Diary of the times of Charles II/Volume 1/Lord Halifax to Mr. Sidney, August 18
LORD HALIFAX[1] TO MR. SIDNEY.
I am to thank you for two of yours, the last of which was delivered first to me. I will say little to the kind part of either of them, my good opinion of you having been so long fixed, and being every day increased by your repeated marks of friendship, that all I can say of it is, that it is at its full growth, and I could wish no more for the good of the world than that the public friendships were as well established where we would place them. You will have it from better hands that the project you mention is not approved of here; and, presuming that you will he told the reasons at the same time, I do believe you will acquiesce in them. Other men may propose to themselves other hopes, but mine are all restrained to the person and character of the Prince, whose interest with the States and influence upon the country is that which must keep things firm and steady, and, without that, I look upon every thing there as floating and changeable, and their government would be as unsafe to build an alliance, as most of their ground is to build a house upon. But from the good sense and vigour of the Prince I hope every thing; and pray, as the best and kindest office you can do me, endeavour to represent me as I am towards him, and you shall not run any hazard of forfeiting your credit with him by engaging for me. You will remember to say something for roe to Monsieur Van Beuninghen: thus you see how little scruple I make to trouble you with my small commissions.
I go to Windsor to-morrow for some days, being forced to live between both, neither here nor there, which is not so pleasant a method as that I should make it my choice; but it must be submitted to. When the elections are all made, we shall be able to give some judgment of the complexion of the Parliament, and so give a near guess what we are to hope and fear from their meeting.
We dined the other day at Sheen, where you were remembered, as you shall ever be, with particular kindness, by
Your most faithful, humble servant,
- ↑ "Sir George Saville, Viscount, Earl, and at length Marquis of Halifax, was the Prime Minister of Charles during the latter years of his life. He was a man of a fine genius and lively imagination, but, as a politician, was rather guided by a desire to display the full extent of artful and nice management of parties, than by any steady and consistent principle of his own. He was at the head of the small party called Trimmers, who affected a sort of neutrality between the Whig and Tory, and were of course hated and suspected by both. He originally made a figure in opposition to the Court, particularly upon the great debate concerning the Test, which he keenly opposed. He voted at first for the Bill of Exclusion, and used the jocular argument against hereditary government, that no man would chuse a man to drive a carriage because his father had been a good coachman. But when that great question came finally to be debated in the House of Lords, on the 15th of November, 16S0, Halifax had changed his opinion, and even conducted the opposition to the bill, and displayed an extent of capacity and eloquence equally astonishing to friends and foes, and which, perhaps, was never surpassed in that assembly . . . . The House of Commons was so incensed against Halifax, that they voted an address for his removal from the King's councils; the King, however, found his advantage in the fine and balancing policy of Halifax, and, for from consenting to his disgrace, promoted him to the rank of Marquis and office of Privy Seal, which was scarcely more displeasing to the Whigs than to the Duke of York. To the overbearing measures of this prince, Halifax was secretly a determined opponent. It was his uniform object to detach Monmouth so far from the violent councils and party of Shaftesbury, that the interest he still retained in the King's affections might be employed as a counterbalance to that of his brother. He prevailed on the King to see Monmouth after the discovery of the Rye House Plot, and, had the Duke proved more practicable, it is possible that, backed by the interest of Halifax, he might have regained his place in the King's favour. Upon this occasion, the Duke of York was not consulted, and made open show of his displeasure. Halifax told Sir J. Reresby that the Duke would never forgive him. It is even said that, immediately before the death of Charles, there was a scheme in agitation under the management of Halifax for recalling Monmouth, sending York to Scotland, calling a parliament, and changing the violent measures of the last two years. If so, it was prevented by the King's death, and Halifax was left exposed to the resentment of his successor. For some time, James, in consideration of his great services during the dependence of the Bill of Exclusion, treated him with seeming confidence; but, finding him unwilling to go to the lengths he proposed in religious matters, and particularly in the proposed repeal of the Test Acts, he was totally disgraced. After this period, the Marquis of Halifax was engaged with those lords who invited the Prince of Orange over, and joined so cordially in the revolution that he was made Keeper of the Seals by King William. He died in April, 1695."
"Amidst the various political changes of this thoroughpaced statesman, it ought not to be forgotten that, though he sided with the Court during the last years of King Charles, his counsels were a salutary check upon the arbitrary measures urged by the Duke of York, and that he probably merited the praise which Dryden elsewhere bestows upon him, of preventing a civil war, and extinguishing a growing fire which was just ready to break forth."—Sir W. Scott's Somers' Tracts, viii. 222.—Dryden's Works, ix. 305.