- John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale
John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane (
May 24 ,1616 ,Lethington ,East Lothian - 1682), was a Scottish politician, and leader within theCabal Ministry .Background
He was a member of an ancient family of both
Berwickshire andEast Lothian , the eldest surviving son of John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), (who had been createdViscount of Lauderdale in 1616, andEarl of Lauderdale etc., in 1624), and of Lady Isabel (1594-1638), daughter ofAlexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline and great-grandson of SirRichard Maitland ofLethington , the poet.Covenanter
Maitland began
public life as a zealous adherent of thePresbyterian cause, took theCovenant , sat as an elder in theGeneral Assembly of the Church of Scotland atSt Andrews in July 1643, and was sent to theKingdom of England as aCommissioner forthe Covenant in August, and to attend theWestminster Assembly in November.Privy Councillor in two kingdoms
In February 1644 he was a member of the
Privy Council of England and thePrivy Council of Scotland , and onNovember 20 was one of the Commissioners appointed to treat with the king atUxbridge , when he made efforts to persuade King Charles I to agree to the establishment of Presbyterianism. In 1645 he advised Charles to reject the proposals of Independents, and in 1647 approved of the king'ssurrender to the Scots.Restoration
At this period Lauderdale veered round completely to the king's cause, had several interviews with him, and engaged in various projects for his restoration, offering the aid of the Scots, on the condition of Charles's consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism, and on
December 26 he obtained from Charles atCarisbrooke Castle "The Engagement" by which Presbyterianism was to be established for three years,schismatics were to be suppressed, and theActs of the Parliament of Scotland ratified, the king in addition promising to admit the Scottishnobles into public employment inEngland and to reside frequently in Scotland.Returning to Scotland, in the spring of 1648, Lauderdale joined the party of Hamilton in alliance with the
English royalists . Their defeat atPreston postponed the arrival of thePrince of Wales , but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince inthe Downs in August, and from this period obtained supreme influence over the future king. He persuaded him later to accept the invitation to Scotland from theArgyll faction, accompanied him thither in 1650 and in the expedition into England, and was taken prisoner atWorcester in 1651, remaining in confinement till March 1660.Just before the restoration, he joined Charles in May 1660 at Breda, the
Netherlands , and in spite of the opposition ofEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon andGeorge Monck , was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland.King's councillor
From this time onwards he kept his hold upon the king, was lodged at
Whitehall , was "never from the king's ear nor council," and maintained his position against his numerous adversaries by a crafty dexterity in dealing with men, a fearless unscrupulousness, and a robust strength of will, which overcame all opposition. Though a man of considerable learning and intellectual attainment, his character was exceptionally and grossly licentious, and his base and ignoble career was henceforward unrelieved by a single redeeming feature.He abandoned Argyll to his fate, permitted, if he did not assist in, the restoration of
episcopacy in Scotland, and after triumphing over all his opponents in Scotland drew into his own hands the whole administration of that kingdom, and proceeded to impose upon it the absolute supremacy of the crown inkirk andstate , restoring the nomination of thelords of the articles to the king and initiating severe measures against theCovenanters . In 1669 he was able to boast with truth that "the king is now master here in all causes and over all persons."The Cabal Ministry
His own power was now at its height, and his position as the
favourite of Charles, controlled by no considerations ofpatriotism orstatesmanship , and completely independent of theEnglish parliament , recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the Stuart administration before theEnglish Civil War .He was a member of the
Cabal Ministry, but took little part inEnglish affairs , and was not entrusted with the first secretTreaty of Dover , but gave personal support to Charles in his degrading demands forpension s from Louis XIV. OnMay 2 1672 he was createdDuke of Lauderdale andEarl of March , and onJune 3 Knight of the Garter. He was also appointedLord President of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1672, a position he held until 1681.In 1673, on the resignation of James in consequence of the
Test Act , he was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. In October he visited Scotland to suppress thedissenters and obtain money for theThird Anglo-Dutch War . The Intrigues organised byAnthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury , against his power in his absence, and the attacks made upon him in the House of Commons in January 1674 and April 1675, were alike rendered futile by the steady support of Charles and James.On the 25th of June 1674 he was created
Earl of Guilford andBaron Petersham in thePeerage of England . His ferocious measures having failed to suppress theconventicles in Scotland, be summoned to his aid in 1677 a band of Highlanders, who were sent into the western country. In consequence, a large party ofScottish nobles went toLondon , made common cause with the English Country Faction, and compelled Charles to order the disbandment of themarauder s. In May 1678 another demand by the Commons for Lauderdale's removal was thrown out bycourt influence by one vote.He maintained his triumphs almost to the end. In Scotland, which he visited immediately after this victory in the Parliament of England, he overbore all opposition to the king's demands for money. Another address for his removal from the Commons in England was suppressed by the
dissolution of parliament onMay 26 1679 , and a renewed attack upon him, by theScottish party andShaftesbury 's faction combined, also failed.On
June 22 1679 the last attempt of the unfortunate Covenanters was suppressed at theBattle of Bothwell Brig .tripped of office
In 1680, however, failing health obliged Lauderdale to resign the place and power for which he had so long successfully struggled. His vote given for the execution of Lord Stafford on
November 29 is said also to have incurred the displeasure of James. In 1682 he was stripped of all his offices, and he died in August. Lauderdale married (1)Lady Anne Home , daughter of the 1stEarl of Home , by whom he had one daughter; and (2) Lady Elizabeth Tollemache, daughter of the 1stEarl of Dysart and widow of SirLionel Tollemache . He left nomale issue , consequently hisdukedom and hisEnglish titles became extinct, but he was succeeded in theearldom by his brotherCharles Maitland, 3rd Earl of Lauderdale .References
"Lauderdale Papers Add. manuscipts in Brit. Mus.", 30 vols., a small selection of which, entitled "The Lauderdale Papers", were edited by Osmond Airy for the
Camden Society in 1884-1885; "Hamilton Papers" published by the same society; "Lauderdale Correspondence with Archbishop Sharp," Scottish Hist. Soc. Publications, vol. 5 (1893); Burnet's "Lives of the Hamiltons and History of his Own Time"; R Baillie's "Letters"; SR Gardiner's "Hist. of the Civil War and of the Commonwealth"; Clarendon's "Hist. of the Rebellion"; and the "Quarterly Review", civii. 407. Several speeches of Lauderdale are extant.ee also
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