There was opposition to the grant in the House of Commons and an address
was voted, asking the King to revoke it.

Portland behaved with great magnanimity in the matter, his one chief
desire appeared to be to avoid a quarrel between his royal friend and
Parliament. Not many men would have had such self-abnegation as to
renounce an estate estimated to be worth 6,000l. per annum, besides
the product of royalties, when they had a King and a victorious army to
support them in its possession. The Earl had saved the King's life, he
had rendered invaluable services as a diplomatist and General in raising
forces to fight for the cause of Protestantism; but for him the
probabilities were that James would have retained possession of the
Throne and that red ruin would have spread itself over the land. Surely
he had won as great a reward as those of the nobility whose only
recommendation was that they were the natural sons of royalty.

To have refused this immense estate simply because he was the victim for
the time being of racial jealousy is a rare and conspicuous instance in
English history of self-sacrifice to honourable motives. His uprightness
of character was again tried by the East India Company, who offered him
a £50,000 bribe to exert his interest on behalf of that Corporation; but
he was not to be tempted by the offer. It will be seen later how the
great families, such as Cavendish, became allied with that of Bentinck
when the pride of nationality had been reconciled.

Once more in February, 1696, was Portland the means of saving the King's
life, through the information he had received of a plot for his
assassination by the Papists. The details of the scheme were eventually
laid bare and the conspirators brought to justice.