Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 2ND DUKE...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 726 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

BUCKINGHAM, See also:GEORGE See also:VILLIERS, 2ND See also:DUKE 0E1 (1628-1687) , See also:English statesman, son of the 1st duke, was See also:born on the 3oth of See also:January 1628. He was brought up, together with his younger See also:brother See also:Francis, by See also:King See also:Charles I. with his own See also:children, and was educated at Trinity See also:College, See also:Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of M.A. in 1642. He fought for the king in the See also:Civil See also:War, and took See also:part in the attack on See also:Lichfield See also:Close in See also:April 1643. Subsequently, under the care of the See also:earl of See also:Northumberland, the two See also:brothers travelled abroad and lived at See also:Florence and See also:Rome. When the Second Civil War See also:broke out they joined the earl of See also:Holland in See also:Surrey, in See also:July 1648. See also:Lord Francis was killed near See also:Kingston, and Buckingham and Holland were surprised at St Neots on the loth, the duke succeeding in escaping to Holland. In consequence of his participation in the See also:rebellion, his lands, which had been restored to him in 1647 on See also:account of his youth, were now again confiscated, a consider-able portion passing into the See also:possession of See also:Fairfax; and he refused to See also:compound. Charles II. conferred on him the Garter on the 19th of See also:September 1649, and admitted him to the privy. See also:council on the 6th of April 165o. In opposition to See also:Hyde he supported the See also:alliance with the Scottish presbyterians, accompanied Charles to See also:Scotland in See also:June, and allied himself with See also:Argyll, dissuading Charles from joining the royalist See also:plot of See also:October 165o, and being suspected of betraying the See also:plan to the convenanting leaders. In May he had been appointed See also:general of the eastern association in See also:England, and was commissioned to raise forces abroad; and in the following See also:year he was chosen to See also:lead the projected See also:movement in See also:Lancashire and to command the Scottish royalists. He was See also:present with Charles at the See also:battle of See also:Worcester on the 3rd of September 1651, and escaped safely 1 i.e. in the Villiers See also:line; see above. alone to See also:Rotterdam in October.

His subsequent negotiations with See also:

Cromwell's See also:government, and his readiness to See also:sacrifice the interests of the See also:church, separated him from the See also:rest of Charles's advisers and diminished his See also:influence; while his estrangement from the royal See also:family was completed by his audacious courtship of the king's See also:sister, the widowed princess of See also:Orange, and by a See also:money dispute with Charles. In 1657 he returned to England, and on the 15th of September married See also:Mary, daughter of Lord Fairfax, who had fallen in love with him although the banns of her intended See also:marriage with the earl of See also:Chesterfield had been twice called in church. Buckingham was soon suspected of organizing a presbyterian plot against the government, and in spite of Fairfax's See also:interest with Cromwell an See also:order was issued for his See also:arrest on the 9th of October. He was confined at See also:York See also:House about April 1658, and having broken See also:bounds was rearrested on the 18th of See also:August and imprisoned in the See also:Tower, where he remained till the 23rd of See also:February 1659, being then liberated on his promise not to abet the enemies of the government, and on Fairfax's See also:security of £20,000. He joined the latter in his See also:march against See also:Lambert in January 166o, and afterwards claimed to have gained Fairfax to the cause of the Restoration. On the king's return Buckingham, who met him at his landing at See also:Dover, was at first received coldly; but he was soon . again in favour, was appointed a See also:gentleman of the bedchamber, carried the See also:orb. at the See also:coronation on the 23rd of April 1661, and was made lord-See also:lieutenant of the See also:West See also:Riding of See also:Yorkshire on the 21st of September. The same year he accompanied the princess Henrietta to See also:Paris on her marriage with the duke of See also:Orleans, but made love to her himself with such imprudence that he was recalled. On the 28th of April 1662 he was admitted to the privy council. His confiscated estates amounting to £26,000 a year were restored to him, and he was reputed the king's richest subject. He took part in the suppression of the projected insurrection in Yorkshire in 1663, went to See also:sea in the first Dutch war in 1665, and was employed in taking See also:measures to resist the Dutch or See also:French invasion in June 1666. He was, however, debarred from high See also:office by See also:Clarendon's influence. Accordingly Buckingham's intrigues were now directed to effect the See also:chancellor's ruin.

He organized parties in both houses of See also:

parliament in support of the See also:bill of 1666 prohibiting the import of Irish See also:cattle, partly to oppose Clarendon and partly to thwart the duke of See also:Ormonde. Having asserted during the debates that " whoever was against the bill had either an Irish interest or an Irish understanding," he was challenged by Lord See also:Ossory. Buckingham avoided the encounter, and Ossory was sent to the Tower. A See also:short See also:time afterwards, during a See also:conference between the two houses on the loth of See also:December, he came to blows with the See also:marquess of See also:Dorchester, pulling off the latter's periwig, while Dorchester at the close of the scuffle " had much of the duke's See also:hair in his See also:hand."' According to Clarendon no See also:misdemeanour so flagrant had ever before offended the dignity of the House of Lords. The offending peers were both sent to the Tower, but were released after apologizing; and Buckingham vented his spite by raising a claim to the See also:title of Lord Roos held by Dorchester's son-in-See also:law. His opposition to the government had forfeited the king's favour, and he was now accused of treasonable intrigues, and of having See also:cast the king's horoscope. His arrest was ordered on the 25th of February 1667, and he was dismissed from all his offices. He avoided See also:capture till the 27th of June, when he gave himself up and was imprisoned in the Tower. He was released, however, by July 17th, was restored to favour and to his appointments on the 15th of September, and took an active part in the See also:prosecution of Clarendon. On the latter's fall he became the See also:chief See also:minister, though holding no high office except that of See also:master of the See also:horse, bought from the duke of Albermarle in 1668. In 1671 he was elected chancellor of Cambridge, and in 1672 high steward of See also:Oxford university. He favoured religious See also:toleration, and earned the praise of See also:Richard See also:Baxter; he supported a See also:scheme of comprehension in 1668, and advised the See also:declaration of See also:indulgence in 1672.

He upheld the See also:

original See also:jurisdiction of the 1 Clarendon, See also:Life and Continuation, 979. Lords in See also:Skinner's See also:case. With these exceptions Buckingham's See also:tenure of office was chiefly marked by scandals and intrigues. His illicit connexion with the countess of See also:Shrewsbury led to a See also:duel with her See also:husband at See also:Barn Elms on the 16th of January 1668, in which Shrewsbury was fatally wounded. The See also:tale that the countess, disguised as a See also:page, witnessed the encounter, appears to have no See also:foundation; but Buckingham, by installing the " widow of his own creation" in his own and his wife's house, outraged even the lax See also:opinion of that See also:day. He was thought to have originated the project of obtaining the See also:divorce of the childless See also:queen. He intrigued against See also:James, against See also:Sir See also:William Coventry—one of the ablest statesmen of the time, whose fall he procured by provoking him to send him a See also:challenge —and against the See also:great duke of Ormonde, who was dismissed in 1669. He was even suspected of having instigated See also:Thomas See also:Blood's See also:attempt to kidnap and See also:murder Ormonde, and was charged with the See also:crime in the king's presence by Ormonde's son, Lord Ossory, who threatened to shoot him dead in the event of his See also:father's See also:meeting with a violent end. See also:Arlington, next to Buckingham himself the most powerful member of the See also:cabal and a favourite of the king, was a See also:rival less easy to overcome; and he derived considerable influence from the See also:control of See also:foreign affairs entrusted to him. Buckingham had from the first been an adherent of the French alliance, while Arlington concluded through Sir William See also:Temple in 1668 the Triple Alliance. But on the See also:complete volte-See also:face and surrender made by Charles to See also:France in 167o, Arlington as a See also:Roman See also:Catholic was entrusted with the first treaty of Dover of the loth of May—which besides providing for the See also:united attack on Holland, included Charles's undertaking to proclaim himself a Romanist and to reintroduce the Roman Catholic faith into England,—While Buckingham was sent to France to carry on the sham negotiations which led to the public See also:treaties of the 31st of December 1670 and the 2nd of February 1672. He was much pleased with his reception by See also:Louis XIV., declared that he had " more honours done him than ever were given to any subject," and, was presented with a See also:pension of 1o,000 livres a year for See also:Lady Shrewsbury.

In June 1672 he accompanied Arlington to the See also:

Hague to impose terms on the See also:prince of Orange, and with Arlington arranged the new treaty with Louis. After all this activity he suffered a keen disappointment in being passed over for the command of the English forces in favour of See also:Schomberg. He now knew of the See also:secret treaty of Dover, and towards the end of 1673 his See also:jealousy of Arlington became open hostility. He threatened to impeach him, and endeavoured with the help of Louis to stir up a See also:faction against him in parliament. This, however, was unsuccessful, and in January 1674 an attack was made upon Buckingham himself simultaneously in both houses. In the Lords the trustees of the See also:young earl of Shrewsbury complained that Buckingham continued publicly his intimacy with the countess, and that a son of theirs had been buried in See also:Westminster See also:Abbey with the title of earl of See also:Coventry; and Buckingham, after presenting an See also:apology, was required, as was the countess, to give security for £1o,000 not to cohabit together again. In the See also:Commons he was attacked as the See also:promoter of the French alliance, of " popery " and arbitrary government. He defended himself chiefly by endeavouring to throw the blame upon Arlington; but an address was voted petitioning the king to remove him from his See also:councils, presence and from employment for ever. Charles, who had only been waiting for a favourable opportunity, and who was enraged at Buckingham's disclosures, consented with alacrity. Buckingham retired into private life, reformed his ways, attended church with his wife, began to pay his debts, became a " patriot," and was claimed by the See also:country or opposition party as one of their leaders. In the See also:spring of 1675 he was conspicuous for his opposition to the Test See also:oath and for his abuse of the bishops, and on the 16th of See also:November he introduced a bill for the See also:relief of the nonconformists. On the 15th of February 1677 he was one of the four lords who endeavoured to embarrass the government by raising the question whether the parliament, not having assembled according to the See also:act of See also:Edward III. once in the year, had not been dissolved by the See also:recent See also:prorogation.

The See also:

motion was rejected and the four lords were ordered to apologize. On their refusing, they were sent to the Tower, Buckingham in particular exasperating the House by ridiculing its censure. He was released in July, and immediately entered into intrigues with Barillon, the French See also:ambassador, with the See also:object of hindering the See also:grant of supplies to the king; and in 1678 he visited Paris to get the assistance of Louis XIV. for the cause of the opposition. He took an active part in the prosecution of those implicated in the supposed Popish Plot, and accused the lord chief See also:justice (Sir William See also:Scroggs) in his own See also:court while on See also:circuit of favouring the Roman Catholics. In consequence of his conduct a See also:writ was issued for his See also:apprehension, but it was never served. He promoted the return of Whig candidates to parliament, constituted himself the See also:champion of the dissenters, and was admitted a See also:freeman of the See also:city of See also:London. He, however, separated himself from the Whigs on the exclusion question, probably on account of his dislike of See also:Monmouth and See also:Shaftesbury, was absent from the great debate in the Lords on the 15th of November 168o, and was restored to the king's favour in 1684. He took no part in public life after James's See also:accession, but returned to his See also:manor of Helmsley in Yorkshire, the cause of his withdrawal being probably exhausted See also:health and exhausted finances. In 1685 he published a pamphlet, entitled A short Discourse on the Reasonableness of See also:Man's having a See also:Religion (re-printed in See also:Somers Tracts (1813, ix. 13), in which after discussing the See also:main subject he returned to his favourite topic, religious toleration. The See also:tract provoked some rejoinders and was de-fended, amongst others, by William See also:Penn, and by the author himself in The Duke of Buckingham's See also:Letter to the unknown author of a short See also:answer to the Duke of Buckingham's See also:Paper (1685). In hopes of converting him to Roman Catholicism James sent him a See also:priest, but Buckingham turned his arguments into ridicule.

He died on the 16th of April 1687, from a chill caught while See also:

hunting, in the house of a See also:tenant at See also:Kirkby Moorside in York-See also:shire, expressing great repentance and feeling himself "despised by my country and I fear forsaken by my See also:God." 1 The miserable picture of his end See also:drawn by See also:Pope, however, is greatly exaggerated. He was buried on the 7th of June 1687 in See also:Henry VII.'s See also:chapel in Westminster Abbey, in greater See also:state, it was said, than the See also:late king, and with greater splendour. With his See also:death the family founded by the extraordinary rise to See also:power and influence of the first duke ended. As he See also:left no legitimate children the title became See also:extinct, and his great See also:estate had been completely dissipated; of the enormous See also:mansion constructed by him at Cliveden in See also:Buckinghamshire not a See also:stone remains. The ostentatious See also:licence and the unscrupulous conduct of the See also:Alcibiades of the 17th See also:century have been deservedly censured. But even his critics agree that he was See also:good-humoured, good-natured, generous, an unsurpassed mimic and the See also:leader of See also:fashion; and with his good looks, in spite of his moral faults and even crimes, he was irresistible to his contemporaries. Many examples of his amusing wit have survived. His portrait has been drawn by See also:Burnet, See also:Count See also:Hamilton in the Memoires de See also:Grammont, See also:Dryden, Pope in the See also:Epistle to Lord See also:Bathurst, and Sir See also:Walter See also:Scott in Peveril of the See also:Peak. He is described by Reresby as " the first gentleman of See also:person and wit I think I ever saw," and Burnet bears the same testimony. See also:Dean Lockier, after alluding to his unrivalled skill in riding, dancing and See also:fencing, adds, " When he came into the presence-chamber it was impossible for you not to follow him with your See also:eye as he went along, he moved so gracefully." Racing and hunting were his favourite See also:sports, and his name See also:long survived in the hunting songs of Yorkshire. He was the See also:patron of See also:Cowley, See also:Sprat, See also:Matthew See also:Clifford and See also:Wycherley. He dabbled in See also:chemistry, and for some years, according to Burnet, " he thought he was very near the finding of the philosopher's stone." He set up See also:glass See also:works at See also:Lambeth the productions of which were praised by See also:Evelyn; and he spent much money, according to his biographer See also:Brian Fairfax, in See also:building insanae substructiones.

Dryden described him under the See also:

character of Zimri in the 1 Quarterly See also:Review, January 1898, p. 11o. celebrated lines in See also:Absalom and Achitophel (to which Buckingham replied in Poetical Reflections on a late Poem . . . by a Person of See also:Honour, 1682) : " A man so various, that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's See also:epitome; Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts and nothing long; But in the course of one revolving See also:moon, Was chymist, fiddler, statesman and buffoon. . . See also:Beggar'd by See also:fools, whom still he found too late, He had his jest, but they had his estate." Buckingham, however, cannot with any truth be called the " epitome of mankind." On the contrary, the distinguishing features of his life are its incompleteness, aimlessness, imperfection, insignificance, neglect of talents and See also:waste of opportunities. " He saw and approved the best," says Brian Fairfax, " but did too often deteriora sequi." He is more severely but more justly judged by himself. In See also:gay moments indeed he had written " Methinks, I see the wanton houres flee, And as they passe, turne back and laugh at me," 2 but his last recorded words on the approach of death, " O! what a prodigal have I been of that most valuable of all possessions—Time! " See also:express with exact truth the fundamental flaw of his character and career, of which he had at last become conscious. Buckingham wrote occasional verses and satires showing undoubted but undeveloped poetical gifts, a collection of which, containing however many pieces not from his See also:pen, was first published by Tom See also:Brown in 1704; while a few extracts from a See also:commonplace See also:book of Buckingham of some interest are given in an See also:article in the Quarterly Review of January 1898. He was the author of The See also:Rehearsal, an amusing and See also:clever See also:satire on the heroic See also:drama and especially on Dryden (first performed on the 7th of December 1671, at the See also:Theatre Royal, and first published in 1672), a deservedly popular See also:play which was imitated by See also:Fielding in Tom Thumb the Great, and by See also:Sheridan in the Critic. Buckingham also published two adapted plays, The Chances, altered from See also:Fletcher's play of the same name (1682) and The Restoration or Right will take See also:place, from See also:Beaumont and Fletcher's Philaster (publ.

1714) ; and also The Battle of Sedgmoor and The Militant Couple (publ. 1704). The latest edition of his works is that by T. See also:

Evans (2 vols. 8vo, 1775). Another See also:work is named by See also:Wood A Demonstration of the Deity, of which there is now no trace. BIBLIOGRAPnv.—The life of Buckingham has been well and accurately traced and the chief authorities collected in the article in the See also:Diet. of Nat. See also:Biography (1899) by C.H.See also:Firth, and in George Villiers, and Duke of Buckingham,byLady Burghclere(1903). Otherbiographies are in Wood's Athenae Oxon. (See also:Bliss), iv. 207 ; in Biographia Britannica ; by Brian Fairfax, printed in H .See also:Walpole's See also:Catalogue of Pictures of George Duke of Buckingham (1758); in See also:Arber's edition of the Rehearsal (1868) ; and by the author of Hudibras in The Genuine Remains of Mr See also:Samuel See also:Butler, by R. Thyer (1759), U.

72. The following may also be mentioned:—Quarterly Review, See also:

Jan. 1898 (commonplace book); A Conference on the See also:Doctrine of See also:Transubstantiation between . the Duke of Buckingham and Father See also:FitzGerald (1714); A Narrative of the Cause and Manner of the Imprisonment of the Lords (1677); The Declaration of the . . . Duke of Buckingham and the Earls of Holland and See also:Peterborough . . . associated for the King(' 648) ; S.R.See also:Gardiner's Mist. of the See also:Commonwealth (1894-1901); Mist. of Eng. See also:Poetry, by W. J. See also:Courthope (1903), iii. 46o; See also:Horace Walpole's Royal and See also:Noble Authors, iii. 304; Miscellania Aulica, by T. Brown (1702); and the Fairfax See also:Correspondence (1848-1849).

For the correspondence see Charles II. and Scotland in 1650 (Scottish See also:

History See also:Soc., vol. xvii., 1894) ; Calendars of St. Pap. Dom.; Hist. See also:MSS. See also:Comm. See also:Series,MSS. of Duke of See also:Buccleuch at See also:Montagu House, of Mrs See also:Frankland-See also:Russell-See also:Astley, of Marq. of Ormonde, and Various Collections; and English Hist. Rev. (April 1905), xx• 373. (P. C.

End of Article: BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 2ND DUKE 0E1 (1628-1687)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 1ST DUKE 0E1 		[next]
BUCKINGHAM, HENRY STAFFORD, 2ND DUKE OF3 (1454-1483...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries