BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERS. VINDICATION of the CHARACTER of the EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. [From the first Volume of the HISTORY of GREAT BRITAIN, from the REVOLUTION to the Accession of the House of HANOVER, by W. BELSHAM.J "N° ΤΟ character has laboured un- his own factious spirit, treats this der greater obloquy than nobleman with great malignity." that of the earl of Shaftesbury: 'yet Mr. Hume has even copied the ridihe appears from the general tenor culous notion of the bishop, that of his conduct to have deserved lord Shaftesbury was addicted to highly of his country; and those judicial astrology. Lord Shaftesparts of it which are at all question- bury is known to have entertained able have been most grossly and in- a dislike and contempt of Burnet; vidiously aggravated. It is the pro- and possessing a strong turn for huvince of history to correct these mour, in order to avoid serious diserrors, and to distribute with impar- quisition, he might possibly divert tial justice the awards of praise or himself at times with the bishop's censure. Unfortunately for the curiosity and credulity. At the memory of lord Shaftesbury, the period of the Restoration, few permost eloquent historian of the age, sons stood higher in the esteem of Mr. Hume, has in relation to him the nation at large than sir Anthony imbibed all the prejudices of pre- Ashley Cooper; and though deciceding writers, in all their virulence dedly of opinion, in opposition to and all their absurdity. His ideas general Monk, that conditions of this celebrated nobleman are in- ought to have been proposed for deed evidently and almost wholly the security of public liberty, the taken from bishop Burnet, low as king, nothing offended at his the authority of that prelate stands warmth of patriotism, even before with him upon most other occa- his coronation created him a peer sions. But what Mr. Hume re- by the title of lord Ashley. And in inarks of the duke of Albemarle is the preamble to his patent, the reat least as true of lord Shaftesbury, storation is expressly said to be ⚫ that bishop Burnet, agreeably to chiefly owing to him; and that afA 2 ter ter many endeavours to free the 'nation from the evils in which it ' was involved, he at length by his wisdom and councils, in concert with general Monk, delivered it from the servitude under which it had so long groaned.' He was also made governor of the isle of Wight, chancellor of the exchequer, and lord lieutenant of the county of Dorset and he had, in conjunction with three other persons his intimate friends, a grant of the great estate of the Wallop family, which they afterwards nobly reconveyed to the original proprietors the deeds of trust and conveyance being still extant. 66 Notwithstanding the appointment of lord Clarendon as first minister, it is perfectly well ascertained, though too superficially passed over by Mr. Hume, that the council were greatly divided in political opinion; and that the harsh, bigoted, and arbitrary measures of that nobleman were invariably opposed by the lords Ashley, Robarts, Manchester, Holles, Annesley, secretary Morrice, &c. and even at times by the lord treasurer Southampton himself, the noble friend of Clarendon, and who was also, to the chagrin of the chancellor, not less intimately connected with lord Ashley. The earl of Clarendon was supported by the duke of York and the whole French interest, which on the other hand the chancellor espoused, with strong and dangerous predilection; as the negotiations of the count d'Estrades evince beyond all controversy. On the disgrace of this minister, A. D. 1667, a new system was adopted; -the French and high church influence seemed at an end; the triple alliance was concluded; mild and equitable measures were recommended from the throne to the vice.' This system continued for near three years, to the great advantage of the nation, and the proportionate indignation of the duke of York, and of the whole French and popish faction; through whose fatal influence the king, ever wavering between the two parties, was at length induced to adopt new counsels and new measures. Agree ably, however, to his refined and cautious policy, be still retained and treated with great demonstrations of regard divers of the moderate and popular leaders, amongst whom by far the most distinguished was lord Ashley, who was well known by the duke of York to be inveterate in his aversion, and inflexible in his opposition, to him and his designs. Nor is it any just subject of reproach to lord Ashley, when such men as Holles, nesley, and Robarts remained in office, that he did not immediately quit his connections with the court. Undoubtedly he flattered himself that, by a partial and exterual compliance with the measures of the sovereign, he and his friends might eventually recover their ascendancy. With this view he accepted, with the title of Shaftesbury, of the custody of the great seal; not surely An with a design of promoting, but of counteracting, the projects of the cabal. He was entering, as he well knew, into a scene, not of political harmony, but of discord and confusion. Writing several mouths before to his friend sir William Morrice, late secretary of state, who had retired from public life, he says, The Lapland knots are untied, and we are in horrid storms.' It is true that Buckingham and Lauderdale, who had originally professed themselves inimical to the measures of the court, now yielded a passive and abject submission to it. But this was so far from being true, or even suspected of the earl of Shaftesbury, that he embraced a very early opportunity, after his appointment as chancellor, by an incident, trivial indeed in itself, but decisive in its effect, to demonstrate that he was irreconcileably at variance with the York and popish faction. The duke of York had been for several years accustomed to place himself, in the house of peers, on the right hand of the throne, upon the seat appropriated to the prince of Wales. But on the opening of the session in the spring of 1673, lord Shaftesbury, as chancellor, refused to proceed to business till his royal highness had removed himself to his proper place, on the left hand of the throne. This threw the duke into a vehement passion, an infirmity to which he was extremely subject; and he refused compliance in the most provoking language, using, without regard to dignity or decorum, the opprobrious terms villain and rascal. To which lord Shaftesbury, with that command of temper and teadiness of retort for which he was celebrated, calmly replied, I am 'obliged to your highness for not also styling me papist and coward.' In conclusion, the duke was compelled to submit, to his unspeakable chagrin and mortification. "When the parliament had declared their disapprobation of the new system, upon which lord Shaftesbury doubtless depended for a change of measures, without effect; this nobleman thought it necessary to express publicly his concurrence with the sense of parliament, particularly in relation to the declaration of indulgence. In the same memorable debate, lord Clifford defended the court measures with the most intemperate vehemence. At the termination of it, the duke of York is said to have whispered to the king, What a rogue have you of a lord chancellor !' to which the king replied, What a fool have you of a lord treasurer!' But the king, if surprised, was not enraged at the conduct of Shaftesbury. On the contrary, anxious to preserve that sort of balance in his councils on which he secretly relied for refuge and safety, and placing the highest confidence in the talents of this nobleman, he immediately gave indications of a change of system, by cancelling the declaration, and giving his assent to the test act, which lord Shaftesbury supported in the house of lords, in opposition to Clifford, with such energy of argument and splendour of eloquence, that Andrew Marvel, so famous for his own political integrity, observes, Upon this occasion it was that the earl of Shaftesbury, though then lord chancellor of England, yet engaged so 'far in defence of that act and of the protestant religion, that in due time it cost him his place, and was the first moving cause of all those misadventures and obloquy which he since lies under.' In his excellent speech to the new lord A 3 trea |