B U r L E R. 



parliament's commiflioncrs, and to come over to England, 

 where lie waited on the king at Hampton-court, and cb- 

 tained his majefty's full approbation of all his proceedings. 

 His circnmflanccs, liowever, were embarraned and perilous, 

 fo that he thought it moft prudent to provide for his own 

 iafety by embarking for France. 



During his fliort reiidence in tliis country, he corre- 

 fpondcd with the Iiifli for the purpofe of inducing them to 

 engage in the royal car.fe ; and having engaged lord In- 

 chiquin to receive him in Munller. he landed at Cork, after 

 tfcaping the imminent danger of fliipwreck, in l 7-1^8. On 

 bis arrival, he adojjtcd nicafures which ftemed to revive the 

 hopes of the king's friends. Thefe hopes wore farther 

 encouraged by the abliorrence excited through the country 

 on occafion of the king's death ; and in confequcnce of 

 this favourable imprLlTion on the public mind, the lord 

 lieutenant caufed Charles II. to be immediately proclaimed. 

 But Owen O'N^ile, inftigated by the Pope's nuncio, and 

 fiipported by tlie old Irifli, raifed obrtacles in his way, 

 which he determined to overcome by the bald enterprife of 

 attacking the city of Dublin, then held for the Parliament 

 by governor Jones. Tlii- enterprife, however, failed, with 

 very confiderable lofs on the part of the Marquis : and foon 

 atter Cromwell arrived in Ireland, and having ftormed 

 Drogheda, furrendered it to military execution, tiius 

 i^riking terror into the Irifli, fo that they became difi'atis- 

 fitd with the lord-lieutenant, and infilled on his leaving 

 the kingdom. At the clofe of the year 1653, he embarked 

 for France, and there joined the exiled family. In order 

 to retrieve his own affairs, the marchionefs went over to 

 Ireland, and having in fome ineafure fucceedcd in exempt- 

 ing her own ellate from forfeiture, file remained in the 

 country, and never fav\' her hufband till after the reftora- 

 tion. In the mean while the Marquis was employed in va- 

 rious comminions in behalf of the king; and he rendered 

 cCential fervice to his caufe by tefcuing the duke of Glou- 

 ccilerout of the hands of the queen-mother, and preventing 

 her fevere treatment from inducing hiin to embrace tlie Ca- 

 tiiolic religion. He was alio inftrumental in detaching the 

 Irilh catholic regiments from the fervice of France, one of 

 ivhich he was appointed to command, and in obtaining 

 1 he furrender of the town of St. Ghilan, near Bruffels, to 

 the Spaniards. In a fecret embaffy to England for the 

 finrpofe of invetligating the ftate of the royal party, he 

 1 leaped feveral hazards of difcoverv from the fpies of Crom- 

 well ; and at length, when Charles II. was re'lored to the 

 -hrone of his anceftors, the Marquis accompanied him, and 

 vvas liberally recompenfed for his faithful attachment and 

 :.c\ive fervices. Befidcs the rcftorati'in and augmentation of 

 i:is large eftates in the county of Tipperary, he was raifed 

 1.) the dignity of duke of Ormond, and he officiated as 

 i'lrd high-fteward of England at the king's coronation. 

 After his appointment to the lord-lieutenancy, in 166;, he 

 made feveral efforts, attended with confiderable iucccfs, 

 ivjr reducing the country to a flate of tranquillity, and he 

 promoted various improvements, particularly with refpeft 

 to the growth of flax and manufacture of linen, whicli very 

 much conduced to its fubfequent profperity. His attach- 

 ment to earl Clarendon, however, involved him in the 

 odium which purfued that great man ; and though his con- 

 dudf, after rigorous fcrutiny, furnillied no matter of jail 

 cenfure, he was neverthclefs deprived of his government by 

 the machinations of the duke of Buckingham, in 1669 ; but 

 in the fame year, he was elefted to the ofrice of chancellor 

 of the Univerfity of Oxford. In 1670, a defperate defign 

 was formed againft him by colonel Blood, udiom he had im- 

 prifoned in Ireland on account of his having engaged in a plot 



for the furpiifal of Diib'in cadle. Blood, being at this time 

 in London, determined to feize his perfon, in his return 

 from an enlerlainmcnt given in the eity to the prince of 

 Orange ; and in the profccution of his purpofe, his acconi- 

 pliccs dragged the duke out of his couch and placed him 

 behind one of iheni who was on liorleliaek, in order lo con- 

 vey him to Tyburn, and execute him on the public gal- 

 lows ; or, as others fay, to take him out of the kingdom, 

 and compel him to fign certain papers relating to a for- 

 feited ellate of Blood. The duke Ijy his llrugglts threw 

 both the man and himfelf from the horfe, and by leafonablc 

 afTillancc he was releafed from the cullody of thefe afTalTuis. 

 This daring a£l of violence excited the king's refentment ; 

 but Blood, for certain realons, having been taken into fa- 

 vour, his Majelly re(|ueftcd the dnke to forgive the infult. 

 To which mefl'age he replied, " that if the king could 

 forgive Blood for attempting to iieal his crown, he migl.t 

 cafily forgive him for an attempt on his life ; and that he 

 would obey his Majelly's pleahire without inquiring into 

 his reafons." For fevcn years the duke of Ormond, who 

 was equally advtrfe to papills and fanatics, and who pof- 

 feffed a fpirit which would not iloop to the cabals formed 

 by miftrclTes and perfons dellitute of honour, was neither in 

 favour with the court nor employed by it ; but at length, 

 in i6j7, he was furpriftd by a melfage announcing the 

 king's intention to vifit him. The objedl of this vifit was 

 to difclofe his Majelly's refolution of appointing him to the 

 lord-lieutenancy of Ireland ; and this ref dution had beta 

 adopted by the influence of the duke of York, wdio had 

 leafon to imagine that the " cabal," or court-party, pro- 

 pofed to introduce the duke of Monmouth into tliis high 

 llation in the room of the earl of Effex, who had bttn re- 

 moved. In Older to counteraft this plan, tlie duke of 

 York recommended his grace of Ormond to the king, as 

 the moil hkely perfon to engage general confidence, and to 

 unite dileordant parties in both countries. The king per- 

 filled in his refolution, and the duke of Ormond took 

 polfelTion of the government. Upon his arrival, he ad;>pted 

 vigorous meafures for difarming the papills and maintaining 

 public tranquillity ; and though he did not tfcape ca- 

 lumny, the king determined to hipport him again'l all at- 

 tempts for removing him, and declared with an oath, " that 

 while the duke of Ormond lived, he fliould never be put 

 out of that government." He was defirous, indeed, of 

 calling a parliament in Ireland for fettling affairs, but to this 

 meafure the kin.g would not give his confent. In 1682, 

 when he came over to England to acquaint the king with 

 the Rate of his government, he was advanced to the dig- 

 nity of an Englifli dukedom ; but n-.jtwithllanding this 

 mark of royal favour, he had given fiich oflence by his impor- 

 tunity with refpedl to an Iriih i)arliainent, that immediately 

 on his return he was apprili.d of an intention to remove him. 

 Upon the accelTion of James, the duke caufed him to be pro- 

 claimed, and foon after rtligntd his office and came over to 

 England. Although the duke's principles did not fuit 

 the projefts of the new reign, he was tr.-atcd with refpcft 

 by the king, and received from him the honour of a vifit 

 whilil he wa'j confined to his chamber with the gout. He 

 died at King!(on-hall, in Durfetliire, Julvilll, 1688, in 

 the 78th year of his age, and was buried in Wellminiler-abbey. 

 " The charadler of th> duke of Ormond was that of a 

 high-fpirited and liberal nobleman, upright in his inten- 

 tions and fteady to his pohtical principles, which were thofe 

 of monarchy with large prerogatives, but not beyond 

 the law. He was a Heady friend to the church of Eng- 

 land, and had in his family feveral men of learning who 

 attained to eminence, among whom were Dr. Hough, the 



excellent 



