a secret agreement arranging for the partition of the Dutch Republic between Spain and England in return for the restoration of the Palatinate. On 10 July 1631 he was created Baron Cottington of Hanworth in Middlesex. In March 1635 he was appointed master of the Court of Wards and Liveries, and his exactions in this office added greatly to the unpopularity of the government. He was also appointed a commissioner for the Treasury, together with William Laud, and a fierce rivalry sprang up between the two men. However, in their personal encounters Cottington nearly always had the advantage, because he practised great reserve and possessed great powers of self-command, an extraordinary talent for dissembling, and a fund of humour. Laud completely lacked these qualities, and although really possessing much greater influence with Charles, he was often embarrassed and sometimes exposed to ridicule by his opponent. The aim of Cottington's ambition was the place of lord treasurer, but Laud finally triumphed and secured it for his own nominee, Bishop Juxon, when Cottington became "no more a leader but meddled with his particular duties only." He continued, however, to take a large share in public business and served on the committees for foreign, Irish, and Scottish affairs. In the last, appointed in July 1638, he supported the war, and in May 1640, after the dismissal of the Short Parliament, he declared it his opinion that at such a crisis the king might levy money without the Parliament. His attempts to get funds from the City of London were unsuccessful, and he had recourse instead to a speculation in pepper. He had been appointed constable of the Tower, and he now prepared the fortress for a siege. In the trial of Strafford in 1641, Cottington denied on oath that he had heard him use the incriminating words about "reducing this kingdom". When the parliamentary opposition became too strong to be any longer defied, Cottington, as one of those who had chiefly incurred their hostility, hastened to retire from the administration, giving up the court of wards in May 1641 and the chancellorship of the exchequer in January 1642. He rejoined the king in 1643, took part in the proceedings of the Oxford Parliament, and was made lord treasurer on 3 October 1643. He signed the surrender of Oxford in July 1646, and being excepted from the indemnity retired abroad. Career decline and death