His elevation made it necessary that Nottingham should retire.  For, though it was not then unusual to see men who were personally and politically hostile to each other holding high offices at the same time, the relation between the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Secretary of State, who had charge of what would now be called the War Department, was of so peculiar a nature that the public service could not be well conducted without cordial cooperation between them; and between Nottingham and Russell such cooperation was not to be expected.  “I thank you,” William said to Nottingham, “for your services.  I have nothing to complain of in your conduct.  It is only from necessity that I part with you.”  Nottingham retired with dignity.  Though a very honest man, he went out of office much richer than he had come in five years before.  What were then considered as the legitimate emoluments of his place were great; he had sold Kensington House to the Crown for a large sum; and he had probably, after the fashion of that time, obtained for himself some lucrative grants.  He laid out all his gains in purchasing land.  He heard, he said, that his enemies meant to accuse him of having acquired wealth by illicit means.  He was perfectly ready to abide the issue of an inquiry.  He would not, as some ministers had done, place his fortune beyond the reach of the justice of his country.  He would have no secret hoard.  He would invest nothing in foreign funds.  His property should all be such as could be readily discovered and seized.493

During some weeks the seals which Nottingham had delivered up remained in the royal closet.  To dispose of them proved no easy matter.  They were offered to Shrewsbury, who of all the Whig leaders stood highest in the King’s favour; but Shrewsbury excused himself, and, in order to avoid further importunity, retired into the country.  There he soon received a pressing letter from Elizabeth Villiers.  This lady had, when a girl, inspired William with a passion which had caused much scandal and much unhappiness in the little Court of the Hague.  Her influence over him she owed not to her personal charms,—­for it tasked all the art of Kneller to make her look tolerably on canvass,—­not to those talents which peculiarly belong to her sex,—­for she did not excel in playful talk, and her letters are remarkably deficient in feminine ease and grace—­, but to powers of mind which qualified her to partake the cares and guide the counsels of statesmen.  To the end of her life great politicians sought her advice.  Even Swift, the shrewdest and most cynical of her contemporaries, pronounced her the wisest of women, and more than once sate, fascinated by her conversation, from two in the afternoon till near midnight.494 By degrees the virtues and charms of Mary conquered the first place in her husband’s affection.  But he still, in difficult conjunctures, frequently applied to Elizabeth Villiers for advice and assistance.  She now implored Shrewsbury to