Bennett

Bennett, or Benett, Henry, Earl of Arlington, was born of a good Middlesex family in 1618, and educated at Oxford. He fought as a royalist, and acted also as secretary to Lord Digby. He served the Duke of York in the same capacity, and was for several years employed by Charles II. in France, Italy, and Spain, where he acquired a diplomatic training. At the restoration he was promoted from knighthood to a barony, and later to an earldom. As chief Secretary of State he was largely responsible for the Dutch war and the Triple Alliance, and in 1670 he played a leading part in the Cabal (q.v.). He received the Garter in 1672. Under James II. his influence waned, and he died in 1685. Macaulay belittles him, but Clarendon, to whose policy he was hostile, speaks of him in respectful terms, and he compares favourably with statesmen of the period.