John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, painted around 1665 by Sir
Peter Lely.
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 the Cabal Ministry.
Background
He was a member of an ancient family of both Berwickshire and Haddingtonshire, the eldest surviving son of John
Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), (who had been created Viscount
of Lauderdale in 1616, and Earl of Lauderdale
etc., in 1624), and of Lady Isabel (1594-1638), daughter of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline and great-grandson of Sir
Richard Maitland of Lethington, the poet.
Covenanter
Maitland began public life as a zealous adherent of the Presbyterian cause, took the Covenant, sat as an
elder in the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland at St Andrews in July 1643, and was sent to the Kingdom of England as a Commissioner for the Covenant in August, and to attend
the Westminster Assembly in November.
Privy Councillor in two kingdoms
In February 1644 he was a member of the Privy Council of England and the Privy Council of Scotland, and on November 20 was one of
the Commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Uxbridge, 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's surrender 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 at Carisbrooke Castle "the engagement"
by which Presbyterianism was to be established for three years, schismatics were to be
suppressed, and the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland
ratified, the king in addition promising to admit the Scottish nobles into public employment in
England 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 at Preston postponed the arrival of the Prince of
Wales, but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince in the 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 the
Argyll faction, accompanied him thither in 1650 and in the
expedition into England, and was taken prisoner at Worcester 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 of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and George 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 in kirk and state, restoring the nomination of the lords of the articles to the king and initiating severe measures against the Covenanters. 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 of
patriotism or statesmanship, and completely independent of
the English parliament, recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the
Stuart administration before the English Civil
War.
He was a member of the Cabal Ministry, but took little part in English affairs, and was not entrusted with the first secret Treaty of Dover, but gave personal support to Charles in his degrading demands for
pensions from Louis XIV. On May 2 1672 he was created Duke of
Lauderdale and Earl of March, and on June 3
Knight of the Garter. He was also appointed Lord 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 the dissenters and obtain money
for the Anglo-Dutch War. The Intrigues organised by Anthony 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 and Baron Petersham in the Peerage of
England. His ferocious measures having failed to suppress the conventicles
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 of
Scottish nobles went to London, made
common cause with the English Country Faction, and compelled Charles to order the disbandment of
the marauders. In May 1678 another demand by the Commons for
Lauderdale's removal was thrown out by court 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 on May 26 1679, and a renewed attack upon him, by the Scottish party and Shaftesbury's
faction combined, also failed.
On June 22 1679 the last attempt of the unfortunate Covenanters
was suppressed at the Battle of Bothwell Brig.
Stripped 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 1st Earl of Home, by whom he had one daughter; and (2) Lady Elizabeth
Murray, daughter of the 1st Earl of Dysart and widow of Sir Lionel Tollemache. He left no male issue, consequently his
dukedom and his English titles became extinct, but
he was succeeded in the earldom by his brother Charles 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.
See also
- William Maitland of Lethington
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia
Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public
domain.[[de:John Maitland, 2. Graf von Lauderdale (* 24. Mai 1616 † 24. August 1682 ) war ein englischer Graf.
John Maitland Graf von Lauderdale (spr. lahderdel), aus einer alten, seit dem 13. Jahrhunder in Schottland ansässigen Familie,
gehörte im Anfang des Bürgerkriegs zu den Covenanters, schloß sich aber 1648 den
Realisten an und ging nach der Schlacht von Preston mit Karl II. auf den Kontinent.
In der Schlacht von Worcester wurde er 1651 gefangen genommen, nach der Restauration der
Stuarts aber freigelassen und 1672 zum Herzog von Lauderdale erhoben.
Als Staatssekretär für Schottland gehörte er zu den einflussreichsten Mitgliedern des berüchtigten Cabal-Ministeriums und behauptete sich auch gegen eine vom Parlament 1674 wider ihn beabsichtigte Anklage. In
Schottland machte er sich durch seine absolutistischen Grundsätze allgemein verhasst. W. Scott hat ihn in Old mortality geschildert
 |
This article is based on a public domain licensed extract from Meyers
Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition from 1888-1890. You may
delete this template if you think that this text is up to date, written in accordance with Wikipedia policies, correctly sourced
and written from a neutral point of view. |
 |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
