SOME EXTINCT CORNISH FAMILIES. 
337 
of Blandford, died during his father's lifetime, and not many 
years after the death of the latter the name of Godolphin in the 
male line became extinct. The daughters married the Dukes of 
Newcastle and Leeds. 
In parting with the subject of the great Earl, it is desirable 
to add a few personal traits of his character. 
He was fond of horseracing and other forms of sport ; and 
while he gambled at cards successfully, it is certain that he, like 
many another great genius, died poor, although his elder brother 
had left him £5000 a year, chiefly in the Cornish estates. He 
used to keep open house at Newmarket, and was very charitable 
and generous. The Duchess of Marlborough wrote, that when 
all his debts were paid, there could hardly be enough to bury 
him. He kept no state, had no ostentation, pride, or insolence of 
behaviour. 
Notwithstanding his own poverty, so far as regarded the public 
weal, hardly ever was there a statesman of more reliable, cool 
judgment, or a more skilled political economist; nor did anyone 
possess in a higher degree the then rare virtue of incorruptible 
integrity in administering the finances of the country. Although 
Godolphin had been the trusted minister of four sovereigns, it is 
clear that he was no Court sycophant, from his having run counter 
to the wishes of Charles II. and James II. by voting for the 
exclusion bill, and to William and Mary by favouring a Regency 
when the accession of William seemed inevitable. Men seemed to 
have felt that in Godolphin's hands they were safe. 
I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Tregelles's Cornish 
Worthies for many particulars of Godolphin's career, and who 
says he believes there is no other monograph account of him. I 
have also referred to Collins's Peerage of 1756, and I have already 
acknowledged some valuable notes of Mr. Worth's in my account 
of the Killigrews, in relation to which I am also indebted to 
Mr. H. M. Whitley's contributions to the Transactions of the 
Royal Institution of Cornivall. 
I am also obliged to Mr. Wright, our borough librarian, for 
bringing to my notice Messrs. Boase and Courtney's Collectanea 
Cornubiensis, which is now completed in all save the index. This 
work shows the most extraordinary research and industry, since it 
refers to an immense number of Cornishmen, chiefly of the 
middle class ; while for the main lines of the great families, 
