while the queen was 
 flattered with the notion that she would govern the 
 
LORD HIGH TBEASTJBEB 219 
 
 country, they flattered themselves that they would 
 govern the queen. 
 
 Two conditions were, however, in so far as 
 Godolphin and Marlborough were concerned, abso- 
 lutely essential to the success of the scheme, and, 
 as it proved, both conditions were wanting. The 
 first was the certainty of the continuance of the 
 queen's favour, and the second the possibility of a 
 third party at all in a country where from the nature 
 of the case two parties were always bound to exist. 
 In regard to the first, it certainly seems to us strange 
 that Godolphin and Marlborough should have been 
 so convinced of the permanence of the queen's par- 
 tiality for themselves that they were prepared to 
 build upon it and upon nothing else — in spite of the 
 almost proverbial instability of royal favour. It is 
 probable that the presence of immediate dangers 
 diminished the apparent magnitude of remote ones. 
 It is certain, at all events, that they overrated their 
 own influence, and, in spite of their long intimacy 
 with her, misunderstood the character of the queen. 
 
 But Godolphm and Marlborough had in the pro- 
 secution of their design to contend with a difficulty, 
 greater even than that of a rupture with the queen, 
 which might after all be temporary and susceptible of 
 arrangement. The establishment for any length of 
 time of a third party in practical politics is absolutely 
 opposed to the genius of the English people. That 
 Godolphin and Marlborough were ignorant of a fact 
 which must be patent to the most casual reader of 
 
220 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 English history is not surprising. They lived in 
 days when party government was at its very incep- 
 tion. Neither they nor any of their contemporaries 
 could frame more than a guess as to the ultimate 
 shape into which it might resolve itself. It had no 
 history, no past, and no analysis of it was possible. 
 There was nothing in the reign of Queen Anne to 
 show that an intermediate party might not exist in 
 English politics, as well as two parties representing 
 the poles of political thought ; but we believe that 
 there is scarcely an educated man of the present gene- 
 ration who will not pronounce without hesitation that 
 the dream of a middle party is Utopian, that between 
 the two great conflicting parties of the State a third 
 party must be rubbed out as between the upper and 
 the nether millstone, and that the question is only 
 one of time and opportunity as towards which of the 
 two sides its members shall gravitate. 
 
 Thus the scheme of an independent party was 
 doubly doomed to failure, and the failure was abso- 
 lute, though the conditions for the experiment 
 were highly favourable, more favourable almost than 
 they had ever been before, more favourable certainly 
 than they are ever likely to be again. History is 
 too apt to pass over failures and direct its exclusive 
 notice to accomplished facts, and for this reason, 
 perhaps, the effort of Marlborough and Godolphin to 
 break away from party in the reign of Queen Anne, 
 or we should perhaps say their determination to 
 ignore its power, has hardly received the attention it 
 
LORD HIGH TSEASUBEB 221 
 
 deserved. But though, the failure of the scheme was 
 complete, the attempt to establish it continued for 
 some years to introduce a disturbing element into 
 English politics, more, perhaps, in regard to the 
 conduct of statesmen than to the course of events. 
 Till statesmen of Queen Anne's reign acquiesced 
 in the immutable law of English politics which 
 obliges the politician to espouse one side or the 
 other, their position was an unsettled and a sliding 
 one. In the pursuit of their ends they were com- 
 pelled to traffick and to compromise with both 
 parties, and they were, therefore, accused of weak- 
 ness and vacillation by both parties. This, we think, 
 is the true explanation of much which is other- 
 wise very inexplicable in Godolphin's career. He 
 has been reproached with disloyalty to the queen 
 and to the Tory party, with timidity and with fickle- 
 ness. He was, in fact, engaged in the futile attempt 
 of balancing himself where all equilibrium was im- 
 possible. When he proposed to govern England 
 without reference to Whig or Tory, he undertook a 
 task which was absolutely impracticable. His posi- 
 tion was false, and his actions were, therefore, weak 
 and inconsistent. From the moment he came into 
 office precept and practice were in conflict ; he 
 repudiated party, but he drew towards the Whigs ; 
 he flattered the queen with the hope of indepen- 
 dence, yet he ruined his favour with her by com- 
 pelling her to accept the most violent partisans as 
 her ministers. His official life was, in fact, a protest 
 
i222 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 against his professed princijJes of government ; and 
 thus through the whole of his ministerial career 
 inconsistency dogged the steps of himself and his 
 colleagues. 
 
 But in 1702 there was scarcely a shadow of evil 
 to cast a gloom over the dawning prospects of Godol- 
 phin's government. He was on the most cordial 
 relations with the queen ; the dissensions in the 
 cabinet, if somewhat embarrassing, were by no means 
 alarming ; and party hostility had not yet had time to 
 raise its head. In England he was for the present 
 safe. Such perplexities as were likely to beset him 
 threatened him from abroad, and it was towards the 
 continent that Godolphin turned his eyes. 
 
 For more than a year Europe had been distracted 
 by the war of the Spanish succession. A combina- 
 tion of circumstances had, during William's life- 
 time, prevented England from participating in it. 
 The country was anxious for peace, and the opinion 
 was moreover rife that an armed and watchful 
 neutrality on the part of the maritime Powers might 
 paralyse the efforts of France even more than active 
 opposition. But the real reason for England's 
 abstention from war was the existence of a Tory 
 administration. In the House of Commons the 
 Tories were omnipotent, they hated the policy of 
 war, and William, for the time, was in their power. 
 Thus he who had made the limitation of French 
 domination the great object of his life, who had 
 schemed to frustrate the expectations of France by a 
 
LORD HIGH TBEASUBEB 223 
 
 partition of the Spanish empire, who, in his anxiety 
 to accomplish this important design, had induced his 
 Lord Chancellor to perpetrate a most unconstitutional 
 action by signing and issuing blank commissions, 
 was compelled to acknowledge the succession of a 
 Bourbon to the throne of Spain without a murmur. 
 Had William lived it would no doubt have fallen to 
 his lot to have prosecuted the war which was so 
 triumphantly waged by his successor. A Tory 
 Government with French proclivities was not under 
 any circumstances likely long to retain the favour of 
 the English people in the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century. Before William's death its fate was already 
 sealed. In September 1701 James II. died, and 
 Lewis, inflated with arrogance, was mad enough to 
 acknowledge the pretended Prince of Wales as King 
 of England. The whole of England was at once in 
 a blaze. In the few remaining months that were left 
 to William, he lived to see the people petition the 
 House of Commons to cease from wrangling and vote 
 supplies, and to frame that grand alliance under 
 which Marlborough was to conquer and before which 
 Lewis was to bend. 
 
 But though before the death of William the great 
 decision was taken, and it was ordained that England 
 was to fight, there was much in the prospect to render 
 Godolphin despondent as he looked towards the con- 
 tinent ; nor is it possible to say that despondency, or 
 at least mistrust, was unreasonable. England — not 
 indeed alone, but with allies on whom she placed no 
 
224 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 implicit confidence, and whom she would have to a 
 great extent to support — was about to engage the 
 combined forces of two of the most powerful military 
 empires of Europe, led by generals who were reputed 
 the first commanders of the age. He did not and 
 could not know that in the ranks of the English there 
 was a leader greater than Vend6me, and a diplomatist 
 who for industry, subtlety, and courage has never at 
 any time been excelled in the history of the world. 
 We who look back upon a course of success so 
 uniform and unchequered as to make success appear 
 almost a matter of course, who have heard so fre- 
 quently of Blenheim and Ramillies as to lose all 
 sense of the greatness and unexpectedness of these 
 victories, are apt to forget the enormous risk which 
 England had to confront when on May 4, 1702, she 
 declared war against France and Spain. 
 
 In 1702 the war could no longer be entered upon 
 as favourably as it might have been in 1701. While 
 England and Holland had remained neutral, Lewis, 
 either by force or by intrigue, had been carrying all 
 before him ; his troojjs or his emissaries had collected 
 on every frontier, or were dispersed through every 
 capital ; with the exception of the Eastern regions 
 of Europe there was scarcely a continental nation 
 which had not just cause to fear him ; in the New 
 World and in the Old World, on the land and on the 
 ocean, his name was dreaded and his power was 
 growing. It was against this formidable potentate 
 that Godolphin and Marlborough, relying upon a 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEA8UREB 225 
 
 crumbling union of self-seeking States, had to 
 contend. Already the delay of England and Holland 
 to declare hostilities was injuring the alliance ; 
 already, from circumstances or despair, the nations 
 were falling away from it, or afraid of joining it. 
 
 No State probably in the coming struggle had so 
 much to lose or so much to fear from French aggres- 
 sion as Portugal. Her crown was claimed by the 
 kings of Spain. Her position laid her peculiarly 
 open to attack. She well knew that the pretensions 
 of Spain were not likely to be less formidable when 
 they were urged by a grandson of Lewis XIV. and 
 supported by the gigantic power of the French 
 monarch. The shadow of approaching dissolution 
 seemed to be already upon her. Already, it was 
 said, the arms of Portugal were quartered with those 
 of the new King of Spain ; already a Spanish minister 
 had insultingly styled her sovereign the rebel Duke of 
 Braganza ; already Portugal had been bought and 
 sold, and the Spanish Low Countries were the price 
 to be paid for a French army of invasion. Portugal 
 would have resisted France had she dared. She had 
 turned to the Northern Powers, but had found them 
 sunk in what the Tory Government considered a 
 politic neutrality. Submission to what appeared an 
 evitable fate alone remained to her, and she had be- 
 come the ally of France. 
 
 The attitude of Savoy was scarcely more satis- 
 factory than that of Portugal. Victor Amadeus II. 
 was a family connection of Lewis XIV. He himself 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE EABL OF aODOLPHIN 
 
 had espoused the daughter of the Duke of Orleans ; 
 his eldest daughter Mary Adelaide had married the 
 Duke of Burgundy, the eldest son of the Dauphin, 
 His second daughter was wife of Philip of Anjou, who 
 was now to be called Philip of Spain. He was in strict 
 political alliance with France, and the alliance was of 
 that sort which is generally the most binduig, since 
 it had been formed after experiencing the risks of 
 war. But the Duke of Savoy could not watch without 
 perturbation the exorbitant increase of French Power. 
 He well knew that there could be but little room for 
 the growth of small States under the shadow of the 
 gigantic empire which Lewis intended to plant. It 
 was in vain for France in her communications with 
 Savoy to appeal to religion, to honour, to alliances, 
 to treaties ; they were but as dust in the balance 
 when weighed against the natural instinct of self- 
 defence. Savoy, like Portugal, was ripe for resist- 
 ance, but like Portugal she was too weak to stand 
 alone. Her Duke intrigued with Eugene, while he 
 fought by the side of Catinat. But without assistance 
 or encouragement it was perfectly clear that he would 
 have soon to permanently throw in his fortunes with 
 France. 
 
 In Austria, if anywhere, the most resolute opposi- 
 tion to France might have been expected. For the 
 House of Austria this hazardous and costly war was 
 especially to be fought. All the solid fruits of 
 victory were to be placed as a prize in the hands 
 of" an Austrian prince, all its shadowy advantages, 
 
LOBD man tbeasubeb 227 
 
 except those which might be incidentally snatched 
 in the general scramble, were to be the portion of 
 the allies. From the first the Austrians evinced a 
 selfishness which continued to characterise their 
 conduct during the whole war, and which at times 
 disgusted Godolphia almost to the point of producing 
 a ruptiire. William III. had vainly attempted some 
 composition between the contending parties. What- 
 ever may be said of his treaties of partition they were 
 undeniable attempts to avoid by amicable means a 
 most sanguinary conflict. He won for his designs the 
 consent of France, he never for a moment procizred for 
 them the approbation of Austria. Had the power of 
 Austria equalled her pretensions, it might be said that 
 her obstinacy, however unpardonable, was at least 
 intelligible ; but the rapacity of the Emperor of 
 Germany far outran his discretion. He would not 
 curtail by an acre or a village what he considered 
 the just inheritance of the Archduke Charles. Yet 
 when the final catastrophe came, when the King 
 of Spain died, when his will was publicly read in 
 Spain and its fatal provisions no less publicly 
 accepted in France, when Philip was actually being 
 proclaimed at Madrid, and Lewis was marching 
 his armies towards the Netherlands, the Rhine and 
 Italy, Austria was absolutely unprepared for war. 
 She had neither alliances, men, nor money. Her war 
 administration was hopelessly corrupt, her ministers 
 were under the control of French agents ; such 
 soldiers as she could place in the field were starving 
 
228 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 for want of the supplies which her shameless rulers 
 were diverting to swell their private wealth. The 
 German empire refused to support her, while some of 
 the petty States which composed it leant to the side 
 of France. They distinguished clearly between a war 
 which was to be fought for the House of Hapsburg 
 and a war which was to be fought for a common object. 
 The most considerable of the principalities of the 
 empire was the first to show signs of desertion. The 
 Elector of Bavaria was Governor of the Netherlands, 
 and an uncle of the young King Philip of Spain. The 
 position of the electorate, situated almost in the heart 
 of Germany, made his adhesion to Austria of the last 
 importance. His assistance should have been bought 
 by the Emperor of Austria at any cost, were the price 
 to be paid for it that which purchased the Elector of 
 Brandenburg, the promise of a crown. But the op- 
 portunity was neglected. From the commencement 
 of hostilities the Elector of Bavaria showed only too 
 clearly his predilections for France. He won over to 
 her cause his brother, the Elector of Cologne, he 
 permitted 15,000 French troops to occupy the Nether- 
 lands, and he paralysed the spirit of resistance which 
 began to inspire the Dutch. Austria watched these 
 proceedings with an indifference which no fear of 
 impending danger could disturb, and waited with a 
 misplaced and apathetic confidence the assault of the 
 foe whom she had so rashly provoked. Such was the 
 Power which now became England's chief ally. And 
 such was the condition of some of those countries 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 229 
 
 •whose friendship Godolphin and Marlborough first 
 sought to gam, and whom they hoped to galvanise 
 into opposition to France. 
 
 Godolphin' s first ofiicial act of foreign policy was 
 an attempt to sap the French alliances. He began 
 with Bavaria. In spite of the hostile attitude of the 
 elector, Bavaria had up to 1702 remained, in name 
 at all events, neutral. The operations on the Rhine 
 in the preceding year had not been of a character 
 to compel her openly to espouse either one side or 
 the other. There was stiU time, Godolphin hoped, 
 to detach her from France. He was determined 
 to win Bavaria if he could. He was well aware of 
 the local importance of the electorate to the allies, 
 oflfering as it did an easy passage into the very 
 vitals of Austria. But though he earnestly desired 
 to secure her co-operation, the concessions which he 
 was prepared to make to her were not without limits. 
 The Elector of Bavaria, who was vain, and ambitious 
 of military glory, insisted as the price of his alliance 
 that his army should never be divided and that no 
 general should command it but himself. But to 
 Godolphin Bavarian interests when separated from 
 the common cause seemed insignificant. In his fore- 
 cast of events it was Savoy rather than Bavaria which 
 the filled larger space. Savoy, he thought, was 
 where the fate of the war principally hinged ; Prince 
 Eugene, the general who was to bring it to a success- 
 ful termination. He cared little for Bavaria except 
 in so far as her resources could be turned against the 
 
280 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 French, or her neutrality assured to the allies, and 
 he judged, perhaps not unjustly, that any good which 
 might be wrought by the assistance of the Bavarian 
 troops would be more than counterbalanced by the 
 employment of the elector as commander-in-chief. 
 Could he have made an alliance with Bavaria, and 
 have gained the Bavarian army without the elector 
 as general, he would have poured it on the plains of 
 Lombardy and added strength to the feeble but vic- 
 torious Eugene. But to augment the army of Italy, 
 and at the same time supersede in favour of a dull 
 German prince the gallant general to whose skill and 
 enterprise such success as had been achieved in the 
 war was alone due, was a project which Godolphin 
 was unable to favour, and towards which it is quite 
 certain that the Parliament of England would not 
 have voted a farthing. 
 
 Godolphin refused to yield to the monstrous pre- 
 tensions of the elector, but, unwilling to lose him, he 
 proposed an expedient. During the last campaign the 
 imperial forces on the Rhine had been commanded 
 by the King of the Romans. Before the war broke 
 out no one had been so anxious for hostilities as 
 the King of the Romans. His national antipathies 
 ran high, and at the court of Vienna he had heaped 
 insults and invectives on the head of the French am- 
 bassador. But as a general he had failed, and had 
 wasted in pomp and prodigality the resources which 
 should have maintained his army. Godolphin now 
 conceived a plan by which a general who was worse 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 231 
 
 than useless should be witlidrawn, and another, who 
 might be dangerous if neglected, should be employed 
 with such a force and in. such a manner as to render 
 him harmless. He proposed that the King of the 
 Romans should in future remain at home, that ten 
 thousand men of the elector's army should be sent 
 into Italy, and that the elector himself should com- 
 mand the remainder of the Bavarian forces on the 
 Upper Rhine. Thus he hoped at once to strengthen 
 Prince Eugene, and to satisfy the military ambition 
 of the elector. It is extremely doubtful whether 
 Godolphin's proposal was ever submitted to the con- 
 sideration of the elector ; for shortly after it was 
 matured the Bavarians threw off further reserve, sur- 
 prised Ulm, occupied Memmingen, and attempted to 
 open a communication with the French army. The 
 defection was not improbably caused by the procrasti- 
 nation of the imperialists, ' A very hopeful project,' 
 writes Godolphin, ' has miscarried by unaccountable 
 delays.' ^ 
 
 Godolphin had failed with Bavaria. He turned 
 to Portugal with better hopes of success. In Portugal, 
 at all events, he possessed an advantage which he 
 lacked in Bavaria ; he had as an adviser and agent 
 a man of conspicuous ability, who was also a diplo- 
 matist of a very high order of merit. 
 
 John Methuen was of Scotch descent, indeed his 
 family had once enjoyed the proud distmction of being 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 29588, f. 155. Godolphin to Nottingham, 
 August 30, 1702. 
 
232 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 styled Methuen of tliat ilk. The branch to which 
 Methuen belonged had, however, in 1702 ceased to re- 
 side in Scotland, and for several generations before he 
 was born, its members had been substantial English 
 squires or respected members of Parliament. Like so 
 many famous men of that age, Methuen was a states- 
 man as well as a diplomatist. Sunderland, Rochester, 
 and Godolphin had all commenced their careers as 
 envoys and concluded them at home as politicians. 
 Methuen reversed this order. His mission to Lisbon 
 in 1702 seems to have been his first important 
 diplomatic post,^ while he had been a member, and a 
 distinguished member, of three of King William's 
 Parliaments. In politics he had at one time attached 
 himself to Sunderland, and besides being a member 
 of the Council of Trade had attained to the high 
 dignity of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Two of his 
 speeches in Parliament are still extant, the sole record 
 of his political life. They were both delivered during 
 the proceedings in the House of Commons agamst 
 Penwick. From its semi-legislative, semi-judicial 
 character the bill attainting Fenwick was well cal- 
 culated to bring out the personal qualities of those 
 who discussed it, though unfortunately, as so often 
 happens in political strife, judgment was too frequently 
 affected by party influences. Methuen evinced sound 
 sense and discrimination. He proclaimed a general 
 adhesion to the forms of j ustice, but refused to ad- 
 mit that these forms should be permitted to shelter 
 
 ' He was envoy to Portugal in 1692. 
 
LORD HIGH TBEA8TJBEB 233 
 
 criminals. Methuen was an eminently clear-headed, 
 and moderate, though perhaps over-sanguine man. 
 During the war of the Spanish succession he ex- 
 pressed a belief in the success of the English in Por- 
 tugal, which the results proved was mistaken. But 
 even here he was scarcely wrong in his conceptions, 
 as success was certainly within the grasp of the allies, 
 and would have been secured had it not been for the 
 extraordinary incapacity of the English general and 
 the miserable jealousies of the Portuguese Court, 
 Throughout Methuen's offtcial life he was on in- 
 timate terms with Godolphin, as is amply evinced in 
 his most interesting correspondence with the Lord 
 Treasurer. The style of his letters is simple and 
 lucid, and perfectly free from the reproach of official 
 stiffness. Broken in health and assailed by his 
 enemies in England, Methuen laboured with the 
 greatest pertinacity to infuse sense and courage mto 
 a, cause which required nothing but sense and 
 courage to render it triumphant. We shall have 
 occasion on a future page again to refer to John 
 Methuen and his no less remarkable son Paul. 
 
 Grodolphin, with the assistance of Methuen, ad- 
 dressed himself with assiduity and judgment to the 
 task of detaching Portugal from France, and of in- 
 ducmg her to enter into a treaty with England and 
 the allies. He approached the interested and feeble 
 country in a manner well adapted to buy her venal 
 friendship. He assured her of English protection, 
 while he convinced her that England had the means 
 
234 TEE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 to grant what she offered. Manifestations of English 
 power were in all quarters made conspicuous and 
 impressive. The Portuguese beheld English energy 
 everywhere vitahse the palsied limbs of the huge 
 alliance. Expeditions harassed the coast of Spain, 
 and threatened the Spanish plantations in the West 
 Indies ; an English general was sent to the Rhine ; 
 money was forwarded to Savoy ; and in regard to their 
 own more immediate interests, it was promised that, 
 if Portugal joined the alUance, English troops should 
 augment her own doubtful levies, that English sub- 
 sidies should flow into the exchequer of her king, and 
 that commercial advantages should swell the trade of 
 her people ; while, if the fair ofi^ers of English friend- 
 ship were declined, it was generally believed that 
 English fleets were instructed to insult her coasts 
 and blockade her harbours.-^ Godolphia watched 
 the development of his schemes with an interest 
 not unmixed with dissatisfaction and anxiety. In 
 negotiating the treaty with Portugal he had to con- 
 tend with serious difficulties at home ; he had to 
 modify a policy, which his sagacity told him would 
 be successful, for the purpose of conciliating the trivial 
 opposition of ignorant and factious men ; plans had 
 to be abandoned, opportunities lost ; he was obliged 
 to restrain where he wished to encourage, to tem- 
 porise where he desired to act ; he well knew that 
 the treaty was of paramount importance to the grand 
 alliance ; but he was equally conscious that it could 
 
 ' Luttrell's JDiary, April 16, 1702. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 235 
 
 not be secured wittout some sacrifice on the part of 
 England, and that the English Parliament, justly 
 representing the feeling of the constituencies, would 
 be sure to grumble at any new charge which might 
 be laid on the overburthened people. These obstacles 
 he prepared to overcome. He entered minutely into 
 every detail of the treaty. The quota of ships to be 
 supplied, the number of men to be sent, whether these 
 men should be cavalry, infantry, or dragoons, whether 
 subsidies would not be better than men, were all 
 points which he carefully weighed and decided upon.^ 
 As to the expense which an expedition to Portugal 
 would entail upon the country, that, Godolphin said, 
 might be reduced, if not altogether saved. The war 
 in the West Indies was likely in the year 1702 to 
 cause a severe drain upon the Treasury. He recom- 
 mended that this charge should not be incurred, and 
 that the money thus economised should be devoted 
 to the maintenance of the Portuguese alliance. The 
 suggestion was not likely to be universally popular. 
 The idea of a war in the West Indies was one which 
 in the judgment of many competent persons should 
 not be abandoned, for it was a common opinion at 
 that time that the Spanish West Indian possessions 
 were the most vulnerable part of the Spanish empire, 
 and that to strip her of these rich islands, and to 
 intercept the wealth which flowed freely from them 
 to Catholic Europe, were the best means of injuring 
 
 > Additional MSS. 29588, f. 324. Godolphin to Nottingham. 
 British Museum. 
 
236 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 tlie Bourbon cause. It is clear, indeed, that Godol- 
 phia to a considerable extent sbared this opinion, and 
 his proposal therefore to relinquish the war in the 
 West Indies proves how much importance he attached 
 to the treaty with Portugal. In spite of every obstacle, 
 the treaty was at length concluded. It bears the 
 name of Methuen, but it in fact owed its existence to 
 the determination and energy of Godolphin. 
 
 While Godolphin was still negotiating the treaty 
 with Portugal, he was at the same time engaged in 
 planning an expedition against the Spanish posses- 
 sions in the West Indies. That such an expedition 
 should have been thought of at all is perhaps rather 
 surprising after Godolphin's own proposal to limit the 
 war in that quarter of the world. We should hardly 
 notice the expedition, as nothing came of it, were 
 it not that a circumstance connected with it seems to 
 mark Godolphin's confidence at the outset of his minis- 
 terial career in a man whom both he and Marlborough 
 came afterwards to regard as their enemy, and because 
 it illustrates the great ditficulties which were thrown 
 in the path of the English Government by the other 
 members of the Grand Alliance. In the summer of 
 1702, Peterborough was named Governor of Jamaica, 
 and commander-in-chief of an expedition intended to 
 operate in the West Indies. 
 
 Peterborough, vain, reckless, and ambitious, who 
 would obey no one, and whose greatest enterprises 
 were achieved with a mere handful of men against 
 overwhelming odds, was the very last person whom 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 237 
 
 we should have expected a minister like Godolphin 
 to choose for such a position. It is difficult to 
 conjecture how Godolphin was ever induced to 
 sanction Peterborough's command, still more, how 
 he had actually come to confide, as his letters prove 
 was the case, in a person so totally different from 
 himself. There was absolutely nothing in common 
 between the calculating man of the world, noted far 
 and wide for the gravity of his demeanour, and that 
 wild and brilliant bemg who could one day steal an 
 old woman's canary to present to his mistress, and 
 on another display a heroism unsurpassed m the 
 pages of romance. Nor was Godolphin ignorant of 
 Peterborough's character when he made the appoint- 
 ment. Godolphin had been a Commissioner of the 
 Treasury when Peterborough was at its head, and 
 must have been well acquainted with the impractic- 
 able character of his chosen general. In later years, 
 too, Godolphin both disliked and distrusted him. 
 Had Godolphin been as crafty as has been often 
 alleged, the appointment might well be considered an 
 artful attempt to get rid of one whose impetuous 
 character would allow of no repose, and whose un- 
 bridled vanity, so susceptible of wounds, might at 
 any moment convert him into a dangerous enemy. 
 
 The West India expedition never sailed. The 
 jealousy of the Dutch, coupled with their proverbial 
 procrastination, rendered it abortive. Godolphin 
 had been anxious that the expedition should be 
 purely English ; he knew well that were the Dutch 
 
238 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 to participate in it, delay would aiFord the Spaniards 
 ample time to prepare for the attack. But naval and 
 military preparations on so extensive a scale could 
 not be kept secret. Intelligence of the expedition 
 penetrated to Holland ; avidity for booty, and a desire, 
 if they could not prevent, at least to share the ac- 
 quisitions of England, induced the Dutch to announce 
 their intention of sending a contingent. Nor was 
 this all, for they not only decided to send ships 
 to join the expedition, but they claimed at the 
 same time reimbursement from the emperor for the 
 expenses thus rendered necessary. Godolphin was 
 filled with indignation when he heard of the Dutch 
 proposals, and he at once communicated to Notting- 
 ham his objections to their plans. The Grand Alliance, 
 he urged, contained an express article declaring that 
 whatever the English and Dutch should acquire in 
 the West Indies should belong to themselves. The 
 Austrians had always insisted that this article should 
 be explained, but the explanation had never been 
 given. One of two inconveniences, wrote Godolphin, 
 will attend the demand which the Dutch make upon 
 the emperor, ' either it will weaken our right stipu- 
 lated in the article above mentioned, or at least it 
 will occasion the emperor's ministers' revival of their 
 pretension to have that article explained, and it would 
 have been much better had neither of these points 
 at present been stirred.' ^ As usual, when action de- 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 29588, f. 233, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, September 15, 1702. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 289 
 
 pended upon the co-operation of the Dutch, nothing 
 was done, or rather everything was done too late. 
 The expedition, which should have been secret, became 
 noised abroad. Success as a combined movement be- 
 came impossible. Godolphin, with an audacity which 
 he sometimes displayed at critical conjunctures, de- 
 clared himself of opinion that Peterborough should sail 
 alone, and surprise the French and Spaniards. Had 
 his advice been adopted, success might have cro^maed 
 it ; as it was, the opportunity was lost, and the enter- 
 prise was relinquished. 
 
 WhUe Godolphin was arranging the expedition to 
 the West Indies, he was watching with eager interest 
 the military and naval proceedings which the Govern- 
 ment had undertaken against Cadiz. A powerful 
 squadron, partly English and partly Dutch, bearing 
 an army commanded by the Duke of Ormond 
 had been despatched to attack Cadiz. Among all 
 their Spanish acquisitions the Bourbons had obtained 
 none of greater value than Cadiz. It was the richest 
 town in the richest province of Spain. From the 
 earliest history it had been one of those fortunate 
 spots which seemed by partial Nature to be dedicated 
 to commerce. Centuries might pass, nations might 
 rise and faU, but the wealth of the world, whether 
 wafted by Punic, or Latin, or Spanish sail, still 
 poured into its spacious harbour. In the time of the 
 Phoenicians it had been the mart of English tin. In 
 the time of the Romans it had grown enormously 
 wealthy by monopolising the salt fish trade with 
 
240 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Rome ; and now, in the days of Philip, it was the key 
 to the Mediterranean, and the great port of export 
 and import to and from the West Indies. Cadiz was 
 the glory of Spanish commerce. It was to Spain 
 what Liverpool is to England, Marseilles to France. 
 To Spain its possession was invaluable, its loss would 
 be irretrievable, while the expectation of plundering 
 its rich stores excited the cupidity and inflamed the 
 courage of every soldier who was appointed to attack 
 it. The history of the expedition is well known. 
 The dreaded invasion of Cadiz was converted into 
 a huge act of brigandage worthy of Tripolitan or 
 Algerine pirates rather than of the disciplined valour 
 of English and Dutch soldiers. Instead of attacking 
 Cadiz itself, a miserably conceived attempt was made 
 on the suburb of Port St. Mary. Churches were 
 plundered, religious houses were broken open, nuns 
 were violated, private persons despoiled. Licence 
 reigned supreme, till the dread of a hostile force drove 
 the marauders with precipitation to their ships. -^ 
 
 While the fleet was employed before Cadiz, 
 Godolphin observed its proceedings with critical 
 
 ' Public Record Office, State Papers, Domestic. From Edward 
 Harding, merchant, written from Faro, October 20, 1702. In the 
 course of his letter he says : ' Our iieet has left behind such a filthy 
 stench among the Spaniards that a whole age will hardly blot it out.' 
 In April, 1702, similar complaints were made from the district of Bois- 
 le-Duc against the English soldiers, who it was alleged pillaged houses 
 as if they were in an enemy's country. There is nothing extra- 
 ordinary in these complaints. Many of the soldiers were respited 
 criminals. Great numbers of the petitions in the domestic papers of 
 this period at the Record Office, are petitions from malefactors begging 
 to exchange imprisonment or capital punishment for military service. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 241 
 
 attention, and as from time to time news of its in- 
 activity readied England, he betrayed the liveliest 
 sentiments of disgust. He was well aware that, ably 
 handled, the force was amply sufficient to eiFect the 
 most important results, and he beheld with annoyance 
 and mortification the clumsy and dilatory manoeuvres 
 which characterised its actions. 
 
 The inactivity of the English fleet led Godolphin 
 to despair of a project which he had almost as much 
 at heart as the capture of Cadiz itself. A large con- 
 voy of Spanish galleons, laden with treasure, was 
 expected in the autumn of 1702 to appear off the 
 coast of Spain on their return from America. These 
 gaUeons the English Government had made every 
 preparation to intercept. It had even hoped to 
 capture them by surprise, as it was still doubtful 
 whether, ia those days of slow communication, the 
 news of the war, which had broken out between 
 England and France and Spain in May, had arrived 
 in America before the departure of the Spanish 
 flotilla. The exact position of the ships was un- 
 known ; but wherever they were Godolphin was 
 determined to take them. If they were on their 
 voyage to Europe a squadron was appointed to cut 
 them ofi^. If they were anchored, as some supposed, 
 off the inhospitable coast of Newfoundland, he had 
 determined that another British squadron should seek 
 them even in those distant and gloomy regions. 
 Late as was the time of year, badly as were the 
 English ships equipped, unwilling as were the sailors 
 
242 TEE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 to run the risks and endure the fatigues of a winter 
 voyage across the Atlantic,-^ he had resolved that the 
 Spanish galleons should become his prey. Such, 
 indeed, had been Godolphin's intentions and his 
 hoj^es. The conduct of the British fleet off Cadiz 
 induced him sorrowfully to prepare for disappoint- 
 ment. The commanders showed neither vigour nor 
 capacity, the sailors seemed absolutely deficient in 
 zeal. When Godolphin at length received intelli- 
 gence that the flotilla had escaped the English 
 cruisers and was anchored in Vigo Bay, so slight 
 was his confidence in English seamen that he almost 
 abandoned the expectation of its capture. 
 
 Godolphui was, however, destined on this occa- 
 sion to experience an agreeable surprise. The 
 English fleet, which had almost disgraced itself be- 
 fore Cadiz, attacked the Spanish flotilla in Vigo Bay 
 with a vigour and audacity which was beyond all 
 praise. The Spanish galleons were either sunk or 
 taken, though unfortunately a great part of the 
 treasure was lost. This important action entirely 
 effaced all recollection of the misconduct of the ex- 
 pedition, and on its return to England its chiefs re- 
 ceived a vote of thanks firom both Houses of Parlia- 
 ment, and their triumphs were the subject of a solemn 
 thanksgiving in St. Paul's Cathedral. The procedure 
 
 ' Complaints from admirals against going to sea in the winter are 
 verj common at this time. Booke apparently objected equally to 
 being at sea in the middle of summer, as there is a letter from him 
 among the State Papers in the Public Record Office, dated July 1702, 
 in which he complains that the heat in the Channel is making his ships 
 unhealthy. 
 
LOBD HIGH TREASURER 248 
 
 to be followed at the thanksgiving received the most 
 careful consideration of the House of Lords, and even 
 gave Godolphin some little trouble in the Cabinet.^ 
 Nothing in those days was either too parochial or too 
 universal for the attention of either House of Parha- 
 ment. The Lords ordered that no Peer should drive to 
 St. Paul's with more than two horses, that between cer- 
 tain hours of the day all traffic should be stopped, and 
 that the Peers themselves should assemble in their 
 own chamber in their robes at eight o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 It is interesting to observe in Godolphin's corre- 
 spondence what a very contemptuous opinion he held 
 of the navy. The squadrons engaged before Cadiz 
 and afterwards in the triumphant attack at Vigo 
 were commanded by two most distinguished English 
 admirals. The presence of Shovel and Rooke would, 
 we should have thought, of itself have been sufficient 
 to warrant the assumption that any naval operations 
 would have been executed with zeal and skill. 
 But Godolphin had no faith in sailors, even though 
 these sailors were Shovel and Rooke. On the 
 18th of September, while the fleet was still before 
 Cadiz, he wrote to Nottingham, ' What I fear most 
 is the great unwillingness of the fleet to expose 
 their ships on any occasion, or for any service what- 
 soever, the landmen I am confident will do their 
 parts, and I hope the seamen will find less difficulty 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 29588, i. 337, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, November 3. 
 
 E 2 
 
244 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 than they opine in their imaginations.' ^ Again, in 
 October, writmg to declare his opinion that an attack 
 should be made on the flotilla in Vigo Bay, he goes 
 on to say ' that by all our accounts from Cadiz and 
 from Mr. Methuen, our fleet seems to me to be so 
 desirous of losing no time in coming home that I am 
 very apprehensive that they won't go out of their way 
 to make any attempt upon that place or any place 
 without express orders for it which if not too late I 
 should wish might be sent to them.' ^ 
 
 Nor were Godolphin's fears unreasonable. For 
 years the credit of the British navy had been declin- 
 ing. Since the days of Blake scarcely an admiral of 
 any distinction had appeared, or a deed of any special 
 merit been performed. As in the time of the Protec- 
 torate the nation passed through fire, so did the 
 weapons upon which the nation relied for defence. 
 Blake revolutionised the navy, as Cromwell revolu- 
 tionised the State. ' He despised those rules, which 
 had been long in practice, to keep his ship and men 
 out of danger, which had been held in former times 
 a point of great ability and circumspection, as if 
 the principal art requisite in the captain of a ship 
 had been to be sure to come home safe again.' ^ But 
 the rules and maxims of these men of iron en- 
 dured scarcely longer than their own lives. Russell 
 was esteemed a good and a brave sailor, yet his 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 29588, f. 242, British Musfium. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, September 1702. 
 
 ^ Additional MSS. 29588, f. 324, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, October 1702. 
 
 ' Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. vi. p. 42. 
 
LOBD HIGH TBEASUBEB 245. 
 
 miserable complaints from Cadiz in 1694 almost make 
 us blush after the lapse of nearly two centuries. Ben- 
 bow's name will be familiar wherever English his- 
 tory is read ; yet Benbow's captains openly deserted 
 him in the middle of an action to the everlasting 
 shame of the navy of that day. Nor, unfortunately, 
 was the accusation against English sailors one of 
 lukewarmness and cowardice alone. The Parliamen- 
 tary Committee appointed in 1708 to inquire into 
 the conduct and management of the navy very 
 nearly convicted it of piratical practices. Thus if 
 Godolphin spoke of the navy in disparaging terms, 
 he was justified in the evil opinion which he had of 
 it ; though to us it must always seem strange that 
 he should have placed more reliance upon an army 
 under an unknown general like Ormond than upon 
 an English fleet under admirals so renowned as 
 Rooke and Shovel. But it should perhaps not be 
 forgotten that Godolphin and Rooke were in 1702 
 political opponents, and that these were the days when 
 military difficulties were sometimes created to accom- 
 plish political ends, and when the military achieve- 
 ments of one party did not by any means give satisfac- 
 tion to the other. Godolphin knew that Rooke was 
 averse to the enterprise against Cadiz, and that on this 
 occasion at all events he was another instance of a 
 British sailor without zeal, and that no one had so 
 strenuously endeavoured to prevent the expedition 
 from sailing as the man who was appointed to com- 
 mand it.^ 
 
 ' Burnet saya Rooke always violently opposed the expedition. 
 
246 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION IN 1703. 
 
 Godolphin's name had already been associated with 
 some of the great improvements in and about 
 London. He had been one of the first and largest 
 subscribers to Greenwich Hospital ; he had restored, or 
 at all events attempted to restore, St. James's Park. 
 In 1703 we find him entertainmg plans for rebuilding 
 Whitehall. 
 
 In 1691, Whitehall, wdth the exception of the 
 banqueting-hall, had been burnt to the ground. Its 
 loss was deplorable, for no palace in England was 
 more beautiful or more popular. It had become, 
 moreover, almost an historical monument, as either 
 before it, or within it, had occurred some of the most 
 interesting events in English history. It had wit- 
 nessed Charles I. die for opposing the Parliament ; 
 Harrison die for opposing the king. Its walls had 
 sheltered the fanatic Cromwell, no less than the fanatic 
 James. Its chapel had echoed to the preaching of the 
 Independent, and resounded with the solemn music 
 of Italian choristers. The very chambers which had 
 afforded quarters to the devout and rigid soldiers of 
 the Covenant had contained occupants of a fairer de- 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1703 247 
 
 scription whose presence there was sufficient to make 
 the military morahsts tm-n in their graves. Its 
 historical associations were enhanced by the artistic 
 treasures it contained ; on its walls were hung 
 costly and beautiful masterpieces by Titiens, Holbein, 
 and Raphael, its chimney-pieces were enriched by the 
 incomparable carAangs of Gibbons, its library was 
 filled with books, rare indeed rather than useful, but 
 of an inestimable antiquarian value. The destruction 
 of this noble palace was a public disaster. To many 
 it seemed an indication of Divine displeasure ; a sign 
 that God was punishing the transgressions of His 
 people as He had once chastised the sins of the erring 
 children of Israel. He had allowed the light of the 
 Gospel to shine upon the people ; he had conferred 
 the heavenly blessing of the reformed faith upon 
 them, and yet they had strayed after strange gods ; 
 their king had erected the idolatry of the mass, and, 
 to use the cant of the day, their great men and 
 ministers had bowed themselves down in the House 
 of Rimmon. The belief was confirmed when it was 
 discovered that the conflagration had broken out in 
 the rooms of the Duchess of Portsmouth. If the con- 
 flagration was due to the anger of heaven, its ven- 
 geance, it must be admitted, was complete, for the 
 palace was reduced to ashes. The loss was irrepar- 
 able ; for that very reason, no doubt, there was a 
 universal disposition to repair it. 
 
 In 1703 the Duke of Shrewsbury, partly from dis- 
 gust with English politics, but mostly on account of his 
 
248 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 health, had taken up his residence at Rome. Rome then 
 even more than now was regarded as the seat of the 
 arts, and the spot above all others where those should 
 repair who search for artist's models in statuary, 
 architecture, or painting. Shrewsbury had long been 
 on friendly terms with Godolphin. They had been, 
 as was so frequently the case in those days, colleagues 
 in office and leading members of rival parties ; one 
 was a Whig who was destined to become a Tory, the 
 other was a Tory who was destined to become a 
 Whig ; but they were both moderate men, and for 
 years their intercourse was friendly and uninter- 
 rupted. Godolphin now sought from Shrewsbury 
 some plan framed in Rome and conceived by Italian 
 artists for the restoration of Whitehall. The plan 
 Avhich Shrewsbury submitted to Godolphin is in- 
 teresting now, chiefly as a memorial of what was 
 intended, and of the sort of edifice which it was 
 proposed to construct. Had the scheme been 
 adopted, the new palace would have comprehended 
 within its walls not only the residence of the king, 
 but the offices of all the great ministers of State, and 
 the official centralisation, which has for many years 
 been the aim of ensuing Governments, would have 
 been achieved. 
 
 The plan of the building was curious. The 
 first floor was to be the royal palace, the basement 
 was to be devoted to the offices of the Admiralty, 
 Treasury, Secretary of State, &c. It is very signi- 
 ficant of the power of the Crown in the beginning 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1708 249 
 
 of the eighteenth century, that it should have been 
 considered an object of importance to bring the 
 residence of the sovereign into close contact with 
 the executive offices of government. It was then 
 as important for these offices to be near the sovereign 
 as it is now that they should be near the House of 
 Commons. The design of rebuilding Whitehall was 
 relinquished. Many palpable blots were visible upon 
 the plans, and Shrewsbury himself was the first to 
 pomt them out.-"- 
 
 While Godolphin was thus, in 1703, planning the 
 reconstru-ction of Whitehall, he was at the same time 
 deeply engaged in domestic politics. We think that 
 in this year we first trace a distinct inclination in him 
 towards Whig principles, and this upon a question 
 which may be taken as a sure test of party faith in 
 that age ; the question of religious toleration. 
 
 In 1 702 the Occasional Conformity Bill was intro- 
 duced into the House of Commons. The House of 
 Commons, which then contained in its ranks at least 
 two Tories for every single Whig, passed it ; but the 
 House of Lords, possessed of more moderate and 
 enlightened views, threw it out. In 1703 and 1704 
 the bill was revived in the Lower House. The ob- 
 ject of the bill was simply, to use the words of Mr. 
 Lecky, to exclude the Dissenters from all Govern- 
 ment positions of power, dignity, or profit. The 
 Test Act had succeeded in excluding Roman Catholics 
 
 ' Shrewsbury from Rome, June 16, 1703. Additional MSS. 28056, 
 JBritiah Museum. 
 
250 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 from corporate and civil offices, but it had placed no 
 disability upon those moderate Dissenters who were 
 prepared to communicate according to the Anglican 
 ritual. The bill attempted to disqualify both Dis- 
 senter and Catholic alike. It would be difficult to 
 conceive a measure more directly calculated to display 
 the inner feelings and moral tendencies of statesmen, 
 or more certain to touch the very root of the dif- 
 ference from which the antagonism between Whig 
 and Tory springs. 
 
 For years the Dissenters had been subject to the 
 most unjust inequalities of law. The Corporation 
 and Conventicles Acts in particular were a disgrace to 
 the Enghsh statute book. Penal laws against the 
 Catholics had their apology. They were levelled 
 against papal supremacy, and against the constant 
 intriguing of a power which was bound by no promise 
 and gave absolution for every crime. They were 
 laws not so much against conscience as against veiled 
 rebellion and ecclesiastical usurpation. But from the 
 Dissenters no such dangers were to be apprehended. 
 The rebellion against Charles I., it is true, was col- 
 oured with a religious complexion, but those who led 
 it have never been charged with treason against the 
 liberties of the people. The war was in truth a war 
 for liberty which had been provoked by misgovern- 
 ment, and was waged for the redress of grievances by 
 the English jDcople, for an English object, and certainly 
 on behalf of no foreign potentate, temporal or ecclesi- 
 astical. But not only was no danger to be dreaded 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 251 
 
 from the Dissenters, they were the very pith and 
 marrow of the nation ; their labours had largely 
 increased its wealth ; the most opulent merchants in 
 the city, the shrewdest mechanics in the world, men 
 whom Lord Somers^ styled the very foundations of 
 the dignity of England, were to be found in their ranks. 
 Yet in spite of their great services, the Dissenters 
 were compelled to endure a persecution, which was 
 degrading and oflFensive to men conscious of their 
 own integrity and merit. They knew that the 
 country had grown fat through their industry, but 
 they were by law denied a place — even an outside 
 place — in the government of the nation which they had 
 enriched. The sense of injustice had however never 
 diminished their patriotism. No temptation could 
 shake their loyalty to the country, and James II. 
 discovered to his cost that they nobly preferred to 
 endure the evils of their lot, rather than accept 
 an Indulgence which they could only enjoy at the 
 expense of public liberty. 
 
 William's Toleration Act had done much to render 
 the condition of the Dissenters endurable ; the good 
 sense of the country had done even more. When 
 Queen Anne ascended the throne a display of con- 
 formity to the English Church was still required by 
 law before a candidate could enter upon a corporate 
 office. The Dissenters regarded the Act as a mere 
 qualification for office, which pledged them to no 
 change of doctrine or faith, and the bulk of their 
 
 ' Cunningham's Eidory of Great Britain, vol. i. p. 318. 
 
252 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 fellow-countrj^men were perfectly willing to accept 
 the construction which they put upon it. The days 
 of intolerance were, indeed, passing away. Penal 
 statutes might remain on the statute book, alarms, 
 for the most part artificial, might be raised that 
 the Church was in danger, but distant as the goal 
 was, obscured as it frequently became by the vapours 
 of bigotry or the dust of political strife, the country 
 was already gradually approaching the great haven 
 of peace, religious equality. 
 
 Anne was no sooner on the throne than a serious 
 attempt was made to convert the penal laws against 
 Dissenters into realities ; and a measure was proposed 
 which, had it passed, would either have extirpated 
 dissent, or extirpated the Dissenter as a force from 
 the body politic. The Act for suppressing Occasional 
 Conformity was distinctly retrogressive. It was 
 worse than tyranny, for it was a return to tyranny 
 after a partial liberation from it. 
 
 It is not our duty here to trace the history of 
 Occasional Conformity, or the despicable attempts 
 made to check it, further than is necessary to explain 
 what part Godolphin took in these proceedings and 
 how far he concurred in opinions w]}ich are now 
 universally condemned as narrow, ungenerous, and 
 unstatesmanlike. Suffice it to say that the Plouse of 
 Commons again in 1703 passed the bill for restrain- 
 ing Occasional Conformity by a large majority, and 
 that the House of Lords was again wise enough and 
 strong enough to throw it out. In the following 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1703 258 
 
 year, 1704, the bill was once more introduced, and 
 suffered a similar fate. During this period popular 
 opinion was divided, as in such a case it was sure to be ; 
 Churchmen were rampant in its favour ; women, often, 
 it was alleged, with characters none of the best,^ were 
 open-mouthel in its support ; but the bulk of the 
 people, with the good sense which is inherent in the 
 English, took the rational view. They could see no 
 reason why a Dissenter strict in his attendance at 
 chapel, scrupulous in his dealings with others, and 
 a pattern in private life, should not hold an office with 
 as much advantage to the country as the Tory Sir 
 Edward Seymour, whose public life was disgraced 
 by the acceptance of bribes, whose private life was 
 notoriously dissolute, and who openly avowed that 
 he had neither received the communion nor even 
 heard a sermon in the Church of England for a period 
 of seven years. To the dull and unprejudiced 
 Englishman the balance seemed altogether in favour 
 of the Dissenter. 
 
 The conduct of Grodolphin in reference to the 
 Occasional Conformity Bill was strangely contradic- 
 tory. Twice he voted for it ; once against it. His 
 position was no doubt an extremely difficult one. 
 He was the servant of a queen whose affection for the 
 Church was little short of bigoted ; -he was a member 
 of a Government composed of men whose devotion to 
 it was traditional, the colleague of a minister who 
 peculiarly pretended to be its prop and defender ; the 
 
 1 Cunningham's History of Great Britain, vol. i, p. 318. 
 
254 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 very consequence which he himself possessed in the 
 royal councils Tras due to his reputed attachment to 
 the Church. Had Godolphin refused to vote for the 
 Occasional Conformity Bill when it was first intro- 
 duced, he would probably have done much to injure 
 himself and very little to injure the bill. The queen 
 would have regarded him as a traitor. He could 
 not have coalesced with the Whigs had he even 
 desired to do so. Neutrality was not in his power. 
 Prince George of Denmark himself could not obtain this 
 indulgence, and exhibited to the world the grotesque 
 spectacle of the Prince Consort openly and avowedly 
 voting against his own conscience on a point of 
 religion. Whether Godolphin approved of the mea- 
 sure or whether he did not, he was at first practically 
 obliged to support it ; and it only remains for us to 
 discover whether the support which he gave was 
 voluntary or compulsory. 
 
 Every indication leads us to suspect that Godol- 
 phin disliked the Occasional Conformity Bill, but was 
 obliged from political pressure to accept it. In fact 
 it is not improbable that the bill was skilfully framed 
 with the view of doing him harm. His old allies 
 the Tories conceived that the attitude which he was 
 assuming towards the Whigs was too friendly. They 
 thought that they would place him in a dilemma, that 
 they would compel him either to favour or oppose 
 the Dissenters, and that he would thus be obliged to 
 offend the queen on the one hand or the Whigs on 
 the other. Their stratagem was precisely the same 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1703 256 
 
 as that which a few years later they employed when, 
 hopmg to involve Grodolphin m. a quarrel either with 
 the queen or the Whigs, they mtroduced a bill inviting 
 the Elector of Hanover to reside in England ; and it 
 was attended by precisely the same results. It was 
 a complete failure ; Godolphin was not injured ; 
 his advance towards the Whigs was not checked ; 
 and every right-minded person was disgusted with a 
 policy which was obviously prompted as much by 
 party animosity as by public spirit. We are inclined 
 to think, therefore, that Godolphin's votes on the two 
 first Occasional Conformity Bills cannot be taken 
 as any exact index to his sentiments, or any con- 
 clusive proof of his approbation of what the bills 
 contained. The bill of 1703 was apparently brought 
 in without his knowledge or consent, and its 
 announcement in the Gazette was surreptitiously 
 procured by Nottingham.^ Godolphin did all that 
 he could to impede its progress ; he declared the 
 measure unseasonable ; he laboured to reconcile the 
 queen with the Whigs,^ and while he dissuaded her 
 from supporting the bill, his dependents voted against 
 it. In the following year, upon the reintroduction of 
 the bill, Godolphin thought himself strong enough to 
 vote against it himself. The bill ^as again thrown 
 out, and for several years the passage of this ob- 
 noxious measure was delayed. The delay was very 
 largely due to the antagonism of Godolphin. Prince 
 George declared that he and Godolphin could have 
 
 1 Coxe's Marlborovgh, vol. i. p. 144. '' Ibid. pp. 131, 132. 
 
256 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 passed the bill had they chosen, but that they did not 
 choose to do so.-^ Whether this is so or not, we date 
 with some degree of confidence Godolphin's first dis- 
 tinct departure from the Tory party from the time of 
 the controversy on these bills. 
 
 The discussions on the Occasional Conformity 
 Bills brought Godolphin into contact with a writer of 
 considerable literary eminence, and in a manner which 
 strongly confirms the impression that he disliked the 
 measure. 
 
 Charles Davenant had already, in 1703, taken a 
 high place among essayists and pamphleteers. The 
 eldest son of the famous Sir William Davenant, he 
 had been educated at Oxford, and for a short time 
 had a share in the Duke of York's theatre. During 
 the reign of James II. he had been a commissioner of 
 the excise, an office which he lost at the Eevolution, 
 and in that of William had represented during two 
 Parliaments the borough of Great Bedwin in Wilt- 
 shire, a position in which he failed to distinguish him- 
 self His natural tastes, however, soon led him to turn 
 from the life of a theatrical manager and playright, 
 and even from that of an active politician, to the more 
 cono-enial avocation of writing essays, or, as he often 
 called them, discourses upon commercial and political 
 topics. He was a man of wide-rangmg and philo- 
 sophical mind, and deeply imbued with the precejots 
 and lessons of Sir William Petty, His writings 
 show that he was an independent and advanced 
 
 1 Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. p. 145. 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 257 
 
 thinker. Already in 1703 he had composed some 
 treatises of importance. Essays on East India trade, 
 on the public revenues and trade of England, and 
 on the balance of power, had at intervals proceeded 
 from his pen and had excited the attention and 
 applause of the public. He now prepared a new 
 paper for publication. Like many moderate men, 
 both Whig and Tory, he was shocked to observe the 
 factious violence of parties. War was raging on the 
 Continent, England was engaged in a sanguinary 
 struggle with her ancient and hereditary enemy, 
 grown many times more powerful than ever she was 
 before, yet the most violent dissensions split the 
 country from, one end to the other. Davenant under- 
 took the creditable but hopeless task of calming the 
 storm of party passion. He wrote an essay entitled 
 ' Peace at Home and War Abroad,' and laid the manu- 
 script of it before Godolphin. The object of the dis- 
 course, he says in a letter to the Lord Treasurer, is 
 to recommend moderation. Though he does not 
 pretend to guide ministers, it is proper, he remarks, 
 that they should see the physic which is offered. 
 A large portion of the work is directed against the Oc- 
 casional Conformity Bill, but this he undertook not to 
 publish without Godolphin's consent.^ 
 
 When ' Peace at Home and War Abroad ' appeared 
 before the public, many people attributed a share in 
 its authorship to Godolphin ; some of the opinions 
 
 • Charles Davenant to Godolphin, October 19, 1703. Additional 
 MSS. 28055, f. 13, British Museum. 
 
258 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 expressed in it were known, some were suspected, to 
 be those of the Lord Treasurer ; but whether this is 
 so or not, the pamphlet to a very large degree deter- 
 mines the private political views which Godolphin then 
 eiitertaitied on the great question of Occasional Con- 
 formity. Davenant's letter is dated October 19, the 
 second reading of the Occasional Conformity Bill was 
 not introduced into the House of Commons tUl late 
 in the following November. Davenant must have 
 been well assured of Godolphin' s hostility to the bill, 
 before he ventured to submit a manuscript to his 
 judgment, replete with arguments, which in the course 
 of a few weeks the Lord Treasurer might consider 
 it his duty to combat. That Godolphin, therefore, 
 inspired the essay, we think can hardly for a moment 
 be doubted. AU the circumstances of the publication 
 warrant the assumption. In the first place there is 
 the general report of Godolphin's connection with it ; 
 in the second there is the private letter from the author, 
 deliberately laying the manuscript before him for the 
 purposes of approbation and correction, and it is not 
 likely that any author would submit his work to the 
 judgment of one whose verdict he knew would be un- 
 favourable. Thus ' Peace at Home and War Abroad ' 
 afi"ords valuable testimony of Godolphin's private 
 opinions ; for in no way could his views be more 
 clearly ascertained than by the study of an essay 
 which, written with a purpose, was really but not 
 ostensibly his own. His public utterances, like the 
 utterances of all public men, were necessarily some- 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 259 
 
 what adapted to the exigencies of his position, but 
 a pamphlet inspired by him may without doubt be 
 considered as reflecting his thoughts and wishes. 
 The pamphlet is moderate and thoughtful. It defines 
 the various functions of the executive, the ministers, 
 and the legislature ; it demonstrates the mischief 
 which may be caused by a confusion of duties, and it 
 warns the Government to take care that furious zeal 
 may commit no outrage, and that superstition may 
 get no entrance.^ 
 
 While in some quarters ' Peace at Home and War 
 Abroad ' was accepted as the exposition of the views of 
 Godolphin and Halifax, it was received in others with 
 a storm of derision not altogether undeserved. The 
 public had not forgotten that scarcely two years had 
 elapsed since Davenant had been engaged in libelling 
 the Whigs in a pamphlet styled ' Tom Double 
 returned out of the Country,' or that for writing it 
 he had received the merited censure of the House of 
 Lords. What, it was asked, was to be thought of a 
 
 ' Davenant's Works, vol. v. p. 27. This was not the age when 
 moderation was a popular virtue, as is shown by the violent con- 
 trasts of servility to the Crown on the one hand, and of party violence 
 on the other. Men of moderation were thus ridiculed in 1705 : — 
 ' For mod'rate statesmen, like camelians, wear 
 A diff'rent form in every diff'rent air. 
 They stick at nothing to secure their ends, 
 Caress their enemies, betray their friends. 
 Their medley temper, their amphibious mind 
 Is fraught with principles of every kind ' — 
 and so on. — Poems on State Affairs, vol. iv. p. 103. Oldmixon writes 
 of the year 1704, that the words 'union' and 'moderation' had 
 become so odious, that in sermons, especially at Oxford, they were 
 represented as something inimical to the Church. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 man who in tlie course of a few months could thus 
 identify himself with his ancient foes ? Davenant had 
 satirised the Whigs under the title of Tom Double ; 
 here, it was exclaimed, was the veritable and true 
 Tom Double — a Tory to-day and a Whig to-morrow. 
 In truth, the circumstances of Davenant's conversion 
 are not altogether free from suspicion. It may have 
 been the result of conviction, but it is certain that 
 Grodolphin presented the author with a place and a 
 handsome salary.^ 
 
 While Godolphin was perusing Davenant's manu- 
 script, he was engaged in a less agreeable manner 
 with another and a more celebrated author. 
 
 Daniel De Foe was always in trouble. Endowed 
 with a facile pen and ready wit, he had not the self- 
 restraint which renders these dangerous gifts harm- 
 less. De Foe, no less than Davenant, had been struck 
 by the passions which the debates on Occasional Con- 
 formity had excited, but their minds had been im- 
 pressed by the same circumstances in a very different 
 manner. Davenant sighed over what was serious : 
 De Foe mocked at what was ludicrous. To Davenant 
 the rivalry of parties seemed the beginning of the end. 
 He recollected the saying of Burleigh that England 
 could never be undone but by her Parliament, and 
 in the factions of the time he beheld the ruin of his 
 country. De Foe, on the other hand, watched the 
 controversy excited by the Occasional Conformity 
 Bill with sarcastic humour. He observed with grim 
 
 ' Memoirs of Be Foe, by Walter Wilson, p. 145. 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 261 
 
 pleasure solemn writers and learned dignitaries of the 
 Church indulging in language which, stripped of the 
 flowers of rhetoric, inculcated the severest maxims of 
 persecution. Their erring brethren had wandered 
 from the path of light and were wallowing in the 
 miry clay, while these apostles of peace, whose 
 vocation it was to preach good-will among men, 
 loudly proclaimed their transgressions and threatened 
 them with punishment instead of oflFermg them 
 assistance. De Foe held up a mirror to the Church 
 that she might behold her own features distorted by 
 the odious passion of persecution. He never imagined 
 for a moment that this spectacle of horror could be 
 regarded without loathing and disgust. But so it 
 was, and in his ' Shortest Way with the Dissenters ' 
 many recognised with approval the work of a zealous 
 and excellent, if perhaps too eager, Churchman. 
 When this admirable composition was discovered to 
 be a satire a change took place in public opinion. 
 There was a great scandal, not so much because of 
 the brutal advice which the pamphlet contained, not 
 so much because the writer had advised that Dis- 
 senters should be treated like snakes and toads and 
 reptiles, or plucked out from the true corn as noxious 
 and poisonous weeds, such jargon was common 
 enough at the time and served to add a biblical 
 flavour to the nauseous dose of persecution ; the 
 objection to the essay was not because these things 
 had been said, but because they had not been said 
 seriously. The Speaker Harley informed Godol- 
 
202 THE EABL OF OODOLPEIN 
 
 pliin that the author of this hbel must be dis- 
 covered,^ and De Foe was apprehended and placed 
 in custody. It is stated that while De Foe was in 
 prison Nottingham attempted to bribe him to dis- 
 close the names of those who had employed him to 
 write the pamphlet, so certain at that period did it 
 seem that a political pamphleteer was merely an agent 
 of a minister or a party.^ De Foe was anxious, if he 
 could, to save himself from the penalty of his indis- 
 cretion, and he volunteered a confession. ' My lord,' 
 writes Grodolphin to Nottingham, ' after I had the 
 honour to see your lordship yestei'day Mr. William 
 Penn came to me to tell me he had acquainted my 
 Lord Privy Seal that De Foe was ready to make oath 
 to your lordship of all which he knew, and to give an 
 account of all his accomplices in whatsoever he had 
 been concerned, for the information of the Queen and 
 the Lords of the Council, provided by so doing he may 
 be excused from the punishment of the pillory, and not 
 produced as evidence against any people whatsoever.' ^ 
 The queen when she had heard the confession con- 
 sidered that it was insufficient,* and the sentence on 
 De Foe was executed. Had a full confession been 
 
 1 Godolphin to Nottingham. Additional MSS. 29589, f. 398, British 
 Museum. 
 
 ^ Thus we find Harley, August 9, 1702, writing to Godolphin. from 
 Brambon observing that it would be a great advantage to have some 
 ' discreet writer ' on the Government side. — Additional MSS. 28055, 
 f. 3, British Museum. 
 
 2 Godolphin to Nottingham, Windsor, July 17. Additional MSS. 
 29589, f. 28, British Museum. 
 
 * Same to same, July 22. Ibid. i. 45. 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1703 263 
 
 made it would have been interesting to posterity. 
 Happily, however, for De Foe, his reputation escaped 
 the indelible stain of betraying his friends and bring- 
 ing them to punishment. 
 
 The proceedings on this occasion, unpleasant as 
 they were, did not prevent the future intercourse of 
 Godolphin and De Foe. Godolphin employed De 
 Foe as an agent of the Government during the treaty 
 of Union with Scotland, and De Foe has recorded of 
 Godolphin a sentiment as magnanimous as at that 
 time it was rare. When Harley, his first benefactor, 
 separated from Godolphin, and was compelled to 
 resign office in the Government, De Foe, doubtful 
 of his reception, presented himself before the Lord 
 Treasurer, and expressed his fears that his interest 
 might be diminished by the loss of his patron. ' Not 
 at all, Mr. De Foe,' replied Godolphin, ' I always 
 think a man honest till I find him the contrary.' ^ 
 There is a ring in the answer which reminds us of some 
 of the generous and pithy sayings of William III. 
 
 ^ Wilson's Memoirs of De Foe, vol. iii. p. 8. A curious letter exists 
 in the Public Record Office, dated Pynes, August 27, 1705, from Hugh 
 Stafford to Secretary Hedges, complaining that De Foe was in the habit 
 of receiving at Weymouth letters of dangerous consequence to the queen 
 and Government. As this letter is in no way connected with Godolphin, 
 I should not have noticed it here, except that one of the charges made 
 against De Foe may prove interesting to politicians of the present day. 
 Stafford accuses De Foe of speaking contemptuously of the younger 
 members of the House of Commons, with the purpose of injuring 
 their reputation with the people ; he goes on to say, ' Since writing of 
 this I have a further information from very good hands, that he dea's 
 very freely in his common conversation with the young parliament 
 men, in basely reflecting on them lately in my neighbourhood by 
 saying : as for them, they generally lay drinking at some tavern or 
 
264 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 While the Lord Treasurer thus struggled with 
 domestic difficulties in the Cabinet, his attention was 
 deeply engaged with the military events passing on 
 the Continent. When Godolphin glanced at the 
 theatre of war, there was not a spot upon which his 
 eye could rest with satisfaction ; there was little to 
 encourage the hope of even partial success in the 
 future ; there was absolutely nothing to presage that 
 brilliant series of victories which has rendered the 
 recollection of the war of Spanish succession glorious. 
 The campaign of 1702 had in every direction been 
 adverse to the allies ; the Imperialists had been 
 beaten by Villars at Friedlingen and by Yenddme in 
 Italy ; Tallard had extended his forces along the 
 Ehine and the Moselle, and had taken Treves ; the 
 French only waited the advent of spring to put into 
 execution a gigantic design by which they proposed 
 to pour their troops fi'om the defiles of the Black 
 Forest and from the passes of the Italian Alps in 
 direct attack on Vienna itself. To withstand a pro- 
 ject so plausible and so threatening the powers of the 
 allies appeared, in 1703, to be utterly inadequate. 
 Marlborough's great reputation as a soldier had yet 
 
 other near the House, and leave the concerns of the nation to half a 
 score old stagers to manage, till any business of moment, and then 
 they were sent for, who as soon as they come into the House imme- 
 diately whisper to one, and so to another, to know how Sir Edward, 
 Sir Humphrey, or Sir John how they voted, and having learnt it 
 without ever learning the merits of the cause, or indeed anything of 
 the matter, immediately cry out they give their vote the same way, 
 let it be right or wrong as long as Sir Edward and they vote so,' &c., 
 &c.— State Papers: Domestic, Anne, Bundle 10, p. 21, Public Record 
 Office. 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1703 265 
 
 to be made ; the Dutch were cross-grained and ill- 
 advised ; their generals, Opdam and Cohorn, obstinate 
 and wrong-headed. All Marlborough's time and 
 energy were employed in correcting the mistakes 
 which neither advice nor persuasion could prevent 
 his stiff-necked colleagues from making. The English 
 Government, filled with alarm at the state of the war, 
 and desiring to make a diversion, had been delibe- 
 rating upon a plan for attacking Dieppe, when cir- 
 cumstances occurred which led them to turn their 
 eyes in another direction, and which to a certain 
 extent affected the course of the war. 
 
 In 1703 the formidable insurrection of the Cami- 
 sards broke out in the Cevennes. This mountainous 
 district was the last refuge of religious liberty in 
 France. Here, concealed in caves and sheltered in 
 forests, were to be found those unhappy beings who 
 had perversely clung to the faith of their fathers, and 
 had ventured to brave the terrible and certain punish- 
 ment which attached m France to Protestant recu- 
 sancy. Even in these days, when the lapse of time 
 has somewhat chilled our sympathies with the suf- 
 ferings of former generations of men, we cannot read 
 without horror and disgust the narrative of that 
 mihtary and ecclesiastical tyranny which converted 
 harmless and innocent peasants into vindictive savages 
 burning to avenge their own miseries by inflicting 
 disasters and humiliation on their native land. The 
 petition of these poor people contained nothing to 
 justify the destructive wrath of king or priest. They 
 
266 THE EARL OF GODOLFHIN 
 
 desired to worship God in their own fashion uninter- 
 fered with themselves, interfering with none. Their 
 claim received a harsh and final answer. They were 
 bidden to attend to the monitions of their priests, or 
 they were threatened with the horrors of a military 
 persecution. Nor had they long to wait for the 
 accomplishment of these menaces. Intolerable op- 
 pression was soon adopted to extort from them a 
 miserable and worthless acquiescence in the forms of 
 orthodoxy. Drummers drummed before their windows 
 at night to prevent them from sleeping, they were 
 compelled to turn spits till they were nearly roasted 
 or promised to attend mass, their feet were placed on 
 red-hot iron, their bodies thrust into wells till they 
 were half frozen.^ The crown of martyrdom might 
 have been theirs had they been possessed of the 
 passive resignation which seems essentially to cha- 
 racterise the Christian martyr ; but with the spirit of 
 men, rather than with the patient meekness of saints, 
 they prepared to defend their lives, to vindicate their 
 liberties, and to avenge on their oppressors the 
 wrongs so ruthlessly inflicted on themselves. 
 
 Godolphin at once recognised the importance to 
 England of the Camisard rebellion. He had never 
 favoured the enterprise against Dieppe. In the 
 Cevennes, on the other hand, he perceived that there 
 was much to encourage the hope of a successful in- 
 
 ' Cavalier's Memoirs. The Duke of Berwick, in his Memoirs, also 
 gives various instances of atrocities practised upon the CamLiards, but 
 apparently without any perception of the brutality which he describes. 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 267 
 
 vasion. Dieppe/ he objected to Nottingham, was 
 situated in the very centre of the French forces. 
 There was an army close to it, there were various 
 garrisons in its neighbourhood, the population was 
 thoroughly Catholic, and its capture by the English 
 would ineAdtably be attended by an immediate 
 counter-attack. In the Cevennes, on the other hand, 
 the case was different. There, he urged, an English 
 force might be temporarily safe ; the people were not 
 only in insurrection, but were Protestants, and no 
 French army could disturb an invader when once 
 established, for at least three months. From the 
 moment that the insurrection in the Cevennes broke 
 out Grodolphin's heart became, in fact, fixed upon 
 operations in the Mediterranean. The south of France, 
 he thought, was the most vulnerable part of the 
 kingdom. If he had been permitted to follow his 
 own inclinations, he would have sent a fleet into the 
 Mediterranean, swept the Adriatic, and burnt the 
 French magazines at Genoa and Leghorn.^ From 
 the first he seems to have appreciated to a greater 
 degree than his contemporaries the golden opportunity 
 which the troubles in Provence offered to English 
 military enterprise. Meagre as is Godolphin's corre- 
 spondence, much concerning his views and his policy 
 as must be left to conjecture, or advanced with hesi- 
 tation, nothing, we think, is more apparent through 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 29589, f. 55, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, July 23. 
 
 ' A memorandum in Godolphin's handwriting, 1703. Additional 
 MSS. 29589, f. 327, British Museum. 
 
268 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 several years of his admiaistration than his desire to 
 harass the French by invasions, and by invasions if 
 possible from the south, and in connection with the 
 Camisard outbreak. That his plans were never effec- 
 tually put into execution was due partly to the oppo- 
 sition of his colleagues in England, and partly, we 
 must say, to what appears to us to have been a dis- 
 inclination on the part of Marlborough to promote 
 any campaign but his own. Had France been vigor- 
 ously attacked from the side of Savoy, and had an 
 energetic attempt been made to supply the Camisards 
 with officers and money, the course of the war might 
 have been shortened. To the great leader of the 
 Camisards on the one hand, and to the generals of 
 Lewis on the other, the apathy of the English was 
 astounding. Cavalier tells us that if the allies in 
 1703 had only taken advantage of the position of 
 affairs in the Cevennes, the whole of France might 
 have been conquered.^ The Duke of Berwick is unable 
 to understand how the English and Dutch could 
 have been so lost to a sense of their own interests as to 
 leave the Camisards destitute of capable leaders.^ As 
 we have already explained, nobody in England was 
 more conscious of the opportunity than Godolphin, 
 or was more anxious to seize it. 
 
 But Godolphin had enemies to contend with of 
 whom Cavalier and Berwick knew nothing, and who 
 
 ' Cavalier's Memoirs, p. 156. 
 
 ' Memoirs of Duke of Berwick. Petitot's Collection de Memoires, 
 vol. Ixvi. p. 32. 
 
ADMINISTBATION IN 1708 269 
 
 did their best to frustrate his schemes, whether of 
 domestic policy or foreign conquest. He was in ler- 
 petual danger from the opposition of his own col- 
 leagues. Nottingham, as a leading member of the 
 administration, should have been his staunchest and 
 loyalest friend. He was nothing of the sort. He aimed 
 at domination in the Cabinet, and was the dangerous 
 and inveterate foe of his own leaders. Nottingham's 
 position in Godolphin's Government furnishes us with 
 a striking instance of the want of ministerial harmony 
 in the reign of Queen Anne. At the present time such 
 a condition of things could not exist for a moment ; 
 it would be intolerable, and would render any 
 government unworkable. Nottingham systematically 
 resisted every design which Godolphin and Marl- 
 borough desired to prosecute. He opposed Marl- 
 borough's system of conducting the war ; he had 
 already attempted to injure his colleagues by the in- 
 troduction of the Occasional Conformity Bill, and he 
 now obstructed Godolphin in his schemes for assisting 
 the Camisards. The reason which he gave for his op- 
 position is well worthy of descending as an example 
 of the fanatical extent to which the Tory doctrines 
 of passive obedience and non-resistance could be 
 strained. The wretched people of the Cevennes were 
 being roasted, frozen, tortured with red-hot irons, 
 and driven mad by deprivation of sleep, yet because 
 they were the acknowledged subjects of the King 
 of France, Nottingham flatly refused to help them. 
 Had England sent an army to Provence, Cavalier 
 
270 TEE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 assures us that France miglit have been ruined in 
 two years. If this assertion was true, England 
 had, by years of bloodshed, by the expenditure of 
 milUons of pounds, and finally by the conclusion of 
 an unsatisfactory treaty, painfully to atone for the 
 slavish adherence of a Tory statesman to a senseless 
 and fanatical dogma. 
 
 Thus circumstances compelled Godolphin to 
 abandon for the moment his project of carrying the 
 war into the Cevennes ; he did not, however, with- 
 draw his attention from that quarter of Europe, but 
 concentrated it upon Savoy. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy was in a condition of the 
 most painful vacillation. The time had at length 
 come when it was absolutely necessary for him to 
 decide which of the belligerents he would join, and 
 either alternative seemed to be attended with conse- 
 quences almost equally dangerous. If he joined 
 France, his small territory might become absorbed in 
 the French monarchy ; if he opposed her, it might be 
 subdued by a French army. He did aU in his power 
 to delay the moment of decision, and while he pre- 
 tended to favour the French he intrigued with Count 
 d'Avesperg, the imperial ambassador, whom, for fear 
 of the resentment of Lewis XIV., he immured in a 
 royal fortress and compelled to live the life of a 
 political hermit. The suspense which the conduct of 
 the Duke of Savoy created was injurious to the affairs 
 of the allies, and Godolphin was resolved to terminate 
 it. He could not, he thought, do so in a better way 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 271 
 
 than by sending a competent and instructed envoy to 
 the court of Savoy. With this object he directed 
 Mr. Hill to repair to Turin. 
 
 Richard Hill, who for some years ^ represented 
 the English Government at the court of Turin, 
 deserves something more than a passing notice. His 
 name is not, like that of Methuen, celebrated in the 
 roll of great English ambassadors, and yet judging 
 from his correspondence with the Lord Treasurer we 
 should incline to think that Hill was as able a man 
 as Methuen, and perhaps an even more successful 
 diplomatist. The recollection, however, of Hill has 
 to a great extent faded away, and his identity is 
 confounded in modern historical works with that of 
 the many Hills who were his contemporaries in the 
 reign of Queen Anne. Hill was born of a good 
 Staffordshire family. He was educated at Eton, 
 and intended for the Church. He had already taken 
 deacon's orders, when by chance he became known 
 to Lord Ranelagh, who, observing his capacity for 
 business, obtained for him the post of paymaster to 
 the troops in Flanders. The merit of Hill attracted 
 the attention and secured the favour of William III., 
 while the condescension of William obtained in return 
 the life-long affection of Hill. Upon the conclusion 
 of the war in the Low Countries Hill was nominated 
 one of the ministers to negotiate the Peace of Ryswick, 
 and in 1701 he became a Commissioner of the Treasury. 
 
 ' He was at Turin as envoy in 1703, see Gompleat History of 
 Europe. 
 
272 THE EABL OF GO DOLPHIN 
 
 In later life he took priest's orders and was elected a 
 Fellow of Eton College. He does not, however, seem to 
 have resided at Eton, but to have lived at Richmond, 
 near London, in an unpretentious manner, though 
 surrounded by the most eminent persons of the time. 
 In his political opinions Hill somewhat resembled 
 Godolphin. He was a Tory, but one of those Tories 
 whom the Tory party would hardly own. He ob- 
 jected to the Tory foreign policy, and was attached 
 to the Protestant succession. He was, in the par- 
 lance of the time, ' a Hanover Tory,' an expression 
 which some declared to be a contradiction in terms 
 and a monster in its production. Hill carried on a 
 long and intimate correspondence with Godolphin. 
 Like so many correspondences, half private half offi- 
 cial, of this time, his letters are singularly pleasant 
 and instructive reading. They present to us a man 
 of shrewd sense, of correct judgment, and of some- 
 what humorous impressions. Far less in earnest 
 than Methuen, he was probably a man of clearer in- 
 sight into character, who took life more easily, and 
 perhaps passed through it more successfully. His 
 career was full of inconsistencies. Bred to the 
 Church, he became a public servant and refused a 
 bishopric ; being a Tory he acted with the Whigs, 
 and being a rich man he lived like a plain one. 
 
 The mission of HiU to Turin seems, as usual, to 
 have been obstructed by Nottingham ; Godolphin 
 was anxious that HUl should arrive at Turin with 
 the least possible delay. He impressed upon Not- 
 
ADMINISTRATION IN 1703 273 
 
 tingham that if the Duke of Savoy was ' balancing,' ^ 
 as he called it, nothing would so probably turn the 
 scale in favour of the allies as the friendly represen- 
 tations which Hill was entrusted to make on behalf 
 of the English Government. The argument seems 
 incontestable ; yet the Pensioner of Holland at- 
 tempted to detain Hill at the Hague till the Duke of 
 Savoy's intentions were more clearly known, and 
 the pains which Godolphin takes to explain to 
 Nottingham the error of such a policy lead us to 
 suppose that his observations were mtended quite 
 as much to convince the mind of his colleague as to 
 disparage the plans of the Pensioner. Hill was poli- 
 tically objectionable to Nottingham. He was nomi- 
 nally a Tory, yet he differed from the Tories upon 
 the cardinal question of the war, which at this time 
 divided the Tories from the Whigs. It is not then 
 surprising that Nottingham viewed Hill's appointment 
 by Godolphin as envoy to the court of Turin with dis- 
 favour. He could not prevent it, he could not even 
 seriously delay it, but he attempted to mmimise its 
 importance, and maintain his own influence abroad by 
 appointing a friend of his own to another diplomatic 
 post in Northern Italy. He appealed to Godolphin 
 to send Matthew Prior on a mission to Venice.^ 
 Godolphin declined to accede to the request ; he 
 was probably as averse to the man, who was after- 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 29589, f. 95, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, August 19, 1703. 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 29589, f. 153, British Museum. Godolphin to 
 Nottingham, September 9, 1703. 
 
274 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 wards his bitter opponent, as Nottingham was to 
 Hill. He courteously turned the proposal aside, 
 remarking that such affairs as had to be regulated at 
 Venice might be left to Hill on his way to Turin. 
 In spite of all opposition Hill reached Italy in August, 
 He was received by the Duke of Savoy with a cold- 
 ness as simulated as it was brief. On October 3, 
 Victor Amadeus was informed that the French, sus- 
 pectmg his fidelity, had arrested a portion of his 
 army ; on the 4th the insulted sovereign took the 
 only revenge which was in his power, and publicly 
 declared his adhesion to the Grand Alliance. For 
 several years Hill remained at Turin the trusted 
 agent of Godolphin, and we shall have at a future 
 page to revert to their correspondence. 
 
275 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ACT OF SECURITY. 
 
 In 1704 an event occurred which marked the first 
 of two important epochs in Grodolphin's government. 
 Nottingham retired fi'om office ; that he had retained it 
 for two years is a happy illustration of the practice 
 which brought elements of the most discordant cha- 
 racter into the same administration. Nottingham 
 was opposed to Grodolphin and Marlborough upon 
 nearly every point. His acts of insubordination, if 
 we may call them by that name, had been many and 
 serious, while the apprehension of his opposition 
 must have caused as much inconvenience and anxiety 
 as his declared hostility. Both at home and abroad 
 he was an embarrassment to his colleagues, and 
 Godolphin must have hailed his resignation with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 There are two periods of main importance to be 
 specially considered during the term of Godolphin's 
 administration. Both are intimately connected with 
 the plan of government which Grodolphin had adopted, 
 and which we have already tried to explain, and both 
 show in different ways and at different progressive 
 
 T 2 
 
276 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 stages how Godolpliin's plan of government was 
 acted upon by the natural laws affecting party govern- 
 ment. The first epoch, marked by the resignation 
 of Nottingham, we may style the shedding epoch, 
 because the action of party began to dissolve the 
 Government, and cause it to crumble away into 
 fragments ; the second epoch, which we assign to 
 the period of Sunderland's accession to the adminis- 
 tration, we may style the accretive epoch : for the 
 work of dissolution had then for the most part been 
 done, and the power of party, which had hitherto 
 l)een spent in dissolving, was now employed on the 
 work of reconstruction. It will also be recognised 
 by any close observer that though Godolphin is 
 often charged with bemg the author of the great 
 political changes which characterise his period of 
 office, they were, in fact, the work of evolution 
 rather than that of any individual statesman, and 
 the consequence of necessity rather than of choice. 
 
 The resignation of Nottingham Avas the first out- 
 ward and visible sign of the dissolution of that 
 scheme of government which it had been so fondly 
 hoped would unite the queen's friends into a party 
 distinct either fi:-om Whig or Tory. The great prin- 
 ciple that two parties alone could exist in England 
 for the purpose of government was beginning to assert 
 itself. It began to dawn upon politicians that there 
 was no half-way house between Whig and Tory. 
 Nottingham found his situation in the administration 
 intolerable, and he frankly represented to the queen 
 
THE ACT OP SECURITY 277 
 
 that if he was to remain in of&ce she must make up 
 her mind between a pure Whig or a pure Tory Govern- 
 ment. He was not driven from office, as he well might 
 have been, for his various offences against his col- 
 leagues ; but he is the first example of those politi- 
 cians who were congregated together into a govern- 
 ment on the accession of Queen Anne voluntarily 
 gravitating towards their natural point of attraction. 
 As we proceed in our narrative it will appear how cir- 
 cumstances forced Godolphin in spite of himself, and 
 often in spite of the most earnest exhortations of 
 the queen and Marlborough, to follow the example of 
 Nottingham and abandon a position which was per- 
 fectly untenable, only while Nottingham saved his 
 political principles by leaving office, Godolphin re- 
 mained in office by sacrificing what had always been 
 considered his party opinions. The first and most 
 important of these cncumstances was the passage 
 of the Act of Security which indirectly led to the 
 Union between England and Scotland. No event in 
 Godolphin's career more largely affected his future, 
 or was more pregnant with happy results to the 
 British empire. 
 
 The Act of Security passed by the Scotch Parlia- 
 ment was, as is well known, intended under certain 
 circumstances to sever the Scotch from the English 
 Crown. The bill proposed that on the death of 
 Queen Anne without issue, the Estates should be 
 debarred from choosing the admitted successor to 
 the crown of England, unless there were to be such 
 
278 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 a form of government settled as should fully secure 
 the religion, freedom, and trade of the Scottish 
 nation. In 1703 the queen placed her veto on the 
 bill, but in 1704 Godolphin advised her to pass it 
 into law. He has been severely censured for his 
 advice upon this occasion, yet undoubtedly it led 
 almost instantaneously to the most important and 
 beneficial legislative act of last century, the Union 
 between England and Scotland. To Godolj)hin's 
 wisdom and firmness this great measure must be 
 principally ascribed. Like many other benefactors of 
 the human race, he received but little credit at the 
 time for the accomplishment of a project which alone 
 should render his reputation immortal among states- 
 men. Nor is there anything extraordinary in the 
 apparent ingratitude of his contemporaries. He was 
 attached to neither of the great parties of the State ; 
 they both, for the most opposite reasons, sought every 
 opportunity of disparaging him ; they only looked 
 for pomts to criticise in his political conduct, and 
 were ready to join in one overwhelming verdict of 
 condemnation. But it is certainly extraordinary 
 that modern historians have not done justice to 
 Godoljjhin's patience and sagacity, to the resolution 
 with which he confronted popular clamour whether 
 in Edinburgh or in London, and to the unflagging 
 industry which he displayed in prosecuting his great 
 design. The bulky collection of letters from the 
 leaders of the Scotch people to Godolphin, still pre- 
 served in the British Museum, attests the deep interest 
 
THE ACT OF SECUBITY 279 
 
 which he took in the Union, the variety of sources 
 of information which he consulted, and the purity of 
 the motives by which he was actuated. Yet, in spite 
 of Godolphin's eminent services in bringing about a 
 peaceful settlement between the two countries when 
 a bloody war seemed almost inevitable, those who 
 study the histories of the time rise from their labours 
 with a doubt as to how much Godolphin had to do 
 with the Union at all ; whether the statesman who 
 risked his official existence on the success of his 
 policy, who would in all probability have been im- 
 peached had his policy failed, whose head the exultant 
 Wharton declared that the Whigs held in a halter, 
 was not after all a Jacobite in disguise, whether his 
 negotiations for a union were not a deep-laid scheme 
 of villainy, and whether, to use the words of his 
 detractors, ' he intended that for the public ruin, 
 which Grod's providence had turned to the public 
 good.' ^ Under these circumstances we shall enter, 
 though chronologically a Httle out of place, more 
 fully into the history of the Scotch Union, and 
 Godolphin's connection with it, than we otherwise 
 should have deemed necessary. 
 
 In 1704 the affairs of Scotland were in a state of 
 great and hopeless depression. The union of the two 
 crowns in the reign of James I. had with the lapse of 
 time entailed disastrous consequences upon Scotland. 
 She lost an individuality which, small as she was, 
 had given her a distinct place amoug nations and 
 
 ' Cunningham's History of (heat Britain, p. 279. 
 
280 THE EABL OF GODOLFHIN 
 
 rendered her mistress of her own destinies. In the 
 days when her native monarchs reigned at Holyrood, 
 Scotland had possessed all the attributes of a separate 
 kingdom. Her ambassadors were, or might have 
 been, found at every court. She entered into her 
 own alliances, made her own wars, negotiated her 
 own treaties, and in the conduct of her wars and in 
 the conclusion of her treaties she had no interest to 
 serve but that of her own people. 
 
 But the migration of the Scotch kings to London 
 produced in many ways an unwholesome change in 
 the state of Scotland. Her life became entangled 
 with that of a richer and more powerful country 
 without becoming absorbed into it. The connection 
 infinitely weakened her ; it created a new point of 
 political and social gravitation, and Scotland was re- 
 duced from the dignity of a kingdom to the level of a 
 distant and unfavoured jorovince. In name, it is true, 
 she remained independent, but in fact she was in real 
 though disguised subordination to England. A col- 
 lapse, both material and moral, accompanied the de- 
 cay of national independence. Science and literature 
 languished ; commerce, manufactures, and population 
 declined.^ The social inequalities which must exist 
 in every State became marked and offensive. The 
 luxury of the rich was rendered more odious by com- 
 
 ' March 4, 1704-5. Earl of Roxburghe to Godolphin : ' There is 
 indeed such a scarcity of money here as never was known before ; our 
 trade almost quite gone, and any part of it that's left rather hurtful 
 to us than advantageous.' — Additional MSS. 28055, f. 140, British 
 Museum. 
 
THE ACT OF SECURITY 281 
 
 parison with the abject want of the jDoor. Had it not 
 been for the most unfortunate circumstances, the 
 Scotch might have found a remedy for the intolerable 
 distress of their country by the exercise of those high 
 qualities of enterprise, thrift, and perseverance which 
 are so conspicuous a part of the national character- 
 istics. Had the hands of the Scotch been free, they 
 could at least have taken the place which they 
 formerly occupied among the nations of Europe ; 
 they might even perhaps have done more ; as with 
 the Dutch, the astuteness of their traders might have 
 won for them commercial pre-eminence, to which 
 neither the size of their territory nor their population 
 entitled them. But their hands were not free. The 
 Scotch were chained to the policy of their powerful 
 neighbour ; and the connection with England was 
 ruining them. They sought in trade a natural field 
 for that spirit of enterprise which had no outlet 
 at home ; they found themselves confronted by the 
 English navigation laws, and the spirit of ex- 
 clusiveness which inspired the commercial system 
 of England. The unhappy fate of the Darien expe- 
 dition was the death-blow to the commercial aspira- 
 tions of Scotland.^ Henceforth it seemed to both her 
 people and statesmen that there were but two reme- 
 dies by which the prosperity of the country could be 
 restored : either Scotland must be placed on a position 
 of commercial equality with England, or a complete 
 separation of Scotland from England was necessary ; 
 
 ' Somerville's History <if Queen Anne, pp. 147, 149. 
 
282 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 either Scotland must be permitted to share in the 
 wealth of England — a wealth which, to a certain 
 extent, was created by Scotch partnership — or the 
 partnership must be dissolved, and the kingdom of 
 Scotland be re-erected on its ancient basis. Nobody, 
 we think, who weighs this matter impartially will 
 doubt that the Scotch were perfectly justified in 
 the attitude which they adopted. 
 
 The project of a union between England and 
 Scotland was an old one ; it had often been discussed, 
 but it had never received much practical encourage- 
 ment. It was the dream of statesmen who had the 
 welfare of their country at heart, and who had eyes 
 which could penetrate the clouds in which the 
 real interests of two kindred nations were shrouded ; 
 but until the Act of Security was passed in 1704, it 
 would be maccurate to say that the prospect of a 
 union was within measurable distance of accomphsh- 
 ment. The difficulties in the way of a union were 
 enormous. Emotions, partly patriotic, partly selfish, 
 opposed a barrier to its progress. Popular passion 
 in both countries was deeply stirred. The English 
 recoiled from the idea of admitting the Scotch to 
 a commercial equality with themselves ; the Scotch 
 regarded the English with a hatred which had its 
 origin in a sense of wrong no less than in national 
 antipathy. ' Bad,' wrote Johnston^ to Godolphin on 
 his arrival in Edinburgh in 1704, ' as Scotch atFairs 
 
 ' Johnston had been Secretary of State for Scotland in the reign 
 of William III., and was now Lord Register. Sonierville's History of 
 Qvfeii, A-nne, p. G19. 
 
THE ACT OF SECURITY 283 
 
 are considered in London, I find them infinitely 
 worse than I had reckoned.' ^ 
 
 Nor while there was discord among the people 
 was there harmony among those statesmen who were 
 favourable to the Union ; for while ignited in favouring 
 the scheme of a union, they were disagreed as to the 
 policy best calculated to bring it about. It was in the 
 adoption of a pohcy that Godolphin most signally 
 displayed his greatness, and in which he outshone all 
 his contemporaries, not even excluding the renowned 
 Somers. It was not the destination, but the path to 
 the destination, which he indicated and pursued, and 
 which, in spite of every evil prediction, led to the 
 greatest legislative achievement of the age — the 
 English and Scotch Union. 
 
 The passage of the Act of Security through the 
 Scotch Parliament in 1703 and 1704 raised a point of 
 great difiiculty. The Act directly tended to a separa- 
 tion of the crowns. Would it be proper for the queen 
 to consent to a measure the dangerous consequences 
 of which were patent to almost every intelligent 
 person ? The great bulk of politicians, whether 
 favourable to a union or not, answered the question 
 in the negative, and the anger of both Whigs and 
 Tories was roused to the highest pitch when it became 
 known that Godolphin had advised the queen to 
 permit the bill to pass into law. Whether Godolphin 
 deserves our respect as a liberal and far-sighted 
 statesman, or whether we must regard him merely as 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28055, f. 78, British Museum. 
 
284 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 a lucky blunderer, depends entirely upon the motives 
 which, prompted his advice. If it was given from a 
 sense of timidity, because, to use the words of Lord 
 Stanhope,^ Grodolphin always regarded ' the nearer 
 evil as the worse,' he is convicted of pusillanimity 
 almost amounting to crime ; if, on the other hand, 
 its consequences Avere carefully and correctly cal- 
 culated, it was an act of statesmanship which for its 
 success and daring is almost without parallel in 
 English history.^ 
 
 In considering the motives which induced Godol- 
 phin to pass the Act of Security, we may fairly make 
 the assumption that a statesman desires those results 
 which his policy may naturally be expected to pro- 
 duce, and we may further affirm without possibility of 
 contradiction that the Act of Security did naturally 
 produce the Act of Union. This consideration is of 
 itself sufficient to establish the presumption that the 
 policy which led to the Union was one of design rather 
 than of chance. But the more closely Godolphin's 
 policy is studied the more apparent does it become that 
 this policy, and this policy alone, could have brought 
 about the Union. The policy was certainly one of 
 concession, and of concession in the case of a bill which 
 might have proved very injurious in its consequences ; 
 but its enactment had the inestimable merit of confirm - 
 
 ' stanhope's Queen Anne, pp. 165, 166. 
 
 ^ Burton, in his History of the Reign of Queen Anne, vol. i. p. 165, 
 says that Godolphin did not regret the Act of Security, hoping that 
 dread of war might frighten the trading interest of England into 
 compliance with the free trade demands of Scotland. 
 
THE ACT OF 8ECUBITY 285 
 
 ing in the people of Scotland the conviction of their 
 own independence, while, with the retaliatory measures 
 it provoked from England, it happily illustrated the 
 necessity of union. It is impossible to overestimate 
 the importance, in the period pi'eceding the Union, 
 of the definite recognition by English statesmen of 
 Scotch independence. It was the equality and in- 
 dependence of the contracting parties which made 
 union possible. Had Grodolphin agreed with most of 
 his contemporaries — with men even so enlightened as 
 Somers and Halifax ; ^ had he united with them in 
 declaring that the Act of Security was a bad bill, and 
 that it should not pass into law ; had he, in fact, advised 
 the Crown of England, supported by the Parliament 
 of England, to enter into a conflict with the people of 
 Scotland, it is almost safe to predict that the Union 
 would never have taken place, or at all events that it 
 would never have taken place under such favourable 
 auspices, as the Scotch, led away fi'om considering the 
 advantages of union, would have become involved 
 in a great national controversy concerning their 
 independence. 
 
 Godolphin, therefore, when he advised the queen 
 to pass the Act of Security, rested his advice upon 
 broad and generous lines of statesmanship, which 
 it would be very difficult effectually to controvert. 
 There were, however, arguments of expediency, as 
 
 ' Swift says he remembers a conversation with Lord Somers in 
 which Somers told him that the wrong management of the Earl of 
 Godolphin in passing this bill was the only cause of the Union. — 
 ' Public Spirit of the Whigs : ' 8'wift's Works, by Scott, vol. iv. p. 253. 
 
286 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 well as of general policy, which no minister respon- 
 sible for the order and good government of the 
 country could pass over. In the first place, Godol- 
 phin was assured by the ministers in Scotland that it 
 was absolutely essential for the peace of the country 
 that the Act of Security should be passed. In the 
 second place, it was a matter of doubt whether the 
 Crown had the constitutional power of vetoing any 
 bill which had received the consent of the Scotch 
 Estates. As points of expediency and practice only 
 we prefer to subordinate them to the larger question 
 of the principle of government, yet we conceive that 
 merely from their practical character, if nothing else, 
 they deserve a consideration which they have not 
 received from those who censure Godolphin for pass- 
 ing the Act of Security. 
 
 Nor do those who would deprive Godolphin of 
 the credit of bringing about the Act of Union derive 
 any advantage from the historical arguments which 
 his enemies have arrayed against him. One faction 
 attributed his policy to timidity, another to a wish 
 to defeat the Hanoverian succession. These accusa- 
 tions conflict. The first assumes that Godolphin was 
 so weak that he feared to resist a tumultuary expres- 
 sion of public opinion, the other that he was suffi- 
 ciently courageous to adopt a policy which might, if 
 discovered, have involved him in a charge of treason. 
 He may have been timid, or he may have been bold 
 and reckless, but he can hardly have been both. Nor, 
 m spite of the reiterated charge of Jacobitism brought 
 
TEE ACT OF SECURITY 287 
 
 against GodolpMn, is there at this time a shadow of 
 a proof of its foundation ; on the contrary, it was the 
 intrigues of Godolphin's colleague, the Whig Sunder- 
 land, a few years later with the Scotch Jacobites, 
 which imperilled Grodolphin's Grovernment, and 
 seriously affected Sunderland's own relations with 
 the queen. 
 
 "While the accusations against Godolphin appear 
 baseless, there are positive as well as presumptive 
 reasons for conjecturing that the Act of Security 
 was advised by him as a portion of a premeditated 
 scheme which was to lead to a union. The Act 
 of Security was no sooner passed than Godolphin 
 warmly supported a measure introduced into the 
 English Parliament which in the first place em- 
 powered the queen to appoiat commissioners to con- 
 sider a union, and ia the next declared that until 
 the Crown of Scotland was settled in the same 
 manner as the Crown of England, natives of Scotland 
 should not be permitted to inherit lands in England ; 
 that wool, horses, arms, and ammunition should not 
 be imported from England into Scotland ; and that 
 linen cloth, black cattle, sheep, coals, and salt 
 should not be exported from Scotland into England.^ 
 The Act was designed to bring about a crisis, and it 
 admirably answered its purpose. Both in England 
 and Scotland preparations were made for putting 
 the border fortresses in a condition of defence, and 
 for marching troops to the frontier. England and 
 
 ' 3 & 4 Anne, c. 7. 
 
288 THE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 Scotland were placed in a position of military an- 
 tagonism, and it became apparent to all by practical 
 demonstration that tbe two nations must decide upon 
 mutual concessions or upon civil war. The situation 
 was one which was naturally full of alarm. Discus- 
 sions were raised in Parliament, and Grodolphin was 
 violently attacked in the House of Lords. His de- 
 fence — unfortunately but a fragment of it has been 
 preserved — puts us largely in possession of his 
 opinions ; he admitted the wretched state of Scotland, 
 he admitted the risks which were incurred by his 
 policy, but he said the danger of refusing the royal 
 sanction to the Act of Security was greater than the 
 danger of giving it, ' and,' he added, ' whatever ill 
 look it might have at present, it was not without 
 remedy.' ^ The remedy to which Godolphia alluded 
 is unmistakable. He could have meant nothing but 
 a union. The queen was present during these 
 debates. Her presence restrained the violence of 
 party acrimony, and afforded some shelter to her 
 persecuted minister. Her behaviour had indeed 
 been from the first cordial and generous. At an 
 early period of the crisis she had sent Prince George 
 to Godolphin with the friendly assurance that she 
 intended to stand by him. Godolphin's answer is 
 
 ' Mr. Vernon to the Duke of Shrewsbury, December 8, 1704 : 
 Somerville's History of Queen Anne. Godolphin, however, did not 
 seem to dread an outbreak. He thus, in November 1706, contemptu- 
 ously writes to Queensberry of his opponents in Scotland, ' they are 
 the first people that ever 1 knew in a fixed intention of going into an 
 open rebellion who thought fit to make so public a declaration of it 
 beforehand.'— Additional MSS. 6420, British Museum. 
 
THE ACT OF SE CUBIT Y 289 
 
 brusque, quaint, and, if it was not embellished by 
 some unrecorded words of thanks, churlish. He is 
 reported to have exclaimed ' that neither the queen, 
 nor His Royal Highness, nor anybody else can tell 
 what a Parliament will do.' Many years' experience 
 had deeply impressed Godolphin with the fickleness 
 and uncertainty of Parliaments. 
 
 From his colleagues Godolphin received no assist- 
 ance in developing a policy which was at once 
 troublesome, unpopular, and dangerous. From Har- 
 ley at least, who joined the Government in 1704, 
 when feeling in regard to the Act of Security ran 
 high, some support might have been hoped. The 
 energy of a new minister, combined with a natural 
 sentiment of loyalty for a new chief, might have been 
 expected to induce him to enter zealously into the 
 designs of the Lord Treasurer. But this was not the 
 case. Har ley's fatal passion for mtrigue which so 
 disastrously influenced the latter end of Godolphin's 
 administration, made itself conspicuous on the Scotch 
 question before he had been for a quarter of a year 
 a member of the Government. When Harley became 
 Secretary of State no man Avas more competent to 
 inform him concerning the condition of Scotland than 
 Johnston. Johnston held a high post in the Scotch 
 Government ; he was in frequent and confidential 
 correspondence with Godolphm, and in full posses- 
 sion of Godolphin's opinions. Johnston voluntarily 
 proposed to impart his knou' ledge to the new minister. 
 Harley eagerly embraced the offer, but on being told 
 
 u 
 
•290 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 by Johnston that Godolphin must be made ac- 
 quainted with the correspondence, he allowed the 
 suggestion to drop, and Johnston heard of him no 
 more.^ Johnston, rightly or wrongly, was ob- 
 viously of opinion that Harley was opposed to the 
 designs which Godolphin was promoting for the good 
 of the nation. Johnston's suspicions are confirmed 
 by the history of a later date. How four years after- 
 wards Harley succeeded in jeopardising the Union, 
 how he induced the House of Commons to pass a 
 resolution forbidding Scotch imports under certain 
 circumstances, how Godolphin hurried up from the 
 country to counteract in Parliament the disingenuous 
 tactics of his colleague, and how from that day forth 
 a sense of bitterness sprang up between the two 
 statesmen, are facts generally well known to readers 
 of the history of Queen Anne's reign. They, how- 
 ever, recall to our recollection the infinite ditficulties 
 which beset the path of Godolphm in carrying out 
 his great design — ditficulties which were promoted no 
 less by false friends than by open enemies. 
 
 The union was at length effected, and no time can 
 obliterate its beneficial results. The happiness and 
 prosperity which it has established, the peace which 
 it has bestowed, the blood which it has saved, com- 
 bine to make it the greatest legislative monument 
 which any statesman has erected to perpetuate his 
 own memoiy. Many of the evils predicted of it were 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 28065, f. 103, British Museum, July 19, 1704. 
 Jolmston to Ct( .dolphin. 
 
THE ACT OF SECUBITT 291 
 
 discovered to be as intangible as shadows, mere webs 
 of parliamentary sophistry spun out to defeat a dis- 
 tasteful measure, and were dissipated by the first 
 breath of reality ; others again were found to be real, 
 and it required time to mitigate them. But in i-ead- 
 ing the history of the Scotch and English Union 
 nothing strikes us so strongly as the extraordinary 
 parallel it affords with modern times. What was 
 being said and done in the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century is being said and done now that we are 
 nearly approaching the end of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. The great inconvenience, we might almost say 
 the great danger, of the existence of a party in Par- 
 liament which subordinated every question of politics 
 to the achievement of a particular end, which regarded 
 every act of government with the vigilant and hostile 
 eye of a foreigner rather than with the discriminating 
 judgment of a citizen, inspired our fathers, as they do 
 ourselves, with gloomy anticipations. It would, how- 
 ever, be out of place to enter here into a comparison 
 between the epochs, interesting as such a study would 
 be, and we shall conclude our observations on the 
 Union by quoting the following extract from a letter 
 of a nameless writer to Godolphin, describing the 
 factions into which the Scotch members were divided 
 and containing a forecast of their probable action in 
 the British Parliament. ' That which makes these 
 forty-five from Scotland, though thus broken up 
 among themselves, not only different from, but 
 more dangerous than any like number among the 
 
 i; 2 
 
292 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Englisli, is that these three divisions . . . will, 
 while influenced as now they are, forget their own 
 animosities, and unite as one man, and that with- 
 out any regard to the common good of the whole 
 United Kingdom.' ^ 
 
 We have dwelt at some length on the circum- 
 stances which brought about the Union as they largely 
 afffected Godolphin's career, but in so doing we have 
 somewhat anticipated events and must return again 
 to 1704. The year ended in intense political bitter- 
 ness. In the House of Lords a violent attack was 
 made by Lord Haversham iipon Godolphin's extra- 
 vagance. The country, he declared, was rapidly be- 
 coming ruined by the gigantic quantities of coin 
 which were being constantly exported from England 
 for the purpose of defraying the foreign subsidies. 
 He aifected to regard the drain upon the specie 
 currency with terror. The paper notes which were 
 freely circulated he looked upon as a mere artifice to 
 disguise the real bankruptcy of the nation. France, 
 he said, might be beaten, but England would certainly 
 be beggared unless some limit was put upon this 
 prodigious and wasteful extravagance. Haversham's 
 real object of attack was the war, but as the war 
 was popular it was safer and more convenient to 
 assail the expenditure which was necessary to main- 
 tain it. Godolphin observed the disingenuousness 
 of the reasoning and exposed it. ' It would not 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28055, f. 426, British Museum. June 18, 1709 
 (no name), to Godolphin. 
 
THE ACT OF SECURITY 293 
 
 be difficult,' he said, ' to demonstrate that there never 
 was so great a plenty of money in England, as at 
 present, yet there was a sure way to increase that 
 plenty, and prevent the exportation of coin, and that 
 was by clapping up a peace with France. But then 
 I leave it to the consideration of any wise man, 
 whether we shall not thereby be shortly in danger 
 of losing not only all our coin, but all our land to 
 boot.' ' 
 
 The accusations launched against Godolphin by 
 his parhamentary opponents found no echo in the 
 country. The queen and people united to express 
 their approbation of the able manner in which in 
 times of the greatest difficulty he had managed the 
 affairs of the nation. The queen created him U Knight 
 of the Garter, the first Knight of the Garter since 
 the accession of the Stewarts who had received that 
 honour, beneath the rank of an earl. The people in- 
 scribed his name in the addresses which greeted the 
 conqueror of Blenheim, and thanked heaven for having 
 provided them with a statesman whose frugal admini- 
 stration might induce the country almost to believe 
 itself at peace, but for the fame of victories abroad. 
 
 While Godolphin was thus negotiating treaties 
 and managing parties, his attention was often engaged 
 in matters of smaller importance. Yet it is sometimes 
 the small and even insignificant matters in history 
 which supply us with the power of understanding the 
 times and of adjusting the proportion of the various 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 371. 
 
294 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 objects which we have under our eye. An example 
 of the simplicity of even educated men in the reign 
 of Queen Anne may be found in the following nar- 
 rative. 
 
 In November, 1704, a curious communication 
 reached Godolphin from Lord Raby, the English 
 ambassador at Berlin. Lord Raby announced that 
 he had made a startling discovery, and one which was 
 sure to excite the interest of the Lord Treasurer. He 
 pretended that he had discovered a man who could 
 extract gold from silver. It seems incredible that 
 only one hundred and eighty years ago an English 
 ambassador of talent and cultivation should have 
 ventured to suggest to one of the ablest and soundest 
 financiers of the age, an idea worthy of the ' Arabian 
 Nights,' or which even a highly educated child of the 
 present day would resent as a levity if it found place 
 m its story-book. Lord Raby's discovery was not 
 only communicated in all seriousness to Grodolphin, 
 but it was seriously listened to by him, and the Lord 
 Treasurer of England seems to have been partially im- 
 posed upon by a scheme which would not now deceive 
 the veriest gull, or be promoted by the most daring 
 bubble company. From a mark of pure silver worth 
 fifty shillings Lord Raby averred that there could 
 be produced every two months a ducat of gold. The 
 value of the silver was not even to be dimmish ed, 
 Thus, given an income of 2,400^. a year, he proves to 
 the Lord Treasurer that the new method of extracting 
 guld would yield an annual income of 5,315/. 12.y. in 
 
THE ACT OP SECURITY 295 
 
 addition to the principal of 2,400^.^ The process 
 sounds so similar to some of our most familiar con- 
 juring tricks, so much more suitable to the mysterious 
 gloom of the Egyptian Hall than to the solemn and 
 precise offices of the Treasury, that it is impossible to 
 read of this grave proposal without a smile. Lord 
 Raby himself expresses some apprehension of Godol- 
 phin's incredulity, but, having seen the application of 
 the process, he declared that a man must be mad 
 who did not believe in it. Godolphin was so much 
 impressed by Lord Raby's intelligence that he laid 
 the plan before an expert, and received in reply the 
 following very curious letter. The writer, having 
 stated his opinion that Lord Raby and perhaps also 
 the mventor were deceived, writes as follows : — ' I can 
 tell your lordship what was a very great trade for 
 many years, and I believe the memory of it is now 
 worn out with the occupation, but it lasted many 
 years during my grandfather being MastcL- of the 
 Mint. That was this. Upon the first discovery of 
 the Spanish mines, particularly those in Peru, the 
 plate being brought home and generally stamped on 
 board the galleons, and there being also great quan- 
 tities of gold, through want of care and the art of 
 refining, there hardly came any silver home which 
 had not a mixture of gold, and the separation of it 
 was kept a great and advantageous secret for many 
 years ; by which great sums were gamed, sometimes 
 to twenty per cent., scarce ever under six ; but I 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28056, f. 196, British Museum. 
 
206 THE EAIiL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 suppose the Spaniards are too knowing now to leave 
 room for this experiment. I trouble your lordship 
 with this because it is a matter of curiosity, which 
 scarce any one else but myself now knows.' ^ It was 
 decided that the inventor should come to England 
 to try his skill, while Godolphin playfully wrote to 
 Eaby thanking him for a discovery which was sure 
 to make his fortune.'^ 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28056, f. 200, British Museum. 
 
 * Spence in his Anecdotes tells us of another strange proposal which 
 was made to Godolphin wliile Lord Treasurer ; he says ' the Jews 
 oflFered Lord Godolphin 50O,OO0L (and they would have made it a 
 million) if the Government would have allowed them to purchase 
 the town of Brentford with leave of settling there entirely, with full 
 privileges of trade, &o. The agent of the Jews said that the affair was 
 already concerted with the chief of their brethren abroad, that it 
 would bring the richest of their merchants hither, and an addition of 
 20,000,000i. of money to circulate in the nation. Lord Molesworth 
 was in the room with Lord Godolphin when this proposal was made, 
 and as soon as the agent was gone pressed him to close with it. Lord 
 Godolphin was not of this opinion. He foresaw that it would provoke 
 two of the most powerful bodies in the nation, the clergy and the 
 merchants. He gave other reasons, too, against it, and in fine it 
 dropped. 
 
207 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SUNDERLAND JOINS THE GOVEENMENT. 
 
 In 1705 the current of political events continued 
 to draw Grodolphin with ever-increasing power to- 
 wards the Whigs. It is interesting to observe how 
 the impossibility of maintaining the political attitude 
 which he had at first so deliberately assumed was 
 gradually but certainly forced upon him, how the 
 hostility of the Tories drove him upon the Whigs, 
 how the support of the Whigs inflamed the rage of 
 the Tories, and how the Whigs from being a crutch, 
 as in the elegant parlance of these days they might be 
 called, became his masters, as crutches must become 
 to people who are not able to dispense with them. 
 Grodolphin's path bristled with difficulties. His ad- 
 vance towards the Whigs was barred by the queen, 
 and by the inclinations of a Tory Parliament. Yet the 
 Whigs imperatively beckoned him forward, and railed 
 at him for not advancing more rapidly. Between 
 Whig and Tory, Godolphin was almost torn in two. 
 No wonder, if at times expressions of impatience 
 burst from his lips, and he entertained a weary long- 
 ing to escape from the perils and labours of ofiice. 
 
 The impatience of the Whigs to compel Godolphin 
 to admit them to office was natural ; they only 
 demanded the wages of their service ; but the 
 
298 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 enmity of the Tories was cliaracterised by every mark 
 of party factiousness and rancour. In their efforts 
 to overthrow Godolphin's Grovernment, they not only 
 lost sight of the interests of the country, but they 
 were so blinded by passion that they were actually 
 incapable of perceiving what was best for themselves. 
 In 1705 they thought that they saw their way to 
 place Godolphin on the hoi'ns of a dilemma. They 
 introduced into Parliament a Bill, called the Regency 
 Bill, the ostensible object of which was to secure the 
 residence in England of the next Protestant successor 
 to the thi'one. The real motive of the Tories was 
 simply to embarrass Grodolphin and his Whig sup- 
 porters. They felt no attachment for the heir-pre- 
 sumptive ; they entertained no extravagant affection 
 for the manner in which the crown was settled ; many 
 of them cared much more for the Pretender than for 
 the Duchess Sophia ; but they thought that the 
 Whigs and Godolphin by "opposing the Bill would 
 offend the people, and that by accepting it they 
 would offend the queen. 
 
 Godolphin evaded the difficulty which the Tories 
 had jirepared for him by bringing Bills into Parlia- 
 ment securing the succession to the Crown of Hanover, 
 and constituting- regents in case of a demise of the 
 Crown while the heir to the throne was abroad. Seven 
 regents were named, seven high officers of State, the 
 Lord Treasurer among them. It is difficult to com- 
 prehend what other persons could properly have been 
 joined together in the commission. Yet the Lord 
 
8UNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVEENMENT 299 
 
 Treasurer's name was no sooner published as one of the 
 regents, than the Tories raised an outcry, and even pro- 
 posed a motion in Parliament for the purpose of pro- 
 curing its omission. The motion was rejected with 
 the scorn it deserved.^ The Tories were bitterly dis- 
 appointed. They had designed to crush Godolphin, 
 and the sole result of their machinations was a measure 
 to clothe him with honour and power. Dartmouth de- 
 clared that the bill which appointed Marlborough and 
 Godolphin regents was framed by the ministers with 
 the conviction that they would never lose the favour 
 of the queen ; and that they wished to establish their 
 power after her death. ' But providence,' he sancti- 
 moniously observes, ' interposed sometimes in their 
 double dealing.' There is not the slightest ground 
 for accrediting Godolphin and Marlborough with a 
 policy so far-seeing and so far-fetched. The queen in 
 1 705 was in the prime of life and many years younger 
 than either Marlborough or Godolphin. There was 
 every reason to suppose that her term of existence 
 might be prolonged beyond that of her ministers. 
 Moreover, we know now, what perhaps was a secret to 
 Dartmouth, that the intercourse at that time between 
 the queen and Godolphin was not by any means un- 
 ruffled, and that already the influence of the Duchess 
 of Marlborough was declining. Dartmouth's reproach 
 is, therefore, unjust, and can only find excuse in the 
 misconceptions which at all times and in all coun- 
 tries have blinded the eyes of even honest men when 
 
 ' Burnet, vol. v. p. 230. 
 
800 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 plunged in political controversy. Godolphin has not 
 escaped the misrepresentations which universally 
 attend the path of statesmen. Were we to depict 
 him in the unadulterated colours of contemporary 
 Tory writers and speakers, we should indeed have to 
 exhibit a repulsive picture to the world. A monster 
 of ingratitude, faithless to the Crown and to the 
 Church, a perpetrator of past treasons, yet plotting 
 new ones, a citizen who had debauched his country 
 by bribery, whose life was a tissue of duplicity, and 
 whose words were a cloud of prevarication : such is 
 the loathsome portrait which we should have to ask 
 our readers to contemplate. Fortunately for men, 
 the actions which survive them supply a more vera- 
 cious testimony to their character than pages of 
 obloquy and abuse, of eulogy and panegyric. 
 
 The furious attacks which the Tories made upon 
 Godolphin bore their natural fruit. The Lord Trea- 
 surer was forced more and more to rely upon the 
 Whigs. The Whigs, however, were no longer pre- 
 pared to support him for nothing. They determined 
 to oblige him to admit them to a full share of the 
 government, or they made up their minds to crush 
 him. Both Whig and Tory party were thus leagued 
 against him. It only remained to be seen which 
 would strike the first blow, whether the fatal thrust 
 was to be delivered by Nottingham or by Rochester, 
 by Halifax or by Somers. 
 
 But an event had occurred in the spring of 1705 
 which enabled Godolphin to change his tactics and 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 301 
 
 save himself from undoubted ruin. A dissolution of 
 Parliament had taken place. The House of Commons 
 which had been elected in 1702 had been ruled by 
 a Tory majority. Manifestations of its partisanship 
 had not been wanting. It had on more than one 
 occasion come into collision with the Whig House of 
 Lords ; it had gone so far as to give a petty emphasis 
 to its political opinions by absurdly attempting to 
 class the indecisive battle which Rooke fought against 
 the French off Malaga with Marlborough's great and 
 immortal victory at Blenheim, a contrast which only 
 served to render the Tory admiral ridiculous. But 
 in 1705 its triennial life expired, and a thoroughly 
 Whig House reigned in its stead. It is impossible 
 to help being struck by the small causes which rule 
 great events. Had the life of Queen Anne's Parliament 
 been septennial, as have been the lives of almost 
 every Parliament since, how different might have 
 been the history of England, how changed would 
 have been the career of Godolphin ! 
 
 The triumph of the Whigs at the poll saved 
 Godolphin' s Government from catastrophe. With the 
 Tories reconciliation was impossible, with the Whigs 
 an alHance was not only possible but desirable. As 
 yet Godolphin had approached the Whigs with the 
 most cautious dehberation. He had accepted their 
 services, he had acted with them, but he had conferred 
 upon them no share in the counsels of the Govern- 
 ment, and had left their support, though absolutely 
 indispensable, inadequately rewarded. The Whigs 
 
302 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 had murmured, and perhaps not unnaturally mur- 
 mured, at the Lord Treasurer's ingratitude. Taking 
 into consideration, however, the wishes of Marl- 
 borough and the queen, it is doubtful whether before 
 the dissolution of Parliament he could have done more 
 than he had done to demonstrate his thanks or his 
 preference. He had removed Rooke from the 
 Admiralty, and had filled his place with the Whig 
 Sir Cloudesley Shovel ; Buckingham also had been 
 dismissed from ofiice ; more than this before the 
 elections we feel convinced that the queen would not 
 have tolerated. But the return to Westminster of 
 a Whig Parliament absolutely altered the political 
 situation. What was before only a matter of policy 
 became now an absolute necessity, and Godolphin had 
 to choose betweeen admitting the Whigs to a share of 
 power, or being forced from office by those who were 
 practically his own supporters. The matter was one 
 which neither admitted of, nor required, delay. When 
 Parliament met, it was announced that Sir Nathan 
 Wright had been dismissed, and that he had been 
 succeeded in the ofiftce of Lord Keeper by the distin- 
 guished Whig lawyer Mr. William Cowper, after- 
 wards Lord Cowper. The Whigs were for the 
 moment pacified. Their threatened opposition to 
 Godolphin was withdrawn, and his Government, which 
 before the meeting of Parliament appeared in a con- 
 dition to the last degree precarious, was established 
 more firmly than ever. 
 
 But if the Whigs were satisfied it was not for 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 803 
 
 long, and the spring of 1706 had scarcely set in before 
 they gave evidence of an unquenched desire for office. 
 They were fully and correctly impressed with a sense 
 of their own power and importance. The existence 
 of the Government, the contiauance of the war, aU 
 and everything they thought depended upon their 
 good will. It could hardly be expected that a great 
 political party would consent to be servants of the 
 ministers, slaves of the lamp as it were, to work out 
 the inclinations of the queen, to provide honours and 
 fortunes for others, and not seek some share in the 
 admmistration, or participation in its advantages. 
 Their service demanded solid recognition, and they 
 were determined that if the queen would not re- 
 compense them spontaneously, she should be com- 
 pelled to do so by force. Nor, tried by modern 
 practice of government, is it possible to blame them. 
 Responsibility and power are in these days insepa- 
 rably chained together. Those who in fact rule are 
 those also who fill positions which render their 
 occupants responsible for their acts. Custom has 
 long regarded this as an axiom in politics, and there 
 is nobody now who wUl not consider that the claims 
 of the Whigs were just, reasonable, and expedient. 
 What is a truism to us had become equally true to 
 Godolphin from experience.^ The Whigs possessed 
 the power to control the course of government, and 
 
 ' Godolphin to Harley, August 10, 1706. ' The topics you men- 
 tion would not hurt us alone, if there were not a preparation to make 
 those uneasy and jealous [alluding to Somers, Halifax, and the Whigs] 
 from whom only we can have, or hope for any friendship.' — Hardwirhe 
 Papers. 
 
304 TEE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 nothing short of his own fall, and perhaps not even 
 that, could exclude them from the administration. 
 Grodolphin was quite convinced that the Government 
 could not exist a day without their support, and only- 
 existed at all by their favour. The Whigs alone 
 supported the war, and passed those votes in supply 
 without which it must expire from sheer inanition. 
 The Whigs alone preserved the country from sec- 
 tarian intolerance, and from political confusion. 
 Moreover, personal experience had persuaded Godol- 
 phin not only of the utility of their friendship, but 
 of its very necessity. They had protected him when 
 he had been attacked by the Tories, and he owed his 
 personal no less than his official safety to their exer- 
 tions. If the war was really to be carried on, if he 
 was in truth not to lay down the white staff, it was 
 quite apparent to him that both on grounds of policy 
 and interest the Whigs must be called ujDon to take 
 a share in the government. 
 
 The great obstacle to an arrangement which 
 seemed at once so natural and so essential had hitherto 
 been the inclinations of Marlborough and the queen. 
 But in the winter of 1705 the eyes of Marlborough 
 began to open, and he himself to perceive that the 
 war which he had cherished so fondly, and which he 
 still considered of such paramount importance to the 
 happiness of England and the liberties of Europe, 
 would surely die unless a Whig was placed in the 
 Cabinet. But it is one thing to express a general 
 opinion, and another to give it a practical application. 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 305 
 
 Where could the Whig be found who would prove, 
 acceptable to Marlborough and the queen ? The 
 Whig party proposed the Earl of Sunderland, the 
 son of that Lord Sunderland who had played so lead- 
 ing a part in the last three reigns, and Marlborough's 
 son-in-law, and the office they asked for him was that 
 of Secretary of State. 
 
 The selection of Sunderland by the Whigs was due 
 to his relationship with Marlborough coupled with his 
 high rank and distinguished name. If a coalition was 
 to be formed it would, no doubt, it was thought, be 
 agreeable to the Government that it should not have 
 
 o 
 
 the appearance of a capitulation. Sunderland, though 
 a political enemy, was still a member of the ' family,' 
 as the ministerial connection between Godolphin 
 and Marlborough was offensively styled. He could 
 be received into the bosom of the Cabinet with none 
 of the mortification which would attend the violent 
 intrusion of a stranger. There was nothing in the 
 appointment to shock the public mind, or to attach 
 to the Government the discredit of defeat. Yet wise 
 and even conciliatory as was the nomination, it pleased 
 neither Godolphin nor Marlborough. Godolphin had 
 little personal esteem for Sunderland. Marlborough 
 disliked his politics and dreaded the opposition of the 
 queen. The political necessity was, however, stern 
 and pressing. Godolphin reluctantly assented to the 
 arrangement. Marlborough still faltered and hesitated. 
 Sunderland was, indeed, a person whom no 
 minister could accept as a colleague without repug- 
 
 X 
 
806 THE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 nance. Of all the statesmen of Queen Anne's reign 
 he was perhaps the least amiable and the least attrac- 
 tive. He was narrow, harsh, insolent, arrogant, the 
 very incarnation of that spirit of party independence 
 which affects to display its liberty by rude attacks 
 on social superiority, while it is simk in igno- 
 minious submission to some contracted political 
 principle. He was ambitious, but his ambition was 
 personal rather than patriotic. He performed one 
 act, at least, which was noble, but it is doubtful 
 whether it was not prompted as much by pride as 
 by magnanimity. He was an intriguer hke his 
 father, but he had none of the qualities which 
 rendered his father's designs seductive. Where his 
 father fawned and crept, he raged and stormed. His 
 temper was so bad that he has been called the most 
 passionate man of his time. Lord HoUand once 
 asked Sir Robert Walpole why it was that he had 
 never come to an understanding with Sunderland. 
 Walpole replied that had he hinted at such a thing 
 Sunderland would assuredly have thrown him out of 
 the window. Perhaps no statesman of the period 
 has left behind him so many examples of his arro- 
 gance. It is told of him that on one occasion when 
 invited to form a ministry he requested Sir James 
 Lowther to call at his house with the intention 
 of offering him office. The hour for the inter- 
 view came but not the man. Twice Sunderland 
 rang the bell and asked if anybody had called. 
 Twice the servant answered in the negative, adding, 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 307 
 
 however, the second time that an old man, somewhat 
 wet, was sitting by the fireside in the hall, who he 
 supposed had some petition to deliver to his lordship. 
 ' When he went out it proved to be Sir James 
 Lowther. Lord Sunderland desired him to be sent 
 about his business, saying that no such mean fellow 
 should sit in his treasury.' ^ This episode in the for- 
 mation of a Government in the eighteenth century is 
 worthy of immortalisation. We see it still. The 
 haughty peer looking half out of his library door, the 
 rich and humble baronet crouching over the fire, the 
 wave of the hand with which the doom was accom- 
 panied, the doom itself pronounced in the presence of 
 the culprit, but conveyed to him through the medium 
 of the footman — no laboured narrative could demon- 
 strate so effectually as this brief but characteristic 
 anecdote the vast social and political differences 
 which exist between the past age and the present. 
 
 But Sunderland had other faults besides those of 
 a bad temper. He was inconsistent in politics, not 
 from the natural development of one set of opinions 
 into another, but from the merest motives of caprice. 
 The friend of Somers, he lived to correspond with 
 Atterbury ; the prop of the Hanoverian succession, 
 to be courted by the Jacobites ; the uncompromising 
 foe of Rochester and Buckingham, to become a 
 favourite toast with the Tories. In 1706, however, 
 the lights which subsequent history has shed on 
 his character were altogether wanting. His capacity 
 
 ' Fitzmaurice's Life of the Earl of Shelburne, vol. i. p. 34. 
 
 X 3 
 
308 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 for government was as yet untried, and though in 
 the violence of his partisanship he was almost brutal, 
 the constancy of his party fidelity had not been tested. 
 But even at this early time Sunderland gave little 
 promise of ever becoming a great statesman. His 
 politics were of that purely party character which is 
 generally symptomatic either of great narrowness of 
 vision, or of great selfishness. They were neither 
 purified by any lofty aspiration to establish some 
 great and beneficial principle, nor corrected by that 
 historical knowledge or that interest in the con- 
 temporary afi'airs of other States which does much to 
 impart a just appreciation of matters closely con- 
 nected with ourselves. Party triumphs and party 
 defeats were the sole objects which came within the 
 limited sphere of his political horizon. Already this 
 was apparent. In 1 705 he had been sent on a mission 
 to Vienna. The negotiations which he had to conduct 
 were of the greatest importance ; the statesmen with 
 whom he had to transact business were persons who 
 held the destinies of Europe in their hands. But 
 Sunderland found no pleasure outside the political 
 atmosphere of London. He pined to return home, 
 and he had scarcely left England two months before 
 he wrote to Godolphin saying that he would rather 
 be buried alive than be left any longer in Vienna.^ 
 
 Such in brief was Sunderland's character, and it 
 is perhaps not wonderful that both Godolphin and 
 Marlborough shrank fi'om pressing his appointment 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28056, f. 321, British Museum. 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 309 
 
 on the queen. But Godolphin was convinced that, 
 disagreeable as the step might be, it was necessary to 
 take it, if the Government was to be preserved and 
 the war continued. He urged his opinion upon Marl- 
 borough, who had hitherto hoped that political 
 events would incline the queen naturally to the 
 "Whigs without external pressure. If the Whigs 
 would only wait, Marlborough felt certain that the 
 places which they coveted so much would be theirs, 
 not wrung from the queen by force, but most freely 
 and graciously bestowed. But the Whigs were not 
 prepared to wait, the issues before the Government 
 were pressing and could not be postponed, and 
 Marlborough at length gave way ; in August he 
 declared that he would submit to the judgment of the 
 Lord Treasurer — to use his own words, that he would 
 rather be governed than govern ; and it was decided 
 that the queen should be asked to remove Sir Charles 
 Hedges from the post of Secretary of State, and to 
 establish Sunderland in his place. 
 
 The moment for making the request was not in- 
 auspicious. For the first time in her reign the queen 
 in 1705 showed marked dissatisfaction with the 
 Tories. During the autumn of that year the Tories 
 had seriously and factiously disturbed the peace of 
 Parliament. They had insisted that the Church was 
 in danger when the queen was perfectly satisfied that 
 its safety rested upon a firm and solid foundation. 
 They had attempted to establish her successor in 
 England after having on a previous occasion solemnly 
 
310 THE EABL OF aODOLPHIN 
 
 warned her that whoever sought to adopt such a 
 measure must wish in his heart to depose her. 
 They had permitted themselves to use language not 
 only about her, but actually before her face, which 
 filled her with justifiable indignation. The queen 
 was indeed highly incensed ; never had she evinced 
 such resentment against those whom she had hitherto 
 deemed the surest prop of Church and Crown ; never 
 had she cast upon the Whigs such flattering glances 
 of approval. Moreover, she had every reason to be 
 contented with her Government, and to support her 
 ministers. The circumstances of the country were 
 prosperous, the war popular, she herself beloved. 
 The most skilful general of the age commanded her 
 armies, and levied his annual tribute of victory upon 
 the enemy. The greatest financier whom England 
 had ever possessed regulated the finances, and con- 
 verted a period of lavish expenditure into a season 
 of exuberant abundance. The payments of the Trea- 
 sury were unprecedentedly punctual, the credit of the 
 country extraordinarily high.^ Only ten years before 
 Bank of England notes had been discounted at twenty 
 per cent., tallies at forty, fifty, and sixty per cent.,^ 
 now loans could be obtained without difficulty at 
 something between four and five per cent.® Both at 
 
 Coxe's Life of Marlborough, vol. i. p. 378. See also Cobbett's 
 Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 513. 
 
 ■' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. v. p. 1156 (1696). 
 
 3 Godolphin to Marlborough, October 4, 1706. Coxe'a Life of 
 Marlborough. In a pamphlet on the ' State of the National Debt,' 
 published in 1727, it is alleged that in the heat of the war Godolphin 
 did not for the services at home pay above 4 per cent, or 41 per cent. 
 
SUNDSBLAND JOINS THE GOVERNMENT 811 
 
 home and abroad the queen was indeed fortunate ; 
 and her fortune was chiefly due to the sagacity of her 
 Government. The ministers who had thus faithfully 
 served her, who had raised her almost to the pinnacle 
 of greatness, and who had already made her reign 
 one of the most brilliant in English history, now im- 
 plored her for their sakes and her own to admit into 
 the Cabinet a statesman whom she indeed abhorred, 
 but whose presence was necessary for the salvation 
 of the Government. It seemed not impossible that 
 the queen might vouchsafe a gracious and satisfactory 
 reply. But in this natural hope the ministers were 
 disappointed. She returned a firm and unequivocal 
 refusal. 
 
 The opposition of the queen to the appointment 
 of Sunderland was perhaps not unexpected by 
 Godolphin ; but the persistency with which she ad- 
 hered to it alarmed him. She declared that Sunder- 
 land's temper was unbearable, that the conduct of the 
 Whigs was unreasonable. Why, she asked, was she who 
 had but one object in life, the welfare and happiness 
 of her people, to receive no consideration in the choice 
 of her ministers ? ' Why, for God's sake, must I who 
 have no interest, no end, no thought, but for the good 
 of my country, be made so miserable, as to be brought 
 into the power of one set of men.' ^ She begged, she 
 implored Godolphin, not for her sake, not even for his 
 own, but for the sake of Jesus Christ to save her 
 
 ^ Queen Anne lo Godolphin, ^ (-"TihprlO' ^'^^^- Coxe's Life oj 
 Marlborough. 
 
312 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 fi-om tlie terrible misfortune of having to accept 
 Sunderland as Secretary of State, and to preserve her 
 from the hands of those who would reduce her 
 sovereignty to a shadow, and herself to the condition 
 of a slave. ; and as the contest continued, and as she 
 felt herself worsted in the strife, she offered to receive 
 Sunderland into the Cabinet if only he would consent 
 to fierve without an office, and thus save her from his 
 hated presence. The great screw of party was begin- 
 ning to torture the queen. She groaned under it, 
 and her lamentations will find an echo in the heart of 
 every sovereign whose rule is shared by a Parliament. 
 She appealed to the scheme by which she was to 
 govern neither by Whig nor by Tory, not ' tied to 
 one nor the other ' ; but she appealed in vain, for 
 the instrument of Godolphin and Marlborough was 
 broken, and they knew that it had failed. But the 
 queen had still to learn the lesson which experience 
 had already taught her ministers, which a history of 
 many years was insufficient to impress upon her suc- 
 cessor George III., that the strength of the Crown is 
 as nothing compared to the strength of a triumphant 
 party, and that the sovereign can no more dispense 
 with tlie support of either the Whigs or the Tories 
 than he can dispense with Parliament and issue 
 decrees like the Czar of Russia or the Sultan of 
 Turkey. 
 
 The entreaties and remonstrances of the queen 
 threw Godolphin into despair. He exhausted his 
 arguments upon her without the slightest effect ; he 
 
SUNBEBLAND JOINS THE GOVEBNMENT 313 
 
 contended, and with reason, that were the ministers to 
 adopt her own suggestion and introduce Sunderland 
 into the Cabinet as a minister without an oiRce, the 
 pubHc would certainly think that the Whigs had 
 compelled her to take him against her will. He 
 pointed out to her the inconsistency of imploring 
 him to remain by her as an adviser while, in an affair 
 of the last importance, she refused to follow the 
 advice which ho offered. With perfect frankness he 
 explained to her that till the Whigs had power they 
 would be against everything which could be of assist- 
 ance to her service ; that she might change her policy 
 and her present Government if she liked, but if her 
 ministers were not to go out, Sunderland must come 
 in. All reasoning, however, was vain ; every attempt 
 to convince her only ended in failure, and provoked 
 fresh outbreaks of distress. Godolphin was deeply 
 touched ^ by the queen's affliction. He could not agree 
 with her, but he did everything in his power to save 
 her from the consequences of her errors, and silently 
 received from the indignant Whigs, who suspected his 
 sincerity in their cause, the censure which would other- 
 wise have fallen on his mistress. The letter to 
 Marlborough, in which he excuses the vehemence of 
 the Whig attacks upon himself, is almost pathetic in 
 its simple tone of generosity : ' not that I think them 
 so much to blame, because they do really not see the 
 difficulties as they are, and one cannot go about 
 to show them those difficulties without too much 
 
 ' Godolphin to DuoheEs of Marlborough, September 14, 1706. 
 
314 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 exposing the queen.^ But with all Grodolphin's for- 
 bearance, the terms which he was upon with the 
 queen became unendurable. Personal meetings, which 
 were productive of nothing, were followed by 
 written communications which were equally fruitless, 
 tiU, in the commencement of September, Godolphin 
 announced his intention to resign. 
 
 The announcement of Godolphin's proposed re- 
 signation filled every one with alarm. The queen, 
 Marlborough, the Whigs themselves were equally 
 concerned in his remaining in ofiice. Had Godolphin 
 wished merely to measure his own importance by the 
 consternation which his resignation would provoke, 
 he could hardly have hit upon a happier expedient. 
 With such conduct he was frequently charged by 
 his enemies. No impartial person could, we think, 
 seriously charge him with it on this occasion. 
 Godolphin was indeed thoroughly tired of office. 
 He was growing old and frail, and more than ever 
 pining for country solitude ; life was slipping away, 
 and yet that peaceful vision of rural repose which 
 he had dreamed in his youth was unrealised. More- 
 over he saw many of his old friends dropping away 
 from him. The friends of his youth were Tories ; he 
 was too old to make friends among the Whigs ; to 
 whichever side he turned he was the mark of envy, 
 detraction, and hatred, and he could not endure it. 
 
 Whatever might be said by Godolphin's enemies, 
 it is certain that the queen and Marlborough were 
 
 ' Coxe's Life of Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 7, September If. 
 
8UNDE ELAND JOINS THE OOVEBNMENT 315 
 
 fully convinced of the sincerity of his resolution. 
 The queen, in language which is rarely employed 
 by a sovereign to a subject, implored him to alter 
 his cruel intention, that she might not be lost and 
 utterly undone. Marlborough's dismay was equal 
 to the queen's, and probably more genuine. He 
 considered that the resignation of Godolphin, if it 
 came to pass, would amount to a national and con- 
 tinental catastrophe ; the affairs of the queen would 
 be hopelessly disturbed, the liberties of Europe 
 irretrievably lost ; at foreign courts nobody had so 
 high a reputation as Godolphin ; at home there was 
 not a single person who could supply his place. 
 One more campaign and Marlborough had trusted to 
 terminate the war triumphantly, now a treacherous 
 and slippery peace would be concluded. It was 
 hard that success should be thus snatched from 
 the country at the very moment of achievement. 
 Already Marlborough descried the rainbow of peace 
 suspended in the dark clouds of war, and he pre- 
 dicted wdth certainty that soon his own toil and that 
 of his friend would be ended, and that the time was 
 at hand when they might honourably seek a well- 
 earned retirement. 
 
 History has been fond of placing Godolphin in 
 a position very secondary to Marlborough, of treat- 
 ing him as a confidential agent or an honest and 
 industrious head clerk who executed at home the 
 policy which Marlborough directed from abroad. 
 Marlborough's letters are a complete refutation of 
 
316 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 this mistaken notion. They afford a striking proof 
 of Godolphin's intrinsic and independent value. 
 Every line proves that Marlborough looked upon 
 Godolphin as another self, as a person whose genius 
 was as transcendent in politics as his own was in 
 war. But the letters bear other testimony still than 
 this. They are evidence of the extraordinary friend- 
 ship which existed between two of the greatest men 
 of the age. They display a love and sympathy which 
 is rarely witnessed between men in any station, and 
 more rarely still between men occupying the most 
 exalted offices in the State. To retire from public 
 life and live at Woodstock with the Duchess and 
 Godolphin was the future which it was the polace 
 of Marlborough's leisure moments to contemplate. 
 Godolphin's troubles wrung Marlborough's heart. 
 While they continued he resisted with the most 
 creditable forbearance to ask for the smallest favour. 
 The object of his life was his settlement at Wood- 
 stock, yet rather than impose a burthen on his friend 
 he would have consented never to live there. ' I do 
 pity him, and shall love him,' wrote Marlborough, ' as 
 long as 1 live, and never will be a friend to any that 
 is his enemy.^ ' Words could not more strikingly 
 convey the earnestness of the friendship which ex- 
 isted between Marlborough and Godolphin, and the 
 consternation with which Marlborough contemplated 
 the proposed resignation of his colleague. Nor, 
 after all, did Godolphin resign. The concessions of 
 
 ' Coxe's Life of Marlborough. 
 
SUNDEBLAND JOINS THE GOVEBNMENT 817 
 
 the queen rendered such a course unnecessary. She 
 was no longer able to resist the joint remonstrances of 
 Godolphin and of Marlborough, who in the early win- 
 ter returned from the continent, and on December 3, 
 the very day of the meeting of Parliament, Sunder- 
 land was nominated Secretary of State. Outwardly 
 all relapsed again into harmony and repose. The 
 Whigs were flattered with honours. Godolphin 
 himself was created an Earl ; but, as a matter of 
 fact, a wound was inflicted on the friendship of the 
 queen with her ministers which never healed, and 
 which, ia the fulness of time, was followed by fatal 
 consequences. 
 
 Through the whole of this dispute the queen was 
 incontestably in the wrong. It was open to her to 
 change her ministers and her foreign policy if she 
 chose ; but it was not her wish at the moment to 
 do either one or the other. Politically, she was sup- 
 posed, in 1706, to be incomplete unanimity with her 
 ministers, and nobody suspected her of desiring a 
 peace ; yet without the Whigs, and therefore without 
 Sunderland, a peace was certain. If she intended to 
 pursue the war, as she repeatedly said she did, it was 
 against sound sense to object to the elevation to office 
 of the only party in the State which would carry it on. 
 Kor, under the circumstances, was the price which she 
 was asked to pay for the furtherance of her own policy 
 a high one. The Whigs might have extorted still 
 larger concessions had they been so minded. Though 
 the queen would not admit it, and talked vaguely of 
 
318 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 a third party composed only of her servants, they had 
 her absolutely in their hands. They unquestionably 
 possessed the means of overthrowing Godolphin, and 
 of compelling her to choose between a purely Whig 
 or a purely Tory Government ; and either alternative 
 was equally objectionable to her, as in 1706 she was 
 no less exasperated at the insolence of Buckingham 
 than shocked at the infidelity and republicanism of 
 Wharton. The queen was in a position in which 
 some compromise was essential for the sake of her 
 policy, or in which her whole policy had to be sacri- 
 ficed for the sake of indulging in a vindictive humour. 
 One thin^at all events was certain to everybody but 
 herself. I She could not stand alone. She exclaimed 
 loudly against the despotism of the Whigs, but she 
 could not shake off this despotism without subjecting 
 herself to that of the Tories. The independence left 
 to her was small ; it was merely the choice of 
 masters. Few people in the position of the queen 
 would have hesitated for a moment as to the right 
 course to pursue, but the queen doubted and 
 wavered, and just displayed sufficient opposition 
 to her ministers to render her necessary concession 
 graceless. 
 
 Through the whole of this crisis Godolphin 
 behaved with dignity, with wisdom, and with gene- 
 rosity. He advised the queen to pursue the only 
 course which under the circumstances was possible. 
 He struggled against her scruples, and incurred her 
 displeasure, yet he never for a moment divulged to 
 
SUNDERLAND JOINS THE GOVEBNMENT 819 
 
 the Whigs the true source from which antagonism to 
 their wishes emanated. He loyally bore the odium 
 which should have attached to his mistress, and we 
 believe that to this day his honest attempt to shield 
 her has had the effect of weighting his character with 
 that charge of insincerity so loudly proclaimed 
 against him by the Whigs. 
 
320 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SPAIN AND SAVOY. 
 
 We must now turn to events on the continent. 
 How the English Government, in execution of 
 Methuen's treaty of 1703, sent an expedition to 
 Portugal in conjunction with the Dutch to expel the 
 French from Spain, and to establish the Archduke 
 Charles of Austria on the Spanish throne ; how first 
 under the Duke of Schomberg and then under the 
 Earl of Galway its fate was attended with various 
 fortune till at length the allied army was absolutely 
 overthrown in 1707 at Almanza; how Peterborough 
 took Barcelona in 1705, and retired in disgust fi'om 
 the country two years afterwards, are all circum- 
 stances which are well known to history, and which 
 we can only allude to briefly here. We regret that 
 the reference must be brief, for there is every tempta- 
 tion to linger on the path of our narrative, but we 
 feel that it would be unjustifiable to make it long. 
 Methuen's correspondence with Godolphin, to which 
 we have already alluded on a previous page, is deeply 
 interesting. A fair and accurate knowledge of many 
 of the foremost men of the period, of Schomberg, of 
 Galway, of Peterborough, of the Archduke Charles, 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 321 
 
 of the Austrian favourites, but over and above all, 
 of Methuen himself, may be gathered from its 
 perusal. Much there is in it, moreover, which is new 
 or fresh, and which later associations and glorious 
 military achievements, greatly increasing the renown of 
 the British people, render doubly attractive. Spain, 
 indeed, must ever have an almost romantic interest 
 for Englishmen, and if we refrain now from enlarging 
 on so alluring a topic, it is because the history of 
 the Spanish war has no legitimate place in the life of 
 Lord Godolphin. Yet though it is impossible to 
 pursue so pleasing a subject at any length, we cannot 
 entirely dismiss it from these pages without a few 
 words of notice. The war was undertaken on the 
 responsibility of Godolphin and his colleagues ; but 
 more especially of Godolphin, as Marlborough never 
 displayed any particular partiality for operations which, 
 while they affected a diversion of the French forces, 
 had an undoubted tendency to starve his own army. 
 It is therefore very important, especially if the policy 
 of an armed intervention in Spain can in any way be 
 fixed upon Godolphin, to make some inquiry in regard 
 to the wisdom of the project, Was the scheme a well- 
 devised and a practical one, or was it foredoomed by 
 circumstances to failure? However bright the promise 
 of success, should not experience have taught the Lord 
 Treasurer to beware of the jealousy of the Dutch, 
 of the torpidity of the Austrians, of the instability of 
 his Portuguese allies, of the notorious uncertainties 
 attending councils of war composed of representatives 
 
 Y 
 
322 TEE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 of many jarring nationalities? Possibly it ought, 
 and we have no desire to relieve Godolphin of a shred 
 of the responsibility which should attach to every 
 minister for the acts of his agents ; but it seems to 
 ns, judging merely from Methuen's correspondence 
 with him, that he had a clearer conception of the 
 possibilities of the enterprise, a juster appreciation of 
 the characters of those with whom he had to deal 
 and a more intuitive sense of the proper methods 
 and seasons of action than had either his generals or 
 his ambassador. A few words, therefore, as to the 
 policy of a war which tarnished the military reputa- 
 tion of Great Britain and led to bitter contro- 
 versies in Parliament, will be in their proper place 
 in a narrative of the life of one of its principal 
 advocates. 
 
 It seems then to us that apart from the special 
 circumstances of the time which shall be immedi- 
 ately touched upon, the policy of Godolphin in main- 
 taining a great war in Spain, and in attempting 
 to kindle an insurrection in Provence, was sound 
 and statesmanlike. Spain was then, and will pro- 
 bably always continue to be in times of warfare, 
 a source of danger to France. France is not pre- 
 pared for dangerous invasions from the direction 
 of Spain. Spain is relatively weak, absolutely iso- 
 lated, and rarely offensive. It is from the east, not 
 from the south, that France apprehends danger ; 
 therefore, like some great tree which has thrown out 
 its roots to secure itself from the prevailing and tern- 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 323 
 
 pestuous storms which are directed incessantly from 
 one quarter of the heaven and leaves its other side 
 in weakness, so the whole offensive and defensive 
 machinery of France has been constructed for opera- 
 tions on the Grerman rather than on the Spanish 
 frontier. Spain, indeed, may be called the back-door 
 into the French premises, and, like other back-doors, 
 it is often feebly guarded, when the front door is 
 secured by bolt and bar. For these reasons, when a 
 European conflagration breaks out, and a maritime 
 power like Great Britain in conflict with France 
 undertakes military operations on the Continent, 
 Spain is almost sure to be selected as the most suit- 
 able basis of attack. 
 
 The truth of this assertion and the justification 
 of Godolphin's policy is to be found in the issue of 
 later events. There is an extraordinary analogy be- 
 tween the position of France in the beginning of the 
 ■ eighteenth century and in the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century. There is hardly an argument which 
 could be employed to justify the plan of war under 
 Wellington which could not be more forcibly em- 
 ployed to justify the plan of war under Galway. It is 
 scarcely possible for an historical parallel to be more 
 complete. France at both epochs was environed by 
 continental enemies whom she was resisting in the 
 eighteenth century successfully, and defeating in the 
 nineteenth century triumphantly. At the earlier 
 period Spain was under the titular sovereignty of the 
 grandson of the French king, at the later period of 
 
 T 2 
 
324 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 the brotlier of the French emperor. In both cases 
 Portugal was allied to England, and the Spaniards 
 were in a state of disorder favourable to the British 
 intruder. Change a few names and a few dates, and 
 it would be difficult to say which was one period 
 and which was the other ; yet identical as were the 
 circumstances, the same policy which led to the an- 
 nihilation of the British army in 1707 led in the 
 first fourteen years of the nineteenth century to the 
 most signal success which has ever crowned the arms 
 of any country at any time. The policy of the war 
 as a political conception was as good at one time as 
 at the other. The discrepancy m results must be 
 sought for in something almost outside the control 
 of statesmen, the power of a great man to stamp his 
 character on the times, and to influence and direct 
 by his genius what too frequently appears to be 
 the pre-ordained destinies of the human race. Had 
 Galway been a Wellington, and Wellington a Gralway, 
 in what different characters might the history of 
 Europe have been written ! We contend that but 
 for the absence of an mstrument — an instrument 
 which it is true may not be forged once in a hundred 
 years,^ and upon which, therefore, it may perhaps be 
 said that no statesman should count — there was no 
 reason why Godolphin's policy in the eighteenth 
 century should not have proved as successful and as 
 
 ' ' Never indeed/ says Grote, ' had two such generals as the Duke 
 of Wellington and the Emperor Napoleon encountered since the day 
 when Scipio and Hannibal met at Zama.' 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 825 
 
 glorious as that of the British Government in the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 While the selection of Spain as the theatre of 
 war was thus undoubtedly expedient upon general 
 grounds, there were other reasons for the choice. 
 
 From the north to the south Europe was in arms 
 agamst France. Great Britain, Holland, Prussia, 
 Austria, Savoy, and Portugal, were either formed, or 
 about to be formed, into a huge confederacy which, in 
 spite of the not unnatural forebodings of statesmen, it 
 certainly appeared almost impossible for any single 
 nation, however powerful, to resist. The confederates 
 seemed to have all in their favour. They not only 
 disputed the mastery by land, but they held absolute 
 dominion by sea. Spain herself, who had resented 
 the intervention of Europe in her affairs, and whose 
 wounded sense of national dignity had induced her at 
 first to lean towards France, began almost immediately 
 after the outbreak of hostilities to incline to the allies. 
 
 Under the circumstances the moment for kin- 
 dling a war in the Peninsula was most propitious. 
 Nothing was wanting but the presence in Spain of 
 the prince for whose sake it was to be fought, and a 
 leader of ability to render it successful. But for long 
 neither prince nor leader was forthcoming. Had the 
 Archduke Charles evinced the slightest activity in 
 his own cause, he might have carried all before 
 him, and seated himself by one happy campaign on 
 the throne of Spain. The Spaniards were pre- 
 pared to receive him, the French were unprepared 
 
326 
 
 THE EABL OF GO DOLPHIN 
 
 to resist him. According to Methiien, the Spanish 
 grandees had shut themselves up in their houses, 
 added to the number of their retainers, and only- 
 awaited the arrival of the Austrian priace to put the 
 government of the country into his hands.^ Accord- 
 ing to Tesse, the French fever was past, and the 
 Spaniards were ready to expose themselves to a 
 general revolution rather than be governed from 
 France. ' I do not know any one at Madrid,' he 
 asserts, ' who would not kiss the hand of the Arch- 
 duke Charles.' And while this was the attitude of 
 Spain towards the allies, the condition of the French 
 in Spain was lamentable. ' Everything,' says Tesse, 
 speaking of the combined Spanish and French affairs, 
 ' passed without order, without precaution, without 
 decision, without money, without in a word anything 
 which is the support of States.' ^ 
 
 Such is the verdict of one of the first French 
 generals of the age. In it, we think, will be found 
 the best defence for Godolphin's policy. We are 
 left indeed to marvel that the war was not success- 
 ful ; to ask why Spain was not conquered, why 
 Philip was not precipitated from his throne, why 
 this brilliant opportunity of victory was lost. The 
 fault was not Godolphin's, unless it was a fault 
 not to know how dead, how apathetic, and how 
 dull the mind of an Austrian prince could be. 
 
 1 John Methuen to Godolphin, April 22, 1704. Additional MSS. 
 28056, f. 62, British Museum. 
 
 ' Coxe's Memoirs of the Kings of Bpain. Tesse to Lewis XIV., 
 April 24, 1705. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 327 
 
 The Archduke Charles, surrounded by a band of 
 proud and greedy German courtiers, was a grievous 
 load, which those who were striving for hira had to 
 bear through the war. He who should have ani- 
 mated the cause proved one of its gravest embarrass- 
 ments. His presence harassed the generals in the 
 field, while his absence from Portugal at the com- 
 mencement of the war filled Methuen with alarm and 
 perplexity. The circumstances would have indeed 
 been prodigious which could have induced the dig- 
 nified and stolid Austrian to swerve by one hair's 
 breadth from the course which he wished to pursue. 
 While Methuen was despatching letter after letter to 
 Godolphin, begging that the archduke should repair 
 at once to Lisbon, while the Portuguese ministers in 
 his absence were actually debating whether Portugal 
 should not secede from the alliance, Charles was con- 
 verting his voyage to Lisbon into a holiday trip, and 
 was engaged in England in exchanging compliments 
 at court, and making handsome presents to English 
 courtiers. And so it always was, not only with 
 the war in Spain, but with all wars at that time ; 
 thousands of lives, millions of treasure were lavished 
 upon the cause of princes, who on their side refused 
 to put themselves to the smallest inconvenience, and 
 who placed the most trivial punctilio above the 
 highest exigencies of state. 
 
 Thus the policy of the war in Spain was, we 
 think, sufficiently good and sound ; it remains to be 
 asked how far Godolphin was to be blamed for the 
 
328 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 selection of leaders whom experience proved to be 
 totally inefficient to conduct it, and whetlier in his 
 intercourse with his Portuguese allies and his own 
 generals, he acted with tact and firmness, and in such 
 a manner as to contribute as much as possible to the 
 success of the expedition. 
 
 It would be very difficult and perhaps rather dis- 
 ingenuous to attempt altogether to acquit Godolphin 
 from the charge of havmg selected very unfitting men 
 to lead the great and perilous enterprise which he 
 had undertaken. Schomberg was no general at aU, 
 and Gralway, as events proved, was a very inferior one, 
 besides possessing the fatal fault, for a person in his 
 situation, of inability to act in harmony with others. 
 The appointment of the Duke of Schomberg to the 
 chief command in Spain had unquestionably a pre- 
 judicial influence upon the progress of the war at its 
 very commencement, and must therefore be regarded 
 as a blunder on the part of the Government of which 
 Godolphin was the head. It is difficult to explain 
 why Schomberg was preferred to this high and 
 unsuitable post except that he was a man of high 
 rank, and as the son of one who was esteemed in his 
 day the greatest living master of the art of war, it may 
 perhaps have been supposed that he inherited his 
 father's military talents. He had already been marked 
 out for active employment in the field, and had been 
 selected as general of the contemplated expedition 
 against Dieppe in 1703^ ; the expedition, however, 
 
 1 Additional MSS. 29589, f. 28, Britiah Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 829 
 
 as has elsewhere been said, never sailed, and as far as 
 we know Schomberg had seen no service to entitle 
 him to any military command whatever. Schom- 
 berg' s temper and political attributes were on a par 
 with his military abilities. He had hardly set foot in 
 Portugal before he quarrelled with the king, and in- 
 deed with every one with whom he came into contact. 
 His military incapacity became rapidly the theme of 
 universal derision. Methuen treated him like a child, 
 lectured him and made him promise to take no step 
 without his approbation. The King of Portugal ab- 
 solutely detested him, and inveighed ' bitterly against 
 his pride and obstinacy, lightness, irresolution, dis- 
 obedience and incapacity.' His solders, it ATas said, 
 destroyed the country and opjaressed the peasants. 
 The good name which the English of previous 
 expeditions had left behind them was forfeited, and 
 English honour was tarnished. By Spaniards, by 
 Portuguese, by the kings, by the nobles, and by the 
 soldiers Schomberg was equally hated. ' Should he 
 act like an angel for the future,' wrote Paul Methuen 
 to his father, ' he can never retrieve the reputation he 
 has lost.' ^ 
 
 Lord Galway was a man of very different type 
 from the Duke of Schomberg ; yet his appointment 
 to the chief command in Spain in succession to 
 Schomberg was not a happy one. Galway's charac- 
 
 ' See letters from John and Paul Methuen, April and June, 1704. 
 Additional MSS. 28056, ff. 52, 84, and 106, British Museum. See 
 also Memoirs of the DnJce of Berwicli. 
 
330 TEE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 ter, except that he was a man of undoubted courage, 
 might be best described in negatives, and negative 
 qualities were valueless for the objects which he was 
 called upon to achieve. What was wanted in Spaia 
 was a man of genius, one who was a leader not in 
 name alone, but whose nature fitted him for the 
 command of men, and would secure for him almost 
 unconsciously the support of those with whom he 
 mixed. Peterborough, with all his recklessness and 
 daring, might in spite of his many faults have ac- 
 complished a triumph. But neither physically nor 
 mentally was Galway equal to the post which was 
 allotted to him. His health at an early period suf- 
 fered from the severity of his campaigns, and he had 
 scarcely landed in Portugal before an attack of gout 
 endangered his life. Perhaps his infirmities affected 
 his temjjer, for as time went on he acquired among 
 the Spaniards the reputation of being passionate 
 and headstrong. His letters display a mind deficient 
 in firmness and somewhat lacking in apprehensive 
 power. He floated hither and thither upon the 
 sea of Portuguese intrigue, utterly unable either to 
 stem or to avoid the currents and undercurrents 
 which swept around him. Every act of his career 
 indicated indecision. When at Lisbon he was 
 momentarily infected with the courage of Methuen, 
 when in camp his resolutions evaporated at the first 
 hostile murmur of a council of war. The prey of 
 vacillation, his miad was torn between obedience 
 to the exhortations of the English ambassador and 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 331 
 
 feeble acquiescence in the plausible but illusory pro- 
 mises of the Portuguese ministers. Such was the 
 man who Was most unfortunately chosen to control 
 the conduct of a war complicated by almost every 
 circumstance of military and political difficulty. The 
 blame of Galway's selection as general must of 
 course be borne by the English Government. In 
 making the appointment Marlborough, it has been 
 said, had the largest share. Galway, however, in his 
 letters declares that he owed his Spanish command 
 to Godolphin.^ 
 
 In his du'ections to his generals Godolphin showed 
 that he was not deficient in spirit. He was anxious 
 at all costs to take advantage of the weakness of the 
 French position in the Peninsula. In 1705 he had 
 strongly recommended that the campaign should be 
 an offensive one. He wished to pour his forces into 
 the fertile province of Andalusia, to lay waste the 
 richest region of Spain, and to direct his victorious 
 arms against the ancient and opulent city of Seville. 
 These operations he calculated should commence in 
 March. It was April 20 before the army was actually 
 in the field, ' a hundred things wanting and amiss.' 
 For the year the opportunity of crushing the French 
 by one final and brilliant assault was lost ; but Godol- 
 phin looked forward with hope over the winter, and 
 when the spring of 1706 approached he tendered 
 again the same advice. In the month of March he 
 wrote to Galway pressing him to invade Spain at 
 
 1 Additional MS)S. 28056 and 28057, British Museum. 
 
332 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 once, and to do so with ten thousand men rather 
 than lose time by waiting for reinforcements from 
 the provinces.^ His advice was excellent, and the 
 reasons for following it were strong. Every feature 
 of the situation was an argument in favour of instant 
 and decisive action. The French in Spain were in a 
 state of confusion far surpassing even that of the 
 allies. The bulk of their forces was besieging 
 Barcelona, which had been so lately and so gloriously 
 captured by Peterborough ; such troops as were left 
 to watch the Portuguese frontier had no general, or 
 worse still, were so subdivided in various commands 
 as to render them practically useless ; Spain herself, 
 torn by internal discord, seemed to invite the approach 
 of the invader, contentions were raging at Madrid, 
 discontent was spreading among the people. Had 
 Godolphin's bold but prudent advice been adopted, 
 and the English and Portuguese army marched in the 
 early spring upon Madrid, the consequences might 
 indeed have been disastrous to the French cause. 
 But advice and admonitions were alike thrown away 
 upon one of the most torpid and straitlaced of that 
 class of mihtary formalists who have, to the mis- 
 fortune of England, so often led her armies. That 
 Galway should ever have been censured by Parliament 
 for the ' offensiveness ' of his operations seems like a 
 malicious satire, and a grim parliamentary joke upon 
 the feebleness of his generalship. 
 
 Godolphin even began to suspect that the Portu- 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28056 and 28057, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 383 
 
 guese were making a dupe of Galway for their own 
 purposes, and, if this indeed were so, he saw clearly 
 how lucrative was the deception which they were 
 practising on the English. The war was immensely 
 enriching Portugal ; the trade which had once flowed 
 into Spanish ports was now forced from its natural 
 channels by the maritime supremacy of England 
 and Holland, and poured its wealth into the Tagus. 
 England was hazarding much for Portugal, while 
 Portugal, it appeared, refused to encounter any risks 
 in return. Godolphin determined to bring matters 
 to a crisis ; and he directed Methuen to inform the 
 King of Portugal that his generals must advance upon 
 Madrid, or that the English troops should be with- 
 drawn from Portugal and the people abandoned to 
 the resentment of France. This spirited resolution 
 produced a series of meetings between Methuen and 
 the king. The ambassador taxed the Portuguese 
 ministers with the insincerity of which Godolphin 
 accused them. The king assumed an attitude of the 
 most unutterable astonishment. He could not believe 
 his ears. He held up his hands, stamped upon the 
 ground, appealed in frenzy to those about him. 
 The play Methuen declared was performed to per- 
 fection ; never, he said, did he indulge his mirth at 
 a finer comedian.'' But professions and repudiations 
 fell flat in the face of the Lord Treasurer's rebuke. 
 Methuen's representations admitted of no compromise, 
 
 I John Methuen to Lord Galway, May 28, 1706. Additional MSS. 
 28057, f. 196, British Museum. 
 
334 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 and at lengtli, intimidated by threats and encouraged by 
 the news of tbe relief of Barcelona, the king gave tardy 
 orders to advance. It had perhaps been better if the 
 orders had never been given, if the advance had never 
 been made, and if the English troops had indeed been 
 recalled to England. Madrid was, it is true, taken ; 
 but the results of the campaign were disastrous. The 
 fault was not that of the English Government. The 
 task which it had imposed upon its general was not 
 a difficult one. The Duke of Berwick, than whom 
 there is no better judge, remarks that if the allies 
 had but properly followed up their successes Charles 
 would have been established on the throne of Spain 
 without a hope for Philip. The conception of the 
 campaign was as admirable as its execution was 
 miserable. 
 
 But success was impossible for an army in which 
 every sort of irregularity was rampant ; from the 
 councils of the generals to the pettiest details of regi- 
 mental administration everything was in confusion, 
 everything in disorder. So slight was the concert 
 between the generals that there were sometimes as 
 many plans for the conduct of a campaign as there 
 were generals to frame them. In 1705 Galway de- 
 sired to attack Badajos, Galveas to besiege Valenzia, 
 the Admiral of Castile to march on Leon, while Fagel 
 was engaged in thwarting any scheme which he 
 thouo-ht would be acceptable to the English general. 
 ' There are parties and factions in the camp,' laments 
 Methuen m tones of the deepest despondency, ' who 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 835 
 
 hinder everything ; ' ^ and everything was hindered, 
 and practically everything was stopped. Probably 
 the most graphic accounts of the miserable condition 
 of the allied armies in Spain are to be found in the 
 letters of Paul Methuen to his father. Paul Methuen 
 had in 1704 been attached to the headquarters of the 
 allied army in the field. The fi-owardness, the ignor- 
 ance of ' our leaders,' the sloth, the misconduct of 
 ' our generals,' form a staple and important topic 
 of this most interesting correspondence. Never was 
 narrative more gloomy; never, we believe we may 
 safely say, was one more disgraceful to those whom 
 it concerned. Every sentiment of patriotism seemed 
 lost in the unworthy desire to satisfy some petty 
 grudge, or to inflict some jealous injury. What was 
 proposed by one faction was as a matter of course 
 opposed by the other. If some of the generals wished 
 to advance in spite of the season of the year the 
 remainder were certain to insist upon retiring into 
 winter quarters. It was the fate of the army, 
 Methuen observed, never to execute in the morning 
 what was proposed the night before. Its movements 
 were often purposeless and always slow ; and it was 
 greatly hampered by the presence of two kings whose 
 luggage could never be got out of camp before nine 
 o'clock in the morning. The condition of the troops 
 was pitiable. They suflfered from heat, from hunger, 
 from thirst, and from storms. There was often no 
 
 1 John Methuen to Godolphin, June 2, 1705. Additional MSS. 
 28056, f. 273, British Museum. 
 
336 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 bread for the men, no straw nor forage for the 
 horses, no water for man or beast ; on one occasion 
 the infantry could only quench their thirst by dig- 
 ging holes in the ground for the water to collect in.^ 
 Such was the army, and such were the leaders whom 
 Godolpliin vainly hoped would place the Archduke 
 Charles on the throne of Spain, and perform those 
 prodigies of valour and generalship which were dis- 
 played by another British army and another British 
 leader a hundred years later in the Peninsula. 
 
 Godolphin's ambitious designs for the expulsion 
 of the French from Spain failed partly perhaps be- 
 cause he attempted too much, and partly because 
 he was badly supported by those who were work- 
 ing under him. There was not one of his agents 
 in whom Grodolphm placed more faith than in John 
 Methuen ; but even Methuen, zealous and devoted as 
 he was, was not always to be trusted. His mind 
 was so sanguine, he was so mclined to be influenced 
 by present impressions, that his judgment was apt to 
 be hasty and partial, and in consequence his opinion 
 formed from experience at Lisbon was sometimes less 
 reliable than the opinion of Grodolphin formed from 
 observation in London. The following short narra- 
 tive will prove this assertion. 
 
 Of all the Spanish adherents to the cause of the 
 allies, there was none more important than the Ad- 
 miral of Castile. The Admiral of Castile had been 
 
 1 Letters from Paul Methuen to his father in the autumn of 1704. 
 Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 337 
 
 minister in Spain, and the rival of the Spanish 
 favourite Portocarrero ; he had adopted the cause of 
 the Archduke Charles; had been marked out for 
 ruin, and had dexterously escaped into Portugal 
 before his enemies had time to entrap him into a 
 French prison. With this powerful personage 
 Methuen naturally desired to form an intimate con- 
 nection, but the times were not altogether pro- 
 pitious for his purpose. There were divisions in 
 those days in the English Cabinet, and the Admiral 
 of CastHe was not ignorant of the circumstance. 
 There was not only the interest of Godolphin but 
 the interest of Nottingham to be considered, and 
 the Admiral of Castile had been warned that the 
 interest of Nottingham was the one which was para- 
 mount. He acted in a manner which while inde- 
 fensible on grounds of morality had, at all events, the 
 sanction of the vicious diplomatic usage of the time. 
 He regarded Methuen as the agent of Godolphin, to 
 be made use of, but not to be trusted ; he therefore 
 accepted his proffered friendship, and simulated a 
 confidence in him which he neither felt nor recipro- 
 cated. 
 
 Godolphin seems to have been well acquainted 
 with the mazes of Portuguese intrigue. He at all 
 events was not deceived by the admiral's professions 
 of friendship either for himself or for Methuen, and 
 he wrote to Methuen to place him on his guard. 
 But Methuen's confidence in the Admiral of Castile 
 was not to be shaken, and he firmly refused to believe 
 
 z 
 
338 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 that a man who showed him every mark of esteem, 
 who paid him constant visits in his house in the 
 comitiy, and who strolled and conversed with him in 
 his garden, could be anything but a friend. It is a 
 severe commentary on Methuen's credulity that there 
 is stiU preserved among the Nottingham manuscripts 
 a letter from the Admiral of Castile violently inveigh- 
 ing against the manner in which the English ambas- 
 sador conducted his business at Lisbon. 
 
 Nor was Methuen always a safe guide as to the pro- 
 babilities and possibilities of the war. In 1704 Godol- 
 phin must have received his letters with surprise and 
 confusion. Methuen's opinion of the chances of the 
 war varied almost with every month in the year. In 
 January he was convinced that everything would go 
 on well ; in April he feared that the army might be 
 destroyed and that the enterprise might miscarry ; in 
 May that it might be cut off; in June he announced 
 that it had a good game before it. He was in despair 
 about Schomberg, from whom he had no communica- 
 tions ; and was satisfied that if Galway would only 
 come to Lisbon he might achieve glorious successes.^ 
 When Galway did take over the command of the army, 
 Methuen shortly appeared almost as much dissatis- 
 fied with Galway as he had been with Schomberg. 
 
 We mention these somewhat small details merely 
 for the purpose of explaining the precise situation in 
 which Godolphin was placed in regard to his ambas- 
 sador in Spain. We do not wish to convey one syl- 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 389 
 
 lable of reproach against Methuen. Metliuen's task 
 was a most difficult one, and it was most patriotically 
 and ably performed. He was surrounded by astute 
 and unprincipled schemers each aiming at his own 
 interest, and very regardless of the interests of the 
 public ; the King of Portugal, who at first befriended 
 him, fell at an early period dangerously ill, and the 
 violent factions into which the Portuguese Court 
 became divided added greatly to the embarrassments 
 of his position ; the English generals whose duty it 
 was to co-operate with him were perfectly unfit to 
 act the part of leaders in such momentous times, and 
 increased rather than diminished his anxiety ; and 
 over and above all this, Methuen's health was broken, 
 and he could no longer face as a strong man the exi- 
 gencies of his lot ; he was attacked in body by gout 
 and fever ; in mind by the foreboding that his con- 
 duct had arrayed enemies against him at home. As 
 he gradually felt his health declining, it became the 
 great object of his life to procure Godolphin's patron- 
 age for his son Paul, and to obtain for him apparently 
 the appointment of envoy at Lisbon. Towards the 
 end of his career he withdrew more and more to a 
 favourite country residence near Lisbon, where, as he 
 himself tells us, he drank asses' milk morning and 
 evening. Here he died in 1706. We have said these 
 few words of Methuen as we shall not have reason 
 to mention him again. Of the many Englishmen 
 who were employed in Spain during the early part of 
 the war of the Spanish succession, there were few 
 
 z 2 
 
840 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 who distinguislied themselves ; but among the first 
 and foremost of these we should rank John Methuen. 
 So much for Spain. We shall now attempt to 
 trace with equal brevity Godolphin's policy with 
 respect to the war in Italy and the south of 
 France. This may be summed up as a determina- 
 tion to take advantage in every way possible of 
 the insurrection in the Cevennes. It is unusual, 
 we admit, to ascribe the policy of a Government 
 to any one minister in it, even though that minis- 
 ter may happen to be prime minister ; but we think 
 that those who have studied carefully the his- 
 tory of the reign of Queen Anne can entertain no 
 doubt that it was Godolphin who principally pro- 
 moted the war in Savoy, that Marlborough con- 
 sidered and sanctioned it, but that it was planned 
 by Godolphin, and almost entirely supported by his 
 energy and efforts. Hill's letters to Godolphin frona 
 Turin strongly confirm this opinion. Hill, as we 
 know, was in a special way the chosen ambassador 
 of Godolphin in Savoy, and it was Hill who, as Marl- 
 borough himself tells us, was the first to propose an 
 attack upon Toulon.-^ Thus, we think that whatever 
 credit or discredit may attach to the military policy 
 of Great Britain in her designs on the south-east of 
 France from 1703 to the siege of Toulon in 1707 
 should be attributed to Godolphin. The policy itself 
 is too clear and simple to require explanation or 
 argument. To attack France in a spot where the 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. vi. pp. 967, 976. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 841 
 
 people were notoriously disloyal, to invade her witli 
 an army which, would co-operate with a fleet, to 
 destroy a most important French arsenal, to convert 
 a local insurrection into a general rebellion, is a project 
 which must appeal to the imagination and judgment 
 of all, and render unnecessary any vindication from 
 the pen of an apologist. 
 
 Much, however, must be left to conjecture as to 
 the precise manner in which Godolphin intended to 
 execute operations so daring and plausible. The 
 historical details of his policy for carrying on the 
 war on the side of Savoy are neither full nor 
 accurate ; nor is this strange, as the Lord Treasurer's 
 designs on this occasion never ripened into accom- 
 plished facts. History records events, and often does 
 not pause to inquire how these events are produced, 
 or whether they are due to premeditation or chance ; 
 and after all, if history is to be regarded merely as a 
 huge inventory of facts and circumstances, a sort of 
 statistical table, as it were, from which the philoso- 
 phical student can from experience of the past deduce 
 theories for the future, as an arithmetician may 
 employ the multiplication table to solve arithmeti- 
 cal problems, nothing more is necessary. But in 
 the history, not of the times, but of a man, historical 
 events may be a very misleading index to character ; 
 for here we have to do with the objects and intentions 
 of statesmen, and not with the random effects of their 
 policy. Thus the historical recital of the military 
 proceedings actually taken in Italy with the know- 
 
342 THE EARL OF aODOLPHIN 
 
 ledge and sanction of GodolpMn gives but the faintest 
 indication of the express objects which he desired 
 to achieve. Something, it is true, came of his 
 designs, but it was not that which he intended, and 
 we are here anxious to discover his intentions as an 
 indication of his judgment and of his courage. His 
 intentions are historically perhaps valueless, as no- 
 thing came of them, but a knowledge of them is 
 all-important in forming any trustworthy opinion of 
 the workings of his mind. 
 
 In the spring of 1 705 Lord Peterborough sailed 
 from St. Helens at the head of an expedition bound 
 for the Mediterranean. His orders were to do what 
 he could to help the Duke of Savoy, but much was 
 left to his discretion, and as circumstances afterwards 
 proved, he came to stretch his discretion almost to 
 the extent of disobedience. Through the whole of 
 September Peterborough was expected at Nice. 
 Every preparation had been made to receive him, 
 and the Camisard leader, Cavalier, who had been 
 residing with Hill at Turin concocting schemes for the 
 invasion of France, had been despatched over the 
 Alps with his pockets full of money to inspire new 
 hopes and courage into the minds of the Camisards.^ 
 
 But the people of Nice waited for Peterborough 
 in vain ; for during the whole of September and 
 part of October he was engaged, in spite of his 
 orders and in spite of the reiterated directions of 
 
 1 Hill to Godolphin, September 1705. Additional MSS. 28056, 
 f. 367, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 843 
 
 Godolphin, in conducting a siege which appeared 
 hopeless to every one, and the successful termina- 
 tion of which is to this day considered one of the 
 marvels of military history. It is certain that when 
 Peterborough left England, the English Govern- 
 ment had no more idea that their general would 
 attack Barcelona, than that he would attack 
 Seringapatam. Such operations were no part of their 
 military policy, and thus one of the most brilliant 
 achievements of British arms during Godolphin's ad- 
 ministration reflects no lustre upon him as minister, 
 but was in fact highly detrimental to the plan which 
 he had formed for carrying on hostilities. Provence, 
 Languedoc, and Savoy, not Catalonia, had been 
 destined by Godolphin to become the theatre of war. 
 Nice, considered at that time one of the strongest 
 fortresses in Europe, had been selected as the base of 
 British operations in the coming campaign.^ Here, 
 protected from attack on the north by the stupendous 
 and tumultuary mountains of the Maritime Alps, it 
 was proposed to disembark the expedition. The 
 position of Peterborough's force would, it is true, not 
 have been altogether satisfactory, for it would have 
 been between France on the one hand, and the 
 French army occupying Savoy on the other ; but 
 the neighbouring provmce of Provence was honey- 
 combed with rebellion, and the French army in 
 Savoy so sated with conquest and weighted with 
 
 ' Nice was then one of the strongest places in Europe. Every Duke 
 of Savoy had added to the fortifications. In October 1705 the Duke of 
 Berwick received orders to take it, which he did. 
 
344 THE EAEL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 booty that it could hardly with safety to itself 
 leave the prey which it was clutching. The summer 
 of 1705 had seen the north of Italy overrun with 
 French troops. They had been resisted with the 
 utmost gallantry, but already Yendome had in 
 his prisons almost as many of the Duke of Savoy's 
 soldiers as the duke himself had in his fortresses.^ 
 Had Peterborough landed at Nice, whatever his 
 own risks might have been, the position of the 
 French would have been most critical. A victory 
 indeed would have released them from the English, 
 but no such victory could be won unless they with- 
 drew their forces from Turin, and exposed Lombardy 
 to the attacks of Prince Eugene ; on the other hand 
 a defeat would prove fatal. The English, with all 
 the prestige of success, would immediately have ad- 
 vanced into Languedoc, where the population was 
 disaffected and the soldiers few. 
 
 Such we believe in outline to have been the 
 nature of the war which Godolphin in 1705 desired 
 to kindle in the south of France. That this eminently 
 wise design was not put into execution, was entirely at- 
 tributable to the incredible stupidity, selfishness, and 
 incapacity of the Archduke Charles and his German ad- 
 visers. They had set their hearts upon Barcelona, and 
 Barcelona they intended, if possible, to capture, cost the 
 Queen of England what it might. Statesmen, soldiers, 
 and diplomatist opposed them in vain ; Peterborough 
 
 ' Hill to Godolphin, March 4, J^^^. Additional MSS., British 
 Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 846 
 
 weakly yielded to the mis-timed sentiment of a mock 
 king and the passionate reproaches of an unworthy 
 counsellor, and wasted before a Spanish city the 
 forces which it was intended, and which he himself 
 desired, to utilise in Savoy. 
 
 Godolphin had every reason to complain of Peter- 
 borough's conduct. The capture of Barcelona indeed 
 was accomplished. Its capitulation was a most bril- 
 liant climax to operations carried on without una- 
 nimity, without any regard to the laws of war, and 
 against the judgment of the most responsible persons 
 engaged in the siege. But the fall of this great city, 
 however ready Godolphin was to make use of the 
 success, was not what he sought. Nor could Peter- 
 borough plead ignorance of Godolphin's wishes. 
 Twice at least during September the Lord Treasurer 
 reminded him that Savoy, not Catalonia, was the 
 proper theatre for his operations.^ Peterborough 
 knew that Godolphin's opinion was not merely that of 
 an elderly gentleman sitting in his arm-chair at home, 
 hatching impossible projects in such moments of leisure 
 as he could steal from horse-racing or his office ; on the 
 contrary, he knew that Godolphin's opinion was shared 
 by Paul Methuen, who accompanied the army, and 
 whose excellent judgment was fortified by long ex- 
 perience. He knew that it was the opinion of the 
 general officers of the army, and he admitted that it 
 was his own opinion as well. ' We had made,' he writes 
 
 ' Letter in the form of a diary from Paul to John Methuen, 
 September 13, 1705. Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
S46 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 to Godolphin on October 12, ' a better beginning else- 
 where, and as good a conclusion here.' Lastly, he 
 knew the Duke of Savoy was in extremities, for the 
 duke had informed him that if he did not land his 
 troops at once at Nice the war in Italy would be over. 
 Yet because the Archduke Charles and his favourite 
 Lichtenstein were stubbornly bent upon a plan of 
 proceeding which everybody condemned, he deliber- 
 ately set aside his own opinion, the opinions of the best 
 military judges, and the spirit of his orders, rather than 
 assume an authority which it was his duty to exer- 
 cise. In Peterborough's subsequent disappointments 
 it is impossible to pity him. He had voluntarily 
 chosen his own part, and he was bound to accept 
 with resignation all the evils which it entailed upon 
 him, whether these were brought about by his own 
 mismanagement, or by the errors of others. We can 
 easily conceive that as the war went on Godolphin 
 read with displeasure and irritation Peterborough's 
 perpetual outpourings against the Archduke Charles 
 and Lichtenstein. If Charles was no better than a 
 German blockhead, who if he ever mounted the 
 throne would have hated an Englishman as much as 
 a Frenchman ; if Lichtenstein was a monster in 
 human shape ; if his falsehoods, his pride, his rapacity, 
 his meddling, and his ignorance were likely to pro- 
 duce a terrible catastrophe ; if, weak and variable as 
 the winds of heaA^en, he was one day puffed up with 
 pride and another day sunk in abject despondency,^ 
 
 ' Peterborough to Godolphin, October 12 and December 30, 1705. 
 Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 347 
 
 how was it that Peterborough had submitted to be 
 governed by such a monarch and by such a minister ! 
 It is, however, unnecessary for us to condemn 
 Peterborough, as Peterborough stands self-con- 
 demned before the bar of history. No censure could 
 be severer than that which he unconsciously passes 
 upon himself in his own letters to Godolphin, for in 
 tbem he establishes his sole responsibility for the 
 difficulties which he complained were too heavy for 
 him to bear. Having the power to choose, having 
 a hopeful enterprise on the one hand and an ap- 
 parently hopeless one on the other, having on this 
 side good advisers and on that bad, he with his 
 eyes wide open selected to achieve the impossible, 
 and to act with the ignorant and foolish. The com- 
 plaints which he poured upon Grodolphin like water, 
 and which like rain fell upon the just and upon 
 the unjust, must have inspired Grodolphin with 
 a feeling as nearly allied to contempt as it was 
 possible to feel for a man who was undoubtedly in 
 many ways one of brilliant genius and boundless 
 energy. The difficulties which Peterborough found 
 insuperable, and which were rendered by his own 
 behaviour even more insuperable than he found them, 
 were precisely the very difficulties which it was one of 
 the first offices of a general to overcome. The great 
 obstacle to a successful campaign in Spain was not 
 of a military or a strategical character. It was the 
 difficulty of conquering national prejudices, of com- 
 posing petty jealousies, and of blending antagonistic 
 interests into an active and harmonious combination. 
 
848 THE EABL OF aODOLPHIN 
 
 Tact, temper, and judgment were qualities quite as 
 necessary for success in Spain as they were on the 
 Danube or the Rhine, and as every page of Peter- 
 borough's letters proves that he had none of them, he 
 stands almost as much self-condemned as if he were 
 constantly describing defeats which had been inflicted 
 on him, because forsooth the enemy had taken up too 
 strong a position, or had attacked his line precisely 
 where he was least able to resist. Half Marlborough's 
 successes are due to his temper and tact, all Peter- 
 borough's failures are due to the want of them. He 
 had only half the qualities of a good general and no 
 more, and the half which he lacked was the half 
 perhaps most wanted in Spain. 
 
 But Godolphin in attempting to carry out his 
 designs in Savoy had to face other difficulties besides 
 the waywardness of a headstrong general. Had 
 Peterborough executed his orders to the letter, 
 Godolphin would still have had to contend with the 
 embarrassments created by his vexatious and half- 
 hearted allies. Without the co-operation of the Dutch 
 and the Imperialists little could be done, and the 
 Dutch and the Austrians were so wrapt in self- 
 interest and so overweighted with caution that the 
 assistance they gave practically amounted to nothing. 
 While the Duke of Savoy was venturing person, crown, 
 and country for the cause of the allies, the Dutch and 
 the Austrians gave him nothing in return. It was 
 in vain that he begged the Dutch to pay him the 
 subsidy stipulated by treaty ; it was in vain that his 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 849 
 
 minister demanded it at the Hague in a manner so 
 peremptory that in the language of Hill it was enough 
 'to fright a body.' The Dutch, ever clinging to 
 formalities, refused to grant him even a fraction of 
 the money till the treaty had been formally signed. 
 If the Dutch treated the duke badly, the Imperialists 
 treated him worse. They were inspired by no senti- 
 ment of generous gratitude, and offered only their 
 impotent friendship in exchange for the solid ad- 
 vantages of the Savoyard connection. ' The em- 
 peror,' writes Hill, ' does not so much as find bread 
 for his own troops, they are left to the care of 
 his Royal Highness and the parish.' ' Wax and 
 parchment' was the poor and worthless return for 
 solid services. ' We have cried out,' Hill continues, 
 'we have petitioned at Vienna, and we have threat- 
 ened, we have solicited my Lord Duke and Prince 
 Eugene, and not neglected Prince Louis, but we are 
 never the better.' HUl was more than despondent, 
 he was hopeless. From Italy, from the Germans in 
 Italy, or even, we think, from an English expedition, 
 he expected nothing. There was only one chance 
 of safety, and that rested with Marlborough on the 
 Danube. ' I hope he will save the lame, the blind, 
 and the paralytic, I mean the Germans, we have faith 
 enough in him to be saved all.' That things should 
 go on as they were doing. Hill declared was impos- 
 sible, as either the duke would lose his country or 
 the allies the duke. The people and the nobility 
 hated and abhori*ed the war, and Hill felt convinced 
 
850 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 either that some attempt must be made to inspire the 
 cause of the allies in Italy with fresh vigour, or that 
 the Duke of Savoy would enter into a separate treaty 
 with France.^ 
 
 And while Hill regarded the listlessness of the 
 Germans with despair, he placed no faith in the un- 
 supported efforts of the Camisards, The insurrection 
 had failed to produce any leader of high social dis- 
 tinction. In his eyes it was little better than a Jac- 
 querie. It is true, he observed, that the oppressions 
 in France are very great, that the necessities and 
 misery of the people are equal to them, and that the 
 complaints of both Protestants and Catholics are in 
 proportion to what they feel, but all the great men 
 are still loyal. He had offered them arms, but 
 Rolande, with whom he had communicated, had replied 
 that there was nothing they wanted so much as money 
 with which to buy bread. In fact, observes Hill, 'it 
 looks as if they wanted the queen's charities more than 
 her subsidies.' He fully recognised the importance 
 of the insurrection as affecting the interests of the 
 allies, but it was as a disturbing element in the 
 French kingdom that he valued it rather than as a 
 dangerous rebellion which might be rendered still 
 more dangerous by active and armed assistance from 
 without. ' I pray you to excuse me, my lord,' he writes 
 to Godolphin on August 5, in alluding to Godolphin's 
 proposed invasion of Provence, ' if I yet see no- 
 
 ' See letters from Hill, April, May, July, and September, 1704. 
 Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 851 
 
 thing which can give us the least hopes of attempting 
 the great and glorious exploit which I see you have 
 still at heart ; ' and in the month following he writes, 
 in a tone which can hardly be described as commen- 
 datory, ' I do not condemn, my lord, jour great and 
 good design, I hope you will keep it in your thoughts 
 till next spring.' 
 
 But Godolphin, in spite of every obstacle, clung as 
 closely as circumstances would permit to his warlike 
 designs in favour of the Camisards. If Hill disagreed 
 will him, he at all events admired the courage and 
 pertinacity of his chief. ' You are an admirable ally,' 
 Hill writes. ' I believe we shall do and suffer every- 
 thing here rather than venture the loss of your friend- 
 ship.' ' Never was there in history so good an ally 
 as Her Majesty, or a worse one than the good old 
 man at Vienna.' ' It is the sturdy duke and your 
 lordship who keep the war alive, and you ought to 
 have all the honour of it.' ^ 
 
 The Italian war in 1705 was the cause of one of 
 those rare differences which occasionally took place 
 between Godolphin and Marlborough, and which 
 must ever at times occur between those who guard 
 the public purse and whose business it is to provide 
 money, and those who are responsible for the effi- 
 ciency of the public service and whose vocation it is 
 to spend it. 
 
 In the autumn of 1705 it was proposed to send a 
 force of Imperialists from Germany to Savoy. This 
 
 > Additional MSS. 28056, British Museum. 
 
852 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 resolution was undoubtedly taken on behalf of the 
 allies generally, but it is equally undoubted that of 
 all the members of the alliance Austria was the one 
 which was most likely to be benefited by its adoption. 
 Yet the emperor refused to send a man or a gun to 
 Italy till he had first obtained a considerable sub- 
 sidy from England and Holland ; or, to use the 
 proper conventional phraseology, till he had been 
 ' promptly gratified ' by a loan. To Marlborough 
 such a request seemed natural, and he begged 
 Godolphin to consent to it. Godolphin, however 
 raised objections. He did not respect the Imperialists ; 
 he regarded their sloth and want of method with 
 disapprobation, and was indignant at the extortion 
 which was displayed in ever-repeated demands upon 
 the English exchequer ; there was nothing which 
 they did not ask for, nothing which was not left for 
 England to pay. ' They demand and expect,' writes 
 Peterborough to Godolphin concerning a somewhat 
 similar application of the Archduke Charles and his 
 German courtiers, ' that you will fortify and pro- 
 vide every place with ammunition and provisions, 
 that you will buy the king's meat and clothes, in a 
 word, supply every necessary and superfluous expense 
 ... for while they find a possibility of being fur- 
 nished they expect and ask even for a pistol.' ^ As 
 it was in Spain so it was elsewhere. What wonder 
 if Godolphin groaned in spirit over the demands of 
 his generals, and momentarily hesitated whether he 
 
 1 June 23, 1706. Additional MSS. 28057, f. 247, British Museum. 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 353 
 
 should defray the lavish expenses of his proud and 
 hungry allies. 
 
 Under the circumstances Godolphin was less 
 compliant than usual ; he wrote a letter to the 
 German minister of so frank a nature, that it pro- 
 duced from him an angry retort. The Lord Treasurer 
 of England, said Count Wratislaw, seemed to think 
 that the rescue of the Duke of Savoy might be effected 
 by invectives against the Court of Vienna.^ The 
 emperor, who was not at all too proud to beg, but 
 loved a cheerful giver, and not one who gave as if he 
 granted rather than received a favour, was indignant. 
 Godolphin' s letter to Count Wratislaw had been as a 
 matter of course deposited in the official archives at 
 Vienna. It was determined to prevent the record of 
 any such letters for the future, and the emperor 
 decreed that, henceforward, answers to similar appli- 
 cations should be verbal.^ Marlborough, however, 
 had his own way. Godolphin yielded with the 
 worst possible grace ; he said that after all which had 
 been done for the House of Austria by the British 
 Government during the last two years, he considered 
 the request was unreasonable ; but he decided not to 
 oppose it, and he gave to the loan a tardy and un- 
 wUling assent. 
 
 The difference which we have described between 
 Godolphin and Marlborough was not of a personal 
 character. Its origin may be traced to the distinct 
 duties which each had to perform rather than to any 
 
 ' Coxe'a Marlborough, vol. i. p. 344. 
 
 A A 
 
354 TEE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 political difFei'ence of opinion between them. Godol- 
 pliin and Marlborough regarded the loan from points 
 of view peculiar to the situations which they occu- 
 pied. Marlborough never for a moment lost sight of 
 the war. The war to him was everything, domestic 
 policy nothing, except in so far as it subordinated 
 itself to the war and promoted it. But with Godol- 
 phin the case was different. Ardently as he sup- 
 ported the war, great as were the sacrifices which he 
 was prepared to make for it, he was pre-eminently a 
 financier. If it was his aim to make England great 
 abroad, it was no less his aim to make her wealthy 
 and prosperous at home. Through the turbulent 
 period of his official career he contrived with wonder- 
 ful sagacity so to manage the affairs of the country 
 as to render England, plunged as she was in the vortex 
 of a mighty struggle, as flourishing at home as she 
 had sometimes been in moments of the profoundest 
 peace. In spite of the enormous expenses of the war, 
 the credit of the country steadUy continued to rise. 
 But nobody knew better than Godolphin that there 
 must be limits to the exactions of foreign States, 
 which if surpassed would render skill and thrift useless ; 
 that the opulence of the country could not withstand 
 repeated inroads upon its resources, to be squandered 
 on objects which, to say the least, could be productive 
 of only the most remote advantages to Great Britain. 
 We are not sure whether, looking back one hundred 
 and eighty years, the judgment of posterity will not 
 incline to agree with Godolphin rather than with 
 
SPAIN AND SAVOY 855' 
 
 Marlborough, that it will not consider that there 
 ■were objects which, however important, might be too 
 dearly bought, and that there were considerations of 
 more moment to England than enfeebling beyond a 
 certain point the power of France, or establishing 
 Charles on the throne of Spain, or the Germans in 
 the Milanese. But a policy thrifty and cautious, 
 however much it may appeal to the judgment of the 
 few, lacks the brilliancy and display necessary to 
 make it popular with unreflecting persons. Conse- 
 quently Godolphin's prudence has been reproached 
 as parsimony, and his efforts to protect the wealth of 
 the people have been ascribed to narrowness of mind 
 and a deficiency in statesmanship. We think the 
 censure unjust. The war was important, and 
 Godolphin acknowledged it to be so ; money in rivers 
 was wanted, and money in rivers at Godolphin's 
 bidding was forthcoming ; but he did not think that 
 all the burthens of a war, which, after all, was not in 
 the first place or even mainly for English objects, 
 should fall upon England ; he did not agree in the 
 opinion once expressed by Peterborough when apply- 
 ing for money for Spain, that it was indeed the duty 
 of the Spaniards to find the money, but if it was not 
 found by Spain, it must be found by England. The 
 thought was one which might well inspire a general 
 wrapt up in his plans for war, and such thoughts 
 inspired Marlborough no less than Peterborough. 
 But in a minister who had under his charge the hap- 
 piness and well-being of a people, such a sentiment 
 
856 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 would not only have been out of place, but it would 
 bave been criminal. Godolpbin's caution has been 
 disparagingly described ' as the cold calculations of 
 finance.' ^ We think it was far more creditable to 
 his character, and to his reputation as a statesman, 
 than if he had consented to advance pubhc money 
 without criticism and without inquiry. 
 
 * Coxe's Marlborough, vol. i. p. 343. 
 
357 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HAKLEY AND GODOLPHIN — DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 
 MAELBOEOUGH AND GODOLPHIN. 
 
 Once more we resume the thread of domestic 
 narrative which is now drawing to a close. Sunder- 
 land's appointment to the post of Secretary of 
 State had the effect of disarming for the time the 
 opposition with which the Whigs threatened the 
 Government. The session of 1706, anticipated by 
 Godolphin with such gloomy forebodings, proved to 
 be one of the easiest which he had yet expei-ienced. 
 Everything went well, till almost the moment of its 
 termination, when troubles were excited from a quarter 
 whence naturally none were expected. Godolphin 
 found himself involved in a controversy with one of 
 the most dangerous and influential of his own col- 
 leagues. Hitherto his administration had been prin- 
 cipally imperilled by the hostility of the Whigs, 
 henceforth his most inveterate foe was his Tory 
 Secretary of State, Robert Harley. 
 
 The session of Parliament had almost passed away, 
 when some large London merchants prayed the House 
 of Commons to consider their serious grievances. 
 According to the Act of Union between England and 
 
358 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 Scotland free trade was to be established between the 
 countries after May 1, 1707 ; but until May 1 the 
 customs duties in each kingdom were to remain 
 unaltered. As in Scotland the customs duties were 
 generally lower than in England, an opportunity was 
 thus offered to dishonest speculators to perpetrate an 
 outrageous abuse of the treaty. With the view of 
 cheating the English Kevenue, foreign merchants made 
 consignments of goods to Scotland, intending to realise 
 them after May in the English market. The transac- 
 tion was clearly, in spirit at all events, fraudulent, and, 
 in so far as England was concerned, mischievous. 
 The English traders loudly complained that they 
 would be ruined, and appealed to Parliament for re- 
 dress. Their grievance enlisted the sympathy of the 
 House of Commons, as it was sure to do, and Harley, 
 acting upon his own responsibility and without the 
 permission of Godolphin, introduced into Parliament 
 a bill, which passed the Lower House, to restrain a 
 practice in itself absolutely incapable of defence. 
 
 The procedure of Harley in respect to the com- 
 plaints of the English traders had all the appearance 
 of equity ; but, nevertheless, there were two sides to 
 the question ; and there was another course which it 
 might be more prudent to follow. It was possible to 
 condemn the proceedings in Scotland as bad without 
 absolutely declaring them illegal. To many it seemed 
 that in this case policy was at war with justice. 
 The Scotch, in the spring of 1707, were in a highly 
 sensitive state. Many Scotchmen hated the Union, 
 
HARLEY AND OODOLPHIN 859 
 
 and would have still seized any opportunity to 
 frustrate it. It was absolutely certain that Harley's 
 bill, if passed by Parliament, would be published 
 through the length and breadth of the land as a glar- 
 ing and insulting breach of the international compact. 
 Thus the Union might yet be wrecked, and this great 
 measure, on the very threshold of accomplishment, 
 might again be subjected to renewed failure. Such 
 was the view of the situation which presented itself 
 to Godolphin, and which was supported by the House 
 of Lords. The peers did not wish to throw out the 
 bill, but they were determined not to pass it. A dis- 
 pute occurred between the two Houses which a brief 
 prorogation of a few days did nothing to assuage. 
 Godolphin, who was in the country, hurried up to 
 London to counteract the machinations of his subor- 
 dinate. His power with the House of Commons was 
 great. It was said of him that the words which he 
 spoke in Parliament were listened to as if pronounced 
 by an oracle,^ and even now in the heat of party con- 
 flict his arguments and counsels produced considerable 
 impression. But in spite of Godolphin's influence the 
 House of Commons was not to be turned from the 
 resolution which it had already adopted. Harley's 
 bill was again passed, but its further progress was 
 stifled by the efforts of mmisters. Few things could 
 have been more unfortunate for Godolphin than 
 Harley's rebellion. It produced bad blood between 
 the two Houses of Parliament, and it exhibited a fatal 
 
 ' Cunningham'a Histary of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 85. 
 
360 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 division in the ranks of the Government. To this 
 bill is ascribed by some writers the enmity which was 
 soon afterwards manifested between Godolphin and 
 ?Iarley. Godolphin was filled with vexation at an 
 event so troublesome at the moment, so charged with 
 evil to come. ' The close,' he observes to Marl- 
 borough, ' of the best session of Parliament that 
 England ever saw, has been unhappily hindered 
 by a broil between the two Houses.' ^ With a re- 
 serve almost inexplicable between two colleagues 
 so closely allied as Marlborough and Godolphin, 
 Godolphin refrained from mentioning to Marl- 
 borough the name of Harley ; but it is certain that if 
 he had never mistrusted the fidelity of Harley before, 
 he must now at least have begun to suspect the false- 
 ness of his professed friendship. 
 
 The conduct of Harley caused Godolphin serious 
 embarrassment; fresh complications were shortly to 
 render his position still more unpleasant and insecure. 
 In 1706-7 the Whigs had to a considerable extent 
 been conciliated by Sunderland's admission to the 
 Government, their confidence was for the time re- 
 stored, and their support in Parliament secured. 
 Now circumstances occurred which once more excited 
 their suspicions, and led to a crisis which threatened 
 the extinction of the Government. 
 
 In 1708 three important pieces of Church prefer- 
 ment — the Bishoprics of Chester and Exeter, and the 
 chair of Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford — 
 
 ' Coie's Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 36. 
 
HABLEY AND GODOLPHIN 861 
 
 fell vacant. To the unbounded resentment of the 
 Whigs, the queen declared her intention of conferring 
 all these important places on Tories. The Whigs, 
 believing that the queen was acting upon the advice 
 of her ministers, considered that the Government had 
 deserted them. Their rage fell principally upon Go- 
 dolphin ; but as a matter of fact Godolphin did not 
 deserve the censure which they poured upon him. A 
 conspiracy had sprung up at Court which left him 
 minister only in name, and he had almost as little 
 voice in the distribution of favours as the Whigs 
 themselves. 
 
 We do not intend to enter here into any descrip- 
 tion of the Masham intrigue. The alienation of the 
 queen from her ministers, the rise of Abigail Hill, the 
 clandestine and mole-like action of Harley, the pro- 
 ceedings of the Whigs in Parliament, who, having, as 
 they termed it, Godolphin's head in a cleft stick, 
 raised discussions and motions which left him en- 
 tirely at their mercy, the final coalition between the 
 Whigs and Marlborough and Godolphin, and the 
 re-establishment of the Government upon a Whig 
 basis, are matters of general history and are well 
 known. We are more concerned in reflecting on 
 these proceedings than in recounting them, and in 
 the first place we should like to consider how it was 
 that Harley's treachery came upon Marlborough 
 and Godolphin ostensibly as a surprise, and how 
 it happened that Godolphin, so famous for his 
 wisdom, so intimate with his colleagues, so pro- 
 
862 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 foundly versed in tlie mazes of Court policy, could 
 Lave overlooked a danger which sprang up at his 
 very side, and which ultimately not only hurled him 
 from office, but shattered the Whig party, produced 
 a hurried and unsatisfactory peace, and to a certain 
 extent endangered the Protestant succession. Per- 
 fidious and reprehensible as was the conduct of 
 Harley, the blindness of ministers which never pene- 
 trated his most transparent arts is equally striking, 
 and deserves at least some slight measure of notice. 
 
 Both Harley and St. John,^ but especially Harley, 
 have been held up to odium for their alleged treach- 
 ery to Godolphin and Marlborough. That Harley, 
 at all events, actually desired to deceive his col- 
 leagues is clear. Whether as a matter of fact 
 he ever succeeded, or could have succeeded in doing 
 so, is another matter. The point is an important 
 one, not for the purpose ^ of sifting the characters 
 either of Harley or of Godolphin, but because if we 
 can show that Godolphin silently penetrated the 
 designs of Harley, it may indicate some hidden dif- 
 ferences between Godolphin and Marlborough which 
 induced the Lord Treasurer for the sake of harmony 
 to acquiesce in the deception. 
 
 Circumstances in 1707 warrant the supposition 
 that Marlborough and Godolphin were no longer 
 agreed upon a common basis and method of go- 
 vernment. Marlborough still clung with desperate 
 
 ^ St. John, afterwards Viscount Bolingbroke, was appointed Secre- 
 tary at War in place of Blathwayte in 1704. 
 
BARLEY AND GODOLPHIN 363 
 
 tenacity to the scheme of government which was to 
 exclude the absolute sway either of Whig or Tory. 
 To eflfect his end and to adjust the balance of power, 
 it was indispensable that Tories as well as Whigs 
 should be in the administration, and Harley and St. 
 John, ' the particular friends ' of Marlborough, as 
 Godolphin called them, were established in the minis- 
 try as a counterpoise to Sunderland and Cowper. 
 It would not be just to say that they absolutely 
 represented Marlborough's political opinions, but they 
 undoubtedly represented the plan by which he 
 intended to rule. It was Marlborough who brought 
 them into office, it was Marlborough who kept them 
 in office, and it was Marlborough who with the 
 assistance of the queen sheltered them from the 
 resentment both of the Whigs and of Godolphin. 
 When Harley plotted against the Whigs, it is diffi- 
 cult therefore to understand what there was in his 
 conduct to surprise Marlborough ; if Marlborough 
 was deceived at all, it was by his own system of 
 government and by seeking to achieve his ends by 
 relying on diametrically antagonistic forces. 
 
 The position and views of Godolphin were very 
 different to those of Marlborough. Godolphin had 
 long seen the fallacy of the scheme to which Marl- 
 borough still so closely adhered. He had abandoned 
 it, and now every effort of his life was concentrated 
 in reconciling the queen and Marlborough to the 
 Whigs. The separation of the Government into 
 groups must have greatly perplexed Godolphin, as 
 
364 THE EARL OF QODOLPEIN 
 
 it was the outcome of tlie plan which he had 
 discarded and against which he now struggled. Yet 
 we are asked to believe that he was ignorant that 
 the leader of the group which incessantly opposed 
 him, which would have made him break with the 
 Whigs, whom he desired to join, was his enem}^. 
 The situation of Godolphin was an extremely difficult 
 one. He disagreed, as we believe, with Marlborough 
 in leaning at all in 1707 to the Tory connection, but 
 was both unable and unwilling actively to oppose 
 his inclinations. With his profound experience of 
 English politics, he must have been perfectly assured 
 that as long as Harley was Secretary of State there 
 were certain to be collisions between the Tory and 
 the Whig element in the Government ; yet he was 
 unable to dismiss him or even openly quarrel with 
 him. As Godolphin was compelled to co-operate 
 with Harley, it is probable that he also thought it 
 was well to seem to trust him. Thus when the final 
 breach occurred, it appeared that Godolphin had been 
 deceived, and that Harley was a traitor, though as a 
 matter of fact the one had been scarcely deluded, and 
 in so far as deception was concerned the other bad 
 hardly betrayed. 
 
 Everything, indeed, which Godolphin saw, every- 
 thing which he heard, must have warned him of 
 Harley's duplicity. Common report, if nothing else, 
 would have aroused his suspicions, and his sus- 
 picions once aroused there was certainly nothing to 
 lull them again into confidence. Harley's character 
 
EABLET AND GODOLPHIN 865 
 
 ■was the talk of the town ; his nickname was ' trick- 
 ster ; ' he was notorious for his wiles and his cun- 
 ning, and was not unconscious himself of the reputa- 
 tion -^vliich he enjoyed ; at his own dinner table, ^ 
 a table which Godolphin had only just left, his 
 honesty had been sneered at by a great Whig 
 statesman, and an innuendo directed against him, 
 which was perfectly understood by both Tories and 
 Whigs present, and which would never have been 
 uttered or tolerated had it not possessed some foun- 
 dation of truth. Moreover, Godolphin of all men had 
 probably made the mind of his colleague a study, 
 had searched in its innermost recesses, had examined 
 and considered every crookedness which seemed to 
 mar its perfection and to call for his scrutiny. Even 
 we, after the lapse of nearly two centuries, judging 
 from the fragments of his correspondence, cannot 
 help observing the natural, the almost unconscious 
 falseness of Harley's nature, and it is impossible that 
 Godolphin, who saw him every day, who was inti- 
 mately connected with him in business, who we may 
 be sure heard every slander against him which malice 
 could invent and party hatred contrive, should have 
 been ignorant of a blemish which was notorious at 
 the time through the whole length and breadth of 
 England, and which neither lapse of years nor pains- 
 taking inquiry has succeeded in explaining away. 
 Harley himself has given a perfect description of his 
 own character, and the description was given to none 
 
 • Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. iv. p. 298. 
 
866 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 other than Godolpliin. His temper, he said, when 
 once charged with faction, was to go along with the 
 company and give no inconvenience. ' If they should 
 say Harrow on the Hill or by Maidenhead were the 
 nearest way to Windsor, I should go with them, and 
 never dispute it, if that would give content, and that 
 I might not be prepared to swear it was so. I am 
 very sincere.' ^ Such was Harley's conception of 
 sincerity. He was ready to affirm what he knew to 
 be false, provided that he was not asked to do so oa 
 oath. A man with a mind so subtle and refining can 
 never be honest, for it is not in his nature to be so. 
 He may be unconscious of his own duplicity, he may 
 deceive himself as he deceives others, he may not even 
 be a bad man,' but he will remain essentially a dis- 
 honest one. There are men born with moral deficien- 
 cies as there are men born with physical deficiencies ; 
 and such a man we believe Harley to have been, 
 rather than the self-seeking traitor so frequently 
 described in history. But, whether by nature or by 
 craft, he was false, and we believe that Godolphiti be- 
 fore 1707 knew him to be so, and had penetrated his 
 character. 
 
 But if Godolphin was ignorant of the suspicions 
 which were entertained by people at large against 
 Harley, and if his eyes were bhnd to what everybody 
 else saw, there were other considerations which can 
 hardly have failed to strike and enlighten him. 
 
 > Harley to Godolphin, September 10, 1707. SomervUle's Queen 
 Anne, p. 625. 
 
BARLEY AND GODOLPHIN 867 
 
 Harley's conduct had imposed upon him serious 
 difficulties not unattended with danger. There was 
 scarcely a point from one end of Godolphin's admini- 
 stration to the other which it was more essential for 
 him to press than the appointment of Sunderland as 
 Secretary of State. To accomplish this aim he re- 
 linquished his repose, he risked his favour with the 
 queen, he threatened to abandon office ; but while he 
 was imploring the queen to receive Sunderland, 
 Harley was doing all in his power to frustrate the 
 design. Nor, as we have so recently seen, was 
 Harley's opposition to Godolphin confined to the 
 privacy of the Cabinet, or to the ear of his mistress 
 in the royal closet, for in 1707 he had the audacity 
 to resist his authority openly in Parliament. Marl- 
 borough observed the insubordination of Harlej^ and 
 St. John with a long-suffering composure which can 
 only be accounted for on the supposition that he 
 sympathised to a certain extent with their conduct. 
 But it is certain that Godolphin, who was the head 
 of the Government, and who was responsible for 
 its efficiency, could not see his cherished plans 
 thwarted and his heavy labours doubled without 
 entertaining sentiments of the bitterest dislike to 
 the man who was one of the chief causes of his 
 difficulties. 
 
 Nor are these the only reasons for supposing 
 that in 1707 the political views of Godolphin and 
 Marlborough were not in complete harmony. The 
 different manner in which each confronted the em- 
 
368 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 barrassments created by the Masbam intrigue go far 
 to confirm the conjecture. 
 
 As this famous intrigue developed itself the ac- 
 counts which Godolphin transmitted from time to 
 time to Marlborough on the Continent became most 
 alarming. The condition of aflfau-s which he had to 
 describe to his colleague was, as regarded the ministry, 
 one of absolute collapse. He informed Marlborough 
 of his own waning influence, of the queen's remon- 
 strances and reproaches, of communications once 
 carried on by word of mouth now passing in letters. 
 He informed him of the mysterious conversations 
 between the queen and Harley, of the rising favour 
 of Abigail Hill, of the failing power of the Duchess 
 of Marlborough. He informed him that Harley was 
 on the one hand inflaming the anger of the queen 
 against the Whigs, and on the other instigating her 
 wrath against the ministers, that in short he was 
 jeopardising the safety of the Government and rapidly 
 becoming the controlling power in the State, Re- 
 ports could hardly have been worse, but they seemed 
 to vex Marlborough rather than to alarm him. 
 Either he did not appreciate the gravity of the crisis 
 which threatened the Government, or he was unable 
 fully to concur with Godolphin in his condemnation 
 of Harley and St. John. 
 
 There is still extant a strange proof of Marl- 
 borough's infatuation. Godolphin had probably no 
 worse enemy in the Cabinet than St. John ; St. 
 John had at one time ventured even openly to 
 
HABLEY AND GODOLPHIN 369 
 
 criticise his policy in a hostile manner to Marl- 
 borough, and had done so without rebuke. In 
 1707 he was politically attached to Harley, and 
 the fate of the one was bound up in the fate of 
 the other. It is certainly, therefore, curious to 
 find that while Godolphin was engaged in a death- 
 struggle with the Tories Marlborough should have 
 chosen that moment to bestow a particular favour on 
 St. John. He begged that his services might be 
 rewarded by increased remuneration. Grodolphin 
 reluctantly acquiesced in the proposal. His grants 
 to St. John he afterwards affirmed were the only acts 
 of his administration for which he reproached him- 
 self^ When it is recollected that only a few months 
 before Marlborough had declared in language almost 
 pathetic that he would never keep a friend who was 
 an enemy to Godolphin, both the gift and the time 
 chosen for making it may well excite the most 
 legitimate astonishment. 
 
 The labours which the Masham intrigue im- 
 posed upon Godolphin were very heavy. The whole 
 weight of its consequences fell upon him. He had 
 to resist as best he could the constant assaults of the 
 Whigs, and the almost openly avowed enmity of the 
 queen ; he had also to consider the advice, iiot al- 
 ways the best, which he received from Marlborough. 
 Godolphin' s rare patience and good sense were tested 
 as they had scarcely ever been tested before. They 
 
 ' Duchess of Marlborough's Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 277. 
 
 B B 
 
870 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 triumplied at last, and they alone saved the Govern- 
 ment from dissolution. 
 
 The counsel which Marlborough offered to Go- 
 dolphin during this period of almost superhuman 
 trial was somewhat contradictory, and, in spite of his 
 strong expressions of regard, at times we think not 
 perfectly loyal. Had the position of the ministers 
 been reversed, had Godolphin been advising Marl- 
 borough instead of Marlborough Godolphin, how 
 strong a case, we cannot help asking ourselves, 
 would not Marlborough's eulogist. Archdeacon Coxe, 
 have established against the pusillanimity and half- 
 heartedness of the Lord Treasui-er ? Marlborough's 
 proposals for the defence of the Government fell 
 far short of what was required, and encountered 
 the emphatic disapproval of Godolphin. Strange 
 to say, Marlborough did not, at first at all events, 
 seem to realise the nature of the struggle in which 
 his colleague was involved. He did not recognise 
 that Harley, broken loose from control and act- 
 ing on his own or the queen's responsibility, 
 could be regarded only as an enemy to be de- 
 stroyed, or as a master to be obeyed. The con- 
 flict, though Marlborough ignored the fact, was no 
 more nor less than a struggle for mastery between 
 two ministers who could never serve again together. 
 No composition between them was possible. They 
 were leaders of antagonistic parties, the representa- 
 tives of different interests and influences. Those 
 who intended to participate in the combat had to 
 
HABLET AND GODOLPHIN 871 
 
 choose between tlie standards which they would 
 follow, and to make up their minds that they would 
 conquer or fall with the party of their adoption. 
 
 But all this was lost upon Marlborough, The 
 advice which he tendered to Godolphin was absolutely 
 unsuited to the occasion. It might have succeeded 
 with a rebellious under- secretary, but it was quite 
 useless for restraining within limits the transgres- 
 sions of one of the most powerful statesmen in 
 England. He advised Godolphin to treat Harley as 
 an unruly, but almost contemptible subordinate, to 
 remonstrate with him, to take him before the queen, 
 to argue with him in her presence and convince him 
 of his errors. The queen too was to be scolded, 
 or, to use a euphemism common in the mouths of 
 ministers, to be made to see her own interests. If 
 she endured the scolding and remained obdurate 
 Marlborough reluctantly admitted that nothing more 
 could be done. She must be left to her own devices 
 and bear the responsibility of her own delinquencies. 
 Resignation as a joint measure with Godolphin Marl- 
 borough evidently did not at the moment contemplate. 
 ' God's will be done,' he piously ejaculated, upon the 
 supposition that the queen might perhaps prefer 
 Harley's policy to his own ; but he clearly did not 
 think that it was any part of God's will that he 
 should resign office. No wonder that Godolphin 
 protested against a course at once so futile and so 
 purposeless ; a course which he reminded Marl- 
 borough had already been tried on a previous oc- 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 casion in his very presence and had failed. It was 
 apparent to Godolphin at all events that if Harley 
 was to be crushed, if he was to be anything but First 
 Minister of State, something more than formal re- 
 monstrances from the Solicitor-General and solemn 
 audiences with the queen would be required for the 
 purpose. 
 
 But Marlborough had another expedient for ter- 
 minating the bitter controversy in which the Govern- 
 ment was simultaneously engaged with both the 
 queen and the Whigs. He thought that Godolphin 
 might be persuaded to resign. If we are to believe 
 Marlborough, he desired in making this strange pro- 
 posal to consult the happiness of Godolphin rather 
 than the welfare of the country. But Marlborough's 
 protestations should be received with some caution. 
 He was essentially a plausible man ; he always found 
 reasons for what he wanted to do. He was now 
 moved by a great compassion for Godolphin, a com- 
 passion so great that he longed to see him liberated 
 from his embarrassments even at the cost of his ofBce. 
 Marlborough, ignorant of his own destiny, declared 
 that a life such as Godolphin' s was intolerable, and 
 that for his part he would not endure it for all the 
 world could give. It certainly deserves notice that 
 Marlborough's compassion for GodoJphm was excited 
 to this pitch of tender solicitude at the very moment 
 that the necessity arose for him to decide finally be- 
 tween Godolphin and the Whigs and Harley and the 
 Tories. The advice too, moreover, was utterly at 
 
EABLEY AND OODOLPHIN 873 
 
 variance with that which Marlborough had tendered 
 to Godolphin under similar circumstances in the pre- 
 ceding year. Then it was Godolphin who wished 
 to retire and Marlborough who wished to prevent 
 him from doing so, and who adjured him by every 
 sentiment of honour and patriotism not to execute 
 a resolution which would be equally injurious to 
 the queen, the nation, and the continent of Europe. 
 On both occasions it is diflBcult to refrain from the 
 suspicion that there w^ere certain interests which were 
 silently considered, and that those were the interests 
 of Marlborough himself. 
 
 Godolphin received the proposal that he should 
 resign with the same disapprobation which he had 
 accorded to the suggestions for remonstrances with 
 Harley and interviews with the queen. He declared 
 that if the matter was one which required resignation, 
 he could not retire alone, that he could not do any- 
 thing so disgraceful as abandon the queen except on 
 a joint measure with Marlborough. We think that 
 there is scarcely any one in these days who will not 
 consider that Godolphin was right ; who will not 
 agree that there could with propriety be no separation 
 between the paths of Godolphin and Marlborough, 
 that they together formed a Government, that they 
 were bound to act as a Government, and to stand and 
 fall together. Well would it have been on a future 
 occasion for Marlborough's fame and happiness, had 
 he like Godolphin recognised the inviolability of the 
 tie which bound them as colleagues together. For 
 
874 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 the present, however, Marlborough acquiesced in 
 Godolphin's judgment, and it was resolved that if the 
 queen declined to listen to their representations, they 
 should resign their offices and leave the administration. 
 
 There is something very striking in the manner 
 in which this long ministerial struggle terminated, a 
 struggle resulting in one of those bloodless victories 
 which have so frequently adorned the onward march 
 of English constitutional expansion. Marlborough 
 as well as Godolphin became conscious at last that if 
 the Government was to be preserved, Harley must be 
 expelled from it. The two ministers therefore im- 
 plored the queen to dismiss him from office ; but the 
 queen declined to grant their request. 
 
 The refusal of the queen to dismiss Harley left 
 Godolphin and Marlborough with the choice of resig- 
 nation or submission ; either course was equally open 
 to them. The practice of the time would not have 
 rendered submission either improper or unusual, and 
 the correspondence between the two ministers, which 
 took place in the summer, especially on the side of 
 Marlborough, proves that such a course had been 
 contemplated. From subsequent events, indeed, it 
 may even be doubted whether their resignation, which 
 they now determined to tender, was not merely a 
 tactical stroke to compel Harley to leave the Govern- 
 ment, rather than prompted by an insurmountable dis- 
 like to serve in an administration in which their pohcy 
 was not followed. However this may be, upon the 
 queen's refusal to dismiss Harley both Marlborough 
 
HABLEY AND QODOLPHIN 875 
 
 and Godolphin resigned. Godolphin's resignation 
 was accepted by the queen without concern. Her 
 life with him had for long been uneasy. He was the 
 main obstacle to Harley's rise and to a Tory Cabinet.^ 
 Marlborough's loss she deplored more deeply. It was 
 not with Marlborough as with Godolphin. There 
 was no hungry favourite ready to fill his place ; no 
 general in England or in the world who was as cap- 
 able of leading her armies. She begged Marlborough 
 to remain in the Cabinet. Had he consented he would 
 have undoubtedly given the victory to Harley and 
 the Tories, as undoubtedly as at Blenheim he would 
 have given victory to the French and handed over 
 Prince Eugene to destruction had he in the middle of 
 the battle joined with Marshal Tallard ; and though 
 Archdeacon Coxe gives him extraordinary credit for 
 constancy in resisting the queen's supplications, we 
 can see but little difference between the two cases. 
 Moreover, Marlborough's eye in the political struggle 
 was as keen, and his judgment as sound, as ever they 
 
 ' I have aeen it stated, on considerable literary authority, that, in 
 writing of this period, the use of the word ' Cabinet ' is an anachro- 
 nism. As a matter of fact the employment of the word, in its present 
 sense, was not by any means uncommon in the begimiing of the 
 eighteenth century. In 1711 it was proposed to insert the word 
 ' Cabinet ' into a resolution to be moved in the House of Lords. The 
 proposal gave rise to a very interesting debate, for which see Cobbett'a 
 Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 971. A similar objection has been 
 made to the use of the word ' Prime-Minister.' This word also was 
 employed in the reign of Queen Aime ; for example see An Inquiry 
 into the Queen's Last Ministry, written by Swift, within a year of the 
 queen's death, in June, 1715. It is of course unnecessary to add that 
 both words are frequently used by Lord Maoaulay in writing the 
 history of a still earlier period. 
 
376 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 were on the field of battle. He knew well that the 
 great ministerial struggle was over, that the great 
 political battle was won, and he was the last man in the 
 world to turn aside from an object deliberately sought 
 and now within his grasp. The ministers resigned, 
 but the queen was not convinced. She still required 
 proof of her own weakness and of the strength of her 
 adversaries, and proofs of both were soon provided for 
 lier. It became necessary to convene a meeting of the 
 Council ; the Council met. The queen presided at 
 the head of the table ; the lords sat round it. Harley, 
 uneasy in his mind and conscious that a crisis was 
 approaching, commenced to open the business of his 
 office. His voice was interrupted by murmurs. The 
 queen had deliberately challenged a fall with party 
 power ; and in her own palace, in the very privacy 
 of her Cabinet, the mutterings of the storm warned 
 her of the dangers she was running. The Dukes of 
 Devonshire and Somerset, two of the most powerful 
 subjects in England, declared that in the absence of 
 the Lord Treasurer and the General no business could 
 be done. The queen then knew that the struggle 
 in which she had engaged for so many months, in 
 which she had intrigued, and even condescended to 
 deceive, was over, and that the victory was not hers 
 but her enemies', and that nothing was left to her but 
 to eat the bitter fruit of humiliation, and make atone- 
 ment to those whose advice she had slighted and 
 whose instrument she had now become. Harley was 
 compelled to leave the Government. Godolphin and 
 
HABLEY AND GODOLPHIN 377 
 
 Marlborough were reinstated in their places ; but can 
 it be wondered at that the great object of the queen's 
 life should have henceforth been revenge, or that she 
 should have adopted any measure, however dark and 
 obscure, to rid her of those who, she considered, had 
 stript her of independence ? 
 
 Thus ended the first phase of the great political 
 conspiracy which was finally in the course of a few 
 years to hurl Godolphin from power. It forms an 
 epoch in the history of the growth of party. T The 
 queen was defeated by her ministers, but her ministers 
 conquered by the very influences which they had de- 
 sired to restrain. They had determined to govern by 
 defying parties; they now acknowledged tliat to govern 
 at all they must rely absolutely on party 7"^ They 
 beat the queen, but they surrendered to theWhigs. 
 Their day-dreams had vanished in the face of reality, 
 and the record of their experiment was closed for ever. 
 In the reign of William, Godolphm had conceived his 
 policy of a third part}?^ composed of courtiers ; in the 
 commencement of the reign of Queen Anne he at- 
 tempted to carry it out ; in the year 1707 he directly 
 opposed a similar scheme when suggested by Harley ; 
 in 1708 by his alliance with the Whigs he finally 
 abandoned it for ever. 
 
 The expulsion of Harley from ofiice marks the 
 final change in the character of the Government. It 
 had once been Tory, then hybrid, now it became 
 Whig. The reconstructed administration is remark- 
 able for two circumstances. It contained in its ranks 
 
378 THE EABL OF GODOLPEIN 
 
 Walpole — the pupil of Godolphin in politics as he 
 may be almost called- — afterwards the greatest Whig 
 leader of the eighteenth century. It was also the 
 first Whig administration since the Union of England 
 and Scotland, and thus Godolphin became the first 
 Whig Prime Minister who presided over the joint 
 affairs of England and Scotland. The Government 
 was to all appearance more solid than it had ever 
 been since the accession of Queen Anne ; yet the rift 
 between Godolphin and Marlborough grew in width 
 as time passed on. It is true that their differences 
 were skin-deep, indeed microscopically small, but 
 even if they never came to a head, if they never 
 influenced the public policy by a hair's breadth, the 
 study of them would tell us more of the minds of 
 Godolphin and Marlborough than the consideration 
 of great public acts which are as often as not the 
 result of compromise, and are not stamped with the 
 individuality of any particular author. 
 
 We have already attempted to show that in the 
 year 1707 differences existed between Godolphin and 
 Marlborough on matters of domestic government. 
 During the years 1708 and 1709 other points of dis- 
 union were manifested, and the two great colleagues 
 gave proof that their minds were not in absolute 
 harmony, either as to foreign policy or as to the con- 
 duct of the war.-'- That there should have been some 
 divergency of opinion on these subjects between the 
 statesman and the soldier was not only natural, but 
 
 ' Coxe's Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 387. 
 
MABLBOBOUGH AND GOJDOLPEIN 879 
 
 almost inevitable. It is remarkable that it did not 
 appear sooner, or entail more serious consequences. 
 
 At the commencement of hostilities both Godol- 
 phin and Marlborough were actuated by a common 
 motive. They dreaded the preponderance which 
 France would acquire in Europe if the Bourbon 
 family were to succeed to the rich and colossal in- 
 heritance of the unhappy King of Spain. They 
 united in supporting that unwieldy but necessary 
 implement for the chastisement of France — the Grand 
 Alliance — which King William had forged out of the 
 jarring elements of international discord ; but as time 
 went on they both began to regard the great com- 
 mon object of their policy in peculiar relation to 
 their respective careers. The statesman observed the 
 effects of the war upon the people whom he ruled. 
 He saw that its expenses were crushing them, that, 
 zealous and brave as they were, its increasing 
 burthens inclined them to peace. His own wise 
 administration had so far saved the country from 
 what under less sagacious management might have 
 resulted in financial confusion. His eulogists had 
 once declared that the exchequer had greater credit 
 during the war than it had ever possessed in the 
 most flourishing times of peace ; ^ but it must have 
 been perfectly clear to Godolphin as hostilities be- 
 came protracted and debt rolled up, that such com- 
 pliments must soon cease altogether, or become the 
 language of the wildest hyperbole. Nobody knew 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 453. 
 
380 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 batter than GodolpLin the dangers which beset the 
 ini]oecunious Grovernment of an overtaxed country, 
 and as no man was more prudent or careful, so no man 
 in England, we feel convinced, regarded in 1708 
 the financial condition of Great Britain with more 
 sincere concern than her own Lord High Treasurer. 
 The national charges had increased to an inordinate 
 extent. In 1701, in the last year of King William's 
 reign, the total expenses for the services of the year 
 were 3,442,315/., and the expenses of the army and 
 navy services 1,538,463/.; in 1708 the total expendi- 
 ture was 7,742,111/., and the expenses of the army 
 and navy 5,320,656/. In 1701 the amount applic- 
 able to the reduction of the national debt was 
 2,261,211/., and in 1708, 3,194,922/. In seven years 
 the public expenditure was almost doubled. No 
 minister responsible for the finances of the country 
 could fail to be startled by so great an augmentation of 
 the public burthens. Money also had become scarce, 
 and its want inconvenient. The dearth of money 
 led to a kind of land crisis. In 1706 the farmers 
 upon many estates were unable to pay their rents, 
 and the land-tax in consequence fell with terrible 
 weight upon those whose duty it was to discharge it.^ 
 
 ' I have stated this on the authority of the Duke of Shrewsbury. 
 He says in a letter, October 1706 : ' Money is so scarce that nobody's 
 rents are paid, which makes the land tax felt heavily. ' He goes on to 
 say that his own tenants pay their rents, his farms being under-rented. 
 — Public Record Office, State Papers, Domestic, Anne, Bundle 12, p. 70. 
 Curiously enough, Burnet in 1706 says, 'the nation did as much 
 abound in money as zeal' : vol. v. p. 241. See also Cunningham, vol. 
 ii. p. 133, and Cobbett's Parliameidary History, vol. vi. p. 336, note. 
 
MAJRLBOBOUGH AND GODOLPHIN 881 
 
 J The pressure upon tte people was indeed heavy ; 
 almost everything was taxed. For long the free- 
 holders, weary under the burthens imposed on them, 
 had evinced every symptom of impatience, and it 
 must have been patent to all that a period would 
 at length arrive when the endurance of even the 
 British nation would tolerate no longer the con- 
 tinuance of war. And while England groaned 
 under taxation, while she was making almost super- 
 human exertions and winning almost incredible 
 victories for the purpose of destroying the power of 
 France, Godolphin observed that Austria, the mem- 
 ber of the alliance which was ultimately to derive 
 the greatest benefits from the efforts and achieve- 
 ments of England, was bent merely upon her own 
 selfish aims, that English subsidies which should 
 have maintained troops in the field never found their 
 way out of the grasping hands of the Imperial mmis- 
 ters at Vienna, and that, finally, English soldiers were 
 sent out to conquer a kingdom for those who well- 
 nigh refused to contribute a regiment to the enter- 
 prise.^ He observed that the Dutch, ever sullen and 
 morose, were equally wrapt up in their own particular 
 cares, that the objects of England, the seizure of 
 Dunkirk, the expulsion of the Pretender from France, 
 or the surrender of Spain by France, were to them 
 but as dust in the balance against this town or that 
 
 ' On one occa9ion Prince Eugene said that ' the German soldiers 
 would rather be decimated than sent to Spain.'— Cobbett's Parlia- 
 mentary Debater, vol. vi. p. 607. 
 
882 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 town added to their line of barrier fortresses. It was 
 not without reason that Godolphin began at length to 
 inveigh against the cupidity of Austria, or the selfish- 
 ness of the Dutch, for they were exhausting the vital 
 springs of English life. The great objects of the 
 Grand Alliance, so far as those objects were yet unful- 
 filled, he still placed before his eyes ; but he had also be- 
 fore him the wants and necessities of the nation over 
 which, under the queen, it was his destiny to rule ; 
 he had become identified with its interests, respon- 
 sible for its welfare, his career had absorbed him 
 gradually into its life, and he daily regarded the great 
 confederacy of nations with less favourable aspect. 
 
 But the soldier took another view of the situa- 
 tion. He too desired to humble France, and he saw 
 in himself the instrument chosen by Providence to 
 eff'ect her humiliation. Marlborough was a great 
 statesman and a great general, but he was a European 
 statesman and general rather than an English one, 
 and perhaps the exponent and representative of 
 a sentiment rather than either The overthrow of 
 Lewis XIV- and his generals, and to attain that 
 object the military association of the great Powers of 
 Europe, were the ends for which he strove. For 
 these he imposed upon himself the most stupendous 
 labours ; in poor health, often racked with headache, 
 he journeyed in winter from one end of Europe to 
 the other, he siibmitted to be harassed by Court 
 jealousies, and to see his designs frustrated by preten- 
 tious and ignorant generals. His life was one prolonged 
 
MABLBOBOUGH AND GODOLPHIN 383 
 
 elFort at conciliation for the purpose of establishing 
 a limited international harmony. It may be said almost 
 without exaggeration that Marlborough thought more 
 of the welfare of the confederacy as a whole, than of that 
 of any single nation embraced in it. At all costs, the 
 confederacy must be held together. The interests of 
 individuals must bend to the common good, even 
 when that individual happened to be England, and 
 the minister who governed her his most intimate 
 friend Godolphin. The emperor might be wrong 
 in nearly everything, huge English subsidies might 
 be wasted or stolen by Imperial ministers. Imperial 
 troops which should have been engaged in the com- 
 mon cause might instead be plundering the fertile 
 regions and wealthy cities of southern Italy ; all this 
 had to be tolerated and condoned lest Austria should 
 fall away from the general alliance, and the war come 
 to an end. Thus Godolphin and Marlborough were 
 inspired by sentiments which to a greater or less 
 degree must always distinguish the statesman and 
 the soldier — the man who achieves success in esta- 
 blishing the peace, wealth, and commercial prosperity 
 of his country, and the man who achieves success in 
 exchanging this wealth and peace for great military 
 triumphs, and the exaltation of national pride. 
 
 As early as 1707 there are indications that the 
 various influences of their ofiices were already draw- 
 ing G-odolphin and Marlborough in different direc- 
 tions. Godolphin evmced a certain dissatisfaction 
 with the war by expressing the highest indignation 
 
384 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 against the allies. The war in itself, and in the 
 abstract, he was ready and anxious to prosecute ; 
 but if hostilities were to be carried on, as in fact they 
 were being carried on, if members of the alliance 
 were to consider merely their own interests and not 
 the common interests of the confederacy, then Godol- 
 phin submitted to Marlborough the propriety of 
 deserting the Grand Alliance and entering into a 
 separate peace with France. It is true that the idea of 
 a separate peace was abandoned by Grodolphin almost 
 at the moment of its suggestion, and it is possible that 
 the suggestion itself may have originated as much in 
 anger as in reason ; it is, however, remarkable that he 
 should have ventured to pronounce a word which he 
 well knew was unwelcome to Marlborough's ear. But 
 peace or no peace, Godolphin viewed the conduct 
 of Austria with unconcealed disapprobation. Her 
 wavering policy when the invasion of Provence and 
 the proposed siege of Toulon were discussed filled 
 him with resentment ; no event since the breaking 
 out of hostilities had interested him so much ; to 
 no military undertaking was he prepared to attach 
 greater importance. He rightly considered that suc- 
 cess at Toulon would have a decisive eiFect upon 
 the course of the war, and he was utterly unable to 
 pardon the selfishness which induced the Austrians 
 to obstruct the design, that they might employ more 
 troops in the invasion of the Neapolitan territory, or 
 to admit for an instant the truth of the ridiculous and 
 audacious assertion made by Count Wratislaw, and 
 
MABLBOBOUGH AND GODOLPHIN 385 
 
 too readily acquiesced in by Marlborough, that in the 
 invasion of Provence Austria risked her army for 
 the sake of England. Godolphin brushed away 
 with contempt the paltry excuses of the Austrians. 
 ' Had they ever had Italy or an army,' he exclaimed, 
 ' but for the extraordinary effort and expense of Eng- 
 land, and is it now thought too much to do what is 
 really the most solid advantage to themselves only 
 because it is particularly grateful to England ? ' ^ 
 Godolphin's animosity against the Austrians must 
 have caused Marlborough fresh perplexity. For 
 years he had been attempting to effect a composition 
 among the allies ; now he found a source of discord 
 and opposition in his own ministry. At home, as we 
 have already stated, this was the year of troubles. 
 Harley and Godolphin struggled with the queen as 
 champions of the claims of Whig and Tory. This 
 was the year of Marlborough's compassion for Godol- 
 phin, of his regard for the repose which his friend so 
 much needed. This was the year when he suggested 
 to his son-in-law Sunderland that it might be well if 
 the Lord Treasurer were tempted to resign. 
 
 Nor as this long war proceeded did it appear that 
 the General and the Minister were always united upon 
 the best methods of conducting it. Godolphia had 
 consistently advised the invasion of the French coast, 
 trusting for ultimate success to internal discord. 
 The invasion of France has been called Godolphin' s 
 
 1 Godolphin to Marlborough, /^g^J^g, 1707. Coxe's Marlhorovgh. 
 
 C C 
 
336 THE EAUL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 favourite scheme. He advocated it at times through- 
 out his entire administration, and to attack Calais and 
 Boulogne was his last advice to Marlborough on his 
 dismissal from office in 1710. 
 
 The policy of Godolphin in desiring to invade 
 France was neither foohsh nor rash, and he had 
 every reason to hope that it would be successful. 
 The revelations of history are in its favour, and, per- 
 haps what is more important, so are the opinions 
 of the great commanders, his contemporaries, and 
 enemies. France was far weaker internally than she 
 was on the frontiers. On the frontiers she was 
 defended by veteran troojDs led by generals whose 
 militaiy reputations, if less splendid than those of 
 Marlborough and Eugene, were still highly and justly 
 extolled ; while in the very heart of the kingdom 
 anarchy reigned, and rebellion defied every effort of 
 the royal marshals who vainly endeavoured to crush 
 it. Looking back with all the advantages which we 
 derive from the light of history, it almost appears to 
 us that nothing but reprehensible neglect could have 
 prevented the allies from availing themselves of a 
 combination of domestic circumstances which seemed 
 so fatal to France. The Duke of Berwick, who was 
 acquainted with all the conditions of the Camisard 
 rebellion, and had every opportunity of estimating 
 its gravity, was filled with surprise at the apathy 
 which the allies displayed towards it. Never, indeed, 
 was a fairer opportunity lost of inflicting a mortal 
 blow upon France. Had the wide world been sought 
 
MABLBOBOUOH AND GODOLPHIN 387 
 
 through, it is probable that no better instruments than 
 the Camisard soldiery could have been found for the 
 overthrow of Lewis XIV. Men fired with religious 
 fanaticism, hopeless of pardon, one day clinging to 
 the woods and caves of the mountains like wild beasts 
 to their covert, and on another emerging almost like 
 the same wild beasts to fall upon their prey in some 
 unexpected spot ; men with ' no place left for repent- 
 ance, none for pardon left,' they were made of the 
 very material to prove themselves dangerous foes 
 to France, had their power been properly utilised. 
 But the auspicious moment was allowed to pass un- 
 heeded away. The spark of insurrection which 
 might have been fanned into a flame to consume an 
 entire country was permitted to expire from sheer 
 inanition, and the allies, who might have crippled 
 France with ease had they attacked her where she 
 was weakest, dashed themselves to pieces on bul- 
 warks which science and courage had rendered almost 
 impregnable. 
 
 Godolphin, it appears to us, was the only statesman 
 in England who truly appreciated the political and 
 social condition of France at this time, and saw how 
 easy it would be for the allies to take advantage of it. 
 He had always, as has been said, shown an inclination 
 to direct small expeditions against various points 
 on the French coast. But his plans had never been 
 received with favour by Marlborough. Regarded 
 merely from a military point of view, ^^'ithout any 
 knowledge of the political state of France, it is 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 very possible that his projects may have sounded 
 rasher than they in fact were. But it is clear that 
 it was not only from a military standpoiat that 
 Godolphin regarded his projects, that it was not 
 only upon the efforts of the British soldier that 
 he solely relied for success. As existing documents 
 prove, he was acquauited with the sentiments of 
 the people among whom his soldiers were to dis- 
 embark, and he had good reason for supposing that, 
 far from being hated as foreign intruders, they would 
 be received with the acclamations due to those who 
 come to liberate a miserable people from intolerable 
 oppression. The most secret inclmations of the 
 peasants of Normandy and Brittany had been re- 
 vealed to him through sources of private inquiry. 
 He knew that they groaned under an almost insup- 
 portable taxation, that they were the victims of an 
 almost unendurable tyranny, that their prayers daily 
 ascended to heaven for the liberty of conscience 
 which a bigoted priesthood withheld from them. He 
 knew, in short, that a misgoverned people, slaves in 
 person and slaves in mind, panted for the restoration 
 of freedom, and that the downtrodden peasantry of 
 France were ripe for rebellion, and knowing all this, 
 Grodolphin indeed knew enough amply to justify his 
 designs of invasion.^ 
 
 1 See a letter, dated October 1706, from R. Lundie, an English 
 officer who had been taken prisoner by the French, and who had been 
 confined in prisons in Normandy and Brittany. State Papers, Public 
 Record Office. A considerable number of letters preserved in the 
 Public Record Office testify to the minuteness of Godolphin's informa- 
 tion on this subject. 
 
MARLBOROUGH AND GODOLPHIN 389 
 
 Thus GodolpMn planned to reduce France by 
 availing himself of civil strife. It is doubtful how 
 far Marlborough agreed with him; if he did he did 
 so without enthusiasm. Marlborough, it seems to 
 us, never cordially entered into the military schemes 
 of Godolphin. Wrapt up in his own designs, he was 
 more eager to render the weapon which was to de- 
 stroy France strong and efficient, than he was to 
 study the inherent weaknesses of the enemy in which 
 he hoped shortly to plunge it. Thus in 1707, when 
 Godolphin proposed that an expedition should be 
 landed at Rochefort and Saintes to rouse the Pro- 
 testants of Saintogne, and to act in combination with 
 the advance of the allies upon Toulon, Marlborough 
 opposed it. He observed, perhaps with truth, that 
 the time of year was too late. But, as a matter of 
 fact, Marlborough cared but little for those wars which 
 took men away from his own standards. He had 
 determined that the theatre of hostilities should be 
 the Rhiue, and that the armies which should pene- 
 trate into France should advance from the Rhine. 
 He took little — too little — interest in those various 
 projects which so constantly employed the thoughts 
 of Godolphin. It is doubtful even whether the inva- 
 sion of Provence and the capture of Toulon, which 
 so deeply attracted the Lord Treasurer's attention, 
 ever in an equal degree enlisted the sympathies of 
 Marlborouo-h.^ Yet the town of Toulon was worth 
 
 o 
 ' It would be unjust not to state that Marlborough in 1711, during 
 the debates on the war in Spain, fully acknowledged in the House of 
 Lords the importance of the policy of invading Provence. 
 
300 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 a great sacrifice ; its loss to France would have 
 been irreparable ; it was one of the first naval 
 arsenals in France ; it contained magazines valued 
 at many millions of money, besides five thousand 
 pieces of cannon. Had it capitulated, the war in all 
 probability would have been terminated at a stroke. 
 It was the dilatoriness of the allies, rather than the 
 measures of the French, which saved to Lewis one of 
 the first cities in his empire. Those words, too late, 
 which Marlborough employed in regard to the pro- 
 posed expedition against Rochefort explain with a 
 fatal accuracy the reason of the disaster which over- 
 took the alhes in Provence. Had the leaders of the 
 allies — had, we believe, even Marlborough been in- 
 spired with the energy of Godolphin and gifted with 
 his sense of the importance of the occasion, it is pos- 
 sible that the history of this campaign might have 
 been written in other characters ; it is possible that 
 the misfortunes and horrors which attended a retreat 
 through impenetrable woods and intricate morasses, 
 across flooded and dangerous streams, among an 
 armed and hostUe peasantry, inflicting losses almost 
 more serious than the losses of battle, might never 
 have taken place, and that Prince Eugene's splendid 
 army, instead of returning to Italy as a wreck, might 
 have dictated peace to Lewis from one of the principal 
 towns in his dominions. 
 
 It is not, however, till 1709 that the differ- 
 ences between Godolphin and Marlborough attain a 
 sufficient magnitude to attract historical attention ; 
 
MABLBOBOUGH AND GODOLPHIN 301 
 
 though somewhat in advance of our narrative, we 
 will proceed to consider them here, and thus close 
 one branch of our subject. 
 
 In the year 1709 Europe became inspired with 
 the hope that the war might at length end. Both 
 sides engaged in it were thoroughly exhausted ; but 
 the exhaustion of France was greater than that of 
 the allies. France was not only exhausted, but pro- 
 strated. Her male population had been swept away 
 by the ravages of war, and women had in many 
 places to perform the laborious duties of men ; 
 commerce and manufactures were annihilated, public 
 credit was destroyed, and the revenues were antici- 
 pated by every method of fraud and artifice ; the 
 circulation of fictitious money was forced ; mint bills 
 which were issued in imitation of English bills of 
 exchange had suffered a discount of 58 per cent. ; the 
 cost of bread had risen to famine prices, and had en- 
 tailed the most enormous suffering ; in Orleans alone 
 it is stated that numbers of the people died of sheer 
 starvation ; want and war had produced universal 
 crime and discontent ; banditti swarmed in the 
 highways, and tumults raged at intervals in tlie 
 cities. The state of France was one of abject misery 
 and more than incipient ruin ; both at home and 
 abroad the situation was equally threatening, ai:id 
 required immediate repose from the exhaustion of 
 war ; and thus it became known that, vanquished in 
 many battles, his frontier fortresses in the hands 
 of his enemies, and the road to Paris open, Lewis 
 
392 
 
 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 was at length prepared to entertain proposals for 
 peace. 
 
 Negotiations were immediately set on foot, and it 
 was soon discovered that France was ready to make 
 large concessions to the demands of the allies. The 
 hopes of England and of Europe were excited, and 
 the prospects of peace from being a mere fitful and 
 shadowy expectation, a phantom even in the minds 
 of the sanguine, became a matter amountiDg nearly 
 to certainty. At last it seemed that the long war 
 was indeed to end ; at last the annual succession 
 of triumphal thanksgivmgs in St. Paul's Cathedral 
 for bloody victories was to be terminated by a 
 splendid celebration in honour of the return of 
 national harmony; at length the Queen, Lords, 
 and Commons were, in the turgid rhetoric of par- 
 liamentary comphment, to congratulate each other 
 not on a battle won, but because the necessity for 
 battles had passed away. Marlborough himself, who 
 had gained in the war not only reputation but 
 wealth, anticipated with delight the moment when 
 he should exchange the hardships of the camp for 
 the pleasures of his somewhat tumultuous home. 
 But these bright expectations were not destined to 
 be realised, and those who sighed for peace were 
 doomed again to witness the horrors of war. 
 
 This terrible misfortune was due to the severity 
 of the terms which the allies attempted to impose 
 on the French. The concessions of Lewis were 
 enormous ; but they were insufScient to gratify the 
 
MABLBOBOVGH AND GODOLPHIN 393 
 
 greedy and grasping spirit of the allies. Lewis 
 was prepared to surrender the whole Spanish 
 monarchy. The allies demanded that he should 
 not only do this, but that he should surrender 
 Spain within two months ; and that, if at the end 
 of two months the Duke of Anjou was still in pos- 
 session, Lewis should assist them to hurl from the 
 Spanish throne the grandson whom it had been the 
 object of many years of his life to establish on it, and 
 in whose cause he had lavished the wealth and man- 
 hood of a nation. Had France agreed to such con- 
 ditions as these, she would have incurred degrada- 
 tion equal to conquest. Weak as she was, she was 
 not yet absolutely devoid of strength. She preferred 
 the uncertain fortune of renewed war to a disgrace- 
 ful peace, and those who proffered her terms so 
 odious must without doubt either have counted 
 upon the result, or have been singularly unsuccess- 
 ful in penetrating the character of the great monarch 
 and the great nation to whom thej' were opposed. 
 
 Archdeacon Coxe, in his ' Life of the Duke of 
 Marlborough,' ventures, we think, to distribute the 
 blame for the failure of the negotiations in 1709 some- 
 what unevenly. Popular opinion at the time ascribed 
 then' collapse to Marlborough ; and it is certainly 
 not unnatural to believe that a brilliant and success- 
 ful general might regard with satisfaction the pro- 
 longation of a war which had rendered him famous. 
 Archdeacon Coxe, however, is anxious to show that 
 the accusation was unjust, and he endeavours to 
 
3^4 THU EASL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 remove the stain, if it may be called one, from the 
 memory of ^larlborough, and fix it as a blot on the 
 statesmanship of Godolphin. 
 
 The accusation against Grodolphin is a strange 
 one, indeed, to drop from the pen of Archdeacon 
 Coxe, for, if true, it is absolutely impossible to re- 
 concile it with the Archdeacon's frequently expressed 
 opinion of Godolphin's character. From one end 
 to the other of his interesting and valuable work 
 on Marlborough, he loves to contrast the nature and 
 dispositions of the two great ministers. Godolphin 
 is the scale by which he measures Marlborough, the 
 foil by which he displays him ; Godolphm was feeble 
 and T\'avering, Marlborough strong and decided ; 
 Marlborough weighted by the business of nations, 
 yet erect under the burthen ; Godolphin bending 
 under the lesser load of domestic troubles, yet unable 
 to sustain it without the assistance of Marlborough. 
 When Marlborough was weak, as to his misfortune 
 he sometimes was, we are told that it was because he 
 followed the advice of Godolphin ; when Godolphin 
 was strong, we are told that it was because he 
 adopted the counsels of Marlborough. Such is the 
 picture which Archdeacon Coxe draws of Godolphin, 
 such is the impression which his book conveys to the 
 mind. What, then, are we to think of his accusation 
 that Godolphin in 1709 caused the failure of the 
 negotiations \A'ith France ? During the whole of 
 Godolphin's administration no matter of greater 
 importance than the consideration of these negotia- 
 
MARLBOROUGH AND GODOLPHIN 395 
 
 tions came under the attention of the Government. 
 Are we to believe that Godolphin, the tiaiid and the 
 irresolute, actually decided a most momentous point, 
 and that point, it may almost be, said in Marl- 
 borough's special province of aflfairs, without, if not 
 against, Marlborough's advice ? If so, the reproach 
 of timidity and dependence falls for ever to the 
 ground, and Godolphin must be regarded as a man 
 who courted rather than shunned responsibility. 
 For our part, we neither believe that Godolphin 
 was at any time timid, in the ordinary sense of the 
 word, nor that the miscarriage of the treaty in 1709 
 was at all due specially to him or to any indi- 
 vidual among his colleagues. We think that ui 
 1709 the Dutch, the English, the suffering people 
 of all nationalities, were anxious for peace, and pre- 
 pared to make great sacrifices to obtain it, but that 
 the princes, the leaders on both sides, and the 
 English Cabinet, were not yet ripe for it. We must, 
 however, assert our emphatic opinion that of all 
 English statesmen none at this time was so ready to 
 enter into a reasonable peace as Godolphin, and that 
 in his desire to obtain it he came into conflict with 
 Marlborough on more than one point of importance. 
 For this opinion we shall attempt to supply a few of 
 our reasons. 
 
 Godolphin in 1709 expressly stated that without 
 peace everything in England would fall to pieces. It 
 is then scarcely reasonable to suppose that he was 
 the author of terms which rendered peace in that year 
 
396 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 almost impossible. He fartlier declared that if a 
 peace was not effected he would in the session of 
 1709 be surrounded by the same difficulties caused 
 by the same persons as in the session of 1708. These 
 difl&culties had almost overwhelmed him ; when he 
 strove against them his spirit had waxed faint within 
 him, and he would gladly have cast off the burthen 
 of office had a sense of public duty not forbidden him 
 to do so. It seems then very improbable that 
 Godolphio should have been willing to revive the 
 perplexities which a few months before had rendered 
 life to him intolerable, by originating terms of peace 
 which were almost certain to fail, thus plunging him- 
 self and his Government into inextricable confusion. 
 But even admitting that Godolphin, weary as he was of 
 the war, nevertheless from a high sense of public duty 
 was ready to run large political risks for the purpose 
 of extracting from France such terms as few countries 
 would be inclined to grant unless dictated by a 
 victorious army in its capital, it is probable that a 
 statesman so experienced as Godolphin would have 
 been prepared for an irdmediate resumption of hos- 
 tilities in the event of the probable rejection of the 
 treaty. But this was not the case. Godolphin was 
 not prepared, and was not preparing to resume 
 hostilities. Marlborough, indeed, demanded an aug- 
 mentation of troops. Godolphin resisted it.^ Pre- 
 parations for war, it may readily be admitted, are some 
 times the best way of securing a peace ; but as a matter 
 
 ' Coxe's Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 387. 
 
MABLBOBOUQH AND GODOLPHIN 397 
 
 of practice rather than of policy, it is undoubtedly the 
 habit of countries and generals who intend to fight to 
 increase their forces, and of countries and ministers 
 who are bent on peace to reduce them beyond 
 even reasonable limits. The augmentation of the 
 military forces under Marlborough formed a real 
 and unquestionable point of dispute between the 
 statesman and the soldier. It does appear to us to 
 be inspecting the matter with inverted mind to dis- 
 cover from this and other similar circumstances that 
 the minister who declined to augment the army and 
 send troops into the Low Countries was practically 
 urging, by proposing an impossible treaty, a policy 
 of war, while the general who was clamouring for 
 troops was the advocate of a policy of peace. 
 
 There remains another circumstance which indi- 
 cates differences both of opinion and policy between 
 Grodolphin and Marlborough at this time, and which 
 proves almost conclusively that if Godolphin was 
 indeed responsible for the harsh articles of the French 
 treaty he was under the strange misapprehension that 
 the terms would be accepted. Such an hypothesis is, 
 we think, inadmissible. Godolphin was too experi- 
 enced a statesman to fall into so egregious an error. 
 
 In the summer of 1709 the Barrier treaty was 
 signed by Lord Townshtnd with the Dutch on behalf 
 of Great Britain with the full approbation of Godol- 
 phin. As regarded the Grand Alliance, the treaty 
 could have but one effect, and that was to weaken it. 
 The Dutch hated the war. They had frequently mur- 
 
S98 THE EARL OF GOBOLPHIN 
 
 mured for peace, and it had been long suspected both 
 by Godolphin and Marlborough that they only waited 
 to secure satisfactory terms for themselves to conclude 
 a separate peace, if they could muster suflScient 
 courage to brave the anger of the allies. The Barrier 
 treaty which Lord Townshend signed, gave them, on 
 behalf of the allies, if not all they wanted, at least as 
 much as they were ever likely to get. There was 
 therefore every reason to believe that if such a treaty 
 were ratified by the English Government uncoupled 
 with conditions which should bind the Dutch to the 
 common cause, it would offer a strong inducement to 
 them to withdraw from participation in a war which 
 inflicted upon them endless suffering and threatened 
 them with gigantic perils. Now Godolphin, if he 
 really intended to run the risk of continuing the war, 
 must have felt as strongly as anybody that in the 
 event of the renewal of war his best chance of success 
 depended upon the complete union of the various 
 nations which formed the Grand Alliance. To enter 
 deliberately into a treaty tending to relax bonds 
 which in the event of war or its prospect every 
 argument of reason and policy required should be 
 drawn as close as- possible, was an act which could 
 only be prompted by the sentiment that peace was 
 certain. No man who is not bent upon peace, 
 and who is not convinced of its certainty, will 
 voluntarily strip himself of the weapons on which he 
 relies for conquest or defence ; yet this is precisely 
 what Godolphin did when he signed a treaty which 
 
MABLBOBOUGH AND GODOLPHIN 899 
 
 rendered it possible for the Dutch, if they chose, to 
 secede from the Grand Alliance. Nor did he act 
 in ignorance. Marlborough energetically pressed 
 upon him the probable consequences of the treaty. 
 Godolphin seemed half convinced by his argu- 
 ments, but he refused to prevent its execution. The 
 treaty was signed without Marlborough's concur- 
 rence, Godolphin remarking that it would not be 
 followed by the fatal consequences which the Duke 
 apprehended.'^ 
 
 There seems but one conclusion to draw from these 
 circumstances. Had Godolphin been firmly deter- 
 mined to press upon the French the alternative of 
 making larger concessions to the allies as a condition 
 of peace, or of continuing a war which had hitherto 
 been disastrous to them, he would certainly not have 
 adopted a policy calculated greatly to diminish the 
 effect of his menaces, while it added to the probabili- 
 ties of the prolongation of war, and reduced the 
 chances, if the war was prolonged, of bringing it to 
 a successful issue. Thus his policy in reference to 
 the Dutch seems to us to have been entirely shaped 
 upon the assumption that peace was certain. It was 
 essentially the policy of a peaceful man. The advo- 
 cates for war, whether open or concealed, would have 
 argued after the fashion of Marlborough against the 
 Barrier treaty. It is scarcely credible, on the other 
 hand, that any one who was not determined at all 
 hazards to secure peace should have promoted a treaty 
 
 * Coxe'a Marlborough, vol. ii. p. 416. 
 
400 THE EABL OF QODOLPHIN 
 
 wHcli might in its consequences entail upon those 
 who framed it an unequal war. Both Godolphin and 
 Marlborough were, in their way, earnestly desirous 
 of peace, but it is certain that the man who desires 
 peace while he makes active preparations for war is 
 less warmly disposed to it than the man who desires 
 it, and is so determined to get it that he makes no 
 preparations at all. 
 
 From these'matters of a somewhat close detail we 
 must now rapidly glance at the concluding period of 
 Godolphin' s life, and trace it from the downfall of 
 Harley to Godolphin's death in 1712. 
 
401 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DISMISSAL AND DEATH. 
 
 More than two years elapsed after Harley's disgrace 
 before the queen was able to avenge herself upon her 
 rebellious ministers, and it was not till 1710 that she 
 ventured to make those changes in her government 
 which ultimately led to the fall of Grodolphin. 
 
 In the meanwhile Godolphin's victory over the 
 queen had brought him neither repose nor satis- 
 faction. The years 1708 and 1709 were in every 
 respect the counterpart of those which preceded 
 them. There were the same wrangles between the 
 ministers and the queen ; there existed the same 
 want of confidence between the Whigs and the 
 ministers ; the queen was at one end of the political 
 beam, the Whigs at the other, and the laborious task 
 of preserving the equipoise fell to Godolphin. Re- 
 ligious embarrassments began also to distress him. 
 Sacheverell's trial took place, and ridiculous state- 
 ments were circulated averring that proceedings 
 taken for the purpose of defining the principle of the 
 revolution had in fact been instituted because a rude 
 and ill-conditioned clergjnnan had in a sermon com- 
 pared Godolphin to the voluptuary, mountebank, and 
 
 D D 
 
402 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 knave wliom Ben Jonson has introduced to the world 
 under the name of Volpone.^ Nor, as time passed on, 
 was he as able as formerly to bear the fatigues of his 
 ofl&ce, or the peculiarly harassing duties which fell to 
 his lot. He was no longer young, and his constitu- 
 tion was already impaired by a disease which was 
 destined, after agonising torments, to put an end to 
 his existence.2 He was tired out, he exclaimed ; the 
 life of a slave in the galleys was a paradise compared 
 with his. He tried in vain to resign ; he entreated 
 the queen either to follow his counsels or to dismiss 
 him, but she tacitly refused to do either one or the 
 other. 
 
 In 1710 the queen delivered the first of those 
 blows which in the course of a few months were to 
 shatter Godolphin's ministry. Its weight fell prin- 
 cipally upon Marlborough. Without asking the con- 
 sent of Marlborough, whom as Commander-in-Chief 
 she was bound to consult, and fully conscious of his 
 
 ' Biirke, in an appeal from the New to the Old Whigs, says of this 
 trial : ' It was carried on for the express purpose of stating the true 
 grounds and principles of the revolution ; what the Commons emphati- 
 cally called their fmmdaf.ion. It was carried on for the purpose of 
 condemning the principles on which the revolution was first opposed, 
 and afterwards calumniated, in order by a juridical sentence of the 
 highest authority to confirm and fix Whig principles, as they had 
 operated both in the resistance to King James and in the subsequent 
 settlement, and to fix them in the extent and with the limitations with 
 which it was meant they should be understood by posterity.' 
 
 I have not discovered when Godolphin was first called Volpone, 
 but the name is to be found as early as 1705 in the poems on State 
 afiairs. 
 
 ' He was suffering from stone. According to the Due de Dangeau, 
 he refused to undergo the operation of cutting. Jonmal de Dangeau, 
 Friday, October 7, 1712. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 403 
 
 disapproval, she appointed Lord Rivers Governor of 
 the Tower, and gave to Mr, Hill, Mrs. Masham's 
 brother, the command of a regiment rendered vacant 
 by the death of Lord Essex. How Marlborough 
 declared that he would resign, how he retired in 
 sulky state to Windsor Lodge, how some of the 
 Whigs strove to confirm him in his resolution, while 
 others, with Godolphin at their head, laboured to 
 reconcile him to the queen, and how a cold reconcilia- 
 tion was at length effected, are matters of general 
 history which need not be more than touched upon 
 here. That Marlborough should either have resigned, 
 or insisted upon ample reparation for a deliberate and 
 wanton insult, there can be no doubt. That he did 
 not do so, must always in some degree cast a stigma 
 upon his political reputation. 
 
 Archdeacon Coxe lays, as he is so fond of doing, 
 in this case as in many others, the responsibility for 
 Marlborough's errors on Godolphin's shoulders. Go- 
 dolphin's advice, he says, was spiritless, his policy 
 nerveless. His timid counsels palsied the vigour of 
 Marlborough's sound judgment, and led him to con- 
 sent to an imprudent and unworthy submission. His 
 strictures we think are harsh and unjust. There is 
 nothing to prove that the advice given by Godolphin 
 was not entirely in accordance with Marlborough's 
 own secret wishes. Judged by the light of after 
 events, it may well be reasonably doubted whether 
 Marlborough was really sincere in his proposal to 
 resign, whether it was not a threat made only with 
 
404 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 the view of terrifying the queen. Two years before 
 a threat of a similar nature had been followed by 
 complete success. Why should it not succeed ao-ain ? 
 Marlborough was in truth, on some points, not a man 
 of very delicate feeling. His love of office, or, as he 
 would have said himself, his love of his country, too 
 often made him forget what was due to his own self- 
 respect. It is ridiculous and misleading to ascribe 
 to the malign influence of Godolphin errors which 
 were in truth attributable to an unfortunate frailty 
 of character. Marlborough was a man not only of 
 commanding genius, but possessing an almost ab- 
 normal power of making up his mind speedily, inde- 
 pendently, and decisively. Yet Archdeacon Coxe 
 would have us believe that this powerful character 
 was swayed in matters of paramount importance to 
 his public success and private reputation by Godol- 
 phin, whom in other places he describes as a man 
 scarcely rising above the level of mediocrity, and 
 always leaning on his stronger colleague for support. 
 Both before and after Godolphin's dismissal, Marl- 
 borough submitted to indignities which no man of 
 high honour would have tolerated, and in respect to 
 which the conduct of an individual cannot possibly 
 be regulated by the advice of a friend. The post of 
 Commander-in-Chief which he held with such dis- 
 tinction was offered by the queen to the Elector of 
 Hanover. Marlborough was acquainted with the 
 proposal, but did not raise even a whisper of re- 
 monstrance. His old subordinate, St. John, treated 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 405 
 
 him with imperiousness ; the queen addressed him 
 harshly and offensively ; he endured their slights 
 with the meekest fortitude. At length the queen 
 informed him that she intended to dismiss the duchess. 
 By most men such intelligence would have been re- 
 ceived as the notification of disgrace, and would have 
 inspired some spark of resentment, even, we should 
 have thought, in the obsequious bosom of a courtier. 
 But with Marlborough it produced no such effect. 
 Regardless of the provocations which had already 
 been showered upon him, he begged, prayed, and 
 finally went down on his knees, imploring the queen 
 to alter her cruel decision. He was prepared to 
 commit any act of self-abasement so long as he might 
 keep office. It is painful to be obliged to record the 
 degradation to which, after Godolphin's dismissal, 
 this great man voluntarily submitted; but justice to 
 the memory of Godolphin renders it necessary to 
 repel the aspersions which Archdeacon Coxe so con- 
 stantly casts upon his judgment and courage. 
 
 This affront to Marlborough greatly injured the 
 decaying credit of the Government. It became clear 
 to the courtiers and those political parasites who ever 
 side with the strongest that the prosperous days of 
 'the family' were numbered. The queen in h.er 
 dispute with Marlborough had won a great moral 
 triumph. AU the advantages of victory remained 
 to her. The ministers were depressed, the Whigs 
 divided. Under the circumstances she wisely con- 
 sidered the moment auspicious for pushing forward 
 
406 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 a regular attack, and in April, without consulting 
 Godolphin, she took away the Lord Chamberlain's 
 statF from Lord Kent, and gave it to Shrewsbury. 
 
 This proceeding on the part of the queen was a 
 direct insult to Godolphin. The time had now come 
 when he should have listened to neither remon- 
 strances nor explanations, but should have resigned 
 at once and without hesitation. Why he did not 
 perform a part which both his honour and inclina- 
 tion demanded, it is difficult to imagine. It is im- 
 possible to believe that he cared for office for office' 
 sake. His labours were too severe and thankless, 
 his health was too bad, his wish for retirement too 
 frequently and earnestly pronounced, to make such 
 a circumstance probable. His position was unlike 
 that of Marlborough. However distraught Marl- 
 borough might be in England, and however uneasy 
 in the favour of the queen, he was still the success- 
 ful leader of a great and victorious army abroad, 
 and his career might yet open to him fresh fields of 
 glory and triumph. With Godolphin it was different. 
 His life was spent ; no triumphs, or the possibility 
 of triumphs, awaited him ; no expectation of victory 
 brio^htened the clouds which brooded over his future ; 
 his life was embittered by daily mortifications ; he 
 observed his rivals gradually but certainly supplant- 
 ing him, and he must have been conscious that what- 
 ever might be the destiny of his party, for himself 
 he could never look to the restoration of power and 
 favour. There is only one explanation of conduct 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 407 
 
 which seems so perverse. We think that Godolphin 
 was profoundly aware of his own importance to Marl- 
 borough, and felt that if he w^ere withdrawn from the 
 control of the Treasury, the war which Marlborough 
 directed would speedUy come to an end for want of 
 supplies, A strong sense of public duty impelled 
 him to hold an office which we believe, had his own 
 feelings alone been consulted, he would most willingly 
 have resigned. 
 
 To people of the present age the act of the queen 
 ia appointing Shrewsbury to the Government with- 
 out consulting the Prime Minister would seem at 
 once to seal the fate of the ministry ; but, strange 
 as it now appears, this was not the case in 1710 ; 
 and Shrewsbury's appointment was not regarded 
 by Godolphin as of such fatal augury as might 
 have been expected. The appointment, and more 
 especially the manner of making it, undoubtedly 
 displayed the queen's hostility to the ministers, 
 but the full extent of the misfortune could not be 
 appreciated till it was discovered whether Shrews- 
 bury was a friend or a foe ; that the queen should 
 have placed him in the Government with any other 
 view but that of opposing Godolphin it is extraordi- 
 nary that anybody should for a moment have doubted. 
 So uncertain, however, was Godolphin on this point, 
 that in the month following the date of Shrewsbury's 
 appointment we find him stating his conviction to 
 Marlborough that Shrewsbury was, as he expressed 
 it, with them. This political blindness is probably 
 
408 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 due to two circumstances : the mysteriousness 
 which shrouded personal politics during the Harleian 
 epoch, and the old and friendly connection which in 
 previous years had subsisted between Grodolphin and 
 Shrewsbury. 
 
 Shrewsbury had in the earlier years of Godol- 
 phin's administration been an attached friend to 
 both Godolphin and Marlborough. They had 
 pressed him on the accession of Queen Anne to 
 accept office in the Government, but he had declined. 
 He left England, and for a considerable time resided 
 at Rome, the climate of which he found suited to his 
 delicate health, rejoicing probably at having a good 
 excuse to absent himself from political strife in 
 England. On his return to his native country the 
 intimacy with Godolphin and Marlborough was main- 
 tained, but there was apparently excited in Shrews- 
 bury's mind some cause of anger against his former 
 friends. Godolphin, it is said, had oiFended him by 
 declining to procure him a pension ; according to 
 another account the Duchess of Marlborough had 
 treated his Italian wife with coldness ; and again, 
 that the Viceroyalty of Ireland had been given to 
 Wharton when Shrewsbury thought that it should be 
 conferred on himself. Whatever truth there may be 
 in these various tales, Shrewsbury undoubtedly had 
 some reasons for resentment, real or fancied, over which 
 he brooded in angry silence. Shrewsbury's disposi- 
 tion towards the ministers was not lost upon Harley, 
 who gradually cast over him the net; of his intrigue. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 409 
 
 To Godolphin the intercourse between Harley and 
 Shrewsbury was not unknown, but Shrewsbury's 
 tact to a certain extent disarmed his suspicions, and 
 thus when the queen named Shrewsbury for office 
 Grodolphin still conceived it possible that he might at 
 least not find an inveterate enemy in one of his 
 earliest friends. When, therefore, Godolphin received 
 the queen's letter informing him of Shrewsbury's 
 appointment he did not resign, but he returned the 
 following reply, which, as a specimen of his style of 
 addressing the queen, and of the fashion of corre- 
 spondence of those days between sovereign and 
 minister, we insert in full : — 
 
 Newmarket, April 15, 1710. 
 
 ' I have the honour of your majesty's letter of the 
 13th, by which I have the grief to find that which 
 you are pleased to call spleen in a former letter was 
 only a true impulse and conviction of mind that 
 your majesty is suflfering yourself to be guided to 
 your own ruin and destruction, as fast as it is 
 possible for them to compass it to whom you seem 
 so much to hearken. I am not therefore so much 
 surprised as concerned at the resolution your majesty 
 says you have taken of bringing in the Duke of 
 Shrewsbury ; for when people began to be sensible 
 that it would be difficult to persuade your majesty 
 to dissolve a parliament which for two winters 
 together had given you above 6,000,000/. a year for 
 the support of the war upon which your crown 
 depends ; and even while that war is still subsisting 
 
410 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 they have had the cunning to contrive this proposal to 
 your majesty which in its consequence will certainly 
 put you under a necessity of breaking the parliament 
 though contrary I yet believe to your inclinations. 
 
 ' I beg your majesty to be persuaded I do not say 
 this out of the least prejudice to the Duke of Shrews- 
 bury ; there is no man of whose capacity I have a 
 better impression, nor with whom I have lived more 
 easy for above twenty years. 
 
 ' Your majesty may remember, that at your first 
 coming to the crown I was desirous that he should 
 have one of the chief posts in your service, and it 
 would have been happy for your majesty and the 
 kingdom if he had accepted the oiFer ; but he 
 thought fit to decline it, and the reasons generally 
 given at that time for his doing so do not much recom- 
 mend him to your majesty's service. But I must 
 endeavour to let your majesty see things as they 
 really are ; and to bring him into your service and 
 into your business at this time, just after his being 
 in a public open conjunction in every vote with the 
 whole body of the Tories, and in private constant 
 correspondence and caballing with Mr. Harley in 
 everything ; what consequence can this possibly 
 have, but to make every man that is now in your 
 cabinet uneasy and run from it as they would do 
 from the plague ? 1 leave it to your majesty to 
 judge what effect this entire change of your mmistry 
 will have among your allies abroad, and how will 
 this war be like to be carried on, in your opinion, by 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 411 
 
 tliose who have all along opposed and obstimcted it ? 
 And who will like any peace the better, the more it 
 leaves France at liberty to take their time of imposing 
 the Pretender upon this country ? These con- 
 siderations must certainly make Holland run im- 
 mediately into a separate peace with France, and 
 make your majesty lose all the honour, and all 
 reputation your arms had acquired by the war, and 
 make the kingdom lose all the fruit of the vast ex- 
 pense which they have been at irrthis war, as well as 
 all the advantages and safety, which they had so 
 much need of, and had so fair a prospect of obtaining 
 by it, and can anybody imagine that after so great a 
 disappointment to the kingdom, there will not be an 
 inquiry into the cause of it, and who have been the 
 occasion of so great a change in your majesty's 
 measures and councils which had been so long suc- 
 cessful, and got you so great a name in the world. I 
 am very much afraid your majesty will find, when 'tis 
 too late, that it will be a difficult task for anybody to 
 stand against such an inquiry. I am sure if I did not 
 think aU these consequences inevitable I would never 
 give your majesty the trouble and uneasiness of 
 laying them before you ; persuaded as I am that your 
 majesty will find them so, it is my indispensable 
 duty to do it out of pure faithfulness and zeal for 
 your service and honour. 
 
 ' Your majesty having taken a resolution of so 
 much consequence to your affairs both abroad and 
 at home without acquainting the Duke of Marl- 
 
412 TEE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 borougli or me with it till after you had taken it, is 
 the least part of my mortification in this whole 
 affair ; but perhaps the world may think, the long 
 and faithful services we have constantly, and zealously 
 endeavoured to do your majesty might have deserved 
 a little more consideration. 
 
 ' However for my own part I must humbly beg 
 leave to assure your majesty, I will never give the least 
 obstruction to your measures, or to any ministers you 
 shall employ, and I must beg further to make two 
 humble requests to your majesty ; one that you will 
 allow me to pass the remainder of my days out of 
 London where I may find most ease and quiet ; the 
 other that you would keep this letter, and read it 
 again about Christmas and then be pleased to make 
 your judgment who hath given you the best and most 
 faithful advice.' ^ 
 
 Thus far the projects of Queen Anne had been 
 completely successful. She had heaped insults on 
 her ministers, and her ministers had not ventured to 
 resent them. The Government was not only dis- 
 credited, but through her independence of action in 
 the appointment of ministers it was actually in 
 process of dissolution. She determined to press her 
 advantage further ; she resolved to drive Sunderland 
 from office. The reasons which induced her to attack 
 Sunderland were perhaps quite as much personal as 
 political. He had been the first of that unwelcome 
 
 '. Oldmixon's History of England. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 413 
 
 succession of Whig ministers who had been forced 
 upon her. She had vainly struggled against his 
 appointment, and at his hands had sustained the 
 first great humiliation of her reign. He had used 
 his powers as a minister with but small regard to her 
 inclinations, and only two years before had affronted 
 her almost to the extent of earning his dismissal by 
 exercising his official influence to unite the Jacobites 
 and Whigs in Scotland against her government. 
 Moreover, Sunderland was Marlborough's son-in-law, 
 and his discharge from office would be a deadly blow 
 to the credit of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. 
 So the queen decided that Sunderland should be the 
 next victim of her anger ; nor, though her resolution 
 was delayed, did she care to disguise her intentions. 
 Before the step took place its probability was the 
 talk of the town and in everybody's mouth. ' The 
 affair,' writes Godolphin, ' hangs over us like a cloud 
 ready to break upon our heads ' There was plenty 
 of time for ministers to have taken measures either 
 to prevent it if they had the power, or if they had 
 not, by resigning their offices to save themselves 
 from the indignity of having to endure it. Marl- 
 borough and Godolphin, indeed, as usual, talked 
 loudly of resignation ; but either they never intended 
 to resign, or they permitted themselves to be cajoled 
 by the queen out of their resolution. ' If he and 
 you,' Queen Anne writes to Godolphin, * should do so 
 wrong a thing at any time as to desert my service, 
 what confusion might happen might lie at your door, 
 
414 THE EARL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 and you alone would be answerable and nobody 
 else.' A few smooth words were sufficient to 
 appease tbe gentle wrath of the ministers. They 
 bent their heads and the blow fell. The cloud burst 
 with fatal fury, and Lord Dartmouth took Sunder- 
 land's place at the council table. Again Coxe accuses 
 Godolphin of giving Marlborough pusillanimous 
 advice. But when Sunderland was abandoned by the 
 Whigs, of whom he was a chief, when he was de- 
 serted by his father-in-law, whose credit more than 
 that of anybody else was concerned in protecting 
 him, it seems unreasonable that the blame of his 
 unavenged fall should be cast upon Godolphin. 
 
 But the last and fatal stroke had yet to be de- 
 livered. The queen had long made up her mind to 
 dismiss Godolphin, and she now determined to do so. 
 She might vent her revenge on this statesman or that, 
 but, as she well knew, she could not finally revolu- 
 tionise the policy of the Government or bring her 
 secret advisers into office tUl Godolphin had ceased 
 to be head of the administration. The dismissal of 
 Godolphin was a task of some peril. He was strong 
 in the House of Commons, and in the event of a dis- 
 solution it was impossible to say what might be the 
 verdict of the constituencies. There were those who 
 thought that the Whigs at the next election were sure 
 of a majority, while there were others who were 
 equally confident that the Tories would outnumber 
 the Whigs by three to one. If Godolphin were dis- 
 missed, and upon a dissolution the country indeed 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 415 
 
 decided for the Whigs, then the position of the 
 queen would be infinitely worse than if she permitted 
 matters to take their course. The risk in dismissing 
 Godolphin was considerable, but the queen deter- 
 mined to incur it, and she acted her part with her 
 usual skUl and dissimulation. 
 
 Godolphin to the day of his dismissal, though 
 conscious that his position was a precarious one, did 
 not know how near the end was.^ There were 
 numerous reports of his approaching disgrace, but it 
 was impossible to verify them, or to discover whether 
 they had even a shadow of foundation. On one oc- 
 casion it was said that the queen was going to put 
 the Treasury into commission, and Godolphin, to elicit 
 the truth of the report, seized the opportunity of an 
 audience with the queen to read a letter from Lord 
 Townshend in which this tale was repeated. But the 
 queen permitted the passage to pass without observa- 
 tion, and with merely the faint recognition of a con- 
 temptuous smile. From the materials before us it is 
 extremely difficult to state with certainty the precise 
 pretext which the queen selected for the purpose of 
 bringing about the final catastrophe. It seems pro- 
 bable that at a Cabinet Council an altercation arose 
 between Godolphin and Shrewsbury — that the queen, 
 who was present, was drawn into it, and that Godol- 
 
 ' Coxe's Marlborough, vol. iii. p. 124. Writing to Marlborough on 
 August 8 to inform him of his dismissal, Godolphin says, ' I wrote to 
 you yesterday, . . . but though I had not the least notice then of 
 what has since happened,' &c., &c. Marlborough's letters display 
 the same surprise. 
 
416 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 phin in supporting his own opinions combated those 
 of the queen with unnecessary vehemence. Shortly- 
 after this, on August 7, Godolphin had two long audi- 
 ences with the queen. Finding her, as usual, reluctant 
 to follow the advice he tendered, he represented to 
 her, as he had repeatedly done for the last two years, 
 the mischievous consequences of secret counsels, and 
 asked her whether she wished him to serve her further 
 or not. The queen, without any hesitation, replied 
 ' Yes.' 
 
 Some years before the time of which we are now 
 writing, during one of those interviews between 
 Queen Anne and Godolphin which were just begin- 
 ning to assume a disagreeable character, the queen 
 had told him that she was unable to find words for 
 what she wished to say, and requested him in future 
 to accept her opinions in writing. She preferred, in 
 fact, and perhaps not unnaturally, to convey what 
 was unpleasant in letters rather than by speech. Cir- 
 cumstances may now have recalled to Godolphin the 
 queen's observation. He departed from her on the 
 evening of the 7th, gloomy and dissatisfied indeed, 
 but carrying with him the solemn assurance that she 
 wished him to stay in office. Never was assurance 
 more false! On the following morning a servant 
 in the royal livery ^ left at his house the following 
 note written the previous evening, immediately 
 
 * Dartmouth gives another version of this, and says that the note 
 was carried by Mr. Smith, a friend of Godolphin.— Burnet, vol. vi. 
 p. 9. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 417 
 
 after his audience. ' The uneasiness,' wrote the 
 queen, ' which you have shown for some time has 
 given me very much trouble, though I have borne 
 it ; and had your behaviour continued the same 
 it was for a few years after my coming to the 
 crown, I would have no dispute with myself what 
 to do. But the many unkind returns I have re- 
 ceived since, especially Avhat you said to me per- 
 sonally before the lords, makes it impossible for me 
 to continue you any longer in my service ; but I will 
 give you a pension of 4,000/. a year, and I desire 
 that instead of bringing the staff to me, you will 
 break it, which I believe will be easier for both.' ^ 
 To this letter Godolphin replied as follows : — 
 'May it please your majesty, — I have received 
 this morning the honour of your majesties letter 
 with your commands in it to break my staff which I 
 have done with the same duty and satisfaction in what 
 relates to myself as when I had the honour to receive 
 it fl-om your majesty's hand. Since your majesty is 
 not pleased to allow me to wait upon you, I must 
 hnmbly beg leave to take this occasion to assure your 
 majesty in the most sincere as well as in the most 
 submissive manner, that I am not conscious of the 
 least undutiful act or of one undutiful word to your 
 majesty in my whole life, and in the instance which 
 
 ' It is related by Swift that Godolphin on receiving the note of 
 the queen communicating his dismissal, broke his white rod, and in a 
 rage threw the pieces into the fire. Swift is so malicious in every 
 matter concerning Godolphin, that the story can hardly be considered 
 authentic without further corroboration. 
 
 E E 
 
418 THE EARL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 your majesty is pleased to give, I Lave the good 
 fortune to have several witnesses of undoubted credit. 
 I should never be able to forgive myself if I had not 
 always served your majesty with the most particular 
 respect, zeal, and integrity. I shall only add that 
 my heart is entirely sensible of all the honours and 
 favours your majesty has done me, and full of the 
 most zealous wishes for your happiness, in this world 
 and in that to come, which I beg leave to assure your 
 majesty shall always be the hearty and constant 
 prayer of, may it please your majesty, 
 
 ' The most humble and most dutiful of all j^our 
 
 subjects, ' GODOLPHIN.' 
 
 Thus fell Godolphin, and thus terminated his long 
 and intimate connection with the queen. From that 
 day to this no English statesman has occupied a 
 position so peculiar. With the last of the Stewarts 
 disappeared the race of ministers who were at once 
 the friends and servants of the sovereigns whose 
 councils they guided.^ 
 
 The fall of Godolphin sent a shock through 
 Europe, for it was justly considered to mark not 
 only the termination of the career of a powerful 
 minister, but to foreshadow a great and signal change 
 in British policy. At the Hague, at Vienna, at Paris, 
 at Madrid, the news created almost as much excite- 
 
 ' In the intimate correspondence between the Queen, the Duke 
 and Duchess of Marlborough, and Godolphin, Godolphin was known 
 by the appellation of Mr. Montgomery. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 419 
 
 ment as in London, for it was felt that the backstair 
 intrigues of the British palace had given to Lewis 
 a victory as solid and splendid as had been won by 
 his enemies at Blenheim or Ramillies. 
 
 Godolphin accepted his reverses not only with the 
 Btoicism of a philosopher, but with the calmness 
 and patience of a really great and noble mind. We 
 cannot refrain from paying him the tribute of our 
 admiration. In the letters to Marlborough in which 
 he announced his dismissal there is not to be found 
 a single word of bitterness or mortification. His 
 generous thoughts were fixed only upon what was 
 best for Marlborough and for his country. ' Though 
 my circumstances,' he writes hardly twenty-four hours 
 after his dismissal, ' at present are a little discourag- 
 ing, yet nothing can ever make me neglect doing 
 what is best for the whole, or thinking of everything 
 that may be most for your honour and safety.' 
 
 Yet to Godolphin deprivation of ofiice must in 
 many respects have been a stupendous misfortune. 
 The loss of position, dignity, and royal favour is, as 
 history too frequently records, a blow very grievous 
 to be borne by human pride. But Godolphin lost 
 more than an ofiice of unrivalled lustre, more than 
 the queen's favour, or the patronage of places coveted 
 by the great and powerful, for on his retirement into 
 private life he scarcely took with him an income 
 sufficient to maintain him as a , private gentleman, 
 and he, through whose hands millions of pounds 
 had passed, who, according to Swift's pointless 
 
420 THE EABL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 malice, had angled for men with golden hooks,^ 
 whose single word was accepted by the moneyed men 
 of London as better security than a nation's credit, 
 possessed, when he left office, an income which did 
 not exceed 1,000/. a year. Had it not been for the 
 death of his brother, Sir William Godolphin, to 
 whose estate he succeeded, and the generosity of the 
 Duke of Marlborough, Godolphin when he retired 
 from office would literally have scarcely had enough 
 to live upon.^ The queen had promised him a pension 
 of 4,000/. a year, but the promise was forgotten, and 
 Godolphin had too much dignity to remind her that 
 she had ever made it. At this conjuncture of his 
 life it is impossible to help contrasting his material 
 prosperity with that of Marlborough. Marlborough 
 had acquired vast riches. He had rapidly ascended 
 the ladder of fortune, and every step was a step of 
 gold. He had pensions, and patents, and grants, 
 which should have sufficed the most rapacious of 
 
 ' ' Sid's rod was slender, white and tail, 
 
 Which oft he used to fish withal ; 
 
 A place was fastened to the hook, 
 
 And many scores of gudgeons took ; 
 
 Yet still so happy was his fate, 
 
 He caught his fish and saved his bate.' 
 * Sir William Godolphin died in 1710, apparently on Sunday, 
 August 27, leaving 4,000J. a year to Godolphin.— Luttrell's Diary, 
 vol. vii. p. 623. In a tract on the State of the National Debt as it 
 stood December 24, 1716, published in 1727, the writer makes the 
 following observations on Godolphin : ' I believe he (Godolphin) was 
 not of opinion that the wealth, trade, and riches of these kingdoms 
 were too considerable to stand in need of any frugal management : 
 and after many years presiding at the head of the Treasury, he left no 
 acquisitions by his employment, but, without the accidental falling in 
 of the paternal estate, he would have died in want, a glorious example 
 for all his successors to follow ! ' 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 421 
 
 spirits. Yet in spite of all his wealth there was ever 
 a morbid craving for more, and we are told by his 
 biographer that ' in no instance did he feel more the 
 loss of his friend in the Treasury, than in the con- 
 duct of the Government with regard to the building 
 of Blenheim.' Already the country had lavished 
 134,000/. on this costly pile. It certainly seems to us 
 that fortune, national gratitude, or the royal bounty, 
 distributed favours and rewards with somewhat un- 
 even hand between these two great statesmen. 
 
 Of Godolphin's history there is not much more 
 left to narrate. His lease of office and his lease of 
 life were nearly of identical duration. His enemies, 
 however, did what they could to embitter the last 
 year of his existence. The dissolution of Parlia- 
 ment, which so many people thought the queen 
 would never venture to command, and which so 
 many others thought, if effected, would again esta- 
 blish the Whigs in power, falsified the sanguine 
 hopes of the friends of Marlborough and Godolphin. 
 The cry of the Church in danger had not been raised 
 in vain. Sacheverell had made a triumphant pro- 
 gress through the country, inspiring the people, 
 wherever he went, with some vague and indefinite 
 dread that the Government desired to ruin the 
 national religion. The elections came, and every- 
 where the Tories swept the polls. Among the 511 
 members representing England and Wales in the 
 last Parliament, we find no less than 248 changes. 
 The composition of the House of Commons which 
 
^'-2^ THE EAliL OF GODOLPHIN 
 
 met at Westminster on November 25 was largely of 
 new material, and as largely composed of those who 
 were disaffected to Godolphin. 
 
 In this hostile assembly the opponents of Godol- 
 phin directed an attack against him. They accused 
 him of mismanaging the public revenue. A parlia- 
 mentary inquiry was instituted, and the huge sum of 
 35,000,000/. was declared unaccounted for. In spite 
 of the efforts of Godolphin's adversaries to fix some 
 blame upon him, nothing was accomplished beyond 
 displaying their own malignancy and the injustice of 
 which even a British House of Commons can be cap- 
 able when lost to every sense except that of party 
 passion. It was shown that to compile this gigantic 
 total, accounts were included which went back to the 
 days of Charles II. With the exception of about 
 4,000,000/., at that time barely the revenue of a single 
 year, the whole of the 35,000,000/. was accounted for. 
 The inquiry, if it proved anything, proved that never 
 had the accounts been so scrupulously managed as in 
 the reign of Queen Anne while Godolphin was Lord 
 High Treasurer.' 
 
 A strange story, if a true one, is told of Godol- 
 phin during the debates on this subject. We give 
 the story for what it is worth, as we have no means 
 of testing its accuracy. 
 
 During the negotiations for a union between Eng- 
 
 1 It should be stated to Godolphin's credit that he was one of 
 those counsellors who, at Hampton Court, on July 9, 1702, advised 
 the queen to declare against selling offices and places in her liouseliold 
 and family. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 423 
 
 land and Scotland 20,000/. had been sent to the Duke 
 of Queensberiy, the Lord High Commissioner, to use 
 on behalf of the Government. Queensberry, having no 
 necessity for so large a sum, returned 8,000/. to the 
 Treasury. Godolphin was now required to account for 
 this surplus. To the delight of his enemies he hesi- 
 tated and excused himself; he reminded the House, of 
 his age, of the lapse of time which had occurred since 
 the payment was made, and simulated an inability to 
 recollect a transaction of such distant date. His op- 
 ponents, convinced that they were on the brink of an 
 important disclosure, pressed him with greater earnest- 
 ness. Godolphin then employed the extraordinary 
 artifice of feigning a fit of epilepsy, when, having dis- 
 covered to his satisfaction the inclination of the House 
 to himself, he produced the queen's warrant for 8,000/., 
 to the astonishment of its members and the confusion 
 of his enemies. The story is told by Cunningham. 
 It seems to us neither in keeping with the dignity of 
 Godolphin's position nor consistent with the some- 
 what grave and even pompous demeanour for which 
 he was noted. 
 
 On June 21, 1712, the queen prorogued Parlia- 
 ment ; before it met in the following April, Godol- 
 phin was dead. His last appearance in the House 
 of Lords as an active member was apparently on 
 June 7, when he criticised the proposals made by 
 France for admitting England to trade with Spain. ^ 
 The 6nal appearance which he made in Parliament 
 
 ' Cobbett's Parliamentary History, toI. vi. p. 1147. 
 
424 THE EABL OF OODOLPHIN 
 
 was on June 13, when his name is to be found on the 
 roll of the House of Lords for the last time. At the 
 close of the session it is probable that he accompanied 
 the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough to Holywell 
 House, their residence at St. Albans, for it was at 
 St. Albans not only that he died, but that we see 
 him for the last time in life about a month before his 
 death. The picture which is on this occasion pre- 
 sented to us is as impressive and effective as if it had 
 been composed with a view to dramatic effect. 
 
 On the bowUng-green of Holywell House, on the 
 banks of the Yer, was pitched, in the beginning of 
 August, the large tent which, during the late cam- 
 paigns, had been used by Marlborough for councils 
 of war.^ In it were assembled the Duke and Duchess 
 of Marlborough, Marlborough's son-in-law, the Duke 
 of Bridgewater, Lord Cowper, the great Whig Chan- 
 cellor, whose unblemished character and legal attain- 
 ments to this day command the admiration of pos- 
 terity ; and last of all, Marlborough's old friend and 
 tried colleague, Godolphin. Here, among old friends 
 and younger relatives, Godolphin was at length en- 
 joying some of that repose which he had sighed for 
 so frequently, which he had longed for in the days 
 previous to his marriage, which he had dreamt of 
 when a middle-aged and over-wrought statesman. 
 Thus, in the fulness of time, peace, such peace as 
 illness and failmg health permit, had come to him ; 
 and if he was soon to exchange it for a rest still 
 
 ' Lediard's Life of Marlhorough, vol. iii. p. 291. 
 
DISMISSAL AND DEATH 425 
 
 deeper and more profound, there will be many who 
 think that God dealt more mercifully with him than 
 with Marlborough, whose body survived his intellect, 
 and whose life as a reasoning man was extinguished 
 before his feet trod the dark valley of the shadow of 
 death. Godolphin died at two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of September 15, 1712, in the sixty-eighth year 
 of his age.^ 
 
 The funeral did not take place till more than 
 three weeks after his death. It was apparently at- 
 tended with no public display, as Swift, writing to 
 Stella on October 9, says, in an early part of his 
 letter, that he hears that Godolphin is to be buried 
 in a day or two, and a little later in the same letter, 
 that he understands the funeral took place ' last 
 night.' Godolpbin was not buried with his wife 
 beneath the church at St. Breage, but in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey, and there, in the south aisle, may still be 
 seen the marble slab which commemorates the life 
 and death of the earliest of those great statesmen 
 who adorned the epoch of the eighteenth century, 
 and who, whUe they rendered Britain happy and 
 prosperous at home, caused her name to be respected 
 and feared by all the nations of the world. 
 
 ' Additional MSS. 15949, Britiah Museum. 
 
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 BPOTTIBTVOODK AND CO., NKW-STHEBT SQUABB 
 
 LONDON 
 
STANDARD HISTORICAL WORKS. 
 
 MACAULAY'S (Lord) HISTORY of ENGLAND, from 
 
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