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1ST EARL OF ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER SHA...

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 763 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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1ST See also:

EARL OF See also:ANTHONY See also:ASHLEY See also:COOPER See also:SHAFTESBURY (1621-1683)  , son of See also:Sir See also:John See also:Cooper of Rockbourne in See also:Hampshire, and of See also:Anne, the only See also:child of Sir See also:Anthony See also:Ashley, See also:Bart., and was See also:born at See also:Wimborne St See also:Giles, See also:Dorset, on the 22nd of See also:July 1621 . His parents died before he was ten years of See also:age, and he inherited extensive estates in Hampshire, See also:Wiltshire, See also:Dorsetshire and See also:Somersetshire, much reduced, however, by litigation in See also:Chancery . He lived for some See also:time with Sir See also:Daniel See also:Norton, one of his trustees, at Southwick, and upon his See also:death in 1635 with Mr Tooker, an See also:uncle by See also:marriage, at See also:Salisbury . In 1637 he went as a See also:gentleman-commoner to See also:Exeter See also:College, See also:Oxford, where he remained about a See also:year . No See also:record of his studies is to be found, but he has See also:left an amusing See also:account of his See also:part in the wilder doings of the university See also:life of that See also:day, in which, in spite of his small stature, he was recognized by his See also:fellows as their See also:leader . At the age of eighteen, on the 25th of See also:February 1639, he married See also:Margaret, daughter of See also:Lord See also:Coventry, with whom he and his wife lived at See also:Durham See also:House in the Strand, and at Canonbury House in See also:Islington . In See also:Marcy 164o, though still a See also:minor, he was elected for See also:Tewkesbury, and sat in the See also:parliament which met on the 13th of See also:April, but appears to have taken no active part in its proceedings . In 164o Lord Coventry died, and Cooper then lived with his See also:brother-in-See also:law at See also:Dorchester I-Iouse in Covent See also:Garden . For the See also:Long Parliament, which met on the 3rd of See also:November 164o, he was elected for Downton in Wiltshire, but the return was disputed, and he did not take his seat—his See also:election not being declared valid until the last days of the Rump . He was See also:present as a spectator at the setting up of the See also:king's See also:standard at See also:Nottingham on the 25th of See also:August 1642; and in 1643 he appeared openly on See also:Charles's See also:side in Dorsetshire, where he raised at his own expense a See also:regiment of See also:foot and a See also:troop of See also:horse, of both of which he took the command . He was also appointed See also:governor of See also:Weymouth, See also:sheriff of Dorsetshire for the king and See also:president of the king's See also:council of See also:war in the See also:county . In the beginning of See also:January 1644, however, for reasons which are variously reported by himself and See also:Clarendon, he resigned his governorship and commissions and went over to the parliament .

He appeared on the 6th of See also:

March before the See also:standing See also:committee of the two Houses to explain his conduct, when he stated that he had come over because he saw danger to the See also:Protestant See also:religion in the king's service, and expressed his willingness to take the See also:Covenant . In July 1644 he went to Dorsetshire on military service, and on the 3rd of August received a See also:commission as See also:field-See also:marshal See also:general . He assisted at the taking of See also:Wareham, and shortly afterwards compounded for his estates by a See also:fine of £500 from which, however, he was after-wards relieved by See also:Cromwell . On the 25th of See also:October he was made See also:commander-in-See also:chief in Dorsetshire, and in November he took by See also:storm Abbotsbury, the house of Sir John Strangways —an affair in which he appears to have shown considerable See also:personal gallantry . In See also:December he relieved See also:Taunton . His military service terminated at the time of the Self-denying See also:Ordinance in 1645; he had associated himself with the Presbyterian See also:faction, and naturally enough was not included in the New See also:Model . For the next seven or eight years he lived in See also:comparative privacy . He was high sheriff of Wiltshire during 1647, and displayed much vigour in this See also:office . Upon the See also:execution of Charles, Cooper took the Engagement, and was a See also:commissioner to administer it in Dorsetshire . On the 25th of April 165o, he married See also:Lady Frances See also:Cecil, See also:sister of the See also:earl of See also:Essex, his first wife having died in the previous year leaving no See also:family . In 1651 a son was born to him, who died in childhood, and on the 16th of January 1652, another son, named after himself, who was his See also:heir . On the 17th of January he was named on the commission for law reform, of which See also:Hale was the chief; and on the 17th of March 1653, he was pardoned of all delinquency and thus at last made capable of sitting in parliament .

He sat for Wiltshire in the Barebones parliament, of which he was a leading member, and where he supported Cromwell's views against the extreme See also:

section . He was at once appointed on the council of See also:thirty . On the resignation of this parliament he became a member of the council of See also:state named in the See also:Instrument." In the first parliament elected under this " Instrument " he sat for Wiltshire, having been elected also for See also:Poole and Tewkesbury, and was one of the commissioners for the ejection of unworthy ministers . After the 28th of December 1654, he left the privy council, and henceforward is found with the Presbyterians and Republicans in opposition to Cromwell . His second wife had died during this year; in 1656 he married a third, who survived him, Margaret, daughter of Lord See also:Spencer, niece of the earl of See also:Southampton, and sister of the earl of See also:Sunderland, who died at See also:Newbury . By his three marriages he was thus connected with many of the leading politicians of Charles II.'s reign . Cooper was again elected for Wiltshire for the parliament of 1656, but Cromwell refused to allow him, with many others of his opponents, to sit . He signed a See also:letter of complaint, with sixty-five excluded members, to the See also:speaker, as also a " Remonstrance " addressed to the See also:people . In the parliament which met on the loth of January 1658, he took his seat, and was active in opposition to the new constitution of the two Houses . He was also a leader of the opposition in See also:Richard Cromwell's parliament, especially on the See also:matter of the See also:limitation of the See also:power of the See also:protector, and against the House of Lords . He was throughout these debates celebrated for the " See also:nervous and subtle See also:oratory " which made him so formidable in after days . Upon the replacing of the Rump by the See also:army, after the breaking up of Richard's parliament, Cooper endeavoured unsuccessfully to take his seat on the ground of his former disputed election for Downton .

He was, however, elected on the council of state, and was the only Presbyterian in it; he was at once accused by See also:

Scot, along with See also:Whitelocke, of corresponding with See also:Hyde . This he solemnly denied . After the rising in See also:Cheshire Cooper was arrested in Dorsetshire on a See also:charge of corresponding with its leader See also:Booth, but on the matter being investigated by the council he was unanimously acquitted . In the disputes between See also:Lambert at the See also:head of the military party and the Rump in See also:union with the council of state, he supported the latter, and upon the temporary supremacy of Lambert's party worked indefatigably to restore the Rump . With See also:Monk's commissioners he, with Haselrig, had a fruitless See also:conference, but he assured Monk of his co-operation, and joined with eight others of the overthrown council of state in naming him commander-in-chief of the forces of See also:England and See also:Scotland . He was instrumental in securing the See also:Tower for the parliament, and in obtaining the See also:adhesion of See also:Admiral See also:Lawson and the See also:fleet . Upon the restoration of the parliament on the 26th of December Cooper was one of the commissioners to command the army, and on the 2nd of January was made one of the new council of state . On the 7th of January he took his seat on his election for Downton in 1640, and was made See also:colonel of Fleetwoods regiment of horse . He speedily secured the See also:admission of the secluded members, having mean-while been in continual communication with Monk, was again one of the fresh council of state, consisting entirely of See also:friends of the Restoration, and accepted from Monk a commission to be governor of the Isle of See also:Wight and See also:captain of a See also:company of foot . He now steadily pursued the See also:design of the Restoration, but with-out holding any private See also:correspondence with the king, and only on terms similar to those proposed in 1648 to Charles I. at the Isle of Wight . In the See also:Convention parliament he sat for Wiltshire . Monk cut See also:short these deliberations and forced on the Restoration without See also:condition .

Cooper was one of the twelve commissioners who went to Charles at See also:

Breda to invite him to return . On his See also:journey he was upset from his See also:carriage, and the See also:accident caused an See also:internal See also:abscess which was never cured . Cooper was at once placed on the privy council, receiving also a formal See also:pardon for former delinquencies . His first See also:duty was to examine the Anabaptist prisoners in the Tower . In the prolonged discussions regarding the See also:Bill of See also:Indemnity he was instrumental in saving the life of Haselrig, and opposed the clause compelling all See also:officers who had served under Cromwell to refund their salaries, he himself never having had any . He showed in-See also:deed none of the avaricious See also:temper so See also:common among the politicians of the time . He was one of the commissioners for conducting the trials of the regicides, but was himself vehemently " fallen upon " by See also:Prynne for having acted with Cromwell . He was named on the council of plantations and on that of See also:trade . In the debate abolishing the See also:court of wards he spoke, like most landed proprietors, in favour of laying the See also:burden on the See also:excise instead of on the See also:land, and on the question of the restoration of the bishops carried in the interests of the court an See also:adjournment of the debate for three months . At the See also:coronation in April 1661 Cooper had been made a peer, as See also:Baron Ashley of Wimborne St Giles, in See also:express recognition of his services at the Restoration; and on the See also:meeting of the new parliament in May he was appointed See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer and under-treasurer, aided no doubt by his connexion with Southampton . He vehemently opposed the persecuting acts now passed—the See also:Corporation See also:Act, the Uniformity Bill, against which he is said to have spoken three See also:hundred times, and the See also:Militia Act . He is stated also to have influenced the king in issuing his dispensing See also:declaration of the 26th of December 1662, and he zealously supported a bill introduced for the purpose of confirming the declaration, rising thereby in favour and See also:influence with Charles .

He washimself the author of a See also:

treatise on tolerance . He was now recognized as one of the chief opponents of Clarendon and the High See also:Anglican policy . On the breaking out of the Dutch War in 1664 he was made treasurer of the prizes, being accountable to the king alone for all sums received or spent . He was also one of the grantees of the See also:province of Carolina and took a leading part in its management; it was at his See also:request that See also:Locke in 166g See also:drew up a constitution for the new See also:colony . In See also:September 1665 the king unexpectedly paid him a visit at Wimborne . He opposed unsuccessfully the See also:appropriation proviso introduced into the See also:supply bill as hindering the due See also:administration of See also:finance, and this opposition seems to have brought about a reconciliation with Clarendon . In 1668, however, he supported a bill to appoint commissioners to examine the accounts of the Dutch War, though in the previous year he had opposed it . In accordance with his former See also:action on all questions of religious See also:toleration he opposed the shameful Five Mile Act of 1665 . In 1667 he supported the bill for prohibiting the importation of Irish See also:cattle, on the ground that it would See also:lead to a See also:great fall of rents in England . Ashley was himself a large landowner, and, moreover, was opposed to See also:Ormonde, who would have benefited by the importation . In all other questions of this See also:kind he shows himself far in advance of the economic fallacies of the day . His action led to an altercation with See also:Ossory, the son of Ormonde, in which Ossory used See also:language for which he was compelled to apologize .

On the death of Southampton, Ashley was placed on the commission of the See also:

treasury, See also:Clifford and See also:William Coventry being his See also:principal colleagues . He appears to have taken no part in the See also:attempt to impeach Clarendon on a general charge of See also:treason . The new administration was headed by See also:Buckingham, in whose toleration and comprehension principles Ashley shared to the full . An able See also:paper written by him to the king in support of these principles, on the ground especially of their See also:advantage to trade, has been preserved . He excepts, however, from toleration See also:Roman Catholics and Fifth See also:Monarchy men . His See also:attention to all trade questions was See also:close and See also:constant; he was a member of the council of trade and plantations appointed in 1670, and was its president from 1672 to 1676 . The difficulty of the See also:succession also occupied him, and he co-operated thus See also:early in the design of legitimizing See also:Monmouth as a See also:rival to See also:James . In the intrigues which led to the infamous treaty to See also:Dover he had no part . The treaty contained a clause by which Charles was See also:bound to declare himself a See also:Catholic, and with the knowledge of this Ashley, as a stanch Protestant, could not be trusted . In See also:order to See also:blind him and the other Protestant members of the See also:Cabal a sham treaty was arranged in which this clause did not appear, and it was not until a considerable while afterwards that he found out that he had been duped . Under this misunderstanding he signed the sham Dover treaty on the 31st of December 167o . This treaty, however, was kept from public knowledge, and Ashley helped Charles to hoodwink parliament by See also:signing a similar treaty on the 2nd of February 1672, which was laid before them as the only one in existence .

Phoenix-squares

His approval of the attempt of the Lords to alter a See also:

money bill led to the loss of the supply to Charles and to the consequent displeasure of the king . His support to the Lord Roos Act, ascribed generally to his See also:desire to ingratiate himself with Charles, was no doubt due in part to the fact that his son had married Lord Roos's sister . So far from advising the " Stop of the Exchequer," he opposed this See also:bad measure; the reasons which he left with the king for his opposition are extant . The responsibility rests with Clifford alone . In the other great measure of the Cabal See also:ministry, Charles's Declaration of See also:Indulgence, he concurred . He was now rewarded by being made earl of See also:Shaftesbury and Baron Cooper of Pawlett by a patent dated the 23rd of April 1672 . It is stated too that he was offered, but refused, the lord treasurership . On the 17th of November 1672, however, he became lord chancellor, See also:Bridgman having been compelled to resign the seat . As chancellor he issued writs for the election of thirty-six new members to fill vacancies caused during the long See also:recess; this, though grounded upon precedent, was open to suspicion as an attempt to fortify Charles, and was attacked by an angry House of See also:Commons which met on the 4th of February 1673 . The writs were cancelled, and the principle was established that the issuing of writs rested with the House itself . It was at the opening of parliament that Shaftesbury made his celebrated " delenda est Carthago" speech against See also:Holland, in which he urged the Second Dutch War, on the ground of the See also:necessity of destroying so formidable a commercial rival to England, excused the Stop of the Exchequer which he had opposed, and vindicated the Declaration of Indulgence . On the 8th of March he announced to parliament that the declaration had been cancelled, though he did his best to induce Charles to remain See also:firm .

For affixing the great See also:

seal to this declaration he was threatened with See also:impeachment by the Commons . The Test Act was now brought forward, and Shaftesbury, who appears to have heard how he had been duped in 167o, supported it, with the See also:object probably of thereby getting rid of Clifford . He now began to be regarded as the chief upholder of Protestantism in the ministry; he lost favour with Charles, and on See also:Sunday, the 9th of September 1673, was dismissed from the chancellorship . Among the reasons for this dismissal is probably the fact that he opposed grants to the king's mistresses . He had been accused of vanity and ostentation in his office, but his reputation for ability and integrity as a See also:judge was high even with his enemies . Charles soon regretted the loss of Shaftesbury, and endeavoured, as did also See also:Louis, to induce him to return, but in vain . He preferred now to become the great popular leader against all the See also:measures of the court, and may be regarded as the intellectual chief of the opposition . At the meeting of parliament on the 8th of January 1674, he carried a See also:motion for a See also:proclamation banishing Catholics to a distance of ro m. from See also:London . During the whole session he organized and directed the opposition in their attacks on the king's ministers . On the 19th of May he was dismissed the privy council and ordered to leave London . He retired to Wimborne and urged upon his See also:parliamentary followers the necessity of securing a new parliament . He was in the House of Lords, however, in 1675, when See also:Danby brought forward his famous Non-resisting Test Bill, and headed the opposition which was carried on for seventeen days, distinguishing himself, says See also:Burnet, more in this session than ever before .

The bill was shelved, a See also:

prorogation having taken See also:place in See also:con-sequence of a See also:quarrel between the two Houses, supposed to have been purposely got up by Shaftesbury, in which he supported the right of the Lords to hear See also:appeal cases, even where the See also:defendant was a member of the See also:Lower House . Parliament was prorogued for fifteen months until the 15th of February 1677, and it was determined by the opposition to attack its existence on the ground that a prorogation for more than a year was illegal . In this matter the opposition were in the wrong, and by attacking the parliament discredited themselves . The result was that Shaftesbury, Buckingham, See also:Wharton and Salisbury were sent to the Tower . In See also:June Shaftesbury applied for a See also:writ of habeas corpus, but could get no See also:release until the 26th of February 1678, after his letter and three petitions to the king . Being brought before the See also:bar of the House of Lords he made submission as to his conduct in declaring parliament dissolved by the prorogation, and in violating the Lords' privileges by bringing a habeas corpus in the King's See also:Bench . The breaking out of the Popish Terror in 1678 marks the worst part of Shaftesbury's career . That so clear-headed a See also:man could have credited the lies of See also:Oates and the other perjurers is beyond belief; and the manner in which he excited baseless alarms, and encouraged fanatic See also:cruelty, for nothing but party advantage, is without excuse . On the 2nd.of November he opened the great attack by proposing an address declaring the necessity for the king's dismissing James from his council . Under his See also:advice the opposition now made an See also:alliance with Louis whereby the See also:French king promised to help them to ruin Danby on condition that they would compel Charles, by stopping the supplies, to make See also:peace with See also:France, doing thus a See also:grave injury to Protestant-ism abroad for the See also:sake of a temporary party advantage at See also:home . Upon the refusal in November of the Lords to concur in the address ~f the Commons requesting the removal of the See also:queen from