Halifax, CHARLES MONTAGU, EARL OF, poet and statesman, who owed his introduction to political power to his facile skill in verse-making, was the nephew of the famous Parliamentary general, the Earl of Manchester, and was born at Horton, in Northamptonshire, 16th April 1661. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he formed a life-long friendship with Newton. His most notable poetical achievement was a parody on Dryden's Hind and Panther, entitled The Town and
Country Mouse (1687), of which he was joint author with Matthew Prior; but his poetry would hardly have made his name remembered in the 19th century. In the following year, through the influence of the Earl of Dorset, he became member for Maldon in the Convention Parliament, and soon developed a decided talent for financial business. Retaining his seat in William III.'s first parliament, he was appointed in 1692 a Commissioner of the Treasury. On the 15th December of the following year he proposed, in the House of Commons, to raise a million sterling by way of loan. William required money for his wars; the moneyed classes were tired of bubble companies, and knew not where to invest safely; and the landowners were weary of heavy taxation: so the National Debt was established. In the spring of 1694 money was again wanted, and Montague supplied it by originating a national bank, a scheme for which had been laid before government by William Paterson, three years before. The capital was to be £1,200,000, and the shareholders were to be called the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. As a reward for this service Montague was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1694. His next work was the recoinage in 1695, which he carried out successfully, appointing Newton warden of the Mint, and raising a tax on windows to pay the expense, instead of the obnoxious impost called hearth-money. At this crisis too he first introduced exchequer bills. On Godolphin's resignation in 1697 he became premier, but his arrogance and vanity soon made him unpopular, and on the accession to power of the Tories in 1699 he was obliged to accept the auditorship of the exchequer, and withdraw from the Commons as Baron Halifax. He was impeached before the House of Lords for breach of trust in 1701, and again in 1703, but the proceedings fell to the ground. During the whole of Anne's reign Halifax remained out of office, but was active in promoting the union with Scotland, and the Hanoverian succession. On the queen's death he was appointed a member of the council of regency, and on George I.'s arrival became an earl and prime-minister. His rule lasted only nine months, being terminated by death on 19th May 1715.