in several expeditions at sea, and on many occasions to have been distinguished for his gallant behaviour; which in 1697 procured him to be made rear-admiral, and in 1703 vice-admiral of the red. Macky says he understood all the parts of a sailor well; but was very rakish and extravagant in his manner of living, otherwise he had risen quicker. He contrived and built a ship called the Royal Transport, which proved so good a sailer, that it displayed his knowledge of that part of navigation also. He was bold enough, adds the writer, to undertake any thing4. His grace died June 25, 1729, in the seventy-first year of his age.] • Characters of Officers, &c. p. 170. DANIEL FINCH, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM, WAs much aspersed during his life; but this was in times in which posterity will judge better than we who live so near them. Besides his speeches, many of which are printed in a book, entitled, An exact Collection of the Debates of the House of Commons, held at Westminster, October 21, 1680, his Lordship wrote "Observations upon the State of the Nation, in January 1712-13 2." "A Letter to Dr. Waterland;" printed at the end of Dr. Newton's Treatise on Pluralities. "The Answer of the Earl of Nottingham to Mr. Whiston's Letter to him, concerning the Eternity of the Son of God, and of the Holy Ghost." 1721. The university of Oxford, in full convocation, returned his lordship "solemn thanks" for his most noble defence of the Christian faith, &c. 3. Mr. Whiston published a reply, which ended the controversy. • This piece, which is always ascribed to his lordship, I have been assured from very good authority, was not written by him. * Vide Peerage in Winchelsea. [Daniel, the son of Heneage Finch, earl of Nottingham 4, was born in 1647, and succeeded his father in his honours and possessions. On the death of Charles the second he was one of the privy-counsellors who signed the order for proclaiming the duke of York, but kept at a distance from the court that whole reign. When the convention met on king James's abdication, he was the principal manager of the debates in favour of a regent, against setting up another king: yet he observed, that if one was made, he would be more faithful to him than those who made him could be according to their own principles. When William and Mary were advanced to the throne, though he declined the office of lord chancellor, he accepted that of secretary of state 5, in which station he continued after the accession of queen Anne, when both lords and commons voted him highly deserving the great trust her majesty reposed in him: yet he went out of office in 1704, and accepted no other till George the first came to the crown, when he was made president of the council; but in 1716 he finally retired from all business to a studious course of life, and died in 1730. "All the Finches," says Dunton", "have been famous for their wit and learning; and this noble ear] 4 See vol. iii. p. 246. 5 Macky says he was made secretary of state to oblige the church, of which he set up for a mighty champion. Char. p. 25. •Idea of a new Life, p. 425. 120 DANIEL finch, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. is a master of eloquence: yet his speeches in parliament were never known to falter with the secret glosses of double or reserved senses; and when his name is traduced (as has been the fate of the best favourites), his innocency bears him out with courage. He is a peer of strict and remarkable justice, an excellent paymaster, and a most accomplished gentleman." Macky represents him in his habit and manners very formal, with an exterior air of business, and application enough to make him very capable. His lordship's polemic compositions are unpropitious to selection.] |