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 vived for his benefit (8 May 1638, Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1638, p. 422). He was commissioner for the granting of licenses for the export of butter, for the regulation of the manufacture of gold and silver thread, and chief among the persons to whom on 16 March 1636 the tobacco monopoly was granted (ib. 1635 p. 282, 1636 p. 178;, Fœdera, xx. 116; Verney Papers, p. 184). Osborne describes him as the leader of the monopolists; ‘because there must be some great man (as a captain-projector) to lead some on and hearten others, Sir George Goring leads up the march and dance with the monopoly of tobacco and licensing of taverns, setting some up, where and as many as he pleased, and this done by a seal appendicular to an office erected by him for that purpose, as if authorised by a law; besides all this he hath pensions out of the pretermitted customs; insomuch as I have heard it most credibly reported that his revenue was 9,000l. per annum all of these kinds’ (Secret History of the Court of James I, ii. 41).

Goring was appointed to the privy council 25 Aug. 1639 (, iii. 967). On the approach of the first Scotch war Goring engaged himself to raise a hundred horse for the king's service, and he was also one of the five lords through whom the king attempted in October 1640 to raise a loan from the city (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1638–9, p. 378; 1640–1, p. 133). The meeting of the Long parliament, however, put a period to Goring's prosperity. The monopoly of tobacco was abolished, and he also lost money which he had advanced to the king on the security of the customs. His income, which was estimated at 26,000l. a year in 1641, was freely spent in the king's service (ib. 1663–4, p. 6). His younger son, who was finishing his education in Paris, was recalled to England to enter the king's army. ‘Had I millions of crowns or scores of sons,’ wrote Goring to his wife, ‘the king and his cause should have them all, with better will than to eat if I were starving. … I had all from his majesty, and he hath all again’ (ib. 1644, pp. 110, 261). Goring accompanied the queen to Holland in February 1642, assisted her to raise money for the king's service, followed her back to England in the next spring, and took part in an unsuccessful attack on Leeds in April 1643 (Letters of Henrietta Maria, ed. Green, pp. 50, 84, 190). Letters from Goring relating to the war in Yorkshire and the queen's journey to Oxford are printed by Rushworth (v. 270) and in Warburton's ‘Prince Rupert’ (ii. 172, 181). Towards the end of 1643 Goring was sent ambassador to France to negotiate for a French alliance, and received from Mazarin promises of aid both in arms and money. The letter in which he announced his success to the queen was intercepted by the parliament, and he was promptly impeached for high treason (10 Jan. 1644, Old Parliamentary History, xiii. 17;, History of the Great Civil War, i. 320). Charles rewarded Goring's zeal by raising him to the title of Earl of Norwich (28 Nov. 1644), which had lately become extinct by the death of his uncle, Edward Denny (, ix. 457, 459;, Oxford Docquet, p. 235).

Goring played a leading part in the second civil war. He had come over to England at the end of 1647 ‘under a pass from the parliament, and upon pretence of making his composition.’ According to Clarendon it was from the Earl of Holland that Goring received a commission to command the forces of Kent, and lead them wherever the king's service should make requisite (Rebellion, xi. 39). According to another account the commissioners of the Kentish cavaliers, weary of disputing over the choice of a general, offered the command to Goring, who happened to be accidentally passing through their quarters (, Relation of that honourable as unfortunate Expedition of Kent, Essex, and Colchester, 1648, pp. 82, 86, Colchester reprint n. d.). He was proclaimed general on 30 May in a rendezvous on Barham Down. Clarendon attributes the failure of the rising partly to the defects of Goring's leadership and lack of experience. ‘The earl was a man fitter to have drawn such a body together by his frolic and pleasant humour, which reconciled people of all constitutions wonderfully to him, than to form and conduct them towards any enterprise’ (Rebellion, xi. 55). Carter, who acted as quartermaster-general under Goring, admits his inexperience, but praises his prudence, his courage, and his indefatigable energy, and throughout defends his conduct. The Kentish levies were defeated by Fairfax at Maidstone on 1 June, and Goring then marched on London, hoping to be joined by the royalists of Surrey and of the city. But the city made no movement, and the common council forwarded his letters unopened to the parliament (Commons' Journals, 3 June). Goring then crossed over into Essex to examine into the preparations of the cavaliers of that county, leaving his forces encamped in Greenwich Park till his return. Without waiting for orders they followed him, and Goring, finding very little support from the men of Essex, endeavoured to hold out in Colchester until help came (12 June). A declaration, published by Goring and his associates, is reprinted by Carter (p. 161). In August starvation obliged the garrison to surrender.