William Coventry

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Sir William Coventry, PC.

Sir William Coventry

PC
(4th October 1627 – 23 June 1686) was an English statesman.

Early life and Civil War

William was the son of the

Lord High Admiral of England) and headed the royal procession when Charles II entered London in triumph.[2]

Restoration of the monarchy

Coventry was returned to the

secretary to the admiralty than of personal assistant to the duke of York, and was one of large gains. Anthony Wood states that he collected a fortune of £60,000. Accusations of corruption in his naval administration, and especially during the Dutch war, were brought against him, but there is no real evidence for this. Samuel Pepys, in his diary, testifies to the excellence of Coventry's administration and to his zeal for reform and economy; his consistent praise for Coventry is in notable contrast to his strictures on his other colleagues, who are generally referred to as "knaves" or "old fools". Coventry's ability and energy did little to avert the naval collapse, owing chiefly to financial mismanagement and ill-advised appointments.[2]

1665–1669

Coventry denied all responsibility for the Dutch War in 1665, and his repudiation is supported by Pepys; it was, moreover, contrary to his well-known political opinions. The war greatly increased his influence, and shortly after the

Coventry's rising influence had been from the first the cause of increasing jealousy to the Lord Chancellor, Clarendon, who disliked and discouraged the younger generation. Coventry resented this. He became the chief mover in the successful attack on Clarendon, but refused to take any part in his impeachment, although Clarendon never forgave him for what he saw as Coventry's betrayal. Two days after Clarendon's resignation (on 31 August), Coventry announced his intention of terminating his connection with the navy.[2]

As a principal agent in effecting Clarendon's fall, he naturally acquired new power and influence, and was expected to be Clarendon's successor as first minister of the crown. Coventry retained merely his appointment at the treasury, and the brilliant but unscrupulous and incapable George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, a favourite of the king, succeeded. The relations between the two men soon became unfriendly. Buckingham ridiculed Sir William's steady attention to business, and was annoyed at his opposition to Clarendon's impeachment. Coventry rapidly lost influence and was excluded from the cabinet council.[2] His career depended now entirely on the support of the Duke of York: but ironically by bringing down Clarendon, Coventry had helped to weaken the influence of the Duke, Clarendon's son-in-law and principal defender.

Finally, in March 1669, Coventry challenged Buckingham for having written a play in which Sir William was ridiculed. Notice of the challenge reached the authorities through the duke's second, and Sir William was imprisoned in the

House of Commons, and leading the party which condemned and criticised the reactionary and fatal policy of the government, his credit and reputation being rather enhanced than diminished by his dismissal.[3]

1670s

In 1673 a pamphlet entitled England's appeal from the Private

Test Act, but maintained a statesmanlike moderation amidst the tide of indignation rising against the government, and refused to take part in the personal attacks upon ministers, drawing upon himself the same unpopularity as his nephew, George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, incurred later. In the same year, he denounced the alliance with France.[4]
He showed his appreciation for the loyalty Samuel Pepys had always displayed to him by vigorously supporting Pepys' right to sit in the House of Commons (to which he was elected in 1673), and ridiculing the claims (which were entirely unfounded) that Pepys was a Roman Catholic.

During the summer of 1674, he was again received at court. In 1675 he supported the bill to exclude Roman Catholics from both Houses, and also the measure to close the House of Commons to

W. Temple's new-modelled council in April 1679.[4]

1680s

In the exclusion question he favoured at first a policy of limitations, and on his nephew Halifax, who on his retirement became the leader of the moderate party, he enjoined prudence and patience, and greatly regretted the violence of the opposition which eventually excited a reaction and ruined everything. He refused to stand for the new parliament, and retired to his country residence at Minster Lovell near

French Protestant refugees in England, besides £3000 for the liberation of captives held by the Barbary Pirates in Algiers. He had shortly before his death already paid for the liberation of sixty slaves. He was much beloved and respected in his family circle, his nephew, Henry Savile, alluding to him in affectionate terms as "our dearest uncle and incomparable friend".[4]

Assessment

Writing Coventry's biography in the

Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Philip Chesney Yorke stated that "though Sir William Coventry never filled that place in the national administration to which his merit and exceptional ability clearly entitled him, his public life together with his correspondence are sufficient to distinguish him from amongst his contemporaries as a statesman of the first rank. Lord Halifax obviously derived from his honoured mentor those principles of government which, by means of his own brilliant intellectual gifts, originality and imaginative insight, gained further force and influence. Halifax owed to him his interest in the navy and his grasp of the necessity of a country of a powerful maritime force. He drew his antagonism to France, his religious tolerance, and wider religious views but firm Protestantism doubtless from the same source. Sir William was the original Trimmer".[4]

Writing to his nephew Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth, while denying the authorship of The Character of a Trimmer, he says, "I have not been ashamed to own myself to be a trimmer... one who would sit upright and not overturn the boat by swaying too much to either side." He shared the Trimmers' dislike of party, urging Halifax in the exclusion contest not to be thrust by the opposition of his enemies into another party, but that he keep upon a national bottom which at length will prevail. His prudence was expressed in his perpetual unwillingness to do things which he could not undo. A singular independence of spirit, a breadth of mind which refused to be contracted by party formulas, a sanity which was proof against the contagion of national delirium, were equally characteristic of uncle and nephew. Sir William Coventry's conceptions of statesmanship, under the guiding hand of his nephew, largely inspired the future revolution settlement, and continued to be an essential condition of English political growth and progress.[4]

Bibliography

Besides the tract already mentioned, Coventry was the author of A Letter to Dr Burnet giving an Account of Cardinal Pools Secret Powers... (1685). The Character of a Trimmer, often ascribed to him, is now known to have been written by Lord Halifax. Notes concerning the Poor, and an essay concerning the decay of rents and the remedy, are among the Malet Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm. Ser. 5th Rep. app. 320 (a)) and Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. (cal. 1882–1887); an Essay concerning France (4th Rep. app. 229 (b)) and a Discourse on the Management of the Navy (23ob) are among the MSS. of the marquess of Bath, also a catalogue of his library (233(a)).[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Bramston 1845, p. 252.
  2. ^ a b c d e Yorke 1911, p. 341.
  3. ^ Yorke 1911, pp. 341–342.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Yorke 1911, p. 342.

References

  • . Camden society. Publications.

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