Derbyshire, in the person of William Cavendish, fourth Earl and first Duke of Devonshire, may be said to have probably taken the most prominent part in the driving of James II. from his throne, and in the bringing to this country as his successor William of Orange. There can be no doubt that Cavendish eventually became thoroughly and conscientiously convinced as to the true patriotism of the course that he took; but it would be idle to pretend that this distinguished nobleman indulged in his first dislike of James for other than personal motives. William Cavendish was one of the four young noblemen who carried the train of Charles II. at his coronation in 1661. In that year he was returned to Parliament for Derby, and remained a member of the Commons until his father’s death in 1684. He was a man of hasty and most vehement temper; becoming embroiled in a threatened duel in 1675, he was committed to the Tower by the majority of the House for a short period for having broken privilege. From that moment Cavendish took an active part against the court party, and advocated the exclusion from the succession of the Duke of York. After James II.’s accession, the Earl had the bad grace to give way to his fiery temper just outside the King’s Presence Chamber, when he felled to the ground one Colonel Colepepper, who was said to have previously insulted him. For this offence Cavendish was brought before the King’s Bench, when he was fined in the gigantic sum of £30,000, being committed to prison until payment was made. It is said that his mother, the Countess, brought to James II. bonds of Charles I. for double that amount, lent to him by the Derbyshire Cavendishes during the Civil War. The King, however, refused to interfere, but the Earl managed to escape, and fled to his house at Chatsworth. So powerful was Cavendish’s influence over his tenantry, that when the High Sheriff and his posse arrived to arrest him, the Earl coolly turned the tables upon them, imprisoned the whole force at Chatsworth, and held them there until he had arranged for his liberty by giving a bond for the gradual payment of this fine.