CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, Earl of, an English historian and statesman, son of a private gentleman, was b. at Dinton, Wiltshire, 18th Feb.. 1608, and educated at Oxford. He studied law under his uncle, Nicholas Hyde, chief-justice of the king's bench; was a member of the Long parliament, and for some time spoke and voted on the side of the popular party; but on the breaking out of the civil wars in England, he attached him self to the royal cause, and in 1642 was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, knighted, and sworn of the privy council. Accompanying prince Charles (Charles II.) to Jersey, he remained there for two years, and began his 'History of the Rebellion (London, 1702-4; continuation, with Life, 1759), and also wrote the various papers which appeared in the king's name, as answers to the manifestoes of the parliament, and which far sum-passed in vigor and elegance the productions against which they were directed. In May, 1648, he went to Paris. and in 1649, was sent on an unsuccessful mission for assistance from the Spanish court. He afterwards proceeded to the Hague, where, in 1657, Charles II. appointed him high chancellor of England. At the restoration, he was confirmed in that office, and elected chancellor of time university of Oxford. In Nov., 1660, he was created baron Hyde, and in April following, .viscount Cornbury; and earl of Clarendon.
In 1663, the earl of Bristol accused him of high treason in the house of lords; and though this charge failed, public indignation was excited against him by the ill success of the war with Holland, and the sale of Dunkirk to the French. The victim also of some
court intrigues, he was deprived of his offices; and he secretly withdrew to Calais, whence he sent his apology to the lords; but this writing was ordered, by both houses of parliament, to be burned by the common hangman. After living six years in exile, he died at Rouen, Dee., 1674, and was buried in Westminster abbey. His daughter, Anne Hyde, became the wife, in 1659, of the duke of York, afterwards James II., and was the mother of Anne and _Mary, both queens of Great Britain.
C. was, on the whole, both well-intentioned and wise. There can be no doubt that he loved his country sincerely, and was humanely and liberally disposed. He was too moderate for the troublons times in which be lived. Lacking enthusiasm, be failed to appreciate the position of the Puritans: and after a brief period spent in their service, he passed over to the camp of the royalists, but was never a bigoted partisan. His firm ness, however, was not equal to his sagacity, and hence arose the perplexities which ultimately occasioned his fall. C.'s private character was excellent, in an age when vir tue was utterly unfashionable among noblemen.