"Rockingham was an old whig of sterling honesty who, during a long period of adversity, contended manfully against a corrupt system of government. He was, however, by no means a great statesman. His policy towards America and Ireland was mere opportunism. At the commencement of the Wilkes affair he erred by defect, and towards its close by excess, of zeal. In his just jealousy of the influence of the crown he showed a disposition to push economy to the verge of cheeseparing, while he ignored the far weightier question of the reform of the representative system."
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Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandUniversity of Cambridge alumniFellows of the Royal SocietyWhig (British political party) politicians
Original Language: English
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Sources
James McMullen Rigg, 'Watson-Wentworth, Charles', Dictionary of National Biography, Volume LX. Watson—Whewell, ed. Sidney Lee (1899), p. 51
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Watson-Wentworth%2C_2nd_Marquess_of_Rockingham
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Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham KG PC FRS (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782; styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Marquess of Rockingham in 1750) was a British Whig statesman and magnate, most notable for his two terms as prime minister of Great Britain. He became the patron of many Whigs, known as the Rockingham Whigs, and served as a leading Whig grandee. He served in only two hig
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