Sunderland Robert Spencer

Sunderland, ROBERT SPENCER, 2ND EARL OF (1641-1702), a consummate political intriguer, unmatched even in his own day for duplicity and restless ambition. Although he had supported the Exclusion Bill, he atttached himself to James II. on his accession and became his first Minister, conforming ontwardly to the Roman Catholic religion and sharing the king's most secret, counsels. Yet at this very time he was in correspondence with William of Orange, and, although he was not included in the Act of Indemnity, he was able to present his conduct in such a favourable light that he gained the king's complete confidence and eventually became Lord Chamberlain (1697). His son, CHARLES SPENCER, 3rd Earl (1675-1722), strengthened his position among the Whigs by a marriage with Marlborough's daughter, and was Secretary of State from 1706 to 1710. His intrigues against Townshend and Walpole were crowned with success in 1717, when he again became Secretary of State. In 1718 he was made First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister, and Walpole and Townshend, finding opposition useless, entered into a coalition with him. The South Sea Bubble (q.v.) brought about his fall, and at the time of his death he is said to have been in correspondence with the Pretender.