all question, Godolphin's treachery. In 1696 an accusation of treasonaule intercourse was brought against him by Sir John Fenwick, whose trial and disclosures form so prominent a part of the history of William's reign, which so much alarmed him, that he retired from office. During the following years he seems to have been actively employed in opposing the whig party, which was now rapidly regaining the supremacy it had possessed immediately after the Revolution. Annoyed by the lukewarm support, and sometimes decided opposition which the whigs gave to his favourite measures, William was driven again into the arms of the tories, several of whose leaders he restored to power, amongst whom was Godolphin, once again placed at the head of the treasury. Finding still less sincerity among his new allies, the king, in the latter part of his reign, reposed his whole confidence in the whigs, who, with all their faults, were the only true friends to the Revolution, and Godolphin was supplanted by the earl of Carlisle. But no sooner had the grave closed over William, than his successor, who, if we are to believe Noble,' was extremely attached to Godolphin in his youth, advanced him to the elevated post of lord-high-treasurer of England. It is said that he at first resolutely declined office, but yielded at length to the solicitations of his personal and political friend, Marlborough, who declared, that unless Godolphin was treasurer, he could not undertake the management of the war on the continent. He soon found that it would be impossible to carry on the government without gaining the support of the whigs by admitting their leaders to office. In 1703 and 1704 he seems to have been gradually paving the way for a union with him; and after the elections in 1705, when it was found that the whigs had obtained a decided majority in the new parliament, both he and Marlborough deserted their old friends and principles, and flung themselves into the arms of the opposite party. It is not our intention to detail the history of his administration, for which a reference must be made to the historical sketch of this period: suffice it to say, that the affairs of the country were never conducted more vigorously, or with more splendid success. But in those days of intrigue it was not to be expected that any administration should long maintain itself. By Godolphin's influence, Harley had been made secretary of state in 1704. This crafty politician contrived to ingratiate himself so well with the queen, that he soon aspired to the chief rather than a subordinate place in the government. Godolphin perceiving his designs demanded his dismissal, and in 1708, and by dint of threats of resignation on the part both of Marlborough and of himself, obtained it; but his conduct drew down on him Anne's unappeasable displeasure. No sooner were the measures of the queen and the tory party ripe for execution than the whigs, one after another, were summarily dismissed from office, and on the 7th of August, 1710, Godolphin was ordered to break the white staff. With the natural insolence of a triumphant faction, the tories endeavoured to fasten on him the charge of mal-administration of the public funds; but their malice completely failed. In an able pamphlet,

These papers also prove a fact which has been stated very doubtfully by Coxe in his life of Marlborough, that Godolphin, and not Marlborough, first communicated to the St Germains court the design entertained by the English government of attacking Brest harbour, which was, in consequence, frustrated. Continuation of Grainger.

generally, and on good grounds ascribed to Sir Robert Walpole, the accusation was fully refuted; and indeed his enemies showed their inability to bring any thing like plausible proof by refusing to print the report of the committee appointed to examine into the matter. Godolphin did not long survive his disgrace. He died of the stone in September, 1712, at a seat of the duke of Marlborough's, and was buried in Westminster abbey.

The times in which Godolphin flourished were distinguished by a venality and baseness in public men, such as no other period of our history presents. There never was a race of politicians more totally destitute of any thing like high principle than that which figured in the two reigns preceding, and the two following the Revolution. The flood of iniquity, which coming in after the Restoration, had swept away all the landmarks of private morality, had extended its noxious influ ence equally to public life, and years elapsed before the councils of the realm, or even the courts of justice, were freed from its loathsome presence. It seemed as if the nation, in its ever-memorable struggle against the arbitrary designs of Charles the First, had drawn largely on the public virtue of many future years, and had entailed the evils of corruption and degeneracy on several succeeding ages, by its improvident expenditure. Entering into office at the time when this degeneracy was in the full plenitude of its power, it ought not, perhaps, to be matter of surprise that Godolphin's mind received an incurable warp from the principles of high unbending rectitude, nor indeed was there such an improvement in the breed of statesmen at the time of his death, as to make his want of consistency at all remarkable. We must, therefore, make large allowances in consideration of the circumstances in which he was placed. The evil times on which it was his lot to fall must palliate the sentence of condemnation which it would be right to pronounce on a man, who, at any other period, should have so far forgotten his integrity. It would be too much to expect every politician to be a Marvell or a Somers, in an age of Sunderlands and Churchills. Yet, after making all these allowances, it is impossible to entertain the slightest respect for Godolphin's character. In every sense of the term, he was a time-serving politician. An inherent littleness marks all his conduct. Not one action can be pointed out, in the whole of his long career, which savours of high or even determined principle. His maintenance of a correspondence with the court at St Germains, and his communication to our enemies of projects which he could have known only as a member of the government which planned them, are alone sufficient to cast a deadly blight on his character for honesty. Had it not been for his notorious caution and timidity of nature, it is evident that he would have been deeply engaged in the plots of the Jacobite party, to which, indeed, he was all along privy. But besides this, his acceptance of a place from a sovereign whom he had voted to exclude from the throne, his close adherence to James until the last shadow of his power had vanished, and his readiness to hold office under his supplanter in a few short months afterwards,—his virtual approval of universal toleration under James, and his vehement support of the bill against occasional conformity under William,—his active promotion of the union, and his subsequent efforts to render it odious to the whole nation,-his bitter opposition to the whigs in 1702, and his unblushing desertion to them

in 1705, are traits in his conduct which at once quash all pretensions to honour or consistency. He was, in a word, deeply branded with the characteristic mark of the age,—a total disregard for personal reputation amidst the vehement struggles of party. Such men may be valuable for their talents, but they can never be respectable.

If this estimate of his character be correct, it is wonderful that he should have obtained so fair a reputation as is generally awarded to him. But he had a species of inferior virtue which not unfrequently receives a much higher meed of praise than it deserves. He was perfectly honest and incorruptible in the management of the treasury. During the whole time of his continuance in office, no charge of peculation having the least degree of plausibility, was brought against him; and at his death it was found, that although he had been in the treasury for the greater part of thirty years, during nine of which he was lord-treasurer, he had not increased his estate to the value of four thousand pounds. We are far from wishing to detract from the praise due to him on this account. It would, perhaps, be no high compliment to say of an English minister of the present day, that he had not enriched himself by embezzlement of the public funds; but in Godolphin's time, the rarity of such an occurrence makes it noteworthy. He was also remarkable for the careful fulfilment of his engagements. "He was a person of strict honour," says Shaftesbury in a MS. letter," and usually performed more than he promised." So that, although the sternness of his countenance and his forbidding manners alienated the minds of spectators, yet men of all parties could not help respecting him. "His notions," writes Burnet, "were for the court; but his incorruptibility and sincere way of managing the treasury, created in all people a very high esteem for him."

"8

Of Godolphin's abilities it is difficult to speak, for he has left behind him nothing save a few private letters, from which no estimate can be formed. He was never distinguished as a parliamentary speaker, and the reports of what he said on the few occasions when he overcame his natural taciturnity, are so meagre, that it is impossible to form a judgment from them. His talents were certainly more solid than brilliant. He had no great grasp, or acuteness of intellect; but he was endowed with a clearness of apprehension,-a steady application,-and a methodical arrangement of affairs,-which made him one of the most valuable working statesmen the country has ever seen. The high value set upon his services by four successive sovereigns, and the admirable condition into which he brought the treasury, are the surest evidence of his abilities. "By the regularity and exactness of his payments," says Somerville," he raised the public credit to a higher pitch than had ever been known before. Under his direction the economy of the exchequer was exceedingly improved, and he had so entirely gained the confidence of the monied men, that supply was never wanting for the execution of any purpose adapted for the service of government." 9

• Burnet's continuation is curious. "He loved gaming the most of any man of business I ever knew, and gave in reason for it,-that it delivered him from the obligation to talk much."

9 Somerville's History of the Reign of Queen Anne.

James, Earl of Derwentwater.

BORN A. D. 1691.-DIED A. D. 1715.

THIS nobleman was born on the 28th of June, 1691, and succeeded to the earldom in April, 1705. Although a catholic, and favourable to the chevalier, to whom he was distantly related, he appears to have taken but little share in the intrigues of the Jacobites during the reign of Queen Anne; nor is it satisfactorily shown that he had given any just cause of offence to the new government, although suspected of having secretly joined the parties of armed Jacobites who had traversed the country in August, 1715, when, in the following month, he received intelligence that a warrant had been issued by the secretary of state for his apprehension. Immediately proceeding to a justice-of-peace, he boldly demanded what charges existed against him, but the magistrate either could not or would not give him the information he desired. The carl then thought proper, imprudently perhaps, to evade capture by concealing himself in a cottage belonging to one of his tenants; and on Forster's appeal to the neighbouring Jacobites to appear in arms for James Frederick, he joined the disaffected at the appointed rendezvous near Greenrigg, with his brother, his servants, and a few of his tenantry, all well-armed and mounted.

The earl accompanied Forster to Preston, where he surrendered with the rest of the insurgents. On the 9th of December he entered London in custody, and after a brief examination before the privy-council, was committed to the Tower. On the 10th of January, 1715-16, he was impeached for high treason, and on the 16th of the same month thus addressed his peers, previously to pleading guilty :-" My lords, the terrors of your just sentence, which will at once deprive me of my life and estate, and complete the misfortunes of my wife and innocent children, are so heavy on my mind, that I am scarcely able to allege what may extenuate my offence, if any thing can do it. My guilt was rashly incurred, without any premeditation; for I beg to observe, that I was wholly unprovided with men, horses, or arms, which I could easily have provided had I formed any previous design. As my offence was sudden, so my submission was prompt; for when the king's general demanded hostages for insuring a cessation of arms, I voluntarily offered myself; and it was the repeated promises of mercy which I received that induced me afterwards to remain with the royal army. I humbly entreat your intercession with the king, and solemnly protest that my future conduct shall show me not unworthy of your generous compassion."

He received sentence of death on the 9th of February, and a warrant was soon afterwards issued for his execution. On the morning after it had been signed, his countess obtained an interview with the king in his bed chamber, and pathetically entreated his majesty to spare her husband's life; and she subsequently went down to Westminster, accompanied by a great number of ladies, and personally implored both houses of parliament to intercede with the sovereign on his behalf. The public were strongly excited in favour of the condemned earl, and