Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 22.djvu/327

Graham also sat in James's only parliament, having been elected one of the members for Carlisle, Cumberland, on 19 March 1684-5. The great silver-gilt mace which he presented to the borough in February 1685-6 is still in the possession of the corporation. Graham purchased of Allan Bellingham about 1687 the manor of Levens, near Kendal, Westmoreland. Graham had the special confidence of James II. Besides accompanying the king to Rochester, 18 Dec. 1688, and assisting him liberally with money, he secured on his return the royal plate in the 'privy lodgings,' and looked after James's shares in the East India and Guinea companies. In disposing of these shares he lost heavily, for, as he himself states, at the end of 1691, when 'he was under some trouble,' he was by a decree in the exchequer made accountable for the whole, and ordered to refund (Some Records of the Ashtead Estate, pp. 90-1). Part of Graham's duties as privy purse was to provide 'healing medals' for those who were touched for the king's evil, and as late as 1703 he was called upon to repay 1,250l. On his petitioning against this demand the queen commanded on 19 April 'the 1,250l. imprested to be discharged by a tally' (Cal. State Papers, Treas. 1702-7, pp. 97, 142). Graham contrived to win to some extent the good graces of William III. Though fresh from a visit to James at St. Germain, he was allowed to visit his brother, Richard, viscount Preston [q. v.], when confined in the Tower on a charge of high treason in May 1689, 'as often as he had occasion.' William, however, refused to believe in his sincerity, when in July 1690 he offered, through Lord Nottingham, to take the oaths of allegiance. Graham said that though 'he had done all he could to serve King James,' he would now be a faithful subject, as James was past helping, and would reveal anything he might hear about French designs, though he declined either to mention names or to offer himself as evidence (Letter of Lord Nottingham to William III, 15 July 1690, in Dalrymple, Memoirs, Appendix). Graham resented the king's mistrust. On 1 Jan. 1690-1 his brother, Lord Preston, was seized when on his way to France with treasonable papers in his possession. Diligent search was forthwith made for Graham; on 6 Feb. a proclamation was issued against him; and in May the attorney-general received orders to prosecute him 'to the outlawry for high treason' (, ii. 162, 172, 230). Though in February 1691-2 he received the king's pardon (ib. ii. 356), he continued his visits to James. He also commenced an agitation in Scotland, where his influence was considerable. The freedom of Edinburgh had been presented to him in 1679, and that of Stirling and Linlithgow in 1681. He visited Edinburgh for the purpose of conferring with several well-known Jacobites on 12 March 1691-2, and in the evening embarked from Leith for France in company with General Buchan and Brigadier Cannon (ib. ii. 396). A careful watch had in the meantime been set on his movements. He narrowly escaped being arrested by two messengers at his residence in Norfolk Street, London, on 26 April, when in the very act of superintending the removal of money and plate for transmission to James (ib. ii. 434). Another proclamation was in consequence issued for his arrest on 10 May, and on 1 June he surrendered to the secretary of state, and was committed to the custody of a messenger (ib. ii. 448, 469). He was, however, admitted to bail (see ib. ii. 627). On 3 March 1696 he was again arrested on the discovery of the infamous 'assassination plot,' and sent to the Fleet (ib. iv. 24), where he was visited on 6 April by Evelyn (Diary, ii. 340), but soon released. On the advice of his brother Fergus, who had fled the country, he settled quietly at Levens, and became ultimately one of the most popular men in the county, though still maintaining a correspondence with Jacobite friends. His hospitality was unbounded. Bishop Ken was a frequent visitor at Levens; the room he occupied there being to this day called the 'bishop's room.' He was called upon to help many of his party. Monsieur Beaumont, the gardener of James II and the designer of the grounds at Hampton Court, was for many years in Graham's service at Levens. Its gardens, which he enlarged and laid out in the stiff 'topiary' style then in fashion, still remain in their original state.

In September 1701 Graham took the oaths to the government (, v. 95), and in the following year was elected M.P. for Appleby, Westmoreland, which he continued to represent in the parliaments of 1705 and 1707. It is not improbable that he was soon offered a post under government, which, though his fortunes were sadly reduced, his principles would not allow him to accept. Luttrell, under date of 18 April 1704, reports that Graham 'stood fair' to succeed William Duncombe, deceased, as comptroller of the accounts of the army (ib. v. 414). On the death of his eldest son, Henry (1706-7), he succeeded him in the representation of Westmoreland at the general election in 1708, and again at the elections of 1710,1713,1714, and 1722. At the general election of November 1727 he retired from public life (Lists of Rh