Cecil, David. The Cecils of Hatfield House 1973

A survey of the Cecils, from the founding father ‑ William - into the 20th Century, with many interesting illustrations. (The glossiness of some illustrates the danger of color plates. There is a lack of tactile sense; objects appear too glossy). Cecil begins with a discourse on the Tudors, and especially Elizabeth. The book is interesting on William, and his son, Robert. Thereafter, the author romps through the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries up to his grandfather, Lord Salisbury. The account of his grandfather is the core of the book. He did not know his grandfather except through his father and his father's siblings. Evidently that man made a great and wonderful impression on his children.

From the account, I pick out one aspect (which goes back to, but apparently not through his ancestors to William and Robert): the necessity for a coherent account of religion. And the fault line. Thomas More called himself The King's Good Servant, but God's First. So might the Cecils have said, but they stepped back and reversed the priorities. Salisbury was affected by this decision. One senses in David Cecil's account a great sadness in the man and an awareness that the priority was wrong. Imagine that you are a room, which however spacious‑seeming, is just too small in width and breadth and height. You are always bumping into limits which impede rather than help define. Salisbury undoubtedly sensed that all his good sense was not enough to hold together an "empire" with no real moral core.

64: The state can never be in safety where there is tolerance of two religions [William]

71: The government of Elizabeth enforced its moderation ruthlessly.

177: James, the 4th Earl, became a Catholic and remained one.

237: "I will not enlarge on this topic; it will explain itself before your mind in all its reductive amplitude" [Salisbury]

‑‑‑: "No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you should never trust experts"

240: Religious conviction could not be discovered by purely intellectual means, but only in the process of actual living

‑‑‑: Christian ethics and Christian doctrine are so hard to put into practice that I can only accept them because they have Divine authority behind them.

241: I do not understand what is meant by the burden of responsibility. By the burden of decision, yes. Whether to put on a coat, or write a dispatch upon which war or peace may depend. Its degree depends on the materials which are available and not the least on the magnitude of results which may follow. With the results, I have nothing to do.

‑‑‑: "Good is sometimes done" said one of his children.

"Yes, but never by you. Never allow yourself to believe that ... One should always try to do right, but you cannot count on doing good".

242: The majority represented tyranny rendered confident by superior numbers.

244: The Mahdi pretends to be half‑mad and is very sane in reality; Randolph occupies exactly the converse position.

249: Coldness of manner may be an excuse for an overbearing wife, but not for a colleague.

‑‑‑: [On taking Randolph back into the cabinet]: Did you ever know a man who, having a boil on the neck, wished for another?