VILLIERS. 



all the evils and dangers brought upon the king and king- 

 dom, and drew up a remonllrance, containing a llatement of 

 the grievances of which he had been the caufe. Thefe pro- 

 ceedings were (laid by a prorogation, and in the mean while 

 he made an effort for recovering the good-will of the country, 

 by fitting out an expedition for the relief of the Rochellers, 

 then under clofe fiege, in whofe fate the zealous Proteftants 

 felt great intereft. Whilil: he was at Portfmouth, preparing 

 for this expedition, Felton, who had ferved under him as a 

 lieutenant in the army, moved by difcontent and a fanatical 

 fpirit, gave him a ilab, which proved almoft inilantly mor- 

 tal, and of which he expired Auguft 23, 1628, having juil 

 completed his 36th year. His tragical death, unpopular as 

 he was, occalioned general commiferation. His public cha- 

 rafter has been fufficiently delineated in the preceding iketch 

 of his conduft. Poffefling fome qualities that excite vulgar 

 applaufc-, a high fpirit, perfonal courage, ready elocution 

 and generofity, he had no other title to the appellation of a 

 great man, which fome have bellowed upon him, befides 

 his advancement, by the erroneous judgment and partial 

 favour of his fovereign, to place and power. He married 

 lady Catliarine Manners, daughter and fole heirefs of Francis, 

 earl of Rutland, by whom he left two fons and a daughter. 

 In domeflic life, he was an affeflionate, though not a faithful 

 hufband, and kind to his family. With him, it is faid, all- 

 powerful favouritilm at the Englifh court terminated, Biog. 

 Brit. Clarendon. Hume, Sec. Sec. 



ViLLiERS, George, fecond duke of Buckingham, was the 

 fon of the preceding, and born A.D. 1627, at Wallingford- 

 Houfe, Weilminfler. He and his brother Francis received 

 the rudiments of education under the fame tutors with the 

 king's own children,- and were both entered at Trinity col- 

 lege, Cambridge, and afterwards fent upon their foreign 

 travels. Upim their return the civil war had commenced ; 

 and after having been prcfentcd to the king at Oxford, they 

 engaged in mihtary fervice under prince Rupert and lord 

 Gerard. Upon this their efi.ates were feized, but reftored 

 on account of their nonage. They afterwards renewed their 

 travels in France and Italy. In 1648, when the king was 

 prifoner in the Ifle of Wight, they returned to England, and 

 joined the carl of Holland, who was in arms in Surrey ; but 

 in an engagement with the parliamentary troops at Nonfuch, 

 lord Francis, who fought vaUantly, was flain. The duke 

 efcaped to St. Neot's, and furrounded by the enemy, made 

 way with fword in hand through the guard, and joined 

 prince Charles in the Downs. By adhering to the royal 

 caufe he forfeited liis ellates, which were then amongft the 

 mod confiderable belonging to any Englifli fubjedt. Whilft 

 he was abroad, his chief fupport was derived from a fale at 

 Antwerp of liis father's noble colleftion of piftures, which 

 a faithful fervant had fecurcd. He attended the exiled 

 Charles in Scotland, and accompanied him at the fatal battle 

 of Worccfter, when his efcape was no lefs extraordinary than 

 that of his mailer. He afterwards ferved as a volunteer in the 

 French army, and occafionally vilited the king's little court 

 in Flanders. When the duke was informed that lord Fairfax 

 had retired from the army and relided on part of iiis eilatc, 

 which parliament had allotted to him, that he had afted ge- 

 neroufly with regard to other forfeitures, and that he had an 

 only daughter, he determined to venture into England and 

 try his fortune. He foon gained the affcftion of the daugh- 

 ter, and they were married in 1657, at his lordlhip's feat of 

 Nun-Appleton, near York ; and Cowley is faid to have 

 written an epithalamium on the ocoafion. He was feiz.ed, 

 however, in 1658, and committed to the Tower, very much 

 to the difpleafure of his father-in-law. After the death of 

 Cromwell, he wa» allowed to confine himfelf at Windfor 



Caftlc, and upon tlie abdication of Richard h« obtained his 

 liberty. The Reftoration put him in pofleflion of all hi> 

 eftates, and he hved in fplendour and magnificence, indulging 

 in a profufion of expence, which was very injurious to his 

 fortune, and which was not counterbalanced by the polls of 

 a lord of the bed-chamber, lord-lieutenant of Yorklhire, and 

 mailer of the horfe, which the king affigned him. Reduced 

 to defperate circumftances, or inclined to faftion and intrigue, 

 he was charged, as early as the year 1662, witii treafonabfe 

 defigns ; fo that in 1666 it became neceiTary for him to ab- 

 fcond ; and a proclamation was iffued for apprehending him. 

 However, he voluntarily furrendercd himfelf, and contrived 

 fo to ingratiate himfelf with Charles, as to be reftored to his 

 place in tlic bed-chamber and in the council. Always an 

 advcrfary to lord chancellor Clarendon, he ufed his influence 

 to accelerate his fall. In 1668 ho joined fir Orlando Bridge- 

 man and fir Matthew Hale in the laudable fcheme of relaxing 

 the feverities againft the Non-conformifts ; but their plan for 

 this purpofe was defeated by the houfe of commons. Defti- 

 tute of fleady principle, the duke was felefted, in 1670, to 

 form one of the infamous party denominated the Cabal, 

 ( which fee, ) and he was deputed as ambaffador to the court 

 of France, in order to diffolve the triple alliance, concerted 

 by Temple and De Witt ; and being a favourite with the 

 French king, he concurred in all the meafures of that court. 

 He was fufpefted, on account of his profligate charafter, 

 with being acceffory to the attempt made upon the life of 

 the duke of Ormond, by Blood ; and his cowardice was fo 

 contemptible, that he tamely bore from the duke's fpirited 

 fon, lord Offory, the imputation of this villainy, accompa- 

 nied with a menace, in the royal prefence. He was ele£led, 

 however, in 167 1, by court-intereft, to the chancellorlhip of 

 Cambridge ; and in the fame year was exhibited his comedy, 

 called the " Rehearfal," which is faid to have been a joint 

 produdlion. The fatire levelled againft Dryden, then made 

 poet-laureat, was thought to be juft, but illiberal ; and it 

 was retorted by the poet in the charafter of the duke, under 

 the name of Zimri, in " Abfalom and Achitophel." 



In 1672, the duke was fent to France to concert meafures 

 for the war which was intended to ruin the Dutch common- 

 wealth. In 1674, the conduft of the Cabal being attacked 

 in the houfe of commons, a motion was made for his im- 

 peachment, and he was queftioned at the bar of the houfe. 

 The refult of this bufinefs was, that the commons voted an 

 addrefs for his removal. But as lie was direfted and reftraincd 

 in his conduft by no kind of principle, he joined the oppo- 

 fition to the court with the earl of Shaftefbury. In 1680, 

 having fold Wallingford-Houfe, he removed to the city, .ind 

 there concurred in the politics of the oppofition. Hume 

 has delineated his charafter very juftly, when he fays of him, 

 " the leaft intereft could make him abandon his honour ; the 

 fmalleft pleafure could feduce him from his intereft ; the 

 moll frivolous caprice was fufficient to counterbalance his 

 pleafure. By his want of fccrecy and conftancy, he deftroycd 

 his ch.vafter in pubhc life ; by his contempt of order and 

 economy, he diflipated his private fortune ; by riot and de- 

 bauchery he ruined his health ; and he remained at laft as 

 incapable of doing hurt, as he had ever been little dcfirous of 

 doing good to mankind." Such, notwithftanding this ap- 

 propriate charafter, was his inconfiftency, that in 1685 he 

 publilhed a popular work, containing fome juft and liberal 

 fentiments, and entitled " A ftiort Difcourfe ujion the Rea- 

 fonablenefs of Men's having a Religion, or Worfhip of God." 

 Upon his retirement, in declining health, to his manor of 

 Hclmfley, in Yorklhire, and whilft he was amufin^himfelf 

 with rural fports and company, he wrote a (hort elTay, en- 

 titled " A Demonftration of the Deity." At length, in a 

 A a 2 fox- 



