born Sept. 16, 1678, probably Wiltshire, Eng.
died Dec. 12, 1751, Battersea, near London
British politician.
After entering Parliament in 1701, he became a prominent Tory in the reign of Queen Anne , serving as secretary of war (1704–08) and of state (1710–15). He was dismissed from office by George I and, fearing impeachment because of his intrigues with the Jacobite s, he fled to France in 1715. He returned to England in 1725 and became the centre of a literary circle that included Jonathan Swift , Alexander Pope , and John Gay . He waged an influential propaganda campaign in opposition to the Whigs and their leader, Robert Walpole , and also wrote several historical and philosophical works, including The Idea of a Patriot King (published secretly by Pope in 1744 and as a corrected version in 1749).