Arlington, HENRY BENNET, EARL OF

Arlington, HENRY BENNET, EARL OF, was born at Arlington, Middlesex, in 1618, and from Westminster School proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford. During the civil war, at Andover he got a lifelong scar on the nose; afterwards at Madrid, as Charles's agent, he acquired an equally lasting pomposity. The Restoration brought him back to England. Created Lord Arlington in 1663, and Earl of Arlington in 1672, he was not the most scrupulous member of the unscrupulous Cabal (q.v.). In 1674 he was impeached as a promoter of popery, a self-aggrandiser, and a betrayer of trust—in brief, as the 'conduit-pipe' of Charles's evil policy. The impeachment fell through; but Arlington found it desirable to exchange the office of secretary of state for that of lord chamberlain, and finally he retired to his Suffolk seat, Euston, where he died, 28th July 1685.