DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65478#0131
members of the King’s Cabal met within its walls. The chairs which
they used are large arm-chairs, high-backed, wide-seated, and softly
cushioned. The chairs are covered with rich Genoa velvet in red, white,
and green, and in the centre of the room is a beautiful table elaborately
carved, and supported by four carved female figures. The floor is of
parquet, inlaid in intricate patterns, and in the design the monogram
E. D. L. is frequently repeated, surmounted by a ducal coronet.1 The
ceiling of the Cabal Room is richly worked in white plaster, with a very
thick oval-shaped wreath of laurel leaves in the centre.
It may be well to insert Lord Macaulay’s opinion of the five men
who, as members of the Cabal, met in this beautiful room.
“Sir Thomas Clifford was a Commissioner of the Treasury, and
had greatly distinguished himself in the House of Commons. Of the
members of the Cabal he was the most respectable. For, with a fiery
and imperious temper he had a strong, though a lamentably perverted
sense of duty and honour.
“ Henry Bennett, Lord Arlington, then Secretary of State, had,
since he came to manhood, resided principally on the Continent, and had
there learned that cosmopolitan indifference to constitutions and rights
which is often observable in persons whose life has been passed in vagrant
diplomacy. If there was any form of government which he liked, it was
that of France: if there was any church for which he felt a preference it
was that of Rome. . . .
“ Buckingham was a sated man of pleasure, who had turned to am-
bition as a pastime. ... He had already, rather from fickleness and love
of novelty than from any deep design, been faithless to every party. . . .
He was now again a courtier, and was eager to win the favour of the
King. . . .
“Ashley, with a far stronger head, and with a far fiercer and more
earnest ambition, had been equally versatile. But Ashley’s versatility was
the effect not of levity but of deliberate selfishness. He had served and
betrayed a succession of governments. But he had timed all his transac-
tions so well that through all revolutions his fortunes had been constantly
• • ”2
rising.
Lauderdale’s character has been sufficiently shown in the earlier
portion of this volume. It need only be added here that Lord Macaulay
1 This was the monogram of Elizabeth, Coun-
tess of Dysart in her own right, Duchess of
Lauderdale by her marriage.
2 Macaulay’s History of England, vol. i.,
p. 2 12.
43
they used are large arm-chairs, high-backed, wide-seated, and softly
cushioned. The chairs are covered with rich Genoa velvet in red, white,
and green, and in the centre of the room is a beautiful table elaborately
carved, and supported by four carved female figures. The floor is of
parquet, inlaid in intricate patterns, and in the design the monogram
E. D. L. is frequently repeated, surmounted by a ducal coronet.1 The
ceiling of the Cabal Room is richly worked in white plaster, with a very
thick oval-shaped wreath of laurel leaves in the centre.
It may be well to insert Lord Macaulay’s opinion of the five men
who, as members of the Cabal, met in this beautiful room.
“Sir Thomas Clifford was a Commissioner of the Treasury, and
had greatly distinguished himself in the House of Commons. Of the
members of the Cabal he was the most respectable. For, with a fiery
and imperious temper he had a strong, though a lamentably perverted
sense of duty and honour.
“ Henry Bennett, Lord Arlington, then Secretary of State, had,
since he came to manhood, resided principally on the Continent, and had
there learned that cosmopolitan indifference to constitutions and rights
which is often observable in persons whose life has been passed in vagrant
diplomacy. If there was any form of government which he liked, it was
that of France: if there was any church for which he felt a preference it
was that of Rome. . . .
“ Buckingham was a sated man of pleasure, who had turned to am-
bition as a pastime. ... He had already, rather from fickleness and love
of novelty than from any deep design, been faithless to every party. . . .
He was now again a courtier, and was eager to win the favour of the
King. . . .
“Ashley, with a far stronger head, and with a far fiercer and more
earnest ambition, had been equally versatile. But Ashley’s versatility was
the effect not of levity but of deliberate selfishness. He had served and
betrayed a succession of governments. But he had timed all his transac-
tions so well that through all revolutions his fortunes had been constantly
• • ”2
rising.
Lauderdale’s character has been sufficiently shown in the earlier
portion of this volume. It need only be added here that Lord Macaulay
1 This was the monogram of Elizabeth, Coun-
tess of Dysart in her own right, Duchess of
Lauderdale by her marriage.
2 Macaulay’s History of England, vol. i.,
p. 2 12.
43