Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/85

Clifford 4th Rep. 233, 6th Rep. 333 b). During the spring of 1666 Clifford was at Ugbrooke, but shortly after was again with the fleet. He was on a visit to Arlington at Euston when the guns were heard off Harwich. Along with Ossory he rode thither with all haste, and on 2 June went off with him in a small armed shallop to join Albemarle. On the 6th he sent a long account from the fleet to Arlington of the great four days' battle, ending it by saying that he 'would not have missed seeing the fight for half I was worth' (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1665). He stayed with the fleet until the action of 25 July, in which he took part, and of which he again sends an account. He had previously (1 July) been recommended by Rupert to the king for early promotion. He left the fleet and came to London, but immediately returned (5 Aug.) with instructions to the admirals, whom he reached on the 13th. On the 20th he was again 'ashore, and very active in the king's affairs,' was at Southwold on the 21st looking after the sick and wounded, and had again joined the fleet on 11 Sept. (ib.) It is at this time that Pepys mentions him as 'a very fine gentleman, and much set by at court for his activity in going to sea, and stoutness everywhere, and stirring up and down' (17 Sept. 1666). On 8 Nov. he was appointed comptroller of the household, on the death of Sir Hugh Pollard, and on 5 Dec. was placed on the privy council for 'his singular zeal, wherein he had on all occasions merited in his majesty's service, and more eminently in the honourable dangers in the then late war against the Dutch and French, where he had been all along a constant actor, and, as it was observed, had made it his choice to take his share in the warmest part of these services.' Upon the death of Southampton, in 1667, Clifford was placed on the commission of the treasury, though he had, according to Pepys (28 April 1667), 'little learning, more than the law of a justice of peace, which he knows well,' and on 14 June 1668, on the death of Lord Fitzhardinge, was made treasurer of the household, a post he obtained through the influence of Arlington, to whom he wrote 'with such submissions and professions of his patronage as I had never seen any more acknowledging' (, Diary, 18 Aug. 1673). On 25 Oct. 1667 he had been one of those who were requested by the commons to prepare, for the committee of investigation, all papers concerning the operations of the fleet in the war. He appears now to have been active in parliament, though his recorded speeches are few. He of course spoke always in the interest of the court ; on 18 Feb. 1668 against the bill for frequent parliaments ; on 16 Feb. 1670 against doubly assessing members of parliament for non-attendance ; and on 13 Jan. 1670 against the malicious maiming and wounding bill which followed the outrage on Sir John Coventry. In 1669 the Dutch war was brought to an end by the triple alliance. This treaty was regarded by Clifford with the greatest dislike. He was an ardent catholic, in sympathy if not in name, and looked to the help of France for the securing of toleration for that creed. He was, moreover, a vehement royalist, and hated the Dutch republic. Scarcely was the treaty concluded when Charles, who deeply regretted having been forced into it, began an intrigue with France to break through it, and Clifford, who was entirely in his confidence, and who had already openly expressed his own and his master's hopes, eagerly joined (, Memoirs, i. 37). His position as one of the members of the famous cabal is clearly defined. It was a toleration cabinet, but with very different views. Buckingham and Ashley were protestant, Lauderdale was merely the king's personal adherent, Arlington was, or was supposed to be, a catholic [see ], but, through his marriage, with Dutch sympathies. Clifford, in turn, was zealous for religious freedom joined with royal despotism. His contempt of constitutional trammels is shown by his advice to Charles, rather to be in slavery to one man, meaning Louis, than to five hundred. It was now that he began to show his enthusiasm for popery, and it was now too that Pepys noted his 'folly, ambition, and desire of popularity, rudeness of tongue and passions when angry;' though it must be remembered that this description was given shortly after Clifford had expressed himself in no measured terms as to the want of method in the admiralty office (Diary, 12 Feb. and 1 March 1669). Meanwhile the Duke of York, with whom Clifford was intimate, had declared his 'conversion ;' and on 25 Jan. 1669 Charles held a secret conference with the duke, Arundel, Clifford, and Arlington ; declared himself a catholic, and asked for advice as to how best to avow his conversion publicly and establish Roman Catholicism in England. In the intrigues which were subsequently begun with France, and which led up to the famous treaty of Dover in June 1670, Clifford was closely engaged, being named as one of the commissioners to conclude the affair with Colbert, the French ambassador, in which capacity he placed his signature to the treaty when finally arranged. And, in pursuance of his hatred against the Dutch, he urgently advised Charles to fulfil the condition