Lord Temple was entirely without statesmanship; he possessed an insatiable appetite for intrigue, and is said to have been the author of several anonymous libels, and the inspirer of many more. Macaulay's well-known comparison of him with a mole working below “in some foul, crooked labyrinth whenever a heap of dirt was flung up,” which perpetuates the spleen of Horace Walpole, perhaps exceeds the justice of the case; but there can be no question that Temple's character as a public man was rated very low by his contemporaries. In private life he used his great wealth with generosity to his relations, friends and dependents. Pitt was under pecuniary obligation to him. He paid the costs incurred by Wilkes in litigation, and he provided the agitator with the freehold qualification which enabled him to stand for Middlesex in the famous election of 1768.
In addition to the estates he inherited, Temple gained a considerable fortune by his marriage in 1737 with Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Chambers of Hanworth, Middlesex; a volume of poems by her was printed at the Strawberry Hill press in 1764. The only issue of the marriage being a daughter who died in infancy, Temple was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew George (1753–1813), second son of George Grenville the prime minister, who then assumed in addition to the name of Grenville not only the name of Temple, but also that of Nugent, his wife being daughter and co-heiress of Robert, Viscount Clare, afterwards Earl Nugent. The 2nd Earl Temple was lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1782–3; in 1784 was created marquess of Buckingham; and was again lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1787–9.
His son and successor, Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (1776–1839), was created duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1822, his wife being only daughter of the 3rd duke of Chandos; he was in the same patent created Earl Temple of Stowe, with special remainder as regards this title, in virtue of which, on the death without male issue in 1889 of the 3rd duke of Buckingham and Chandos and the consequent extinction of the original earldom of Temple, the title of Earl Temple of Stowe devolved upon William Stephen Gore-Langton (1847-1902), whose mother was granddaughter of the 1st duke of Buckingham, grantee of this earldom. In 1902 Algernon William Stephen Temple-Gore-Langton (b. 1871) became 5th Earl Temple.
See The Grenville Papers (London, 1852), a considerable portion of which consists of Earl Temple's correspondence; Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George II., 3 vols. (London, 1847); Memoirs of the Reign of George III., 4 vols. (London, 1845 and 1894); Earl Waldegrave, Memoirs 1754–8 (London, 1821); Sir N. W. Wraxall, Historical Memoirs, edited by H. B. Wheatley, 5 vols. (London, 1884); Correrpondence of Chatham, edited by W. S. Taylor and J. H. Pringle, 4 vols. (London. 1838–40); W. E. H. Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century, vols. ii. and iii. (7 vols., London, 1892).
(R. J. M.)
TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, Bart. (1628–1699), English statesman, diplomatist, and author, was born in London, and came
of an old English family, but of the younger branch of it, which
had for some time been settled in Ireland. He was the eldest
son of Sir John Temple (1600-1677), Irish master of the rolls,
whose father was Sir William Temple (1555-1627), provost of
Trinity College, Dublin. His mother was Mary' Hammond.
Temple received a liberal education, calculated to produce that
moderation of judgment for which he was afterwards remarkable.
He was first a pupil of his uncle Dr Henry Hammond,
the divine, after which he went to the grammar-school at Bishop
Stortford, and then to the Puritan college of Emmanuel at
Cambridge, where he came under the influence of Cudworth.
At the commencement of the civil troubles his father embraced
the popular cause and was deprived of his office. Coming to
England, he sat in the Long Parliament as member for Chichester,
and was one of the recalcitrant members turned out by Colonel
Pride. Before this event happened his son had left Cambridge,
without taking a degree, and in 1647 started to travel abroad.
In the Isle of Wight, while on his way to France, he fell in with
Dorothy Osborne, and won her affections. Her father, Sir
Peter Osborne, was governor of Guernsey and a Royalist. Her
family were opposed to the match, and threw difficulties in
the way, which hindered its consummation for seven years.
During this period Temple travelled in France, Spain, Holland,
and other countries, gaining knowledge of the world and keeping
up a constant correspondence with his betrothed. At length,
apparently in 1654, the difficulties were surmounted and the
marriage took place. In 1655 Temple and his wife went to
Ireland. The next five years were spent in the house of Sir
John Temple, who had made his peace with Cromwell, and had
resumed his official position. His son took no part in politics,
but lived the life of a student and a country gentleman.
The accession of Charles II. rescued Temple, like many others, from obscurity. In 1660 he sat in the convention parliament at Dublin as member for Carlow, and he represented the same county along with his father in the regular parliament that followed. After a short visit to England in 1661, as commissioner from the Irish parliament, he finally removed thither in 1663. There he attached himself to Arlington, secretary of state, and two years later received his first employment abroad. It was in March 1665 that the disastrous war with the United Netherlands began. Charles II. was anxious to obtain allies, especially as Louis XIV. was taking up a hostile attitude. At this juncture Christoph Bernhard van Galen, bishop of Munster, sent an envoy to England, offering to attack the Dutch if the English government would supply the means. Temple was sent over to negotiate a treaty, and in this business gave evidence not only of the diplomatic skill but of the peculiar candour and frankness for which he was afterwards so distinguished. He was successful in making the treaty, but it was rendered ineffectual by the declaration of war by France, the threats of Louis, and the double-dealing of the prelate, who, after receiving a great part of the subsidy, made a separate peace with the Netherlands. As a reward for his services Temple was created a baronet, and in October 1665 became the English representative at the viceregal court at Brussels. While the war continued, Temple's duties consisted chiefly in cultivating good relations with Spain, which was a neutral in the quarrel between England and the Dutch, but was threatened by the claims of Louis XIV. on the Spanish Netherlands. Louis's designs became apparent in the spring of 1667, when he marched an army into Flanders. This event was one of those which led to the peace of Breda, and to the subsequent negotiations, which are Temple's chief title to fame. The French conquests were made at the expense of Spain, but were almost equally dangerous to the United Netherlands, whose independence would have been forfeited had Louis succeeded in annexing Flanders. While the French were taking town after town, Temple made a journey into Holland and visited De Witt. The friendship established and the community of views discovered during this interview facilitated the subsequent negotiations. Temple had for some time pressed on his government the necessity of stopping the French advance, and had pointed out the way to do so, but it was not till December 1667 that he received instructions to act as he had suggested. He at once set out for The Hague, and in January 1668 a treaty was made between England and the United Netherlands, which, being joined shortly afterwards by Sweden, became known as the Triple Alliance. It was a defensive treaty, made against the encroachments of France. Whether we regard the skill and celerity with which the negotiations were conducted or the results of the treaty, the transaction reflects great credit on Temple. The French king was checked in mid career, and, without a blow being struck, was obliged to surrender almost all his conquests. Pepys records public opinion on the treaty by saying that it was “the only good public thing that hath been done since the king came into England.” Unfortunately the policy thus indicated was but short-lived. In taking up a hostile attitude towards France Charles's object had apparently been only to raise his price. Louis took the hint, increased his offers, and two years later the secret treaty of Dover reversed the policy of the Triple Alliance. Meanwhile Temple had developed the good understanding with the Dutch
