by letters patent
advanced him to the honour of earl of Orrery in the county of
Cork[10]; and Sir Maurice Eustace, a friend of the duke of Ormond's,
being appointed chancellor, Roger earl of Orrery, and Charles Coote,
earl of Montrath, were with him made lords justices, about the close
of that memorable year.

From that time till his death we find lord Orrery in the highest
esteem in the three nations: He was employed by his Majesty to confer
with the earl of Clarendon, whose imperious steps, it seems, had
highly disobliged his master, and when that great man fell, the King
made an offer of the seals to the earl of Orrery, who on account of
his want of bodily vigour, declined it. At the same time he accepted a
most arduous and unpleasing office from the King, and that was, to
expostulate with the duke of York, and bring him to ask pardon for the
haughty and insolent measures he took in supporting the chancellor.

His Majesty warmly pressed him to become a favourer of the French
alliance, and for the reduction of the Dutch; neither of which were at
all agreeable to his notions, and therefore that he might more
concisely express the mischievous consequences he apprehended from
these measures, he reduced his thoughts into a poem; and this was very
well received by the King, who thought to have made some impression on
him, in his turn, in a long audience he gave him for that purpose; but
the earl's duty would not permit him to coincide in his opinion with
the King, when he was sensible that the King's scheme was contrary to
the interest of the nation; and this led him in plain terms to
declare, that he never would concur in counsels to aggrandize France,
which was already too great; or to break the power of the Dutch, which
was barely sufficient for their own defence[11].

There is a particular circumstance in relation to this affair, which
must not be omitted. When lord Orrery came from the audience of his
Majesty, he was met by the earl of Danby, who asked him, whether he
had closed with the King's proposals; to which lord Orrery answered,
no. Then replied the other statesman, "Your lordship may be the
honester man, but you will never be worth a groat." This passage is
the more remarkable, because Danby was of the same opinion with
Orrery, and temporized purely for the sake of power, which cost him
afterwards a long imprisonment, and had very near lost him his life:
So dear do such men often pay for sacrificing honour