Page:Men of Kent and Kentishmen.djvu/60

 Charles II. he was made a baronet, and was rapidly promoted till he reached the high position of Lord Keeper, with a peerage. In 1675 he became Lord Chancellor, and in 1681 was created Earl of Nottingham, but died in the following year. He was a man of great wisdom and eloquence, and of such distinguished prudence that he obtained and retained at once the good will of the court and the country. He is the character represented as Amri in "Dryden's Absolom and Achitophel"; and for his powers of oratory he acquired the name of the English Roscius and Cicero. Some of his speeches have been published. His son, Daniel, born in 1647, became the second Earl, and was a distinguished statesman in the time of William III.

[See "Wood's Athenæ Oxon," by Bliss, "Parliamentary History," "Burnet's Own Times."]

HENRY FINCH,

LAWYER,

Of the same family as the preceding was Henry Finch, sergeant-at-law in the reign of James I., by whom he was knighted. He was a native of Kent, and educated at Oxford, and Gray's Inn. He was a lawyer of learning and reputation, and wrote a treatise on Common Law, entitled "Nomotechnia," 1613. He died in 1625.

[Besides the above Finches, there were several other members of the family, all Kentish men, and more or less distinguished. There was a Sir Heneage Finch, who was