76

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

chap.

VII.

1687 .

Notting-

ham.

than eight years had elapsed since Danby had fallen frompower, his name was still great among the old Cavaliers ofEngland; and many even of those Whigs who had formerlypersecuted him were now disposed to admit that he had suf-fered for faults not his own, and that his zeal for the prero-gative, though it had often misled him, had been temperedby two feelings which did him honour, zeal for the establishedreligion, and zeal for the dignity and independence of hiscountry. He was also highly esteemed at the Hague, whereit was never forgotten that he was the person who, in spite ofthe influence of France and of the Papists, had inducedCharles to bestow the hand of the Lady Mary on her cousin.

Daniel Finch, Earl of Nottingham, a nobleman whosename will frequently recur in the history of three eventfulreigns, sprang from a family of unrivalled forensic eminence.One of his kinsmen had borne the seal of Charles the First, hadprostituted eminent parts and learning to evil purposes, andhad been pursued by the vengeance of the Commons of Eng-land with Falkland at their h ead. A more honourable renownhad in the succeeding generation been obtained by HeneageFinch. He had immediately after the Restoration been ap-pointed Solicitor General. He had subsequently risen to beAttorney General, Lord Keeper, Lord Chancellor, BaronFinch, and Earl of Nottingham. Through this prosperouscareer he had always held the prerogative as high as he ho-nestly or decently could; but he had never been concernedin any machinations against the fundamental laws of the realm.In the midst of a corrupt court he had kept his personal inte-grity unsullied. He had enjoyed high fame as an orator,though his diction, formed on models anterior to the civilwars, was, towards the close of his life, pronounced stiff andpedantic by the wits of the rising generation. In WestminsterHall he is still mentioned with respect as the man who firsteduced out of the chaos anciently called by the name of equitya new system of jurisprudence, as regular and complete asthat which is administered by the Judges of the CommonLaw.* A considerable part of the moral and intellectual* See Lord Campbell’s Life of him.