TOWNSHEND, CHARLES, Viscount English statesman, b. 1676; was descended from a very ancient English family, which has been settled at Raynham, iu Norfolk, since the reign of Henry I. His father, Horatio, had been a prominent member of the Presbyterian party before the restoration, and having been one of the most forward in restoring the monarchy, was, by Charles II., made baron in 1661, and viscount in 168'2. He died in 1687, when his son was only eleven years old. When he was of age to take his seat in the upper house, he adopted his fathers politics; but soon afterward became a disciple of lord Somers, and cordially co-operated with the whigs. He was named by the Godolphin administration one of the commissioners for arranging the union with Scotland, and was rewarded for his exertion by the captaincy of the yeomen of queen Anne's guard. He was then employed as a diplomatist; was joint-plenipoten tiary with Marlborough at Gertruydenberg; and negotiated with the states-general the barrier treaty, which pledged the states-general to the Hanoverian succession, and Eng land to procure the Spanish Low Countries for the United Provinces, as a barrier against France. In 1712, upon the formation of the Harley ministry, Townshend was dis missed from his places, and the barrier treaty was censured by the house of commons, which voted that Townshend and all who had been concerned in the treaty were enemies. to the queen and kingdom. This persecution raised him from the rank of a follower to the station of a leader. He maintained a close correspondence with the court of Han over, and obtained the entire confidence of George I., who on his accession to the throne of England, made him his chief minister. While George I. was still at the Hague, on his way to his new kingdom, he made Townshend secretary of state, with power to name his colleague. He selected general, afterward earl Stanhope. and formed a min
istry entirely whig in its party character. He strengthened it bY the addition of Wal pole, who, from being at first paymaster of the forces, was soon made chancellor of the exchequer and first lord of the treasury. The principal net of the government was the passing of the septennial bill, a bold and unconstitutional act. After the breaking up of the South Sea bubble, and the deaths of Sunderland and Stanhope (q.v.), Townshend (1721) again became secretary of state. But he was no longer the acknowledged leader of the whigs. The superior talent of Walpole, his financial abilities, and his influence in the house of commons, caused a change in the relative position of the two ministers, and converted those who had been so long friends and colleagues, and who were also connected by ties of marriage (for Townshend had married Walpole's sister), into rivals and enemies. An open and unseemly quarrel broke out between them. They seized each other by the collar, and then laid their hands upon their swords. The interposition of friends prevented a duel; and Townshend, resigning the contest, retired to Raynham, to cultivate his paternal acres. Walpole, on being asked the cause of his difference with his brother-in-law, replied, As long as the firm was Townshend and Walpole, all did very well; but when it became Walpole and Townshend. things went wrong, and a separation ensued." Townshend introduced the turnip into Norfolk from Germany, and thus effected a most beneficial revolution in agriculture. He steadily refused to reappear in public life, and died at a good old age, in June. 1738, leaving behind him a high repu tation for integrity and steady consistency in sound and constitutional principles of government. _—