Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet
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Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet (25 April 162827 January 1699) was an English diplomat, politician and writer. An important diplomat, he was recalled in 1679, and for a brief period was a leading advisor to
Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...
, with whom he then fell out. Temple subsequently retired to the countryside, and thereafter occupied himself with gardening and writing. He is best remembered today for two aspects of his life after retirement: a passage on the designs of
Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Emperor of China, Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and t ...
s, written without ever having seen one, and for employing a young
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
as his secretary. The first is sometimes given as an early indication of the
English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...
style, praising irregularity in design.


Biography

William Temple was the son of Sir John Temple of
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, an Irish judge and
Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...
. Born in London, and educated at
Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...
, Temple travelled across Europe, and was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament. He was a representative at the Irish Convention of 1660 and was also employed on various diplomatic missions. During his time as a diplomat, Temple successfully negotiated the Triple Alliance of 1668 and the marriage of the
Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...
and Princess Mary of England in 1677. On his return in 1679 he was much consulted by Charles II, but disapproving of the anti-Dutch courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen. He was called out of retirement to implement a plan of his design to reform government rule. He was the architect of the Privy Council Ministry of 1679, which, though it failed, was an early effort to establish an executive along the lines of what later came to be understood as Cabinet government. Charles II disapproved of the scheme, which in his view took away too much of the
Royal Prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
, although in the exceptional circumstances of the
Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion Bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, ...
he was willing to give it a brief trial. Temple later left Sheen and purchased Compton Hall,
Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...
around 1686. He renamed the house More Park after Moor Park, Hertfordshire, a house he much admired and which influenced the formal gardens he built at Farnham. Here the later-famous
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
was his secretary for most of the period from 1689 onward. It was here that Swift met Esther Johnson, who became his lifelong companion and whom he immortalised as ''Stella''. Despite rumours that she was Temple's own daughter, the evidence suggests that her widowed mother lived in the house as companion to Temple's sister
Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...
. Temple installed his family motto "God has given us these opportunities for tranquility" above the door and took great pleasure from this house in his retirement from public life. He took no part in the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
, but acquiesced to the new regime, and was offered, but refused, a role as Secretary of State. Temple died in More Park,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
,
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in 1699. His memorial in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
names also his wife Dorothy, and their daughter Diana; in 1722 his sister Martha was also buried in the abbey and her name was added as she had left money for a monument. He was much loved by his friends; Swift wrote that all that was good and amiable in mankind departed with him. The normally cynical
Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, (5 September 164128 September 1702) was an English nobleman and politician of the Spencer family. An able and gifted statesman, his caustic temper and belief in absolute monarchy nevertheless made him n ...
, was deeply grieved by his death, writing to Temple's sister Martha that "the chief pleasure I proposed to myself was to see him sometimes".


Marriage and children

Temple married
Dorothy Osborne Dorothy Osborne, Lady Temple (1627–1695) was an English writer of Letter (message), letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet. Life Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of twelve children of Pet ...
(d. 1695), a daughter of Sir Peter Osborne and Dorothy Danvers, in 1654. It was a love marriage and the couple were noted for constancy during their long engagement: Dorothy resisted pressure from her family to accept any of several other more eligible suitors, including
Henry Cromwell Henry Cromwell (20 January 1628 – 23 March 1674) was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier, and an important figure in the Parliamentarian regime in Ireland. Biography Early life Henry Cromwell was born at Huntingdon on ...
and her cousin
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, (20 February 1632 – 26 July 1712) was an English Tories (British political party), Tory statesman. During the reign of Charles II of England, he was the leading figure in the English government for ro ...
. She and William outlived all of their nine children, most of whom died in infancy; the
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
of their adult son John in 1689 was the greatest tragedy of their lives. Dorothy died in 1695 and after her death William's strong-minded sister Martha, Lady Giffard kept house for him. She had married Sir Thomas Giffard in 1662 and been widowed young; she spent many years with William and Dorothy, for both of whom she had a deep affection. In her last years she wrote a short Life of her brother which was published in 1728 after her death in 1722. However Martha believed that Jonathon Swift had lifted parts of her biography to include in his ''Memoirs of Sir William Temple, Part 3'', although Swift denied her accusation. Sir William and Dorothy Osborne's children included: *John Temple (d. 1689), who "as a compliment to his father" was made
Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History The post was ...
and, on 12 April 1689, Secretary at War in succession to William Blathwayt. A few days later, having filled his pockets with stones, he threw himself from a boat into the strong current beneath London Bridge, and was drowned. The suicide, which created the greatest sensation at the time, was probably due to official anxiety, aggravated by the treachery of a confidential agent whom he had recommended to the king. He married Marie du Plessis-Rambouillet, daughter of Paul du Plessis-Rambouillet of France, of a Huguenot family, by whom he left two daughters: **Elizabeth Temple of Moor Park, who married her cousin, John Temple (d. 1753), second son of Sir John Temple, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, but left no issue; **Dorothy Temple, who married Nicholas Bacon (1686–1767) of Shrubland Hall, Coddenham, Suffolk, and left issue. His funeral hatchment showing the arms of Temple survives in Coddenham Church. Letters written by Dorothy to Temple before their marriage have been published in a number of editions.


Retirement and gardening

Temple saw his retirement from political life to his country estate at Moor Park as following the example of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an Greek philosophy, ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranqui ...
. In his essay of 1685 (first published in 1690), "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus" Temple wrote of "the sweetness and satisfaction of this retreat, where since my resolution taken of never entering again into any public employments, I have passed five years without once going to town". As a result of his introducing the term '' sharawadgi'' in this essay, Temple has been sometimes considered the originator of the
English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...
style. As a garden writer, Temple was rather typical of his period in England, but perhaps to an extreme degree, in being highly interested in growing fruit trees of all sorts and very little interested in flowers:
I will not enter upon any Account of Flowers, having only pleased my self with seeing and smelling them, and not troubled my self with the Care, which is more the Ladies Part than the Mens; but the Success is wholly in the Gardener.
The passage in which Temple outlines the concept of ''Sharawadgi'' or '' Sharawaggi'' is the following:
Amongst us, the Beauty of Building and Planting is placed chiefly in some Proportions, Symmetries and Uniformities; our Walks and our Trees ranged so, as to answer one another, and at exact Distances. The ''Chineses'' scorn this way of Planting, and say a Boy that can tell an Hundred, may plant Walks of Trees in strait Lines, and over-against one another, and to what Length and Extent he pleases. But their greatest reach of Imagination, is employed in contriving Figures, where the Beauty shall be great, and strike the Eye, but without any Order or Disposition of Parts, that shall be commonly or easily observ'd. And though we have hardly any Notion of this sort of Beauty, yet they have a particular word to express it; and where they find it hit their Eye at first Sight, they say the ''Sharawadgi'' is fine or is admirable, or any such Expression of Esteem. And whoever observes the Work upon the best ''Indian'' gowns, or the Painting on their best Skreens and Purcellans, will find their Beauty is all of this Kind, (that is) without Order. But I should hardly advise any of these Attempts in the Figure of Gardens among us; they are Adventures of too hard Atchievement for any common hands; and tho' there may be more Honour if they succeed well, yet there is more Dishonour if they fail, and 'tis Twenty to One they will; whereas in regular Figures, 'tis hard to make any great and remarkable Faults.
In 1690, Temple intervened in the debate about the difference between the ancients and the moderns with his essay ''On Ancient and Modern Learning'', and his prose style was praised by later critics. Hume called it negligent and infected by foreign idioms, but agreeable and interesting; not like the perusal of a book, but conversation with a companion.
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
called him "the first writer who gave cadence to English prose. Before his time they were careless of arrangement, and did not mind whether a sentence ended with an important word or an insignificant word, or with what part of speech it was concluded". His style was also highly praised by
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
. Macaulay called his prose singularly lucid and melodious.


Death

Temple died on 27 January 1699. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but his heart, by his special wish, was placed in a silver casket under the sun-dial at Moor Park, near his favourite window seat. Swift recorded, "He died at one o clock in the morning and with him all that was great and good among men".


Bibliography

His literary works consist for the most part of essays, which were published as ''Miscellanea'' in volumes in the 1690s, then collected by Swift and given a collected volume in 1720. However, he did write some longer pieces such as '' Observations upon the United Provinces'' and ''Essay on the Original and Nature of Government''. *''Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands'', 1673. Republished by
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, with an introduction by G. N. Clark, Cambridge, 2011. * *''The Works of Sir William Temple'', London, 1720; new. ed. 1757


See also

* General opinion, a concept introduced by Temple in his ''Essay on the Original and Nature of Government''Hans Speier, "Historical Development of Public Opinion", ''American Journal of Sociology'', Vol. 55, No. 4 (Jan., 1950), pp. 376–388. * Archive.org
"Temple, William, Sir, 1628-1699"


Notes


References

* * * * * Pierre Marambaud: Sir William Temple, sa vie, son œuvre, Paris, Éditions Minard, 1968, VI-431 p.


External links

*
Essays by Temple on Quotidiana.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, William 1628 births 1699 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England 17th-century English diplomats English essayists Members of the Privy Council of England Ambassadors of England to the Dutch Republic Masters of the Rolls in Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Carlow constituencies Irish MPs 1661–1666 English Landscape Garden style Temple baronets