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 THE FIRST EARL OF SALISBURY 215

words) accused him of "an artificial animating of the negative." : He realised, of course, that James would welcome some disparagement of his late minister, being tired of his restraining influence.

Salisbury's unpopularity at Court is, indeed, easily accounted for. Amid the general corrup- tion and venality, when all men were bent on their own advancement and profit, he alone went on his way with a single eye to the good of his King and country. The main source of patronage, he naturally incurred the hatred of all disappointed placemen. Moreover, his power and position earned him the envy of those who felt that they were entitled to share them. He was incapable of inspiring the almost universal reverence paid to his father, and he had not the strength or force of character to overcome the backbiting malevolence of his enemies. Courteous and affable as he was to all, he concealed his real feelings, so that even those who knew him well were often doubtful whether they under- stood him, and were suspicious in consequence.

Though not in the front rank of statesmen, he was eminently the right man in the right place, and he succeeded where a more brilliant man would probably have failed. He lacked creative imagination, and initiated no great policy ; he left behind him no followers, being out of sympathy with the rising generation. But his skill as an administrator, his power of mastering details, his

1 Spedding, IV. 371, 381.

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