Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/917

CLARENDON. 807 CLARENDON. Charles at The Hajjue. He cxertid himself to save the lite of Charles I., and aller that nion- arch"s execution was reUiiiieil as counselor by Charles 11.. in 1041), going to Spain on an un- successful mission for assistance. At Charles's request he lejoineil him in Paris, anil as the King's must trusted adviser there, as also in Cologne and Biiiges, spent Ihe next nine years, fre<|uently in abject ])()vcrty. Charles formally declared him Lord Chancellor in Ki.jS. Two years later his dauglilcr Anne formed a secret marriage with the Duke of York, afterwards .James II.. and sul>sequently l>ecame the mother of ilary and Anne, the future English queens. The King and Clarendon were wroth; but Clarendon's iudignataon was somewhat over- acted, and excited an after-sus])icinn that lie deliberately proposed the barren Catharine of l$ra<'anzu as Charles ll.'s consort, to provide for liis posterity's succession to the throne. At the Restoration Charles confirmed his appoint- ment as Lord Chancellor, against violent o])po- sition, and in Xovembcr, lOtiO, created him JBaron Hyde. The same year he was elected chancellor of Oxford University, and the April following became ^'iscount Cornbury and Karl of Clarendon. During his Premiership the set- tlement of Scotland and Ireland owed much to him, and he took a leading part in colonial ex- tension. He was one of the eight proprietors to whom the first Carolina Charter was granted in 1663, the Cape Fear establishment being named 'Clarendon County,' after him. He also helped the Presbyterian Ba.xter, to whom he offered a bishopric, in the incorporation of a company for the propagation of the Gospel in Xew England. The ill success of the Dutch War and the sale of Dunkirk to the French aroused public indignation, and he became ex- ceedingly unpopular. In 1663 the Earl of Bris- tol unsuccessfully accused him of briberj' in the House of Lords, but in 1667 he fell a victim to Court intrigue; and having offended the King by opposing his divorce, that he might marry Fanny Stewart, whom Clarendon induced the Duke of Richmond to wed, Charles deprived him of his offices, and indirectly advised him to with- draw to Calais. Clarendon sent a vindication to the Lords, which both Houses of Parliament ordered to be burned by the common hangman. .■lter being almost murdered by some English sailors at Evreux. he lived in exile for six years, sending humble appeals to be allowed to pass his remaining years on English .soil. He died in Rouen. December 9, 1674, and was buried in Westminster .bl>ey. In a generally profligate Court he was almost the only moral man. and was distinguished fo.' his unswerving fidelity to the Episcopal Church and his determined maintenance of what he considered the true and ideal English Consti- tution. He was a ready debater and pleasing speaker, but it is for his literary productions that he is best remembered. The first edition of his great Z/i.s/on/ of the RrhrUion (Oxford, 1702-04) was not printed from the original manuscript, and some passages were slightly altered by the editors. A complete edition, by Dr. Bandinel. first appeared in 1S26; while the best edition, in 6 vols., was published at Oxford in 1888. He wTote also a Ufe of I'dward llyde, r.nrl of Clnrcndon, with a Contiinirilion of the History of the Grand Rehcllion from the Res- lonilion to His lianishmcnt in l(iH~ (1759) ; and a Hixtury of the Uebclliun and Ciril War in Ire- land (1720). Consult: Agar-Ellis, Jlinlorical Inquiry Jlespccliny the Character of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (London, 1827) ;. Lis- ter, Life and Administration of Edtcard Hyde, First Earl of Clarendon (London, 1837-38); Lewis, Lircs of the Friendx and Contemporaries of Clarendon (3 vols., London, 1852); Camp- bell, hires of the Lords Chancellors, vol. iii. (Lon- don. 1869) ; Oldmi.xon, Clarendon and M'hilelocl.c Compared (2d ed.. London, 1787) ; and the his- tories of Green, Ranke, and Ciardiner. CLARENDON, Geokck William Fbedekick X'li.LiKiis. foiulli Earl of (1800-70). An English diplomat and statesman, the eldest son of George illiers and grandson of Thomas Villiers, who in 1752 married the heiress of the last Lord Clarendon of the Hyde !)ranch, and was created Baron Hyde, 1756, and Earl of Clarendon, 1776. He was born in London, .January 12, 1800. He entered Saint .John's College, Cam- bridge, in his sixteenth year, and by titular privilege attained the JI.A. degree in 1820. The same year he entered the ili])l(]matic ser- vice as an attache to the British Embas.sy at Saint Petersburg, and by twenty-three years of age had acquired practical experience that was of particular value in his subsequent career. He was an accomplislied linguist and writer. Ap- pointed Commissioner of Customs in 1823, in 1827-29 he gained administrative knowledge in arranging the union of the English and Irish excise boards, and an insight into Irish charac- ter and affairs which made him an authority with Lord Lieutenant Paget, Marquis of Angle- sey. In 1831, as coadjutor to Sir John Bow- ring, he successfully negotiated a commercial treaty with France, and in 1833 was sent as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary to JIadrid. where lie acquired great influ- ence and a lifelong popularity. He was re- warded with the Grand Cross of the Bath in 1S37, and at his uncle's death, December 22, 1838, succeeding to the Clarendon peerage as fourth Earl, he returned to England to take his seat in the House of Lords. He entered Lord Melbourne's Administration as Lord Privy Seal in 1840. and also became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. When the Jlinistry fell, in 1841, he became an active member of the Oppo- sition, but, a.s a stanch free-trader, warmly sup- I>ortcd Sir Rol)ert Peel's measures f(u- the repeal of the Corn Laws. Under Lord Russell he became ))resident of the Board of Trade, in 1846, and in the following year was appointed Lord Licu- t<'nant of Ireland. The insurri'ctionary follies of Smith O'Brien and his f(illowers were agi- tating the country; but Clarendon's prompt and decisive measures soon restored tranquillity, while his tact and impartiality allayed party feeling. Froili 1852, uniler Lord Aberdeen, and in 1855-58, under Lord Palmerston, Cla.ren- don was Foreign Secretary. Upon him fell the onus of the Crimean War: :iiid the peace of 1850, with its l)enelici;il results to European |)olitics, testifies to his foresight and ability. He retired with the Ministry in 1858; resumed the Foreign Secretaryship in 186.5-66, and held it again under (iladstone from 1868 until his sudden death, .lune 27, 1870. Consult Thornton, Life of (j'corgc ^Villiam Frederick Villiers, Fourth