Lives of British Statesmen Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1820 Excerpt: ... he found himself unexpectedly assailed by authorized demands on the public treasury; f and what galled him more deeply than all, the young Earl of Clanricarde, by his influence at court, and unknown to Wentworth, succeeded in procuring an indemnity for his losses in Galway, t The king, it was whispered, beheld his receipts from the customs with an eye of jealousy; and Lord Holland, who had ready access to the Strafford's Letters, Vol. I. p. 128, 138, 142, H4. t Wentworth to Windebank, Ibid. Vol. II. p. 201. Wentworth to the King, Ibid. p. 83. ear of the queen, even presumed to circulate that he was liable to accesses of lunacy. Endeavours were used to produce a breach between him and Laud; t and so deeply did his intimacy with that prelate offend his early patron the Lord Treasurer, that Wentworth looked on the death of the latter as a deliverance from the most dangerous of his adversaries, t To such contradictions and calumnies, Wentworth betrayed an aching sensibility, and his mind was kept in perpetual distraction. He was indeed armed with every power to punish the malignant within his own jurisdiction; and his vigorous chastisements received his majesty's fullest approbation. But he was informed that more virulent libels were circulated against him in England, beyond his reach; and his feelings were tormented by hints, that these attacks gained ground from his majesty's refusal to countenance him by some public mark of approbation. Unable to endure this any longer, Wentworth drew up a list of the calumnies circulated against him, which he transmitted to Laud, for the decision of the king. The archbishop, though extremely irritable and impatient of censure, was yet shocked at a weakness which tended to destroy both the peace and respectability of...