. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . ,carried great weight. In 1668 he was appointed to serve on a com-mittee to inquire into the recent financial scandals, and so dangerousdid his talents appear likely to be, when so applied, that Charles IIimmediately created him Viscount Halifax in the hope of silencinghim. Four years later he became a privy counsellor, and thoughhostile to the Kings French policy, he was sent on an importantmission to Louis XIV. On the whole, however, his politicalprinciples threw him into antagonism to the Court. Though nevera republican, except pe
. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . ,carried great weight. In 1668 he was appointed to serve on a com-mittee to inquire into the recent financial scandals, and so dangerousdid his talents appear likely to be, when so applied, that Charles IIimmediately created him Viscount Halifax in the hope of silencinghim. Four years later he became a privy counsellor, and thoughhostile to the Kings French policy, he was sent on an importantmission to Louis XIV. On the whole, however, his politicalprinciples threw him into antagonism to the Court. Though nevera republican, except perhaps in theory, autocracy was as repugnantto him as anarchy; though so much of a philosopher as to have beengroundlessly thought an atheist, he was sincerely opposed to the. GEORGE SAVILF, MARQUIS OF HALIFAX From the portrait l>y Sir Peter belonging to tlic Duke of Devonshire at Ilardwickc Hall Faup. I9» GEORGE SAVILE 193 Catholic religion; though not declining the honours which cameto him, his wealth enabled him to disdain the scramble for titlesand ministerial billets. On these grounds he became the unsparingcritic of the Cabal and for a time the friend of Shaftesbury, butHalifaxs cool and balancing intellect doomed this friendship to anearly dissolution. They served together on Sir William TemplesCouncil, but as soon as Shaftesbury began to reveal himself in histrue colours and to plot for the succession of the bastard Dukeof Monmouth, Halifax drew back. At the same time, the want oflogical basis in the hereditary principle coupled with his Protestantviews made the prospect of the accession of James distasteful tohim. The Prince of Orange seemed to him the most desirablesuccessor to the throne, but, like most statesmen who are ruled bytheir i
Size: 1370px × 1825px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectportraitpainting
