REPRESENTATIVE STATESMEN.

STRAFFORD,

THE DESPOTIC MINISTER.

1593-MAY 12, 1641.

IN the study of the history of administration, it is curious to observe the different means that have been adopted for the government of mankind. Human nature is such a collection of diametrically opposite qualities-so independent, so subservient, so hard to please, so easy to flatter, a tyrant one moment, a slave the next, now austere as Cato, then lax as Alcibiades-that it is impossible to lay down any fixed rules by which the adhesion and support of a nation can be maintained. Where a man of genius fails a comparative dullard has been successful. The most opposite arts have often been employed upon the same people and under the same circumstances, yet all such arts have equally prospered. Now it is the man who rules his species

by all the social gifts of the practised courtier, a charming manner, a ready wit, and that subtle insincerity which refuses without offence and accepts without compromise. Then it is the man whom contact with the world has rendered an utter disbeliever in the purity of intention or the singleness of motive, and who maintains his stand at the helm of government with one hand holding out titles, stars, and ribbons, and with the other the bullion of the Bank of England, pure and simple. "Every man has his price," says this one, and in his cynical eyes politics is only another word for office, and the identification of one's own interest with that of the nation. Here is a statesman who is a firm believer in intrigue and a policy that seems mysterious because it is incomprehensible; another approves of wearing his heart upon his sleeve, and ignoring all secrecy; a third advocates the wiles of diplomacy and deprecates the power of the sword; a fourth prefers to rule by terrorism; the policy of a fifth is commercial and selfish; whilst the policy of a sixth is grand alliances and international interference. But from these different classes of administrators there is one who invariably stands out in bold relief to the rest of his colleagues—the man whose will is iron, whose resolve, once made up, knows of neither pause nor defeat, who is utterly indifferent to means so

long as the end be attained, whose ambition is unquenchable, and whose one political creed is the exercise of power so that it commands obedience, inspires fear, dominates over selfish interests, and stamps out individuality. Fortunately for the peace of nations, biography does not record the lives of many such, but among the number the name of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, occupies no mean position.

Strafford was born to command. The maxim, Thorough—that was his guiding-star through life— fitly represents his actions. Everything he undertook he did with his might, and knew no rest till Thorough had been accomplished. In his efforts at self-improvement, in his early parliamentary career, in his government of York, in his government of Ireland, in his fearless support of prerogative, he had but one object to fulfil to the very letter, and to the best of his ability, the work he was engaged upon. Whatever enlisted his sympathies or pandered to his policy, he threw his whole heart into. Never was he lukewarm. He was at times inconsistent : yet his advocacy, whether denouncing what he afterwards praised, or supporting what he formerly opposed, was always impassioned, earnest, and determined. His self-confidence was unmeasured. He believed that whatever course he proposed was the one best

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to be adopted. Provided the plans and schemes he suggested met with the approval of his clear judgment, he was indifferent to the opposition they encountered. They might be contrary to the law, they might be hostile to the sense of self-respect and independence of a people, they might stamp out the cherished associations of centuries, but if they seemed good in his own eyes he refused to stay his hand till the policy he set before him had been carried out. In his character the love of power had reached its culminating point. What wealth and honours were to other men, authority was to Strafford. To be in a position of command, to have his instructions implicitly obeyed, to receive the homage of fear and flattery, to stand alone the sole depository of power, the one responsible agent, the ruler from whom all received their orders-these he loved, these were the ends of his ambition. Save from the King he brooked neither control nor interference, and those who crossed his path found in him an enemy as pitiless as a Richelieu or a Napoleon. If he could not be Cæsar he would be Cæsar's first lieutenant, and none should dare oust him from the post.

The outward man was a true index of the character within. His figure was tall and stately, held erect with the haughty consciousness of power. The face, though far from handsome, would be remembered