A Contextual Study of the Politics of George Savile, First Marquis Of
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Politics and Aphorisms: A Contextual Study of the Politics of George Savile, First Marquis of Halifax through his Literary Short Pieces By Wai Nam Boswell Ng In fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in History Department of History, University of Canterbury Senior Supervisor: Peter Field Associate Supervisor: David Monger 2020 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 A Note about Dates and Quotations ....................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 1 – Historiography and Methodology ............................................................................. 11 Halifax Scholarship from H. C. Foxcroft to Mark N. Brown ............................................................... 11 Capitalising on new ground and filling a historiographical gap ........................................................ 18 An interpretation from aphorisms .................................................................................................... 24 Final notes on methodology ............................................................................................................. 36 Chapter 2 – A Prelude ................................................................................................................ 41 George Savile’s early life ................................................................................................................... 41 Halifax’s early political career ........................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 3 – The Exclusion Crisis .................................................................................................. 48 The fall of Danby and the advent of a succession crisis .................................................................... 49 Halifax’s general position on Exclusion ............................................................................................. 53 Whig claims about the future ........................................................................................................... 57 Halifax’s scepticism of claims about the future ................................................................................ 62 Checking Whig ambitions.................................................................................................................. 67 The aftermath of Halifax’s opposition .............................................................................................. 72 Chapter 4 – The Counterattack on the Whigs .............................................................................. 74 Government suppression of the Whigs ............................................................................................ 74 Diffusing Whig extremism at a time of foreign crisis ........................................................................ 77 After the foreign crisis ...................................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 5 – Charles II’s Last Years ............................................................................................... 92 Steering the King away from unpopular rule .................................................................................... 92 Halifax’s final appeal: The Character of a Trimmer ......................................................................... 100 Chapter 6 – James II’s Reign ..................................................................................................... 107 Halifax’s short tenure in office under the new King ....................................................................... 108 Opposing James’ Catholic ambitions .............................................................................................. 112 Avoiding drastic actions .................................................................................................................. 120 The coming storm ........................................................................................................................... 125 Chapter 7 – The Glorious Revolution ......................................................................................... 128 The developments leading to the Convention Parliament ............................................................. 129 Supporting William’s bid for the throne ......................................................................................... 132 After the Revolution ....................................................................................................................... 140 Chapter 8 – A Confined Humanity: Halifax’s view of the Human Condition ................................ 143 The acceptance of human imperfection ......................................................................................... 143 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 151 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 154 Primary Sources .............................................................................................................................. 154 Secondary Sources .......................................................................................................................... 162 Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the support I have received from my family and friends. They have given me much encouragement and patience. Their support has made finishing this study immeasurably easier. I also wish to acknowledge the aid provided to me by my supervisors. I thank my associate supervisor, David Monger for his time and helpful comments on my work. I also owe a great debt to my senior supervisor, Peter Field, without whose support the completion of this study would have been infinitely harder. To both, I thank them for their advice to me. 1 Abstract This study examines the politics of George Savile, first Marquis of Halifax between the Exclusion Crisis of 1679-1681 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689. It examines Halifax’s politics in the context of a set of primary sources that have hitherto not been given enough attention in Halifax studies. This set of sources is his aphorisms. Halifax is well- known as a political writer and an aphorist, but not much focus has been given to his short pieces and their connection to his politics in practice. This study fills the gap by looking at Halifax’s politics in the context of the thoughts and ideas imbedded in his aphorisms. Halifax’s aphorisms reveal a deep acceptance of the imperfections of the human condition. He believed that the human mind was limited in what it can know with certainty; and human nature, rather than reason, dominated the human character. Such imperfections were fully and explicitly accepted by Halifax. It was an integral part of his worldview as revealed by his aphorisms. By reading Halifax’s politics and political career in the context of these aphorisms, a specific interpretation emerges. This interpretation is that the spirit of his politics was very much in tune with his sceptical outlook of the human condition and his acceptance of its inherent imperfections. 2 A Note about Dates and Quotations The dates used in this study are in old style. The start of a new year, however, has been treated differently. In seventeenth-century England, the calendar year started on 25 March. This study has taken the year as starting on 1 January instead. England’s calendar at the time was also ten days behind from the calendar used on the European continent. This study has cited the dates of foreign correspondence and dispatches according to the dates provided by their authors. In cases where both the English and foreign calendar dates are given in a correspondence, they will be cited alongside each other respectively. This study has also kept the original spelling and punctuation of the primary material it has quoted from. Because this study makes use of edited versions of primary sources, some of the quotations will have already been modernized. Additionally, in citing Halifax’s own aphorisms, the line numbers of the cited aphorism are provided after the page numbers. 3 Introduction George Savile, first Marquis of Halifax, was a Restoration politician with a complex reputation. His political conduct has been both criticised and praised by posterity. A contemporary during the entirety of the Restoration era, Halifax is chiefly remembered for the roles he played in the more tumultuous events of the period. He was politically active during the infamous Exclusion Crisis between 1679 and 1681. This was a time when fears of a Catholic threat to Protestant England reached its height and eventually pulled Charles II’s Catholic brother and heir presumptive, James Duke of York, into the spotlight. Many feared that the Catholic Duke would inevitably bring about the ruin of Protestant England upon his succession. Some sought to prevent this