In practical ability and official experience Danby had no
superior among his contemporaries. To the gratitude of the new
Sovereigns he had a strong claim; for it was by his dexterity
that their marriage had been brought about in spite of
difficulties which had seemed insuperable. The enmity which he
had always borne to France was a scarcely less powerful
recommendation. He had signed the invitation of the thirtieth of
June, had excited and directed the northern insurrection, and
had, in the Convention, exerted all his influence and eloquence
in opposition to the scheme of Regency. Yet the Whigs regarded
him with unconquerable distrust and aversion. They could not
forget that he had, in evil days, been the first minister of the
state, the head of the Cavaliers, the champion of prerogative,
the persecutor of dissenters. Even in becoming a rebel, he had
not ceased to be a Tory. If he had drawn the sword against the
Crown, he had drawn it only in defence of the Church. If he had,
in the Convention, done good by opposing the scheme of Regency,
he had done harm by obstinately maintaining that the throne was
not vacant, and that the Estates had no right to determine who
should fill it. The Whigs were therefore of opinion that he ought
to think himself amply rewarded for his recent merits by being
suffered to escape the punishment of those offences for which he
had been impeached ten years before. He, on the other hand,
estimated his own abilities and services, which were doubtless
considerable, at their full value, and thought himself entitled
to the great place of Lord High Treasurer, which he had formerly
held. But he was disappointed. William, on principle, thought it
desirable to divide the power and patronage of the Treasury among
several Commissioners. He was the first English King who never,