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diff --git a/1879.txt b/1879.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b67826 --- /dev/null +++ b/1879.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11726 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Royalty Restored, by J. Fitzgerald Molloy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Royalty Restored + or, London under Charles II. + +Author: J. Fitzgerald Molloy + +Posting Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1879] +Release Date: September, 1999 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROYALTY RESTORED *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteeer + + + + + +ROYALTY RESTORED + +or, LONDON UNDER CHARLES II. + + +By J. FITZGERALD MOLLOY + + + +Original Transcriber's Note: + +Footnotes have been inserted into this etext in square brackets ("[]") +close to the place where they were indicated by a suffix in the original +text. + +The pound sterling symbol has been written as 'L'. + +Text in italics has been written in capital letters. + + +PG Editor's Note: Archaic spelling and grammar retained. + + + +TO THOMAS HARDY, ESQ. + + DEAR MR. HARDY, + + In common with all readers of the English language, I owe you a + debt of gratitude, the which I rejoice to acknowledge, even in so + poor a manner as by dedicating this work to you. + + Believe me, + + Faithfully yours always, + + J. FITZGERALD MOLLOY. + + + + +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. + +No social history of the court of Charles II. has heretofore been +written. The Grammont Memoirs, devoid of date and detail, and addressed +"to those who read only for amusement," present but brief imperfect +sketches of the wits and beauties who thronged the court of the merry +monarch whilst the brilliant Frenchman sojourned in England. Pepys, +during the first nine years of the Restoration, narrates such gossip as +reached him regarding Whitehall and the practices that obtained there. +Evelyn records some trifling actions of the king and his courtiers, +with a view of pointing a moral, rather than from a desire of adorning a +tale. + +To supply this want in our literature, I have endeavoured to present a +picture of the domestic life of a king, whose name recalls pages of the +brightest romance and strangest gallantry in our chronicles. To this I +have added a study of London during his reign, taken as far as possible +from rare, and invariably from authentic sources. It will readily be +seen this work, embracing such subjects, could alone have resulted from +careful study and untiring consultation of diaries, records, memoirs, +letters, pamphlets, tracts, and papers left by contemporaries +familiar with the court and capital. The accomplishment of such a task +necessitated an expenditure of time, and devotion to labour, such as in +these fretful and impatient days is seldom bestowed on work. + +As in previous volumes I have writ no fact is set down without +authority, so likewise the same rule is pursued in these; and for such +as desire to test the accuracy thereof, or follow at further length +statements necessarily abbreviated, a list is appended of the principal +literature consulted. And inasmuch as I have found pleasure in this +work, so may my gentle readers derive profit therefrom; and as I have +laboured, so may they enjoy. Expressing which fair wishes, and moreover +commending myself unto their love and service, I humbly take my leave. + +J. FITZGERALD MOLLOY. + + + + +LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, TRACTS, AND NEWSPAPERS, +CONSULTED IN WRITING THIS VOLUME. + +"Elenchus Motuum Nuperorum." Heath's "Flagellum; or, the Life and Death +of Oliver Cromwell." Banks' "Life of Cromwell." "Review of the Political +Life of Cromwell." "A Modest Vindication of Oliver Cromwell." "The +Machivilian Cromwellist." Kimber's "Life of Cromwell." "The World +Mistaken in Oliver Cromwell"(1668). "A Letter of Comfort to Richard +Cromwell." "Letters from Fairfax to Cromwell." "Cromwell's Letters and +Speeches." "A Collection of Several Passages concerning Cromwell in his +Sickness." "The Protector's Declaration against the Royal Family of the +Stuarts." "Memoirs of Cromwell and his Children, supposed to be written +by himself." "Narrative of the Proceedings of the English Army in +Scotland." "An Account of the Last Houres of the late renowned Oliver, +Lord Protector" (1659). "Sedition Scourged." Heath's "Chronicles of the +late Intestine War." Welwood's "Memoirs of Transactions in England." +"Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, M.P., in the year 1640." Forster's "Statesmen +of the Commonwealth." "Killing No Murther." Thurloe's "State Papers." +Lord Clarendon's "State Papers." Tatham's "Aqua Triumphalis." "The +Public Intelligencer." "Mercurius Politicus." "The Parliamentary +Intelligencer." Lyon's "Personal History of Charles II." "The Boscobel +Tracts, relating to the Escape of Charles II." "An Exact Narrative of +his Majesty's Escape from Worcester." Several Passages relating to the +"Declared King of Scots both by Sea and Land." "Charles II.'s Declaration +to his Loving Subjects in the Kingdom of England." "England's Joy; or, +a Relation of the most Remarkable Passages from his Majesty's Arrival +at Dover to his Entrance at Whitehall." "Copies of Two Papers written +by the King." "His Majesty's Gracious Message to General Monk." "King +Charles, His Starre." "A Speech spoken by a Blew-Coat of Christ's +Hospital to his Sacred Majesty." "Monarchy Revived." "The History of +Charles II., by a Person of Quality." Lady Fanshawe's "Memoirs." "The +Character of Charles II., written by an Impartial Hand and exposed to +Public View." "Sports and Pastimes of the English People." "A History +of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England." Wright's "Homes of Other +Days." Idalcomb's "Anecdotes of Manners and Customs of London." Pepys' +"Diary." Evelyn's "Diary." Grammont's "Memoirs." Lord Romney's "Diary +of the Times of Charles II." "The Life and Adventures of Colonel Blood." +"Diary of Dr. Edward Lake, Court Chaplain." Bishop Burnet's "History of +His Own Times." Oldmixon's "Court Tales." Madame Dunois' "Memoirs of +the English Court." Heath's "Glories and Triumphs of Charles II." +"Continuation of the Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon." "Original +Correspondence of Lord Clarendon." "The Memoirs of Sir John Reresby." +Lister's "Life of Clarendon. Brain Fairfax's "Memoirs of the Duke of +Buckingham." "Letters of Philip, Second Earl of Chesterfield." Aubrey's +"Memoirs." "The Life of Mr. Anthony a Wood, written by Himself." Elias +Ashmole's "Memoirs of his Life." Luttrell's "Diary." "The Althorp +Memoirs" (privately printed). Lord Broghill's "Memoirs." "Memoir of +Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland" (privately printed). Aubrey's "Lives +of Eminent Men." Count Magalotti's "Travels in England." "The Secret +History of Whitehall: consisting of Secret Memoirs which have hitherto +lain conceal'd as not being discoverable by any other hand." "Athenae +Oxonienses." Lord Rochester's Works. Brown's "Miscellanea Aulica." The +Works of Andrew Marvell. "State Tracts, relating to the Government +from the year 1660 to 1689." "Antiquities of the Crown and State of +Old England." "Narrative of the Families exposed to the Great Plague of +London." "Loimologia; or, an Historical Account of the Plague in 1665." +"A Collection of very Valuable and Scarce Pieces relating to the Last +Plague in 1665." "London's Dreadful Visitation." "Letter of Dr, Hedges +to a Person of Quality." "God's Terrible Voice in the City: a Narrative +of the late Dreadful Judgments by Plague and Fire." "Pestis; a +Collection of Scarce Papers relating to the Plague." "An Account of the +Fire of London, published by authority." Lord Clarendon's "Account of +the Great Fire." "A Voyage into England, containing many things relating +to the State of Learning, Religion, and other Curiosities of that +Kingdom," by Mons. Sorbiere. Carte's "Life of James, Duke of Ormond." +Carte's "History of England." Lord Somers' "Collection of Scarce and +Valuable Tracts." "Memoirs of the Duchess of Mazarine." "Secret History +of the Duchess of Portsmouth." St. Evremond's "Memoirs." "Curialia; +or, an Historical Account of some Branches of the Royal Household." +"Parliamentary History." Oldmixon's "History of the Stuarts." Ellis's +"Original Letters." Charles James Fox's "History of James II." Sir +George L'Estrange's "Brief History of the Times." Lord Romney's "Diary +of the Times of Charles II." Clarke's "Life of James II." "Vindication +of the English Catholics." "The Tryals, Conviction and Sentence of Titus +Oates." "A Modest Vindication of Oates." "Tracts on the Popish Plot." +Macpherson's "Original Papers." A. Marvell's "Account of Popery." +"An Exact Discovery of the Mystery of Iniquity as Practised among the +Jesuits." Smith's "Streets of London." "London Cries." Seymour's "Survey +of the Cities of London and Westminster." Stow's "Survey of London +and Westminster." "Angliae Metropolis." Dr. Laune's "Present State of +London, 1681." Sir Roger North's "Examn." "The Character of a Coffee +House." Stow's "Chronicles of Fashion." Fairholt's "Costume in England." +"A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of Naked Breasts and Shoulders." +Sir William Petty's "Observations of the City of London." John Ogilvy's +"London Surveyed." R. Burton's "Historical Remarks." Dr. Birch's +"History of the Royal Society of London." "A Century of Inventions." +Wild's "History of the Royal Society." "The Philosophical Transactions +of the Royal Society." Richardson's "Life of Milton." Philip's "Life of +Milton." Johnson's "Lives of the Poets." Aubrey's "Collections for +the Life of Milton." Langbaine's "Lives and Characters of the +English Dramatic Poets." "Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of Mr. +Wycherley." "Some Account of what Occurred at the King's Death," by +Richard Huddlestone, O.S.B. "A True Narrative of the late King's Death." + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER I. + +Cromwell is sick unto death.--Fears and suspicions.--Killing no +Murder.--A memorable storm.--The end of all.--Richard Cromwell +made Protector,--He refuses to shed blood. Disturbance and +dissatisfaction.--Downfall of Richard.--Charles Stuart proclaimed +king.--Rejoicement of the nation.--The king comes into his own.--Entry +into London.--Public joy and festivity. + +CHAPTER II. + +The story of the king's escape.--He accepts the Covenant, and lands in +Scotland.--Crowned at Scone.--Proclaimed king at Carlisle.--The +battle of Worcester,--Bravery of Charles.--Disloyalty of the Scottish +cavalry.--The Royalists defeated.--The king's flight.--Seeks refuge +in Boscobel Wood. The faithful Pendrells.--Striving to cross the +Severn.--Hiding in an oak tree.--Sheltered by Master Lane. Sets out +with Mistress Lane.--Perilous escapes.--On the road.--The king is +recognised.--Strange adventures.--His last night in England. + +CHAPTER III. + +Celebration of the king's return. Those who flocked to Whitehall.--My +Lord Cleveland's gentlemen.--Sir Thomas Allen's supper.--Touching for +king's evil.--That none might lose their labour--The man with the fungus +nose.--The memory of the regicides.--Cromwell's effigy.--Ghastly scene +at Tyburn.--The king's clemency.--The Coronation procession.--Sights and +scenes by the way.--His majesty is crowned + +CHAPTER IV. + +The king's character.--His proverbial grace.--He tells a story well.--"A +warmth and sweetness of the blood."--Beautiful Barbara Palmer.--Her +intrigue with my Lord Chesterfield.--James, Duke of York. His +early days.--Escape from St. James's.--Fights in the service of +France.--Marriage with Anne Hyde.--Sensation at Court.--The Duke of +Gloucester's death.--The Princess of Orange.--Schemes against the +Duke of York's peace.--The "lewd informer."--Anne Hyde is acknowledged +Duchess of York. + +CHAPTER V. + +Morality of the restoration.--Puritan piety.--Cromwell's +intrigues.--Conduct of women under the Republic.--Some notable +courtiers.--The Duke of Ormond and his family.--Lord St. Albans and +Henry Jermyn.--His Grace of Buckingham and Mistress Fairfax.--Lord +Rochester.--Delights all hearts.--The king's projected +marriage.--Catherine of Braganza.--His majesty's speech.--A royal +love-letter.--The new queen sets sail. + +CHAPTER VI. + +The king's intrigue with Barbara Palmer.--The queen arrives at +Portsmouth.--Visited by the Duke of York.--The king leaves town.--First +interview with his bride.--His letter to the lord chancellor.--Royal +marriage and festivities.--Arrival at Hampton Court Palace.--Prospects +of a happy union.--Lady Castlemaine gives birth to a second child.--The +king's infatuation.--Mistress and wife.--The queen's misery.--The king's +cruelty.--Lord Clarendon's messages.--His majesty resolves to break the +queen's spirit.--End of the domestic quarrel. + +CHAPTER VII. + +Their majesties arrive at Whitehall.--My Lady Castlemaine a +spectator.--Young Mr. Crofts.--New arrivals at court.--The Hamilton +family.--The Chevalier de Grammont.--Mrs. Middleton and Miss Kirke.--At +the queen's ball.--La belle Hamilton.--The queen mother at Somerset +House.--The Duke of Monmouth's marriage.--Fair Frances Stuart.--Those +who court her favour.--The king's passion. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The Duke of York's intrigues.--My Lady Chesterfield and his royal +highness.--The story of Lady Southesk's love,--Lord Arran plays the +guitar.--Lord Chesterfield is jealous.--The countess is taken from +court.--Mistress Margaret Brooks and the king.--Lady Denham and the +duke.--Sir John goes mad.--My lady is poisoned. + +CHAPTER IX. + +Court life under the merry monarch.--Riding in Hyde Park.--Sailing on +the Thames.--Ball at Whitehall.--Petit soupers.--What happened at +Lady Gerrard's.--Lady Castlemaine quarrels with the king.--Flight to +Richmond.--The queen falls ill.--The king's grief and remorse.--Her +majesty speaks.--Her secret sorrow finds voice in delirium.--Frances +Stuart has hopes.--The queen recovers. + +CHAPTER X. + +Notorious courtiers.--My Lord Rochester's satires.--Places a watch on +certain ladies of quality.--His majesty becomes indignant.--Rochester +retires to the country.--Dons a disguise and returns to town.--Practises +astrology.--Two maids of honour seek adventure.--Mishaps which befell +them.--Rochester forgiven.--The Duke of Buckingham.--Lady Shrewsbury +and her victims.--Captain Howard's duel.--Lord Shrewsbury avenges +his honour.--A strange story.--Colonel Blood attempts an +abduction.--Endeavours to steal the regalia.--The king converses with +him. + +CHAPTER XI. + +Terror falls upon the people.--Rumours of a plague.--A sign in the +heavens.--Flight from the capital.--Preparations against the dreaded +enemy.--Dr. Boghurst's testimony.--God's terrible voice in the +city.--Rules made by the lord mayor.--Massacre of animals.--O, dire +death!--Spread of the distemper.--Horrible sights.--State of the +deserted capital.--"Bring out your dead."--Ashes to ashes.--Fires are +lighted.--Relief of the poor.--The mortality bills. + +CHAPTER XII + +A cry of fire by night.--Fright and confusion.--The lord mayor is +unmanned.--Spread of the flames.--Condition of the streets.--Distressful +scenes.--Destruction of the Royal Exchange.--Efforts of the king and the +Duke of York.--Strange rumours and alarms, St. Paul's is doomed.--The +flames checked.--A ruined city as seen by day and night.--Wretched state +of the people.--Investigation into the origin of the fire.--A new city +arises. + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The court repairs to Oxford--Lady Castlemaine's son.--Their majesties +return to Whitehall.--The king quarrels with his mistress.--Miss Stuart +contemplates marriage.--Lady Castlemaine attempts revenge.--Charles +makes an unpleasant discovery.--The maid of honour elopes.--His majesty +rows down the Thames.--Lady Castlemaine's intrigues.--Fresh quarrels at +court.--The king on his knees. + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The kingdom in peril.--The chancellor falls under his majesty's +displeasure.--The Duke of Buckingham's mimicry.--Lady Castlemaine's +malice.--Lord Clarendon's fall.--The Duke of Ormond offends the king's +mistress.--She covers him with abuse.--Plots against the Duke of +York.--Schemes for a royal divorce.--Moll Davis and Nell Gwynn.--The +king and the comedian.--Lady Castlemaine abandons herself to great +disorders.--Young Jack Spencer.--The countess intrigues with an +acrobat.--Talk of the town.--The mistress created a duchess. + +CHAPTER XV. + +Louise de Querouaille.--The Triple Alliance.--Louise is created Duchess +of Portsmouth,--Her grace and the impudent comedian.--Madam Ellen moves +in society. The young Duke of St. Albans.--Strange story of the +Duchess of Mazarine.--Entertaining the wits at Chelsea.--Luxurious +suppers.--profligacy and wit. + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A storm threatens the kingdom--The Duke of York is touched in his +conscience.--His interview with Father Simons.--The king declares his +mind.--The Duchess of York becomes a catholic.--The circumstances of her +death.--The Test Act introduced.--Agitation of the nation.--The Duke +of York marries again.--Lord Shaftesbury's schemes.--The Duke of +Monmouth.--William of Orange and the Princess Mary.--Their marriage and +departure from England. + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The threatened storm bursts.--History of Titus Oates and Dr. Tonge.--A +dark scheme concocted.--The king is warned of danger.--The narrative of +a horrid plot laid before the treasurer.--Forged letters.--Titus Oates +before the council.--His blunders.--A mysterious murder.--Terror of the +citizens.--Lord Shaftesbury's schemes.--Papists are banished from the +capital.--Catholic peers committed to the Tower.--Oates is encouraged. + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Reward for the discovery of murderers.--Bedlow's character +and evidence.--His strange story.--Development of the "horrid +plot."--William Staley is made a victim.--Three Jesuits hung.--Titus +Oates pronounced the saviour of his country.--Striving to ruin the +queen.--Monstrous story of Bedlow and Oates.--The king protects +her majesty.--Five Jesuits executed.--Fresh rumours concerning +the papists.--Bill to exclude the Duke of York.--Lord Stafford is +tried.--Scene at Tower Hill.--Fate of the conspirators. + +CHAPTER XIX. + +London under Charles II.--Condition and appearance of the +thoroughfares.--Coffee is first drunk in the capital.--Taverns and +their frequenters.--The city by night.--Wicked people do creep +about.--Companies of young gentlemen.--The Duke of Monmouth kills +a beadle.--Sir Charles Sedley's frolic.--Stately houses of the +nobility.--St. James's Park.--Amusement of the town.--At Bartholomew +Fair.--Bull, bear, and dog fights.--Some quaint sports. + +CHAPTER XX. + +Court customs in the days of the merry monarch.--Dining in public.--The +Duke of Tuscany's supper to the king.--Entertainment of guests by +mountebanks.--Gaming at court.--Lady Castlemaine's losses.--A fatal +duel.--Dress of the period.--Riding-habits first seen.--His majesty +invents a national costume.--Introduction of the penny post.--Divorce +suits are known.--Society of Antiquaries.--Lord Worcester's +inventions.--The Duchess of Newcastle. + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A period rich in literature.--John Milton's early life.--Writing +"Paradise Lost."--Its publication and success.--His later works and +death.--John Dryden gossips with wits and players.--Lord Rochester's +revenge.--Elkanah Settle.--John Crowne.--Thomas Otway rich in +miseries.--Dryden assailed by villains.--The ingenious Abraham +Cowley.--The author of "Hudibras."--Young Will Wycherley and Lady +Castlemaine. The story of his marriage.--Andrew Marvell, poet and +politician.--John Bunyan. + +CHAPTER XXII. + +Time's flight leaves the king unchanged.--The Rye House +conspiracy.--Profligacy of the court.--The three duchesses.--The king +is taken ill.--The capital in consternation.--Dr. Ken questions his +majesty.--A Benedictine monk is sent for.--Charles professes catholicity +and receives the Sacraments.--Farewell to all.--His last night on +earth.--Daybreak and death.--He rests in peace. + + + + +ROYALTY RESTORED + +or, LONDON UNDER CHARLES II. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Cromwell is sick unto death.--Fears and suspicions.--Killing no + Murder.--A memorable storm.--The end of all.--Richard Cromwell + made Protector.--He refuses to shed blood.--Disturbance and + dissatisfaction.--Downfall of Richard.--Charles Stuart proclaimed + king.--Rejoicement of the nation.--The king comes into his own.--Entry + into London.--Public joy and satisfaction. + +On the 30th of January, 1649, Charles I. was beheaded. In the last days +of August in the year of grace 1658, Oliver Cromwell lay sick unto death +at the Palace of Whitehall. On the 27th day of June in the previous +year, he had, in the Presence of the Judges of the land, the Lord +Mayor and Aldermen of the City, and Members of Parliament assembled at +Westminster Hall, seated himself on the coronation chair of the Stuarts, +assumed the title of Lord Protector, donned a robe of violet velvet, +girt his loins with a sword of state, and grasped the sceptre, symbolic +of kingly power. From that hour distrust beset his days, his nights were +fraught with fear. All his keen and subtle foresight, his strong and +restless energies, had since then been exerted in suppressing plots +against his power, and detecting schemes against his life, concocted +by the Republicans whose liberty he had betrayed, and by the Royalists +whose king he had beheaded. + +Soon after he had assumed the title of Lord High Protector, a most +daring pamphlet, openly advocating his assassination, was circulated +in vast numbers throughout the kingdom. It was entitled "Killing no +Murder," and was dedicated in language outrageously bold to His Highness +Oliver Cromwell. "To your Highness justly belongs the honour of dying +for the people," it stated, "and it cannot but be an unspeakable +consolation to you, in the last moments of your life, to consider with +how much benefit to the world you are likely to leave it. It is then +only, my lord, the titles you now usurp will be truly yours; you will +then be, indeed, the deliverer of your country, and free it from a +bondage little inferior to that from which Moses delivered his, you +will then be that true reformer which you would now be thought; religion +shall then be restored, liberty asserted, and Parliaments have those +privileges they have sought for. All this we hope from your Highness's +happy expiration. To hasten this great good is the chief end of my +writing this paper; and if it have the effects I hope it will, your +Highness will quickly be out of the reach of men's malice, and your +enemies will only be able to wound you in your memory, which strokes you +will not feel." + +The possession of life becomes dearest when its forfeiture is +threatened, and therefore Cromwell took all possible means to guard +against treachery--the only foe he feared, and feared exceedingly. "His +sleeps were disturbed with the apprehensions of those dangers the day +presented unto him in the approaches of any strange face, whose motion +he would most fixedly attend," writes James Heath, gentleman, in his +"Chronicles," published in 1675. "Above all, he very carefully observed +such whose mind or aspect were featured with any chearful and debonair +lineaments; for such he boded were they that would despatch him; to that +purpose he always went secretly armed, both offensive and defensive; +and never stirred without a great guard. In his usual journey between +Whitehall and Hampton Court, by several roads, he drove full speed in +the summer time, making such a dust with his life-guard, part before and +part behinde, at a convenient distance, for fear of choaking him with +it, that one could hardly see for a quarter of an hour together, and +always came in some private way or other." The same authority, in his +"Life of Cromwell," states of him, "It was his constant custom to shift +and change his lodging, to which he passed through twenty several locks, +and out of which he had four or five ways to avoid pursuit." Welwood, in +his "Memoirs," adds the Protector wore a coat of mail beneath his dress, +and carried a poniard under his cloak. + +Nor was this all. According to the "Chronicle of the late Intestine +War," Cromwell "would sometimes pretend to be merry, and invite persons, +of whom he had some suspicion, to his cups, and then drill out of their +open hearts such secrets as he wisht for. He had freaks also to divert +the vexations of his misgiving thoughts, calling on by the beat of drum +his footguards, like a kennel of hounds to snatch away the scraps and +reliques of his table. He said every man's hand was against him, +and that he ran daily into further perplexities, out of which it was +impossible to extricate, or secure himself therein, without running +into further danger; so that he began to alter much in the tenour of +his former converse, and to run and transform into the manners of the +ancient tyrants, thinking to please and mitigate his own tortures with +the sufferings of others." + +But now the fate his vigilance had hitherto combated at last overtook +him in a manner impossible to evade. He was attacked by divers +infirmities, but for some time made no outward sign of his suffering, +until one day five physicians came and waited on him, as Dr. George Bate +states in his ELENCHUS MOTUUM NUPERORUM. And one of them, feeling +his pulse, declared his Highness suffered from an intermittent fever; +hearing which "he looked pale, fell into a cold sweat, almost fainted +away, and orders himself to be carried to bed." His fright, however, +was but momentary. He was resolved to live. He had succeeded in raising +himself to a position of vast power, but had failed in attaining the +great object of his ambition--the crowned sovereignty of the nation he +had stirred to its centre, and conquered to its furthest limits. Brought +face to face with death, his indomitable will, which had shaped untoward +circumstances to his accord with a force like unto fate itself, now +determined to conquer his shadowy enemy which alone intercepted his path +to the throne. Therefore as he lay in bed he said to those around him +with that sanctity of speech which had cloaked his cruellest deeds and +dissembled his most ambitious designs, "I would be willing to live to be +further serviceable to God and his people." + +As desires of waking hours are answered in sleep, so in response to his +nervous craving for life he had delusive assurances of health through +the special bounty of Providence. He was therefore presently able +to announce he "had very great discoveries of the Lord to him in his +sickness, and hath some certainty of being restored;" as Fleetwood, his +son-in-law, wrote on the 24th of August in this same year. + +Accordingly, when one of the physicians came to him next morning, the +High Protector said, "Why do you look sad?" To which the man of lore +replied evasively, "So it becomes anyone who had the weighty care of +his life and health upon him." Then Cromwell to this purpose spoke: "You +think I shall die; I tell you I shall not die this bout; I am sure on't. +Don't think I am mad. I speak the words of truth upon surer grounds than +Galen or your Hippocrates furnish you with. God Almighty himself hath +given that answer, not to my prayers alone, but also to the prayers of +those who entertain a stricter commerce and greater intimacy with him. +Ye may have skill in the nature of things, yet nature can do more than +all physicians put together, and God is far above nature." The doctor +besought him to rest, and left the room. Outside he met one of his +colleagues, to whom he gave it as his opinion their patient had grown +light-headed, and he repeated the words which Cromwell had spoken. +"Then," said his brother-physician, "you are certainly a stranger in +this house; don't you know what was done last night? The chaplain and +all their friends being dispersed into several parts of the palace +have prayed to God for his health, and they all heard the voice of God +saying, 'He will recover,' and so they are all certain of it." + +"Never, indeed, was there a greater stock of prayers going on for any +man," as Thurlow, his secretary, writes. So sure were those around him +that Providence must hearken to and grant the fulfilment of such +desires as they thought well to express, that, as Thomas Goodwin, one of +Cromwell's chaplains, said, "We asked not for the Protector's life, for +we were assured He had too great things for this man to do, to remove +him yet; but we prayed for his speedy recovery, because his life and +presence were so necessary to divers things then of great moment to be +despatched." When this Puritanical fanatic was presently disappointed, +Bishop Burnet narrates "he had the impudence to say to God, 'Thou hast +deceived us.'" + +Meanwhile the Protector lay writhing in pain and terror. His mind was +sorely troubled at remembrance of the last words spoken by his daughter +Elizabeth, who had threatened judgments upon him because of his refusal +to save the King; whilst his body was grievously racked with a tertian +fever, and a foul humour which, beginning in his foot, worked its way +steadily to his heart. Moreover, some insight regarding his future +seemed given to him in his last days, for he appeared, as Ludlow, his +contemporary, states, "above all concerned for the reproaches he saw men +would cast upon his name, in tramping upon his ashes when dead." + +On the 30th of August his danger became evident even to himself, and +all hope of life left him. For hours after the certain approach of death +became undeniably certain, he remained quiet and speechless, seemingly +heedless of the exhortation and prayers of his chaplains, till suddenly +turning to one of them, he whispered, "Tell me, is it possible to fall +from grace?" The preacher had a soothing reply ready: "It is not," he +answered. "Then," exclaimed this unhappy man, whose soul was red with +the blood of thousands of his countrymen, "I am safe, for I know I was +once in grace." Anon he cries out, whilst tossing wildly on his bed, +"Lord, although I am a miserable and a wretched creature, I am in +covenant with Thee through grace, and I may and will come to Thee for +Thy people. Pardon such as desire to trample upon the dust of a poor +worm. And give us a good night if it be Thy pleasure. Amen." + +It was now the 2nd of September. As the evening of that day approached +he fell into a stupor, and those who watched him thought the end had +come. + +Within the darkened chamber in Whitehall all was silence and gloom; +without all was tumult and fear. Before the gates of the palace a +turbulent crowd of soldiers and citizens had gathered in impatient +anxiety. Those he had raised to power, those whose fortunes depended on +his life, were steeped in gloom; those whose principles he had outraged +by his usurpation, those whose position he had crushed by his sway, +rejoiced at heart. Not only the capital, but the whole nation, was +divided into factions which one strong hand alone had been able to +control; and terror, begotten by dire remembrances of civil war and +bloodshed, abode with all lovers of peace. + +As evening closed in, the elements appeared in unison with the +distracted condition of the kingdom. Dark clouds, seeming of ominous +import to men's minds, gathered in the heavens, to be presently torn +asunder and hurried in wild flight by tempestuous winds across the +troubled sky. As night deepened, the gale steadily increased, until it +raged in boundless fury above the whole island and the seas that rolled +around its shores. In town houses rocked on their foundations, turrets +and steeples were flung from their places; in the country great trees +were uprooted, corn-stacks levelled to the ground, and winter fruits +destroyed; whilst at sea ships sank to rise no more. This memorable +storm lasted all night, and continued until three o'clock next +afternoon, when Cromwell expired. + +His body was immediately embalmed, but was of necessity interred in +great haste. Westminster Abbey, the last home of kings and princes, was +selected as the fittest resting-place for the regicide. Though it was +impossible to honour his remains by stately ceremonials, his followers +were not content to let the occasion of his death pass with-out +commemoration. They therefore had a waxen image of him made, which they +resolved to surround with all the pomp and circumstances of royalty. For +this purpose they carried it to Somerset House--one of the late King's +palaces--and placed it on a couch of crimson velvet beneath a canopy of +state. Upon its shoulders they hung a purple mantle, in its right hand +they placed a golden sceptre, and by its side they laid an imperial +crown, probably the same which, according to Welwood, the Protector had +secretly caused to be made and conveyed to Whitehall with a view to his +coronation. The walls and ceiling of the room in which the effigy lay +were covered by sable velvet; the passages leading to it crowded with +soldiery. After a few weeks the town grew tired of this sight, when the +waxen image was taken to another apartment, hung with rich velvets and +golden tissue, and otherwise adorned to symbolize heaven, when it was +placed upon a throne, clad "in a shirt of fine Holland lace, doublet +and breeches of Spanish fashion with great skirts, silk stockings, +shoe-strings and gaiters suitable, and black Spanish leather shoes." +Over this attire was flung a cloak of purple velvet, and on his head +was placed a crown with many precious stones. The room was then lit, as +Ludlow narrates, "by four or five hundred candles set in flat shining +candlesticks, so placed round near the roof that the light they gave +seemed like the rays of the sun, by all which he was represented to be +now in a state of glory." Lest, indeed, there should be any doubt as to +the place where his soul abode, Sterry, the Puritan preacher, imparted +the information to all, that the Protector "now sat with Christ at the +right hand of the Father." + +But this pomp and state in no may overawed the people, who, by pelting +with mire Cromwell's escutcheon placed above the great gate of Somerset +House gave evidence of the contempt in which they held his memory. After +a lapse of over two months from the day of his death, the effigy was +carried to Westminster Abbey with more than regal ceremony, the expenses +of his lying-in-state and of his funeral procession amounting, as stated +by Walker and Noble, to upwards of L29,000. "It was the joyfullest +funeral I ever saw," writes Evelyn, "for there were none that cried but +dogs, which the soldiers hooted away with a barbarous noise, drinking +and taking tobacco as they went." + +A little while before his death Cromwell had named his eldest surviving +son, Richard, as his successor, and he was accordingly declared +Protector, with the apparent consent of the council, soldiers, and +citizens. Nor did the declaration cause any excitement, "There is not +a dog who wags his tongue, so profound is the calm which we are in," +writes Thurlow to Oliver's second son, Henry, then Lord Lieutenant of +Ireland. But if the nation in its dejection made no signs of resistance, +neither did it give any indications of satisfaction, and Richard was +proclaimed "with as few expressions of joy as had ever been observed on +a like occasion." For a brief while a stupor seemed to lull the +factious party spirit which was shortly to plunge the country into +fresh difficulties. The Cromwellians and Republicans foresaw resistless +strife, and the Royalists quietly and hopefully abided results. + +Nor had they long to wait. In the new Parliament assembled in January, +1659, the Republicans showed themselves numerous and bold beyond +measure, and hesitated to recognise Richard Cromwell as successor to +the Protectorate. However, on the 14th of the following month the +Cromwellians gained the upper hand, when Richard was confirmed in his +title of "Lord Protector, and First Magistrate of England, Scotland, and +Ireland, with all the territories depending thereon." Further discussion +quickly followed. "One party thinks the Protectorate cannot last; the +other that the Republican cannot raise itself again; the indifferent +hope that both will be right. It is easy to foretell the upshot," +writes Hyde. The disunion spread rapidly and widely; not only was the +Parliament divided against itself, but so likewise was the army; and the +new Protector had neither the courage nor the ability to put down strife +with a strong hand. Richard Cromwell was a man of peaceful disposition, +gentle manners and unambitious mind, whom fate had forced into a +position for which he was in no way fitted. By one of those strange +contradictions which nature sometimes produces, he differed in all +things from his father; for not only was he pleasure-loving, joyous, +and humane, but he was, moreover, a Royalist at heart, and continued in +friendship with the Cavaliers up to the period of his proclamation as +Protector. It has been stated that, falling on his knees, he entreated +his father to spare the life of Charles I.; it is certain he remained +inactive whilst the civil wars devastated the land; and there is +evidence to show that, during the seven months and twenty-eight days of +his Protectorship, he shrank from the perpetration of cruelty and +crime. Accordingly, when those who had at first supported his authority +eventually conspired against him, he refrained from using his power to +crush them. At this his friends were wrath. "It is time to look about +you," said Lord Howard, speaking with the bluntness of a friend. "Empire +and command are not now the question. Your person, your life are in +peril. You are the son of Cromwell; show yourself worthy to be his son. +This business requires a bold stroke, and must be supported by a good +head. Do not suffer yourself to be daunted. I will rid you of your +enemies: do you stand by me, and only back my zeal for your honour with +your name; my head shall answer for the consequences." + +Colonel Ingoldsby seconded the advice Lord Howard gave, but Richard +Cromwell hearkened to neither. "I have never done anybody any harm, +and never will," said he, "will not have a drop of blood spilt for the +preservation of my greatness, which is a burden to me." At this Lord +Howard was indignant. "Do you think," he asked, "this moderation of +yours will repair the wrong your family has committed by its elevation? +Everybody knows that by violence your father procured the death of the +late king, and kept his sons in banishment: mercy in the present state +of affairs is unreasonable. Lay aside this pussillanimity; every moment +is precious; your enemies spend the time in acting which we waste +in consulting." "Talk no more of it," answered the Protector. "I am +thankful for your friendship, but violent counsels suit not with me." + +The climax was at hand; his fall was but a question of time. "A +wonderfull and suddaine change in ye face of ye publiq," writes Evelyn, +on the 25th of April, 1659. "Ye new Protector Richard slighted; several +pretenders and parties strove for the Government; all anarchy and +confusion. Lord have mercy on us!" + +Before the month of May had expired, the House of Commons commissioned +two of its members to bid Richard Cromwell leave the palace of +Whitehall, and obtain his signature to a deed wherein he acknowledged +complete submission to Parliament. His brief inglorious reign was +therefore at an end. "As with other men," he wrote to the House of +Commons, "I expect protection from the present Government: I do hold +myself obliged to demean myself with all the peaceableness under it, +and to procure, to the utmost of my power, that all in whom I have any +interest to do the same." He retired into Hampshire, where he dwelt as +a private gentleman. His brother Henry resigned his position as Lord +Lieutenant of Ireland and settled in Cambridgeshire. From this time the +name of Cromwell was no longer a power in the land. + +During two years subsequent to the death of Oliver the government +of England underwent various changes, and the kingdom suffered many +disorders; until, being heartily sick of anarchy, the people desired +a king might once more reign over them accordingly, they turned their +eyes towards the son of him whom "the boldest villany that ever any +nation saw" had sent to the block. And the time being ripe, Charles +Stuart, then an exile in Breda, despatched Sir John Grenville with royal +letters to both Houses of Parliament, likewise to the Lord Mayor of +London and members of the Common Council, to Monk, commander of the +forces, and Montagu, admiral of the fleet. These letters were received +with so universal a joy and applause, that Parliament forthwith ordained +Charles Stuart should be proclaimed "the most potent, mighty, and +undoubted King of England, Scotland and Ireland." Moreover, both Houses +agreed that an honourable body of Commissioners, all men of great +quality and birth, should be sent to the king with letters, humbly +begging his majesty would be pleased to hasten his long-desired return +into England. And because they knew full well the royal exchequer was +empty, Parliament ordered these noble gentlemen to carry with them a +present of fifty thousand pieces of gold to the king, together with ten +thousand to his brother of York, and five thousand to his brother of +Gloucester. Nor was the City of London backwards in sending expressions +of loyalty and tokens of homage and devotion; to evince which twenty +valiant men and worthy citizens were despatched with messages of +goodwill towards him, and presents in gold to the amount of twelve +thousand pounds. + +And presently Admiral Montagu arriving with his fleet upon the coast of +Holland, awaited his majesty near Scheveling; and all things being in +readiness the king with his royal brothers and a most noble train set +sail for England. + +It came to pass that on the 25th day of May, 1660, a vast concourse of +nobility, gentry, and citizens had assembled at Dover to meet and greet +their sovereign king, Charles II., on his landing. On the fair morning +of that day a sound of cannon thundering from the castle announced that +the fleet, consisting of "near forty sail of great men-of-war," which +conveyed his majesty to his own, was in sight; whereon an innumerable +crowd betook its joyful way to the shore. The sun was most gloriously +bright, the sky cloudless, the sea calm. Far out upon the blue horizon +white-winged ships could be clearly discerned. By three o'clock in the +afternoon they had reached the harbour, when the king, embarking in a +galley most richly adorned, was rowed to shore. Then cannon roared once +more from the castle, and were answered from the beach; bells rang from +church towers, and a mighty shout went up from the hearts of the people. + +In the midst of these rejoicings Charles II. landed, and the gallant +General Monk, who had been mainly instrumental in bringing his royal +master to the throne without loss of blood, now fell upon his knees to +greet his majesty. The king raised the general from the ground, embraced +and kissed him. Then the nobility hastened to pay their duty likewise, +and the Mayor and Aldermen of Dover presented him with a most loyal +address. And presently, with the roar of cannon, the clangour of bells, +the sound of music, and the shouts of a great multitude ringing in his +ears, the king advanced on his way towards Canterbury. At the gates +of this ancient city he was met by the mayor and aldermen, and was +presented by them with a golden tankard, Here he spent the following +day, which being Sunday, he went with a great train to the cathedral, +where service according to the Church of England, long disused by the +Puritans, was restored, to the satisfaction of many. + +Setting out from Canterbury on Monday, the 29th of May--which was, +moreover, the anniversary of his birth--he journeyed to Blackheath, +where he reviewed the forces drawn up with great pomp and military +splendour to greet him, and bestowed many gracious expressions on them. +Then, having received assurances of their loyal homage through their +commander, Colonel Knight, he turned towards London town. And the nearer +he approached, the more dense became crowds thronging to meet him; the +fields on either side the long white road being filled with persons of +all conditions, who cheered him lustily. As he passed they flung leaves +of trees and sweet May flowers beneath his horse's feet, and waved green +boughs on high, And when he came to St. George's Fields, there was my +lord mayor in his robes of new velvet, wearing his collar of wrought +gold, and attended by his aldermen in brave apparel likewise. Going down +on his knees my lord mayor presented the king with the city sword, which +his majesty with some happy expressions of confidence gave back into his +good keeping, having first struck him with it upon the shoulder and bade +him rise up Sir Thomas Allen. Whereon that worthy man rose to his feet +and conducted the king to a large and richly adorned pavilion, and +entertained him at a splendid collation, it being then one of the clock. +And being refreshed his majesty set forth again, and entered the city, +which had never before shown so brave and goodly an appearance as on +this May day, when all the world seemed mad with joy. + +From London Bridge even to Whitehall Palace the way was lined on one +side by the train-bands of the city, and on the other by the city +companies in their rich livery gowns; to which were added a number +of gentlemen volunteers, all in white doublets, commanded by Sir John +Stanel. Across the streets hung garlands of spring flowers that made the +air most sweet, and at the corners thereof were arches of white hawthorn +in full bloom, bedecked with streamers of gay colours. From wooden +railed balconies, jutting windows, and quaint gables hung fair +tapestries, rich silks, and stuffs of brilliant hues; and from the high +red chimneys, grey turrets, and lofty spires, floated flags bearing +the royal arms of England, and banners inscribed with such mottoes as +loyalty and affection could suggest. The windows and galleries +were filled with ladies of quality in bright dresses; the roofs and +scaffolding, with citizens of all classes, who awaited with eager and +joyous faces to salute their lord and king. + +And presently, far down the line of streets, a sound was heard of +innumerable voices cheering most lustily, which every minute became +nearer and louder, till at last a blare of trumpets was distinguished, +followed by martial music, and the tramp and confusion of a rushing +crowd which suddenly parted on all sides. Then there burst on view the +first sight of that brave and glorious cavalcade to the number of twenty +thousand, which ushered the king back unto his own. First came a troop +of young and comely gentlemen, three hundred in all, representing the +pride and valour of the kingdom, wearing cloth of silver doublets and +brandishing naked swords which flashed in the sunlight. Then another +company, less by a hundred in number, habited in rich velvet coats, +their footmen clad in purple liveries; and next a goodly troop under the +command of Sir John Robinson, all dressed in buff coats with cloth of +silver sleeves, and green scarves most handsome to behold. These were +followed by a brave troop in blue doublets adorned with silver lace, +carrying banners of red silk fringed with gold. Then came trumpets, and +seven footmen in sea-green and silver liveries, bearing banners of blue +silk, followed by a troop in grey and blue to the number of two hundred +and twenty, and led by the most noble the Earl of Northampton. After +various other companies, all brave in apparel, came two trumpets bearing +his majesty's arms, followed by the sheriffs' men in red cloaks and +silver lace, and by a great body of gentlemen in black velvet coats with +gold chains. Next rode six hundred brave citizens, twelve ministers, the +king's life guards, led by Sir Gilbert Gerrard, the city marshals with +eight footmen, the city waits and officers, the sheriffs and aldermen in +scarlet gowns, the maces and heralds in great splendour, the lord mayor +carrying a naked sword in his strong right hand, the Duke of Buckingham, +and General Monk, soon to be created Duke of Albermarle. + +Now other heralds sound their trumpets with blasts that make all hearts +beat quicker; church bells ring far louder than before; voices are +raised to their highest pitch, excitement reaches its zenith, for here, +mounted on a stately horse caparisoned in royal purple and adorned with +gold, rides King Charles himself; on his right hand his brother of York, +on his left his brother of Gloucester. Handkerchiefs are waved, flowers +are flung before his way, words of welcome fall upon his ear, in answer +to which he bows with stately grace, smiles most pleasantly, and gives +such signs of delight as "cheared the hearts of all loyal subjects +even to extasie and transportation." Last of all came five regiments of +cavalry, with back, breast, and head piece, which "diversified the show +with delight and terrour." John Evelyn stood in the Strand and watched +the procession pass, when that worthy man thanked God the king had +been restored without bloodshed, and by the very army that had rebelled +against him. "For such a restauration was never mention'd in any history +ancient or modern, since the returne of the Jews from the Babylonish +captivity; nor so joyfull a day and so bright ever seene in this nation, +this hapning when to expect or effect it was past all human policy." + +For full seven hours this "most pompous show that ever was" wound its +way through the city, until at nine of the clock in the evening it +brought his majesty to the palace of Whitehall, where the late king had +"laid down his sacred head to be struck off upon a block," almost twelve +years before. Then the lord mayor and his aldermen took their goodly +leave, and the king entered into the banquet hall, where the lords and +commons awaited him, and where an address was made to him by the Earl +of Manchester, Speaker to the House of Peers, congratulating him on his +miraculous preservation and happy restoration to his crown and dignity +after so long and so severe a suppression of his just right and title. +Likewise his lordship besought his majesty to be the upright assertor of +the laws and maintainer of the liberties of his subjects. "So," said the +noble earl, "shall judgment run down like a river, and justice like a +mighty stream, and God, the God of your mercy, who hath so miraculously +preserved you, will establish your throne in righteousness and peace." +Then the king made a just and brief reply, and retired to supper and to +rest. + +The worthy citizens, however, were not satisfied that their rejoicements +should end here, and "as soon as night came," says Dr. Bate, "an +artificial day was begun again, the whole city seeming to be one great +light, as, indeed, properly it was a luminary of loyalty, the bonfires +continuing till daybreak, fed by a constant supply of wood, and +maintained with an equal excess of gladness and fewel." Wine flowed from +public fountains, volleys of shot were discharged from houses of the +nobility, drums and other musical instruments played in the streets, +citizens danced most joyfully in open places, and the effigy of Cromwell +was burned, together with the arms of the Commonwealth with expressions +of great delight. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + The story of the king's escape.--He accepts the Covenant and lands in + Scotland.--Crowned at Scone.--Proclaimed king at Carlisle.--The + battle of Worcester.--Bravery of Charles.--Disloyalty of the Scottish + cavalry.--The Royalists defeated.--The King's flight.--Seeks refuge + in Boscobel Wood.--The faithful Pendrells.--Striving to cross the + Severn.--Hiding in an oak tree.--Sheltered by Master Lane.--Sets out + with Mistress Lane.--Perilous escapes.--On the road.--The king is + recognised.--Strange adventures.--His last night in England. + +That King Charles had been miraculously preserved, as my Lord Manchester +set forth, there can be no doubt. His courageous efforts to regain the +Crown at the battle of Worcester and his subsequent escapes from the +vigilant pursuits of the Cromwellian soldiers, would, if set down in +justice and with detail, present a story more entertaining than any +romance ever written. Here they must of necessity be mentioned with +brevity. + +In the year 1645, Charles I., having suffered the loss of many great +battles, became fearful of the danger which threatened his family and +himself. He therefore ordered his son Charles, who had already retired +into the west, to seek refuge in the Scilly Isles. The prince complied +with his desires, and went from thence to Paris, where his mother, +Henrietta Maria, had already taken shelter, and, after a short stay +with her, travelled to the Hague. Soon after the king was beheaded, the +Scots, who regarded that foul act with great abhorrence, invited +Charles to come into their kingdom, provided he accepted certain hard +conditions, which left the government of all civil business in the hands +of Parliament, and the regulation of all religious matters in charge +of the Presbyterians. No other prospect of regaining his rights, and of +enabling him to fight for his throne presenting itself, he accepted +what was known as the Covenant, and landed in Scotland in 1650. He +was received with the respect due to a monarch, but placed under the +surveillance forced on a prisoner. The fanatical Presbyterians, jealous +of that potent influence which his blithe ways exercised over all with +whom he associated, neither permitted him to attend the council nor +command the army; they, however, preached to him incessantly, admonished +him of his sins and those of his parents, guarded him as a captive, and +treated him as a puppet. Meanwhile Cromwell, being made aware of his +presence in the kingdom, advanced at the head of a powerful body into +Scotland, fought and won the battle of Dunbar, stormed and captured +Leith, and took his triumphal way towards Edinburgh town. Charles was at +this time in Perth, and being impatient at his enforced inaction whilst +battles were fought in his name, and lives lost in his cause, made his +escape from the Covenanters, with the determination of arousing +the Royalists who lay in the north. But the Scots soon overtook and +recaptured him. However, this decisive action awoke them to a better +understanding of the deference due to his position, and therefore +they crowned him at Scone on the first day of the year 1651, with much +solemnity, and subsequently made him commander of the army. + +After spending some months in reorganizing the troops, he boldly +declared his intention of marching into England, and fighting the rebel +force. Accordingly, on the 31st of July, 1651, he set out from Sterling +with an army of between eleven and twelve thousand men. At Carlisle +he was proclaimed king, and a declaration was published in his name, +granting free grace and pardon to all his subjects in England, of +whatever nature or cause their offences, saving Cromwell, Bradshaw and +Cooke. He then marched to Lancashire, and on the 23rd of August unfurled +the Royal standard at Worcester, amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of +his troops and the loyal demonstrations of the citizens. Weary of civil +strife, depressed with fear of Cromwell's severities, and distrustful +of the Presbyterians, who chiefly composed the young king's army, the +Royalists had not gathered to his standard in such numbers as he had +anticipated. His troops, since leaving Scotland, had been reinforced +merely by two thousand men; but Charles had hopes that fresh recruits +would join him when news of the rising got noised abroad. + +The Republicans were filled with dismay at the king's determined action, +but were prompt to make a counter-move, Accordingly, additional troops +were levied, London was left to be defended by volunteers, and Cromwell, +heading an army of thirty-four thousand men, marched against the +Royalists. On the 28th of August, they drew near Worcester, and on the +3rd of September the battle was fought which will remain for ever +famous in the annals of civil war. On the morning of that day, the king, +ascending the cathedral tower, saw the enemy's forces advancing towards +Worcester: before reaching the city, it was necessary they should cross +the Severn, and, in order to prevent this if possible, Charles hurried +down and directed that some of his troops, under the command of +Montgomery, should defend Powick Bridge; whilst he stationed others +under Colonel Pitscottie lower down, at a point of the river towards +which the Republicans were marching with pontoons, by means of which +they intended to cross. The young king, hopeful of victory and full of +enthusiasm, rode speedily out at the head of his troops and placed them +at their various stations. Scarcely had he done so, when he became aware +that the main body of the enemy had opened an artillery fire on Fort +Royal, which guarded the city on the south-east side. He therefore +galloped back in hot haste to headquarters, and reconnoitred the +advanced posts eastward of the city, in full front of the enemy's fire. +Meanwhile Montgomery, having exhausted his ammunition, was obliged to +retreat in disorder from Powick Bridge, followed by the Cromwellians. +The king now courageously resolved to attack the enemy's camp at Perry +Wood, which lay south-east of Worcester. Accordingly he marched out with +the flower of his Highland infantry and the English cavaliers, led by +the Dukes of Hamilton and Buckingham. Cromwell, seeing this, hastened to +intercept the king's march, whereon a fierce battle was bravely fought +on either side. Nothing could be more valiant than the conduct of the +young king, who showed himself wholly regardless of his life in the +fierce struggle for his rights. Twice was his horse shot under him; +but increasing danger seemed but to animate him to greater daring. So +bravely did his army fight likewise, that the Republicans at first gave +way before them. For upwards of four hours the engagement raged with +great fierceness. Cromwell subsequently declared it was "as stiff a +contest as he had ever seen," and his experience was great. Success +seemed now to crown the Royalists, anon to favour the Roundheads. The +great crisis of the day at length arrived: the Cromwellians began to +waver and give way just as the Royalist cavalry had expended their +ammunition; the king had still three thousand Scotch cavalry in the rear +under the command of Leslie, who had not yet been called into action. He +therefore ordered them to advance; but, to his horror, not one of these +men, who had looked on as passive spectators, made a movement. In this +hour, when victory or defeat hung upon a thread the Scots ignominiously +failed their king. Charles instantly saw he was undone. The English +cavalry continued to fight bravely, in their desperation using the butt +ends of their muskets; but they were gradually compelled to give way +before the enemy, who, seeing their condition, had renewed the +attack. The Royalists therefore fell back into the city. When the king +re-entered Worcester he saw before him a scene of the most disastrous +confusion. Royalists and Republicans encountered and fought each other +in every thoroughfare; the air was filled with the report of muskets, +the imprecations of soldiers, the groans of wounded men, and the shrieks +of women. The streets ran red with blood. At such a sight his heart sank +within him, but, manning himself for fresh efforts, he called his troops +together and sought to incite them with courage to make a final charge. +"I would rather," he cried out, "you would shoot me than keep me alive +to see the sad consequences of this fatal day." Those who heard him were +disheartened: it was too late to retrieve their heavy losses: most of +them refused to heed him; many sought safety in flight. Then the young +king's friends, gathering round, besought him to make good his escape; +and accordingly, with a sad heart, he rode out of St. Martin's Gate +humbled and defeated. In order to cover his retreat from the enemy now +advancing, my Lord Cleveland, Sir James Hamilton, Colonel Careless, and +some other worthy gentlemen defended Sudbury Gate, towards which the +main body of the Republicans approached. They held this position a +sufficient time to gain the end for which it was undertaken. But at +length the Republicans, forcing open the gate, marched upon the fort, +defended by fifteen hundred soldiers under Colonel Drummond. This loyal +man refusing to surrender, the fort was speedily stormed; and he and +those of his men who survived the attack were mercilessly put to the +sword. + +Dr. George Bate gives a quaint and striking picture of what followed. +"Deplorable and sad was the countenance of the town after that," writes +he; "the victorious soldiers on the one hand killing, breaking into +houses, plundering, sacking, roaring, and threatening; on the other +hand, the subdued flying, turning their backs to be cut and slashed, and +with outstretched hands begging quarter; some, in vain resisting, sold +their lives as dear as they could, whilst the citizens to no purpose +prayed, lamented, and bewailed. All the streets are strewed with dead +and mangled bodies. Here were to be seen some that begged relief, and +then again others weltering in their own gore, who desired that at once +an end might be put to their lives and miseries. The dead bodies lay +unburied for the space of three days or more, which was a loathsome +spectacle that increased the horror of the action." + +Concerning his subsequent dangers and narrow escapes, the king, in his +days of peace and prosperity, was wont to discourse at length, for they +had left impressions on his mind which lasted through life. Edward Hyde, +Lord Clarendon, his Lord High Chancellor, Dr. George Bate, his learned +physician, and Samuel Pepys, Esquire, sometime Surveyor-General to the +Victualling Office, have preserved the records of that time of peril, +as told by his majesty. True, their various stories differ in minor +details, but they agree in principal facts. The king had not ridden +many miles from Worcester when he found himself surrounded by about four +thousand of his army, including the Scots under the command of Leslie. +Though they would not fight for him, they were ready enough to fly with +him. At first he thought of betaking himself to Scotland; but having +had sad proof of the untrustworthy character of those with whom he +travelled, he feared they would further betray him if pursued by the +enemy. He therefore resolved to reach London before the news of his +defeat arrived thither, and make his escape from thence; but this +scheme presented many difficulties. Amongst the persons of quality who +accompanied him were my Lord Duke of Buckingham, the Earls of Derby and +Lauderdale, and the Lords Wilmot and Talbot. During their journey it +fell from my Lord Derby's lips, that when he had been defeated at Wigan, +one Pendrell, an honest labourer and a Papist, had sheltered him in +Boscobel House, not far distant from where they then rode. Hearing +this, the king resolved to trust this same faithful fellow, and for +the present seek such refuge as Pendrell could afford. It was not easy, +however, for his majesty to escape the Scots; but when night came, he +and his gentlemen slipped away from the high road, which the others +continued to pursue, and made for Boscobel Wood, led by Charles Giffard, +a loyal gentleman and true. The house they sought was situated between +Tong Castle and Brewood, in a woody place most fitting for retreat; +it was, moreover, six and twenty miles from Worcester, and stood in +Shropshire, on the borders of Staffordshire. + +In order to gain this haven of rest, it was necessary for them to pass +through Stourbridge, where a troop of the Republican army lay quartered. +Midnight had fallen ere they reached the town, which was now wrapt in +darkness, and was, moreover, perfectly still. The king and his friends, +dismounting, led their horses through the echoing streets as softly as +possible, being filled the while with dire apprehensions. Safely leaving +it, they rode into the wood until they came to the old convent of +Whiteladies, once the home of Cistercian nuns, who had long since been +driven from their peaceful retreat. The house was now the habitation of +the Giffard family, with whom George Pendrell lived as servant. On being +aroused, he came forth with a lantern, and admitted them, when Charles +Giffard made known to him in whose presence he stood, and acquainted him +with their situation. Thereupon the honest fellow promised to serve the +king faithfully, and sent immediately for his brothers four: William, +who took charge of Boscobel House, not far removed; Humphrey, who was +miller at Whiteladies; Richard, who lived at Hobbal Grange; and John, +who was a woodman, and dwelt hard by. When they had all arrived, Lord +Derby showed them the king's majesty, and besought them for God's sake, +for their loyalty's sake, and as they valued all that was high and +sacred, to keep him safe, and forthwith seek some place of decent +shelter where he might securely lurk. This they readily swore to +compass, though they risked their lives in the attempt. + +It being considered that greater safety lay in the king being +unattended, his loyal friends departed from him with many prayers +and hopes for a joyful reunion: all of them save my Lords Wilmot and +Buckingham set out to join Leslie's company, that they might proceed +together towards Scotland; but they had not marched six miles in company +with the Scots when these three thousand men and more were overtaken and +were routed by a single troop of the enemy's horse, and my Lord Derby, +being taken, was condemned and executed. Lords Wilmot and Buckingham +set out for London, to which place it was agreed the king should follow +them. + +When his majesty's friends had departed, the Pendrells undertook to +disguise him; towards which end one of them cut the long locks reaching +his shoulders, another rubbed his hands and face with dust, and a third +brought him a suit of clothes. "The habit of the king," says Pepys, "was +a very greasy old grey steeple-crowned hat, with the brims turned up, +without lining or hatband, the sweat appearing two inches deep through +it round the band place; a green cloth jump-coat, threadbare, even to +the threads being worn white, and breeches of the same, with long knees +down to the garter; with an old sweaty leathern doublet, a pair of white +flannel stockings next to his legs, and upon them a pair of old green +yarn stockings, all worn and darned at the knees, with their feet cut +off: his shoes were old, all slashed for the ease of his feet, with +little rolls of paper between his toes to keep them from galling; and +an old coarse shirt, patched both at the neck and hands, of that very +coarse sort which go by the name of nogging shirts." + +When Charles was attired in this fashion, Richard Pendrell opened a back +door and led him out into the wood; not a moment too soon, for within +half an hour Colonel Ashenhurst, with a company of Cromwell's soldiers, +rode up to Whiteladies, rushed into the house, searched every chamber +and secret place, pulled down the wainscoting, and otherwise devastated +the mansion in the search for the king. A damp cold September morning +now lengthened to a day of gloom and depression. Rain fell in heavy +torrents, dripped from the leafless branches of trees, and saturated the +thick undergrowth and shrubs where his majesty lay hidden. Owing to +the condition of the weather, the soldiers neglected to search Boscobel +Wood; and, after uttering many threats and imprecations, withdrew from +Whiteladies. When he considered himself quite alone, Richard Pendrell +ventured forth, taking with him a billhook, that if observed he might +seem engaged in trimming hedges; and drawing near the spot where his +majesty lay, assured him of his safety. Later on he besought an old +woman, his neighbour, to take victuals into the wood to a labourer she +would find there. Without hesitation the good woman carried some eggs, +bread, butter, and milk towards the spot indicated to her. On seeing +her the king was much alarmed fearing recognition and dreading her +garrulity; wherefore he said to her: "Can you be true to anyone who hath +served the king?" Upon which she readily made answer: "Yes, sir; I'd die +sooner than betray you." Being reassured at this, he ate heartily. + +When night fell, Richard brought him into the house again, and the king, +now abandoning his intention of proceeding to London, expressed his +anxiety to reach Wales where he had many friends, and which afforded +him ready opportunities of escaping from the kingdom. Pendrell expressed +himself willing to conduct him thither. Accordingly, about nine of +the clock, they set out with the determination of crossing the Severn, +intending to pass over a ferry between Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury. When +they had walked some hours they drew near a water-mill. "We could see +the miller," said the king in relating the story, "as I believe, sitting +at the mill-door, he being in white clothes, it being a very dark night. +He called out sturdily, 'Who goes there?' Upon which Richard Pendrell +answered, 'Neighbours going home,' or suchlike words. Whereupon the +miller cried out: 'If you be neighbours, stand, or I will knock you +down.' Upon which, we believing there was company in the house, Richard +bade me follow him close, and he ran to a gate that went up a dirty lane +up a hill. The miller cried out: 'Rogues--rogues!' And thereupon some +men came out of the mill after us, which I believe were soldiers; so we +fell a-running, both of us up the lane as long as we could run, it being +very deep and very dirty, till at last I bade him leap over a hedge, and +lie still to hear if anybody followed us--which we did, and continued +lying down upon the ground about half an hour, when, hearing nobody +come, we continued our way." + +This led to the house of an honest gentleman named Woolfe, living at +Madeley, who was a Catholic, and loyal to his king, and as such was +known to the Pendrells. When they drew near to his house, Richard, +leaving his majesty in a field, went forward and asked this worthy man +if he would shelter one who had taken part in the battle of Worcester; +whereon he made answer he would not venture his neck for any man unless +it were the king himself, upon which Pendrell made known to him it was +his majesty who sought refuge from him. Mr. Woolfe came out immediately +and carried the king by a back way into a barn, where he hid him for the +day, it being considered unsafe for him to stay a longer period there, +as two companies of militia were at that time stationed in the town, and +were very likely to search the house at any minute. Moreover he advised +his majesty by no means to adventure crossing the Severn, as the +strictest guard was then kept at the ferries to prevent any Royalist +fugitives from escaping into Wales. The king was therefore obliged to +retrace his steps, and now sought Boscobel House, not far distant from +his first resting-place of Whiteladies. Arriving there, he remained +secreted in the wood, whilst Richard went to see if soldiers were in +occupation of the dwelling. There was no one there, however, but Colonel +Careless, the same good man and true who had helped to keep Sudbury Gate +whilst Charles made his escape. + +The Colonel had been hiding in the forest, and, being sore pressed by +hunger, had come to beg a little bread. Being informed where the king +was, he came forth with great joy, and, the house not being considered +a safe refuge, they both climbed into the branches of a leafy oak, +situated in an open part of the wood, from whence they could see all +round them. They carried with them some bread and cheese and small beer, +and stayed there that day. "While we were in the tree," says the king, +"we saw soldiers going up and down in the thicket of the wood, searching +for persons escaped, we seeing them now and then peeping out of the +wood." When this danger had passed away, the king, worn out by his sore +fatigues, laid his head on his friend's breast and slept in his arms. At +night they descended, and going to Boscobel House, were shown a secret +hiding-place, such as were then to be found in the mansions of all +Catholic families, called the priests' hole a little confined closet +built between two walls, in the principal stack of chimneys, and having +a couple of exits for the better escape of those compelled to seek its +shelter. Here the king rested in peace for a day and a night. + +Meanwhile Humphrey Pendrell went into Shifnal to pay his taxes; and it +being known he had come from Whiteladies, he was questioned closely +as to whether he knew aught of Charles Stuart. On stoutly denying all +knowledge of him, he was told that any man who discovered him would gain +a thousand pounds, but he that sheltered him would suffer death without +mercy; these being the terms of a proclamation just issued. This the +honest miller on his return narrated to the king, swearing roundly he +would run all risks for his sake. It chanced at this time one of the +Pendrells heard that my Lord Wilmot who had not been able to make his +way to London, was hiding in a very secure place, at the house of a +gentleman named Whitegrave, above seven miles distant. This coming to +the king's knowledge, he became anxious to see his faithful friend +and hold communication with him. Accordingly one of the Pendrells was +despatched to request Lord Wilmot to meet his majesty that night, in a +field close by Mr. Whitegrave's house. And the time of night being come, +the king was impatient of delay; but his feet were sore from the rough +shoes he had worn on his journey, so that he was scarce able to walk; +therefore he was mounted on Humphrey's mill-horse, and, the four loyal +brothers forming a guard, they directed their way towards Moseley. The +king's eagerness to see Wilmot being great, he complained of the horse's +slow pace. "Can you blame him, my liege," said Humphrey, who loved a +jest, "that he goes heavily, having the weight of three kingdoms on his +back?" + +When they had travelled with him a great part of the journey it was +thought safer three of them should withdraw themselves. They therefore +turned away; but scarcely had they gone when the king, who, being +lost in thought, had remained unconscious of their departure, suddenly +stopped, and caused John, who remained, to speedily summon them back. +When they returned he gave them his hand to kiss, and, with that charm +of manner which never failed in winning friends, said to them sadly, "My +sorrows make me forget myself. I earnestly thank you all." + +They kissed his hand heartily, and prayed God to save him. In the +days of his prosperity he remembered their kindness and rewarded their +loyalty. + +Arriving at the trysting place the king found Mr. Whitegrave, a +Benedictine monk named Father Huddlestone, Sir John Preston, and his +brother awaiting him. It may be mentioned here this monk was destined, +many years later, to play an important part in the closing scene of +his majesty's life. Mr. Whitegrave conducted Charles with great show of +respect to his house, where the king spoke with my Lord Wilmot, feasted +well, and rested safe that night. Next morning the worthy host had +private notice given that a company of soldiers were on their way to +arrest him as one who had served in the king's army. He, being innocent +of this charge, did not avoid them, but received them boldly at his +door, spoke confidently in his own defence, and referred them to the +testimony of his neighbours, whereon they departed quietly. + +It was feared, however, the house was no longer safe, and that another +refuge had best be sought for his majesty. Therefore, Father Huddlestone +informed the king of an honest gentleman, the owner of a fair estate +some six miles removed, who was generous and exceedingly beloved, and +the eldest justice of peace in the county of Stafford. This gentleman +was named Lane, "a very zealous Protestant, yet he lived with so much +civility and candour towards the Catholics, that they would all trust +him as much as they would any of their own profession." The king, +however, not being willing to surprise this worthy man, immediately +despatched the Benedictine to make certain of his welcome; receiving +due assurances of which he and Lord Willmot set out by night for Master +Lane's mansion, where they were heartily received, and where Charles +rested some days in blessed security. Knowing, however, in what risk he +placed those who sheltered him, and how vigilant the pursuit after him, +he became most anxious for his safe delivery out of the kingdom. To this +end it was desirable he should draw near the west coast, and await an +opportunity of sailing from thence for France. + +The members of Master Lane's family then living with him consisted of a +son and a daughter: the former a man of fearless courage and integrity, +the latter a gentlewoman of good wit and discretion, as will be seen +hereafter. Consulting, amongst themselves as to the best means of +compassing the king's escape, it was resolved Mistress Lane should visit +a kinswoman of hers with whom she had been bred, that had married +one Norton, and was now residing within five miles of Bristol. It was +likewise decided she should ride on her journey thence behind the king, +he being habited in her father's livery, and acting as her servant; and +for greater safety her sister and her sister's husband were to accompany +them on the road. Mistress Jane Lane then procured from a colonel of the +rebel army a passport for herself and her servant, her sister and her +brother-in-law, to travel without molestation to her cousin Mistress +Norton, who was ready to lie in. With this security Jane set out, her +brother bearing them company part of the way, with a hawk upon his fist +and two or three spaniels at his heels, which warranted him keeping the +king and his friends in sight without seeming to be of their company. + +The first day's journey was not accomplished without an exciting +incident. The horse ridden by Mistress Lane and the king--now bearing +the name of William Jackson--lost a shoe; and being come to Bromsgrove, +he must dismount and lead the animal to the village blacksmith. + +"As I was holding my horse's foot," said his majesty, when narrating the +story to Mr. Pepys, "I asked the smith what news. He told me that there +was no news that he knew of, since the good news of the beating the +rogues of the Scots. I asked him whether there was none of the English +taken that joined with the Scots, He answered he did not hear if that +rogue, Charles Stuart, were taken; but some of the others, he said, +were taken. I told him that if that rogue were taken, he deserved to be +hanged more than all the rest, for bringing in the Scots. Upon which he +said I spoke like an honest man; and so we parted." + +At the end of the first day's journey they were met by Lord Wilmot at +the inn; and he continued to join them wherever they rested at night, +without appearing to travel with them by day. Mistress Lane took all +possible care to guard the king against recognition, stating at every +house of accommodation where they tarried he was "a neighbour's son whom +her father had lent her to ride before her in hope that he would the +sooner recover from a quartan ague with which he had been miserably +afflicted, and was not yet free." Which story served as sufficient +excuse for his going to bed betimes, and so avoiding the company of +servants. At the end of three days they arrived at their destination. +Jane Lane was warmly received by her cousin, and the whole party made +heartily welcome. Jane, however, did not entrust her secret to Mistress +Norton's keeping, but repeated her tale of the good youth being newly +recovered from ague, and desired a chamber might be provided for him, +and a good fire made that he might retire early to bed. Her desires +being obeyed, the king withdrew, and was served with an excellent good +supper by the butler, a worthy fellow named Pope, who had been a trooper +in the army of Charles I., of blessed memory. + +"The next morning" said the king continuing his strange story, "I arose +pretty early, having a very good stomach, and went to the buttery-hatch +to get my breakfast, where I found Pope and two or three other men in +the room, and we all fell to eating bread and butter, to which he gave +us very good ale and sack. And as I was sitting there, there was one +that looked like a country fellow sat just by me, who, talking, gave +so particular an account of the battle of Worcester to the rest of the +company that I concluded he must be one of Cromwell's soldiers. But I, +asking how he came to give so good an account of that battle, he told me +he was in the King's regiment, by which I thought he meant one Colonel +King's regiment. But questioning him further, I perceived he had been in +my regiment of Guards, in Major Broughton's company--that was my Major +in the battle. I asked him what kind of man I was; to which he answered +by describing exactly both my clothes and my horse, and then, looking +upon me, he told me that the king was at least three fingers taller than +I. Upon which I made what haste I could out of the buttery, for fear he +should indeed know me, as being more afraid when I knew he was one of +our own soldiers than when I took him for one of the enemy's. So Pope +and I went into the hall, and just as we came into it Mistress Norton +was coming by through it; upon which I, plucking off my hat and standing +with it in my hand as she passed by, Pope looked very earnestly in my +face. But I took no notice of it, but put on my hat again and went away, +walking out of the house into the field." + +When he returned, however, the butler followed him into a private room, +and going down on his stiff knees, said, with tears in his old eyes, he +was rejoiced to see his majesty in safety. The king affected to laugh +at him, and asked him what he meant; but Pope told him he knew him well, +for before he was a trooper in his father's service he had been falconer +to Sir Thomas Jermyn, groom of the bedchamber to the king when he was +a boy. Charles saw it was useless longer to deny himself, and therefore +said he believed him to be a very honest man, and besought he would not +reveal what he knew to anyone. This the old man readily promised, and +faithfully kept his word. Having spent a couple of days at Norton's, the +king, by advice of Lord Wilmot, went to the house of a true friend +and loyal man, one Colonel Windham, who lived at Trent. This town was +notable as a very hotbed of republicanism; a proof of which was afforded +his majesty on the very day of his entrance. As he rode into the +principal street, still disguised as a waiting man to Mistress Lane, he +heard a great ringing of bells, and the tumult of many voices, and saw a +vast concourse of people gathered in the churchyard close by. On asking +the cause he was informed one of Cromwell's troopers was telling the +people he had killed Charles Stuart, whose buff coat he then wore; +whereon the rebels rang the church bells, and were about to make a great +bonfire for joy. + +Having brought him to Trent, Mistress Lane returned home, carrying with +her the king's friendship and gratitude, of which he gave her ample +proof when he came unto the throne. Charles stayed at Colonel Windham's +over a week, whilst that gallant man was secretly striving to hire +a ship for his majesty's safe transportation into France. Presently +succeeding in this object, the king, yet wearing his livery, and now +riding before Mistress Judith Coningsby, cousin of Colonel Windham, +started with high hopes for Lyme; but at the last moment the captain +of the vessel failed him, and he was again left in a state of painful +uncertainty and danger. Lord Wilmot was sent to ascertain the cause of +this disappointment, and for greater safety the king rode on to Burport +with his friends. Being come to the outskirts of the town, they were +alarmed at finding the streets in a state of confusion, and full of +Cromwell's soldiers, fifteen hundred of whom were about to embark for +Jersey. His majesty's coolness and presence of mind did not fail him; +he resolved to ride boldly into the town, and hire a chamber at the best +inn. The yard of the hostelry was likewise crowded with troopers; but +this did not dismay his majesty. + +"I alighted," said he, "and taking the horses, thought it the best way +to go blundering in among them, and lead them through the middle of the +soldiers into the stable; which I did, and they were very angry with me +for my rudeness. As soon as I came into the stable I took the bridle +off the horses, and called the ostler to me to help me, and to give the +horses some oats. And as the hostler was helping me to feed the horses, +'Sure, sir,' says he, 'I know your face?' which was no very pleasant +question to me. But I thought the best way was to ask him where he had +lived, or whether he had always lived there or no. He told me that he +was but newly come thither; that he was born in Exeter, and had been +ostler in an inn there, hard by one Mr. Potter's, a merchant in whose +house I had lain in the time of the war. So I thought it best to give +the fellow no further occasion of thinking where he had seen me, for +fear he should guess right at last; therefore I told him, 'Friend, +certainly you have seen me then at Mr. Potter's, for I served him a good +while above a year.' 'Oh,' says he, 'then I remember you a boy there;' +and with that was put off from thinking any more on it, but desired that +we might drink a pot of beer together, which I excused by saying that +I must go wait on my master, and get his dinner ready for him; but told +him that my master was going to London, and would return about three +weeks hence, when he would be there, and I would not fail to drink a pot +with him." + +The king and his friends, having dined at the inn, got word that the +master of the ship, suspecting that it was some dangerous employment he +had been hired for, absolutely refused to fulfil his contract. Therefore +they, being sad at heart and fearful, retraced their steps to Trent, and +presently his majesty went further into Sussex, and abode with a +staunch Royalist, one Colonel Gunter, who resided within four miles +of Salisbury. This excellent man at last succeeded in hiring a ship +to carry away the king, and so Charles made another journey to +Brighthelmstone, where he met the captain of the vessel and the merchant +that had hired her on behalf of Colonel Gunter, both of whom had been +kept in ignorance of their future passenger's identity. Arriving at +Brighthelmstone, they entered an inn and ordered supper, during which +the captain more than once looked hard at the king. And the meal being +ended, the captain called the merchant aside and said he was not dealt +with fairly, inasmuch as he had not been told the king was the person to +be conveyed from thence. The merchant, not being so wise as the master, +denied such was the case; but the honest fellow told him not to be +troubled. "For I think," said he, "I do God and my country good service +in preserving the king: and by the grace of God I will venture my life +and all for him, and set him safely on shore, if I can, in France." + +Nor was this the last of his majesty's numerous risks, for being +presently left alone, he stood thoughtful and somewhat melancholy by +the fire, resting one hand on a chair; and the landlord, coming in and +seeing him engaged in this manner, softly advanced, suddenly kissed +the king's hand, and said, "God bless you, wherever you go." Charles +started, and would have denied himself; but the landlord cried out, +"'Fore God, your majesty may trust me; and," he added, "I have no doubt, +before I die, to be a lord, and my wife a lady." + +That night, the last his majesty was to spend in England for many years, +he was sad and depressed. The scenes of bloodshed he had witnessed, the +imminent dangers he had escaped, were vividly present to his mind. The +past was fraught with horror; the future held no hope. Though a king, he +was about to become an outcast from his realm. Surmising his thoughts, +his companions sought to cheer him. Now the long-desired moment of +escape was at hand, no one thought of repose. The little vessel in which +he intended sailing lay dry upon the shore, the tide being at low water. +The king and his friends, the merchant, the captain, and the landlord, +sat in the well-lighted cosy parlour of the seaport inn, smoking, +playing cards, telling stories and drinking good ale. + +With all such diversions the hours wore heavily away. Their noisy +joviality had an undercurrent of sadness; jokes failed to amuse; +laughter seemed forced; words, mirthful in leaving the lips, sounded +ominous on reaching the ear. At four o'clock the captain rose to survey +his ship, and presently returned saying the tide had risen. Thereon the +king and his friends prepared to depart. A damp, chilly November +fog hung over the sea, hiding its wide expanse without deadening its +monotonous moan. A procession of black figures leaving the inn sped +noiselessly through darkness. Arriving at the shore, those who were not +to accompany his majesty, knelt and kissed his hand. Then he, with Lord +Wilmot and the captain, climbed on board the vessel and entered the +cabin. The fog had turned to rain. Four hours later, the tide being +favourable, the ship sailed out of port, and in due time the king was +safely landed in France. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Celebration of the Kings return.--Those who flocked to Whitehall My Lord + Cleveland's gentlemen.--Sir Thomas Allen's supper.--Touching for King's + evil.--That none might lose their labour.--The man with the fungus + nose.--The memory of the regicides.--Cromwell's effigy.--Ghastly scene + at Tyburn.--The King's clemency.--The Coronation procession.--Sights and + scenes by the way.--His Majesty is crowned. + +The return of the king and his court was a signal for universal joy +throughout the nation in general and the capital in particular. For +weeks and months subsequent to his majesty's triumphal entry, the town +did not subside from its condition of excitement and revelry to its +customary quietude and sobriety. Feasts by day were succeeded by +entertainments at night; "and under colour of drinking the king's +health," says Bishop Burnet, "there were great disorder and much riot." + +It seemed as if the people could not sufficiently express their delight +at the presence of the young king amongst them, or satisfy their desire +of seeing him. When clad in rich velvets and costly lace, adorned with +many jewels and waving feathers, he walked in Hyde Park attended by an +"abundance of gallantry," or went to Whitehall Chapel, where "the organs +and singing-men in surplices" were first heard by Mr. Pepys, a vast +crowd of loyal subjects attended him on his way. Likewise, when, +preceded by heralds, he journeyed by water in his barge to open +Parliament, the river was crowded with innumerable boats, and the banks +lined with a great concourse anxious for sight of him. Nor were his +subjects satisfied by the glimpses obtained of him on such occasions; +they must needs behold their king surrounded by the insignia of royalty +in the palace of his ancestors, and flocked thither in numbers. "The +eagerness of men, women, and children to see his majesty, and kisse his +hands was so greate," says Evelyn, "that he had scarce leisure to eate +for some dayes, coming as they did from all parts of the nation: and the +king being as willing to give them that satisfaction, would have none +kept out, but gave free access to all sorts of people." Indeed his loyal +subjects were no less pleased with him than he with them; and in faith +he was sorry, he declared, in that delicate strain of irony that ran +like a bright thread throughout the whole pattern of his speech, he had +not come over before, for every man he encountered was glad to see him. + +Day after day, week after week, the Palace of Whitehall presented +a scene of ceaseless bustle. Courtiers, ambassadors, politicians, +soldiers, and citizens crowded the antechambers, flocked through the +galleries, and tarried in the courtyards. Deputations from all the +shires and chief towns in the three kingdoms, bearing messages of +congratulation and loyalty, were presented to the king. First of all +came the worshipful lord mayor, aldermen and council of the city of +London, in great pomp and state; when the common-sergeant made a speech +to his majesty respecting the affection of the city towards him, and the +lord mayor, on hospitable thoughts intent, besought the honour of his +company to dinner, the which Charles promised him most readily. And the +same day the commissioners from Ireland presented themselves, headed by +Sir James Barry, who delivered himself of a fine address regarding +the love his majesty's Irish subjects bore him; as proof of which he +presented the monarch with a bill for twenty thousand pounds, that had +been duly accepted by Alderman Thomas Viner, a right wealthy man and +true. Likewise came the deputy steward and burgesses of the city of +Westminster, arrayed in the glory of new scarlet gowns; and the French, +Italian, and Dutch ministers, when Monsieur Stoope pronounced an +harangue with great eloquence. Also the vice-chancellor of the +University of Oxford, with divers doctors, bachelors of divinity, +proctors, and masters of arts of the same learned university, who, +having first met at the Temple Church, went by two and two, according to +their seniority, to Essex House, that they might wait on the most +noble the Marquis of Hertford, then chancellor. Accompanied by him, and +preceded by eight esquires and yeomen beadles, having their staves, and +three of them wearing gold chains, they presented themselves before +the king, and spoke him words of loyalty and greeting. The heads of +the colleges and halls of Cambridge, with some masters of arts, in like +manner journeyed to Whitehall, when Dr. Love delivered a learned Latin +oration, expressive of their devotion to royalty in the person of their +most illustrious monarch. + +Amongst others came, one day, my Lord Cleveland at the head of a hundred +gentlemen, many of them being officers who had formerly served under +him, and other gentlemen who had ridden to meet the king when coming +unto his own; and having arrived at Whitehall, they knelt down in the +matted gallery, when his majesty "was pleased to walk along," says +MERCURIUS PUBLICUS, "and give everyone of them the honour to kiss his +hand, which favour was so highly received by them, that they could no +longer stifle their joy, but as his majesty was walking out (a thing +thought unusual at court) they brake out into a loud shouting." + +Then the nobility entertained the king and his royal brothers with +much magnificence, his Excellency Lord General Monk first giving at his +residence in the Cockpit, a great supper, after which "he entertained +his majesty with several sorts of musick;" Next Earl Pembroke gave a +rare banquet; also the Duke of Buckingham, my Lord Lumley, and many +others. Nor was my lord mayor, Sir Thomas Allen, behindhand in extending +hospitality to the king, whom he invited to sup with him. This feast, +having no connection with the civic entertainments, was held at good Sir +Thomas's house. The royal brothers of York and Gloucester were likewise +bidden, together with several of the nobility and gentry of high degree. +Previous to supper being served, the lord mayor brought his majesty a +napkin dipped in rose-water, and offered it kneeling; when his majesty +had wiped his hands, he sat down at a table raised by an ascent, the +Duke of York on his right hand, and the Duke of Gloucester on his +left. They were served with three several courses, at each of which the +tablecloth was shifted, and at every dish which his majesty or the dukes +tasted, the napkins were moreover changed. At another table in the same +room sat his Excellency the Lord General, the Duke of Buckingham, the +Marquis of Ormond, the Earl of Oxford, Earl of Norwich, Earl of St. +Albans, Lords De la Ware, Sands, Berkeley, and several other of +the nobility, with knights and gentlemen of great quality. Sir John +Robinson, alderman of London, proposed his majesty's health, which was +pledged standing by all present. His majesty was the while entertained +with a variety of rare music. This supper was given on the 16th of June; +and a couple of weeks later, on the 5th of July, the king went "with as +much pompe and splendour as any earthly prince could do to the greate +Citty feast, the first they had invited him to since his returne." + +But whilst entertainments were given, and diversions occupied the town, +Charles was called upon to touch for the evil, an affliction then most +prevalent throughout the kingdom. According to a time-honoured belief +which obtained until the coming of George I., when faith in the divinity +of kings was no longer possible to the most ignorant, the monarch's +touch was credited with healing this most grievous disease. Majesty in +those days was sacred, and superstition rife. Accordingly we read in +MERCURIUS PUBLICUS that, "The kingdom having for a long time, by reason +of his majesty's absence, been troubled with the evil, great numbers +flocked for cure. Saturday being appointed by his majesty to touch such +as were so troubled, a great company of poor afflicted creatures were +met together, many brought in chairs and baskets; and being appointed by +his majesty to repair to the banqueting house, the king sat in a chair +of state, where he stroked all that were brought to him, and then put +about each of their necks a white ribbon with an angel of gold on it. +In this manner his majesty stroked above six hundred; and such was his +princely patience and tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that +though it took up a long time, the king, being never weary of well +doing, was pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more that +had not been touched. After prayers were ended the Duke of Buckingham +brought a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after +they had made their obeysance to his majesty, kneeled down till his +majesty had washed." + +This was on the 23rd of June, a few days earlier than the date fixed by +Evelyn as that on which the king first began "touch for ye evil." A +week later we find he stroked as many as two hundred and fifty persons. +Friday was then appointed as the day for those suffering from this +disease to come before the king; it was moreover decided that only two +hundred persons should be presented each week and these were first to +repair to Mr. Knight, his majesty's surgeon, living at the Cross Guns, +in Russell Street, Covent Garden, over against the Rose tavern, for +tickets of admission. "That none might lose their labour." the same Mr. +Knight made it known to the public he would be at home on Wednesdays and +Thursdays, from two till six of the clock; and if any person of quality +should send for him he would wait upon them at their lodgings. The +disease must indeed have been rife: week after week those afflicted +continued to present themselves, and we read that, towards the end of +July, "notwithstanding all discouragements by the hot weather and the +multitude of sick and infirm people, his majesty abated not one of his +accustomed number, but touched full two hundred: an high conviction +of all such physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries that pretend +self-preservation when the languishing patient requires their +assistance." Indeed, there were some who placed boundless faith in the +king's power of healing by touch; amongst whom was one Avis Evans, whom +Aubrey, in his "Miscellanies," records "had a fungus nose, and said +it was revealed to him that the king's hand would cure him. And at the +first coming of King Charles II. into St. James's Park, he kissed the +king's hand, and rubbed his nose with it, which disturbed the king, but +cured him." + +The universal joy which filled the nation at the restoration of his +majesty was accompanied, as might be expected, by bitter hatred towards +the leaders of Republicanism, especially towards such as had condemned +the late king to death. The chief objects of popular horror now, +however, lay in their graves; but the sanctity of death was neither +permitted to save their memories from vituperation nor their remains +from moltestation. Accordingly, through many days in June the effigy +of Cromwell, which had been crowned with a royal diadem, draped with +a purple mantle, in Somerset House, and afterwards borne with all +imaginable pomp to Westminster Abbey, was now exposed at one of the +windows at Whitehall with a rope fixed round its neck, by way of hinting +at the death which the original deserved. But this mark of execration +was not sufficient to satisfy the public mind, and seven months later, +on the 30th of January, 1661, the anniversary of the murder of Charles +I., the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, and John Bradshaw +were taken from their resting places in Westminster Abbey, and drawn on +hurdles to Tyburn, the well-known site of public executions. "All the +way the universal outcry and curses of the people went along with them," +says MERCURIUS PUBLICUS. "When these three carcasses arrived at Tyburn, +they were pulled out of their coffins, and hanged at the several angles +of that triple tree, where they hung till the sun was set; after which +they were taken down, their heads cut off; and their loathsome trunks +thrown into a deep hole under the gallows. The heads of those three +notorious regicides, Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, and Ireton are +set upon poles on the top of Westminster Hall by the common hangman. +Bradshaw placed in the middle (over that part where the monstrous high +court of justice sat), Cromwell and his son-in-law Ireton on either side +of Bradshaw." + +Before this ghastly execution took place, Parliament had brought to +justice such offenders against the late king's government and life as +were in its power. According to the declaration made by the king +at Breda, a full and general pardon was extended to all rebellious +subjects, excepting such persons as should be hereafter excepted by +Parliament. By reason of this clause, some who had been most violent +in their persecution of royalty were committed to the Tower before +the arrival of his majesty, others fled from the country, but had, on +another proclamation summoning them to surrender themselves, returned +in hope of obtaining pardon. Thirty in all were tried at the Old Bailey +before the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer and a special jury of +knights and gentlemen of quality in the county of Middlesex. Twenty-nine +of these were condemned to death. The king was singularly free from +desires of revenge; but many of his council were strangers to clemency, +and, under the guise of loyalty to the crown, sought satisfaction for +private wrongs by urging severest measures. The monarch, however, shrank +from staining the commencement of his reign with bloodshed and advocated +mercy. In a speech delivered to the House of Lords he insisted that, as +a point of honour, he was bound to make good the assurances given in his +proclamation of Breda, "which if I had not made," he continued, "I am +persuaded that neither I nor you had now been here. I pray, therefore, +let us not deceive those who brought or permitted us to come together; +and I earnestly desire you to depart from all particular animosities and +revenge or memory of past provocations." Accordingly, but ten of those +on whom sentence of death had been passed were executed, the remainder +being committed to the Tower. That they were not also hung was, +according to the mild and merciful Dr. Reeves, Dean of Westminster, "a +main cause of God's punishing the land" in the future time. For those +destined to suffer, a gibbet was erected at Charing Cross, that the +traitors might in their last moments see the spot where the late king +had been executed. Having been half hung, they were taken down, when +their heads were severed from their trunks and set up on poles at the +south-east end of Westminster Hall, whilst their bodies were quartered +and exposed upon the city gates. + +Burnet tells us that "the regicides being odious beyond all expression, +the trials and executions of the first who suffered were run to by +crowds, and all the people seemed pleased with the sight;" yet by +degrees these cruel and ghastly spectacles became distasteful and +disgusting. "I saw not their executions," says Evelyn, speaking of four +of the traitors who had suffered death on the 17th of October, "but met +their quarters mangled and cutt and reeking as they were brought from +the gallows in baskets on the hurdle. Oh the miraculous providence of +God!" + +Seven months later, the people were diverted by the more cheerful +pageant of the king's coronation, which was conducted with great +magnificence. "Two days," as Heath narrates, "were allotted to the +consummation of this great and most celebrated action, the wonder, +admiration and delight of all persons, both foreign and domestick." +Early on the morning of the 22nd of May, the day being Monday, the +king left Whitehall, by water, for the Tower, in order that he might, +according to ancient custom, proceed through the city to Westminster +Abbey. It was noticed that it had previously rained for a month +together, but on this and the next day "it pleased God that not one +drop fell on the king's triumph." At ten o'clock the roaring of cannon +announced the procession had left the Tower on its way to Whitehall, +where his majesty was to rest the night. The splendour of the pageant +was such as had never before been witnessed. The procession was headed +by the king's council at law, the masters of chancery and judges, who +were followed by the lords according to their rank, so numerous in all, +that those who rode first reached Fleet Street, whilst the king was yet +in the Tower. + +No expense was spared by those who formed part of that wonderful +cavalcade, towards rendering their appearance magnificent. Heath tells +us it was incredible to think "what costly cloathes were worn that day. +The cloaks could hardly be seen what silk or satin they were made of, +for the gold and silver laces and embroidery that was laid upon them; +the like also was seen on their foot-cloathes. Besides the inestimable +value and treasures of diamonds, pearls, and other jewels worn upon +their backs and in their hats, not to mention the sumptuous and rich +liveries of their pages and footmen, some suits of liveries amounting +to fifteen hundred pounds." Nor had the city hesitated in lavishing vast +sums towards decorating the streets through which the king was to pass. +Four triumphal arches were erected, that were left standing for a year +in memory of this joyful day. These were "composed" by John Ogilby, +Esquire; and were respectively erected in Leadenhall Street, the +Exchange on Cornhill, Wood Street, and Fleet Street. + +The thoroughfares were newly gravelled, railed all the way on both +sides, and lined with the city companies and trained bands. The +"relation of his majesty's entertainment passing through the City of +London," as narrated by John Ogilby, and by the papers of the day, is +extremely quaint and interesting, but too long for detailed description. +During the monarch's progress through "Crouched Friers," he was diverted +with music discoursed by a band of eight waits, placed upon a stage. At +Aldgate, and at several other stages of his journey, he was received in +like manner. Arriving at the great arch in Leadenhall Street, his ears +were greeted by sounds of trumpets and drums playing marches; when they +had finishes, a short scene was enacted on a balcony of the arch, by +figures representing Monarchy, Rebellion, and Loyalty. Then the great +procession wended its way to the East India House, situate in the same +street, when the East India Company took occasion to express their +dutiful affections, in a manner "wholly designed by person of quality." +As the king advanced, a youth in an Indian habit, attended by two +blackamoors, knelt down before his majesty's horse, and delivered +himself of some execrable verse, which he had no sooner ended than +another youth in an Indian vest, mounted on a camel, was led forwards +and delivered some lines praying his majesty's subjects might never see +the sun set on his crown or dignity. The camel, it my be noticed, bore +panniers filled with pearls, spices, and silks, destined to be scattered +among the spectators. At Cornhill was a conduit, surmounted by eight +wenches representing nymphs--a sight which must have rejoiced the king's +heart; and on the tower of this same fountain sounded "a noise of seven +trumpets." Another fountain flowed with wine and water; and on his way +the king heard several speeches delivered by various symbolic figures. +One of these, who made a particularly fine harangue, represented the +River Thames, as a gentleman whose "garment loose and flowing, coloured +blue and white, waved like water, flags and ozier-like long hair falling +o'er his shoulders; his beard long, sea-green, and white." And so by +slow degrees the king came to Temple Bar, where he was entertained by +"a view of a delightful boscage, full of several beasts, both tame and +savage, as also several living figures and music of eight waits." And +having passed through Temple Bar into his ancient and native city of +Westminster, the head bailiff in a scarlet robe and the high constable, +likewise in scarlet, on behalf of the dean, chapter, city, and liberty, +received his majesty with great expressions of joy. + +Never had there been so goodly a show so grand a procession; the +citizens, still delighted with their young king, had certainly excelled +in doing him honour, and some foreigners, Heaton says, "acknowledged +themselves never to have seen among all the great magnificences of the +world any to come near or equal this: even the vaunting French confessed +their pomps of the late marriage with the Infanta of Spain, at their +majesties' entrance into Paris, to be inferior in its state, gallantry, +and riches unto this most illustrious cavalcade." Amongst those who +witnessed the procession was Mr. Pepys, who has left us a realistic +description, without which this picture would be incomplete. He tells us +he arose early on this day; and the vain fellow says he made himself as +fine as could be, putting on his velvet coat for the first time, though +he had it made half a year before. "And being ready," he continues, "Sir +W. Batten, my lady, and his two daughters, and his son and wife, and +Sir W. Pen and his son and I, went to Mr. Young's, the flag-maker, in +Corne-hill; and there we had a good room to ourselves, with wine and +good cake, and saw the show very well. In which it is impossible to +relate the glory of this day, expressed in the clothes of them that rid, +and their horses and horses' clothes; among others, my Lord Sandwich's +embroidery and diamonds were ordinary among them. The Knights of the +Bath was a brave sight of itself. Remarquable were the two men that +represent the two Dukes of Normandy and Aquitane. My Lord Monk rode bare +after the king, and led in his hand a spare horse, as being Master of +the Horse. The king, in a most rich embroidered suit and cloak, looked +most noble. Wadlow, the vintner, at the Devil, in Fleet Street, did +lead a fine company of soldiers, all young comely men in white doublets. +There followed the Vice-Chamberlain, Sir G. Carteret, and a company of +men all like Turkes. The streets all gravelled, and the houses hung with +carpets before them, made brave show; and the ladies out of the windows, +one of which over against us, I took much notice of, and spoke of her, +which made good sport among us. So glorious was the show with gold and +silver, that we were not able to look at it, our eyes at last being so +much overcome with it. Both the king and the Duke of York took notice +of us as they saw us at the window. The show being ended, Mr. Young +did give us a dinner, at which we were very merry and pleased above +imagination at what we have seen." + +The next day, being the feast of St. George, patron of England, the king +went in procession from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey, where he was +solemnly crowned in the presence of a vast number of peers and bishops. +After which, surrounded by the same brilliant company, he passed from +the Abbey to Westminster Hall, the way being covered with blue cloth, +and lined with spectators to the number of ten thousand. Here his +majesty and the lords, spiritual and temporal, dined sumptuously, whilst +many fine ceremonies were observed, music of all sorts was played, and +a great crowd of pretty ladies looked down from the galleries. And when +the banquet was over, and a general pardon had been read by the lord +chancellor, and the champion had drank out of the king's gold cup, +Charles betook himself to Whitehall. Then, after two days of fair +weather, it suddenly "fell a-raining, and thundering and lightning," +says Pepys, "as I have not seen it do for some years; which people did +take great notice of." + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + The King's character.--His proverbial grace.--He tells a story well.--"A + warmth and sweetness of the blood."--Beautiful Barbara Palmer.--Her + intrigue with my Lord Chesterfield.--James, Duke of York.--His + early days.--Escape from St. James's.--Fights in the service of + France.--Marriage with Anne Hyde.--Sensation at Court.--The Duke of + Gloucester's death.--The Princess of Orange.--Schemes against the + Duke of York's peace.--The "lewd informer."--Anne Hyde is acknowledged + Duchess of York. + +Whilst the kingdom was absorbed by movements consequent on its change of +government, the court was no less engrossed by incidents relative to the +career it had begun. In the annals of court life there are no pages more +interesting than those dealing with Charles II, and his friends; in the +history of kings there is no more remarkable figure than that of the +merry monarch himself. + +Returning to rule over a nation which, during his absence, had been +distracted by civil strife, King Charles, young in years, brave in +deeds, and surrounded by that halo of romance which misfortune lends its +victims, entirely gained the hearts of his subjects. Nature had endowed +him with gifts adapted to display qualities that fascinated, and +fitted to hide blemishes which repelled. On the one hand his expressive +features and shapely figure went far towards creating a charm which +his personal grace and courtesy of manner completed; on the other, his +delicate tact screened the heartlessness of his sensualism, whilst his +surface sympathies hid the barrenness of his cynicism. + +With the coolness and courage he had shown in danger, the shrewdness +and wit he continually evinced, and the varied capacities he certainly +possessed, Charles II. might have made his reign illustrious, had not +his love of ease and detestation of business rendered him indifferent +to all things so long as he was free to follow his desires. But these +faults, which became grievous in the eyes of his subjects, commended him +to the hearts of his courtiers, the common purpose of whose lives was +pursuit of pleasure. Never was sovereign more gracious to those who came +in contact with him, or less ceremonious with his friends; whilst abroad +he had lived with his little band of courtiers more as a companion +than a king. The bond of exile had drawn them close together; an equal +fortune had gone far towards obliterating distinctions of royalty; and +custom had so fitted the monarch and his friends to familiarity, that on +his return to England neither he nor they laid aside a mutual freedom of +treatment which by degrees extended itself throughout the court. For all +that, "he was master," as Welwood says, "of something in his person and +aspect that commanded both love and admiration at once." + +Among his many gifts was that of telling a story well--a rare one 'tis +true in all ages. Never was he better pleased than when, surrounded by +a group of gossips, he narrated some anecdote of which he was the hero; +and, though his tales were more than twice told, they were far from +tedious; inasmuch as, being set forth with brighter flashes of wit +and keener touches of irony, they were ever pleasant to hear. His +conversation was of a like complexion to his tales, pointed, shrewd, and +humorous; frequently--as became the manner of the times--straying far +afield of propriety, and taking liberties of expression of which nice +judgments could not approve. But indeed his majesty's speech was not +more free than his conduct was licentious. He could not think, he +gravely told Bishop Burnet, "God would make a man miserable for taking +a little pleasure out of the way." Accordingly he followed the free bent +of his desires, and his whole life was soon devoted to voluptuousness; +a vice which an ingenious courtier obligingly describes as a "warmth and +sweetness of the blood that would not be confined in the communicating +itself--an overflowing of good nature, of which he had such a stream +that it would not be restrained within the banks of a crabbed and +unsociable virtue." + +The ease and freedom of his continental life had no doubt fostered this +lamentable depravity; for his misfortunes as an exiled king by no +means prevented him following his inclinations as an ardent lover. +Accordingly, his intrigues at that time were numerous, as may be judged +from the fact of Lady Byron being described as "his seventeenth mistress +abroad." The offspring of one of his continental mistresses was destined +to plunge the English nation into civil warfare, and to suffer a +traitor's death on Tower Hill in the succeeding reign. + +"The profligacy which Charles practised abroad not being discontinued +at home, he resumed in England an intrigue commenced at Brussels a short +time before the restoration. The object of this amour was the beautiful +Barbara Palmer, afterwards, by reason of her lack of virtue, raised to +the peerage under the titles of Countess of Castlemaine, and Duchess of +Cleveland. This lady, who became a most prominent figure in the court of +the merry monarch, was daughter of William, second Viscount Grandison, +a brave gentleman and a loyal, who had early in life fallen in the civil +war whilst fighting for his king. He is described as having, among other +gifts, "a faultless person," a boon, which descended to his only child, +the bewitching Barbara. In the earliest dawn of her womanhood she +encountered her first lover in the person of Philip Stanhope, second +Earl of Chesterfield. My lord was at this time a youthful widower, and +is described as having "a very agreeable face, a fine head of hair, an +indifferent shape, and a pleasant wit. He was, moreover, an elegant beau +and a dissolute man--testimony of which latter fact may be gathered from +a letter written to him in 1658, by his sister-in-law, Lady Essex, to +prevent the "ruin of his soule." Writes her ladyship: "You treate +all the mad drinking lords, you sweare, you game, and commit all the +extravagances that are insident to untamed youths, to such a degree that +you make yourselfe the talke of all places, and the wonder of those who +thought otherwise of you, and of all sober people." + +When Barbara was sixteen, my lord, then in his twenty-third year, +inherited the title and estates of his grandfather: he therefore became +master of his own fortune and could bestow his hand where he pleased. +That he was in love with Barbara is, indeed, most true; but that his +passion was dishonourable is likewise certain: for though he wrote her +letters full of tenderness, and kept assignations with her at Butler's +shop, on Ludgate Hill, he was the while negotiating a marriage with one +Mrs. Fairfax, to whom he was not, however, united. His intrigue with +Barbara continued for upwards of three years, when it was temporarily +suspended by her marriage to one Roger Palmer, a student of the Inner +Temple, the son of a Middlesex knight, and, moreover, a man of the most +obliging temper, as will hereafter be seen. Barbara's loyalty to her +husband was but of short duration. Before she had been nine months a +wife, we find her writing to her old lover she is "ready and willing +to goe all over the world" with him--a sacrifice he declined to accept! +though eager to take advantage of the affection which prompted it. A +little while later he was obliged to quit England; for it happened +in the first month of the year 1660 he quarrelled with and killed one +Francis Woolley, a student at law, to avoid the consequences of which +act he speedily fled the country. + +Arriving at Calais, he wrote to King Charles, who was then preparing to +return, throwing himself on his mercy, and beseeching his pardon; which +the king granting, Lord Chesterfield sought his majesty at Brussels. +Soon afterwards Barbara Palmer and her complaisant husband, a right +loyal man, joined the king's court abroad, when the intrigue begun which +was continued on the night of the monarch's arrival in London. True the +loyal PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCER stated "his majesty was diverted from +his pious intention of going to Westminster to offer up his devotions +of prayer and praise in publick according to the appointment of his +Majesty, and made his oblations unto God in the presence-chamber;" but +it is, alas, equally certain, according to Oldmixon, Lord Dartmouth, and +other reliable authorities, he spent the first night of his return +in the company of Barbara Palmer. From that time this abandoned woman +exercised an influence over the king which wholly disgraced his court, +and almost ruined his kingdom. + +Another prominent figure, whose history is inseparable from the king's, +was that of his majesty's brother, James, Duke of York--a man of greater +ambition and lesser talents than the merry monarch, but one whose +amorous disposition equalled the monarch's withal. At an early period +of his life the Duke of York was witness of the strife which divided his +unhappy father's kingdom. When only eight years old he was sent for by +Charles I. to York, but was forbidden by the Parliament to leave St. +James's Palace. Despite its commands he was, however, carried to +the king by the gallant Marquis of Hereford. That same year the boy +witnessed the refusal of Sir John Hotham, Governor of Hull, to admit +his majesty within the gates; and James was subsequently present at the +siege of Bristol, and the famous battle of Edgehill, when his life at +one period of the engagement was in imminent peril. + +Until 1646 he continued under the guardianship of his father, when, on +the entrance of Fairfax into Oxford, the young duke was found among +the prisoners, and by Cromwell's orders committed to the charge of +Sir George Ratcliffe. A few months later he was removed to St. James's +Palace, when in company with his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, and +his sister, the Princess Elizabeth, he was placed under the care of Lord +Northumberland, who had joined the Republican cause. + +Though by no means treated with unkindness, the young duke, unhappy at +the surveillance placed upon his actions and fearful of the troubles +quickly gathering over the kingdom, twice sought escape. This was a +serious offence in the eyes of Cromwell's Parliament; a committee was +accordingly sent to examine him, and he was threatened with imprisonment +in the Tower. Though only in his fourteenth year he already possessed +both determination and courage, by reason of which he resolved to risk +all danger, and make a third effort for freedom. Accordingly he laid his +plans with much ingenuity, selecting two men from those around him to +aid his undertaking. These were George Howard and Colonel Bamfield. The +latter had once served in the king's army, but when the fortunes of war +had gone against his royal master, had professed himself friendly to the +Republicans. No doubt the young duke saw the gallant colonel was still +true at heart to the Royalist cause, and therefore trusted him at this +critical juncture. + +Now for a fortnight previous to the night on which he designed to +escape, James made it his habit to play at hide-and-seek every evening +after supper with his brother and sister, and the children of the +officers then located in the palace; and in such secure places did he +secrete himself that his companions frequently searched for over half an +hour without discovering him. This of course accustomed the household to +miss him, and was cunningly practised for the purpose of gaining time on +his pursuers when he came to be sought for in good earnest. + +At last the eventful night fixed for his escape arrived; and after +supper a pleasant group of merry children prepared to divert themselves +in the long dark halls and narrow winding passages of the grim old +palace. James, as usual, proposed concealing himself, and leaving his +companions for the purpose, disappeared behind some arras; but, instead +of hiding, he hastened to his sister's chamber, where he locked up a +favourite dog that was in the habit of following his footsteps wherever +he went, and then noiselessly slipped down a back stairs which led to +an inner garden. Having taken care to provide himself with a key fitting +the garden door, he quickly slipped into the park. Here he found Colonel +Bamfield waiting, who, giving him a cloak and a wig for his better +disguise, hurried him into a hackney coach, which drove them as far +as Salisbury House in the Strand. From thence they went through Spring +Garden, and down Ivy Lane, when, taking boat, they landed close by +London Bridge. Here entering the house of a surgeon friendly to +their adventure, they found a woman named Murray awaiting them, who +immediately provided a suit of woman's wearing apparel for the young +duke, in which she helped to attire him. Dressed in this costume he, +attended by the faithful Bamfield, hastened to Lion Quay, where they +entered a barge hired for their conveyance to a Dutch frigate stationed +beyond Gravesend. + +Meanwhile, the children not being able to discover their playfellow in +the palace, their elders became suspicious of the duke's escape, and +began to aid the search. Before an hour elapsed they were convinced +he had fled, and St. James's was thrown into a state of the utmost +excitement and confusion. Notice of his flight was at once despatched to +General Fairfax at Whitehall, who immediately gave orders have all the +roads from London guarded, especially those leading to the north; for it +was surmised he would in the first instance seek to escape into Wales. +The duke, however, had taken a safer course, but one which was not +unattended by danger. He had not sailed far in the barge when its master +became suspicious that he was aiding the escape of some persons of +consequence, and became frightened lest he should get into trouble by +rendering them his services. And presently his surmise was converted +into certainty; for looking through a cranny of the barge-room door, he +saw the young woman fling her leg on the table and pull up her stocking +in a most unmaidenly manner. He therefore at once peremptorily declared +to Colonel Bamfield they must land at Gravesend, and procure another +boat to carry them to the ship; for it would be impossible for the +barge to pass the block-house lower down without being observed, and +consequently inspected, as was the custom at this troubled time. On +hearing which Colonel Bamfield was filled with dismay; but, knowing +that at heart the people were loyal towards the Stuarts, he confided +the identity of his passenger, and begged him not to betray them in this +hour of peril. To give his appeal further weight, he promised the fellow +a considerable sum if they safely reached the frigate; for human nature +is weak, and greed of gold is strong. On this, the bargee, who was a +loyal man, promised he would help them to the best of his powers; the +lights were therefore extinguished, the oars drawn in, and, the tide +fortunately answering, the barge glided noiselessly down under cover of +night, and passed the block-house unobserved. In good time they reached +the frigate, which, the duke and Colonel Bamfield boarding, at once set +sail, and in a few days landed them at Middleburgh. James proceeded to +the court of his sister, the Princess of Orange, and later on joined his +mother in France. + +At the age of twenty he served in the French army, under Turenne, +against the Spanish forces in Flanders, and subsequently in several +campaigns, where he invariably showed himself so brave and valiant that +the Prince de Conde declared that if ever there was a man without fear, +it was James, Duke of York. Now it happened that in 1658 the Princess of +Orange went to Paris in order to visit the queen mother, as the widow of +Charles I. was called. The Duke of York was in the gay capital at this +time, and it soon became noticed that he fixed his attention overmuch on +one of his sister's maids of honour, Anne Hyde. This gentlewoman, then +in her twenty-first year, was the possessor of a comely countenance, +excellent shape, and much wit. Anne was daughter of Edward Hyde, a +worthy man, who had been bred to the law, and proved himself so faithful +a servant to Charles I., that his majesty had made him Privy Councillor +and Chancellor of the Exchequer. After the king's execution, in 1649, +the chancellor thought it wise for himself and his family to seek refuge +in exile, and accordingly joined Charles II., with whom he lived in the +closest friendship, and for whose return he subsequently negotiated with +General Monk. + +Now James, after his fashion, made love to Mistress Hyde, who encouraged +his advances until they reached a certain stage, beyond which the +judicious maiden forbade them to proceed unless blessed by the sanction +of holy church. The Duke, impatient to secure his happiness, was +therefore secretly united to Mistress Hyde in the bonds of matrimony +on the 24th of November, in the year of grace 1659, at Breda, to which +place the Princess of Orange had returned. In a little while, the +restoration being effected, the duke returned to England with the +king, leaving his bride behind. And Chancellor Hyde being presently +re-established in his offices, and settled in his residence at Worcester +House in the Strand, sent for his wife and children; the more speedily +as he had received an overture from a noble family, on behalf of "a +hopeful, well-bred young gentleman," who expressed himself anxious to +wed with Mistress Anne. + +The same young lady had not long returned, when she informed her husband +she was about to become a mother; whereon the duke, seeking the king, +fell upon his knees before him, laid bare his secret, and besought him +to sanction his union, "that he might publicly marry in such a manner as +his majesty thought necessary for the consequence thereof;" adding that, +if consent were refused, he would "immediately take leave of the kingdom +and spend his life in foreign parts." King Charles was astonished and +perplexed by this confession. James was heir, and as such it behoved him +to wed with one suited, by reason of her lineage, to support the dignity +of the crown, and calculated by her relation towards foreign powers +to strengthen the influence of the throne. The duke was fully aware +of this, and, moreover, knew he could without much difficulty have +his marriage annulled; but that he did not adopt this course was an +honourable trait in his character; and, indeed, his conduct and that of +the king was most creditable throughout the transactions which +followed; an account of which is set forth with great minuteness in the +"Continuation of Edward Hyde, Lord Clarendon's Life." + +Without the advice of his council, the king could give no satisfactory +reply to his brother. He therefore summoned two of his trusty friends, +the Marquis of Ormond and the Earl of Southampton, whom he informed +of the duke's marriage, requesting them to communicate the same to the +chancellor, and return with him for private consultation. The good man's +surprise at this news concerning his daughter was, according to his own +account, exceeding great, and was only equalled by his vast indignation. +His loyalty towards the royal family was so fervent that it overlooked +his affection to his child. He therefore fell into a violent passion, +protested against her wicked presumption, and advised that the king +"should immediately cause the woman to be sent to the Tower, and to be +cast into a dungeon, under so strict a guard that no person should be +admitted to come to her; and then that an act of parliament should be +immediately passed for the cutting off her head, to which he would not +only give his consent, but would very willingly be the first man that +should propose it." All this he presently repeated to the king, and +moreover, assured him an example of the highest severity, in a case so +nearly concerning himself, would serve as a warning that others might +take heed of offences committed against his regal dignity. + +News of this marriage spread throughout the court with rapidity, and +caused the utmost excitement; which in a little while was somewhat +abated by the announcement that the king's youngest brother, Henry, Duke +of Gloucester, was taken ill of small-pox. This young prince, who is +described as "a pretty boy," possessed parts which bade fair to +surpass his brothers. He was indeed associated by his family with their +tenderest memories, inasmuch as he had been with his father on the sad +day previous to his execution. On that melancholy occasion, Charles I. +had taken him upon his knee, and said to him very tenderly, "Sweetheart, +they will cut off thy father's head," at which the boy shuddered and +turned pale. "Mark, child, what I say," continued the unhappy king, +"they will cut off my head, and, perhaps, make thee a king; but mark +what I say, you must not be made king as long as your brothers Charles +and James are alive, for they will cut off thy brothers' heads when they +catch them, and cut off thy head at last; and therefore I charge you not +to be made a king by them." To which the lad replied very earnestly, "I +will be torn in pieces first." Sometime after the death of his father he +was allowed to join his family in France, and, like his brother James, +entered the army of that country. On the restoration, he had +returned with the king, and, three months later, this "prince of +very extraordinary hopes" died, grievously lamented by the court, and +especially by his majesty, who declared he felt this loss more than any +other which had previously fallen upon him. + +Scarcely had he been laid to rest in the vault containing the dust +of Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Arabella Stuart, when the Princess of +Orange arrived in England to pay the king a visit of ceremony. No sooner +was she settled at court, than rumour of her brother's marriage reached +her; on which she became outrageous; but her wrath was far exceeded by +that of the queen mother, who, on hearing the news, wrote to the duke +expressing her indignation "that he should have such low thoughts as to +marry such a woman." The epistle containing this sentence was at once +shown by James to his wife, whom he continually saw and spent much time +with, unknown to her father, who had given orders she should keep her +chamber. Parliament now sat, but no mention was made of the duke's +marriage by either House; and, inasmuch as the union so nearly concerned +the nation, this silence caused considerable surprise. It was surmised +the delay was made in deference to the feelings of the queen mother, who +at this juncture set out for England, to prevent what she was pleased +to term "so great a stain and dishonour to the crown." The king regarded +his brother's alliance in a lenient spirit, and not only spoke of it +frequently before the court, but expressed his desire of bringing the +indiscretion to a happy conclusion by a public acknowledgment. + +The queen mother, being an ambitious woman, had cherished certain +schemes for extending the power of her family by the respective +marriages of her sons, which the duke's union was, of course, calculated +to curtail. She therefore regarded his wife with the bitterest disdain. +Whenever that woman should be brought into Whitehall by one door, her +majesty declared she would leave it by another and never enter it +again. The marriage was rendered all the more disagreeable to the +queen, because the object of her son's choice was daughter of the lord +chancellor, whose influence over Charles II. had frequently opposed her +plans in the past, and threatened to prevent their realization in the +future. The monarch, however, paid little attention to his mother's +indignation. He was resolved no disgrace which he could hinder should +fall upon the family of one who had served him with disinterested +loyalty; and, by way of proving his friendship towards the chancellor on +the present occasion, he, before setting out to meet his mother on her +arrival at Dover, presented him with twenty thousand pounds, and left +a signed warrant for creating him a baron, which he desired the +attorney-general to have ready to pass the seals at his return. + +In the meantime a wicked plot, for the purpose of lessening James's +affection for his wife, and ultimately preventing the acknowledgment of +his marriage, was promoted by the chancellor's enemies and the duke's +friends, principal amongst whom were the Princess of Orange and Sir +Charles Berkley, "a fellow of great wickedness," Sir Charles was his +royal highness's most trusted friend, and was, moreover, devoted to +the service of the princess and her mother. He therefore determined to +hinder the duke from taking a step which he was of opinion would +injure him irretrievably. Accordingly, when James spoke in confidence +concerning his marriage, Sir Charles told him it was wholly invalid, +inasmuch as it had taken place without the king's consent; and that a +union with the daughter of an insignificant lawyer was not to be thought +of by the heir to the crown. Moreover, he hinted he could a tale unfold +regarding her behaviour. At this the duke became impatient to hear what +his good friend had to say; whereon that valiant gentleman boasted, with +an air of bravery and truth, of certain gallantries which had passed +between him and the lady. On hearing this, James, being credulous was +sorely depressed. He ceased to visit his wife, withdrew from general +company; and so well did Sir Charles's scheme succeed, that before the +queen's arrival, the duke had decided on denying his marriage with one +who had brought him dishonour. The king, however, put no faith in these +aspersions; he felt sure "there was a wicked conspiracy set on foot by +villains." + +It therefore happened the queen was spared the trouble she had +anticipated with her son; indeed, he humbly begged her pardon for +"having placed his affections so unequally, of which he was sure there +was now an end"--a confession most gratifying to her majesty. The duke's +bitter depression continued, and was soon increased by the death of his +sister, the Princess of Orange, which was occasioned by smallpox on the +23rd of December, 1660. In her last agonies Lord Clarendon says "she +expressed a dislike of the proceedings in that affair, to which she had +contributed too much." This fact, together with his royal highness's +unhappiness, had due weight on Sir Charles Berkley, who began to repent +of the calumnies he had spoken. Accordingly, the "lewd informer" went +to the duke, and sought to repair the evil he had wrought. Believing, he +said, such a marriage would be the absolute ruin of his royal highness, +he had made the accusation which he now confessed to be false, and +without the least ground; for he was very confident of the lady's honour +and virtue. He then begged pardon on his knees for a fault committed +out of pure devotion, and trusted the duke would "not suffer him to be +ruined by the power of those whom he had so unworthily provoked, and +of which he had so much shame that he had not confidence to look upon +them." + +James was so much relieved by what he heard that he not only forgave +Sir Charles, but embraced him, and promised him protection. Nor did his +royal highness longer withhold the reparation due to his wife, who, with +the approval of the king and the reluctant consent of the queen, was +received at court as Duchess of York. Such was the romance connected +with the marriage of her who became mother of two English queens--Mary, +wife of William of Orange, and Anne, of pious memory. + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Morality of the Restoration.--Puritan piety.--Conduct of women under + the Republic.--Some notable courtiers.--The Duke of Ormond and his + family.--Lord St. Albans and Henry Jermyn.--His Grace of Buckingham + and Mistress Fairfax.--Lord Rochester.--Beautiful Barbara Palmer.--The + King's Projected marriage.--Catherine of Braganza.--His Majesty's + speech.--A Royal love-letter.--The new Queen sets sail. + +A general idea obtains that the libertine example set forth by Charles +II. and his courtiers is wholly to blame for the spirit of depravity +which marked his reign. That it was in part answerable for the spread +of immorality is true, inasmuch as the royalists, considering sufficient +aversion could not be shown to the loathsome hypocrisy of the puritans, +therefore fell into an opposite extreme of ostentatious profligacy. +But that the court was entirely responsible for the vice tainting all +classes of society whilst the merry monarch occupied the throne, is +false. + +Other causes had long been tending to produce this unhappy effect. +The reign of the Commonwealth had not been, remarkable for its virtue, +though it had been notable for its pharisaism. With the puritan, words +of piety took place of deeds of grace; the basest passions were often +hidden under sanctimonious exteriors. Even Cromwell, "a man of long and +dark discourses, sermons, and prayers," was not above reproach. Bishop +Burnet, who has no harsh words for him, and few gentle ones for Charles, +states the Protector's intrigue with Lady Dysart was "not a little taken +notice of;" on which, the godly man "broke it off." He therefore, Heath +records, began an amour with a lady of lesser note--Mrs. Lambert, the +wife of a puritan, herself a lady devoted to psalm singing and audible +prayer when, not otherwise pleasantly engaged. + +The general character of many news-sheets of the day proves that +morality under the Republic was at a low ebb. Anarchy in a kingdom +invariably favours dissoluteness in a people, inasmuch as the +disturbance of civil order tends to unsettle moral law. Homes being +divided amongst themselves by political strife, paternal care was +suspended, and filial respect ignored. In the general confusion which +obtained, the distinction of social codes was overlooked. Lord Clarendon +states that; during this unhappy period, young people of either sex +were "educated in all the liberty of vice, without reprehension +or restraint." He adds, "The young women conversed without any +circumspection or modesty, and frequently met at taverns and common +eating-houses." An additional description of the ways and manners of +young maidens under the Republic is given in a rare and curious pamphlet +entitled "A Character of England as it was lately presented in a Letter +to a Nobleman of France"; printed in the year 1659, for Jo. Crooke, +and sold at the Ship in St. Paul's Yard. Having spoken of taverns where +"fury and intemperance" reign, and where, "that nothing may be wanting +to the height of luxury and impiety, organs have been translated out of +the churches for the purpose of chanting their dithyrambics and bestiall +bacchanalias to the tune of those instruments which were wont to assist +them in the celebration of God's praises," the writer continues: "Your +lordship will scarce believe me that the ladies of greatest quality +suffer themselves to be treated in one of those taverns, where a +curtezan in other cities would scarcely vouchsafe to be entertained; +but you will be more astonish't when I shall assure you that they drink +their crowned cups roundly, strain healths through their smocks, daunce +after the fiddle, kiss freely, and tearm it an honourable treat." He +furthermore says they were to be found until midnight in company with +their lovers at Spring Garden, which seemed to be "contrived to all the +advantages of gallantry." From which evidences it may be gathered, that +London under the Commonwealth was little less vicious than under the +merry monarch. + +The court Charles speedily gathered round him on his restoration was +the most brilliant the nation had ever witnessed. Those of birth and +distinction who had sought refuge abroad during the late troubles, now +joyfully returned: whilst the juvenile branches of noble families living +in retirement in England, to whom royalty had been a stranger, no less +eagerly flocked to the presence of the gay young king. The wit and +politeness of the men, the grace and beauty of the women, who surrounded +Charles II. have become proverbial; whilst the gallantries of the one, +and the frailties of the other, savour more of romance than reality. + +That the condition of the court on its establishment may be realized, it +is necessary, at this stage of its history, to introduce briefly some of +the chief personages who surrounded his majesty, and occupied prominent +attention in the annals of his reign. Notably amongst them were the +gallant Duke of Ormond and his family. His grace, now in his fiftieth +year, was distinguished for his commanding appearance, gracious manner, +and excellent wit. During the troubles of the civil war, he had proved +himself a most loyal subject, inasmuch as he had vested his fortune and +ventured his person in service of the late king. Subsequently refusing +liberal offers made him by Cromwell, on condition of living in peaceful +retirement, he, after the execution of Charles I., betook himself to +France, and shared exile with the young king until the restoration. In +consequence of his proven fealty, honours were then deservingly showered +upon him: he was made grand steward of the household, first lord of the +bedchamber, and subsequently lord lieutenant of Ireland. The duchess, +who had participated in her husband's misfortunes with a courage equal +to his own, was a high-minded and most virtuous lady, who had brought +up her family with great care. Scarcely less distinguished in mien and +manner than the duke, were his two sons, Thomas, Earl of Ossory, and +Lord Richard Butler, afterwards Earl of Arran. My lord of Ossory was no +less remarkable for his beauty than famous for his accomplishments: +he rode and played tennis to perfection, performed upon the lute to +entrancement, and danced to the admiration of the court; he was moreover +a good historian, and well versed in chronicles of romance. No less was +the Earl of Arran proficient in qualifications befitting his birth, and +gifted with attributes aiding his gallantry. + +A third member of this noble family played a more remarkable part in +the history of the court during her brief career than either of her +brothers. This was the Lady Elizabeth Butler, eldest daughter of +the duke, who, unfortunately for her own happiness, married my Lord +Chesterfield at the Hague, when, a few months before the restoration, +that nobleman fled to the continent to escape the consequences of +Francis Woolley's murder. In Lely's picture of the young Countess of +Chesterfield, her piquancy attracts at a glance, whilst her beauty +charms on examination. Her cousin, Anthony Hamilton, describes her +as having large blue eyes, very tempting and alluring, a complexion +extremely fair, and a heart "ever open to tender sentiments," by reason +of which her troubles arose, as shall be set down in proper sequence. + +Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, and his nephew, "the little Jermyn," +were also notable as figuring in court intrigues. The earl was member +of the privy council to his majesty, and moreover held a still closer +connection to the queen mother; for, according to Sir John Reresby, +Madame Buviere, and others, her majesty had privately married his +lordship abroad--an act of condescension he repaid with inhumanity. +Madame Buviere says he never gave the queen a good word; and when +she spoke to him he used to say, "Que me veut cette femme?" The same +authority adds, he treated her majesty in an extremely ill manner, +"so that whilst she had not a faggot to warm herself, he had in +his apartments a good fire and a sumptuous table." [This testimony +concerning the queen's poverty is borne out by Cardinal de Retz. In his +interesting Memoirs he tells of a visit he paid the queen mother, then +an exile in Paris. He found her with her youngest daughter, Henrietta, +in the chamber of the latter. "At my coming in," says the Cardinal, "she +(the queen) said, 'You see, I am come to keep Henrietta company; the +poor child could not rise to-day for want of a fire.' The truth is, that +the Cardinal (Mazarin) for six months together had not ordered her any +money towards her pension; that no tradespeople would trust her for +anything and there was not at her lodgings a single billet. You will do +me the justice to think that the princess of England did not keep her +bed the next day for want of a faggot... Posterity will hardly believe +that a princess of England, grand-daughter to Henry the Great, hath +wanted a faggot in the month of January, in the Louvre, and in the eyes +of the French court."] Pepys records that the marriage of her majesty +to the earl was commonly talked of at the restoration; and he likewise +mentions it was rumoured "that they had a daughter between them in +France. How true," says this gossip, "God knows." + +The earl's nephew, Henry Jermyn, is described as having a big head and +little legs, an affected carriage, and a wit consisting "in expressions +learned by rote, which he occasionally employed either in raillery or +love." For all that, he being a man of amorous disposition, the number +of his intrigues was no less remarkable than the rank of those who +shared them. Most notable amongst his conquests was the king's eldest +sister, widow of the Prince of Orange--a lady possessing in no small +degree natural affections for which her illustrious family were +notorious. During the exile of Charles II., Henry Jermyn had made a +considerable figure at her court in Holland by reason of the splendour +of his equipage, entirely supported by his uncle's wealth; he had +likewise made a forcible impression on her heart by virtue of the ardour +of his addresses, wholly sustained by his own effrontery. The effect of +his presence on the princess soon became visible to the court. Rumour +whispered that as Lord St. Albans had already made an alliance with +royalty, his nephew had likewise followed his example; but scandal +declared that young Jermyn and the princess had omitted the ceremony +which should have sanctioned their happiness. The reputation of such an +amour gained him the immediate attention of many women, whose interest +in his character increased with the knowledge of his abilities, and +helped to associate him in their memories with tenderest emotions. + +Another figure prominent in this gay and goodly assembly was George +Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham. The faultless beauty of his +face, and graceful symmetry of his figure, would have rendered him +distinguished in a court less sensuously impressionable to physical +perfection, even if his talents had not dazzled, and his wit amused. On +the death of the first Duke of Buckingham, "styled the handsomest bodied +man in England," the late king of pious memory undertook the charge of +the young duke, and had him educated with his own sons. Subsequently +he was sent to Cambridge, and then travelled into France, the better to +acquire that polish of manner and grace of bearing for which he became +distinguished. But, whilst abroad, word was brought him of the distress +of his master, the king; on which the young duke hastened back into +England, became a cavalier, and fought his majesty's battles with +great gallantry. Soon after Charles I. had been beheaded, his faithful +servitor went abroad; but being loyal to the Stuart cause, he journeyed +with Charles II. to Scotland, and afterwards fought beside him in the +bloody battle of Worcester. Whilst the monarch was hiding in Boscobel +Wood, the duke betook himself to London, where, donning a wizard's +mask, a jack-pudding coat, a hat adorned with a fox's tail and cock's +feathers, he masqueraded as a mountebank, and discoursed diverting +nonsense from a stage erected at Charing Cross. After running several +risks, he escaped to France. But alas for the duke, who was born as +Madame Dunois avows, doubtless from experience--"for gallantry and +magnificence," he was now penniless, his great estates being confiscated +by Cromwell. However, conceiving a scheme that might secure him part of +his fortune, he hastened to put it into execution. + +It happened that my Lord Fairfax, one of Cromwell's great generals, had +allotted to him by the Protector a portion of the Buckingham estates +that returned five thousand pounds a year. The general was, moreover, +placed in possession of York House, which had likewise belonged to his +grace. + +Now it happened Lord Fairfax, a generous-tempered man and brave soldier, +had an only child, a daughter destined to become his heiress; aware +of which the duke resolved to marry her, that he might in this manner +recover portion of his estate. The fact of the lady never having seen +him did not interfere with his plans; that she would reject his suit +seemed an impossibility; that she would succumb to the fascination he +invariably exercised over woman was a certainty. Nor did it matter that +Mistress Fairfax was no beauty; for the duke, being grateful for past +favours liberally bestowed by the opposite sex, had no intention of +becoming under any circumstances churlish enough to limit his devotion +to one lady, though she were his wife. + +Carefully disguising himself, he journeyed to London, where he was met +by a faithful friend, who promised he would aid him in winning Mistress +Fairfax, towards which end he promptly introduced the duke to that +estimable gentlewoman. Having once obtained speech of her, the remainder +of his scheme was comparatively easy of accomplishment. She loved the +gay and graceful gallant at first sight, and through years of bitter +wrong and cruel neglect continued his faithful and devoted slave. + +Though she had become clandestinely acquainted with him, she was too +good a daughter to wed without her father's consent. But this she had +not much difficulty in obtaining. Though Lord Fairfax had fought against +his king, he was not sufficiently republican to scorn alliance with +nobility, nor so thoroughly puritan as to disdain connection with +the ungodly. Accordingly he gave his sanction to the union, which was +celebrated at his mansion at Nun Appleton, within six miles of York. +Now, my Lord Fairfax had not consulted Cromwell's goodwill concerning +this alliance, the news of which reaching the Protector in due time, +made him exceedingly wroth. For he had daughters to marry, and, that he +might strengthen his power, was desirous of wedding them to scions of +nobility; Buckingham being one of those whom he had mentally selected to +become a member of his family. His anger was therefore at once directed +against Fairfax and his grace. The former he could not molest, but the +latter he committed to the Tower; and if the great Protector had not +been soon after seized by fatal illness, the duke would have made his +last journey from thence to Tower Hill. As it fell out he remained a +prisoner until within a year of the coming of Charles, whom he welcomed +with exceeding joy. Being bred with the merry monarch, he had from +boyhood been a favourite of his majesty, with whom he shared a common +love for diversion. He was, therefore, from the first a prominent figure +at Whitehall; his handsome person and extravagant dress adorned the +court; his brilliant wit and poignant satire amused the royal circle. + +His grace, however, had a rival, the vivacity of whose temper and +piquancy of whose humour went far to eclipse Buckingham's talent in +these directions. This was the young Earl of Rochester, son of my Lord +Wilmot, who had so successfully aided the king's escape after the battle +of Worcester, for which service he had been created Earl of Rochester +by Charles in Paris. That worthy man dying just a year previous to the +restoration, his son succeeded to his titles, and likewise to an estate +which had been preserved for him by the prudence of his mother. Even in +his young days Lord Rochester gave evidence of possessing a lively wit +and remarkable genius, which were cultivated by his studies at Oxford +and his travels abroad. So that at the age of eighteen, when he returned +to England and presented himself at Whitehall, his sprightly parts won +him the admiration of courtiers and secured him the favour of royalty. +Nor was the young earl less distinguished by his wit and learning than +by his face and figure; the delicate beauty of his features and natural +grace of his person won him the love of many women, whom the tenderness +of his heart and generosity of his youth did not permit him to leave +unrequited. + +Soon surfeited by his conquests in the drawing-room, he was anxious to +extend his triumphs in another direction; and, selecting the sea as a +scene of action, he volunteered to sail under my Lord Sandwich in quest +of the Dutch East Indian fleet. At the engagements to which this led he +exhibited a dauntless courage that earned him renown abroad, and covered +him with honour on his return to court. From that time he, for many +years, surrendered himself to a career of dissipation, often abandoning +the paths of decency and decorum, pursuing vice in its most daring and +eccentric fashion, employing his genius in the composition of lampoons +which spared not even the king, and in the writing of ribald verses, the +very names of which are not proper to indite. Lord Orford speaks of him +as a man "whom the muses were fond to inspire, and ashamed to avow; and +who practised, without the least reserve, that secret which can make +verses more read for their defects than for their merits." More of my +Lord Rochester and his poems anon. + +Thomas Killigrew, another courtier, was a poet, dramatist, and man of +excellent wit. He had been page in the service of his late majesty, and +had shared exile with the present monarch, to whose pleasures abroad and +at home he was ever ready to pander. At the restoration he was appointed +a groom of the bedchamber, and, moreover, was made master of the +revels--an office eminently suited to his tastes, and well fitted to +exercise his capacities. His ready wit amused the king so much, that +he was occasionally led to freedoms of speech which taxed his majesty's +good-nature. His escapades diverted the court to such an extent, that he +frequently took the liberty of affording it entertainment at the expense +of its reputation. The "beau Sidney," a man "of sweet and caressing +temper," handsome appearance, and amorous disposition; Sir George +Etherege, a wit and a playwright; and Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset, +a poet and man of sprightly speech, were likewise courtiers of note. + +Among such congenial companions the merry monarch abandoned himself +wholly to the pursuit of pleasure, and openly carried on his intrigue +with Barbara Palmer. According to the testimony of her contemporaries, +she was a woman of surpassing loveliness and violent passions. Gilbert +Burnet, whilst admitting her beauty, proclaims her defects. She was, he +relates, "most enormously vicious and ravenous, foolish but imperious, +very uneasy to the king, and always carrying on intrigues with other +men, while she yet pretended she was jealous of him." Pepys testifies +likewise to her physical attractions so long as she reigned paramount +in the king's affections; but when another woman, no less fair, came +betwixt my lady and his majesty's favour, Mr. Pepys, being a loyal +man and a frail, found greater beauty in the new love, whose charms he +avowed surpassed the old. To his most interesting diary posterity is +indebted for glimpses of the manner in which the merry monarch and his +mistress behaved themselves during the first months of the restoration. +Now he tells of "great doings of musique," which were going on at Madame +Palmer's house, situated in the Strand, next Earl Sandwich's, and of +the king and the duke being with that lady: again, in the Chapel +Royal, Whitehall, he observed, whilst Dr. Herbert Croft prayed and +preached, "how the Duke of York and Mrs. Palmer did talk to one another +very wantonly through the hangings that part the king's closet and +the closet where the ladies sit." And later on, when he witnessed "The +Humorous Lieutenant" performed before the court, he noted the royal +favourite was likewise present, "with whom the king do discover a great +deal of familiarity." + +Presently, in February, 1661, exactly nine months after his majesty's +return, Mrs. Palmer gave birth to a daughter. To the vast amusement +of the court, no less than three men claimed the privilege of being +considered father of this infant. One of these was my Lord Chesterfield, +whom the child grew to resemble in face and person; the second was Roger +Palmer, who left her his estate; the third was King Charles, who had +her baptized Anne Palmer Fitzroy, adopted her as his daughter, and +eventually married her to the Earl of Sussex. + +Soon after the restoration the subject of his majesty's marriage was +mooted by his councillors, who trusted a happy union would redeem him +from vice, and, by bringing him heirs, help to establish him more firmly +in the affections of his people. The king lending a willing ear to this +advice, the sole difficulty in carrying it into execution rested in +the selection of a bride congenial to his taste and equal to his +sovereignty. King Louis of France had no sisters, and his nieces had +not commended themselves to the merry monarch's favour during his +stay abroad. Spain had two infantas, but one was wedded to the King +of France, and the other betrothed to the heir of the royal house of +Austria. Germany, of course, had princesses in vast numbers, who awaited +disposal; but when they were proposed to King Charles, "he put off the +discourse with raillery," as Lord Halifax narrates. "Odd's fish," he +would say, shrugging his shoulders and making a grimace, "I could not +marry one of them: they are all dull and foggy!" + +Catherine of Braganza, daughter of Don Juan IV. of Portugal, was +unwedded, and to her Charles ultimately addressed himself. Alliance with +her commended itself to the nation from the fact that the late king, +before the troubled times began, had entered into a negotiation with +Portugal concerning the marriage of this same infanta and his present +majesty; and such was the esteem in which the memory of Charles I. was +now held, that compliance with his desires was regarded as a sacred +obligation. The Portuguese ambassador assured the merry monarch that the +princess, by reason of her beauty, person, and age, was most suited to +him. To convince him of this, he showed his majesty a portrait of the +lady, which the king examining, declared "that person could not be +unhandsome." The ambassador, who was of a certainty most anxious for +this union, then said it was true the princess was a catholic, and would +never change her faith; but she was free from "meddling activity;" that +she had been reared by a wise mother, and would only look to the freedom +of practising her own religion without interfering with that of others. +Finally, he added that the princess would have a dowry befitting +her high station, of no less a sum than five hundred thousand pounds +sterling in ready money. + +Moreover, by way of addition to this already handsome portion, the Queen +of Portugal was ready to assign over and annex to the English crown, +the Island of Bombay, in the East Indies, and Tangier on the African +coast--a place of strength and importance, which would be of great +benefit and security to British commerce. Nor was this all. Portugal +was likewise willing to grant England free trade in Brazil and the East +Indies, a privilege heretofore denied all other countries. This was +indeed a dower which none of the "dull and foggy" German princesses +could bring the crown. The prospect of obtaining so much ready money +especially commended the alliance to the extravagant taste of his +majesty, who had this year complained to Parliament of his poverty, by +reason of which he "was so much grieved to see many of his friends come +to him at Whitehall, and to think they were obliged to go somewhere else +for a dinner." + +The merry monarch was therefore well pleased at the prospect of his +union, as were likewise the chancellor and four or five "competent +considerers of such an affair" whom he consulted. These worthy +counsellors and men of sage repute, who included in their number the +Duke of Ormond and Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary of State, the Earl +of Manchester, and the Earl of Southampton, after regretting it was not +agreeable to his majesty to select a queen who professed the protestant +religion, gave it as their opinion there was no catholic princess in +Europe whom he, with so much reason and advantage, could marry as the +infanta of Portugal. They, moreover, added that the sum promised as +part of her portion, setting aside the places, "was much greater--almost +double to what any king had ever received in money by any marriage." +The council, therefore, without a dissenting voice, advised him to the +marriage. + +On the 8th of May, 1661, his majesty, being clad in robes of state, +and wearing the crown, rode in great pomp to open Parliament, which he +addressed from the throne. In the course of his speech, he announced his +approaching marriage in a singularly characteristic address. "I will +not conclude without telling you some news," he said, "news that I think +will be very acceptable to you, and therefore I should think myself +unkind, and ill-natured if I did not impart it to you. I have been put +in mind by my friends that it was now time to marry, and I have +thought so myself ever since I came into England. But there appeared +difficulties enough in the choice, though many overtures have been made +to me; and if I should never marry until I could make such a choice +against which there could be no foresight of any inconvenience that may +ensue, you would live to see me an old bachelor, which I think you do +not desire to do. I can now tell you, not only that I am resolved to +marry, but with whom I am resolved to marry. If God please, it is with +the daughter of Portugal. And I will make all the haste I can to fetch +you a queen hither, who, I doubt not, will bring great blessings with +her to me and you." + +Next day addresses of congratulation were presented to his majesty +by both Houses. This gratifying news was made known to the Portuguese +ambassador, Count da Ponte, by the lord high chancellor, who visited his +excellency for the purpose, attended by state befitting such a great +and joyful occasion; two gentlemen preceded him, bearing respectively +a gilded mace and a crimson velvet purse embroidered with the arms +of Great Britain, and many others following him to the ambassador's +residence. A month later, the marriage articles were signed; the new +queen being guaranteed the free exercise of her faith, and the sum +of thirty thousand a year during life; whilst the king was assured +possession of her great dowry, together with the territories already +mentioned, one of which, Bombay, ultimately became of such vast +importance to the crown. + +Charles then despatched the Portuguese ambassador to Catherine--from +this time styled queen--in order to make arrangements for her journey +into England. Likewise he wrote a letter, remarkable for the fervour +of its sentiments and elegance of its diction, which da Ponte was +commissioned to convey her. This courtly epistle, addressed by Charles +to "The Queen of Great Britain, my wife and lady, whom God preserve," is +dated July 2nd, 1661, and runs as follows: + +"MY LADY AND WIFE, + +"Already, at my request, the good Count da Ponte has set off for Lisbon; +for me the signing of the marriage act has been great happiness; +and there is about to be despatched at this time after him one of my +servants, charged with what would appear necessary, whereby may +be declared, on my part, the inexpressible joy of this felicitous +conclusion, which, when received, will hasten the coming of your +majesty. + +"I am going to make a short progress into some of my provinces; in the +meantime, whilst I go from my most sovereign good, yet I do not complain +as to whither I go, seeking in vain tranquillity in my restlessness; +hoping to see the beloved person of your majesty in these kingdoms +already your own, and that with the same anxiety with which, after my +long banishment, I desired to see myself within them, and my subjects, +desiring also to behold me amongst them, having manifested their most +ardent wishes for my return, well known to the world. The presence of +your serenity is only wanting to unite us, under the protection of God, +in the health and content I desire. I have recommended to the queen, our +lady and mother, the business of the Count da Ponte, who, I must here +avow, has served me in what I regard as the greatest good in this world, +which cannot be mine less than it is that of your majesty; likewise not +forgetting the good Richard Russell, who laboured on his part to the +same end. [Richard Russell was Bishop of Portalegre, in Portugal, and +Almoner to Catherine of Braganza.] + +"The very faithful husband of your majesty, whose hand he kisses, + + "CHARLES REX." + +London, 2nd of July, 1661. + + +During many succeeding months preparations were made in England to +receive the young Queen. The "Royal Charles," a stately ship capable +of carrying eighty cannon and six hundred men, was suitably fitted to +convey her to England. + +The state room and apartments destined for use of the future bride were +furnished and ornamented in most luxuriant manner, being upholstered +in crimson velvet, handsomely carpeted, and hung with embroideries and +taffeties. Lord Sandwich was made commander of the gallant fleet which +in due time accompanied the "Royal Charles." He was likewise appointed +ambassador extraordinary, and charged with safely conducting the bride +unto her bridegroom. + +In due time, my lord, in high spirits, set sail with his gallant fleet, +and on arriving at Portugal was received with every remark of profound +respect, and every sign of extravagant joy. Stately ceremonies at court +and brilliant rejoicings in public made time speed with breathless +rapidity. But at length there came a day when my Lord Sandwich +encountered a difficulty he had not foreseen. According to instructions, +he had taken possession of Tangier before proceeding for the queen; and +he had likewise been directed to see her dowry put on board one of his +ships, before receiving her on the "Royal Charles." + +Now the Queen of Portugal, who acted as regent since the death of her +husband, being strongly desirous of seeing her daughter the consort of a +great sovereign, and of protecting her country from the tyranny of Spain +by an alliance with England, had gathered the infanta's marriage +portion with infinite trouble; which had necessitated the selling of her +majesty's jewels and much of her plate, and the borrowing of both plate +and jewels from churches and monasteries all over the land. The sums +accumulated in this manner she had carefully stowed away in great +sacks; but, alas, between the date on which the marriage treaty had been +signed, and arrival of the English ambassador to claim the bride, Spain +had made war upon Portugal, and the dowry had to be expended in arming +the country for defence. Therefore, when my Lord Sandwich mentioned the +dowry, her majesty, with keen regrets and infinite apologies, informed +him so great were the straits of poverty to which her kingdom was +reduced, that she could pay only half the stipulated sum at present, +but promised the remaining portion should be made up the following year. +Moreover, the part which she then asked him to accept was made up of +jewels, sugars, spices and other commodities which she promised to have +converted by arrangement into solid gold in London. + +The ambassador was therefore sorely perplexed, and knew not whether +he should return to England without the bride, or take her and the +merchandise which represented half her dowry on board his ship. He +decided on the latter course, and the queen, with her court and retinue, +set sail for merry England on the 23rd of April, 1662. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + The king's intrigue with Barbara Palmer.--The queen arrives at + Portsmouth.--Visited by the Duke of York.--The king leaves town,--First + interview with his bride.--His letter to the lord chancellor.--Royal + marriage and festivities.--Arrival at Hampton Court Palace.--Prospects + of a happy union.--Lady Castlemaine gives birth to a second child.--The + king's infatuation.--Mistress and wife.--The queen's misery.--The king's + cruelty.--Lord Clarendon's messages.--His majesty resolves to break the + queen's spirit.--End of the domestic quarrel. + +Whilst the king conducted the negotiations of his marriage with +Catherine of Braganza, he likewise continued the pursuit of his intrigue +with Barbara Palmer. The unhappy fascination which this vile woman +exercised over his majesty increased with time; and though his ministers +declared a suitable marriage would reform his ways, his courtiers +concluded he had no intention of abandoning his mistress in favour of +his wife. For Barbara Palmer, dreading the loss of her royal lover and +the forfeiture of wealth accruing from this connection, had firmly bound +him in her toils. Moreover, in order that he might continually abide +under her influence, she conceived a scheme which would of necessity +bring her into constant intercourse with him and the young queen. +She therefore demanded he would appoint her one of the ladies of the +bedchamber to her majesty, to which he, heedless of the insult this +would fix upon his wife, readily consented. + +In order to qualify Barbara Palmer for such a position, it was necessary +she should be raised to the peerage. This could only be accomplished by +ennobling her husband, unless public decency were wholly ignored, +and she was created a peeress in her own right, whilst he remained a +commoner. After some faint show of hesitation, Roger Palmer accepted the +honours thrust upon him by reason of his wife's infamy. On the 11th of +December, 1661, he was created Earl of Castlemaine, and Baron Limerick +in the peerage of Ireland, when the royal favourite became a countess. + +And now the merry month of May being arrived, the queen was speedily +expected; and on the night of the 13th joyful tidings reached London +that the "Royal Charles," accompanied by the fleet, was in sight of +Portsmouth. At which news there was great rejoicing throughout the town, +church bells ringing merrily, and bonfires blazing brightly; but before +the Countess of Castlemaine's house, where the king, according to his +custom was at supper, there was no fire, though such signs of joy burned +"at all the rest of the doors almost in the streets, which was much +observed." + +Next day the fleet arrived in the harbour of Portsmouth, about four in +the afternoon. Heath says the people gathered to receive the bride with +all possible demonstrations of honour, "the nobility and gentry and +multitudes of Londoners, in most rich apparel and in great numbers, +waiting on the shore for her landing; and the mayor and aldermen and +principal persons of that corporation being in their gowns, and with a +present and a speech ready to entertain her; the cannon and small shot, +both from round that town and the whole fleet echoing to one another +the loud proclamations of their joy." These good people were, however, +destined to disappointment; for though the bride was impatient to land, +because suffering from prostration consequent on a rough voyage and +severe illness, she was not, in observance of court etiquette, permitted +to leave the ship until the king arrived. This did not take place +until six days later, Charles being detained in town by reason of some +important bills then passing in Parliament, which it was necessary for +him to sign. He had, however, despatched his royal brother of York, then +Lord High Admiral of England, to meet her at sea, and give her greeting +in his name. Accordingly the duke had encountered the fleet at the Isle +of Wight, and gone on board the queen's ship, when she received him in +her cabin seated under a canopy on a chair of state. His royal highness +expressed his joy at her arrival, presented "his majesty's high respects +and his exceeding affection for her," and paid her many compliments. +Lord Chesterfield, who had been appointed chamberlain to the queen, +tells us: "Although James, in consequence of his near connection with +the sovereign, might have saluted the royal bride, he did not avail +himself of this privilege, out of a delicate regard to his majesty's +feelings, that he might be the first man to offer that compliment to his +queen; she coming out of a country where it was not the fashion." The +Duke of York presented some noblemen who had accompanied him; after +which she introduced the members of her suite. The queen and her +brother-in-law then held a conversation in the Spanish language, when +James assured her of his affection, and besought her to accept his +services. To these compliments she replied in like manner, when he arose +to depart. The queen advanced three paces with him, not withstanding +that he protested against such courtesy, bidding her remember her rank. +At this she smiled, and answered with much sweetness, "She wished to do +that out of affection, which she was not obliged to do"--a reply which +made a favourable impression on his mind. Whilst she continued on +board, the duke and his suite visited her daily, entering freely into +conversation with her, and finding her "a most agreeable lady." Probably +at the desire of the king, she left the ship before his arrival, and was +conveyed to his majesty's house at Portsmouth, where she was received +by the Countess of Suffolk, first lady of the bedchamber, and four other +ladies who had been appointed members of her household. One of her first +requests to these was--as may be learned from a letter of Lord Sandwich, +preserved in the Bodleian library--"that they would put her in that +habit they thought would be most pleasing to the king." Before leaving +the "Royal Charles" she spoke to all the officers of the ship, thanked +them for their services, and permitted them to kiss her hand. She +then presented a collar of gold to the captain, and gave money to be +distributed among the crew. + +When at length the parliamentary business was concluded, the king found +himself in readiness to depart. The last words he addressed to his +faithful commons before starting are worth recording: "The mention of my +wife's arrival," said he, in the pleasant familiar tone it was his wont +to use, "puts me in mind to desire you to put that compliment upon her, +that her entrance into this town may be made with more decency than +the ways will now suffer it to be; and to that purpose I pray you would +quickly pass such laws as are before you, in order to the mending those +ways, that she may not find Whitehall surrounded with water." + +At nine o'clock on the night of the 19th of May, his majesty left London +in Lord Northumberland's carriage, on his way to Portsmouth. Arriving +at Kingston an hour later, he entered Lord Chesterfield's coach, which +awaited him there by appointment, and drove to Guildford, at which town +he slept the night. In the morning he was up betimes, and posted to +Portsmouth, where he arrived at noon. The queen, being ill of a slight +fever, was yet in bed: but the king, all impatient to see the bride +which heaven had sent him, sought admittance to her chamber. The poor +princess evidently did not look to advantage; for his majesty told +Colonel Legg he thought at first glance "they had brought him a bat +instead of a woman." On further acquaintance, however, she seemed to +have afforded more pleasure to the king's sight, for the next day he +expressed the satisfaction he felt concerning her, in a letter addressed +to the lord chancellor, which is preserved in the library of the British +Museum, and runs as follows: + +"PORTSMOUTH, 21st May (Eight in the Morning). + +"I arrived here yesterday about two in the afternoon, and, as soon as I +had shifted myself, I went into, my wife's chamber, whom I found in +bed, by reason of a little cough and some inclination to a fever: but I +believe she will find herself very well in the morning when she wakes. +I can now only give you an account of what I have seen abed, which, in +short, is, her face is not so exact as to be called a beauty, though her +eyes are excellent good, and not anything in her face that in the least +degree can shock one: on the contrary, she hath as much agreeableness +in her looks altogether as ever I saw; and if I have any skill in +physiognomy, which I think I have, she must be as good a woman as ever +was born. Her conversation, as much as I can perceive, is very good, for +she has wit enough, and a most agreeable voice. You would wonder to +see how well acquainted we are already. In a word, I think myself very +happy; for I am confident our two humours will agree very well together. +I have no more to say: my Lord Lieutenant will give you an account of +the rest." + +The king was attended by Lord Sandwich during this interview, and his +lordship, in a letter addressed to the lord chancellor, informed him +the meeting between his majesty and the infanta, "hath been with much +contentment on both sides, and that we are like to be very happy in +their conjunction." Next morning the Countess of Suffolk, and other +ladies appointed to wait upon the bride, dressed her according to the +English fashion, in "a habit they thought would be most pleasing to +the king," in which she was married. The ceremony was first performed +according to the rites of the Catholic Church, by the Rev. Lord Aubigny, +brother to the Duke of Richmond, in the queen's bedchamber; that +apartment being selected for the purpose, as affording a privacy +necessary to be maintained, by reason of the prejudice then existing +towards Catholicism. There were present the Duke of York, Philip, +afterwards Cardinal Howard, and five Portuguese, all of whom were bound +over to keep the strictest secrecy concerning what they witnessed. +Later in the day, Dr. Sheldon, Bishop of London, married their majesties +according to the form prescribed by the Church of England. The latter +ceremony took place in the presence chamber. A rail divided the +apartment, at the upper part of which the king and queen, the bishops, +the Spanish Ambassador, and Sir Richard Fanshaw stood; the lower +portion being crowded by the court. When Dr. Sheldon had declared their +majesties married, the Countess of Suffolk, according to a custom of the +time, detached the ribbons from the bride's dress, and, cutting them in +pieces, distributed them amongst those present. + +Feasting, balls, and diversions of all kinds followed the celebration +of the royal nuptials, and for a time the king was delighted with +his bride. Four days after the marriage he writes again to the lord +chancellor in most cheerful tone: + +"My brother will tell you of all that passes here, which I hope will +be to your satisfaction. I am sure 'tis so much to mine that I cannot +easily tell you how happy I think myself, and must be the worst +man living (which I hope I am not) if I be not a good husband. I am +confident never two humours were better fitted together than ours are. +We cannot stir from hence till Tuesday, by reason that there is not +carts to be had to-morrow to transport all our GUARDE INFANTAS, without +which there is no stirring: so you are not to expect me till Thursday +night at Hampton Court." + +They did not reach the palace until the 29th of May, that being the +king's birthday, and, moreover, the anniversary of his entrance into +London; a date which the Queen's arrival now caused to be celebrated +with triple magnificence and joy. When the coach that conveyed +their majesties drew near, the whole palace seemed astir with happy +excitement. Double lines of soldiers, both horse and foot, lined the way +from the gates to the entrance. In the great hall the lord chancellor, +foreign ambassadors, judges, and councillors of state awaited to +pay homage to their majesties; whilst in various apartments were the +nobility and men of quality, with their ladies, ranged according to +their rank, being all eager to kiss the new queen's hand. Sure never was +such show of gladness. Bells rang people cheered, bonfires blazed. + +In the evening news was brought that the Duchess of York was being rowed +to Hampton from town; hearing which, the king, with a blithe heart, +betook his way to meet her through the garden, now bright with spring +flowers and fragrant with sweet scents, till he arrived at the gate +by which the silver streak of the pleasant Thames flowed past. And +presently on this calm May eve the sound of oars splashing in the tide +was heard, and anon a barge came in sight, hung with silken curtains +and emblazoned with the arms of royalty. From this the Duchess of York +disembarked, aided by the king. When she had offered her congratulations +to him, he, taking her hand, led her to his bride, that such fair +speeches might be repeated to her majesty. And coming into the queen's +presence the duchess would have gone upon her knees and kissed her +majesty's hand; but Catherine raised her in her arms, and kissed her on +the cheek. Then amidst much joy the happy evening waned to night. + +The royal palace of Hampton Court, in which Charles had decided on +spending his honeymoon, had been raised by the magnificent Wolsey in the +plenitude of his power as a place of recreation. Since his downfall +it had been used by royalty as a summer residence, it being in truth a +stately pleasure house. The great pile contained upwards of four +hundred rooms. The principal apartments had cedar or gilded and frescoed +ceilings, and walls hung with rare tapestries and curtains heavy with +gold. Moreover, these rooms contained furniture of most skilful design +and costly manufacture, and were adorned by the choice works of such +masters of their art as Holbein, Bellini, Vansomer, Rubens, and Raphael; +and withal enriched with Indian cabinets, such as never were seen in +England before, which the queen had brought with her from Portugal. + +The great hall had been the scene of many sumptuous banquets. The chapel +was rich in carved designs. Her majesty's bedroom, with its curtains of +crimson silk, its vast mirror and toilet of beaten and massive gold, was +a splendid apartment--the more so from its state bed, which Evelyn says +was "an embroidery of silver on crimson velvet, and cost L8,000, being +a present made by the States of Holland, when his majesty returned, and +had formerly been given by them to our king's sister, ye Princess of +Orange, and being bought of her againe, was now presented to ye king." +Around this noble residence, where the court was wont to tarry in summer +months, stretched broad and flowerful gardens, with wide parterres, +noble statues, sparkling fountains, and marble vases; and beyond lay the +park, planted "with swete rows of lime-trees." + +And here all day long, in the fair summer time of this year, pleasure +held boundless sway. Sauntering in balmy gardens, or seeking shelter +from sun-rays in green glades and leafy groves, their majesties, +surrounded by their brilliant court, chased bright hours away in frolic +and pleasantry from noon till night. Then revelry, gaining new life, +began once more, when courtly figures danced graceful measures to sounds +of mirthful strains, under the lustre of innumerable lights. + +For a while it seemed as if a brave prospect of happiness was in store +for the young queen. Her love for her husband, her delight in his +affection, her pride in his accomplishments, together with her +simplicity, innocence, and naivete, completely won his heart. These +claims to his affection were, moreover, strengthened by the charms of +her person. Lord Chesterfield, a man whom experience of the sex had +made critical, writes that she "was exactly shaped, has lovely hands, +excellent eyes, a good countenance, a pleasing voice, fine hair, and, +in a word, what an understanding man would wish for in a wife." +Notwithstanding the attractions of her majesty's person which he +enumerates, he adds his fears that "all these will hardly make things +run in the right channel; but, if it should, our court will require a +new modelling." In this note of alarm he forebodes danger to come. A man +of his majesty's character, witty and careless, weak and voluptuous, was +not likely to reconstruct his court, or reclaim it from ways he loved. +Nor was his union calculated to exercise a lasting impression on him. +The affection he bore his wife in the first weeks of their married +life was due to the novelty he found in her society, together with the +absence of temptation in the shape of his mistress. Constancy to the +marriage vow was scarcely to be expected from a man whose morals had +never been shackled by restraint; yet faithlessness to a bride was +scarcely to be anticipated ere the honeymoon had waned. This was, +however, the unhappy fate which awaited Catherine of Braganza. + +It happened early in the month of June, whilst the court was at Hampton, +my Lady Castlemaine, who had remained in town through illness, gave +birth to a second child. The infant was baptized Charles Palmer, +adopted by the king as his own, and as such subsequently created Duke +of Southampton. This event seemed to renew all his majesty's tenderness +towards her. Wearied by the charm of innocence in the person of his +wife, his weak nature yielded to the attraction of vice in that of his +mistress. He, therefore, frequently left Hampton Court that he might +ride to London, visit the countess, and fritter away some hours in her +presence; being heedless alike of the insult he dealt the queen, and the +scandal he gave the nation. + +The while my Lord Castlemaine lived with the lady who shared his title, +and whom he called his wife; but their continuance to abide in harmony +and goodwill was, soon after the birth of this child, interrupted for +ever. My lord was certainly a loyal subject, but he was likewise a +religious man, as may be judged, not by that which has been recorded, +but from the narration which follows. Having been bred a Catholic, +he was anxious his wife's son should be enrolled a member of the same +community. To this end he had him baptized by a priest, a proceeding of +which the king wholly disapproved; not because his majesty was attached +to any religion in particular, but rather that he resented interference +with the infant whom he rested satisfied was his own child. Accordingly, +by the king's command, Lady Castlemaine's son was rebaptized by the +rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, in the presence of his majesty, +the Earl of Oxford, and the Countess of Suffolk, first lady of the +bedchamber to the queen and aunt to the king's mistress. + +This exasperated my Lord Castlemaine to such a degree that high words +passed between him and his lady: on which he resolved to part from her +for ever. However, she was more prompt to act in the matter than he; +for, taking advantage of his absence one day, she packed up her jewels, +plate, and household treasures, and departed to the residence of her +uncle, Colonel Edward Villiers, at Richmond. This step was probably +taken, if not by his majesty's suggestion, at least with his full +approval; for the house she selected brought her within an easy distance +of Hampton Court, into which the king designed promptly to introduce +her. + +Now rumour of the king's liason had spread beyond the English nation, +and had been whispered even at the secluded court of Portugal, into the +ears of the bride elect. And the queen regent, dreading the trouble +this might draw upon her daughter, had counselled her never to admit +his majesty's mistress into her presence. This advice the young queen +determined to act upon; and accordingly when Charles, a couple of days +after their marriage, presented her with a list of those appointed to +her household--amongst whom was my Lady Castlemaine--her majesty drew a +pen across the name of the dreaded favourite. The king, if surprised +or indignant, made no remark at the time, but none the less held to +the resolution he had taken of appointing the countess a lady of the +bedchamber. No further attempt of intruding his mistress's presence upon +his wife was made until Lady Castlemaine came to Richmond. + +It happened on the afternoon of the day on which the favourite arrived +her majesty sat in the great drawing-room, surrounded by a brilliant +throng of noble and beautiful women and gay and gallant men. The windows +of the apartment stood open; outside fountains splashed in the sun; +music played in a distant glade: and all the world seemed glad. And +as the queen listened to pleasant sounds of wit and gossip, murmuring +around her, the courtiers, at sound of a well-known footstep, suddenly +ceasing their discourse, fell back on either side adown the room. At +that moment the king entered, leading a lady apparelled in magnificent +attire, the contour of whose face and outline of whose figure +distinguished her as a woman of supreme and sensuous loveliness. + +His majesty, suceedingly rich in waving feathers, glittering satins, and +fluttering ribbons, returned the gracious bows of his courtiers to +right and left; and, unconscious of the curious and perplexed looks they +interchanged, advanced to where his wife sat, and introduced my +Lady Castlemaine. Her majesty bowed and extended her hand, which the +countess, having first courtesyed profoundly, raised to her lips. The +queen either had not caught the name, or had disassociated it from that +of her husband's mistress; but in an instant the character of the woman +presented, and the insult the king had inflicted, flashed upon her mind. +Coming so suddenly, it was more than she could bear; all colour fled +from her face, tears rushed to her eyes, blood gushed from her nostrils, +and she fell senseless to the floor. + +Such strong evidence of the degree in which his young wife felt the +indignity forced upon her, by no means softened his majesty's heart +towards her, but rather roused his indignation at what he considered +public defiance of his authority. But as his nature was remote from +roughness, and his disposition inclined to ease, he at first tried to +gain his desire by persuasion, and therefore besought the queen she +would suffer his mistress to become a lady of the bedchamber. But +whenever the subject was mentioned to her majesty, she burst into tears, +and would not give heed to his words. Charles therefore, incensed on his +side, deserted her company, and sought the society of those ever ready +to entertain him. And as the greater number of his courtiers were fully +as licentious as himself, they had no desire he should become subject to +his wife, or alter the evil tenor of his ways. + +Therefore in their conversation they cited to him the example of his +grandfather, King James I., of glorious memory, who had not dissembled +his passions, nor suffered the same to become a reproach to those who +returned his love; but had obliged his queen to bear with their company, +and treat them with grace and favour; and had, moreover, raised his +natural children to the degree of princes of the blood. They told +Charles he had inherited the disposition of his grandsire, and they were +sure he would treat the objects of his affection in like manner as that +king had done. Lady Castlemaine, her friends moreover argued, had, by +reason of her love for his majesty, parted from her husband; and now +that she had been so publicly made an object of the queen's indignation, +she would, if abandoned by him, meet with rude contempt from the world. +To such discourses as these the king lent a willing ear, the more as +they encouraged him to act according to his desires. He was therefore +fully determined to support his mistress; and firmly resolved to subdue +his wife. + +Meanwhile, all joyousness vanished from the court; the queen seemed +thoroughly dejected, the king bitterly disappointed, and the courtiers +grievously disturbed. Moreover, rumours of the trouble which had risen +between their majesties became noised abroad, and gave the people +occasion of speaking indifferently of their lord the king. Now Charles +in his unhappiness betook himself to the chancellor, who was not only +his sage adviser and trusted friend, but who had already gained the +esteem and confidence of the queen. My lord, by reason of his services +to the late king, and his friendship towards his present majesty, took +to himself the privilege of speaking with freedom and boldness whenever +his advice was asked by the monarch. As Burnet tells us, the worthy +chancellor would never make any application to the king's mistress, nor +allow anything to pass the seal in which she was named; nor would he +ever consent to visit her, which the bishop considered "was maintaining +the decencies of virtue in a very solemn manner." The king knowing my +lord was the only one of all the strangers surrounding the queen whom +she believed devoted to her service, and to whose advice she would +hearken with trust, therefore bade him represent to her the advisability +of obedience. + +Whereon the chancellor boldly pointed out to him "the hard-heartedness +and cruelty of laying such a command upon the queen, which flesh and +blood could not comply with." He also begged to remind the monarch of +what he had heard him say upon the occasion of a like indignity +being offered by a neighbouring king to his queen, inasmuch as he +had compelled her to endure the presence of his mistress at court. On +hearing which King Charles avowed it was "a piece of ill-nature that he +could never be guilty of; and if ever he should be guilty of having a +mistress after he had a wife, which he hoped he should never be, she +should never come where his wife was; he would never add that to the +vexation, of which she would have enough without it." Finally my lord +added that pursuit of the course his majesty had resolved on, was a most +certain way to lose the respect and affections of his people; that the +excesses he had already fallen into had in some degree lost him ground +in their good esteem, but that his continuance of them would "break the +hearts of all his friends, and be grateful only to those who desired the +destruction of monarchy." + +Charles heard him with some impatience, but in his reply betrayed that +graciousness of manner which, never forsaking him, went far in securing +the favour of those with whom he conversed. He commenced by telling the +chancellor he felt assured his words were prompted by the affection in +which he held him; and then having by a pathway of courteous speeches +found his way to the old man's heart, his majesty broached the subject +uppermost in his mind. His conscience and his honour, he said, for +he laid claim to both, led him to repair the ruin he had caused Lady +Castlemaine's reputation by promoting her to the position of a lady of +the bedchamber; and his gratitude prompted him to avow a friendship for +her, "which he owed as well to the memory of her father as to her own +person," and therefore he would not be restrained from her company and +her conversation. + +Moreover, he had proceeded so far in the business, that if not +successful Lady Castlemaine would be subjected to all imaginable +contempt, and be exposed to universal ridicule. If, he added, the queen +conformed to his wishes in this regard, it would be the only hard thing +he should ever require of her; and, indeed, she might make it very +easy, for my lady must behave with all possible respect in her presence, +otherwise she should never see his face again. Then he begged the +chancellor to wait upon her majesty, lay bare his arguments, and urge +her to receive the countess with some show of favour. The chancellor, +though not pleased with his mission, yet in hope of healing private +discord and averting public scandal, undertook to counsel the queen to +obedience, and accordingly waited on her in her private apartments. + +Now her majesty's education had been such as kept her in complete +ignorance of the world's ways. The greater part of her life had been +spent in the peaceful retirement of a convent, which she left for her +mother's country palace, a home scarcely less secluded. Maynard, in a +letter preserved in the State Paper Office, written from Lisbon when the +royal marriage was proposed, says the infanta, "as sweete a disposition +princess as everr was borne," was "bred hugely retired. She hath," he +continues, "hardly been tenn tymes out of the palace in her life. In +five years tyme she was not out of doores, untill she hurde of his +majestie's intentions to make her queen of Ingland, since which she hath +been to visit two saintes in the city; and very shortly shee intends to +pay her devotion to some saintes in the country." + +From a life of innocence she was brought for the first time face to face +with vice, by one who should have been foremost in shielding her from +its contact. All her training taught her to avoid the contamination +sought to be forced upon her; all her new-born love for her husband +prompted her to loathe the mistress who shared his affections. A +stranger in a strange land, a slighted queen, a neglected wife, an +outraged woman, her sufferings were bitter, Her wrongs were hard to +bear. Therefore when my lord chancellor came and made known the object +of his visit, she broke into a passion of tears, and could not speak +from force of sobs that seemed to rend her heart, and wholly choked her +utterance. + +The chancellor then retired with some dismay, but waited on her again +next day, when he found her more calm. She begged he would excuse the +outburst of feeling he had witnessed, but added very pitifully that when +she thought of her misfortunes "she sometimes gave vent to that passion +which was ready to break her heart." The advice, or, as he terms it, +"the evidence of his devotion," which the chancellor gave was worthy of +a courtier and a philosopher. He told the young queen he doubted "she +was little beholden to her education, that had given her no better +information of the follies and iniquities of mankind; of which he +presumed the climate from whence she came could have given more +instances than this cold region would afford." Had she been properly +instructed, he furthermore hinted, she would never have thought herself +so miserable, or her condition so insupportable; and indeed he could not +comprehend the reason of her loud complaint. + +At this she could no longer suppress the tears which came into her dark +eyes, and cried out she did not expect to find her husband in love with +another woman. Then my lord besought her submission to the king; but she +remained unshaken in the resolution she had formed. She was ready to ask +his majesty's pardon for tiny passion or peevishness she had been guilty +of, but added, "the fire appearing in her eyes where the water was," she +would never endure the presence of his mistress; and rather than submit +to such insult she would "put herself on board any little vessel" and +return to Lisbon. + +Back went the chancellor, with a heavy heart and a troubled face, to the +king. He softened the queen's words as much as possible, and assured his +majesty her resistance to his will proceeded "from the great passion +of love she had for him, which transported her beyond the limits of +reason." But this excuse, which should have rejoiced a husband's heart, +only irritated his majesty's temper. That night a violent quarrel took +place between the husband and wife, yet scarce more than bride and +bridegroom. When they had retired, the king--being inflamed with the +words of his courtiers, who assured him the dispute had now resolved +itself into a question of who should govern--reproached the queen with +stubbornness and want of duty; upon which she answered by charging him +with tyranny and lack of affection. One word borrowed another, till, +in his anger, he used threats when she declared she would leave the +kingdom. "The passion and noise of the night reached too many ears to +be a secret the next day," says the chancellor, "and the whole court was +full of that which ought to have been known to nobody." + +When the royal pair met next morning, they neither looked at nor spoke +to each other. Days passed full of depression and gloom for the young +wife, who spent most of her time in seclusion, whilst the king sought +distraction in the society of his courtiers. The chancellor, after +his second interview with the queen, absented himself from court, not +wishing to be furthermore drawn into a quarrel which he saw himself +powerless to heal. During his absence the king wrote him a letter which +evinced determination to carry out his design. This epistle, preserved +in the library of the British Museum, runs as follows: + +"HAMPTON COURT, THURSDAY MORNING. + +"I forgot when you were here last to desire you to give Broderich good +council not to meddle any more with what concerns my Lady Castlemaine, +and to let him have a care how he is the author of any scandalous +reports; for if I find him guilty of any such thing, I will make him +repent it to the last moment of his life. + +"And now I am entered on this matter, I think it very necessary to give +you a little good council in it, lest you may think that by making a +farther stir in the business you may divert me from my resolution, which +all the world shall never do; and I wish I may be unhappy in this world +and in the world to come, if I fail in the least degree of what I +have resolved, which is of making my Lady Castlemaine of my wife's +bedchamber. And whosoever I find in any endeavours to hinder this +resolution of mine (except it be only to myself), I will be his enemy +to the last moment of my life. You know how true a friend I have been to +you; if you will oblige me eternally, make this business as easy to me +as you can, of what opinion soever you are of; for I am resolved to +go through with this matter, let what will come on it, which again I +solemnly swear before Almighty God. + +"Therefore, if you desire to have the continuance of my friendship, +meddle no more with this business except it be to bear down all false +and scandalous reports, and to facilitate what I am sure my honour is so +much concerned in. And whosoever I find is to be my Lady Castlemaine's +enemy in this matter, I do promise, upon my word, to be his enemy as +long as I live. You may show this letter to my lord lieutenant, and if +you have both a mind to oblige me, carry yourselves like friends to me +in this matter." + +The chancellor was, soon after the receipt of this letter, summoned to +Hampton Court, when his majesty, with some passion, declared the +quarrel was spoken of everywhere, and wholly to his disadvantage. He was +therefore anxious to end it at once, and commanded my lord to wait again +upon the queen, and persuade her to his wishes. The chancellor informed +the king he "had much rather spend his pains in endeavouring to convert +his majesty from pursuing his resolution, which he did in his conscience +believe to be unjust, than in persuading her majesty to comply with it, +which yet he would very heartily do." Saying which, he departed on his +errand; to which the queen answered, her conscience would not allow her +to consent that the king's mistress should be one of her attendants. +Then the chancellor besought his royal master, saying he hoped he might +be no more consulted with, nor employed concerning an affair, in which +he had been so unsuccessful. + +By reason of this opposition the king was now more resolved than ever to +honour his mistress and humble his wife; and, with a cruelty unusual to +his nature, determined to break her majesty's spirit, and force her into +obedience. + +On coming to England the young bride had brought in her train some +Portuguese gentlewomen and nobles, whom she was anxious to employ in +various offices about her person, that she might not feel quite in the +midst of strangers. These his majesty believed were in some measure +answerable for the queen's resistance to his desires, and therefore +decided on sending them back to their own country; knowing moreover, +this was an act which would sorely grieve her majesty. Therefore, +without first deigning to inform, the Queen of Portugal, he named a day +for them to embark. This was a sad blow to the hopes of the Portuguese, +who had entertained high expectations of being placed in advantageous +circumstances about the court; nor did the king by any show of +liberality help to lessen their disappointment. The queen was indeed +afflicted at the prospect of their loss; and her mortification was +the greater because, having received no money since she came into the +kingdom, it was out of her power to make them compensation for their +services. + +The thought of being deprived of her people in her present unhappy +condition rendered her so miserable, that she besought the king to allow +some of them to remain; and, likewise, she employed others to make the +same petition on her behalf. Therefore one of her ladies, the Countess +of Penalva, who had been her attendant since childhood, and who now, +because of weakness of sight and other infirmities, scarce ever left her +apartments, was allowed to stay, as were likewise "those necessary to +her religion," and some servants employed in her kitchen. + +But these were not the only means the king took to thwart her majesty +and all connected with her. He upbraided the Portuguese ambassador for +not having instructed the queen "enough to make her unconcerned in +what had been before her time, and in which she could not reasonably be +concerned." Moreover he reproached him with the fact of the queen regent +having sent only half the marriage portion; and so harassed was the +ambassador by royal wrath, that he took to his bed, "and sustained such +a fever as brought him to the brink of the grave." Regarding that part +of the dowry which had arrived, Charles behaved in an equally ungracious +and undignified manner. He instructed the officers of the revenue to +use all strictness in its valuation, and not make any allowances. And +because Diego de Silva--whom the queen had designed for her treasurer, +and who on that account had undertaken to see the money paid in +London--did not make sufficient haste in the settlement of his accounts, +he was by the king's command cast into prison. + +These various affronts grievously afflicted her majesty, but the insults +she had to endure before the whole court wounded her far more. For +meanwhile the king lodged his mistress in the royal household, and every +day she was present in the drawing-room, when his majesty entered into +pleasant conversation with her, while his wife sat patiently by, as +wholly unheeded as if unseen. When the queen occasionally rose and +indignantly left the apartment to relieve her anguish by a storm of +tears, it may be one or two of the courtiers followed her, but the vast +number of the brilliant throng remained; and Lord Clarendon adds, +"they, too, often said those things aloud which nobody ought to have +whispered." + +Charles no longer appeared with the grave and troubled expression his +face had worn at the commencement of the quarrel, but seemed full of +pleasantry and eager for enjoyment. Those surrounding him took their +tone from the monarch, and followed his example the more because he "did +shew no countenance to any that belong to the queen." Her majesty, on +the contrary, took her misery to heart, and showed dejection by the +sadness of her face and listlessness of her gait. There was universal +diversion in all company but hers; sounds of laughter rang all day +and far into the night in every apartment of the palace but those +appropriated to her use. Charles steadily avoided her, and the +attendants who replaced her countrywomen showed more deference to the +king's mistress than to his queen. The solitary condition to which the +helpless foreigner and forsaken wife was reduced increased day by +day, her gloom deepened hour by hour, until, worn out by the unequal +conflict, her spirit broke. "At last," says Lord Clarendon, "when it +was least expected or suspected, the queen on a sudden let herself fall, +first to conversation, and then to familiarity, and even, in the same +instant, to a confidence with the lady; was merry with her in public, +talked kindly of her, and in private used no lady more friendly." + +From that hour her majesty never interfered with the king's amours, +and never again did a quarrel rise between them even to the day of his +death. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Their majesties arrive at Whitehall.--My Lady Castlemaine a + spectator.--Young Mr. Crofts.--New arrivals at court.--The Hamilton + family.--The Chevalier de Grammont.--Mrs. Middleton and Miss Kirke.--At + the queen's ball--La belle Hamilton.--The queen mother at Somerset + House.--The Duke of Monmouth's marriage.--Fair Frances Stuart.--Those + who court her favour.--The king's passion. + +On the 23rd of August, 1662, their majesties journeyed from Hampton +Court to the palace of Whitehall by water. The gay and goodly procession +formed on that occasion has been described as "the most magnificent +triumph that ever floated on, the Thames." First came barges belonging +to city companies, beginning with the mercers and grocers, most of them +being attended with a pageant, and all of them richly adorned as +became their affection and loyalty. Then followed barges of statesmen, +nobility, and courtiers, with their retinues, brave in numbers, gay in +colours, and attended by bands of music. And finally came the king and +queen, seated side by side in a galley of antique shape, all draped +with crimson damask, bearing a canopy of cloth of gold, supported by +Corinthian pillars, wreathed with ribbons, and festooned with garlands +of fragrant flowers. + +The whole city was abroad, watchful of their approach; the Thames was +covered with boats to the number of ten thousand; and the banks were +crowded with spectators beyond reckoning. On this fair August day the +sky had not a single cloud to mar its universal blue; the sun shone +gloriously bright, turning the river to sheets of gleaming gold: whilst +the air was filled with roaring of cannon, strains of music, and hearty +shouts of a loyal multitude. + +Mr. Samuel Pepys, though he offered as much as eight shillings for a +boat to attend him that day, could not obtain one, and was therefore +obliged to view this gallant procession from the roof of the royal +banqueting hall, which commanded a glorious view of the Thames. But +what pleased his erratic fancy best on this occasion was, not the great +spectacle he had taken such trouble to survey, but a sight of my Lady +Castlemaine, who stood over against him "upon a piece of Whitehall." +The worthy clerk of the Admiralty "glutted" himself with looking on her; +"but methought it was strange," says he, "to see her lord and her upon +the same place walking up and down without taking notice of one another, +only at first entry he put off his hat, and she made him a very civil +salute, but afterwards took no notice of one another; but both of them +now and then would take their child, which the nurse held in her arms, +and dandle it. One thing more: there happened a scaffold below to fall, +and we feared some hurt, but there was none; but she of all the great +ladies only ran down among the common rabble to see what hurt was done, +and did take care of a child that received some little hurt, +which methought was so noble. Anon there came one there booted and +spurred, that she talked long with. And by-and-by, she being in her +haire, she put on her hat, which was but an ordinary one, to keep the +wind off. But methinks it became her mightily, as everything else do." + +It was notable the countess did not accompany her majesty in the +procession to Whitehall, as one of her attendants; but in fact she +had not obtained the position sought for, though she enjoyed all the +privileges pertaining to such an appointment. "Everybody takes her to +be of the bedchamber," the lord chancellor writes to the Duke of Ormond, +"for she is always there, and goes abrode in the coach. But the queen +tells me that the king promised her, on condition she would use her as +she doth others, that she should never live in court; yet lodgings I +hear she hath." Lodgings the countess certainly had provided for her in +that block of the palace of Whitehall, separated from the main buildings +by the old roadway running between Westminster and the city. + +A few days after their majesties' arrival at Whitehall, the queen mother +returned to town, and established her court at Somerset House, which had +been prepared for her future abode. She had arrived in England before +the king and queen left Hampton Court, and had taken up her residence +at Greenwich Palace. The avowed object of her visit was to congratulate +them upon their marriage. Charles and his bride therefore took barge to +Greenwich, one bright July day, followed by a brilliant and illustrious +train, that they might wait upon her majesty. And she, being made aware +of their approach, met them at the portal of the palace. There Catherine +would have gone down upon her knees to this gracious lady--the survivor +of great sorrows--but she took the young queen in her arms, and calling +her beloved daughter, kissed her many times. Then she greeted her sons +Charles and James, likewise the Duchess of York, and led them to the +presence-chamber, followed by the whole court. And presently when +Catherine would, through her interpreter, have expressed her gratitude +and affection, the elder queen besought her to lay aside all ceremony, +for she "should never have come to England again except for the pleasure +of seeing her, to love her as her daughter, and serve her as her queen." +At these sweet words the young wife, now in the first days of her +grief, was almost overcome by a sense of thankfulness, and could scarce +restrain her tears; but she answered bravely, "Believe me, madam, that +in love and obedience neither the king nor any of your children shall +exceed me." + +The court of the merry monarch and that of the queen mother being now +settled in town, a period of vast brilliancy ensued, during which great +festivity and much scandal obtained, by reason of intrigues in which the +king and his friends indulged. Whitehall, the scene of so much gaiety +and gallantry, was a palace by no means befitting the luxurious Charles. +It consisted of a series of irregular houses built for different +purposes at various periods; these contained upwards of two thousand +rooms, most of which were small, and many of which were without doors. +The buildings were intersected by grassy squares, where fountains +played, statues were grouped, and dials shadowed the passing hour. At +hand stood St. James's Park, with its fair meadows and leafy trees; +close by flowed the placid Thames, bearing heavily laden lighters and +innumerable barges. Attached to these dwellings, and forming part of +the palace, stood the great banquet hall, erected from designs by Inigo +Jones for James I. Here audiences to ambassadors, state balls, and +great banquets were held. The ceiling was painted by Rubens, and was, +moreover, handsomely moulded and richly gilt. Above the entrance-door +stood a statue of Charles I., "whose majestic mien delighted the +spectator;" Whilst close by one of the windows were the ineradicable +stains of blood, marking the spot near which he had been beheaded. + +Now in the train of the queen mother there had travelled from France +"a most pretty sparke of about fourteen years," whom Mr. Pepys plainly +terms "the king's bastard," but who was known to the court as young +Mr. Crofts. This little gentleman was son of Lucy Walters, "a brown, +beautiful, bold creature," who had the distinction of being first +mistress to the merry monarch. That he was his offspring the king +entertained no doubt, though others did; inasmuch as young Mr. Crofts +grew to resemble, "even to the wart on his face," Colonel Robert Sidney, +whose paramour Lucy Walters had been a brief while before his majesty +began an intrigue with her. Soon after the boy's birth that beautiful +woman abandoned herself to pleasures, in which the king had no +participation. He therefore parted from her; had her son placed under +the guardianship of Lord Crofts, whose name he bore, and educated by the +Peres de l'Oratoire at Paris. The while he was continually at the court +of the queen mother, who regarded him as her grandson, and who, by the +king's command, now brought him into England. The beauty of his face +and grace of his figure could not be exceeded, whilst his manner was +as winning as his air was noble. Moreover, his accomplishments were +numerous; he danced to perfection, sang with sweetness, rode with skill; +and so gallant was his nature that he became at this early age, as +Hamilton affirms, "the universal terror of husbands and lovers." + +The king betrayed the greatest affection for him, and took exceeding +pride in being father of such a brave and comely youth, at which my Lady +Castlemaine was both wrathful and jealous, fearing he would avert the +royal favour from her own offspring; but these feelings she afterwards +overcame, as will be duly shown. His majesty speedily showered honours +upon him, allotted him a suite of apartments in the royal palace of +Whitehall, appointed him a retinue befitting the heir apparent, created +him Duke of Orkney and of Monmouth, and installed him a knight of the +garter. + +But, before this had been accomplished, there arrived in town some +personages whose names it will be necessary to mention here, the figure +they made at court being considerable. These were Sir George Hamilton +and his family, and Philibert, Chevalier de Grammont. Sir George was +fourth son of James, Earl of Abercorn, and of Mary, sister to James, +first Duke of Ormond. Sir George had proved himself a loyal man and +a brave during the late civil war, and had on the murder of his royal +master sought safety in France, from which country he, in the second +year of the restoration, returned, accompanied by a large family; the +women of which were fair, the men fearless. The Hamiltons being close +kin to the Ormond great intimacy existed between them; to facilitate +which they lived not far apart--the duke residing in Ormond Yard, St. +James's Square, and the Hamiltons occupying a spacious residence in King +Street. James Hamilton, Sir George's eldest son, was remarkable for the +symmetry of his figure, elegance of his manner, and costliness of +his dress. Moreover, he possessed a taste shaped to pleasure, and a +disposition inclined to gallantry, which commended him so strongly to +the king's favour, that he was made groom of the bedchamber and colonel +of a regiment. + +His brother George was scarcely less handsome in appearance or less +agreeable in manner. Another brother, Anthony, best remembered as the +writer of Grammont's memoirs, was likewise liberally endowed by nature. +Elizabeth, commonly called "la belle Hamilton," shared in the largest +degree the hereditary gifts of grace and beauty pertaining to this +distinguished family. At her introduction to the court of Charles II. +she was in the bloom of youth and zenith of loveliness. The portrait +of her which her brother Anthony has set before the world for its +admiration is delicate in its colours, and finished in its details. "Her +forehead," he writes, "was open, white, and smooth; her hair was well +set, and fell with ease into that natural order which it is so difficult +to imitate. Her complexion was possessed of a certain freshness, not to +be equalled by borrowed colours; her eyes were not large, but they were +lovely, and capable of expressing whatever she pleased; her mouth was +full of graces, and her contour uncommonly perfect; nor was her nose, +which was small, delicate, and turned up, the least ornament of so +lovely a face. She had the finest shape, the loveliest neck, and most +beautiful arms in the world; she was majestic and graceful in all her +movements; and she was the original after which all the ladies copied in +their taste and air of dress." + +Now, about the same time the Hamiltons arrived at court, there likewise +appeared at Whitehall one whose fame as a wit, and whose reputation as +a gallant, had preceded him. This was the celebrated Chevalier de +Grammont, whose father was supposed to be son of Henry the Great of +France. The chevalier had been destined by his mother for the church, +the good soul being anxious he should lead the life of a saint; but the +youth was desirous of joining the army, and following the career of a +soldier. Being remarkable for ingenuity, he conceived a plan by which +he might gratify his mother's wishes and satisfy his own desires at the +same time. He therefore accepted the abbacy his brother procured for +him; but on appearing at court to return thanks for his preferment, +comported himself with a military air. Furthermore, his dress was +combined of the habit and bands pertaining to an ecclesiastic, and the +buskins and spurs belonging to a soldier. Such an amalgamation had +never before been witnessed, and caused general attention; the court +was amazed at his daring, but Richelieu was amused by his boldness. +His brother regarded his appearance in the dual character of priest and +soldier as a freak, and on his return home asked him gravely to which +profession he meant to attach himself. The youth answered he was +resolved "to renounce the church for the salvation of his soul," upon +condition that he retained his beneficed abbacy. It may be added, he +kept this resolution. + +A soldier he therefore became, and subsequently a courtier. His valour +in war and luck in gambling won him the admiration of the camp; whilst +his ardour in love and genius for intrigue gained him the esteem of +the court, but finally lost him the favour of his king. For attaching +himself to one of the maids of honour, Mademoiselle La Motte +Houdancourt, whom his most Christian Majesty Louis XIV. had already +honoured with his regard, Grammont was banished from the French court. + +Accordingly, in the second year of the merry monarch's reign he +presented himself at Whitehall, and was received by Charles with +a graciousness that served to obliterate the memory of his late +misfortune. Nor were the courtiers less warm in their greetings than +his majesty. The men hailed him as an agreeable companion; the ladies +intimated he need not wholly abandon those tender diversions for which +he had shown such natural talent and received such high reputation at +the court of Louis XIV. He therefore promptly attached himself to the +king, whose parties he invariably attended, and whose pleasures he +continually devised; made friends with the most distinguished nobles, +whom he charmed by the grace of his manner and extravagance of +his entertainments; and took early opportunities of proving to the +satisfaction of many of the fairer sex that his character as a gallant +had by no means been exaggerated by report. + +Amongst those to whom he paid especial attention were Mrs. Middleton, a +woman of fashion, and Miss Kirk, a maid of honour, to whom Hamilton, +in his memoirs of Grammont, gives the fictitious name of Warmestre. +The former was at this time in her seventeenth summer, and had been two +years a wife. Her exquisitely fair complexion, light auburn hair, and +dark hazel eyes constituted her a remarkably beautiful woman. Miss Kirk +was of a different type of loveliness, inasmuch as her skin was brown, +her eyes dark, and her complexion brilliant. As Mrs. Middleton was at +this time but little known at court, Grammont found some difficulty in +obtaining an introduction to her as promptly as he desired; but feeling +anxious to make her acquaintance, and being no laggard in love, he +without hesitation applied to her porter for admittance, and took one of +her lovers into his confidence. This latter gallant rejoiced in the name +of Jones, and subsequently became Earl of Ranelagh. In the fulness of +his heart towards one who experienced a fellow feeling, he resolved +to aid Grammont in gaining the lady's favours. This generosity being +prompted by the fact that the chevalier would rid him of a rival whom +he feared, and at the same time relieve him of an expense he could +ill afford, the lady having certain notions of magnificence which her +husband's income was unable to sustain. + +Mrs. Middleton received the chevalier with good grace; but he found +her more ready to receive the presents he offered, than to grant the +privileges he required. Miss Kirk, on the other hand, was not only +flattered by his attentions, but was willing to use every means in her +power to preserve a continuance of his friendship; Therefore out of +gratitude for graces received from one of the ladies, and in expectation +of favours desired from the other, Grammont made them the handsomest +presents. Perfumed gloves, pocket looking-glasses, apricot paste, +came every week from Paris for their benefit; whilst more substantial +offerings in the shape of jewellery, diamonds, and guineas were procured +for them in London, all of which they made no hesitation to accept. + +It happened one night, whilst Grammont was yet in pursuit of Mrs. +Middleton, that the queen gave a ball. In hope of winning her husband's +affection, by studying his pleasures and suiting herself to his ways, +her majesty had become a changed woman. She now professed a passion +for dancing, wore decollete costumes, and strove to surpass those +surrounding her in her desire for gaiety. Accordingly her balls were the +most brilliant spectacles the court had yet witnessed; she taking care +to assemble the fairest women of the day, and the most distinguished +men. Now amongst the latter was the Chevalier de Grammont; and amidst +the former, Mrs. Middleton and Miss Hamilton. + +Of all the court beauties, "la belle Hamilton" was one of whom Grammont +had seen least and heard most; but that which had been told him of her +charms seemed, now that he beheld her, wholly inadequate to express +her loveliness. Therefore, his eyes followed her alone, as her graceful +figure glided in the dance adown the ball-room, lighted with a thousand +tapers, and brilliant with every type of beauty. And when presently she +rested, it was with an unusual flutter at his heart that this gallant, +heretofore so daring in love, sought her company, addressed her, and +listened with strange pleasure to the music of her voice. From that +night he courted Mrs. Middleton no more, but devoted himself to "la +belle Hamilton," who subsequently became his wife. + +Meanwhile, the merry monarch behaved as if he had no higher purpose in +life than that of following his pleasures. "The king is as decomposed +[dissipated] as ever," the lord chancellor writes to the Duke of Ormond, +in a letter preserved in the Bodleian library, "and looks as little +after his business; which breaks my heart, and makes me and other of +your friends weary of our lives. He seeks for his satisfaction and +delight in other company, which do not love him so well as you and +I do." His days were spent in pursuing love, feasting sumptuously, +interchanging wit, and enjoying all that seemed good to the senses. +Pepys, who never fails to make mention of the court when actual +experience or friendly gossip enables him, throws many pleasant lights +upon the ways of the monarch and his courtiers. + +For instance, he tells us that one Lord's day--the same on which this +excellent man had been to Whitehall chapel, and heard a sermon by the +Dean of Ely on returning to the old ways, and, moreover, a most tuneful +anthem sung by Captain Cooke, with symphonies between--whom should he +meet but the great chirurgeon, Mr. Pierce, who carried him to Somerset +House, and into the queen mother's presence-chamber. And there, on the +left hand of Henrietta Maria, sat the young queen, whom Mr. Pepys +had never seen before, and now thought that "though she be not very +charming, yet she hath a good, modest, and innocent look, which is +pleasing." Here, likewise, he saw the king's mistress, and the young +Duke of Monmouth, "who, I perceive," Pepys continues, "do hang much upon +my Lady Castlemaine, and is always with her; and I hear the queenes, +both of them, are mighty kind to him. By-and-by in comes the king, and +anon the duke and his duchesse; so that, they being all together, was +such a sight as I never could almost have happened to see with so much +ease and leisure. They staid till it was dark, and then went away; the +king and his queene, and my Lady Castlemaine and young Crofts, in one +coach, and the rest in other coaches. Here were great stores of great +ladies. The king and queen were very merry; and he would have made the +queene mother believe that the queene was with child, and said that she +said so. And the young queene answered, 'You lye,' which was the first +English word that I ever heard her say, which made the king good sport." + +Others besides Mr. Pepys had begun to notice that the young Duke of +Monmouth hung much upon the Countess of Castlemaine, and that her +ladyship lavished caresses upon him. Whether this was to provoke the +uneasiness of his majesty, who she hoped might find employment for +the lad elsewhere, or to express her genuine affection for him, it +is impossible to say. However, the duke being come to an age when the +endearments of such a woman might have undesired effects upon him, the +king resolved to remove him from her influence, and at the same time +secure his fortune by marriage. + +He therefore selected a bride for him, in the person of Lady Anne Scott, +a young gentlewoman of virtue and excellence, who was only child of +Francis, Earl of Buccleugh, and the greatest heiress in Great Britain. +Their nuptials were celebrated on the 20th of April, 1663, the +bridegroom at this time not having reached his fifteenth birthday, +whilst the bride was younger by a year. The duke on his marriage assumed +his wife's family name, Scott; and some years later--in 1673--both were +created Duke and Duchess of Buccleugh. From this union the family now +bearing that title has descended. A great supper was given at Whitehall +on the marriage-night, and for many days there were stately festivities +held to celebrate the event with becoming magnificence. + +Now at one of the court balls held at this time, the woman of all others +who attracted most attention and gained universal admiration was Frances +Stuart, maid of honour to Queen Catherine. She was only daughter of +a gallant gentleman, one Walter Stuart, and grand-daughter of Lord +Blantyre. Her family had suffered sore loss in the cause of Charles I., +by reason of which, like many others, it sought refuge in France. This +young gentlewoman was therefore bred in that country, and was, moreover, +attached to the court of the queen mother, in whose suite she travelled +into England. Her beauty was sufficient to attract the attention of +Louis XIV., who, loath to lose so fair an ornament from his court, +requested her mother would permit her to remain, saying, he "loved her +not as a mistress, but as one that would marry as well as any lady in +France." + +No doubt Mrs. Stuart understood the motives of his majesty's interested +kindness, of which, however, she declined availing herself, and +therefore departed with her daughter for England. At the time of her +appearance at Whitehall, Frances Stuart was in her fifteenth year. Even +in a court distinguished by the beauty of women, her loveliness was +declared unsurpassed. Her features were regular and refined, her +complexion fair as alabaster, her hair bright and luxuriant, her eyes of +violet hue; moreover, her figure being tall, straight, and shapely, +her movements possessed an air of exquisite grace. An exact idea of +her lineaments may be gained unto this day, from the fact that Philip +Rotier, the medallist, who loved her true, represented her likeness in +the face of Britannia on the reverse of coins; and so faithful was +the likeness, we are assured, that no one who had ever seen her could +mistake who had sat as model of the figure. + +Soon after her arrival in England, she was appointed one of the maids of +honour to Queen Catherine, and as such was present at all festivities of +the court. Now, at one of the great balls given in honour of the Duke of +Monmouth's nuptials, the fair Frances Stuart appeared in the full lustre +of her charms. Her beauty, her grace, and her youth completely eclipsed +the more showy gifts of my Lady Castlemaine, who on this occasion looked +pale and thin, she being in the commencement of another pregnancy, +"which the king was pleased to place to his own account." The merry +monarch had before this time been attracted by the fair maid of honour, +but now it was evident his heart had found a new object of admiration +in her surpassing beauty. Henceforth he boldly made love to her. The +countess was not much disturbed by this, for she possessed great faith +in her own charms and implicit belief in her power over the king. +Besides, she had sufficient knowledge of mankind to comprehend that to +offer opposition in pursuit of love is the most certain method to +foster its growth. She therefore resolved to seek Miss Stuart's society, +cultivate her friendship, and constantly bring her into contact with his +majesty. This would not only prove to the satisfaction of the court she +had no fear of losing her sovereignty over the monarch, but, by keeping +him engaged with the maid of honour, would likewise divert his attention +from an intrigue the countess was then carrying on with Henry Jermyn. +Accordingly, she made overtures of friendship to Miss Stuart, invited +her to private parties, and appeared continually with her in public. + +Concerning these ladies and the merry monarch, Pepys narrates a strange +story which Captain Ferrers told him as they "walked finely" in the +park. This was, that at an entertainment given by my Lady Castlemaine, +towards the end of which his majesty played at being married with fair +Frances Stuart, "with ring and all other ceremonies of Church service, +and ribbands, and a sack posset [A drink composed of milk, wine, and +spices.] in bed, and flinging the stocking. My Lady Castlemaine looked +on the while, evincing neither anger nor jealousy, but entering into +the diversion with great spirit." Nor was this the only indiscretion of +which she was culpable, for, in the full confidence of her charms, she +frequently kept Miss Stuart to stay with her. "The king," says Hamilton, +"who seldom neglected to visit the countess before she rose, seldom +failed likewise to find Miss Stuart with her. The most indifferent +objects have charms in a new attachment; however, the imprudent countess +was not jealous of this rival's appearing with her, in such a situation, +being confident that, whenever she thought fit, she could triumph over +all the advantages which these opportunities could afford Miss Stuart." + +No doubt Lady Castlemaine's imprudences arose from knowledge that Miss +Stuart was devoid of tact, and incapable of turning opportunities to her +own advantage in the king's regard. For though the maid of honour was +richly endowed with beauty, she was wholly devoid of wit. She was not +only a child in years, but likewise in behaviour. She laughed at every +remark made her, delighted in playing blind man's buff, and was never +more happy than when building castles of cards. At this latter amusement +she continually employed herself whilst the deepest play was taking +place in her apartments; being always attended by groups of courtiers, +who were either attracted by the charm of her beauty, or were eager to +make court through her favour. As she sat upon the floor, intent on her +favourite occupation, they on their knees handed her cards, traced out +designs for her, or built elaborate structures rivalling her own. + +Amongst those who attended her in this manner was the gay, graceful, and +profligate Duke of Buckingham, who became enamoured of her loveliness. +Not only did he raise the most wonderful of card mansions for her +delight, but having a good voice, and she possessing a passion for +music, he invented songs and sung them to pleasure her. Moreover, he +told her the wittiest stories, turned the courtiers into the greatest +ridicule for her entertainment, and made her acquainted with the most +diverting scandals. Finally, he professed his ardent love for her; but +at this the fair Stuart either felt, or feigned, intense astonishment, +and so repulsed him that he abandoned the pursuit of an amour over which +he had wasted so much time, and thenceforth deprived himself of her +company. + +His attentions were, however, soon replaced by those of the Earl of +Arlington, a lord of the bedchamber, and a man of grave address and +great ambition. Owing to this latter trait his lordship was desirous +of winning the good graces of Miss Stuart in the present, in hopes +of governing his majesty in the future, when she became the king's +mistress. But these sage and provident intentions of his were speedily +overturned, for early in the course of their acquaintance, when he had +commenced to tell her a story, his manner so forcibly reminded her of +Buckingham's mimicry of him, that she burst out laughing in the earl's +face. This being utterly uncalled for by the circumstances of his tale, +and still less by the manner of its narration, Lord Arlington, who +was serious, punctilious, and proud, became enraged, abruptly left her +presence, and abandoned his schemes of governing the king through so +frivolous a medium. + +A man who had better chances of success in winning this beautiful girl +was George Hamilton, whose name has been already mentioned. It was not, +however, his graceful person, or elegant manner, but his performance of +a trick which gained her attention. It happened one night that an Irish +peer, old Lord Carlingford, was diverting her by showing how she might +hold a burning candle in her mouth a considerable time without its +being extinguished. This was a source of uncommon delight to her; +seeing which, George Hamilton thought he would give her still further +entertainment. For being furnished by nature with a wide mouth, he +placed within it two lighted candles, and walked three times round the +room without extinguishing them, whilst the fair Stuart clapped her +pretty hands in delight, and shouted aloud with laughter. + +A man who could accomplish such a feat was worthy of becoming a +favourite. She at once admitted him to terms of familiarity; and he had +a hundred chances of paying her the attentions he greatly desired, and +which she freely accepted. Grammont, foreseeing that Hamilton would +incur the royal displeasure if his love for Miss Stuart became known to +the king, besought him to abandon his addresses; but this advice did not +at first sound pleasant to the lover's ears. "Since the court has been +in the country," said he, "I have had a hundred opportunities of seeing +her, which I had not before. You know that the dishabille of the bath is +a great convenience for those ladies, who, strictly adhering to all +the rules of decorum, are yet desirous to display all their charms and +attractions. Miss Stuart is so fully acquainted with the advantages she +possesses over all other women, that it is hardly possible to praise +any lady at court for a well-turned arm, and a fine leg but she is ever +ready to dispute the point by demonstration; and I really believe that, +with a little address, it would not be difficult to induce her to strip +naked, without ever reflecting upon what she was doing. After all, a man +must be very insensible to remain unconcerned and unmoved on such happy +occasions." + +Hamilton was therefore not willing to renounce Miss Stuart, but upon +Grammont showing that attentions paid the lady would certainly provoke +the king's anger, he resolved on sacrificing love to interest, and +abandoning the company of the fair maid of honour for evermore. The +truth was, his majesty loved her exceedingly, as was indeed evident, for +he constantly sought her presence, talked to her at the drawing-rooms +as if no one else were by, and kissed her "to the observation of all the +world." But though she allowed Charles such liberties, she refused to +become his mistress, notwithstanding the splendid settlements and high +titles with which the monarch engaged to reward the sacrifice of her +virtue. And so, though a king, it was not given him to be obeyed in all. +And though generally loved for his easy ways and gracious manners, he +was continually harassed by his mistresses, reproved by his chancellor, +and ridiculed by his courtiers. Indeed, they now spoke of him in his +absence as "Old Rowley;" the reason of which is given by Richardson. +"There was an old goat," writes he, "in the privy garden, that they had +given this name to; a rank lecherous devil, that everybody knew and +used to stroke, because he was good-humoured and familiar; and so they +applied this name to the king." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + The Duke of York's intrigues.--My Lady Chesterfield and his royal + highness--The story of Lady Southesk's love.--Lord Arran plays the + guitar.--Lord Chesterfield is jealous.--The countess is taken from + court.--Mistress Margaret Brooke and the king.--Lady Denham and the + duke.--Sir John goes mad.--My lady is poisoned. + +The while his majesty devoted himself to pleasure and intrigue, +neglectful of affairs of state, and heedless of public scandal, his +brother of York, whose disposition was not less amorous, likewise +followed the bent of his inclinations. Soon after her appearance +at court he professed himself in love with the beautiful Elizabeth +Hamilton, whom to behold was to admire. But the duke being a married +man, and she a virtuous woman, he dared not address her on the subject +of his affection, and was therefore obliged to confine the expression +of his feelings to glances. These she refused to interpret; and he, +becoming weary of a pursuit which promised no happy results, turned his +attentions to the Countess of Chesterfield, who seemed in no way loath +to receive them. + +This charming woman had married my Lord Chesterfield in compliance with +a family arrangement; and discovered too soon she had no place in +the heart of him whose life she shared. His coldness to her was only +equalled by his ardour for Lady Castlemaine, whose lover he continued to +remain after his marriage. The affection his wife had offered and he +had repulsed, in the dawn of their wedded life, changed by degrees to +disdain and hatred. + +Now as chamberlain to the queen my Lord Chesterfield had, apartments in +the palace, by reason of which the countess became an habituee of +the court. The moral atmosphere of Whitehall was not calculated to +strengthen her conjugal virtue, but its perpetual gaiety was destined to +dissipate her sense of neglect. It was not possible for a woman endowed +with so much beauty, and possessed of such engaging manners, to be +disregarded, in a court entirely devoted to love and gallantry; and +accordingly she soon became an object of general admiration. This was by +no means pleasing to my Lord Chesterfield, who, though he had wilfully +repulsed her affections, was selfishly opposed to their bestowal upon +others. Accordingly he became watchful of her conduct, and jealous of +her admirers. + +Prominent amongst these were James Hamilton and the Duke of York. The +former was her cousin, and her husband's confidant, in consequence of +which my lord failed to associate him with the suspicion he entertained +towards all other men who approached her: the latter he regarded with +the uttermost distrust. His royal highness had before now disturbed the +happy confidence which husbands had placed in their wives, as my Lord +Carnegy could testify. + +The story which hangs thereby had, a little while before the duke fell +in love with Lady Chesterfield, afforded vast amusement to the court, +and was yet fresh in the recollection of many. It happened that his +royal highness became enamoured of my Lady Carnegy, daughter of the +gallant Duke of Hamilton, and friend of the gay Lady Castlemaine. Lady +Carnegy loved pleasure mightily, painted her face "devilishly," and +drove in the park flauntingly. She was endowed with considerable beauty +of form and great tenderness of heart, as many gallants acknowledged +with gratitude. Now when the Duke of York made advances to her, she +received them with all the satisfaction he could desire; an intimacy +therefore followed, which she was the better able to entertain on +account of her husband's absence in Scotland. Whilst my Lord Carnegy +was in that country, his father, the Earl of Southesk, died, and he +succeeded to the title and estates. In due time the new earl returned to +London and his wife, and was greeted by rumours of the friendship which +in his absence had sprung up between my lady and the duke. These, as +became a good husband, he refused to believe, until such time as he was +enabled to prove their veracity. Now, though his royal highness did not +cease to honour my lady with his visits on her husband's return, yet out +of respect to decorum, and in order to silence scandalous tongues, he +from that time invariably called on her accompanied by a friend. + +It therefore came to pass that one day he requested an honest, foolish +Irishman, Dick Talbot, afterwards Duke of Tyrconnel, to attend him +in his visit to the lady. He could scarcely have selected a man more +unfitted to the occasion, inasmuch as Talbot was wholly devoid of tact, +and possessed a mind apt to wander at large at critical moments. He had +but recently returned from Portugal, and was not aware my Lord Carnegy +had in the meantime become Earl of Southesk, nor had he ever met the +lady who shared that title until introduced to her by the duke. When +that ceremony had been duly performed and a few sentences interchanged +between them, Talbot, acting on instructions previously received, +retired into an ante-room and took his post at a window that he might +divert himself by viewing the street, and observing those who approached +the house. + +Here he remained for some time, but the study of mankind which the view +admitted did not afford sufficient interest to prevent him becoming +absorbed in his own thoughts, and indifferent to all objects surrounding +him. From this mental condition he was presently aroused by seeing a +carriage draw up to the door, and its occupant descend and quickly enter +the house. Talbot was so forgetful of his duty that he omitted apprising +the duke of this fact or making any movement until the door of the +ante-room opened, when he turned round to face the intruder. Then he +started forward and cried out, "Welcome, Carnegy!" for it was no other +than he. "Welcome my good fellow! Where the devil have you been, that I +have never been able to set eyes on you since we were at Brussels! What +business brought you here?" he continued in the same breath; and then +added in a tone of banter, "Do you likewise wish to see Lady Southesk; +if this is your intention, my poor friend, you may go away again; for +I must inform you the Duke of York is in love with her, and I will tell +you in confidence that at this very time he is in her chamber." + +My Lord Southesk was overwhelmed with shame and confusion, and not +knowing how to act, immediately returned to his coach, Talbot attending +him to the door as his friend, and advising him to seek a mistress +elsewhere. He then went back to his post, and with some impatience +awaited the Duke's return, that he might tell him what had happened. And +in due time, when he had narrated the story, he was much surprised that +neither his royal highness nor the countess saw any humour in the fact +of Lord Carnegy's discomfiture. It served, however, to make the duke +break off his connection with the lady, and likewise to amuse the town. + +Remembering this incident, my Lord Chesterfield kept a watchful eye upon +the duke, who he observed made advances towards the countess, which +she, in her generosity, had not the heart to repulse. But, as his royal +highness could see her only in presence of the court, my lord derived +some satisfaction from knowing he was witness to such civilities as had +yet passed between them. The duke was, however, anxious to have a more +particular occasion of conversing with my lady, and in accomplishing +this desire her brother Lord Arran was willing to aid him. + +It happened about this time an Italian, named Francisco Corbeta, who +played with great perfection on the guitar, arrived at court. His +performances excited the wonder and delight of all who heard him, and +the instrument which produced such melody speedily became fashionable +at court, to such an extent, that a universal strumming was heard by +day and by night: throughout the palace of Whitehall. The Duke of York, +being devoted to music, was amongst those who strove to rival Signor +Francisco's performance; whilst my Lord Arran, by the delicacy of his +execution, almost equalled the great musician. The while Francisco's +popularity increased, his fame reaching its zenith when he composed a +saraband, to learn which became the ambition of all delighting in the +guitar. + +Now one day the duke, not thinking himself perfect in this piece, +requested Lord Arran to play it over for him. My lord being a courteous +man, was anxious to oblige his royal highness, and in order that +the saraband might be heard to greatest advantage, was desirous +of performing it upon the best instrument at court, which it was +unhesitatingly acknowledged belonged to my Lady Chesterfield. +Accordingly, Lord Arran led the duke to his sister's apartments. Here +they found not only the guitar and my lady, but likewise my lord, who +was no less astonished than disturbed by their visit. Then my Lord Arran +commenced the famous saraband, whilst the duke commenced to ogle my +lady, and she to return his glances in kind, as if both were unconscious +of her husband's presence. So delightful did they find the saraband, +that Lord Arran was obliged to repeat it at least twenty times, to the +great mortification of the earl, who could scarcely contain his +violent rage and jealousy. His torture was presently increased to an +immeasurable degree, by a summons he received from the queen to attend +her in his capacity of lord chamberlain, during an audience she was +about, to give the Muscovite ambassador. + +He had from the first suspected the visit, with which he was honoured, +to have been preconcerted by his wife and the duke; and he now began to +think her majesty was likewise connected with a plot destined to rob him +of his peace and blight his honour. However, he was obliged to obey the +queen's summons and depart. Nor had he been many minutes absent when +Lord Arran entered the presence-chamber where the audience was being +held, unaccompanied by the duke, at which Lord Chesterfield's jealous +fears were strengthened a thousandfold. Before night came he was +satisfied he held sufficient proof of his wife's infidelity. + +This conviction caused him intense anxiety and pain; he walked about his +apartments abstracted and brooding on the wrongs from which he suffered; +avoided all who came in his way; and maintained strict silence as +to that which disturbed his peace, until next day, when he met James +Hamilton. To him he confided an account of the troubles which beset him. +After speaking of the visit paid by his royal highness, and the part +enacted by my Lord Arran, whom he described as "one of the silliest +creatures in England, with his guitar, and his other whims and follies," +he went on to say that when Hamilton had heard him out, he would be +enabled to judge whether the visit ended in perfect innocence or not. +"Lady Chesterfield is amiable, it must be acknowledged," said he, "but +she is far from being such a miracle of beauty as she supposes herself: +you know she has ugly feet; but perhaps you are not acquainted that +she has still worse legs. They are short and thick, and to remedy these +defects as much as possible, she seldom wears any other than green +stockings. I went yesterday to Miss Stuart's after the audience of those +damned Muscovites: the king arrived there just before me; and as if the +duke had sworn to pursue me wherever I went that day, he came in just +after me. The conversation turned upon the extraordinary appearance of +the ambassadors. I know not where that fool Crofts had heard that +all these Muscovites had handsome wives; and that all their wives had +handsome legs. Upon this the king maintained, that no woman ever had +such handsome legs as Miss Stuart; and she to prove the truth of his +majesty's assertion, with the greatest imaginable ease, immediately +showed her leg above the knee. Some were ready to prostrate themselves +in order to adore its beauty, for indeed none can be handsomer; but +the duke alone began to criticize upon it. He contended that it was too +slender, and that as for himself he would give nothing for a leg that +was not thicker and shorter, and concluded by saying that no leg was +worth anything without green stockings; now this in my opinion was a +sufficient demonstration that he had just seen green stockings, and had +them fresh in his remembrance." + +At hearing this story, Hamilton, being deeply in love with Lady +Chesterfield, was scarcely less agitated or less jealous than her lord; +but he was obliged to conceal his feelings. Therefore, assuming the tone +of an impartial hearer, he shrugged his shoulders, declared appearances +were often deceitful, and maintained that even if she had given herself +airs to encourage the duke, there were no grounds to show she had been +culpable of improprieties. My lord expressed himself much obliged to +his friend for the interest he had shown in his troubles, and after +exchanging a few compliments they parted. Hamilton, full of wrath, +returned home, and wrote a letter replete with violent expostulations +and tender reproaches to the woman he loved. This he delivered to her +secretly at the next opportunity. She received it from him with a +smile, which scared all doubts of her frailty from his mind, and with a +pressure of his hand which awoke the tenderest feelings in his heart. + +He was now convinced her husband had allowed jealousy to blind him, and +had magnified his unworthy suspicions to assurances of guilt. Is this +view Hamilton was fully confirmed by a letter he received from her the +following day in answer to his own. "Are you not," said she, "ashamed to +give any credit to the visions of a jealous fellow, who brought nothing +else with him from Italy? Is it possible that the story of the green +stockings, upon which he has founded his suspicions, should have imposed +upon you, accompanied as it is with such pitiful circumstances? Since he +has made you his confidant, why did not he boast of breaking in pieces +my poor harmless guitar? This exploit, perhaps, might have convinced +you more than all the rest; recollect yourself, and if you are really in +love with me, thank fortune for a groundless jealousy, which diverts to +another quarter the attention he might pay to my attachment for the most +amiable and the most dangerous man at court." + +Anointed by this flattering unction, such wounds as Hamilton had +experienced were quickly healed; alas, only to bleed afresh at the +certain knowledge that this charming woman had been making him her dupe! +For soon after, in a moment of indiscretion, and whilst the whole court, +including her majesty, was assembled in the card-room, my lady there +permitted the duke a liberty which confirmed her husband in his +suspicions of their intimacy. Hamilton at hearing this was wild +with fury, and advised Lord Chesterfield to carry her away from +the allurements of the court, and seclude her in one of his country +mansions. This was an advice to which the earl listened with +complaisance, and carried out with despatch, to her intense +mortification. + +The whole court was amused by the story, but dismayed at the punishment +my lord inflicted upon his lady. Anthony Hamilton declares that in +England "they looked with astonishment upon a man who could be so +uncivil as to be jealous of his wife; and in the city of London it was +a prodigy, till that time unknown, to see a husband have recourse +to violent means to prevent what jealousy fears, and what it always +deserves." He adds, they endeavoured to excuse my lord by laying all the +blame on his bad education, which made "all the mothers vow to God that +none of their sons should ever set a foot in Italy, lest they should +bring back with them that infamous custom of laying restraint upon their +wives." + +By the departure of Lady Chesterfield the court lost one of its most +brilliant ornaments forever, for the unhappy countess never again +returned to the gay scene of her adventures. For three long years +she endured banishment at Bretby in Derbyshire, and then died, it was +believed, from the effects of poison. For my lord, never having his +suspicions of her intrigue cleared, insisted on her taking the sacrament +by way of pledging her innocence; on which occasion he, in league with +his chaplain, mixed poison in the sacred wine, as result of which she +died. This shocking story gained credence not only with the public, but +with members of his own family; inasmuch as his daughter-in-law, Lady +Gertrude Stanhope, after she had quarrelled with him, would, when she +sat at his table, drink only of such wine and water as a trusty servant +of hers procured. + +This intrigue of the duke had given much uneasiness to his duchess, who +had complained to the king and to her father, and had, moreover, set a +watch upon the movements of his royal highness. But such measures +did not avail to make him a faithful husband, and no sooner was Lady +Chesterfield removed from his sight, than Lady Denham took her place +in his affections. This latter mentioned gentlewoman was daughter of a +valiant baronet, Sir William Brooke, and niece to a worthless peer, +the Earl of Bristol. The earl had, on the king's restoration, cherished +ambitious schemes to obtain the merry monarch's favour; for which +purpose he sought to commend himself by ministering to the royal +pleasures. + +Accordingly he entertained the king as became a loyal gentleman, giving +him luxurious banquets and agreeable suppers, to which, by way of +adding to his majesty's greater satisfaction, the noble host invited +his nieces, Mistress Brooke and her sister. The wily earl had, indeed, +conceived a plan the better to forward his interests with the king, and +was desirous one of these gentlewomen should subdue his majesty's heart, +and become his mistress. Margaret Brooke, the elder of the maidens, was +at this time in her eighteenth year, and was in the full flower of such +loveliness as was presented by a fair complexion, light brown hair, and +dark grey eyes. The merry monarch's susceptible heart was soon won +by her beauty; the charming lady's amorous disposition was speedily +conquered by his gallantry, and nothing prevented her becoming his +mistress save Lady Castlemaine's jealousy. + +This, however, proved an insurmountable obstacle; for the countess, +hearing rumours of the pleasures which were enjoyed at my Lord Bristol's +table, insisted on attending the king thither, and soon gave his +gracious majesty an intimation he dared not disregard--that she would +not suffer Miss Brooke as a rival. Margaret Brooke was grievously +disappointed; but the Duke of York beginning his attentions at the point +where his majesty discontinued them, she was soon consoled for loss of +the monarch's affection by the ardour of his brother's love. But a short +time after, probably foreseeing the ambiguous position in which she +stood, she forsook her lover, and accepted a husband in the person of +Sir John Denham. + +This worthy knight was a man of parts; inasmuch as he was a soldier, +a poet, and a gamester. At the time of his marriage he had passed his +fiftieth year; moreover, he limped painfully and carried a crutch. His +appearance, indeed, was far from imposing. According to Aubrey, he was +tall, had long legs, and was "incurvelting at his shoulders; his hair +was but thin and flaxen, with a moist curl; his gait slow and rather +astalking; his eye was a kind of light goose-grey, not big, but it had a +strange piercingness, not as to shining and glory, but when he conversed +he looked into your very thoughts." His personal defects, however, were +to a great degree compensated for by his great wealth. Moreover he was +surveyor-general of his majesty's works, had a town house in Scotland +Yard, and a country residence at Waltham Cross in Essex. But there are +some deficiencies for which wealth does not atone, as no doubt Lady +Denham promptly discovered; for, before a year of her married life had +passed, she renewed her intrigue with the Duke of York. His love for her +seemed to have increased a thousandfold since fate had given her to +the possession of another. At royal drawing-rooms he took her aside and +talked to her "in the sight of all the world," and whenever she moved +away from him he followed her like a dog. + +Indeed, he made no effort to screen his passion, for not only did +he make love to her in presence of the court, but he visited her at +noonday, attended by his gentlemen, before all the town. Nor did Lady +Denham desire to conceal the honour with which, she considered, this +amour covered her, but openly declared she would "not be his mistress, +as Mrs. Price, to go up and down the privy stairs, but will be owned +publicly;" and in this respect she obtained her desire. Meanwhile Sir +John was rendered miserable; and, indeed, his desperation soon overthrew +his reason, and rendered him a lunatic. This affection first appeared +during a journey he made to the famous free-stone quarries near Portland +in Dorset. When he came within a mile of his destination, he suddenly +turned back, and proceeded to Hounslow, where he demanded rents for +lands he had disposed of years before; and then hastening to town sought +out the king and informed him he was the Holy Ghost. + +This madness lasted but a short time; and the first use he made of his +recovered senses was to plot vengeance on his wife. Now there was one +honour which she coveted above all others, that of being appointed a +lady of the bedchamber to the Duchess of York. This her royal lover, +following the example of his majesty, sought to obtain for her; but +the duchess, who had already suffered many indignities by reason of her +husband's improprieties, refused him this request, which would render +her liable to continual insult in her own court. The duke, however, +had a strong will, and the duchess was on the point of yielding to his +demand, when rumour announced that Lady Denham had been taken suddenly +ill, and scandal declared she had been poisoned. The wildest sensation +followed. His royal highness, stricken with remorse and terror, hastened +to Scotland Yard and sought his beloved mistress, who told him she +believed herself poisoned, and felt she was now dying. The most eminent +physicians were speedily summoned, but their skill proved of no avail, +for she gradually became worse, and finally died, leaving instructions +that her body should be opened after death, in order that search might +be made for the fatal drug. + +The surgeons followed these directions, as we learn from the Orrery +state papers, but no trace of poison was discovered. For all that the +public had no doubt her husband had destroyed her life, and Hamilton +tells us the populace "had a design of tearing Sir John in pieces as +soon as he should come abroad; but he shut himself up to bewail her +death, until their fury was appeased by a magnificent funeral, at which +he distributed four times more burnt wine than had ever been drunk at +any burial in England." + +As for the duke, he was sorely troubled for her loss, and declared he +should never have a public mistress again. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Court life under the merry monarch.--Riding in Hyde Park.--Sailing on + the Thames.--Ball at Whitehall.--Petit soupers.--What happened at + Lady Gerrard's.--Lady Castlemaine quarrels with the king.--Flight to + Richmond.--The queen falls ill.--The king's grief and remorse.--Her + majesty speaks.--Her secret sorrow finds voice in delirium.--Frances + Stuart has hopes.--The queen recovers. + +Views of court life during the first years of the merry monarch's +reign, obtainable from works of his contemporaries, present a series of +brilliant, changeful, and interesting pictures. Scarce a day passed +that their majesties, attended by a goodly throng of courtiers, went +not abroad, to the vast delight of the town: and rarely a night sped by +unmarked by some magnificent entertainment, to the great satisfaction of +the court. At noon it was a custom of the king and queen, surrounded by +maids of honour and gentlemen in waiting, the whole forming a gladsome +and gallant crowd, to ride in coaches or on horseback in Hyde Park: +which place has been described as "a field near the town, used by the +king and nobility for the freshness of the air, and goodly prospect." + +Here in a railed-off circle, known as the ring, and situated in the +northern half of the park, the whole world of fashion and beauty +diverted itself. Noble gallants wearing broad-brimmed hats and waving +plumes, doublets of velvet, and ruffles of rich lace; and fair women +with flowing locks and dainty patches, attired in satin gowns, and +cloaks wrought with embroidery, drove round and round, exchanging +salutations and smiles as they passed. Here it was good Mr. Pepys saw +the Countess of Castlemaine, among many fine ladies, lying "impudently +upon her back in her coach asleep, with her mouth wide open." And on +another occasion the same ingenious gentleman observed the king and +my lady pass and repass in their respective coaches, they greeting one +another at every turn. + +But Mr. Pepys gives us another picture, in which he shows us the king +riding right gallantly beside his queen, and therefore presents him to +better advantage. This excellent gossip, sauntering down Pall Mall one +bright summer day, it being the middle of July, in the year 1663, met +the queen mother walking there, led by her supposed husband, the Earl of +St. Albans. And, hearing the king and queen rode abroad with the ladies +of honour to the park, and seeing a great crowd of gallants awaiting +their return, he also stayed, walking up and down the while. +"By-and-by," says he, "the king and queene, who looked in this dress +(a white laced waistcoate and a crimson short pettycoate, and her hair +dressed A LA NEGLIGENCE) mighty pretty; and the king rode hand in hand +with her. Here was also my Lady Castlemaine riding amongst the rest of +the ladies; but the king took, methought, no notice of her; nor when +they light did anybody press (as she seemed to expect, and staid for it) +to take her down, but was taken down by her own gentlemen. She looked +mighty out of humour, and had a yellow plume in her hat (which all took +notice of), and yet is very handsome. I followed them up into Whitehall, +and into the queene's presence, where all the ladies walked, talking +and fiddling with their hats and feathers, and changing and trying one +another's by one another's heads, and laughing. But it was the finest +sight to me, considering their great beautys and dress, that ever I did +see in my life. But, above all, Mrs. Stuart in this dresse with her +hat cocked and a red plume, with her sweet eye, little Roman nose, and +excellent taille, is now the greatest beauty I ever saw, I think, in my +life; and, if ever woman can, do exceed my Lady Castlemaine, at least in +this dresse: nor do I wonder if the king changes, which I verily believe +is the reason of his coldness to my Lady Castlemaine." + +Having returned from the park, dined at noon, walked in the palace +gardens, or played cards till evening came, their majesties, surrounded +by a brilliant and joyous court, would in summer time descend the broad +steps leading from Whitehall to the Thames, and embark upon the water +for greater diversion. Never was there so goodly a sight, seldom so +merry a company. The barges in which they sailed were draped to the +water's edge with bright fabrics, hung with curtains of rich silk, and +further adorned with gay pennants. And, as the long procession of boats, +filled with fair women and gallant men, followed their majesties adown +the placid Thames towards pleasant Richmond, my Lord Arran would delight +the ears of all by his performance on the guitar; the fair Stuart would +sing French songs in her sweet childlike voice; or a concert of music +would suddenly resound from the banks, being placed there to surprise by +some ingenious courtier. + +And presently landing on grassy meads, delightful to sight by freshness +of their colour, and sweet to scent from odour of their herbs, the court +would sup right heartily; laugh, drink, and make love most merrily, +until early shadows stole across the summer sky, and night-dews fell +upon the thirsty earth. Then king, queen, and courtiers once more +embarking, would sail slowly back, whilst the moon rose betimes in the +heavens, and the barges streaked the waters with silver lines. + +At other times magnificent entertainments filled the nights with light +and revelry. Pepys tells us of a great ball he witnessed in the last +month of the year 1662 at the palace of Whitehall. He was carried +thither by Mr. Povy, a member of the Tangier Commission, and taken at +first to the Duke of York's chambers, where his royal highness and the +duchess were at supper; and from thence "into a room where the ball was +to be, crammed with fine ladies, the greatest of the court. By-and-by +comes the king and queene, the duke and duchess, and all the great ones; +and, after seating themselves, the king takes out the Duchess of York; +and the duke the Duchess of Buckingham; the Duke of Monmouth my Lady +Castlemaine; and so other lords other ladies; and they danced the +bransle. After that, the king led a lady a single coranto; and then the +rest of the lords, one after another, other ladies: very noble it was, +and great pleasure to see. Then to country dances: the king leading the +first. Of the ladies that danced, the Duke of Monmouth's lady, and my +Lady Castlemaine, and a daughter of Sir Harry de Vicke's were the best. +The manner was, when the king dances, all the ladies in the room, and +his queene herself, stand up: and indeed he dances rarely, and much +better than the Duke of York." + +PETIT SOUPERS were another form of entertainments, greatly enjoyed by +Charles, and accordingly much in vogue with his courtiers. The Chevalier +de Grammont had principally helped to make them fashionable, his suppers +being served With the greatest elegance, attended by the choicest wits, +and occasionally favoured with the presence of majesty itself. Nor +were Lady Gerrard's PETIT SOUPERS less brilliant, or her company less +distinguished. Her ladyship boasted of French parentage and understood +the art of pleasing to perfection; and accordingly at her board wine +flowed, wit sparkled, and love obtained in the happiest manner. Now it +happened one of her delightful entertainments was destined to gain +a notoriety she by no means coveted, and concerning which the French +ambassador, Count de Comminges, wrote pleasantly enough to the Marquis +de Lionne. + +It came to pass that Lady Gerrard, who loved the queen, requested the +honour of their majesties to sup with her. She, moreover, invited some +of the courtiers, amongst whom she did not include my Lady Castlemaine. +On the appointed night the king and queen duly arrived; the other guests +had already assembled; and the hour gave fair promise of entertainment. +But presently, when supper was announced, his majesty was missing, +and on inquiry it was discovered he had left the house for Lady +Castlemaine's lodgings, where he spent the evening. Such an insult +as this so openly dealt the queen, and such an indignity put upon the +hostess, caused the greatest agitation to all present; and subsequently +afforded subject for scandalous gossip to the town. It moreover showed +that the monarch was yet an abject slave of his mistress, whose charms +entangled him irresistibly. At least four times a week he supped with +her, returning at early morning from her lodgings, in a stealthy way, +through the privy gardens, a proceeding of which the sentries took much +notice, joked unbecomingly, and gossiped freely. + +Now in order to avoid further observation at such times, and silence +rumours which consequently obtained, his majesty removed the countess +from her lodgings in that part of the palace divided by the road leading +to Westminster from the chief block, and furnished her with apartments +next his own chamber. The poor queen, who had sought by every means in +her power to win his affection, was sorely grieved at this action, +and moreover depressed by the neglect to which she was continually +subjected. Sometimes four months were allowed to pass without his +deigning to sup with her, though the whole court was aware he constantly +paid that honour to her infamous rival. But knowing how unavailing +reproach would be, she held her peace; and feeling how obtrusive her +sorrow would seem, she hid her tears. Now and again, however, a look +would flash in her eyes, and an answer rise to her lips, which showed +how deeply she felt her bitter wrongs. "I wonder your majesty has the +patience to sit so long adressing," said my Lady Castlemaine to her one +morning when she found her yet in the dresser's hands. "I have so much +reason to use patience," answered the neglected wife, "that I can very +well bear with it." + +And so the countess continued to reign paramount in his majesty's favour +until the middle of July, 1663, when a rumour spread through the town +that she had quarrelled with the king, and had consequently fallen from +her high estate. The cause of disagreement between the monarch and his +mistress is narrated by the French ambassador in a letter to Louis XIV. + +By this time the fair Stuart had so increased in his majesty's favour, +that my Lady Castlemaine began to see the indiscretion of which she +had been guilty in bringing her so constantly into his presence, and +moreover to fear her influence over his fickle heart. Accordingly she +refused to invite the maid of honour to her apartments, or entertain +her at her assemblies. At this the king became exceedingly wrathful, and +told my lady he would not enter her rooms again unless Miss Stuart +was there. Thereon the charming countess flew into a violent passion, +roundly abused his majesty, called her carriage, and protesting she +would never again enter the palace of Whitehall, drove off in a rage to +the residence of her uncle at Richmond. The monarch had not expected +his words would cause such fury, nor did he desire her departure; and no +sooner had she gone than he began to regret her absence and long for her +return. + +Therefore next morning he made pretence of hunting, and turning his +horse's head in the direction of Richmond, called on his mistress, when +he apologized to and made friends with her. She therefore returned and +exercised her old ascendancy over him once more. It is probable his +majesty was the more anxious to pacify her, from the fact that she was +now far advanced in her third pregnancy; for two months later she +gave birth to her second son, who was baptized Henry Fitzroy, and +subsequently created Duke of Grafton. + +And it happened about this time, that the queen, falling ill, drew near +unto death. On Friday, the 14th October, 1663, a fever took possession +of her, when the doctors were summoned, her head shaven, and pigeons put +to her feet. Her illness, however, rapidly increased, and believing she +was about to leave a world in which her young life had known so much +sorrow, she made her will, put her affairs in order, and received +extreme unction. Upon this the king, mindful of grievous injuries he had +done her, was sorely troubled in his heart, and going to her chamber, +flung himself at the foot of her bed and burst into tears; as the French +ambassador narrates. + +It is said women love best men who treat them worst. If this be so, +God, alone who made them knows wherefore; for it is given no man to +understand them in all. Now her majesty proved no exception to this rule +regarding the unreasonableness of her sex in placing their affections +most on those who regard them least; for she was devoted to the king. +Therefore the evidence of his grief at prospect of her loss touched her +deeper than all words can say, and with much sweetness she sought to +soothe and console him. + +She told him she had no desire to live, and no sorrow to die, save, +indeed, that caused by parting from him. She hoped he would soon wed +a consort more worthy of his love than she had been; one who would +contribute more to his happiness and the satisfaction of the nation than +she had. And now they were about to part, she had two requests to make: +that he would never separate his interests from those of the king her +brother, or cease to protect her distressed nation; and that her body +might be sent back to Portugal and laid in the tomb of her ancestors. At +this the king, yet on his knees beside her, interrupted her only by his +sobs, hearing which she wept likewise; and so overcome was he by grief +that he was obliged to be led from her room. + +The court was saddened by her majesty's illness, for she had won the +goodwill of all by the kindness of her disposition and gentleness of her +manner; the city was likewise afflicted, for the people thought so good +a queen could not fail in time to reclaim even so erratic a husband; +and trade became suddenly depressed. Crowds gathered by night and by +day outside the palace to learn the most recent change in her majesty's +condition many thinking her death inevitable, because the doctors +had pronounced her recovery impossible. And for days her soul hovered +betwixt two worlds. + +On the night of the 19th, a fierce storm raged over England; and Mr. +Pepys, being waked by the roaring of mighty winds, turned to his wife +and said: "I pray God I hear not of the death of any great person, this +wind is so high." And fearing the queen might have departed, he rose +betimes, and took coach to the palace that he might make inquiries +concerning her, but found her majesty was still living. She was now, +however, unconscious; and gave free voice to the secret sorrow which +underlay her life, because she had not borne children to the king. Had +she given him heirs, she felt assured he would certainly love her +as well as he loved his mistresses; and would feel as proud of her +offspring as of those borne him by other women. But though she had +proved capable of becoming a mother on more than one occasion, it +pleased heaven to leave her childless, to her great grief. Therefore in +her delirium, desires shaped themselves to realities, and she believed +she had given birth to three children, two boys and a girl. The latter +she fancied much resembled the king, but she was troubled that one of +the boys was plain featured. And seeing her grief at this, his majesty, +who stood by, sought in pity to console her, saying the boy was indeed +pretty; at which she brightened visibly, and answering him said: "Nay, +if it be like you, it is a fine boy indeed, and I would be very well +pleased with it." This delusion continued through her illness, and so +strongly did it force itself upon her mind, that one morning when she +was on her way to recovery, on waking suddenly and seeing the doctor +bending over her, she exclaimed, "How do the children?" + +Now all this time, whilst the shadow of death lay upon the palace, and +laughter and music were no longer heard within its walls, there was one +of its inmates who pondered much upon the great fortune which the future +might have in keeping for her. This was fair Frances Stuart, who, not +having yielded to the king's request by becoming his mistress, now +entertained high hopes of being made his wife. In this dream she was, +moreover, flattered by an unusual deference and high respect paid her +by the court since the beginning of her majesty's illness. The king +continued his attentions to her; for though he had proved himself +"fondly disconsolate" and wept sorely for her majesty, he never during +her sickness omitted an opportunity of conversing with Miss Stuart, or +neglected supping with Lady Castlemaine. But the hopes entertained +by the maid of honour were speedily overthrown, for contrary to all +expectation the queen recovered, and was so well on the 10th November as +to "bespeak herself a new gowne" + +And so the court remained unchanged, and life went on as before; the +queen growing gradually stronger, the king making love to Miss Stuart by +day, and visiting Lady Castlemaine by night. And it happened one evening +when he went to sup with the latter there was a chine of beef to roast, +and no fire to cook it because the Thames had flooded the kitchen. +Hearing which, the countess called out to the cook, "Zounds, you must +set the house on fire but it shall be roasted!" And roasted it was. + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Notorious courtiers.--My Lord Rochester's satires.--Places a watch on + certain ladies of quality.--His majesty becomes indignant.--Rochester + retires to the country.--Dons a disguise and returns to town.--Practises + astrology.--Two maids of honour seek adventure.--Mishaps which befell + them.--Rochester forgiven.--The Duke of Buckingham.--Lady Shrewsbury + and her victims.--Captain Howard's duel.--Lord Shrewsbury avenges + his honour.--A strange story.--Colonel Blood attempts an + abduction.--Endeavours to steal the regalia.--The king converses with + him. + +Prominent among the courtiers, and foremost amid the friends of his +majesty, were two noblemen distinguished alike for their physical +grace, exceeding wit, and notable eccentricity. These were the Earl of +Rochester, and his Grace of Buckingham; gallants both, whose respective +careers were so intimately connected with the court as to make further +chronicle of them necessary in these pages. + +My Lord Rochester, though younger in years than the duke, was superior +to him in wit, comeliness, and attraction. Nor was there a more +conspicuous figure observable in the palace of Whitehall than this same +earl, who was ever foremost in pursuit of such pleasures as wine begets +and love appeases. His mirth was the most buoyant, his conversation the +most agreeable, his manner the most engaging in the world; whence he +became "the delight and wonder of men, the love and dotage of women." +A courtier possessed of so happy a disposition, and endowed with such +brilliant talents, could not fail in pleasing the king; who vastly +enjoyed his society, but was occasionally obliged to banish his person +from court, when his eccentric conduct rendered him intolerable, or his +bitter satire aimed at royalty. For it was given no other man in his age +to blend merry wit and caustic ridicule so happily together; therefore +those who read his lines were forced to laugh at his fancy, even whilst +hurt by his irony. + +Now in order to keep this talent in constant practice, he was wont to +celebrate in inimitable verse such events, be they private or public, as +happened at court, or befell the courtiers; and inasmuch as his subjects +were frequently of a licentious nature, his lines were generally of a +scandalous character. He therefore became the public censor of court +folly; and so unerringly did his barbed shafts hit the weaknesses at +which they aimed, that his productions were equally the terror of those +he victimized, and the delight of those he spared. + +This liberal use of satire he was wont to excuse on the plea there were +some who could not be kept in order, or admonished, by other means. +Therefore, having the virtue of his friends keenly at heart, an +ingenious plan occurred to him by which he might secretly discover their +vices, and publicly reprove them. In order that he might fulfil this +purpose to his greater satisfaction, he promptly sought and found a +footman, who, by virtue of his employment, was well acquainted with the +courtiers. This man the "noble and beautiful earl" furnished with a red +coat and a musket, that he might pass as a sentinel, and then placed +him every night throughout one winter at the doors of certain ladies of +quality whom he suspected of carrying on intrigues. + +In this disguise the footman readily passed as a soldier stationed at +his post by command of his officer, and was thus enabled to note +what gentlemen called on the suspected ladies at unreasonable but +not unfashionable hours. Accordingly, my lord made many surprising +discoveries, and when he had gained sufficient information on such +delicate points, he quietly retired into the country, that he might with +greater ease devote himself to the composition of those lively verses +which he subsequently circulated through the court, to the wonder and +dismay of many, and the delight and profit of few. + +To these lampoons no name was attached, and my lord took precautions +that their authorship should not be satisfactorily proved, no matter how +sagely suspected. Moreover, in his conversation he was judicious +enough to keep the weapon of his satire in reserve; sheathing its fatal +keenness in a bewitching softness of civility until occasion required +its use; when forth it flashed all the brighter for its covering, all +the sharper for its rest. And satire being absent from his speech, +humour ever waited on his words; and never was he more extravagantly gay +than when assisting at the pleasant suppers given by the merry monarch +to his choicest friends. + +Here, whilst drinking deep of ruddy wine from goblets of old gold, he +narrated his strange experiences, and illustrated them with flashes of +his wit. For it was the habit of this eccentric earl, when refinements +of the court began to pall upon him, or his absence from Whitehall +became a necessity, to seek fresh adventure and intrigue disguised as a +porter, a beggar, or a ballad-monger. And so carefully did he hide his +identity in the character he assumed, that his most intimate friends +failed to recognise his personality. + +No doubt the follies in which he indulged were in some measure due to +the eccentricity ever attendant upon genius; but they were probably +likewise occasioned by craving for excitement begotten of drink. For +my lord loved wine exceedingly; and when he drew near unto death in the +dawn of his manhood, confessed to Bishop Burnet that for five years he +was continually drunk: "Not that he was all the while under the visible +effects of it, but his blood was so inflamed, that he was not in all +that time cool enough to be perfectly master of himself." Charles +delighted in the society of this gay courtier, because of his erratic +adventures, and his love of wine. Moreover, the licentious verses which +it was the earl's good pleasure to compose, the names of some of which +no decent lips would whisper in this age of happy innocence, afforded +the monarch extravagant enjoyment. Withal his majesty's satisfaction in +Lord Rochester's wit was not always to be counted upon, as it proved. +For it came to pass one night at the close of a royal supper, during +which the earl had drunk deep, that with great goodwill to afford the +king diversion, he handed his majesty what he believed was a satire on +a courtier, more remarkable for its humour than its decency. Whereon +Charles, with anticipation of much delight, opened the folded page, +when he was surprised to see, not a copy of verses, but an unflattering +description of himself, which ran as follows: + + "Here lies our mutton-eating king, + Whose word no man relies on; + Who never said a foolish thing, + And never did a wise one." + +Now the king, though the best tempered of men and most lenient of +masters, was naturally wrathful at this verbal character: the more so +because recognising its faithfulness at a glance. He therefore upbraided +Rochester with ingratitude, and banished him from the court. + +Nothing dismayed, my lord retired into the country; but in a short +time, growing weary of pastoral solitude which gave him an appetite for +adventure it could not wholly supply, he returned privately to town, and +assuming a disguise, took up his residence in the city. Here exercising +his characteristic tact, and great capacity for pleasing, he +speedily made friends with wealthy merchants and worthy aldermen, who +subsequently invited him to their hospitable tables, and introduced him +to their gracious ladies. + +And as his conversation had not failed to delight the husbands, neither +were his charms unsuccessful in affording satisfaction to their wives. +To the one he railed against the impotence of the king's ministers, to +the other he declaimed upon the wickedness of his majesty's mistresses; +and to both his denunciations were equally sincere and acceptable. +But his bitterest words were reserved for such courtiers as Rochester, +Buckingham, and Killigrew, whose dissipated lives were the scandal of +all honest men, the terror of all virtuous women: insolent fellows, +moreover, who had the impudence to boast that city ladies were not so +faithful to their husbands as was generally supposed, and, moreover, the +boldness to assert that they painted. Indeed, he marvelled much, that +since such men were frequenters of Whitehall, sacred fire from heaven +had not long since descended and consumed the royal palace to ashes. +Such virtuous sentiments as these, expressed by so gallant a man, made +him acceptable in many homes: and the result was he speedily became +surfeited by banquets, suppers, and other hospitalities, to which the +excellent but credulous citizens bade him heartily welcome. + +He therefore disappeared from their midst one day as suddenly and +unaccountably as he had come amongst them. He did not, however, take +himself afar, but donning a new disguise, retreated to a more distant +part of the city: for an idea had occurred to him which he determined +speedily to put in practice. This was to assume the character and +bearing of a sage astrologer and learned physician, at once capable of +reading the past, and laying bare the future of all who consulted him; +also of healing diseases of and preventing mishaps to such as +visited him. Accordingly, having taken lodgings in Tower Street, at a +goldsmith's house, situated next the Black Swan, he prepared himself for +practice, adopted the title of doctor, the name of Alexander Bendo, and +issued bills headed by the royal arms, containing the most remarkable +and impudent manifesto perhaps ever set forth by any impostor. + +Copies of this may yet be seen in early editions of his works. It was +addressed to all gentlemen, ladies, and others, whether of the city, +town, or country, to whom Alexander Bendo wished health and prosperity. +He had come amongst them because the great metropolis of England had +ever been infested by numerous quacks, whose arrogant confidence, backed +by their ignorance, had enabled them to impose on the public; either +by premeditated cheats in physic, chymical and galenic, in astrology, +physiognomy, palmistry, mathematics, alchymy, and even government +itself. Of which latter he did not propose to discourse, or meddle with, +since it in no way belonged to his trade or vocation, which he thanked +God he found much more safe, equally honest, and more profitable. But +he, Alexander Bendo, had with unswerving faithfulness and untiring +assiduity for years courted the arts and sciences, and had learned dark +secrets and received signal favours from them. He was therefore prepared +to take part against unlearned wretches, and arrant quacks, whose +impudent addresses and saucy pretences had brought scandal upon sage and +learned men. + +However, in a wicked world like this, where virtue was so exactly +counterfeited, and hypocrisy was generally successful, it would be hard +for him, a stranger, to escape censure. But indeed he would submit to +be considered a mountebank if he were discovered to be one. Having made +which statement, he proceeded to draw an ingenious comparison between +a mountebank and a politician, suitable to all ages and dimes, but +especially to this century and country. Both, he intimated, are fain to +supply the lack of higher abilities to which they pretend, with craft; +and attract attention by undertaking strange things which can never be +performed. By both the people are pleased and deluded; the expectation +of good in the future drawing their eyes from the certainty of evil in +the present. + +The sage Alexander Bendo then discoursed of miraculous cures which he +could effect, but he would set down no word in his bill which bore an +unclean sound. It was enough that he made himself understood, but indeed +he had seen physicians' bills containing things of which no man +who walked warily before God could approve. Concerning astrological +predictions, physiognomy, divination by dreams, and otherwise, he would +say, if it did not look like ostentation, he had seldom failed, but had +often been of service; and to those who came to him he would guarantee +satisfaction. Nor would he be ashamed to avow his willingness to +practise rare secrets, for the help, conservation, and augmentation of +beauty and comeliness; an endowment granted for the better establishment +of mutual love between man and woman, and as such highly valuable to +both. The knowledge of secrets like this he had gathered during journeys +through France and Italy, in which countries he had spent his life since +he was fifteen years old. Those who had travelled in the latter country +knew what a miracle art there performs in behalf of beauty; how women +of forty bear the same countenance as those of fifteen, ages being in +no way distinguished by appearances; whereas in England, by looking at a +horse in the mouth and a woman in the face, it was possible to tell the +number of their years. He could, therefore, give such remedies as would +render those who came to him perfectly fair; clearing and preserving +them from all spots, freckles, pimples, marks of small-pox, or traces +of accidents. He would, moreover, cure the teeth, clear the breath, take +away fatness, and add flesh. + +A man who vouched to perform such wonders was not long without patients. +At first these were drawn from his immediate neighbourhood, but soon his +fame reached the heart of the city. Accordingly, many ladies of +whose hospitality he had partaken, and of whose secrets he had become +possessed, hurried to consult him; and the marvellous insight he +betrayed regarding their past, and strange predictions he pronounced +concerning their future, filled them with amazement, and occasionally +with alarm. And they, proclaiming the marvels of his wisdom, widened the +circle of his reputation, until his name was spoken within the precincts +of Whitehall. + +Curiosity concerning so remarkable a man at once beset the minds of +certain ladies at court, who either feared or expected much from the +future, and were anxious to peer into such secrets as it held concerning +themselves. But dreading the notoriety their presence would naturally +cause in the vicinity of Tower Street, a spot to them unknown, they, +acting with a prudence not invariably characteristic of their +conduct, sent their maids to ascertain from personal experience if the +astrologer's wisdom was in truth as marvellous as reported. Now, when +these appeared in fear and trembling before the great Alexander Bendo, +the knowledge he revealed concerning themselves, and their mistresses +likewise, was so wonderful that it exceeded all expectation. +Accordingly, the maids returned to court with such testimonies +concerning the lore of this star-reader, as fired afresh their +mistresses' desires to see and converse with him in their proper +persons. + +It therefore came to pass that Miss Price and Miss Jennings, maids +of honour both--the one to the queen, the other to the Duchess of +York--boldly resolved to visit Doctor Bendo, and learn what the future +held for them. Miss Price was a lady who delighted in adventure; Miss +Jennings was a gentlewoman of spirit; both looked forward to their visit +with excitement and interest. It happened one night, when the court had +gone to the playhouse, these ladies, who had excused themselves from +attending the queen and the duchess, dressed as orange girls, and taking +baskets of fruit under their arms, quickly crossed the park, and entered +a hackney-coach at Whitehall Gate. Bidding the driver convey them to +Tower Street, they rattled merrily enough over the uneven streets until +they came close to the theatre, when, being in high spirits and feeling +anxious to test the value of their disguise, they resolved to alight +from their conveyance, enter the playhouse, and offer their wares for +sale in presence of the court. + +Accordingly, paying the driver, they descended from the coach, and +running between the lines of chairs gathered round the theatre, gained +the door. Now, who should arrive at that moment but the beau Sidney, +attired in the bravery of waving feathers, fluttering ribbons, and +rich-hued velvets. And as he paused to adjust his curls to his greater +satisfaction before entering the playhouse, Miss Price went boldly +forward and asked him to buy her fine oranges; but so engaged was he in +his occupation, that he did not deign to make reply, but passed into +the theatre without turning his glance upon her. Miss Jennings, however, +fared somewhat differently; and with less satisfaction to herself; for, +perceiving another courtier, none other than Tom Killigrew, a rare wit +and lover of pleasure, she went up to him and offered her fruit for +sale. These he declined to buy; but chucking her under the chin, and +glancing at her with an air of familiarity, invited her to bring her +oranges to his lodgings next morning. On this Miss Jennings, who was as +virtuous as lovely, pushed him away with violence, and forgetting the +character she assumed, commenced rebuking his insolence, much to the +amusement and surprise of the bystanders. Fearing detection of their +identity, Miss Price pulled her forcibly away from the crowd. + +Miss Jennings was after this incident anxious to forego her visit to the +astrologer, and return to Whitehall, but her companion declaring +this would be a shameful want of spirit, they once more entered a +hackney-coach, and requested they might be driven to the lodgings of +the learned Doctor Bendo. Their adventures for the evening were +unfortunately not yet at an end; for just as they entered Tower Street +they saw Henry Brinker, one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber to the +Duke of York. Now it happened this courtier had been dining with a +citizen of worth and wealth, whose house he was about to leave the +moment the maids of honour drove by. They, knowing him to be a man +remarkable for his gallantries, were anxious to avoid his observation, +and therefore directed the driver to proceed a few doors beyond their +destination; but he, having caught sight of two pretty orange wenches, +followed the coach and promptly stepping up as they alighted, made some +bold observations to them. On this both turned away their heads that +they might avoid his gaze, a proceeding which caused him to observe +them with closer scrutiny, when he immediately recognised them, without +however intimating his knowledge. He therefore fell to teasing them, and +finally left them with no very pleasant remarks ringing in their ears, +concerning the virtue which obtained among maids of honour, for he did +not doubt their disguise was assumed for purposes of intrigue. + +Overwhelmed with confusion, they walked towards the goldsmith's shop, +over which the oracle delivered wisdom; but being no longer in a humour +to heed his words, they presently resolved on driving back to Whitehall +with all possible speed. But alas! on turning round they beheld their +driver waging war with a crowd which had gathered about his vehicle; for +having left their oranges in the coach, some boys had essayed to help +themselves, whereon the man fell foul of them. But he, being one against +many, was like to fare badly at their hands; seeing which, the maids of +honour persuaded him to let the crowd take the fruit and drive them back +at once. This conduct had not the effect of appeasing those who profited +by its generosity; for the gentlewomen were greeted with most foul +abuse, and many unworthy charges were laid to their account in language +more vigorous than polished. And having at last arrived in safety at +Whitehall, they resolved never to sally forth in search of adventure +again. + +After various strange experiences in his character as doctor of medicine +and teller of fortunes, of the weakness of human nature and strength of +common credulity, the learned Alexander Bendo vanished from the city; +and about the same time the gallant Earl of Rochester appeared at +court, where he sought for and obtained the merry monarch's pardon. +The wonderful stories he was enabled to relate, piquant in detail, and +sparkling with wit, rendered it delightful to the king, in whose favour +he soon regained his former supremacy. Nay, Charles even determined to +enrich and reward him, not indeed from the resources of his privy purse, +his majesty's income being all too little for his mistresses' rapacity, +but by uniting him to a charming woman and an heiress. + +The lady whom his majesty selected for this purpose was Elizabeth +Mallett, daughter of Lord Hawley of Donamore. Now this gentlewoman had a +fortune of two thousand five hundred a year, a considerable sum in +those days, and one which gained her many suitors; amongst whom Lord +Hinchingbrook was commended by her family, and Lord Rochester by the +king. Now the latter nobleman, having but a poor estate, was anxious to +obtain her wealth, and fearful of losing his suit: and being uncertain +as to whether he could gain her consent to marry him by fair means, he +resolved to obtain it by execution of a daring scheme. + +This was to carry her off by force, an action which highly commended +itself to his adventurous spirit. Accordingly he selected a night on +which the heiress supped at Whitehall with her friend Miss Stuart, +for conducting his enterprise. It therefore happened that as Elizabeth +Mallett was returning home from the palace in company with her +grandfather, their coach was suddenly stopped at Charing Cross. +Apprehending some danger, Lord Hawley looked out, and by the red light +of a score of torches flashing through darkness, saw he was surrounded +by a band of armed men, both afoot and on horse. Their action was prompt +and decisive, for before either my lord or his granddaughter was aware +of their intention, the latter was seized, forcibly lifted from the +coach, and transferred to another which awaited close at hand. This +was driven by six horses, and occupied by two women, who received the +heiress with all possible respect. No sooner had she been placed in +the coach than the horses were set to a gallop, and away she sped, +surrounded by a company of horsemen. + +Lord Hawley was cast into the uttermost grief and passion by this +outrage; but his condition did not prevent him speedily gathering a +number of friends and retainers, in company with whom he gave chase to +those who had abducted his granddaughter; and so fast did they ride that +Mistress Mallett was overtaken at Uxbridge, and carried back in safety +to town. For this outrageous attempt, my Lord Rochester was by the +king's command committed to the Tower, there to await his majesty's good +pleasure. It seemed now as if the earl's chance of gaining the heiress +had passed away for ever; inasmuch as Charles regarded the attempted +abduction with vast displeasure, and my Lord Hawley with terrible +indignation. + +But the ways of women being inexplicable, it happened in a brief +while Mistress Mallett was inclined to regret my Lord Rochester's +imprisonment, and therefore moved to have him released; and, moreover, +she was subsequently pleased to regard his suit and accept him as her +wedded lord. It speaks favourably for his character that with all +his faults she loved him well: nor did Rochester, though occasionally +unfaithful, ever treat her with unkindness. At times the old spirit of +restlessness and passion for adventure would master him, when he would +withdraw himself from her society for weeks and months. But she, though +sadly afflicted by such conduct, did not resent it. "If I could have +been troubled at anything, when I had the happiness of receiving a +letter from you," she writes to him on one occasion when he had absented +himself from her for long, "I should be so because you did not name a +time when I might hope to see you, the uncertainty of which very much +afflicts me." And again the poor patient wife tells him, "Lay your +commands upon me, what I am to do, and though it be to forget my +children, and the long hope I have lived in of seeing you, yet I will +endeavour to obey you; or in memory only torment myself, without giving +you the trouble of putting you in mind that there lives such a creature +as your faithful humble servant." At length dissipation undermined his +naturally strong constitution; and for months this once most gay and +gallant man, this "noble and beautiful earl," lay dying of that cruel +disease consumption. The while such thoughts as come to those who reason +of life's vanities beset him; and as he descended into the valley of +shadows, the folly of this world's ways was made clear to him. And +repenting of his sins, he died in peace with God and man at the age of +three-and-thirty. + +George Villiers second Duke of Buckingham, was not less notable than my +Lord Rochester. By turns he played such diverse parts in life's +strange comedy as that of a spendthrift and a miser, a profligate and +a philosopher, a statesman who sought the ruin of his country, and a +courtier who pandered to the pleasures of his king. But inasmuch as this +history is concerned with the social rather than the political life of +those mentioned in its pages, place must be given to such adventures as +were connected with the court and courtiers. Buckingham's were chiefly +concerned with his intrigues, which, alas! were many and strange; for +though his wife was loving and virtuous, she was likewise lean and +brown, and wholly incapable of controlling his erring fancies. Perhaps +it was knowledge of her lack of comeliness which helped her to bear +the burden of his follies; for according to Madame Dunois, though the +duchess knew he was continually engaged in amours, she, by virtue of a +patience uncommon to her sex, forbore mentioning the subject to him, +and "had complaisance enough to entertain his mistresses, and even lodge +them in her house, all which she suffered because she loved him." + +The most remarkable of his intrigues was that which connected his name +with the Countess of Shrewsbury. Her ladyship, was daughter of the +second Earl of Cardigan, and wife of the eleventh Earl of Shrewsbury. +She was married a year previous to the restoration, and upon the +establishment of the court at Whitehall had become one of its most +distinguished beauties. Nor was she less famed for the loveliness of her +person than for the generosity of her disposition; inasmuch as none +who professed themselves desirous of her affection were ever allowed to +languish in despair. She therefore had many admirers, some of whom were +destined to suffer for the distinction her friendship conferred. + +Now one of the first to gain her attachment was the young Earl of Arran, +the grace of whose bearing and ardour of whose character were alike +notable to the court. The verses he sung her to an accompaniment of his +guitar, and the glances he gave her indicative of his passion, might +have melted a heart less cold than hers. Accordingly they gained him +a friendship which, by reason of her vast benevolence, many were +subsequently destined to share. Now it chanced that the little Jermyn, +who had already succeeded in winning the affections of such notable +women as the poor Princess of Orange and my Lady Castlemaine, and +had besides conducted a series of minor intrigues with various ladies +connected with the court, was somewhat piqued that Lady Shrewsbury had +accepted my Lord Arran's attentions without encouraging his. For Henry +Jermyn, by virtue of the fascinations he exercised and the consequent +reputation he enjoyed, expected to be wooed by such women as desired his +love. + +But when, later on, Lord Arran's devotion to the lady was succeeded by +that of Thomas Howard, brother to the Earl of Carlisle, and captain +of the guards, Jermyn was thoroughly incensed, and resolved to make an +exception in favour of the countess by beginning those civilities which +act as preludes to intrigue. My lady, who was not judicious enough to be +off with the old love before she was on with the new, accepted Jermyn's +advances with an eagerness that gave promise of further favours. This +was highly displeasing to Howard, a brave and generous man, who under +an exterior of passive calmness concealed a spirit of fearless courage. +Though not desirous of picking a quarrel with his rival, he was +unwilling to suffer his impertinent interference. Jermyn, on the other +hand, not being aware of Howard's real character, sought an early +opportunity of insulting him. Such being their dispositions, a quarrel +speedily ensued, which happened in this manner. + +One fair summer day Captain Howard gave an entertainment at Spring +Gardens, in honour of the countess. These gardens were situated close by +Charing Cross, and opened into the spacious walks of St. James's +Park. Bounded on one side by a grove, and containing leafy arbours and +numerous thickets, the gardens were "contrived to all the advantages +of gallantry." The scene of many an intrigue, they were constantly +frequented by denizens of the court and dwellers in the city, to whom +they afforded recreation and pleasure. In the centre of these fair +gardens stood a cabaret, or house of entertainment, where repasts were +served at exceeding high prices, and much good wine was drunk. Here it +was Captain Howard received my Lady Shrewsbury and a goodly company, +spread a delicate banquet for them, and for their better diversion +provided some excellent music played upon the bagpipes, by a soldier +noted for his execution on that instrument. + +Jermyn hearing of the great preparations Captain Howard made, resolved +to be present on the occasion; and accordingly, before the hour +appointed for dinner, betook himself to the garden, and as if he had +arrived there by accident, strolled leisurely down the broad pleasant +paths, bordered by pinks and fragrant roses clustering in the hedgerows. +And presently drawing nigh the cabaret, he tarried there until the +countess, rich in physical graces, with sunny smiles upon her lips, and +amorous light in her eyes, stepped forth upon the balcony and greeted +him. Whereon his heart took fire: and entering the house, he joined her +where she stood, and held pleasant converse with her. Inflated by his +success, he resolved on making himself disagreeable to the host, and +therefore ventured to criticize the entertainment, and ridicule the +music, which he voted barbarous to civilized ears. And to such an extent +did he outrage Thomas Howard, that the gallant captain, being more of +a soldier than a courtier, and therefore preferring passages at arms to +those of wit, could scarce refrain from drawing his sword and demanding +the satisfaction due to him. + +However, he subdued his wrath till the day was spent, and early next +morning sent a challenge to his rival. Accordingly they met with fierce +intent, and the duel which followed ended almost fatally for Jermyn, +who was carried from the scene of encounter bleeding from three wounds +caused by his antagonist's sword. + +The unfortunate issue of this fight deprived Lady Shrewsbury of two +lovers; for Howard, having rendered Jermyn unable to perform the part +of a gallant, was obliged to fly from the country and remain abroad some +time. + +In their stead the countess sought consolation in the companionship of +Thomas Killigrew, a handsome man and a notable courtier. She therefore +had no regrets for the past: and he was entirely happy in the present, +so that he boasted of his felicities to all acquaintance, in general, +and to his friend the Duke of Buckingham in particular. It was +Killigrew's constant habit to sup with his grace, on which occasions his +conversation invariably turned on her ladyship, when, his imagination +being heated by wine, he freely endowed her with the perfections of a +goddess. To such descriptions the duke could not listen unmoved; and +therefore resolved to judge for himself if indeed the countess was such +a model of loveliness as Killigrew represented. Accordingly, at the +first opportunity which presented itself, the duke made love to her, +and she, nothing averse to his attentions, encouraged his affections. +Killigrew was much aggrieved at this unexpected turn of affairs, +and bitterly reproached the countess; but she, being mistress of the +situation, boldly denied all knowledge of him. + +This was more than he expected or could endure, and he consequently +abused her roundly in all companies, characterizing the charms of which +he once boasted as faults he could not endure; ridiculing her airs, and +denouncing her conduct. Reports of his comments and discourses speedily +reached Lady Shrewsbury's ears; and he was privately warned that if +he did not desist means would be taken to silence him effectually. Not +being wise enough to accept this hint he continued to vilify her. The +result was, one night when returning from the Duke of York's apartments +he was suddenly waylaid in St. James's Park, and three passes of a +sword made at him through his chair, one of which pierced his arm. Not +doubting they had despatched him to a better world, His assailants made +their escape; and my Lady Shrewsbury, who singularly enough happened +to be passing at the time in her coach, and had stopped to witness the +proceedings, drove off as speedily as six horses could carry her. + +Knowing it would be impossible to trace the villainy which had prompted +this deed to its source, Killigrew said not a word concerning the +murderous attempt, and henceforth held his peace regarding his late +mistress's imperfections. For some time she continued her intrigue with +the Duke of Buckingham without interference. But in an evil hour +it happened the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had long entertained a +philosophical indifference towards her previous amours, now undertook to +defend his honour, which it was clear his Grace of Buckingham had sadly +injured. + +Accordingly he challenged the duke to combat, and in due time they met +face to face in a field by Barnes Elms. His grace had as seconds Sir +Robert Holmes and Captain William Jenkins; the earl being supported by +Sir John Talbot and Bernard Howard, son of my Lord Arundel. The fight +was brief and bloody; Lord Shrewsbury, being run through the body, was +carried from the field in an insensible condition. The duke received but +a slight wound, but his friend Captain Jenkins was killed upon the spot. +The while swords clashed, blood flowed, and lives hung in a balance, the +woman who wrought this evil stood close by, disguised as a page, holding +the bridle of her lover's horse, as Lord Orford mentions. + +In consequence of this duel the Duke of Buckingham absented himself +from the capital; but two months after its occurrence King Charles +was pleased, "in contemplation of the services heretofore done to his +majesty by most of the persons engaged in the late duel or rencontre, to +graciously pardon the said offence." Three months after the day on which +he fought, Lord Shrewsbury died from effects of his wounds, when the +duke boldly carried the widow to his home. The poor duchess, who had +patiently borne many wrongs, could not stand this grievous and public +insult, and declared she would not live under the same roof with so +shameless a woman. "So I thought, madam," rejoined her profligate lord, +"and have therefore ordered your coach to convey you to your father." + +The countess continued to live with her paramour; nor was the court +scandalized. The queen, it is true, openly espoused the cause of the +outraged duchess, and sought to enlist sympathy on her behalf; but so +low was the tone of public morality that her words were unheeded, and no +voice was raised in protest against this glaring infamy. Nay, the duke +went further still in his efforts towards injuring the wife to whom he +owed so much, and who loved him over-well; as he caused his chaplain, +the Rev. Thomas Sprat, to marry him to my Lady Shrewsbury; and +subsequently conferred on the son to which she gave birth, and for whom +the king stood godfather, his second title of Earl of Coventry. His wife +was henceforth styled by the courtiers Dowager Duchess of Buckingham. +It is worthy of mention that the Rev. Thomas Sprat in good time became +Bishop of Rochester, and, it is written, "an ornament to the church +among those of the highest order." + +One of the most extraordinary characters which figured in this reign was +Thomas Blood, sometimes styled colonel. He was remarkable for his great +strength, high courage, and love of adventure. The son of an Irish +blacksmith, he had, on the outbreak of civil warfare in his native +country, joined Cromwell's army; and for the bravery he evinced was +raised to the rank of lieutenant, rewarded by a substantial grant of +land, and finally made a justice of the peace. At the restoration he was +deprived of this honour, as he was likewise of the property he called +his, which was returned to its rightful owner, an honest royalist. +Wholly dissatisfied with a government which dealt him such hardships, +he organised a plot to raise an insurrection in Ireland, storm Dublin +Castle, and seize the Duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant. This +dark scheme was discovered by his grace; the chief conspirators were +accordingly seized, with the exception of Blood, who succeeded in making +his escape to Holland. His fellow traitors were tried and duly executed. + +From Holland, Blood journeyed into England, where, becoming acquainted +with some republicans, he entered into projects with them calculated to +disturb the nation's peace; which fact becoming known, he was obliged to +seek refuge in Scotland. Here he found fresh employment for his restless +energies, and in the year 1666 succeeded in stirring up some malcontents +to rebellion. The revolt being quelled, he escaped to Ireland; and after +a short stay in that country returned once more to England, where he +sought security in disguise. + +He lived here in peace until 1670, when he made an attempt no less +remarkable for its ingenuity than notable for its villainy. Towards the +end of that year the Prince of Orange, being in London, was invited by +the lord mayor to a civic banquet. Thither the Duke of Ormond attended +him, and subsequently accompanied him to St. James's, where the prince +then stayed. A short distance from the palace gates stood Clarendon +House, where the duke then resided, and towards which he immediately +drove, on taking leave of his royal highness. Scarce had he proceeded a +dozen yards up St. James's Street, when his coach was suddenly stopped +by a band of armed and mounted men, who, hurriedly surrounding his +grace, dragged him from the carriage and mounted him on a horse behind a +stalwart rider. Word of command being then given, the gang started at a +brisk pace down Piccadilly. Prompted by enemies of the duke, as well as +urged by his own desires to avenge his loss of property and the death of +his fellow-conspirators, Blood resolved to hang him upon the gallows +at Tyburn. That he might accomplish this end with greater speed and +security, he, leaving his victim securely buckled and tied to the fellow +behind whom he had been mounted, galloped forward in advance to adjust +the rope to the gallows, and make other necessary preparations. + +No sooner did the echo of his horse's hoofs die away, than the duke, +recovering the stupor this sudden attack had caused, became aware +that now was his opportunity to effect escape, if, indeed, such were +possible. He to whom his grace was secured was a burly man possessed of +great strength; the which Lord Ormond, being now past his sixtieth +year, had not. However, life was dear to him, and therefore he began +struggling with the fellow; and finally getting his foot under the +villain's, he unhorsed him, when both fell heavily to the ground. +Meanwhile his grace's coach having driven to Clarendon House, the +footmen had given an account of the daring manner in which his abduction +had been effected. On this an alarm was immediately raised, and the +porter, servants, and others hastened down Piccadilly in search of their +master, fast as good horses could carry them. + +They had proceeded as far as the village of Knightsbridge, when reports +of muskets, cries for help, and sounds of a scuffle they could not see +for darkness, fell upon their ears, and filled them with alarm. The +whole neighbourhood seemed startled, lights flashed, dogs barked, and +many persons rushed towards the scene of encounter. Aware of this, the +miscreants who had carried off the duke discharged their pistols at him, +and leaving him, as they supposed, for dead, fled to avoid capture, and +were seen or heard of no more. His grace was carried in an insensible +condition to a neighbouring house, but not having received serious hurt, +recovered in a few days. The court and town were strangely alarmed by +this outrage; nor as time passed was there any clue obtained to its +perpetrators, though the king offered a thousand pounds reward for their +discovery. + +The duke and his family, however, had little doubt his grace of +Buckingham was instigator of the deed; and Lord Ossory was resolved the +latter should be made aware of their conviction. Therefore, entering the +royal drawing-room one day, he saw the duke standing beside his majesty, +and going forward addressed him. "My lord," said he in a bold tone, +whilst he looked him full in the face, "I know well that you are at the +bottom of this late attempt upon my father; and I give you fair warning, +if my father comes to a violent end by sword or pistol, or if he dies by +the hand of a ruffian, or by the more secret way of poison, I shall not +be at a loss to know the first author of it: I shall consider you as +the assassin; I shall treat you as such; and wherever I meet you I shall +pistol you, though you stood behind the king's chair; and I tell you it +in his majesty's presence, that you may be sure I shall keep my word." +No further attempt was made upon the Duke of Ormond's life. + +Scarce six months elapsed from date of the essayed abduction, before +Blood endeavoured to steal the regalia and royal jewels preserved in the +Tower. The courage which prompted the design is not more remarkable than +the skill which sought to effect it; both were worthy a man of genius. +In the month of April, 1671, Blood, attired in the cassock, cloak, +and canonical girdle of a clergyman, together with a lady, whom he +represented as his wife, visited the Tower on purpose to see the crown. +With their desire Mr. Edwards, the keeper, an elderly man and a worthy, +readily complied. It chanced they were no sooner in the room where +the regalia was kept, than the lady found herself taken suddenly and +unaccountably ill, and indeed feared she must die; before bidding adieu +to life, she begged for a little whisky. This was promptly brought her, +and Mrs. Edwards, who now appeared upon the scene, invited the poor +gentlewoman to rest upon her bed. Whilst she complied with this +kind request, the clergyman and Edwards had time to improve their +acquaintance, which indeed bade fair towards speedily ripening into +friendship. + +And presently the lady recovering, she and her spouse took their leave +with many expressions of gratitude and respect. Four days later, the +good parson called on Mrs. Edwards, in order to present her with +four pairs of fine new gloves, which she was pleased to receive. This +gracious act paved the way to further friendship, which at last found +its climax in a proposal of marriage made by the parson on behalf of +his nephew, for the hand of young Mistress Edwards. "You have a pretty +gentlewoman for your daughter," said the clergyman, "and I have a young +nephew, who has two or three hundred pounds a year in land, and is at my +disposal; if your daughter be free, and you approve of it, I will bring +him hither to see her, and we will endeavour to make a match of it." + +To this project Edwards readily consented, and invited the clergyman and +the young man to spend a day with him when they could discourse on the +subject with greater leisure and more satisfaction. This was cordially +agreed to by the parson, who, with the bridegroom elect and two of his +friends, presented themselves on the appointed date, as early as seven +of the clock in the morning. Edwards was up betimes; but the good +clergyman, apologizing for the untimely hour of their arrival, which he +attributed to his nephew's eagerness for sight of his mistress, declared +he would not enter the keeper's apartments until Mrs. Edwards was ready +to receive them. However, in order to pass the time, he begged his host +might show the jewels to their young friends. + +With this petition Edwards complied readily enough. One of the men, +protesting he did not care to see the treasures, waited at the door; the +other three entered with the keeper, who was no sooner inside the room +than a cloak was thrown over his head, a gag, constructed of wood with +a hole in it by which he might breathe, clapped into his mouth, and +the more effectually to prevent him making a noise, an iron ring was +fastened to his nose. He was told if he attempted an alarm he would be +instantly killed, but if he remained quiet his life should be spared. +Blood and his two accomplices then seized upon the crown, orb, and +sceptre, seeing which, Edwards made as much noise as he possibly could +by stamping on the floor, whereon the robbers struck him with a mallet +on the head, stabbed him with a short sword in the side, and left him, +as they thought, for dead. Blood then secured the regalia under his +cloak, one of his companions put the orb into his breeches pocket, +whilst the other proceeded to file the sceptre that it might be more +conveniently carried. + +Now, at this moment it happened the keeper's son, who had been absent in +Flanders, returned to his father's home. He who stood sentinel asked him +with whom he would speak, whereon young Edwards said he belonged to the +house, and so passed to the apartments where his family resided. The +other giving notice of his arrival, the robbers hastened to depart, +leaving the sceptre behind them. No sooner had they gone, than the old +man struggled to his feet, dragged the gag from his mouth, and cried +out in fright: "Treason--murder--murder--treason!" On this his daughter +rushed down, and seeing the condition of her father, and noting the +absence of the regalia, continued his cry, adding, "The crown is +stolen--thieves--thieves!" + +Young Edwards and another who heard her, Captain Beekman, now gave +pursuit to the robbers, who had already got beyond the main guard. +Word was instantly shouted to the warder of the drawbridge to stop the +villains, but Blood was equal to this emergency; coolly advancing, he +discharged his pistol at the man, who instantly fell. The thieves then +crossed the bridge, passed through the outward gate, and made for the +street close by, where their horses awaited them, crying the while, +"Stop thief! stop thief!" Before they advanced far, Captain Beekman came +up with Blood, who, turning quickly round, fired his second pistol at +the head of his pursuer; but Beekman, suddenly stooping, escaped injury, +and sprang at the throat of his intended assassin. A struggle then +ensued. Blood was a man of powerful physique, but Beekman was lithe and +vigorous, and succeeded in holding the rogue until help arrived. In +the contest, the regalia fell to the ground, when a fair diamond and a +priceless pearl were lost; they were, however, eventually recovered. +The other thieves were likewise captured, and all of them secured in the +Tower. + +Certain death now faced Blood; but the wonderful luck which had +befriended him during life did not desert him now. At this time the Duke +of Buckingham was high in favour with the king, and desirous of saving +one who had secretly served him; or fearing exposure if Blood made a +full confession, his grace impressed Charles with a desire to see +the man who had perpetrated so daring a deed, saying he must be one +possessed of extraordinary spirit. Giving ready ear to his words, +the monarch consented to have an interview with the robber, for which +purpose he gave orders Blood should be brought to Whitehall. + +Those who heard of the king's resolution felt satisfied Blood need not +despair of life; "for surely," said Sir Robert Southwell, on becoming +aware of his majesty's design, "no king should wish to see a malefactor +but with intentions to pardon him." Now Blood, being a man of genius, +resolved to play his part during the audience in a manner which would +favourably impress the king. Therefore when Charles asked him how he had +dared attempt so bold a robbery, Blood made answer he had lost a fine +property by the crown, and was resolved to recover it with the crown. +Diverted by his audacity his majesty questioned him further, when Blood +confessed to his attempted abduction of the Duke of Ormond, but refused +to name his accomplices. Nay, he narrated various other adventures, +showing them in a romantic light; and finally concluded by telling +the king he had once entered into a design to take his sacred life by +rushing upon him with a carbine from out of the reeds by the Thames +side, above Battersea, when he went to swim there; but he was so awed by +majesty his heart misgave him, and he not only relented, but persuaded +the remainder of his associates from such an intention. + +This strange interview resulted in Charles pardoning Blood his many +crimes. The Duke of Ormond, at his majesty's request, likewise forgave +him. Nor did the king's interest in the villain end here; for he gave +him a pension of five hundred pounds a year, and admitted him to his +private friendship. Blood was therefore constantly at court, and made +one of that strange assembly of wits and profligates which surrounded +the throne. "No man," says Carte the historian, "was more assiduous +than he. If anyone had a business at court that stuck, he made his +application to Blood as the most industrious and successful solicitor; +and many gentlemen courted his acquaintance, as the Indians pray to +the devil, that he may not hurt them. He was perpetually in the royal +apartments, and affected particularly to be in the same room where the +Duke of Ormond was, to the indignation of all others, though neglected +and overlooked by his grace." + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Terror falls upon the people.--Rumours of a plague.--A sign in the + heavens.--Flight from the capital.--Preparations against the dreaded + enemy.--Dr. Boghurst's testimony.--God's terrible voice in the + city.--Rules made by the lord mayor.--Massacre of animals.--O, dire + death!--Spread of the distemper.--Horrible sights.--State of the + deserted capital.--"Bring out your dead."--ashes to ashes.--Fires are + lighted.--Relief of the poor.--The mortality bills. + +It came to pass during the fifth month of the year 1665, that a great +terror fell upon the city of London; even as a sombre cloud darkens the +midday sky. For it was whispered abroad a plague had come amongst the +people, fears of which had been entertained, and signs of which had been +obvious for some time. During the previous November a few persons had +fallen victims to this dreaded pestilence, but the weather being cold +and the atmosphere clear, it had made no progress till April. In that +month two men had died of this most foul disease; and in the first week +of May its victims numbered nine; and yet another fortnight and it had +hurried seventeen citizens to the grave. + +Now the memory of their wickedness rising before them, dread took up its +abode in all men's hearts; for none knew but his day of reckoning was at +hand. And their consternation was greater when it was remembered that +in the third year of this century thirty-six thousand citizens of London +had died of the plague, while twenty-five years later it had swept away +thirty-five thousand; and eleven years after full ten thousand persons +perished of this same pestilence. Moreover, but two years previous, +a like scourge had been rife in Holland; and in Amsterdam alone +twenty-four thousand citizens had died from its effects. + +And the terror of the citizens of London was yet more forcibly increased +by the appearance in April of a blazing star or comet, bearing a tail +apparently six yards in length, which rose betimes in a lurid sky, and +passed with ominous movement from west to east. [It is worthy of +notice that Lilly in his "Astrological Predictions," published in 1648, +declared the year 1656 would be "ominous to London, unto her merchants +at sea, to her traffique at land, to her poor, to her rich, to all sorts +of people inhabiting in her or her Liberties, by reason of sundry fires +and a consuming plague."] The king with his queen and court, prompted by +curiosity, stayed up one night to watch this blazing star pass above +the silent city; the Royal Society in behalf of science embodied many +learned comments regarding it in their "Philosophical Transactions;" but +the great body of the people regarded it as a visible signal of God's +certain wrath. They were more confirmed in this opinion, as some amongst +them, whose judgments were distorted by fears, declared the comet had +at times before their eyes assumed the appearance of a fiery sword +threatening the sinful city. It was also noted in the spring of this +year that birds and wild fowls had left their accustomed places, and few +swallows were seen. But in the previous summer there had been "such a +multitude of flies that they lined the insides of houses; and if any +threads of strings did hang down in any place, they were presently +thick-set with flies like ropes of onions; and swarms of ants covered +the highways that you might have taken up a handful at a time, both +winged and creeping ants; and such a multitude of croaking frogs in +ditches that you might have heard them before you saw them," as is +set down by one William Boghurst, apothecary at the White Hart in St. +Giles-in-the-Fields, who wrote a learned "Treatis on the Plague" +in 1666, he being the only man who up to that time had done so from +experience and observation. [This quaint and curious production, which +has never been printed, and which furnishes the following pages +with some strange details, is preserved in the Sloane Collection of +Manuscripts in the British Museum.] And from such signs, as likewise +from knowledge that the pestilence daily increased, all felt a season of +bitter tribulation was at hand. + +According to "Some Observations of the Plague," written by Dr. Hedges +for use of a peer of the realm, the dread malady was communicated to +London from the Netherlands "by way of contagion." It first made its +appearance in the parishes of St. Giles and St. Martin's, Westminster, +from which directions it gradually spread to Holborn, Fleet Street, +the Strand, and the city, finally reaching to the east, bringing death +invariably in its train. + +The distemper was not only fatal in its termination, but loathsome +in its progress; for the blood of those affected being poisoned by +atmospheric contagion, bred venom in the body, which burst forth into +nauseous sores and uncleanness; or otherwise preyed with more rapid +fatality internally, in some cases causing death before its victims were +assured of disease. Nor did it spare the young and robust any more than +those weak of frame or ripe with years, but attacking stealthily, killed +speedily. It was indeed the "pestilence that walketh in darkness, and +the destruction that wasteth in the noonday." In the month of May, when +it was yet uncertain if the city would be spared even in part, persons +of position and wealth, and indeed those endowed with sufficient means +to support themselves elsewhere, resolved to fly from the capital; +whilst such as had neither home, friends, nor expectation of employment +in other places, remained behind. Accordingly great preparations were +made by those who determined on flight; and all day long vast crowds +gathered round my lord mayor's house in St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, +seeking certificates of health, so that for some weeks it was difficult +to reach his door for the throng that gathered there, as is stated by +John Noorthouck. Such official testimonies to the good health of +those leaving London had now become necessary; for the inhabitants of +provincial towns, catching the general alarm, refused to shelter in +their houses, or even let pass through their streets, the residents of +the plague-stricken city, unless officially assured they were free +from the dreaded distemper. Nay, even with such certificates in +their possession, many were refused admittance to inns, or houses of +entertainment, and were therefore obliged to sleep in fields by night, +and beg food by day, and not a few deaths were caused by want and +exposure. + +And now were the thoroughfares of the capital crowded all day long with +coaches conveying those who sought safety in flight, and with waggons +and carts containing their household goods and belongings, until it +seemed as if the city mould be left without a soul. Many merchants and +shipowners together with their families betook themselves to vessels, +which they caused to be towed down the river towards Greenwich, and in +which they resided for months; whilst others sought refuge in smacks and +fishing-boats, using them as shelters by day, and lodging on the banks +by night. Some few families remaining in the capital laid in stores +of provisions, and shutting themselves up securely in their houses, +permitted none to enter or leave, by which means some of them escaped +contagion and death. The court tarried until the 29th of June, and then +left for Hampton, none too soon, for the pestilence had reached almost +to the palace gates. The queen mother likewise departed, retiring into +France; from which country she never returned. + +All through the latter part of May, and the whole of the following +month, this flight from the dread enemy of mankind continued; presenting +a melancholy spectacle to those who remained, until at last the capital +seemed veritably a city of the dead. But for the credit of humanity be +it stated, that not all possessed of health and wealth abandoned the +town. Prominent amongst those who remained were the Duke of Albemarle, +Lord Craven, the lord mayor, Sir John Laurence, some of his aldermen, +and a goodly number of physicians, chirurgeons, and apothecaries, all of +whom by their skill or exertions sought to check the hungry ravages of +death. The offices which medical men voluntarily performed during +this period of dire affliction were loathsome to a terrible degree. "I +commonly dressed forty sores in a day," says Dr. Boghurst, whose +simple words convey a forcible idea of his nobility; "held the pulse of +patients sweating in their beds half a quarter of an hour together; let +blood; administered clysters to the sick; held them up in their beds to +keep them from strangling and choking, half an hour together commonly, +and suffered their breathing in my face several times when they were +dying; eat and drank with them, especially those that had sores; sat +down by their bedsides and upon their beds, discoursing with them an +hour together. If I had time I stayed by them to see them die. Then if +people had nobody to help them (for help was scarce at such time and +place) I helped to lay them forth out of the bed, and afterwards into +the coffin; and last of all, accompanied them to the ground." + +Of the physicians remaining in the city, nine fell a sacrifice to duty. +Amongst those who survived was the learned Dr. Nathaniel Hodges, who +was spared to meet a philanthropist's fate in penury and neglect. [Dr. +Hodges subsequently wrote a work entitled "Loimologia; or, an Historical +Account of the Plague of London," first published in 1672; of which, +together with a collection of the bills of mortality for 1665, entitled +"London's Dreadful Visitation," and a pamphlet by the Rev. Thomas +Vincent, "God's Terrible Voice in the City," printed in 1667, De Foe +largely availed himself in writing his vivid but unreliable "Journal of +the Plague Year," which first saw the light in 1722.] The king had, +on outbreak of the distemper, shown solicitude for his citizens by +summoning a privy council, when a committee of peers was formed for +"Prevention and Spreading of the Infection." Under their orders the +College of Physicians drew up "Certain necessary Directions for the +Prevention and Cure of the Plague, with Divers remedies for small +Change," which were printed in pamphlet form, and widely distributed +amongst the people. [We learn that at this time the College was stored +with "men of learning, virtue, and probity, nothing acquainted with +the little arts of getting a name by plotting against the honesty and +credulity of the people." The prescriptions given by this worthy body +were consequently received with a simple faith which later and more +sceptical generations might deny them. Perhaps the most remarkable of +these directions, given under the heading of "Medicines External," was +the following: "Pull off the feathers from the tails of living cocks, +hens, pigeons, or chickens, and holding their bills, hold them hard to +the botch or swelling, and so keep them at that part until they die, and +by that means draw out the poison. It is good to apply a cupping glass, +or embers in a dish, with a handful of sorrel upon the embers."] + +The lord mayor, having likewise the welfare of the people at heart, +"conceived and published" rules to be observed, and orders to be obeyed, +by them during this visitation. These directed the appointment of two +examiners for every parish, who were bound to discover those who were +sick, and inquire into the nature of their illness: and finding +persons afflicted by plague, they, with the members of their family +and domestics, were to be confined in their houses. These were to be +securely locked outside, and guarded day and night by watchmen, +whose duty it should be to prevent persons entering or leaving those +habitations; as likewise to perform such offices as were required, such +as conveying medicines and food. And all houses visited by the distemper +were to be forthwith marked on the door by a red cross a foot long, with +the words LORD HAVE MERCY UPON US set close over the same sacred sign. +Female searchers, "such as are of honest reputation, and of the best +sort as can be got of the kind," were selected that they might report +of what disease people died; such women not being permitted during this +visitation to use any public work or employment, or keep shop or stall, +or wash linen for the people. Nurses to attend the afflicted deserted +by their friends were also appointed. And inasmuch as multitudes of idle +rogues and wandering beggars swarming the city were a great means +of spreading disease, the constables had orders not to suffer their +presence in the streets. And dogs and cats, being domestic animals, apt +to run from house to house, and carry infection in their fur and hair, +an order was made that they should be killed, and an officer nominated +to see it carried into execution. It was computed that, in accordance +with this edict, forty thousand dogs, and five times that number of +cats, were massacred. + +All plays bear-baitings, exhibitions, and games were forbidden; as were +likewise "all public feasting, and particularly by the companies of +the city, and dinners at taverns, alehouses, and other places of common +entertainment; and the money thereby spared, be employed for the benefit +and relief of the poor visited with the infection." Pest-houses were +opened at Tothill Fields, Westminster, and at Bunhill Fields, near Old +Street, for reception of the sick: and indeed every possible remedy +calculated to check the disease was adopted. Some of these, though +considered necessary to the well-being of the community, were by many +citizens regarded as hardships, more especially the rule which related +to closing of infected houses. + +The misery endured by those in health suffering such confinement, was +scarcely less than that realized by the afflicted. And fear making way +for disease, it frequently occurred a whole family, when confined +with one infected member, speedily became stricken by plague, and +consequently overtaken by death. It therefore happened that many +attempts were made by those in health to escape incarceration. In some +cases they bribed, and in others ill-treated the watchmen: one of whom +was actually blown up by gunpowder in Coleman Street, that those he +guarded might flee unmolested. Again, it chanced that strong men, +rendered desperate when brought face to face with loathsome death, +lowered themselves from windows of their houses in sight of the watch, +whom they threatened with instant death if they cried out or stirred. + +The apprehension of the sick, who were in most cases deserted by their +friends, was increased tenfold by the practices of public nurses: +for being hardened to affliction by nature of their employment, and +incapable of remorse for crime by reason of their vileness, they were +guilty of many barbarous usages. "These wretches," says Dr. Hodges, "out +of greediness to plunder the dead, would strangle their patients, and +charge it to the distemper in their throats. Others would secretly +convey the pestilential taint from sores of the infected to those who +were well; and nothing indeed deterred these abandoned miscreants from +prosecuting their avaricious purposes by all methods their wickedness +could invent; who, although they were without witnesses to accuse them, +yet it is not doubted but divine vengeance will overtake such wicked +barbarities with due punishment. Nay, some were remarkably struck from +heaven in the perpetration of their crimes; and one particularly amongst +many, as she was leaving the house of a family, all dead, loaded with +her robberies, fell down lifeless under her burden in the street. And +the case of a worthy citizen was very remarkable, who, being suspected +dying by his nurse, was beforehand stripped by her; but recovering +again, he came a second time into the world naked." + +But notwithstanding all precautions and care taken by the Duke of +Albemarle and the worthy lord mayor, the dreadful pestilence spread with +alarming rapidity; as may be judged from the fact that the number who +died in the first week of June amounted to forty-three, whilst during +the last week of that month two hundred and sixty-seven persons were +carried to their graves. From the 4th of July to the 11th, seven hundred +and fifty-five deaths were chronicled; the following eight days the +death rate rose to one thousand and eighty-two; whilst the ensuing week +this high figure was increased by over eight hundred. For the month of +August, the mortality bill recorded seventeen thousand and thirty-six +deaths; and during September, twenty-six thousand two hundred and thirty +persons perished in the city. + +The whole British nation was stricken with consternation at the fate of +the capital. "In some houses," says Dr. Hodges, speaking from personal +experience, "carcases lay waiting for burial, and in others were persons +in their last agonies. In one room might be heard dying groans, in an +other the ravings of delirium, and not far off relations and friends +bewailing both their loss and the dismal prospect of their own sudden +departure. Death was the sure midwife to all children, and infants +passed immediately from the womb to the grave. Some of the infected run +about staggering like drunken men, and fall and expire in the streets; +whilst others lie half dead and comatose, but never to be waked but by +the last trumpet." The plague had indeed encompassed the walls of the +city, and poured in upon it without mercy. A heavy stifling atmosphere, +vapours by day and blotting out all traces of stars and sky by night, +hovered like a palpable shape of dire vengeance above the doomed city. +During many weeks "there was a general calm and serenity, as if both +wind and rain had been expelled the kingdom, so that there was not so +much as to move a flame." The oppressive silence of brooding death, +unbroken now even by the passing bell, weighed stupor-like upon the +wretched survivors. The thoroughfares were deserted, grass sprang +green upon side-paths and steps of dwellings; and the broad street in +Whitechapel became like unto a field. Most houses bore upon their doors +the dread sign of the red cross, with the supplication for mercy written +above. Some of the streets were barricaded at both ends, the inhabitants +either having fled into the country or been carried to their graves; +and it was estimated in all that over seven thousand dwellings were +deserted. All commerce, save that dealing with the necessaries of life, +was abandoned; the parks forsaken and locked, the Inns of Court closed, +and the public marts abandoned. A few of the church doors were opened, +and some gathered within that they might humbly beseech pardon for the +past, and ask mercy in the present. But as the violence of the distemper +increased, even the houses of God were forsaken; and those who +ventured abroad walked in the centre of the street, avoiding contact or +conversation with friend or neighbour; each man dreading and avoiding +his fellow, lest he should be to him the harbinger of death. And all +carried rue and wormwood in their hands, and myrrh and zedoary in their +mouths, as protection against infection. Now were the faces of all pale +with apprehension, none knowing when the fatal malady might carry them +hence; and moreover sad, as became those who stand in the presence of +death. + +And such sights were to be witnessed day after day as made the heart +sick. "It would be endless," says the Rev. Thomas Vincent, "to speak +what we have seen and heard; of some, in their frenzy, rising out of +their beds and leaping about their rooms; others crying and roaring +at their windows; some coming forth almost naked and running into the +streets; strange things have others spoken and done when the disease was +upon them: but it was very sad to hear of one, who being sick alone, +and it is like frantic, burnt himself in his bed. And amongst other +sad spectacles methought two were very affecting: one of a woman coming +alone and weeping by the door where I lived, with a little coffin under +her arm, carrying it to the new churchyard. I did judge that it was the +mother of the child, and that all the family besides was dead, and she +was forced to coffin up and bury with her own hands this her last dead +child. Another was of a man at the corner of the Artillery Wall, that +as I judge, through the dizziness of his head with the disease, which +seized upon him there, had dashed his face against the wall; and when I +came by he lay hanging with his bloody face over the rails, and bleeding +upon the ground; within half an hour he died in that place." + +And as the pestilence increased, it was found impossible to provide +coffins or even separate graves for those who perished. And therefore, +in order to bury the deceased, great carts passed through the streets +after sunset, attended by linkmen and preceded by a bellman crying in +weird and solemn tones, "Bring out your dead." At the intimation of the +watchmen stationed before houses bearing red crosses upon their +doors, the sad procession would tarry, When coffinless, and oftentimes +shroudless, rigid, loathsome, and malodorous bodies were hustled into +the carts with all possible speed. Then once more the melancholy cortege +took its way adown the dark, deserted street, the yellow glare of links +falling on the ghastly burden they accompanied, the dirge-like call of +the bellman sounding on the ears of the living like a summons from +the dead. And so, receiving additional freight upon its way, the cart +proceeded to one of the great pits dug in the parish churchyards of +Aldgate and Whitechapel, or in Finsbury Fields close by the Artillery +Ground. These, measuring about forty feet in length, eighteen in +breadth, and twenty in depth, were destined to receive scores of bodies +irrespective of creed or class. The carts being brought to these dark +and weirdsome gulphs, looking all the blacker from the flickering lights +of candles and garish gleams of lanterns placed beside them, the bodies, +without rite or ceremony, were shot into them, and speedily covered with +clay. For the accomplishment of this sad work night was found too brief. +And what lent additional horror to the circumstances of these burials +was, that those engaged in this duty would occasionally drop lifeless +during their labour. So that it sometimes happened the dead-carts were +found without driver, linkman, or bell-man. And it was estimated that +the parish of Stepney alone lost one hundred and sixteen gravediggers +and sextons within that year. + +During the month of September, the pestilence raged with increased fury; +and it now seemed as if the merciless distemper would never cease whilst +a single inhabitant remained in the city. The lord mayor, having found +all remedies to stay its progress utterly fail, by advice of the +medical faculty, ordered that great fires should be kindled in certain +districts, by way of purifying the air, Accordingly, two hundred +chaldrons of coal, at four pounds a chaldron, were devoted to this +purpose. At first the fires were with great difficulty made to burn, +through the scarcity, it was believed, of oxygen in the atmosphere; but +once kindled, they continued blazing for three days and three nights, +when a heavy downpour of rain falling they were extinguished. The +following night death carried off four thousand souls, and the +experiment of these cleansing fires was discontinued. All through this +month fear and tribulation continued; the death rate, from the 5th of +September to the 3rd of October, amounting to twenty-four thousand one +hundred and seventy-one. + +During October, the weather being cool and dry, the pestilence gave +promise of rapid decrease. Hope came to the people, and was received +with eager greeting. Once more windows were unshuttered, doors were +opened, and the more venturous walked abroad. The great crisis had +passed. In the middle of the month Mr. Pepys travelled on foot to the +Tower, and records his impressions. "Lord," he says, "how empty the +streets are and melancholy, so many poor sick people in the streets full +of sores; and so many sad stories overheard as I walk, everybody talking +of this dead, and that man sick, and so many in this place, and so many +in that. And they tell me that in Westminster there is never a physician +and but one apothecary left, all being dead; but that there are great +hopes of a decrease this week. God send it." + +The while, trade being discontinued, those who had lived by commerce +or labour were supported by charity. To this good purpose the king +contributed a thousand pounds per week, and Dr. Sheldon, Archbishop of +Canterbury--who remained at Lambeth during the whole time--by letters +to his bishops, caused great sums to be collected throughout the country +and remitted to him for this laudable purpose. Nor did those of position +or wealth fail in responding to calls made upon them at this time; +their contributions being substantial enough to permit the lord mayor +to distribute upwards of one hundred thousand pounds a week amongst the +poor and afflicted for several months. + +In October the death rate fell to nine thousand four hundred and +forty-four; in November to three thousand four hundred and forty-nine; +and in December to less than one thousand. Therefore, after a period of +unprecedented suffering, the people took courage once more, for life +is dear to all men. And those who had fled the plague-stricken city +returned to find a scene of desolation, greater in its misery than words +can describe. But the tide of human existence having once turned, the +capital gradually resumed its former appearance. Shops which had been +closed were opened afresh; houses whose inmates had been carried to the +grave became again centres of activity; the sound of traffic was heard +in streets long silent; church bells called the citizens to prayer; +marts were crowded; and people wore an air of cheerfulness becoming the +survivors of a calamity. And so all things went on as before. + +The mortality bills computed the number of burials which took place in +London during this year at ninety-seven thousand three hundred and +six, of which sixty-eight thousand five hundred find ninety-six were +attributed to the plague. This estimate has been considered by all +historians as erroneous. For on the first appearance of the distemper, +the number of deaths set down was far below that which truth warranted, +in order that the citizens might not be affrighted; and when it was at +its height no exact account of those shifted from the dead-carts into +the pits was taken. Moreover, many were buried by their friends in +fields and gardens. Lord Clarendon, an excellent authority, states +that though the weekly bills reckoned the number of deaths at about one +hundred thousand, yet "many who could compute very well, concluded that +there were in truth double that number who died; and that in one week, +when the bill mentioned only six thousand, there had in truth fourteen +thousand died." + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + A cry of fire by night.--Fright and confusion.--The lord mayor is + unmanned.--Spread of the flames.--Condition of the streets.--Distressful + scenes.--Destruction of the Royal Exchange.--Efforts of the king and + Duke of York.--Strange rumours and alarms.--St. Paul's is doomed.--The + flames checked.--A ruined city as seen by day and night.--Wretched state + of the people.--Investigation into the origin of the fire.--A new city + arises. + +Scarcely had the city of London recovered from the dire effects of +the plague, ere a vast fire laid it waste. It happened on the 2nd of +September, 1666, that at two o'clock in the morning, the day being +Sunday, smoke and flames were seen issuing from the shop of a baker +named Faryner, residing in Pudding Lane, close by Fish Street, in the +lower part of the city. The house being built of wood, and coated with +pitch, as were likewise those surrounding it, and moreover containing +faggots, dried logs, and other combustible materials, the fire spread +with great rapidity: so that in a short time not only the baker's +premises, but the homesteads which stood next it on either side were in +flames. + +Accordingly, the watchman's lusty cry of "Fire, fire, fire!" which had +roused the baker and his family in good time to save their lives, was +now shouted down the streets with consternation, startling sleepers from +their dreams, and awaking them to a sense of peril. Thereon they rose +promptly from their beds, and hastily throwing on some clothes, rushed +out to rescue their neighbours' property from destruction, and subdue +the threatening conflagration. + +And speedily was heard the tramp of many feet hurrying to the scene, and +the shouting of anxious voices crying for help; and presently the +bells of St. Margaret's church close by, ringing with wild uneven peals +through the darkness, aroused all far and near to knowledge of the +disaster. For already the flames, fanned by a high easterly wind, and +fed by the dry timber of the picturesque old dwellings huddled close +together, had spread in four directions. + +One of these being Thames Street, the consequence was terrible, for +the shops and warehouses of this thoroughfare containing inflammable +materials, required for the shipping trade, such as oil, pitch, tar, and +rosin, the houses at one side the street were immediately wrapped, from +basement to garret, in sheets of angry flame. And now flaunting its +yellow light skywards, as if exulting in its strength, and triumphing +in its mastery over men's efforts, the fire rushed to the church of St. +Magnus, a dark solid edifice standing at the foot of London Bridge. The +frightened citizens concluded the conflagration must surely end here; or +at least that whilst it endeavoured to consume a dense structure such +as this, they might succeed in subduing its force; but their hopes were +vain. At first the flames shot upwards to the tower of the building, +but not gaining hold, retreated as if to obtain fresh strength for new +efforts; and presently darting forward again, they seized the woodwork +of the belfry windows. A few minutes later the church blazed at every +point, and was in itself a colossal conflagration. + +From this the fire darted to the bridge, burning the wooden houses built +upon it, and the water machines underneath, and likewise creeping up +Thames Street, on that side which was yet undemolished. By this time +the bells of many churches rang out in sudden fright, as if appealing to +heaven for mercy on behalf of the people; and the whole east end of +the town rose up in alarm. The entire city seemed threatened with +destruction, for the weather having long been dry and warm, prepared the +homesteads for their fate; and it was noted some of them, when scorched +by the approaching fire, ignited before the flames had time to reach +them. + +Sir Thomas Bludworth, the lord mayor, now arrived in great haste, but so +amazed was he at the sight he beheld, and so bewildered by importunities +of those who surrounded him, that he was powerless to act. Indeed, his +incapacity to direct, and inability to command, as well as his lack of +moral courage, have been heavily and frequently blamed. Bring a weak +man, fearful of outstepping his authority, he at first forebore pulling +down houses standing in the pathway of the flames, as suggested to him, +a means that would assuredly have prevented their progress; but when +urged to this measure would reply, he "durst not, without the consent of +the owners." And when at last, after great destruction had taken place, +word was brought him from the king to "spare no house, but pull them +down everywhere before the fire," he cried out "like a fainting woman," +as Pepys recounts, "Lord! what can I do? I am spent; people will not +obey me." + +Meanwhile, great bodies of the citizens of all classes had been at work; +some upon the cumbrous engines, others carrying water, others levelling +houses, but all their endeavours seemed powerless to quell the raging +flames. And it was notable when first the pipes in the streets were +opened, no water could be found, whereon a messenger was sent to the +works at Islington, in order to turn on the cocks, so that much time was +lost in this manner. All through Sunday morning the flames extended far +and wide, and in a few hours three hundred houses were reduced to ashes. +Not at midday, nor yet at night, did they give promise of abatement. The +strong easterly wind continuing to blow, the conflagration worked its +way to Cannon Street, from thence gradually encompassing the dwellings +which lay between that thoroughfare and the Thames, till the whole +seemed one vast plain of raging fire. + +The streets now presented a scene of the uttermost confusion and +distress. The affrighted citizens, whose dwellings were momentarily +threatened with destruction, hurried to and fro, striving to save those +of their families who by reason of infancy, age or illness were unable +to help themselves. Women on the eve of child-birth were carried from +their beds; mothers with infants clinging to their naked breasts fled +from homes which would shelter them no more; the decrepit were borne +away on the shoulders of the strong. The narrow thoroughfares were +moreover obstructed by furniture dragged from houses, or lowered from +windows with a reckless speed that oftentimes destroyed what it sought +to preserve. Carts, drays, and horses laden with merchandise jostled +each other in their hurried way towards the fields outside the city +walls. Men young and vigorous crushed forward with beds or trunks upon +their backs; children laboured under the weight of bundles, or rolled +barrels of oil, wine, or spirits before them. And the air, rendered +suffocating by smoke and flame, was moreover confused by the crackling +of consuming timber, the thunder of falling walls, the crushing of +glass, the shrieks of women, and the imprecations of men. + +And those who lived near the waterside, or in houses on the bridges, +hurried their goods and chattels into boats, barges, and lighters, +in which they likewise took refuge. For the destruction of wharfs and +warehouses, containing stores of most inflammable nature, was brief and +desperate. The Thames, now blood-red from reflection of the fierce sky, +was covered with craft of all imaginable shape and size. Showers of +sparks blown by the high wind fell into the water with hissing sounds, +or on the clothes and faces of the people with disastrous and painful +effects; and the smoke and heat were hard to bear. And it was remarked +that flocks of pigeons, which for generations had found shelter in the +eaves and roofs of wooden houses by the riverside, were loath to leave +their habitations; and probably fearing to venture afar by reason of +the unwonted aspect of the angry sky, lingered on the balconies and +abutments of deserted houses, until in some cases, the flames enwrapping +them, they fell dead into the waters below. + +On Sunday evening Gracechurch Street was on fire; and the flames spread +onwards till they reached, and in their fury consumed, the Three Cranes +in the Vintry. Night came, but darkness had fled from the city; and +for forty miles round all was luminous. And there were many who in the +crimson hue of the heavens, beheld an evidence of God's wrath at the +sins of the nation, which it was now acknowledged were many and great. + +Throughout Sunday night the fire grew apace, and those who, in the +morning had carried their belongings to parts of the city which they +believed would by distance ensure safety, were now obliged to move +them afresh, the devastation extending for miles. Therefore many were +compelled to renew their labours, thereby suffering further fatigue; and +they now trusted to no protection for their property save that which +the open fields afforded. Monday morning came and found the flames yet +raging. Not only Gracechurch Street, but Lombard Street, and part of +Fenchurch street, were on fire. Stately mansions, comfortable homes, +warehouses of great name, banks of vast wealth, were reduced to charred +and blackened walls or heaps of smoking ruins. Buildings had been pulled +down, but now too late to render service; for the insatiable fire, yet +fed by a high wind, had everywhere marched over the dried woodwork and +mortar as it lay upon the ground, and communicated itself to the next +block of buildings; so that its circumvention was regarded as almost an +impossibility. + +During Monday the flames attacked Cornhill, and then commenced to +demolish the Royal Exchange. Having once made an entrance in this +stately building it revelled in triumph; climbing up the walls, roaring +along the courts and galleries, and sending through the broken windows +volleys of smoke and showers of sparks, which threatened to suffocate +and consume those who approached. Then the roof fell with a mighty +crash, which seemed for a time to subdue the powerful conflagration; the +walls cracked, parted, and fell; statues of kings and queens were flung +from their niches; and in a couple of hours this building, which had +been the pride and glory of British Merchants, was a blackened ruin. + +The citizens were now in a state of despair. Upwards of ten thousand +houses were in a blaze, the fire extending, according to Evelyn, two +miles in length and one in breadth, and the smoke reaching near fifty +miles in length. Mansions, churches, hospitals, halls, and schools +crumbled into dust as if at blighting touch of some most potent and +diabolical magician. Quite hopeless now of quenching the flames, +bewildered by loss, and overcome by terror, the citizens, abandoning +themselves to despair, made no further effort to conquer this +inappeasable fire; but crying aloud in their distraction, behaved as +those who had lost their wits. The king and the Duke of York, who on +Sunday had viewed the conflagration from the Thames, now alarmed at +prospect of the whole capital being laid waste, rode into the city, +and by their presence, coolness and example roused the people to fresh +exertions. Accordingly, citizens and soldiers worked with renewed energy +and courage; whilst his majesty and his brother, the courtiers and the +lord mayor, mixed freely with the crowd, commanding and directing them +in their labours. + +But now a new terror rose up amongst the citizens, for news spread that +the Dutch and French--with whom England was then at war--and moreover +the papists, whom the people then abhorred, had conspired to destroy +the capital. And the suddenness with which the flames had appeared in +various places, and the rapidity with which they spread, leading the +distracted inhabitants to favour this report, a strong desire for +immediate revenge took possession of their hearts. + +Accordingly all foreigners were laid hold of, kicked, beaten, and abused +by infuriated mobs, from which they were rescued only to be flung into +prison. And this conduct was speedily extended to the catholics, even +when such were known to be faithful and well-approved good citizens. +For though at first it spread as a rumour, it was now received as a +certainty that they, in obedience to the wily and most wicked Jesuits, +had determined to lay waste an heretical city. Nor were there wanting +many ready to bear witness they had seen these dreaded papists fling +fire-balls into houses of honest citizens, and depart triumphing in +their fiendish deeds. So that when they ventured abroad they were beset +by great multitudes, and their lives were imperilled. And news of this +distraction, which so forcibly swayed the people, reaching the king, he +speedily despatched the members of his privy council to several quarters +of the city, that in person they might guard such of his subjects as +stood in danger. + +Lord Hollis and Lord Ashley were assigned Newgate Market and the streets +that lie around, as parts where they were to station themselves. And +it happened that riding near the former place they saw a vast number of +people gathered together, shouting with great violence, and badly using +one who stood in their midst. Whereon they hastened towards the spot and +found the ill-treated man to be of foreign aspect. Neither had he hat, +cloak, nor sword; his face was covered with blood, his jerkin was torn +in pieces, and his person was bedaubed by mud. And on examination it +was found he was unable to speak the English tongue; but Lord Hollis, +entering into conversation with him in the French language, ascertained +that he was a servant of the Portuguese ambassador, and knew not of what +he was accused, or why he had been maltreated. + +Hereon a citizen of good standing pressed forward and alleged he had +truly seen this man put his hand in his pocket and throw a fire-ball +into a shop, upon which the house immediately took flame; whereon, being +on the other side of the street, he called aloud that the people might +stop this abominable villain. Then the citizens had seized upon him, +taking away his sword, and used him according to their will. My Lord +Hollis explaining this to the foreigner, he was overcome by amazement +at the charge; and when asked what he had thrown into the house, made +answer he had not flung anything. But he remembered well, whilst walking +in the street, he saw a piece of bread upon the ground, which he, as was +the custom in his country took up. Afterwards he laid it upon a shelf in +a neighbouring house, which being close by, my Lords Hollis and Ashley, +followed by a dense crowd, conducted him thither, and found the bread +laid upon a board as he had stated. It was noted the next house but one +was on fire, and on inquiry it was ascertained that the worthy citizen, +seeing a foreigner place something inside a shop without tarrying, and +immediately after perceiving a dwelling in flames, which in his haste he +took to be the same, he had charged the man with commission of this +foul deed. But even though many were convinced of his innocence, my Lord +Hollis concluded the stranger's life would be in safer keeping if he +were committed to prison, which was accordingly done. + +Meanwhile the fire continued; and on Monday night and Tuesday raged with +increasing violence. The very heart of the city was now eaten into by +this insatiable monster: Soper Lane, Bread Street, Friday Street, Old +Change, and Cheapside being in one blaze. It was indeed a spectacle to +fill all beholding it with consternation; but that which followed +was yet more terrible, for already St. Paul's Cathedral was doomed to +destruction. + +Threatened on one side by the flames devastating Cheapside, and on the +other from those creeping steadily up from Blackfriars to this great +centre, it was now impossible to save the venerable church, which Evelyn +terms "one of the most ancient pieces of early Christian piety in the +world." Seen by this fierce light, and overhung by a crimson sky, every +curve of its dark outline, every stone of its pillars and abutments, +every column of its incomparable portico, stood clearly defined, so that +never had it looked so stately and magnificent, so vast and majestic, as +now when beheld for the last time. + +Too speedily the fire advanced, watched by sorrowful eyes; but even +before it had reached the scaffolding now surrounding the building, +the vaulted roof, ignited by showers of sparks, burst into flames. Then +followed a scene unspeakably grand, yet melancholy beyond all telling. +In a few moments a pale yellow light had crept along the parapets, +sending faint clouds of smoke upwards, as if more forcibly marking the +course of destruction. Then came the crackling, hissing sounds of timber +yielding to the fire, and soon a great sheet of lead which covered the +roof, and was said to measure six acres, melting by degrees, down came +on every side a terrible rain of liquid fire that seamed and burned the +ground, and carried destruction with it in its swift course towards the +Thames. + +And now, by reason of the fearful heat, great projections of Portland +stone, cornices, and capitals of columns, flew off before the fire had +time to reach them. Windows melted in their frames, pillars fell to the +ground, ironwork bent as wax; nay, the very pavements around glowed +so that neither man nor horse dared tread upon them. And the flames, +gradually gaining ground, danced fantastically up and down the +scaffolding, and covered the edifice as with one blaze; whilst inside +transom beams were snapped asunder, rafters fell with destruction, and +the fire roaring through chapels and aisles as in a great furnace, could +be heard afar. And that which had been a Christian shrine was now, a +smoking ruin. + +Raging onward in their fierce career, the flames darted towards such +buildings in the neighbourhood as had been previously untouched, so that +Paternoster Row, Newgate Street, the Old Bailey and Ludgate Hill +were soon in course of destruction. And from the latter spot the +conflagration, urged by the wind, rapidly rushed onwards towards Fleet +Street. On the other hand, it extended from Cheapside to Ironmongers' +Lane, Old Jewry, Lawrence Lane, Milk Street, Wood Street, Gutter Lane, +and Foster Lane; and again spreading from Newgate Street, it surrounded +and destroyed Christ Church, burned through St. Martin's-le-Grand +towards Aldgate, and threatened to continue its triumphant march to the +suburbs. + +For several miles nothing but raging fire and smoking ruins was visible, +for desolation had descended on the city. It was now feared the flames +would reach the Palace of Whitehall, and extend towards Westminster +Abbey, a consideration which caused much alarm to his majesty, who +prized the sacred fane exceedingly. And now the king was determined the +orders he had already issued should be obeyed, and that houses standing +in direct path of the fire should be demolished by gunpowder; so that, +a greater gap being effected than any previously made by pulling them +down, the conflagration might have no further material wherewith to +strengthen and feed its further progress. + +This plan, Evelyn states, had been proposed by some stout seamen early +enough to have saved nearly the whole city; "but this some tenacious and +avaricious men, aldermen, etc., would not permit, because their houses +would have been the first." Now, however, this remedy was tried, and +with greater despatch, because the fire threatened the Tower and the +powder magazine it contained. And if the flames once reached this, +London Bridge would assuredly be destroyed, the vessels in the river +torn and sunk, and incalculable damage to life and property effected. + +Accordingly Tower Street, which had already become ignited, was, under +supervision of the king, blown up in part, and the fire happily brought +to an end by this means in that part of the town. Moreover, on Wednesday +morning the east wind, which had continued high from Sunday night, now +subsided, so that the flames lost much of their vehemence, and by means +of explosions were more easily mastered at Leadenhall and in Holborn, +and likewise at the Temple, to which places they had spread during +Wednesday and Thursday. + +During these latter days, the king and the Duke of York betrayed great +vigilance, and laboured with vast activity; the latter especially, +riding from post to post, by his example inciting those whose courage +had deserted them, and by his determination overcoming destruction. On +Thursday the dread conflagration, after raging for five consecutive days +and nights, was at length conquered. + +On Friday morning the sun rose like a ball of crimson fire above a scene +of blackness, ruin, and desolation. Whole streets were levelled to the +ground, piles of charred stones marked where stately churches had stood, +smoke rose in clouds from smouldering embers. With sorrowful hearts +many citizens traversed the scene of desolation that day; amongst others +Pepys and Evelyn. The latter recounts that "the ground and air, smoke +and fiery vapour, continu'd so intense, that my haire was almost sing'd, +and my feete unsuffurably surbated. The people who now walk'd about ye +ruines appear'd like men in some dismal desert, or rather in some greate +citty laid waste by a cruel enemy; to which was added that stench that +came from some poore creatures' bodies, beds, and other combustible +goods." + +It would have been impossible to trace the original course of the +streets, but that some gable, pinnacle, or portion of walls, of +churches, halls, or mansions, indicated where they had stood. The +narrower thoroughfares were completely blocked by rubbish; massive +iron chains, then used to prevent traffic at night in the streets, were +melted, as were likewise iron gates of prisons, and the hinges of +strong doors. Goods stored away in cellars and subterranean passages of +warehouses yet smouldered, emitting foul odours; wells were completely +choked, fountains were dried at their sources. The statues of monarchs +which had adorned the Exchange, were smashed; that of its founder, Sir +Thomas Gresham, alone remaining entire. The ruins of St. Paul's, with +its walls standing black and cheerless, presented in itself a most +melancholy spectacle. Its pillars were embedded in ashes, its cornices +irretrievably destroyed, its great bell reduced to a shapeless mass of +metal; whilst its general air of desolation was heightened by the fact +that a few monuments, which had escaped destruction, rose abruptly from +amidst the charred DEBRIS. + +But if the ruins of the capital looked sad by day, their appearance was +more appalling when seen by light of the moon, which rose nightly during +the week following this great calamity. From the city gates, standing +gaunt, black, and now unguarded, to the Temple, the level waste seemed +sombre as a funeral pall; whilst the Thames, stripped of wharves and +warehouses, quaintly gabled homes, and comfortable inns--wont to cast +pleasant lights and shadows on its surface--now swept past the blackened +ruins a melancholy river of white waters. + +In St. George's Fields, Moorfields, and far as Highgate for several +miles, citizens of all degrees, to the number of two hundred thousand, +had gathered: sleeping in the open fields, or under canvas tents, or in +wooden sheds which they hurriedly erected. Some there were amongst them +who had been used to comfort and luxury, but who were now without bed or +board, or aught to cover them save the clothes in which they had hastily +dressed when fleeing from the fire. And to many it seemed as if they had +only been saved from one calamity to die by another: for they had +nought wherewith to satisfy their hunger, yet had too much pride to seek +relief. + +And whilst yet wildly distracted by their miserable situation, weary +from exhaustion, and nervous from lack of repose, a panic arose in their +midst which added much to their distress. For suddenly news was spread +that the French, Dutch and English papists were marching on them, +prepared to cut their throats. At which, broken-spirited as they were, +they rose up, and leaving such goods that they had saved, rushed towards +Westminster to seek protection from their imaginary foes. On this, +the king sought to prove the falsity of their alarm, and with infinite +difficulty persuaded them to return to the fields: whence he despatched +troops of soldiers, whose presence helped to calm their fears. + +And the king having, moreover, tender compassion for their wants, +speedily sought to supply them. He therefore summoned a council that +it might devise means of relief; and as a result, it published a +proclamation ordering that bread and all other provisions, such as could +be furnished, should be daily and constantly brought, not only to the +markets formerly in use, but also to Clerkenwell, Islington, Finsbury +Fields, Mile End Green, and Ratcliffe, for greater convenience of +the citizens. For those who were unable to buy provisions, the king +commanded the victualler of his navy to send bread into Moorfields, and +distribute it amongst them. And as divers distressed people had saved +some of their goods, of which they knew not where to dispose, he ordered +that churches, chapels, schools, and such like places in and around +Westminster, should be free and open to receive and protect them. +He likewise directed that all cities and towns should, without +contradiction or opposition, receive the citizens and permit them +free exercise of their manual labours: he promising, when the present +exigency had passed away, to take care the said persons should be no +burden to such towns as received them. + +The people were therefore speedily relieved. Many of them found refuge +with their friends and relatives in the country, and others sought homes +in the districts of Westminster and Southwark: so that in four days from +the termination of the fire, there was scarce a person remaining in the +fields, where such numbers had taken refuge. + +The first hardships consequent to the calamity having passed away, +people were anxious to trace the cause of their sufferings, which they +were unwilling to consider accidental. A rumour therefore sprang up, +that the great fire resulted from a wicked plot, hatched by Jesuits, +for the destruction of an heretical city. At this the king was sorely +troubled; for though there was no evidence which led him to place faith +in the report, yet a great body of the citizens and many members of +his council held it true. Therefore, in order to appease such doubts as +arose in his mind, and likewise to satisfy the people, he appointed his +privy council to sit morning and evening to inquire into the matter, and +examine evidences set forth against those who had been charged with the +outrage and cast into prison during the conflagration. + +And in order that the investigation might be conducted with greater +rigour he sent into the country for the lord chief justice, who was +dreaded by all for his unflinching severity. The lord chancellor, in his +account of these transactions, assures us many of the witnesses who gave +evidence against those indicted with firing the capital "were produced +as if their testimony would remove all doubts, but made such senseless +relations of what they had been told, without knowing the condition of +the persons who told them, or where to find them, that it was a hard +matter to forbear smiling at their declarations." Amongst those examined +was one Roger Hubert, who accused himself of having deliberately set +the city on fire. This man, then in his twenty-fifth year, was son of a +watchmaker residing in Rouen. Hubert had practised the same trade both +in that town and in London, and was believed by his fellow workmen to +be demented. When brought before the chief justice and privy council, +Hubert with great coolness stated he had set the first house on fire: +for which act he had been paid a year previously in Paris. When asked +who had hired him to accomplish this evil deed, he replied he did not +know, for he had never seen the man before: and when further questioned +regarding the sum he had received, he declared it was but one pistole, +but he had been promised five pistoles more when he should have done +his work. These ridiculous answers, together with some contradictory +statements he made, inclined many persons, amongst whom was the chief +justice, to doubt his confession. Later on in his examinations, he was +asked if he knew where the house had stood which he set on fire, to +which he replied in the affirmative, and on being taken into the city, +pointed out the spot correctly. + +In the eyes of many this was regarded as proof of his guilt; though +others stated that, having lived in the city, he must necessarily become +acquainted with the position of the baker's shop. Opinion was therefore +somewhat divided regarding him. The chief justice told the king "that +all his discourse was so disjointed that he did not believe him guilty." +Yet having voluntarily accused himself of a monstrous deed, and being +determined as it seemed to rid himself of life, he was condemned to +death and speedily executed. + +Lord Clarendon says: "Neither the judges nor any present at the trial +did believe him guilty; but that he was a poor distracted wretch, weary +of his life, and chose to part with it in this way. Certain it is that +upon the strictest examination that could be afterwards made by the +king's command, and then by the diligence of the House, that upon +the jealousy and rumour made a committee, that was very diligent and +solicitous to make that discovery, there was never any probable evidence +(that poor creature's only excepted) that there was any other cause of +that woful fire than the displeasure of God Almighty: the first accident +of the beginning in a baker's house, where there was so great a stock of +faggots, and the neighbourhood of such combustible matter, of pitch and +rosin, and the like, led it in an instant from house to house, through +Thames Street, with the agitation of so terrible a wind to scatter and +disperse it." + +But belief that the dreaded papists had set fire to the city, lingered +in the minds of many citizens. When the city was rebuilt, this opinion +found expression in an inscription cut over the doorway of a house +opposite the spot where the fire began, which ran as follows: + +"Here, by the permission of heaven, hell broke loose on this protestant +city from the malicious hearts of barbarous papists, by the hand of +their agent Hubert, who confessed, and on the ruins of this place +declared the fact, for which he was hanged. Erected in the mayoralty of +Sir Patience Ward, Knight." + +The loss caused by this dreadful conflagration was estimated at ten +million sterling. According to a certificate of Jonas Moore and Ralph +Gatrix, surveyors appointed to examine the ruins, the fire overrun +373 acres within the walls, burning 13,200 houses, 89 parish churches, +numerous chapels, the Royal Exchange, Custom House, Guildhall, Blackwell +Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral, Bridewell, fifty-two halls of the city +companies, and three city gates. + +As speedily as might be, the king and his parliament then sitting at +Oxford, sought to restore the city on a scale vastly superior to its +former condition. And the better to effect this object, an act of +parliament was passed that public buildings should be rebuilt with +public money, raised by a tax on coals; that the churches and the +cathedral of St. Paul's should be reconstructed from their foundations; +that bridges, gates and prisons should be built anew; the streets made +straight and regular, such as were steep made level, such as were narrow +made wide; and, moreover, that every house should be built with party +walls, such being of stone or brick, and all houses raised to equal +height in front. + +And these rules being observed, a stately and magnificent city rose +phoenix-like from ruins of the old; so that there was naught to remind +the inhabitants of their great calamity save the Monument. This, +designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and built at a cost of fourteen +thousand five hundred pounds, was erected near where the fire broke out, +the better to perpetuate a memory of this catastrophe in the minds of +future generations, which purpose it fulfils unto this day. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + The court repairs to Oxford.--Lady Castlemaine's son.--Their majesties + return to Whitehall.--The king quarrels with his mistress.--Miss Stuart + contemplates marriage.--Lady Castlemaine attempts revenge.--Charles + makes an unpleasant discovery.--The maid of honour elopes.--His majesty + rows down the Thames.--Lady Castlemaine's intrigues.--Fresh quarrels at + court.--The king on his knees. + +The while such calamities befell the citizens, the king continued to +divert himself in his usual fashion. On the 29th of June, 1665, whilst +death strode apace through the capital, reaping full harvests as he +went, their majesties left Whitehall for Hampton Court, From here they +repaired to Salisbury, and subsequently to Oxford, where Charles took up +his residence in Christchurch, and the queen at Merton College. + +Removed from harrowing scenes of ghastliness and distress, the court +made merry. Joined by fair women and gallant men, their majesties played +at bowls and tennis in the grassy meads of the college grounds; rode +abroad in great hawking parties; sailed through summer days upon the +smooth waters of the river Isis; and by night held revelry in the +massive-beamed oak-panelled halls, from which scarce five-score candles +served to chase all gloom. + +It happened whilst life thus happily passed, at pleasant full-tide flow, +my Lady Castlemaine, who resided in the same college with her majesty, +gave birth on the 28th of December to another son, duly baptized George +Fitzroy, and subsequently created Duke of Northumberland. By this time, +the plague having subsided in the capital, and all danger of infection +passed away, his majesty was anxious to reach London, yet loth to leave +his mistress, whom he visited every morning, and to whom he exhibited +the uttermost tenderness. And his tardiness to return becoming +displeasing to the citizens, and they being aware of its cause, it was +whispered in taverns and cried in the streets, "The king cannot go away +till my Lady Castlemaine be ready to come along with him," which truth +was found offensive on reaching the royal ears. + +Towards the end of January, 1666, he returned to Whitehall, and a month +later the queen, who had been detained by illness, joined him. Once more +the thread of life was taken up by the court at the point where it +had been broken, and woven into the motley web of its strange history. +Unwearied by time, unsatiated by familiarity, the king continued his +intrigue with the imperious Castlemaine, and with great longing likewise +made love to the beautiful Stuart. But yet his pursuit of pleasure +was not always attended by happiness; inasmuch as he found himself +continually involved in quarrels with the countess, which in turn +covered him with ridicule in the eyes of his courtiers, and earned him +contempt in the opinions of his subjects. + +One of these disturbances, which occurred soon after his return from +Oxford, began at a royal drawing-room, in presence of the poor slighted +queen and ladies of the court. It happened in the course of conversation +her majesty remarked to the countess she feared the king had taken cold +by staying so late at her lodgings; to which speech my Lady Castlemaine +with some show of temper answered aloud, "he did not stay so late abroad +with her, for he went betimes thence, though he do not before one, two, +or three in the morning, but must stay somewhere else." The king, who +had entered the apartment whilst she was speaking, came up to her, and +displeased with the insinuations she expressed, declared she was a bold, +impertinent woman, and bade her begone from the court, and not return +until he sent for her. Accordingly she whisked from the drawing-room, +and drove at once to Pall Mall, where she hired apartments. + +Her indignation at being addressed by Charles in such a manner before +the court, was sufficiently great to beget strong desires for revenge; +when she swore she would be even with him and print his letters to her +for public sport. In cooler moments, however, she abandoned this idea; +and in course of two or three days, not hearing from his majesty, +she despatched a message to him, not entreating pardon, but asking +permission to send for her furniture and belongings. To this the +monarch, who had begun to miss her presence and long for her return, +replied she must first come and view them; and then impatient for +reconciliation, he sought her, and they became friends once more. And by +way of sealing the bond of pacification, the king soon after agreed to +pay her debts, amounting to the sum of thirty thousand pounds, which had +been largely incurred by presents bestowed by her upon her lovers. + +His majesty was not only rendered miserable by the constant caprices and +violent temper of the countess, but likewise by the virtue and coldness +Miss Stuart betrayed since her return from Oxford. The monarch was +sorely troubled to account for her bearing, and attributing it to +jealousy, sought to soothe her supposed uneasiness by increasing his +chivalrous attentions. Her change of behaviour, however, proceeded from +another cause. The fair Stuart, though childlike in manner, was shrewd +at heart; and was moreover guided invariably by her mother, a lady +who reaped wisdom from familiarity with courts. Therefore the maid of +honour, seeing she had given the world occasion to think she had lost +her virtue, declared she was ready to "marry any gentleman of fifteen +hundred a year that would have her in honour." + +This determination she was obliged to keep-secret from the king, lest +his anger should fall upon such as sought her, and so interfere with her +matrimonial prospects. Now with such intentions in her mind she pondered +well on an event which had happened to her, such as no woman who has +had like experience ever forgets; namely, that amongst the many who +professed to love her, one had proposed to marry her. This was Charles +Stuart, fourth Duke of Richmond, a man possessed of neither physical +gifts nor mental abilities; who was, moreover, a widower, and a sot. + +However, the position which her union with him would ensure was all she +could desire, and he renewing his suit at this time, she consequently +consented to marry him. Now though it was probable she could keep her +design from knowledge of her royal lover, it was scarcely possible she +could hide it from observation of his mistress. And the latter, knowing +the extent to which fair Frances Stuart shared his majesty's heart, and +being likewise aware of the coldness with which his protestations +were by her received, scorned the king and detested the maid. Lady +Castlemaine therefore resolved to use her knowledge of Miss Stuart's +contemplated marriage, for purpose of enraging the jealousy of the one, +and destroying the influence of the other. In order to accomplish such +desirable ends she quietly awaited her opportunity. This came in due +time. + +It happened one evening when his majesty had been visiting Frances +Stuart in her apartments, and had returned to his own in a condition of +ill-humour and disappointment, the countess, who had been some days out +of favour, suddenly presented herself before him, and in a bantering +tone, accompanied by ironical smiles, addressed him. + +"I hope," said she, "I may be allowed to pay you my homage, although the +angelic Stuart has forbidden you to see me at my own house. I will not +make use of reproaches and expostulations which would disgrace myself; +still less will I endeavour to excuse frailties which nothing can +justify, since your constancy for me deprives me of all defence, +considering I am the only person you have honoured with your tenderness, +who has made herself unworthy of it by ill-conduct. I come now, +therefore, with no other intent than to comfort and condole with you +upon the affliction and grief into which the coldness or new-fashioned +chastity of the inhuman Stuart has reduced your majesty." + +Having delivered herself of this speech she laughed loud and heartily, +as if vastly amused at the tenour of her words; and then before the +impatient monarch had time to reply, continued in the same tone, with +quickening breath and flashing eyes, "Be not offended that I take the +liberty of laughing at the gross manner in which you are imposed upon; +I cannot bear to see that such particular affection should make you +the jest of your own court, and that you should be ridiculed with +such impunity. I know that the affected Stuart has sent you away under +pretence of some indisposition, or perhaps some scruple of conscience; +and I come to acquaint you that the Duke of Richmond will soon be with +her, if he is not there already. I do not desire you to believe what I +say, since it might be suggested either through resentment or envy. Only +follow me to her apartment, either that, no longer trusting calumny +and malice you may honour her with a just preference, if I accuse her +falsely; or, if my information be true, you may no longer be the dupe +of a pretended prude, who makes you act so unbecoming and ridiculous a +part." + +The king, overwhelmed with astonishment, was irresolute in action; but +Lady Castlemaine, determined on not being deprived of her anticipated +triumph, took him by the hand and forcibly pulled him towards Miss +Stuart's apartments. The maid of honour's servants, surprised at +his majesty's return, were unable to warn their mistress without his +knowledge; whilst one of them, in pay of the countess, found means of +secretly intimating to her that the Duke of Richmond was already in Miss +Stuart's chamber. Lady Castlemaine, having with an air of exultation led +the king down the gallery from his apartments to the threshold of Miss +Stuart's door, made him a low courtesy savouring more of irony than +homage, bade him good-night, and with a subtle smile promptly retired. + +The scene which followed is best painted by Hamilton's pen. "It was near +midnight; the king on his way met the chambermaids, who respectfully +opposed his entrance, and, in a very low voice, whispered his majesty +that Miss Stuart had been very ill since he left her; but that being +gone to bed, she was, God be thanked, in a very fine sleep. 'That I must +see,' said the king, pushing her back, who had posted herself in his +way. He found Miss Stuart in bed, indeed, but far from being asleep; the +Duke of Richmond was seated at her pillow, and in all probability was +less inclined to sleep than herself. The perplexity of the one party, +and the rage of the other, were such as may easily be imagined upon +such a surprise. The king, who of all men was one of the most mild and +gentle, testified his resentment to the Duke of Richmond in such +terms as he had never before used. The duke was speechless and almost +petrified; he saw his master and his king justly irritated. The first +transports which rage inspires on such occasions are dangerous. Miss +Stuart's window was very convenient for a sudden revenge, the Thames +flowing close beneath it; he cast his eyes upon it, and seeing those of +the king more incensed than fired with indignation than he thought his +nature capable of, he made a profound bow, and retired without replying +a single word to the vast torrent of threats and menaces that were +poured upon him. + +"Miss Stuart having a little recovered from her first surprise, instead +of justifying herself, began to talk in the most extravagant manner, and +said everything that was most capable to inflame the king's passion and +resentment: that if she were not allowed to receive visits from a man +of the Duke of Richmond's rank, who came with honourable intentions, she +was a slave in a free country; that she knew of no engagement that +could prevent her from disposing of her hand as she thought proper; but, +however, if this were not permitted her in his dominions, she did not +believe that there was any power on earth that could hinder her from +going over to France, and throwing herself into a Convent, to enjoy +there that tranquillity which was denied her in his court. The king, +sometimes furious with anger, sometimes relenting at her tears, and +sometimes terrified at her menaces, was so greatly agitated that he knew +not how to answer either the nicety of a creature who wanted to act the +part of Lucretia under his own eye, or the assurance with which she +had the effrontery to reproach him. In this suspense love had almost +entirely vanquished all his resentments, and had nearly induced him to +throw himself upon his knees, and entreat pardon for the injury he had +done her, when she desired him to retire, and leave her in repose, at +least for the remainder of that night, without offending those who had +either accompanied him, or conducted him to her apartments, by a longer +visit. This impertinent request provoked and irritated him to the +highest degree: he went out abruptly, vowing never to see her more, and +passed the most restless and uneasy night he had ever experienced since +his restoration." + +Next morning, his majesty sent orders to the Duke of Richmond to quit +the court, and never appear again in his presence. His grace, however, +stayed not to receive this message, having betaken himself with all +possible speed into the country. Miss Stuart, who likewise feared the +king's resentment, hastened to the queen, and throwing herself at her +majesty's feet, entreated forgiveness for the pain and uneasiness she +had caused her in the past, and besought her care and protection in the +future. + +She then laid bare her intentions of marrying the Duke of Richmond, +who had loved her long, and was anxious to wed her soon; but since +the discovery of his addresses had caused his banishment, and created +disturbances prejudicial to her good name, she begged the queen would +obtain his majesty's consent to her retiring from the vexations of a +court to the tranquillity of a convent. The queen raised her up, mingled +her tears with those of the troubled maid, and promised to use her +endeavours towards averting the king's displeasure. + +On consideration, however, the fair Stuart did not wait to hear his +majesty's reproaches, or receive his entreaties; for the duke, being +impatient to gain his promised bride, quietly returned to town, and +secretly communicated with her. It was therefore agreed between them she +should steal away from the palace, meet him at the "Bear at the Bridge +Foot," situated on the Southwark side of the river, where he would have +a coach awaiting her, in order they might ride away to his residence at +Cobham Hall, near Gravesend, and then be legally and happily united in +the holy bonds of matrimony. And all fell out as had been arranged: the +time being the month of March, 1667. + +Now when the king discovered her flight, his anger knew no bounds, +though it sought relief in uttering many violent threats against the +duke, and in sending word to the duchess he would see her no more. In +answer to this message, she, with some show of spirit, returned him +the jewels he had given her, principal amongst which were a necklace of +pearls, valued at over a thousand pounds, and a pair of diamond pendants +of rare lustre. + +Neither she nor her husband paid much heed to the royal menaces, for +before a year elapsed they both returned to town, and took up their +residence at Somerset House. Here, as Pepys records, she kept a great +court, "she being visited for her beauty's sake by people, as the queen +is at nights: and they say also she is likely to go to court again and +there put my Lady Castlemaine's nose out of joint. God knows that would +make a great turn." But to such proposals as were made regarding her +return to Whitehall, her husband would not pay heed, and she therefore +remained a stranger to its drawing-rooms for some time longer. And when +two years later she appeared there, her beauty had lost much of its +famed lustre, for meantime she was overtaken by smallpox, a scourge ever +prevalent in the capital. During her illness the king paid her several +visits, and was sorely grieved that the loveliness he so much prized +should be marred by foul disease. But on her recovery, the disfigurement +she suffered scarce lessened his admiration, and by no means abated his +love; which seemed to have gained fresh force from the fact of its being +interrupted awhile. + +This soon became perceptible to all, and rumour whispered that the young +duchess would shortly return to Whitehall in a position which she had +declined before marriage. And amongst other stories concerning the +king's love for her, it was common talk that one fair evening in May, +when he had ordered his coach to be ready that he might take an airing +in the park, he, on a sudden impulse, ran down the broad steps leading +from his palace gardens to the riverside. Here, entering a boat alone, +he rowed himself adown the placid river now crossed by early shadows, +until he came to Somerset House, where his lady-love dwelt; and finding +the garden-door locked, he, in his impatience to be with her, clambered +over the wall and sought her. Two months after the occurrence of this +incident, the young duchess was appointed a lady of the bedchamber to +the queen, and therefore had apartments at Whitehall. There was little +doubt now entertained she any longer rejected his majesty's love; and in +order to remove all uncertainties on the point which might arise in her +husband's mind, the king one night, when he had taken over much wine, +boasted to the duke of her complaisancy. Lord Dartmouth, who tells this +story, says this happened "at Lord Townshend's, in Norfolk, as my uncle +told me, who was present." Soon after his grace accepted an honourable +exile as ambassador to Denmark, in which country he died. + +During the absence of the Duchess of Richmond, my Lady Castlemaine, then +in the uninterrupted possession of power, led his majesty a sorry life. +Her influence, indeed, seemed to increase with time, until her victim +became a laughing-stock to the heartless, and an object of pity to +the wise. Mr. Povy, whose office as a member of the Tangier Commission +brought him into continual contact with the court, and whose love of +gossip made him observant of all that passed around him, in telling of +"the horrid effeminacy of the king," said that "upon any falling out +between my Lady Castlemaine's nurse and her woman, my lady hath often +said she would make the king make them friends, and they would be +friends and be quiet--which the king had been fain to do." Nor did such +condescension on his majesty's part incline his mistress to treat him +with more respect; for in the quarrels which now became frequent betwixt +them she was wont to term him a fool, in reply to the kingly assertion +that she was a jade. + +The disturbances which troubled the court were principally caused by her +infidelities to him, and his subsequent jealousies of her. Chief among +those who shared her intrigues at this time was Harry Jermyn, with whom +she renewed her intimacy from time to time, without the knowledge of his +majesty. The risks she frequently encountered in pursuit of her amours +abounded in comedy. Speaking of Harry Jermyn, Pepys tells us the king +"had like to have taken him abed with her, but that he was fain to creep +under the bed into the closet." It being now rumoured that Jermyn was +about to wed my Lady Falmouth, the countess's love for one whom she +might for ever lose received a fresh impulse, which made her reckless +of concealment. The knowledge of her passion, therefore, coming to +Charles's ears, a bitter feud sprang up between them, during which +violent threats and abusive language were freely exchanged. + +At this time my lady was far gone with child, a fact that soon came +bubbling up to the angry surface of their discourse; for the king avowed +he would not own it as his offspring. On hearing this, her passion +became violent beyond all decent bounds. "God damn me, but you shall own +it!" said she, her cheeks all crimson and her eyes afire; and moreover +she added, "she should have it christened in the Chapel Royal, and owned +as his, or otherwise she would bring it to the gallery in Whitehall, and +dash its brains out before his face." + +After she had hectored him almost out of his wits, she fled in a +state of wild excitement from the palace, and took up her abode at the +residence of Sir Daniel Harvey, the ranger of Richmond Park. News +of this scene spread rapidly through the court, and was subsequently +discussed in the coffee-houses and taverns all over the town, where +great freedom was made with the lady's name, and great sport of the +king's passion. And now it was said the monarch had parted with his +mistress for ever, concerning which there was much rejoicement and some +doubt. For notwithstanding the king had passed his word to this effect, +yet it was known though his spirit was willing his flesh was weak. +Indeed, three days had scarcely passed when, mindful of her temper, he +began to think his words had been harsh, and, conscious of her power, he +concluded his vows had been rash. He therefore sought her once more, but +found she was not inclined to relent, until, as Pepys was assured, this +monarch of most feeble spirit, this lover of most ardent temper, "sought +her forgiveness upon his knees, and promised to offend her no more." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + The kingdom in peril.--The chancellor falls under his majesty's + displeasure.--The Duke of Buckingham's mimicry.--Lady Castlemaine's + malice.--Lord Clarendon's fall.--The Duke of Ormond offends the royal + favourite.--She covers him with abuse.--Plots against the Duke of + York.--Schemes for a royal divorce.--Moll Davis and Nell Gwynn.--The + king and the comedian.--Lady Castlemaine abandons herself to great + disorders.--Young Jack Spencer.--The countess intrigues with an + acrobat.--Talk of the town.--The mistress created a duchess. + +At this time the kingdom stood in uttermost danger, being brought to +that condition by his majesty's negligence towards its concerns. +The peril was, moreover, heightened from the fact of the king being +impatient to rid himself of those who had the nation's credit at heart, +and sought to uphold its interests. To this end he was led in part by +his own inclinations, and furthermore by his friends' solicitations. +Foremost amongst those with whose services he was anxious to dispense, +were the chancellor, my Lord Clarendon, and the lord lieutenant of +Ireland, his grace the Duke of Ormond. + +The king's displeasure against these men, who had served his father +loyally, himself faithfully, and their country honestly, was instigated +through hatred borne them by my Lady Castlemaine. From the first both +had bewailed the monarch's connection with her, and the evil influence +she exercised over him. Accordingly, after the pattern of honest men, +they had set their faces against her. + +Not only, as has already been stated, would the chancellor refuse to +let any document bearing her name pass the great seal, but he had often +prevailed with the king to alter resolutions she had persuaded him to +form. And moreover had his lordship sinned in her eyes by forbidding +his wife to visit or hold intercourse with her. These were sufficient +reasons to arouse the hatred and procure the revenge of this malicious +woman, who was now virtually at the head of the kingdom. For awhile, +however, Charles, mindful of the services the chancellor had rendered +him, was unwilling to thrust him from his high place. But as time +sped, and the machinations of a clique of courtiers in league with the +countess were added to her influence, the chancellor's power wavered. +And finally, when he was suspected of stepping between his majesty and +his unlawful pleasures--concerning which more shall be said anon--he +fell. + +At the head and front of the body which plotted against Lord Clarendon, +pandered to Lady Castlemaine, and, for its own purposes--politically +and socially--sought to control the king, was his grace the Duke of +Buckingham. This witty courtier and his friends, when assembled round +the pleasant supper table spread in the countess's apartments, and +honoured almost nightly by the presence of the king, delighted to +vent the force of their humour upon the chancellor, and criticize his +influence over the monarch until Charles smarted from their words. +In the height of their mirth, if his majesty declared he would go a +journey, walk in a certain direction, or perform some trivial action +next day, those around him would lay a wager he would not fulfil his +intentions; and when asked why they had arrived at such conclusions, +they would reply, because the chancellor would not permit him. On this +another would remark with mock gravity, he thought there were no +grounds for such an imputation, though, indeed, he could not deny it was +universally believed abroad his majesty was implicitly governed by Lord +Clarendon. The king, being keenly sensitive to remarks doubting his +authority, and most desirous of appearing his own master, would +exclaim on such occasions that the chancellor "had served him long, +and understood his business, in which he trusted him; but in any other +matter than his business, he had no more credit with him than any other +man." And presently the Duke of Buckingham--who possessed talents of +mimicry to a surpassing degree--would arise, and, screwing his face into +ridiculous contortions, and shaking his wig in a manner that burlesqued +wisdom to perfection, deliver some ludicrous speech brimming with +mirth and indecencies, assuming the grave air and stately manner of the +chancellor the while. And finally, to make the caricature perfect, Tom +Killigrew, hanging a pair of bellows before him by way of purse, and +preceded by a friend carrying a fireshovel to represent a mace, would +walk round the room with the slow determined tread peculiar to Lord +Clarendon. At these performances the king, his mistress, and his +courtiers would laugh loud and long in chorus, with which was mingled +sounds of chinking glasses and flowing wine. ["Came my lord chancellor +(the Earl of Clarendon) and his lady, his purse and mace borne before +him, to visit me"--Evelyn's "Diary."] + +In this manner was the old man's power undermined; but a circumstance +which hastened his fall occurred in the early part of 1667. In that year +Lady Castlemaine had, for a valuable consideration, disposed of a place +at court, which ensured the purchaser a goodly salary. However, before +the bargain could finally be ratified, it was necessary the appointment +should pass the great seal. This the chancellor would not permit, and +accompanied his refusal by remarking, "he thought this woman would sell +every thing shortly." His speech being repeated to her, she, in great +rage, sent him word she "had disposed of this place, and had no doubt in +a little time to dispose of his." And so great was the malice she bore +him, that she railed against him openly and in all places; nor did +she scruple to declare in the queen's chamber, in the presence of much +company, "that she hoped to see his head upon a stake, to keep company +with those of the regicides on Westminster Hall." + +And some political movements now arising, the history of which lies not +within the province of this work, the king seized upon them as an excuse +for parting with his chancellor. The monarch complained that my Lord +Clarendon "was so imperious that he would endure no contradiction; that +he had a faction in the House of Commons that opposed everything that +concerned his majesty's service, if it were not recommended to them +by him; and that he had given him very ill advice concerning the +parliament, which offended him most." + +Therefore there were rumours in the air that the chancellor's fall was +imminent; nor were the efforts of his son-in-law, the Duke of York, able +to protect him, for the friends of my Lady Castlemaine openly told his +majesty "it would not consist with his majesty's honour to be hectored +out of his determination to dismiss the chancellor by his brother, who +was wrought upon by his wife's crying." It therefore happened on the +26th of August, 1667, as early as ten o'clock in the morning, Lord +Clarendon waited at Whitehall on the king, who presently, accompanied by +his brother, received him with characteristic graciousness. Whereon the +old man, acknowledging the monarch's courtesy, said he "had no suit to +make to him, nor the least thought to dispute with him, or to divert him +from the resolution he had taken; but only to receive his determination +from himself, and most humbly to beseech him to let him know what +fault he had committed, that had drawn this severity upon him from his +majesty." + +In answer to this Charles said he must always acknowledge "he had served +him honestly and faithfully, and that he did believe never king had +a better servant; that he had taken this resolution for his good and +preservation, as well as for his own convenience and security; that he +was sorry the business had taken so much air, and was so publicly spoken +of, that he knew not how to change his purpose." To these words of +fair seeming the troubled chancellor replied by doubting if the sudden +dismissal of an old servant who had served the crown full thirty years, +without any suggestion of crime, but rather with a declaration of +innocence, would not call his majesty's justice and good nature into +question. He added that men would not know how to serve him, when they +should see it was in the power of three or four persons who had never +done him any notable service to dispose him to ungracious acts. And +finally, he made bold to cast some reflections upon my Lady Castlemaine, +and give his majesty certain warnings regarding her influence. + +At this the king, not being well pleased, rose up, and the interview, +which had lasted two hours, terminated. Lord Clarendon tells us so much +concerning his memorable visit, to which Pepys adds a vivid vignette +picture of his departure. When my lord passed from his majesty's +presence into the privy garden, my Lady Castlemaine, who up to that +time had been in bed, "ran out in her smock into her aviary looking into +Whitehall--and thither her woman brought her nightgown--and stood joying +herself at the old man's going away; and several of the gallants of +Whitehall, of which there were many staying to see the chancellor +return, did talk to her in her birdcage--among others Blaneford, telling +her she was the bird of paradise." + +A few days after this occurrence the king sent Secretary Morrice to the +chancellor's house, with a warrant under a sign manual to require and +receive the great seal. This Lord Clarendon at once delivered him with +many expressions of duty which he bade the messenger likewise convey his +majesty. And no sooner had Morrice handed the seals to the king, +than Baptist May, keeper of the privy purse, and friend of my Lady +Castlemaine, sought the monarch, and falling upon his knees, kissed his +hand and congratulated him on his riddance of the chancellor. "For now." +said he, availing himself of the liberty Charles permitted his friends, +"you will be king--what you have never been before." Finally, the +chancellor was, through influence of his enemies, impeached in the House +of Commons; and to such length did they pursue him, that he was banished +the kingdom by act of parliament. + +His grace the Duke of Ormond was the next minister whom my Lady +Castlemaine, in the strength of her evil influence, sought to undermine. +By reason of an integrity rendering him too loyal to the king to pander +to his majesty's mistress, he incurred her displeasure in many ways; +but especially by refusing to gratify her cupidity. It happened she +had obtained from his majesty a warrant granting her the Phoenix Park, +Dublin, and the mansion situated therein, which had always been placed +at service of the lords lieutenants, and was the only summer residence +at their disposal. The duke, therefore, boldly refusing to pass the +warrant, stopped the grant. [According to O'Connor's "Bibliotheca +Stowensis," Lady Castlemaine soon after received a grant of a thousand +pounds per annum in compensation for her loss of Phoenix Park.] This +so enraged the countess, that soon after, when his grace returned to +England, she, on meeting him in one of the apartments in Whitehall, +greeted him with a torrent of abusive language and bitter reproaches, +such as the rancour of her heart could suggest, or the license of her +tongue utter, and concluded by hoping she might live to see him hanged. +The duke heard her with the uttermost calmness, and when she had +exhausted her abusive vocabulary quietly replied, "Madam, I am not in so +much haste to put an end to your days; for all I wish with regard to you +is, that I may live to see you grow old." And, bowing low, the fine old +soldier left her presence. It may be added, though the duke was deprived +of the lord lieutenancy, the countess's pious wish regarding him was +never fulfilled. + +It now occurred to those who had relentlessly persecuted the chancellor, +that though they were safe as long as Charles reigned, his death would +certainly place them in peril. For they sufficiently knew the Duke +of York's character to be aware when he ascended the throne he would +certainly avenge the wrongs suffered by his father-in-law. Accordingly +these men, prominent amongst whom were the Duke of Buckingham, Sir +Thomas Clifford, Lords Arlington, Lauderdale, and Ashley, and Baptist +May, resolved to devise means which would prevent the Duke of York ever +attaining the power of sovereignty. Therefore scarce a year had gone by +since Lord Clarendon's downfall, ere rumours were spread abroad that his +majesty was about to put away the queen, This was to be effected, it +was said, by the king's acknowledgment of a previous marriage with Lucy +Walters, mother of the Duke of Monmouth, or by obtaining a divorce on +ground of her majesty's barrenness. + +The Duke of Buckingham, who was prime mover in this plot, aware of the +king's pride in, and fondness for the Duke of Monmouth, favoured the +scheme of his majesty's admission of a marriage previous to that +which united him with Catherine of Braganza. And according to Burnet, +Buckingham undertook to procure witnesses who would swear they had +been present at the ceremony which united him with the abandoned Lucy +Walters. Moreover, the Earl of Carlisle, who likewise favoured the +contrivance, offered to bring this subject before the House of Lords. +However, the king would not consent to trifle with the succession in +this vile manner, and the idea was promptly abandoned. But though the +project was unsuccessful, it was subsequently the cause of many evils; +for the chances of sovereignty, flashing before the eyes of the Duke +of Monmouth, dazzled him with hopes, in striving to realize which, he, +during the succeeding reign, steeped the country in civil warfare, and +lost his head. + +The king's friends, ever active for evil, now sought other methods +by which he might rid himself of the woman who loved him well, and +therefore be enabled to marry again, when, it was trusted, he would have +heirs to the crown. It was suggested his union might, through lack of +some formality, be proved illegal; but as this could not be effected +without open violation of truth and justice, it was likewise forsaken. +The Duke of Buckingham now besought his majesty that he would order a +bill to divorce himself from the queen to be brought into the House of +Commons. The king gave his consent to the suggestion, and the affair +proceeded so far that a date was fixed upon for the motion. However, +three days previous, Charles called Baptist May aside, and told him the +matter must be discontinued. + +But even yet my Lord Buckingham did not despair of gaining his wishes. +And, being qualified by his character for the commission of abominable +deeds, and fitted by his experience for undertaking adventurous schemes, +he proposed to his majesty, as Burnet states, that he would give +him leave to abduct the queen, and send her out of the kingdom to a +plantation, where she should be well and carefully looked to, but never +heard of more. Then it could be given out she had deserted him, upon +which grounds he might readily obtain a divorce. But the king, though he +permitted such a proposal to be made him, contemplated it with horror, +declaring "it was a wicked thing to make a poor lady miserable only +because she was his wife and had no children by him, which was no fault +of hers." + +Ultimately these various schemes resolved themselves into a proposition +which Charles sanctioned. This was that the queen's confessor should +persuade her to leave the world, and embrace a religious life. Whether +this suggestion was ever made to her majesty is unknown, for the +Countess of Castlemaine, hearing of these schemes, and foreseeing she +would be the first sacrificed to a new queen's jealousy, opposed them +with such vigour that they fell to the ground and were heard of no more. +The fact was, the king took no active part in these designs, not being +anxious, now the Duchess of Richmond had accepted his love, to unite +himself with another wife. Whilst her grace had been unmarried, the idea +had indeed occurred to him of seeking a divorce that he might be free to +lay his crown at the feet of the maid of honour. And with such a view +in mind he had consulted Dr. Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, as +to whether the Church of England "would allow of a divorce, when both +parties were consenting, and one of them lay under a natural incapacity +of having children." Before answering a question on which so much +depended, the archbishop requested time for consideration, which, +with many injunctions to secrecy, was allowed him. "But," says Lord +Dartmouth, who vouches for truth of this statement, "the Duke of +Richmond's clandestine marriage, before he had given an answer, made +the king suspect he had revealed the secret to Clarendon, whose creature +Sheldon was known to be; and this was the true secret of Clarendon's +disgrace." For the king, believing the chancellor had aided the duke in +his secret marriage, in order to prevent his majesty's union with Miss +Stuart, and the presumable exclusion of the Duke and Duchess of York and +their children from the throne, never forgave him. + +Though the subject of the royal divorce was no longer mentioned, the +disturbances springing from it were far from ended; for the Duke +of Buckingham, incensed at Lady Castlemaine's interference, openly +quarrelled with her, abused her roundly, and swore he would remove the +king from her power. To this end he therefore employed his talents, and +with such tact and assiduity that he ultimately fulfilled his menaces. +The first step he took towards accomplishing his desires, was to +introduce two players to his majesty, named respectively Moll Davis and +Nell Gwynn. + +The former, a member of the Duke of York's troupe of performers, could +boast of goodly lineage, though not of legitimate birth, her father +being Thomas Howard, first Earl of Berkshire. She had, early in the year +1667, made her first appearance at the playhouse, and had by her comely +face and shapely figure challenged the admiration of the town. Her +winsome ways, pleasant voice, and graceful dancing soon made her a +favourite with the courtiers, who voted her an excellent wench; though +some of her own sex, judging harshly of her, as is their wont towards +each other, declared her "the most impertinent slut in the world." + +Now the Duke of Buckingham knowing her well, it seemed to him no woman +was more suited to fulfil his purpose of thwarting the countess; for +if he succeeded in awaking the king's passion for the comedian, such a +proceeding would not only arouse my lady's jealousy, but likewise humble +her pride. Therefore, when this court Mephistopheles accompanied his +majesty to the playhouse, he was careful to dwell on Moll Davis's +various charms, the excellency of her figure, the beauty of her face, +the piquancy of her manner. So impressed was the monarch by Buckingham's +descriptions, that he soon became susceptible to her fascinations. +The amour once begun was speedily pursued; and she was soon enabled to +boast, in presence of the players, that the king--whose generosity was +great to fallen women--had given her a ring valued at seven hundred +pounds, and was about to take, and furnish most richly, a house in +Suffolk Street for her benefit and abode. Pepys heard this news in +the first month of the year 1668; and soon afterwards a further rumour +reached him that she was veritably the king's mistress, "even to the +scorn of the world." + +This intrigue affected Lady Castlemaine in a manner which the Duke +of Buckingham had not expected. Whilst sitting beside Charles in the +playhouse, she noticed his attention was riveted upon her rival, when +she became melancholy and out of humour, in which condition she remained +some days. But presently rallying her spirits, she soon found means to +divert her mind and avenge her wrongs, of which more shall be recorded +hereafter. Meanwhile, the poor queen, whose feelings neither the king +nor his courtiers took into consideration, bore this fresh insult with +such patience as she could summon to her aid, on one occasion only +protesting against her husband's connection with the player. This +happened when the Duke of York's troupe performed in Whitehall the +tragedy of "Horace," "written by the virtuous Mrs. Phillips." The +courtiers assembled on this occasion presented a brilliant and goodly +sight. Evelyn tells us "the excessive gallantry of the ladies was +infinite, those jewels especially on Lady Castlemaine esteemed at forty +thousand pounds and more, far outshining ye queene." Between each act of +the tradgedy a masque and antique dance was performed. When Moll +Davis appeared, her majesty, turning pale from sickness of heart, and +trembling from indignation at the glaring insult thrust upon her, arose +and left the apartment boisterous with revelry, where she had sat a +solitary sad figure in its midst. As a result of her intimacy with +the king, Moll Davis bore him a daughter, who subsequently became +Lady Derwentwater. But the Duke of Buckingham's revenge upon my Lady +Castlemaine was yet but half complete; and therefore whilst the monarch +carried on his intrigue with Moll Davis, his grace, enlarging upon the +wit and excellency of Nell Gwynn, besought his majesty to send for +her. This request the king complied with readily enough, and she was +accordingly soon added to the list of his mistresses. Nell Gwynn, who +was at this period in her eighteenth year, had joined the company of +players at the king's house, about the same time as Moll Davis had +united her fortunes with the Duke of York's comedians. Her time upon +the stage was, however, but of brief duration; for my Lord Buckhurst, +afterwards Earl of Dorset, a witty and licentious man, falling in love +with her, induced her to become his mistress, quit the theatre, and +forsake the society of her lover, Charles Hart, a famous actor and +great-nephew of William Shakespeare. And she complying with his desires +in these matters, he made her an allowance of one hundred pounds a year, +on which she returned her parts to the manager, and declared she would +act no more. + +Accordingly in the month of July, 1667, she was living at Epsom with +my Lord Buckhurst and his witty friend Sir Charles Sedley, and a right +merry house they kept for a time. But alas, ere the summer had died +there came a day when charming Nell and his fickle lordship were +friends no more, and parting from him, she was obliged to revert to the +playhouse again. + +Now Nell Gwynn being not only a pretty woman, but moreover an excellent +actress, her return was welcomed by the town. Her achievements in light +comedy were especially excellent, and declared entertaining to a rare +degree. Pepys, who witnessed her acting "a comical part," in the "Maiden +Queen," a play by Dryden, says he could "never hope to see the like +done again by man or woman. So great performance of a comical part," he +continues, "was never, I believe, in the world before as Nell do this, +both as a mad girle, then most and best of all when she comes in like +a young gallant; and hath the motions and carriage of a spark the most +that ever I saw any man have. It makes me, I confess, admire her." +In the part of Valeria, in "Tyrannic Love," she was also pronounced +inimitable; especially in her delivery of the epilogue. The vein of +comedy with which she delivered the opening lines, addressed to those +about to bear her dead body from the stage, was merry beyond belief. +"Hold!" she cried out to one of them, as she suddenly started to life-- + + "Hold! are you mad? you damned confounded dog! + I am to rise and speak the epilogue." + +Before the year 1667 ended, she had several times visited his majesty +at Whitehall. The king was now no less assured of her charms as a woman, +than he had previously been convinced of her excellence as an actress. +In due time, her intimacy with the monarch resulted in the birth of two +sons; the elder of which was created Duke of St. Albans, from whom is +descended the family now bearing that title: the second died young and +unmarried. + +Through influence of these women, my Lady Castlemaine's power over the +king rapidly diminished, and at last ceased to exist; seeing which, as +Burnet says, "She abandoned herself to great disorders; one of which +by the artifice of the Duke of Buckingham was discovered by the king in +person, the party concerned leaping out of the window." The gallant to +whom the worthy bishop refers was John Churchill, afterwards the great +Duke of Marlborough, at this time a handsome stripling of eighteen +summers. In his office as page to the Duke of York, he frequently came +under notice of her ladyship, who, pleased with the charms of his +boyish face and graceful figure, intimated his love would not prove +unacceptable to her. Accordingly he promptly made love to the countess, +who, in the first fervour of her affection, presented him with five +thousand pounds. With this sum he purchased a life annuity of five +hundred pounds, which, as Lord Chesterfield writes, "became the +foundation of his subsequent fortune." Nor did her generosity end here: +at a cost of six thousand crowns she obtained for him the post of +groom of the bedchamber to the Duke of York, and was instrumental in +subsequently forwarding his advancements in the army. + +My Lady Castlemaine was by no means inclined to spend her days in misery +because the royal favour was no longer vouchsafed her; and therefore, by +way of satisfying her desires for revenge, conducted intrigues not only +with John Churchill and Harry Jermyn, but likewise with one Jacob Hall, +a noted acrobat. This man was not only gifted with strength and agility, +but likewise with grace and beauty: so that, as Granger tells us, "The +ladies regarded him as a due composition of Hercules and Adonis." His +dancing on the tight rope at Bartholomew Fair was "a thing worth seeing +and mightily followed;" whilst his deeds of daring at Southwark Fair +were no less subjects of admiration and wonder. The countess was so +charmed by the performance of this athlete in public, that she became +desirous of conversation with him in private; and he was accordingly +introduced to her by Beck Marshall, the player. The countess found his +society so entertaining that she frequently visited him, a compliment +he courteously returned. Moreover, she allowed him a yearly salary, and +openly showed her admiration for him by having their portraits painted +in one picture: in which she is represented playing a fiddle, whilst he +leans over her, touching the strings of a guitar. + +Her amours in general, and her intimacy with the rope-dancer in +particular, becoming common talk of the town, his majesty became +incensed; and it grieved him the more that one who dwelt in his palace, +and was yet under his protection, should divide her favours between a +king and a mountebank. Accordingly bitter feuds arose between her and +the monarch, when words of hatred, scorn, and defiance were freely +exchanged. His majesty upbraiding her with a love for the rope-dancer, +she replied with much spirit, "it very ill became him to throw out such +reproaches against her: that he had never ceased quarrelling unjustly +with her, ever since he had betrayed his own mean low inclinations: that +to gratify such a depraved taste as his, he wanted the pitiful strolling +actresses whom he had lately introduced into their society." Then came +fresh threats from the lips of the fury, followed by passionate storms +of tears. + +The king, who loved ease greatly, and valued peace exceedingly, became +desirous of avoiding such harrowing scenes. Accordingly, he resolved to +enter into a treaty with his late mistress, by which he would consent +to grant her such concessions as she desired, providing she promised to +discontinue her intrigues with objectionable persons, and leave him to +pursue his ways without reproach. By mutual consent, his majesty and +the countess selected the Chevalier de Grammont to conduct this delicate +business; he being one in whose tact and judgment they had implicit +confidence. After various consultations and due consideration, it was +agreed the countess should abandon her amours with Henry Jermyn and +Jacob Hall, rail no more against Moll Davis or Nell Gwynn, or any other +of his majesty's favourites, in consideration for which Charles would +create her a duchess, and give her an additional pension in order to +support her fresh honours with becoming dignity. + +And as the king found her residence in Whitehall no longer necessary +to his happiness, Berkshire House was purchased for her as a suitable +dwelling This great mansion, situated at the south-west corner of St. +James's Street, facing St. James's Palace, was surrounded by pleasant +gardens devised in the Dutch style, and was in every way a habitation +suited for a prince. This handsome gift was followed by a grant of the +revenues of the Post Office, amounting to four thousand seven hundred +pounds a year, which was at first paid her in weekly instalments. On +the 3rd of August, 1670, Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, was created +Baroness Nonsuch, of Nonsuch Park, Surrey; Countess of Southampton; and +Duchess of Cleveland in the peerage of England. The reasons for +crowding these honours thick upon her were, as the patent stated, "in +consideration of her noble descent, her father's death in the service of +the crown, and by reason of her personal virtues." + +Nor did his majesty's extravagant favours to her end here. She was now, +as Mr. Povy told his friend Pepys, "in a higher command over the king +than ever--not as a mistress, for she scorns him, but as a tyrant, to +command him." In consequence of this power, she was, two months after +her creation as duchess, presented by the monarch with the favourite +hunting seat of Henry VIII., the magnificent palace and great park of +Nonsuch, in the parishes of Cheam and Malden, in the county of Surrey. +And yet a year later, she received fresh proofs of his royal munificence +by the gift of "the manor, hundred, and advowson of Woking, county +Surrey; the manor and advowson of Chobham, the hundred of Blackheath and +Wootton, the manor of Bagshot (except the park, site of the manor and +manor-house, and the Bailiwick, and the office of the Bailiwick, called +Surrey Bailiwick, otherwise Bagshot Bailiwick), and the advowson of +Bisley, all in the same county." + +Her wealth, the more notable at a time when the king was in debt, and +the nation impoverished from expenditure necessary to warfare, was +enormous. Andrew Marvell, writing in August, 1671, states: "Lord St. +John, Sir R. Howard, Sir John Bennet, and Sir W. Bicknell, the brewer, +have farmed the customs. They have signed and sealed ten thousand pounds +a year more to the Duchess of Cleveland; who has likewise near ten +thousand pounds a year out of the new farm of the country excise of Beer +and Ale; five thousand pounds a year out of the Post Office; and they +say, the reversion of all the King's Leases, the reversion of places all +in the Custom House, the green wax, and indeed what not? All promotions +spiritual and temporal pass under her cognizance." + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Louise de Querouaille.--The Triple Alliance.--Louise is created Duchess + of Portsmouth.--Her grace and the impudent comedian.--Madam Ellen moves + in society.--The young Duke of St. Albans.--Strange story of the + Duchess of Mazarine.--Entertaining the wits at Chelsea.--Luxurious + suppers.--Profligacy and wit. + +The Duchess of Cleveland having shared the fate common to court +favourites, her place in the royal affections was speedily filled by +a mistress whose influence was even more baneful to the king, and more +pernicious to the nation. This woman was Louise de Querouaille, the +descendant of a noble family in Lower Brittany. At an early age she had +been appointed maid of honour to Henrietta, youngest sister of Charles +II., soon after the marriage of that princess, in 1661, with the Duke +of Orleans, brother to Louis XIV. Fate decreed that Mademoiselle de +Querouaille should be brought into England by means of a political +movement; love ordained she should reign mistress of the king's +affections. + +It happened in January, 1668, that a Triple Alliance had been signed at +the Hague, which engaged England, Sweden, and the United Provinces to +join in defending Spain against the power of France. A secret treaty +in this agreement furthermore bound the allies to check the ambition of +Louis XIV., and, if possible, reduce his encroaching sway. That Charles +II. should enter into such an alliance was galling to the French +monarch, who resolved to detach his kinsman from the compact, and bind +him to the interests of France. To effect this desired purpose, which +he knew would prove objectionable to the British nation, Louis employed +Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, to visit England on pretext of pleasure +and affection, and secretly persuade and bribe her brother to the +measures required. + +The young duchess, though an English princess, had at heart the +interests of the country in which she had been reared, and which on her +marriage she had adopted as her own. She therefore gladly undertook this +mission, confident of her success from the fact that of all his family +she had ever been the most tenderly beloved by Charles. Therefore she +set out from France, and in the month of May, 1670, arrived at Dover, +to which port the king, Queen, and court hastened, that they might greet +and entertain her. For full ten days in this merry month, high revelry +was held at Dover, during which time Henrietta skilfully and secretly +effected the object of her visit. And her delight was now the greater, +inasmuch as one item which this agreement entrusted her to make, engaged +that Charles would, as soon as he could with safety, follow the example +of his brother the Duke of York, and become a Catholic. In carrying out +this purpose Louis promised him substantial aid and sure protection. +Likewise, it may be mentioned, did the French king engrage to grant him +a subsidy equal to a million a year, if Charles joined him in an attack +on Holland. + +The prospect of his sister's return filled the king with sorrow, which +increased as the term of her visit drew to an end. "He wept when he +parted with her," wrote Monsieur Colbert, the French ambassador, who +significantly adds, "whatever favour she asked of him was granted." + +Now Louis knowing the weakness of the English monarch's character, +and aware of his susceptibility to female loveliness, had despatched +Mademoiselle de Querouaille in the train of Henrietta. Satisfied that +Charles could not resist her charms, the French monarch had instructed +this accomplished woman, who was trusted in his councils, to accept the +royal love, which it was surmised would be proffered her; so that by the +influence which she would consequently obtain, she might hold him to the +promises he might make the Duchess of Orleans. + +As had been anticipated, the king became enamoured of this charming +woman, who, before departing with the princess, faithfully promised to +return and become his mistress. In his desire to possess her the merry +monarch was upheld by his grace of Buckingham, who, continuing in +enmity with the Duchess of Cleveland, resolved to prevent her regaining +influence over the king by adding the beautiful Frenchwoman to the +number of his mistresses. He therefore told Charles, in the sarcastic +manner it was occasionally his wont to use, "it was a decent piece of +tenderness for his sister to take care of some of her servants;" whilst +on being sent into France, he assured Louis "he could never reckon +himself sure of the king, but by giving him a mistress that should be +true to his interests." But neither king required urging to a resolution +on which both had separately determined; and soon Mademoiselle +Querouaille was ready for her journey to England. A yacht was therefore +sent to Dieppe to convey her, and presently she was received at +Whitehall by the lord treasurer, and her arrival celebrated in verse by +Dryden. Moreover, that she might have apartments in the palace, the king +at once appointed her a maid of honour to her majesty, this being the +first of a series of favours she was subsequently to receive. Evelyn, +writing in the following October, says it was universally reported a +ceremonious espousal, devoid of the religious rite, had taken place +between his majesty and Mademoiselle Querouaille at Lord Arlington's +house at Euston. "I acknowledge," says this trustworthy chronicler +"she was for the most part in her undresse all day, and that there was +fondnesse and toying with that young wanton; nay, 'twas said I was at +the former ceremony, but 'tis utterly false; I neither saw nor heard of +any such thing whilst I was there, tho' I had ben in her chamber, +and all over that apartment late enough, and was myself observing all +passages with much curiosity." + +She now became a central figure in the brilliant court of the merry +monarch, being loved by the king, flattered by the wits, and tolerated +by the queen, to whom--unlike the Duchess of Cleveland--she generally +paid the greatest respect. Her card tables were thronged by courtiers +eager to squander large sums for the honour of playing with the reigning +sultana; her suppers were attended by wits and gallants as merry and +amorous as those who had once crowded round my Lady Castlemaine in the +zenith of her power. No expense was too great for his majesty to lavish +upon her; no honour too high with which to reward her affection. +The authority just mentioned says her apartments at Whitehall were +luxuriously furnished "with ten times the richnesse and glory beyond +the Queene's; such massy pieces of plate, whole tables and stands of +incredible value." After a residence of little more than three years +at court she was raised by King Charles to the peerage as Baroness of +Petersfield, Countess of Farnham, and Duchess of Portsmouth; whilst the +French king, as a mark of appreciation for the services she rendered +France, conferred upon her the Duchy of Aubigny, in the province of +Berri in France, to which he added the title and dignity of Duchess and +Peeress of France, with the revenues of the territory of Aubigny. And +two years later King Charles, prodigal of the honours he conferred upon +her, ennobled the son she had borne him in 1672. The titles of the Duke +of Richmond and Lennox having lately reverted to the crown by the death +of Frances Stuart's husband, who was last of his line, the bastard son +of the French mistress was created Duke of Richmond and Earl of March +in England, and Duke of Lennox and Earl of Darnley in Scotland. To +these proud titles the present head of the noble house of Richmond and +Lennox--by virtue of the grant made by Louis XIV. to his ancestress +likewise adds that of Duc d'Aubigny in the peerage of France. + +But though honoured by the king, and flattered by the court, the Duchess +of Portsmouth was far from enjoying uninterrupted happiness; inasmuch as +her peace was frequently disturbed by jealousy. The principal cause of +her uneasiness during the first five years of her reign was the king's +continued infatuation for Nell Gwynn; now, by reason of the elevated +position she enjoyed, styled Madam Ellen. This "impudent comedian," as +Evelyn calls her, was treated by his majesty with, extreme indulgence +and royal liberality. In proof of the latter statement, it may be +mentioned that in less than four years from the date of her first +becoming his mistress, he had wantonly lavished sixty thousand pounds +upon her, as Burnet affirms. Moreover, he had purchased as a town +mansion for her "the first good house on the left-hand side of St. +James's Square, entering Pall Mall," now the site of the Army and Navy +Club; had given her likewise a residence situated close by the Castle +at Windsor; and a summer villa located in what was then the charming +village of Chelsea. To such substantial gifts as these he added the +honour of an appointment at court: when the merry player was made one +of the ladies of the privy chamber to the queen. Samuel Pegg states this +fact, not generally known, and assures us he discovered it "from the +book in the lord chamberlain's office." + +From her position as the king's mistress, Madam Ellen moved on terms of +perfect equality with the Duchess of Portsmouth's friends--supping +with my Lady Orrery, visiting my Lord Cavendish, and establishing a +friendship with the gay Duchess of Norfolk. This was a source of deep +vexation to the haughty Frenchwoman; but Nell Gwynn's familiarity with +the king was a cause of even greater mortification. Sir George Etherege +records in verse when the monarch was "dumpish" Nell would "chuck the +royal chin;" and it is stated that, mindful of her former conquests over +Charles Hart and Charles Lord Buckley, it was her habit to playfully +style his majesty "Charles the Third." Her wilfulness, wit, and beauty +enabled her to maintain such a strong hold upon the king's heart, that +he shared his time equally between her and the Duchess of Portsmouth. +Indignant that a woman from the playhouse should receive such evidences +of the royal affection, her grace lost no opportunity of insulting Nell, +who responded by mimicry and grimaces, which threw those who witnessed +the comedy into fits of laughter, and covered the wrathful duchess with +confusion. + +But though the light-hearted actress frequently treated disdain with +ridicule, she could occasionally analyze the respective positions held +by herself and the duchess with seriousness, Madame de Sevigne tells us, +Nell would reason in this manner: "This duchess pretends to be a person +of quality: she affirms she is related to the best families in France, +and when any person of distinction dies she puts herself in mourning. +If she be a lady of such quality, why does she demean herself to be a +courtesan? She ought to die with shame. As for me, it is my profession. +I do not pretend to anything better. The king entertains me, and I am +constant to him at present. He has a son by me; I contend that he ought +to acknowledge him--and I am well assured that he will, for he loves me +as well as the duchess." + +To have her son ennobled, and by this means raise him to an equality +with the offspring of her grace, became the desire of Nell Gwynn's life. +To her request that this favour might be granted, the king had promised +compliance from time to time, but had as frequently postponed the +fulfilment of his word. At last, weary of beseeching him, she devised +a speech which she trusted might have the desired effect. Accordingly, +when the monarch came to see her one day, he found her in a pensive +mood, playing with her pretty boy; and the lad, being presently set upon +his feet, he promptly tottered down the room, whereon she cried out to +him, "Come here, you little bastard!" Hearing this word of evil import +applied to his son, the monarch begged she would not use the expression, +"I am sorry," said she regretfully, "but, alas, I have no other name +to give him!" His majesty took the hint, and soon after bestowed on him +that of Charles Beauclerk, and created him Baron of Heddington, in Oxon, +and Earl of Burford in the same county; and finally, when he had reached +the age of ten years, raised him to the dignity of Duke of St. Albans. + +After a reign of five years in the court of the merry monarch, her Grace +of Portsmouth was destined to encounter a far more formidable rival than +Nell Gwynn, in the person of the Duchess of Mazarine. This lady, on +her arrival in England in 1675, possessed most of the charms which had +rendered her notable in youth. To the attraction they lent was added an +interest arising from her personal history, in which King Charles had +once figured, and to which fate had subsequently added many pages of +romance. + +Hortensia Mancini, afterwards Duchess of Mazarine, was descendant of a +noble Roman family, and niece of the great Julius Mazarine, cardinal of +the church, and prime minister of France. Her parents dying whilst she, +her sister and brother were young, they had been reared under the care +of his eminence. According to the memoirs of the duchess, the cardinal's +peace must have frequently been put to flight by his charges, whose +conduct, he declared, exhibited neither piety nor honour. Mindful of +this, he placed his nieces under the immediate supervision of Madame de +Venelle, who was directed to have the closest guard over them. A story +related by the duchess shows in what manner this lady's duty was carried +out, and what unexpected results attended it on one occasion. + +When the court visited Lyons, in the year 1658, the cardinal's nieces +and their governess lodged in a commodious mansion in one of the public +squares. "Our chamber windows, which opened towards the market-place," +writes Hortensia, "were low enough for one to get in with ease. Madame +de Venelle was so used to her trade of watching us, that she rose even +in her sleep to see what we were doing. One night, as my sister lay +asleep with her mouth open, Madame de Venelle, after her accustomed +manner, coming, asleep as she was, to grope in the dark, happened to +thrust her finger into her mouth so far that my sister, starting out +of her sleep, made her teeth almost meet in her finger. Judge you the +amazement they both were in to find themselves in this posture when they +were thoroughly awake. My sister was in a grievous fret. The story +was told the king the next day, and the court had the divertisement of +laughing at it." + +Whilst the great minister's nieces were yet extremely young, Louis XIV. +fell passionately in love with the elder, Maria, and his marriage with +her was frustrated only by the united endeavours of the queen mother and +the cardinal. A proposal to raise Hortensia to the nominal dignity of +queen was soon after made on behalf of Charles II., who sought her as +his bride. But he being at the time an exile, banished from his kingdom, +and with little hope of regaining his throne, the offer was rejected by +Cardinal Mazarine as unworthy of his favourite niece. + +His eminence was, however, anxious to see her married, and accordingly +sought amongst the nobility of France a husband suitable to her merits +and equal to her condition, she being not only a beautiful woman but, +through his bounty, the richest heiress in Christendom. It happened +the cardinal's choice settled upon one who had fallen in love with +Hortensia, and who had declared, with amorous enthusiasm, that if he had +but the happiness of being married to her, it would not grieve him to +die three months afterwards. + +The young noble was Armand Charles de la Porte, Duke de Meilleraye, who +had the sole recommendation of being one of the richest peers of France. +On condition that he and his heirs should assume the name of Mazarine +and arms of that house, the cardinal consented to his becoming the +husband of his niece. And the great minister's days rapidly approaching +their end, the ceremony was performed which made Hortensia, then at +the age of thirteen, Duchess of Mazarine. A few months later the great +cardinal expired, leaving her the sum of one million six hundred and +twenty-five thousand pounds sterling. Alas that she should have died in +poverty, and that her body should have been seized for debt! + +Scarce had the first weeks of her married life passed away, when the +young wife found herself mated to one wholly unsuited to her character. +She was beautiful, witty, and frivolous; he jealous, dull, and morose. +The incompatibility of their dispositions became as discernible to him, +as they had become intolerable to her; and, as if to avenge the fate +which had united them, he lost no opportunity of thwarting her desires, +by such means striving to bend her lissom quality to the gnarled shape +of his unhappy nature. + +With such a purpose in view no opportunity was neglected to curb her +pleasures or oppose her inclinations. He continually forced her to leave +Paris, and even when her condition required rest and care, compelled +her to accompany him on long and weary journeys, undertaken by him in +consequence of his diplomatic missions. If she received two successive +visits from one man, he was instantly forbidden the house. If she called +her carriage, the coachman received orders not to obey. If she betrayed +a preference for one maid more than another, the favourite was instantly +dismissed, moreover, the duchess was surrounded by spies, her movements +being rigorously watched, and invariably reported. Nor would the duke +vouchsafe an explanation to his young wife regarding the cause of this +severe treatment, but continued the even course of such conduct without +intermission or abatement. + +After displaying these eccentricities for some years, they suddenly +associated themselves with religion, when he became a fanatic. Her +condition was now less endurable than before; his whims more ludicrous +and exasperating. With solemnity he declared no one could in conscience +visit the theatre; that it was a sin to play blind man's buff, and +a heinous crime to retire to bed late. And presently, his fanaticism +increasing, he prohibited the woman who nursed his infant to suckle it +on Fridays or Saturdays; that instead of imbibing milk, it might, in +its earliest life, become accustomed to fasting and mortification of the +flesh. + +The young duchess grew hopeless of peace. All day her ears were beset +by harangues setting forth her wickedness, by exortations calling her to +repentance, and by descriptions of visions vouchsafed him. By night her +condition was rendered scarcely less miserable. "No sooner," says St. +Evremond, "were her eyes closed, than Monsieur Mazarine (who had the +devil always present in his black imagination) wakes his best beloved, +to make her partaker--you will never be able to guess of what--to make +her partaker of his nocturnal visions. Flambeaux are lighted, and search +is made everywhere; but no spectre does Madame Mazarine find, except +that which lay by her in the bed." + +The distresses to which she was subjected were increased by the +knowledge that her husband was squandering her vast fortune. In +what manner the money was spent she does not state. "If" she writes, +"Monsieur Mazarine had only taken delight in overwhelming me with +sadness and grief, and in exposing my health and my life to his most +unreasonable caprice, and in making me pass the best of my days in +an unparalleled slavery, since heaven had been pleased to make him my +master, I should have endeavoured to allay and qualify my misfortunes by +my sighs and tears. But when I saw that by his incredible dilapidations +and profuseness, my son, who might have been the richest gentleman in +France, was in danger of being the poorest, there was no resisting +the force of nature; and motherly love carried it over all other +considerations of duty, or the moderation I proposed to myself. I saw +every day vast sums go away: moveables of inestimable prices, offices, +and all the rich remains of my uncle's fortune, the fruits of his +labours, and the rewards of his services. I saw as much sold as came to +three millions, before I took any public notice of it; and I had hardly +anything left me of value but my jewels, when Monsieur Mazarine took +occasion to seize upon them." + +She therefore sought the king's interference, but as the duke had +interest at court, she received but little satisfaction. Then commenced +disputes, which, after months of wrangling, ended by the duchess +escaping in male attire out of France, in company with a gay young +cavalier, Monsieur de Rohan. After various wanderings through Italy and +many adventures in Savoy, she determined on journeying to England. +That her visit was not without a political motive, we gather from +St. Evremond; who, referring to the ascendancy which the Duchess of +Portsmouth had gained over his majesty, and the uses she made of her +power for the interests of France, tells us, "The advocates for liberty, +being excluded from posts and the management of affairs, contrived +several ways to free their country from that infamous commerce; but +finding them ineffectual, they at last concluded that there was no other +course to take than to work the Duchess of Portsmouth out of the +king's favour, by setting up against her a rival who should be in +their interest. The Duchess of Mazarine was thought very fit for their +purpose, for she outshined the other, both in wit and beauty." + +Charles de St. Denis, Seigneur de St. Evremond, was a soldier, +philosopher, and courtier, who had distinguished himself by his bravery, +learning, and politeness. Having fallen under the displeasure of the +French court, he had, in the year 1662, sought refuge in England, where +he had been welcomed with the courtesy due to his rank, and the esteem +which befitted his merits. Settling in the capital, he mixed freely in +the companionship of wits, gallants, and courtiers who constituted its +society; and delighted with London as a residence, he determined on +making England his country by adoption. An old friend and fervent +admirer of the Duchess of Mazarine, he had received the news of her +visit with joy, and celebrated her arrival in verse. + +The reputation of her loveliness and the history of her life having +preceded her, the court became anxious to behold her; the king, mindful +of the relationship he had once sought; with the duchess, grew impatient +to welcome her. After a few days' rest, necessary to remedy the fatigue +of her journey, she appeared at Whitehall. By reason of her beauty, now +ripened rather than impaired by time, and those graces which attracted +the more from the fascination they had formerly exercised, she at once +gained the susceptible heart of the monarch. St. Evremond tells us her +person "contained nothing that was not too lovely." In the "Character +of the Duchess of Mazarine," which he drew soon after her arrival in +London, he has presented a portrait of her worth examining not only +for sake of the object it paints, but for the quaint workmanship it +contains. "An ill-natured curiosity," he writes, "makes me scrutinize +every feature in her face, with a design either to meet there some +shocking irregularity, or some disgusting disagreeableness. But how +unluckily do I succeed in my design. Every feature about her has a +particular beauty, that does not in the least yield to that of her eyes, +which, by the consent of all the world, are the finest in the universe. +One thing there is that entirely confounds me: her teeth, her lips, her +mouth, and all the graces that attend it, are lost amongst the great +variety of beauties in her face and what is but indifferent in her, will +not suffer us to consider what is most remarkable in others. The malice +of my curiosity does not stop here. I proceed to spy out some defect in +her shape; and I find I know not what graces of nature so happily and so +liberally scattered in her person, that the genteelness of others only +seems to be constraint and affectation." + +The king--to whom the presence of a beautiful woman was as sunshine to +the earth--at once offered her his affections, the gallants tendered +their homage, the ladies of the court volunteered the flattery embodied +in imitation. And by way of practically proving his admiration, his +majesty graciously allotted her a pension of four thousand pounds a +year, with apartments in St. James's Palace. + +The sovereignty which the Duchess of Portsmouth had held for five years +over the monarch's heart was now in danger of downfall; and probably +would have ended, but for Madame Mazarine's indiscretions. It happened a +few months after her arrival in London, the Prince of Monaco visited +the capital. Young in years, handsome in person, and extravagant in +expenditure, he dazzled the fairest women at court; none of whom had +so much power to please him in all as the Duchess of Mazarine. +Notwithstanding the king's generosity, she accepted the prince's +admiration; and resolved to risk the influence she had gained, that she +might freely love where she pleased. Her entertainment of a passion, as +sudden in development as fervid in intensity, enraged the king; but his +fury served only to increase her infatuation, seeing which, his majesty +suspended payment of her pension. + +The gay Prince of Monaco in due time ending his visit to London, +and leaving the Duchess of Mazarine behind him, she, through the +interposition of her friends, obtained his majesty's pardon, was +received into favour, and again allowed her pension. + +She now ruled, not only mistress of the king's heart, but queen of a +brilliant circle of wits and men of parts, whose delight it became to +heed the epigrams and eccentricities which fell from her lips. Her rooms +at St. James's, and her house in Chelsea, became the rendezvous of the +most polite and brilliant society in England. In the afternoons, +seated amongst her monkeys, dogs, parrots, and pets, she discoursed on +philosophy, love, religion, politics, and plays; whilst at night her +saloons were thrown open to such as delighted in gambling. Then the +duchess, seated at the head of the table, her dark eyes flashing with +excitement, her red lips parted in expectation, followed the fortunes +of the night with anxiety: all compliments being suspended and all fine +speeches withheld the while, nought being heard but the rustle of cards +and the chink of gold. + +Dainty and luxurious suppers followed, when rare wines flowed, and wit +long suppressed found joyous vent. Here sat Charles beside his beautiful +mistress, happy in the enjoyment of the present, careless of the needs +of his people; and close beside him my Lord of Buckingham, watchful +of his majesty's face, hatching dark plots whilst he turned deft +compliments. There likewise were my Lord Dorset, the easiest and +wittiest man living; Sir Charles Sedley, one learned in intrigue; +Baptist May, the monarch's favourite; Tom Killigrew who jested on life's +follies whilst he enjoyed them; the Countess of Shrewsbury, beautiful +and amorous; and Madam Ellen, who was ready to mimic or sing, dance or +act, for his majesty's diversion. + +And so, whilst a new day stole upon the world without, tapers burned low +within the duchess's apartments; and the king, his mistress, and a brave +and gallant company ate, drank, and made merry. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + A storm threatens the kingdom.--The Duke of York is touched in his + conscience.--His interview with Father Simons.--The king declares his + mind.--The Duchess of York becomes a catholic.--The circumstances of her + death.--The Test Act introduced.--Agitation of the nation.--The Duke + of York marries again.--Lord Shaftesbury's schemes.--The Duke of + Monmouth.--William of Orange and the Princess Mary.--Their marriage and + departure from England. + +Whilst the surface life of the merry monarch sped onward in its careless +course, watchful eyes took heed of potent signs boding storms and +strife. The storm which shook the kingdom to its centre came anon; the +strife which dethroned a monarch was reserved for the succeeding +reign. These were not effected by the king's profligacy, indolence, or +extravagance, but because of a change in the religious belief of the +heir-apparent to the crown. + +The cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, which presently spread and +overcast the political horizon, was first observed towards the beginning +of the year 1669. The Rev. J. S. Clarke, historiographer to George III., +chaplain to the royal household, and librarian to the Prince Regent, in +his "Life of James II., collected out of Memoirs writ of his own hand," +tells us that about this time the Duke of York "was sensibly touched +in his conscience, and began to think seriously of his salvation." +Accordingly, the historian states, "he sent for one Father Simons, a +Jesuit, who had the reputation of a very learned man, to discourse with +him upon that subject; and when he came, he told him the good intentions +he had of being a catholic, and treated with him concerning his being +reconciled to the church. After much discourse about the matter, the +Jesuit very sincerely told him, that unless he would quit the communion +of the Church of England, he could not be received into the Catholic +Church. The duke then said he thought it might be done by a dispensation +from the pope, alleging the singularity of his case, and the advantage +it might bring to the catholic religion in general, and in particular to +those of it in England, if he might have such dispensation for outwardly +appearing a protestant, at least till he could own himself publicly to +be a catholic, with more security to his own person and advantage to +them. But the father insisted that even the pope himself had not the +power to grant it, for it was an unalterable doctrine of the Catholic +Church, not to do ill that good might follow. What this Jesuit thus said +was afterwards confirmed to the duke by the pope himself, to whom he +wrote upon the same subject. Till this time his royal highness believed +(as it is commonly believed, or at least said by the Church of England +doctors) that dispensations in any such cases are by the pope easily +granted; but Father Simons's words, and the letter of his holiness, made +the duke think it high time to use all the endeavours he could, to be at +liberty to declare himself, and not to live in so unsafe and so uneasy a +condition." + +Inasmuch as what immediately followed touches a point of great delicacy +and vast importance, the words of the historian, mainly taken from the +"Stuart Papers," are best given here, "His royal highness well-knowing +that the king was of the same mind, and that his majesty had opened +himself upon it to Lord Arundel of Wardour, Lord Arlington, and Sir +Thomas Clifford, took an occasion to discourse with him upon that +subject about the same time, and found him resolved as to his being +a catholic, and that he intended to have a private meeting with those +persons above named at the duke's closet, to advise with them about the +ways and methods fit to be taken for advancing the catholic religion in +his dominions, being resolved not to live any longer in the constraint +he was under. The meeting was on the 25th of January. When they were met +according to the king's appointment, he declared his mind to them on the +matter of religion, and said how uneasy it was to him not to profess the +faith he believed; and that he had called them together to have their +advice about the ways and methods fittest to be taken for the settling +of the catholic religion in his kingdoms, and to consider of the time +most proper to declare himself, telling them withal that no time +ought to be lost; that he was to expect to meet with many and great +difficulties in bringing it about, and that he chose rather to undertake +it now, when he and his brother were in their full strength and able +to undergo any fatigue, than to delay it till they were grown older and +less fit to go through with so great a design. This he spoke with great +earnestness, and even with tears in his eyes; and added, that they +were to go about it as wise men and good catholics ought to do. The +consultation lasted long, and the result was, that there was no better +way for doing this work than to do it in conjunction with France, and +with the assistance of his Most Christian majesty." Accordingly the +secret treaty with France was entered into, as already mentioned. + +No further movement towards professing the catholic religion was made +by the king or his brother for some time. The tendencies of the latter +becoming suspected, his actions were observed with vigilance, when it +was noted, that although he attended service as usual with the king, he +no longer received the sacrament. It was also remarked the Duchess +of York, whose custom it had been to communicate once a month, soon +followed his example. Her neglect of this duty was considered the more +conspicuous as she had been bred a staunch protestant, and ever appeared +zealous in her support of that religion. Moreover, it was noted that, +from the beginning of the year 1670, she was wont to defend the catholic +faith from such errors as it had been charged withal. + +These matters becoming subjects of conversation at court soon reached +the ears of Bishop Morley, who had acted as her confessor since her +twelfth year, confession being then much practised in the English +Church. Thereon he hastened to her, and spoke at length of the +inferences which were drawn from her neglect of receiving the sacrament, +in answer to which she pleaded business and ill-health as sufficient +excuses. But he, suspecting other causes, gave her advice, and requested +she would send for him in case doubts arose in her mind concerning the +faith she professed. Being now free from all uncertainties, she readily +promised compliance with his desire, and added, "No priest had ever +taken the confidence to speak to her on those matters." + +The fact that she no longer communicated becoming more noticed as time +passed, the king spoke to his brother concerning the omission, when the +duke told him she had become a catholic. Hearing this, Charles requested +him to keep her change of faith a secret, which was accordingly done, +none being aware of the act but Father Hunt, a Franciscan friar, Lady +Cranmer, one of her women of the bedchamber, and Mr. Dupuy, servant +to the duke. In a paper she drew up relative to her adoption of the +catholic religion, preserved in the fifth volume of the "Harleian +Miscellany," she professes being one of the greatest enemies that faith +ever had. She likewise declares no man or woman had said anything, or +used the least persuasion to make her change her religion. That had +been effected, she adds, by a perusal of Dr. Heylin's "History of the +Reformation;" after which she spoke severally to Dr. Sheldon, Archbishop +of Canterbury and Dr. Blandford, Bishop of Worcester, who told her +"there were many things in the Roman Church which it was very much to +be wished they had kept--as confession, which was no doubt commanded by +God; and praying for the dead, which was one of the ancient things in +Christianity--that for their parts they did it daily, though they would +not own to it." + +The duchess pondered over what she had read and heard, and being a woman +accustomed to judge for herself, and act upon her decisions, she, in the +month of August, 1670 became a member of the Catholic Church, in which +communion she died seven months later. For fifteen months previous to +her demise she had been suffering from a complication of diseases, +with which the medical skill of that day was unable to cope, and these +accumulating, in March, 1671, ended her days. The "Stuart Papers" +furnish an interesting account of her death. Seeing the hour was at hand +which would sever her from all earthly ties, she besought her husband +not to leave her whilst life remained. She likewise requested that in +case Dr. Blandford or any other of the bishops should come to visit her, +he would tell them she had become a member of the Catholic Church; +but if they insisted on seeing her she was satisfied to admit them, +providing they would not distress her by arguments or controversy. + +Soon after she had expressed these desires, Bishop Blandford arrived, +and begged permission to see her, hearing which the duke went into the +drawing-room, where his lordship waited, and delivered the message with +which the duchess had charged him. Thereon the bishop said, "he made no +doubt but that she would do well since she was fully convinced, and had +not changed out of any worldly end." He then went into the room, and +having made "a short Christian exhortation suitable to the condition +she was in," took his departure. Presently the queen came and sat by the +dying woman, with whom she had borne many wrongs in common; and later +on, the Franciscan friar being admitted, the duchess "received all the +last sacraments of the Catholick Church, and dyed with great devotion +and resignation." + +Though no mystery was now made concerning the faith in which she died, +the duke, from motives of prudence, continued to preserve the secret +of his having embraced the same religion. He still publicly attended +service on Sundays with the king, but continued to absent himself from +communion. At last, the Christmastide of the year 1672 being at hand, +his majesty besought Lord Arundel and Sir Thomas (now Lord) Clifford to +persuade the duke to take the sacrament with him, "and make him sensible +of the prejudice it would do to both of them should he forbear so to do, +by giving the world so much reason to believe he was a catholick." To +this request these honest gentlemen replied it would be difficult to +move the duke to his majesty's desires; but even if they succeeded, it +would fail to convince the world his royal highness was not a catholic. +With these answers Charles seemed satisfied; but again on Christmas Eve +he urged Lord Clifford to advise the duke to publicly communicate on +the morrow. His royal highness, not being so unscrupulous as the king, +refused compliance with his wishes. + +The following Easter he likewise refrained from communicating. Evelyn +tells us that "a most crowded auditorie" had assembled in the Chapel +Royal on this Sunday; possibly it had been drawn there to hear the +eloquence of Dr. Sparrow, Bishop of Exeter--probably to observe the +movements of the king's brother. "I staied to see," writes Evelyn, +"whether, according to costome, the Duke of York received the communion +with the king; but he did not, to the amazement of everybody. This being +the second year he had forborn and put it off, and within a day of the +parliament sitting, who had lately made so severe an act against ye +increase of poperie, gave exceeding griefe and scandal to the whole +nation, that the heyre of it, and ye sonn of a martyr for ye Protestant +religion, should apostatize. What the consequence of this will be God +only knows, and wise men dread." + +That the nation might no longer remain in uncertainty concerning the +change the duke was suspected to have made, a bill, commonly called the +"Test Act," was, at the instigation of Lord Shaftesbury, introduced into +the House of Commons, on its reassembling. In substance this set forth, +that all persons holding office, or place of trust, or profit, should +take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance in a public court; receive +the sacrament according to the Church of England in some parish church +on the Lord's Day; and deliver a certificate of having so received +communion, signed by the respective ministers and church-wardens, and +proved by two credible witnesses on oath. After prolonged debates upon +this singular bill, it was passed through both houses of parliament, and +received a reluctant consent from the king. [This act continued in force +until the reign of George IV.] + +A great commotion followed the passing of this Act. Immediately the Duke +of York resigned his post of lord high admiral of England. Suspicion now +became certainty; he was truly a papist. His enemies were elated with +triumph, his friends dejected by regret. Before public feeling had time +to subside, it was thoroughly startled by the news that Lord Clifford, +who was supposed to be a staunch protestant, had delivered up his +staff of office as lord treasurer; and Lord Bellasis and Sir Thomas +Strickland, papists both, "though otherwise men of quality and ability," +had relinquished their places at court. The king was perplexed, the +parliament divided into factions, the nation disturbed. No man knew +who might next proclaim himself a papist. As days passed, excitement +increased; for hundreds who held positions in the army, or under the +crown--many of whom had fought for the king and his father--by tendering +their resignations, now proved themselves slaves of what a vigorous +writer calls the "Romish yoke: such a thing," he adds, "as cannot, but +for want of a name to express it, be called a religion." + +Public agitation steadily rose. Evelyn tells us, "he dare not write +all the strange talk of the town." Distrust of the king, fear of his +brother, hatred of popery and papists, filled men's minds and blinded +their reason with prejudice. That the city had seven years ago been +destroyed by fire, in accordance with a scheme of the wicked Jesuits, +was a belief which once more revived: the story of the gunpowder plot +was again detailed. Fearful suspicions sprang up and held possession +of the vulgar mind, that the prosecutions suffered by protestants under +Queen Mary might be repeated in the reign of the present monarch, or of +his brother. That heaven might defend the country from being overrun +by popery, the House of Commons besought his majesty to order a day +of fasting and humiliation. And by way of adding fury to the gathering +tempest, the bishops, Burnet states, "charged the clergy to preach +against popery, which alarmed the court as well as the city, and the +whole nation." + +The king therefore complained to Dr. Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, +that the discourse heard in every pulpit throughout the capital and the +kingdom was "calculated to inflame the people, and alienate them from +him and his government." Upon which Dr. Sheldon called the bishops +together, that he might consult with them as to what answer he had best +make. Whereon these wise men declared "since the king himself professed +the protestant religion, it would be a thing without a precedent that +he should forbid his clergy to preach in defence of a religion, while +he himself said he was of it." The next action which served to inflame +public prejudice against catholicism, was the marriage of the Duke of +York to a princess professing that faith. + +Soon after the death of his wife, it was considered wise and well his +royal highness should marry again. Of the four sons and four daughters +the duchess had borne him, three sons and one daughter had died before +their mother, and the surviving son and another daughter quickly +followed her to the tomb; therefore, out of eight children but two +survived, Mary and Anne, at this time respectively aged nine and seven. +It being desirable there should be a male heir-presumptive to the crown, +the king was anxious his brother should take unto himself a second wife. +And that a lady might be found worthy of the exalted station to +which such a union would raise her, the Earl of Peterborough was sent +incognito to report on the manners and appearance of the princesses of +the courts of Neuburg and of Modena. Not being impressed by the merits +of those belonging to the former, he betook himself to the latter, +where, seeing the young Princess d'Este, then in her fifteenth year, he +came to the conclusion no better choice could be made on behalf of the +duke than this fair lady. On communicating this opinion to his royal +highness and to his majesty, the king commissioned him to demand the +hand of the princess in marriage for his brother. + +Difficulties regarding this desired union now arose. The young lady, +having been bred in great simplicity and ignorance, had never heard of +such a country as England, or such a person as the Duke of York; and +therefore had no mind to adventure herself in a distant land, or wed a +man of whom she knew nought. Moreover, she had betrayed an inclination +to spend her days in the seclusion of a convent, and had no thought of +marriage. Her mother, the Duchess of Modena, then regent, by reason +of her husband's death and her son's minority, was anxious for so +advantageous an alliance. And being unable to gain her daughter's +consent, she sought the interference of the pope, who wrote to the young +princess, that compliance with her mother's request would "most conduce +to the service of God and the public good." On this, Mary Beatrice +Eleonora, Princess d'Este, daughter of the fourth Duke of Modena, +consented to become Duchess of York. Whereon the Earl of Peterborough +made a public entry into Modena, as ambassador extraordinary of Charles +II.; and having agreed to all the articles of marriage, wedded her by +proxy for the royal duke. + +Meanwhile, news that the heir to the crown was about to wed a papist +spread with rapidity throughout the kingdom, carrying alarm in its +course. If sons were born of the union, they would, it was believed, +undoubtedly be reared in the religion of their parents, and England in +time became subject to a catholic king. The possibility of such a fate +was to the public mind fraught with horror; and the House of Commons, +after some angry debates on the subject, presented an address to the +king, requesting he would abandon this proposed marriage. To this he +was not inclined to listen, his honour being so far involved in the +business; but notwithstanding his unwillingness, his councillors urged +him to this step, and prayed he would stop the princess, then journeying +through France on her way to England. This so incensed him that he +immediately prorogued parliament, and freed himself from further +interference on the subject. + +On the 21st of November, 1673, the future duchess landed at Dover, +where the duke awaited her, attended by a scant retinue. For the recent +protestations, made in the House of Commons against the marriage, having +the effect of scaring the courtiers, few of the nobility, and but one of +the bishops, Dr. Crew of Oxford, ventured to accompany him, or greet his +bride. On the day of her arrival the marriage was celebrated, "according +to the usual form in cases of the like nature." The "Stuart Papers" give +a brief account of the ceremony. "The Duke and Duchess of York, with +the Duchess of Modena her mother, being together in a room where all the +company was present, as also my Lord Peterborough, the bishop asked the +Duchess of Modena and the Earl of Peterborough whether the said earl +had married the Duchess of York as proxy of the duke? which they both +affirming, the bishop then declared it was a lawful marriage." + +This unpopular union served to strengthen the gathering storm; Protests +against popery were universally heard; an article in the marriage +settlement, which guaranteed the duchess a public chapel, was broken; +and the duke was advised by Lord Berkshire to retire into the country, +"where he might hunt and pray without offence to any or disquiet to +himself." This counsel he refused to heed. Until his majesty should +command him to the contrary, he said, he would always attend upon him, +and do such service as he thought his duty and the king's security +required of him. His enemies became more wrathful at this reply, more +suspicious of popery, and more fearful of his influence with the king, +They therefore sought to have him removed from his majesty's councils +and presence by act of parliament. + +Consequently, when both Houses assembled on the 7th of January, +1674, the lords presented an address to the monarch, praying he would +graciously issue a proclamation, requiring all papists, or reputed +papists, within five miles of London, Westminster, or Southwark, to +depart ten miles from these respective cities, and not return during +this session of Parliament. A few days afterwards an act was introduced +into the House of Commons proposing a second test, impossible for +catholics to accept, the refusal of which would not only render them +incapable of holding any office, civil or military, or of sitting in +either House of Parliament, but "of coming within five miles of the +court." This unjust bill, to which, if it passed both houses, Charles +dared not refuse assent, threw the court and country into a state of +renewed excitement. Knowing it was a blow levelled at the duke, his +friends gathered round him, determined to oppose it by might and main; +and after great exertions caused a clause to be inserted excepting his +royal highness from the test. This was ultimately carried by a majority +of two votes, which, says Clarke, "put the little Earl of Shaftesbury +so out of humour, that he said he did not care what became of the bill, +having that proviso in it." + +This noble earl, who was chief among the royal duke's enemies, was a +prominent figure in the political history of the time. Mr. Burnet tells +us his lordship's strength lay in the knowledge of England, and of all +considerable men. "He understood," says the bishop, "the size of their +understandings and their tempers; and he knew how to apply himself to +them so dexterously, that though by his changing sides so often it was +very visible how little he was to be depended on, yet he was to the last +much trusted by all the discontented party. He had no regard to truth +or justice." As rich in resources as he was poor in honour, he renewed a +plan for depriving the Duke of York from succession to the crown; which, +though it had failed when formerly attempted, he trusted might now +succeed. This was to declare the Duke of Monmouth the king's legitimate +son and heir to the throne of England, a scheme which the ambitious son +of Lucy Walters was eager to forward. + +His majesty's affection for him had strengthened with time, and his +favours had been multiplied by years. On the death of the Duke of +Albemarle, Captain General of the Forces, Monmouth had been appointed +to that high office; and some time later had been made General of +the Kingdom of Scotland, posts of greatest importance. Relying on the +monarch's love and the people's admiration for this illegitimate scion +of royalty, Lord Shaftesbury hoped to place him on the throne. As the +first step necessary in this direction was to gain his majesty's avowal +of a union with Lucy Walters, he ventured on broaching the subject to +the king; at which Charles was so enraged that he declared, "much as he +loved the Duke of Monmouth, he had rather see him hanged at Tyburn than +own him as his legitimate son." There was, however, another man engaged +in a like design to the noble earl, who, if not less scrupulous, was +more daring. + +This was one Ross, a Scotsman, who had been made governor of the young +duke on his first coming into England, and who had since acted as his +friend and confidant. Now Ross, who had not failed to whisper ambitious +thoughts into his pupil's head, at this time sought Dr. Cosin, Bishop +of Durham, and according to the "Stuart Papers," told him "he might do +a great piece of service to the Church of England in keeping out popery, +if he would but sign a certificate of the king's marriage to the Duke of +Monmouth's mother, with whom that bishop was acquainted in Paris. Ross +also told the bishop, to make the thing more easy to him, that during +his life the certificate should not be produced or made use of." The +same papers state that, as a bishop's certificate is a legal proof of +marriage, Dr. Cosin's compliance would have been invaluable to the duke +and his friends. His lordship, however, rejected the proposition, and +laid the matter before the king, who expelled Ross from court. + +Horror of popery and fear of a papist sovereign increased with time, +care having been taken by my Lord Shaftesbury and his party that the +public mind, once inflamed, should be kept ignited. For this purpose he +spread reports abroad that the Irish were about to rise in rebellion, +backed by the French; and that the papists in London had entered into a +vile conspiracy to put their fellow citizens to the sword on the first +favourable opportunity. To give this latter statement a flavour of +reality he, assuming an air of fright, betook himself one night to the +city, and sought refuge in the house of a fanatic, in order, he said, +that he might escape the catholics, who had planned to cut his throat. + +A tempest, dark and dangerous, was gathering fast, which the court felt +powerless to subdue. The king's assurance to parliament that "he would +endeavour to satisfy the world of his steadfastness for the security of +the protestant religion," had little avail in soothing the people. Many +of them suspected him to be a catholic at heart; others knew he had +accepted the bounty of a country feared and detested by the nation. +Deeds, not words, could alone dispel the clouds of prejudice which +came between him and his subjects; and accordingly he set about the +performance of such acts as might bring reconciliation in their train. + +The first of these was the confirmation, according to the Protestant +Church, of the Lady Mary, eldest daughter of the Duke of York, and after +him heir presumptive to the crown; the second and more important was the +marriage of that princess to William of Orange. This prince was son of +the king's eldest sister, and therefore grandson of Charles I. As a hero +who, by virtue of his statesmanship and indomitable courage, had rescued +Holland from the hateful power of France, he was regarded not only +as the saviour of his country, but as the protector of protestantism. +Already a large section of the English nation turned their eyes towards +him as one whom they might elect some day to weald the sceptre of +Great Britain. Subtle, ambitious, and determined, a silent student of +humanity, a grave observer of politics, a sagacious leader in warfare, +he had likewise begun to look forward towards the chances of succeeding +his uncle in the government of England--in hopes of which he had been +strengthened by the private overtures made him by Shaftesbury, and +sustained by the public prejudices exhibited against the Duke of York. + +The proposed union between him and the heiress presumptive to the crown +was regarded by the nation with satisfaction, and by the prince as an +act strongly favouring the realization of his desires for sovereignty. +Cold and grave in temperament, sickly and repulsive in appearance, blunt +and graceless in manner, he was by no means an ideal bridegroom for a +fair princess; but neither she nor her father had any choice given them +in a concern so important to the pacification of the nation. She, it +was whispered at court, had previously given her heart to a brave young +Scottish laird; and her father, it was known, had already taken an +instinctive dislike to the man destined to usurp his throne. In October, +1677, the Prince of Orange came to England, ostensibly to consult with +King Charles regarding the establishment of peace between France and +the Confederates; but the chief motive of his visit was to promote +his marriage, which had some time before been proposed, and owing to +political causes had been coolly received by him. Now, however, his +anxiety for the union was made plain to the king, who quickly agreed to +his desires. "Nephew," said he to the sturdy Dutchman, "it is not good +for man to be alone, and I will give you a help meet for you; and so," +continues Burnet, "he told him he would bestow his niece on him." + +The same afternoon the monarch informed his council that "the Prince of +Orange, desiring a more strict alliance with England by marriage with +the Lady Mary, he had consented to it, as a thing he looked on as very +proper to unite the family, and which he believed would be agreeable to +his people, and show them the care he had of religion, for which reason +he thought it the best alliance he could make." When his majesty had +concluded this speech, the Duke of York stepped forward, and declared +his consent to the marriage. He hoped "he had now given a sufficient +testimony of his right intentions for the public good, and that people +would no more say he designed altering the government in church or +state; for whatever his opinion on religion might be, all that he +desired was, that men might not be molested merely for conscience' +sake." + +The duke then dined at Whitehall with, the king, the Prince of Orange, +and a noble company; after which he returned to St. James's, where he +then resided. Dr. Edward Luke, at this time tutor to the Lady Mary, and +subsequently Archdeacon of Exeter, in his interesting manuscript diary, +informs us that on reaching the palace, the duke, with great tenderness +and fatherly affection, took his daughter aside, "and told her of the +marriage designed between her and the Prince of Orange; whereupon her +highness wept all that afternoon and the following day." Her tears +had not ceased to flow when, two days after the announcement of her +marriage, Lord Chancellor Finch, on behalf of the council, came to +congratulate her; and Lord Chief Justice Rainsford, on the part of the +judges, complimented her in extravagant terms. + +This union, which the bride regarded with so much repugnance, was +appointed to take place on the 4th of November, that date being the +bridegroom's birthday, as likewise the anniversary of his mother's +nativity. Dr. Luke gives a quaint account of the ceremony. "At nine +o'clock at night," he writes, "the marriage was solemnized in her +highness's bedchamber. The king; who gave her away, was very pleasant +all the while; for he desired that the Bishop of London would make haste +lest his sister [the Duchess of York] should be delivered of a son, and +so the marriage be disappointed. And when the prince endowed her with +all his worldly goods [laying gold and silver on the book], he willed to +put all up in her pockett, for 'twas clear gains. At eleven o'clock they +went to bed, when his majesty came and drew the curtains, saying, 'Hey! +St. George for England!'" + +For a time both court and town seemed to forget the trouble and strife +which beset them. Bonfires blazed in the streets, bells rang from church +towers, the populace cheered lustily; whilst at Whitehall there were +many brilliant entertainments. These terminated with a magnificent ball, +held on the 15th instant, the queen's birthday; at the conclusion of +this festivity the bride and bridegroom were to embark in their yacht, +which was to set sail next morning for Holland. For this ball the +princess had "attired herself very richly with all her jewels;" but +her whole appearance betrayed a sadness she could not suppress in the +present, and which the future did not promise to dispel. For already the +bridegroom, whom the maids of honour had dubbed the "Dutch monster" and +"Caliban," had commenced to reveal glimpses of his unhandsome character; +"and the court began to whisper of his sullennesse or clownishnesse, +that he took no notice of his princess at the playe and balle, nor came +to see her at St. James', the day preceding that designed for their +departure." + +The wind being easterly, they were detained in England until the 19th, +when, accompanied by the king, the Duke of York, and several persons of +quality, they went in barges from Whitehall to Greenwich. The princess +was sorely grieved, and wept unceasingly. When her tutor "kneeled down +and kissed her gown" at parting, she could not find words to speak, but +turned her back that she might hide her tears; and, later on, when +the queen "would have comforted her with the consideration of her own +condition when she came into England, and had never till then seen the +king, her highness replied, 'But, madam, you came into England; but I am +going out of England.'" + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + The threatened storm bursts.--History of Titus Oates and Dr. Tonge.--A + dark scheme concocted.--The king is warned of danger.--The narrative of + a horrid plot laid before the treasurer.--Forged letters.--Titus Oates + before the council.--His blunders.--A mysterious murder.--Terror of the + citizens.--Lord Shaftesbury's schemes.--Papists are banished from the + capital.--Catholic peers committed to the Tower.--Oates is encouraged. + +The marriage of the Lady Mary, though agreeable to the public mind, by +no means served to distract it from the turmoil by which it was beset. +Hatred of catholicism, fear of the Duke of York, and distrust of the +king, disturbed the nation to its core. Rumours were now noised abroad, +which were not without foundation, that the monarch and his brother had +renewed the treaty with France, by which Louis engaged to send troops +into England to support Charles, when the latter saw fit to lay aside +duplicity, and proclaim himself a catholic. And, notwithstanding the +rigorous Test Acts, it was believed many high positions at court were +held by those who were papists at heart. Occasion was therefore ripe +for the invention of a monstrous fraud, the history of which has been +transmitted under the title of the Popish Plot. + +The chief contrivers of this imposture were Titus Oates and Dr. Tonge. +The first of these was son of a ribbon-weaver, who, catching the +fanatical spirit of the Cromwellian period, had ranted as an Anabaptist +preacher. Dissent, however, losing favour under the restoration, Oates, +floating with the current of the times, resolved to become a clergyman +of the Church of England, He therefore took orders at Cambridge, +officiated as curate in various parishes, and served as chaplain on +board a man-of-war. The time he laboured as spiritual shepherd to +his respective flocks was necessarily brief; for his grossly immoral +practices becoming notable, he was in every case ousted from his charge. +The odium attached to his name was moreover increased by the fact, +that his evidence in two cases of malicious prosecution had been proved +false; for which he had been tried as a perjurer. Deprived of his +chaplaincy for a revolting act of profligacy, driven from congregations +he had scandalized, homeless and destitute, he in an evil hour betook +himself to Dr. Ezrael Tonge, to whom he had long been known, and +besought compassion and relief. + +The Rev, Dr. Tonge, rector of St. Michael's, Wood Street, was a +confirmed fanatic and political alarmist. For some years previous to +this time, he had published quarterly treatises dealing with such wicked +designs of the Jesuits as his heated brain devised. These he had printed +and freely circulated, in order, as he acknowledged, "to arouse and +awaken his majesty and the parliament" to a sense of danger. He had +begun life as a gardener, but left that honest occupation that he might +cultivate flowers of rhetoric for the benefit of Cromwell's soldiers. +Like Titus Oates, he had become suddenly converted to orthodox +principles on return of the king, and had, through interest, obtained +the rectorship of St. Michael's. Bishop Burnet considered him "a very +mean divine, (who) seemed credulous and simple, and was full of projects +and notions." + +Another historian who lived in those days, the Rev. Laurence Eachard, +Archdeacon of Stowe, states Dr. Tonge was "a man of letters, and had a +prolific head filled with all the Romish plots and conspiracies since +the reformation." According to this author, Tonge took Oates into his +house, provided him with lodging, diet, and clothes; and when the latter +complained he knew not where to get bread, the rector told him "he would +put him in a way." After this, finding Oates a man of great ingenuity +and cunning, "he persuaded him," says Archdeacon Eachard, "to insinuate +himself among the papists, and get particular acquaintance with them; +which being effected, he let him understand that there had been several +plots in England to bring in popery, and that if he would go beyond +sea among the Jesuits, and strictly observe their ways, it was possible +there might be one at present; and if he could make that out, it would +be his preferment for ever; but, however, if he could get their names, +and some information from the papists, it would be very easy to rouse +people with the fears of popery." + +Hungering for gold, and thirsting for notoriety, Oates quickly agreed to +the scheme laid before him. Accordingly he became acquainted with, and +was received into the Catholic Church by, Father Berry, a Jesuit, and in +May, 1677, was sent by the Jesuits to study in one of their seminaries, +situated in Valladolid, in Spain. Oates, however, though he had proved +himself an excellent actor, could not overcome his evil propensities, +and before seven months had passed, he was expelled from the monastery. + +Returning to England, he sought out Dr. Tonge, to whom he was unable +to recount the secret of a single plot. Confident, however, that wicked +schemes against the lives and properties of innocent protestants were +being concocted by wily Jesuits, the fanatical divine urged Oates to +present himself once more before them, bewail his misconduct, promise +amendment, and seek readmission to their midst. Following his advice, +Oates was again received by the Jesuits, and sent to their famous +seminary at St. Omer's; where, though he had reached the age of thirty +years, he was entered among the junior students. For six months he +remained here, until his vices becoming noted, he was turned away in +disgrace. Again he presented himself before the rector of St. Michael's, +knowing as little of popish plots as he did on his previous return. But +Tonge, though disappointed, was not disheartened; if no scheme existed, +he would invent one which should startle the public, and save the +nation. Such proposals as he made towards the accomplishment of this +end were readily assented to by Oates, in whose breast wounded pride +and bitter hate rankled deep. Therefore, after many consultations they +resolved to draw up a "Narrative of a Horrid Plot." This was repeatedly +changed and enlarged, until eventually it assumed the definite shape of +a deposition, consisting of forty-three distinct articles, written +with great formality and care, and embodying many shocking and criminal +charges. + +The narrative declared that in April, 1677, the deponent was employed +to carry letters from the Jesuits in London to members of their order in +Spain; these he broke open on the journey, and discovered that certain +Jesuits had been sent into Scotland to encourage the presbyterians +to rebel. Arrived in Valladolid, he heard one Armstrong, in a +sermon delivered to students, charge his majesty with most foul and +black-mouthed scandals, and use such irreverent, base expressions as no +good subjects could repeat without horror. He then returned to England, +and was soon after sent to St. Omer with fresh letters, in which was +mentioned a design to stab or poison his majesty--Pere la Chaise, +the French king's confessor, having placed ten thousand pounds at the +disposal of the Jesuits that they might, by laying out such a sum, the +more successfully accomplish this deed. While abroad the deponent +had read many letters, relating to the execution of Charles II., the +subverting of the present government, and the establishment of the +Romish religion. Returning again to England, he became privy to a treaty +with Sir George Wakeham, the queen's physician, to poison the king; and +likewise with an agreement to shoot him, made between the Jesuits and +two men, named Honest William and Pickering. He had heard a Jesuit +preach a sermon to twelve persons of quality in disguise, in which he +asserted "that protestants and other heretical princes were IPSO FACTO +deposed because such; and that it was as lawful to destroy them as +Oliver Cromwell or any other usurper." He also became aware that +the dreadful fire had been managed by Strange, the provincial of the +Jesuits, who employed eighty-six men in distributing seven hundred +fire-balls to destroy the city; and that notwithstanding his vast +expenses, he gained fourteen thousand pounds by plunder carried on +during the general confusion, a box of jewels, consisting of a thousand +carat weight of diamonds, being included in the robbery. + +The document containing these remarkable statements was finished in +August, 1678. It now remained to have it brought before the king or +the council. Tonge was resolved this should be done in a manner best +calculated to heighten the effect of their narrative; at the same time +he was careful to guard the fact that he and Oates had an intimate +knowledge of each other. Not knowing any one of interest at court, he +sought out Christopher Kirby, a man employed in the king's laboratory, +of whom he had some slight knowledge, and, pledging him to the strictest +secrecy, showed him the "Narrative of the Horrid Plot," and besought +his help in bringing it under the notice of his majesty in as private a +manner as possible. + +This aid was freely promised; and next day, the date being the 13th of +August, when the monarch was about to take his usual airing in the park, +Kirby drew near, and in a mysterious tone bade his majesty take care, +for his enemies had a design against his life, which might be put into +execution at any moment. Startled by such words, the king asked him +in what manner was it intended his life should be taken; to which he +replied, "It might be by pistol; but that to give a more particular +account of the matter, required greater privacy." The monarch, who +quickly recovered his first surprise, resolved to take his usual +exercise; and, subduing his curiosity, he bade Kirby attend him on his +return from the park, and tell him what he knew of the subject. + +When the time arrived, Kirby saw his majesty alone, and related to him +in brief that two men waited but an opportunity to shoot him; and Sir +George Wakeham had been hired to poison him; which news, he concluded, +had been imparted to him by a worthy man living close at hand, who would +attend his majesty's pleasure when that was manifested. + +Bewildered by such intelligence, yet suspicious of its veracity, +the king ordered Kirby to summon his informant that evening by eight +o'clock. When that hour came his majesty repaired to the Red Room, and +there met Dr. Tonge, who delivered his narrative into his hands. The +rector was convinced the great moment he had so long awaited, in which +he would behold the monarch aroused to a sense of his danger, had +arrived. He was doomed to bitter disappointment. His majesty coolly took +the narrative, and without opening it, said it should be examined into. +On this Tonge begged it might be kept safe and secret, "lest the full +discovery should otherwise be prevented and his life endangered." The +monarch replied that, before starting with the court to-morrow for +Windsor, he would place it in the hands of one he could trust, and +who would answer for its safety. He then bade him attend on the Lord +Treasurer Danby next morning. + +In obedience to this command, Tonge waited on his lordship at the +appointed time, and by the character of his replies helped to develop +his story of the plot. When asked if the document he had given his +majesty was the original of the deponent, Tonge admitted it was in +his own handwriting. On this, Lord Danby expressed a desire to see +the original, and likewise become acquainted with its author. Nothing +abashed, the rector replied the manuscript was in his house, and +accounted for its possession by stating that, singularly enough, it had +been thrust under his door--he did not know by whom, but fancied it must +be by one who, some time before, had discussed with him on the subject +of this conspiracy. Whereon his lordship asked him if he knew the man, +and was answered he did not, but he had seen him lately two or three +times in the streets, and it was likely he should see him soon again. + +Being next questioned as to whether he had any knowledge of Honest +William, or Pickering, the villains who sought the king's life, he +answered he had not. Immediately, however, he remembered it was their +habit to walk in St. James's Park, and said, if any man was appointed to +keep him company, he was almost certain he would have opportunities of +letting that person see these abominable wretches. Finally, Lord Danby +asked him if he knew where they dwelt, for it was his duty to have them +arrested at once; but of their abode Tonge was completely ignorant, +though he was hopeful he should speedily be able to obtain the required +information. + +He was therefore dismissed, somewhat to his satisfaction, being +unprepared for such particular examination; but in a couple of days he +returned to the charge, determined his tale should not be discredited +for lack of effrontery, On this occasion he said he had met the man he +suspected of being author of the document, who owned himself as such, +and stated that his name was Titus Oates, but requested Tonge would keep +it a strict secret, "because the papists would murder him if they knew +what he was doing." Moreover, Oates had given him a second paper full of +fresh horrors concerning this most foul plot. Taking this with him, +the lord treasurer hastened to Windsor, that he might consult the king, +having first left a servant with Tonge, in hopes the latter might catch +sight of Honest William and Pickering in their daily walk through the +park, and have them arrested. On Danby recounting Tonge's statements to +the king, his majesty was more convinced than before the narrative was +wholly without foundation, and refused to make it known to his council +or the Duke of York. Therefore the lord-treasurer, on conclusion of +a brief visit, left Windsor for his country residence, situated at +Wimbledon. + +For some days no fresh disclosure was made concerning this horrid plot, +until late one night, when Dr. Tonge arrived in great haste at Lord +Danby's house, and informed him some of the intended regicides +had resolved on journeying to Windsor next morning, determined to +assassinate the king. He added, it was in his power to arrange that +the earl's servant should ride with them in their coach, or at least +accompany them on horseback, and so give due notice of their arrival, in +order that they might be timely arrested. Alarmed by this intelligence, +Danby at once hastened to Windsor, and informed the king of what had +come to his knowledge. Both endured great suspense that night, and next +day their excitement was raised to an inordinate pitch by seeing the +earl's servant ride towards the castle with all possible speed. When, +however, the man was brought into his majesty's presence, he merely +delivered a message from Dr. Tonge, stating the villains "had been +prevented from taking their intended journey that day, but they proposed +riding to Windsor next day, or within two days at farthest." Before +that time had arrived, another message came to say, "one of their horses +being slipped in the shoulder, their trip to Windsor was postponed." + +Taking these foolish excuses, as well as Dr. Tonge's prevaricating +answers and mysterious statements, into consideration, the king was now +convinced the "Narrative of a Horrid Plot" was an invention of a fanatic +or a rogue. He was, therefore; desirous of letting the subject drop into +obscurity; but Lord Danby, foreseeing in the sensation which its avowal +would create, a welcome cloud to screen the defects of his policy, which +parliament intended to denounce, urged his majesty to lay the matter +before his privy council. This advice the king refused to accept, +saying, "he should alarm all England, and put thoughts of killing +him into people's heads, who had no such ideas before." Somewhat +disappointed, the lord treasurer returned once more to Wimbledon, the +king remaining at Windsor, and no further news of the plot disturbed the +even tenour of their lives for three days. + +At the end of that time Dr. Tonge, now conscious of the false steps +he had taken, conceived a fresh scheme by which his story might obtain +credence, and he gain wealth and fame. Accordingly he wrote to Danby, +informing him a packet of letters, written by the Jesuits and concerning +the plot, would, on a certain date, be sent to Mr. Bedingfield, chaplain +to the Duchess of York. Such information was most acceptable to Danby +at the moment; he at once started for Windsor, and laid this fresh +information before the king. To his lordship's intense surprise, his +majesty handed him the letters. These, five in number, containing +treasonable expressions and references to the plot, had been some hours +before handed by Mr. Bedingfield to the Duke of York, saying, he "feared +some ill was intended him by the same packet, because the letters +therein seemed to be of a dangerous nature, and that he was sure they +were not the handwriting of the persons whose names were subscribed +to the letters." On examination, they were proved to be most flagrant +forgeries. Written in a feigned hand, and signed by different names, +they were evidently the production of one man; the same want of +punctuation, style of expression, and peculiarities of spelling being +notable in all. The Duke of York, foreseeing malice was meant by them, +forcibly persuaded the king to place the epistles before the privy +council. Accordingly, they were handed to Sir William Jones, attorney +general, and Sir Robert Southwell, who stated, upon comparing them with +Dr. Tonge's narrative, they were convinced both were written by the same +hand. + +Meanwhile, Tonge and Oates, aware of the coldness and doubt with +which his majesty had received the "Narrative of the Horrid Plot," and +ignorant of the fact he had placed the letters before his privy council, +resolved to make their story public to the world. It therefore happened +on the 6th of September they presented themselves before Sir Edmondbury +Godfrey, a justice of the peace, in the parish of St. Martin's, who, not +without considerable persuasion, consented to receive a sworn testimony +from Titus Oates regarding the truth of his narrative, which had now +grown from forty-three to eighty-one articles. This action prevented +further secrecy concerning the so-called plot. + +A few days later the court returned to town for the winter, when the +Duke of York besought the privy council to investigate the strange +charges made in the declaration. Accordingly, on the 28th of the month, +Tonge and Oates were summoned before it, when the latter, making many +additions to his narrative, solemnly affirmed its truth. Aghast at +so horrible a relation, the council knew not what to credit. The evil +reputation Oates had borne, the baseness of character he revealed in +detailing his actions as a spy, the mysterious manner in which the +fanatical Tonge accounted for his possession of the document, tended +to make many doubt; whilst others, believing no man would have the +hardihood to bring forward such charges without being able to sustain +them by proof, contended it was their duty to sift them to the end. +Believing if he had been entrusted with secret letters and documents of +importance, he would naturally retain some of them in order to prove his +intended charges, the council asked Oates to produce them; but of these +he had not one to show. Nor, he confessed, could he then furnish proof +of his words, but promised if he were provided with a guard, and given +officers and warrants, he would arrest certain persons concerned in the +plot, and seize secret documents such as none could dispute. These being +granted him, he immediately caused eight Jesuits to be apprehended and +imprisoned. Then he commenced a search for treasonable letters, not only +in their houses, but in the homes of such catholics as were noted for +their zeal. His investigations were awaited with impatience; nor were +they without furnishing some pretext for his accusations. + +One of the first dwellings which Titus Oates investigated was that of +Edward Coleman. This gentleman, the son of an English divine, had +early in life embraced catholicity, for the propagation of which he +thenceforth became most zealous. Coming under notice of the court, he +became the confidant of the Duke of York, and by him was made secretary +to the duchess. A man of great mental activity, religious fervour, and +considerable ambition, he had, about four years previous to this time, +entered into a correspondence with the confessor of the French king +and other Jesuits, regarding the hopes he entertained of Charles II. +professing catholicity. Knowing him to be bold in his designs and +incautious in his actions, the duke had discharged him from his post as +secretary to the duchess, but had retained him in his dependence. This +latter circumstance, together with a suspicion of the confidence which +had existed between him and his royal highness, prompted Oates to have +him arrested, and his house searched. Coleman, having received notice +of this design, fled from his home, incautiously leaving behind him some +old letters and copies of communications which had passed between him +and the Jesuits. These were at once seized, and though not containing +one expression which could be construed as treasonable, were, from +expectations they set forth of seeing catholicity re-established in +England, considered by undiscerning judges, proofs of the statements +made by Oates. + +On the strength of his discovery, Oates hastened to Sir Edmondbury +Godfrey, and swore false informations; becoming aware of which, Coleman, +conscious of his innocence, delivered himself up, in hopes of meeting a +justice never vouchsafed him. + +The Privy council now sat morning and evening, in order to examine +Oates, whose evidence proved untrustworthy and contradictory to a +bewildering degree. When it was pointed out to him the five letters, +supposed to come from men of education, contained ill-spelling, bad +grammar, and other faults, he, with much effrontery, declared it was a +common artifice among the Jesuits to write in that manner, in order +to avoid recognition; but inasmuch as real names were attached to the +epistles, that argument was not considered just. The subject was +not mentioned again. When an agent for these wicked men in Spain, he +related, he had been admitted into the presence of Don John, and had +seen him counting out large sums of money, with which he intended to +reward Sir George Wakeham when he had poisoned the king. Hearing this, +his majesty inquired what kind of person Don John was. Oates said he was +tall, lean, and black; whereas the monarch knew him to be small, stout, +and fair. And on another occasion, when asked where he had heard the +French king's confessor hire an assassin to shoot Charles, he replied, +"At the Jesuits' monastery close by the Louvre;" at which the king, +losing patience with the impostor, cried out, "Tush, man! the Jesuits +have no house within a mile of the Louvre!" Presently Oates named two +catholic peers, Lord Arundel of Wardour and Lord Bellasis, as being +concerned in the plot, when the king again spoke to him, saying these +lords had served his father faithfully, and fought his wars bravely, and +unless proof were clear against them, he would not credit they sought +him ill. Then Oates, seeing he had gone too far, said they did not know +of the conspiracy, but it had been intended to acquaint them with it in +good time. Later on he swore falsely against them. + +Meanwhile the wildest sensation was caused by the revelations of this +"hellish plot and attempt to murder the king." The public mind, long +filled with hatred of papacy, was now inflamed to a degree of fury which +could only be quenched by the blood of many victims. To the general +sensation which obtained, a new terror was promptly added by the +occurrence of a supposed horrible and mysterious murder. + +On the evening of Saturday, the 12th of October, Sir Edmondbury Godfrey +was missing from his home in the parish of St. Martin's. The worthy +magistrate was an easy going bachelor of portly appearance, much given +to quote legal opinions in his discourse, and to assert the majesty of +the law as represented in his person. He was alike respected for his +zeal by the protestants, and esteemed for his lenity by the catholics. +Bishop Burnet records the worthy knight "was not apt to search for +priests or mass-houses;" and Archdeacon Eachard affirms "he was well +known to be a favourer rather than a prosecutor of the papists." +Accordingly, his disappearance at first begot no evil suspicions; but as +he did not return on Monday, his servants became alarmed at the absence +of a master whose regularity was proverbial. His brothers were of +opinion he was in debt, and sought escape from his creditors; whilst his +friends, after their kind, were ready to name certain houses of doubtful +repute in which they were certain he had taken temporary lodgings. On +his papers being examined, it was found he had set his affairs in +order, paid all his debts, and destroyed a quantity of his letters and +documents. It was then remembered he had been occasionally susceptible +to melancholia--a disease he inherited from his father, who had perished +by his own hand. It was noted some days before that on which he was +missed, he had appeared listless and depressed. It was known the +imprisonment of his friend Coleman had weighed heavily on his spirits. +A terrible fear now taking possession of his relatives and friends, +thorough search was made for him, which proved vain until the Thursday +following his disappearance, when he was accidentally discovered lying +in a ditch, a cloth knotted round his neck, and a sword passed through +his body, "at or near a place called Primrose Hill, in the midway +between London and Hampstead." + +If he had been murdered, no motive appeared to account for the deed; +neither robbery nor revenge could have prompted it. His rings and money, +gloves and cane, were found on and near his body; and it was known he +had lived in peace with all men. Nor did an inquest lasting two days +throw any light upon the mystery. If it were proved he had died by his +own hand, the law of that day would not permit his brothers to inherit +his property, which was found to be considerable. It was therefore their +interest to ignore the fact that strangulation pointed to FELO DE SE, +and to assume he had been murdered. Accordingly they prohibited +the surgeons from opening the body, lest examination should falsify +conclusions at which they desired to arrive. A verdict was ultimately +returned "that he was murdered by certain persons unknown to the jurors, +and that his death proceeded from suffocation and strangling by a +certain piece of linen cloth of no value." + +Occurring at such a moment, his death was at once attributed to the +papists, who, it was said, being incensed that the magistrate had +received the sworn testimonies of Oates, had sought this bloody revenge. +Fear now succeeded bewilderment; desires of vengeance sprang from depths +of horror. For two days the mangled remains of the poor knight were +exposed to public view, "and all that saw them went away inflamed." They +were then interred with all the pomp and state befitting one who had +fallen a victim to catholicism, a martyr to protestantism. The funeral +procession, which took its sad way through the principal thoroughfares +from Bridewell to St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, numbered seventy-two +divines, and over twelve hundred persons of quality and consideration. +Arriving at the church, Dr. Lloyd, a clergyman remarkable for his fine +abhorrence of papists, ascended the pulpit, where, protected by two men +of great height and strength, he delivered a discourse, pointing to +the conclusion that Sir Edmondbury Godfrey had been sacrificed to the +catholic conspiracy, and instigating his hearers to seek revenge. Sir +Roger North tells us the crowd in and about the church was prodigious, +"and so heated, that anything called papist, were it cat or dog, had +probably gone to pieces in a moment. The catholics all kept close in +their houses and lodgings, thinking it a good composition to be safe +there." + +The whole city was terror-stricken. "Men's spirits were so sharpened," +says Burnet, "that it was looked on as a very great happiness that the +people did not vent their fury upon the papists about the town." Tonge +and Oates went abroad protected by body guards, arresting hundreds of +catholics; cannon were mounted around Whitehall and St. James's; patrols +paraded the streets by day and night; the trained bands were ready to +fall in at a moment's notice; preparations were made for barricading +the principal thoroughfares; the city gates were kept closed so that +admission could be only had through the wickets; and the Houses of +Parliament demanded a guard should keep watch on the vaults over which +they sat, lest imitators of Guy Fawkes might blow them to pieces. +Moreover, it was not alone the safety of the multitude, but the +protection of the individual which was sought to be secured. In the +dark confusion which general terror produced, each man felt he might be +singled out as the next victim of this diabolical plot, and therefore +devised means to guard his life from the hands of murderous papists. +North, in his "Examen," speaking of this period, tells us: "There was +much recommendation of silk armour, and the prudence of being provided +with it against the time the Protestants were to be massacred. And, +accordingly, there were abundance of those silken back, breast, and +headpots made and sold, that were pretended to be pistol proof; in which +any man dressed up was as safe as in a house, for it was impossible +anyone could go to strike him for laughing; so ridiculous was the +figure, as they say, of hogs in armour. This was the armour of defence; +but our sparks were not altogether so tame as to carry their provision +no further, for truly they intended to be assailants upon fair occasion, +and had for that end recommended also to them a certain pocket weapon, +which for its design and efficacy had the honour to be called a +protestant flail. It was for street and crowd work; and the engine +lurking perdue in a coat pocket, might readily sally out to execution, +and so, by clearing a great hall, or piazza or so, carry an election +by a choice of polling called knocking down. The handle resembled a +farrier's blood stick, and the fall was joined to the end by a strong +nervous ligature, that in its swing fell just short of the hand, and was +made of LIGNUM VITAE, or rather, as the poet termed it, MORTIS." + +One day, whilst the town was in this state of consternation, Tonge sent +for Dr. Burnet, who hastened to visit him in the apartments allotted him +and Oates at Whitehall. The historian says he found Tonge "so lifted up +that he seemed to have lost the little sense he had. Oates came in," he +continues, "and made me a compliment that I was one that was marked out +to be killed. He had before said the same to Stillingfleet of him. But +he had made that honour which he did us too cheap, when he said Tonge +was to be served in the same manner, because he had translated 'The +Jesuits' Morals' into English. He broke out into great fury against the +Jesuits, and said he would have their blood. But I, to divert him from +that strain, asked him what were the arguments that prevailed on him to +change his religion and to go over to the Church of Rome? He upon that +stood up, and laid his hands on his breast, and said, 'God and His holy +angels knew that he had never changed, but that he had gone among them +on purpose to betray them.' This gave me such a character of him, that I +could have no regard to anything he said or swore after that." + +The agitation now besetting the public mind had been adroitly fanned +into flame by the evil genius of Lord Shaftesbury. Eachard states that +if he was not the original contriver of this disturbance, "he was at +least the grand refiner and improver of all the materials. And so much +he seemed to acknowledge to a nobleman of his acquaintance, when he +said, 'I will not say who started the game, but I am sure I had the full +hunting of it.'" In the general consternation which spread over the land +he beheld a means that might help the fulfilment of his strong desires. +Chief among these were the exclusion of the Duke of York from the +throne, and the realization of his own inordinate ambition. A deist in +belief, he abhorred catholicism; a worshipper of self, he longed for +power. He had boasted Cromwell had wanted to crown him king, and he +narrated to Burnet that a Dutch astrologer had predicted he would yet +fill a lofty position. He had long schemed and dreamed, and now it +seemed the result of the one and fulfilment of the other were at +hand. The pretended discovery of this plot threatened to upheave the +established form of government, for the king was one at heart with those +about to be brought to trial and death. A quarter of a century had not +passed since a bold and determined man had risen up and governed Great +Britain. Why should not history repeat itself in this respect? the +prospect was alluring. Possessing strong influence, great vanity, and an +unscrupulous character, Shaftesbury resolved to stir the nation to its +centre, at the expense of peace, honour, and bloodshed. + +On the 21st of October, Parliament assembled, when Lord Danby, much +against his majesty's inclination, brought the subject of the plot +before the Commons. This was a movement much appreciated by the House, +which, fired by the general indignation, resolved to deal out vengeance +with a strong hand. As befitted such intention, they began by requesting +his majesty would order a day of general fasting and prayer, to implore +the mercy of Almighty God. The king complying with this desire, they +next, "in consideration of the bloody and traitorous designs," besought +him to issue a proclamation "commanding all persons being popish +recusants, or so reputed," to depart ten miles from the city. +Accordingly, upwards of thirty thousand citizens left London before +the 7th of the following month, "with great lamentations leaving +their trades and habitations." Many of them in a little while secretly +returned again. A few days before this latest petition was presented +to the monarch, Oates had been examined before the House for over six +hours; and so delighted was he by the unprejudiced manner in which his +statements were received, that he added several items to them. These +were not only interesting in themselves, but implicated peers and +persons of quality to the number of twenty-six. The former, including +Lords Stafford, Powis, Petre, Bellasis, and Arundel of Wardour, were +committed to the Tower, the latter to Newgate prison. + +At the end of his examination he was several times asked if he knew more +of the plot, or of those concerned with it, to which he emphatically +replied he did not. Three days later he remembered a further incident +which involved many persons not previously mentioned by him. + +Both Houses now sat in the forenoon and afternoon of each day; +excitement was not allowed to flag. Oates seldom appeared before the +Commons without having fresh revelations to make; but the fertility of +his imagination by no means weakened the strength of his evidence in +the opinions of his hearers. "Oates was encouraged," writes John Evelyn, +"and everything he affirmed taken for gospel." Indignation against the +papists daily increasing in height, the decrees issued regarding them +became more rigorous in severity. + +On the 2nd of November the king, in obedience to his Parliament, offered +a reward of twenty pounds for the discovery of any officer or soldier +who, since the passing of the Test Act, "hath been perverted to the +Romish religion, or hears mass." Two days later a bill was framed +"for more effectually preserving the king's person and government, by +disabling papists from sitting in either House of Parliament." As it was +feared a clause would be inserted in this, excluding the Duke of York, +the enemies of his royal highness more plainly avowed their object by +moving that an address be presented to the king, praying his brother +should "withdraw himself from his majesty's person and counsels." This +was the first step towards the Bill of Exclusion from Succession which +they hoped subsequently to obtain. The monarch, however, determined to +check such designs whilst there was yet time; and accordingly made a +speech to the peers, in which he said to them, "Whatever reasonable +bills you shall present to be passed into laws, to make you safe in +the reign of my successor, so they tend not to impeach the right of +succession, nor the descent of the crown in the true line, shall find +from me a ready concurrence." + +The intended address was therefore abandoned for the present; but the +bill for disabling catholics from sitting in either House of Parliament, +having a clause which excepted the Duke of York from that indignity, +passed on the 30th of November. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Reward for the discovery of murderers.--Bedlow's character + and evidence.--His strange story.--Development of the "horrid + plot."--William Staley is made a victim.--Three Jesuits hung.--Titus + Oates pronounced the saviour of his country.--Striving to ruin the + queen.--Monstrous story of Bedlow and Oates.--The king protects + her majesty.--Five Jesuits executed.--Fresh rumours concerning + the papists.--Bill to exclude the Duke of York.--Lord Stafford is + tried.--Scene at Tower Hill.--Fate of the conspirators. + +Before the remains of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey were laid to rest, a +proclamation was issued by the king, offering a reward of five hundred +pounds for discovery of the murderers. If one of the assassins betrayed +those who helped him in the deed, he should receive, not only the sum +mentioned, but likewise a free pardon, and such protection for his +security as he could in reason propose. Two days after this had been +made public, a man named William Bedlow put himself in communication +with Sir William Coventry, Secretary of State, declaring he had a +certain knowledge of the murder in question. + +Archdeacon Eachard tells us this man "was one of a base birth and worse +manners, who from a poor foot-boy and runner of errands, for a while +got into a livery in the Lord Bellasis's family; and having for his +villainies suffered hardships and want in many prisons in England, he +afterwards turned a kind of post or letter carrier for those who thought +fit to employ him beyond sea. By these means he got the names and +habitations of men of quality, their relations, correspondents, +and interests; and upon this bottom, with a daring boldness, and a +dexterous turn of fancy and address, he put himself into the world. He +was skilful in all the arts and methods of cheating; but his masterpiece +was his personating men of quality, getting credit for watches, coats, +and horses; borrowing money, bilking vintners and tradesmen, lying and +romancing to the degree of imposing upon any man of good nature. He +lived like a wild Arab upon prey, and whether he was in Flanders, +France, Spain, or England, he never failed in leaving the name of a +notorious cheat and impostor behind him." + +On the 7th of November, Bedlow was brought before the king, and examined +by two Secretaries of State. Here he made the extraordinary declaration +that he had seen the body of the murdered magistrate lying at Somerset +House--then the residence of the queen; that two Jesuits, named La Faire +and Walsh, told him they, with the assistance of an attendant in +the queen's chapel, had smothered Sir Edmondbury Godfrey between two +pillows; that he had been offered two thousand guineas if he would +safely remove the body, which on his refusal was carried away, a couple +of nights after the murder, by three persons unknown to him, who were +servants of the queen's household. Hearing this statement, Sir William +Coventry asked him if he knew anything of the popish plot, when he +affirmed on oath he was entirely ignorant regarding it; he likewise +swore he knew no such man as Titus Oates. + +That night he was lodged in Whitehall, in company with Tonge and Oates; +and next morning appeared before the House of Lords, when it was evident +his memory had wonderfully improved since the previous day. His story +now assumed a more concise form. In the beginning of October, he stated, +he had been offered the sum of four thousand pounds, to be paid by Lord +Bellasis, provided he murdered a man whose name was withheld from him, +This he refused. He was then asked to make the acquaintance and watch +the movements of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey. With this he complied. Soon +after dusk on the 12th of October, the magistrate had been dragged into +the court of Somerset House by the Jesuits, and asked if he would send +for the documents to which Oates had sworn. On his refusal he had been +smothered with a piece of linen cloth; the story of suffocation by +pillows, being at variance with the medical evidence, was now abandoned. +One of the Jesuits, La Faire, had asked Bedlow to call at Somerset House +that night at nine o'clock; and on presenting himself, he was conducted +through a gloomy passage into a spacious and sombre room, where a group +of figures stood round a body lying on the floor. Advancing to these, +La Faire turned the light of a lantern he carried on the face of the +prostrate man, when Bedlow recognised Sir Edmondbury Godfrey. He was +then offered two thousand guineas if he would remove the body, which was +allowed to remain there three days. This he promised to accomplish, +but afterwards, his conscience reproving him, he resolved to avoid the +assassins; and rather than accept the sum proffered, he had preferred +discovering the villainy to the Government. + +This improbable story obtained no credit with the king, nor indeed with +those whose minds were free from prejudice. "His majesty," writes Sir +John Reresby, "told me Bedlow was a rogue, and that he was satisfied +he had given false evidence concerning the death of Sir Edmondbury +Godfrey." Many circumstances regarding the narrator and his story showed +the viciousness of the one and the falsity of the other. The authority +just mentioned states, when Bedlow "was taxed with having cheated a +great many merchants abroad, and gentlemen at home, by personating my +Lord Gerard and other men of quality, and by divers other cheats, he +made it an argument to be more credited in this matter, saying nobody +but a rogue could be employed in such designs." Concerning the murder, +it chanced the king had been at Somerset House visiting the queen, at +the time when, according to Bedlow, the deed had been committed. His +majesty had been attended by a company of guards, and sentries had been +placed at every door; yet not one of them had witnessed a scuffle, or +heard a noise. Moreover, on the king sending Bedlow to Somerset House, +that he might indicate the apartment in which the magistrate's remains +had lain three days, he pointed out a room where the footman waited, and +through which the queen's meals were daily carried. + +But the dishonesty of his character and falsity of his statements by +no means prevented the majority of his hearers from believing, or +pretending to believe, his statements; and therefore, encouraged by +the ready reception they met, he ventured to make fresh and startling +revelations. Heedless of the oath he had taken on the first day of his +examination, regarding his ignorance of the popish plot, he now asserted +he was well acquainted with all its details. For some four years he +had been in the secret employment of the wicked Jesuits, and knew +they intended to stab and poison his majesty, establish catholicity +in England, and make the pope king. So far, indeed, had their evil +machinations been planned, that several popish peers already held +commissions for posts they expected to fill in the future. Lord Bellasis +and Lord Powis were appointed commanders of the forces in the north +and south; whilst Lord Arundel of Wardour had permission to grant such +positions as he pleased. Then the Dukes of Buckingham, Ormond, and +Monmouth, with Lords Shaftesbury and Ossory, together with many others, +were to be murdered by forty thousand papists, who were ready to rise up +all over the country at a moment's notice. "Nor was there," he added, +"a Roman Catholic of any quality or credit but was acquainted with these +designs and had received the sacrament from their father confessors to +be secret in carrying it out." + +It by no means pleased Oates that Bedlow should surpass him in his +knowledge of this hellish plot. Therefore, that he might not lose +in repute as an informer, he now declared he was also aware of the +commissions held by popish peers. He, however, assigned them in a +different order. Arundel was to be made chancellor; Powis, treasurer; +Bellasis general of the army; Petre, lieutenant-general; Ratcliffe, +major-general; Stafford, paymaster-general; and Langhorn, +advocate-general. Nay, his information far outstripped Bedlow's, for +he swore that to his knowledge Coleman had given four ruffians eighty +guineas to stab the king, and Sir George Wakeham had undertaken to +poison his majesty for ten thousand pounds. When, however, he was +brought face to face with these men, he was unable to recognise them, +a fact he accounted for by stating he was exhausted by prolonged +examination. + +All England was scared by revelations so horrible; "the business of +life," writes Macpherson, "was interrupted by confusion, panic, clamour, +and dreadful rumours." In London, two thousand catholics were cast into +prison; houses were daily searched for arms and treasonable documents; +and in good time merciless executions filled up the sum of bitter +persecutions. + +One of the first victims of this so-called plot was William Staley, +a catholic banker of fair renown. The manner in which his life was +sacrificed will serve as an example of the injustice meted to those +accused. One day, William Staley happened to enter a pastrycook's shop +in Covent Garden, opposite his bank, where there chanced to stand at +the time a fellow named Carstairs; one of the infamous creatures who, +envious of the honours and riches heaped on Oates and Bedlow, resolved +to make new discoveries and enjoy like rewards. At this time he was, as +Bishop Burnet states, "looking about where he could find a lucky piece +of villainy." Unfortunately the banker came under his notice, and Bedlow +and an associate pretended to have heard Staley say the king was a rogue +and a persecutor of the people whom he would stab if no other man was +found to do the deed. These words Carstairs wrote down, and next morning +called on the banker, showed him the treasonable sentence, and said +he would swear it had been uttered by him, unless he, Staley, would +purchase his silence. Though fully aware of his danger, he refused to +do this; whereon Carstairs had him instantly arrested and committed for +trial. Hearing of his situation, and knowing the infamous character of +his accusers, Dr. Burnet thought it his duty to let the lord chancellor +and the attorney-general know "What profligate wretches these +witnesses were." His interference was received with hostility. The +attorney-general took it ill that he should disparage the king's +evidence; Lord Shaftesbury avowed those who sought to undermine the +credit of witnesses were to be looked on as public enemies; whilst the +Duke of Lauderdale said Burnet desired to save Staley because of the +regard he had for anyone who would murder his majesty. Frightened by +such remarks at a time when no man's life or credit was safe, Burnet +shrank from further action; but rumour of his interference having got +noised abroad, it was resented by the public to such an extent, that he +was advised not to stir abroad for fear of public affronts. + +Within five days of his arrest, William Staley was condemned to death. +In vain he protested his innocence, pointed out the improbability of his +using such words in a public room, and referred to his character as +a loyal man and worthy citizen. He was condemned and executed as a +traitor. + +The next victim was Coleman. He denied having hired assassins to murder +his majesty, or entertained desires for his death; but honestly stated +he had striven to advance his religion, not by bloodshed, but by +tolerance. Whilst lying in chains at Newgate prison under sentence of +death members of both Houses of Parliament visited him, and offered him +pardon if he confessed a knowledge of the plot; but, in answer to all +persuasions and promises, he avowed his innocence; protesting which, he +died at Tyburn. + +A little later, three Jesuits, named Ireland, Whitehead, and Fenwick, +and two attendants of the queen's chapel, named Grove and Pickering, +were executed on a charge of conspiracy to kill the king. Oates and +Bedlow swore these Jesuits had promised Grove fifteen hundred pounds +as price of the murder; Pickering chose as his reward to have thirty +thousand masses, at a shilling a mass, said for him. Three times they +had attempted this deed with a pistol; but once the flint was loose, +another time there was no powder in the pan, and again the pistol was +charged only with bullets. These five men died denying their guilt to +the last. + +Meanwhile, Dr. Tonge, the ingenious inventor of the plot, had sunk into +insignificance by comparison with his audacious pupil. Not only did the +latter have apartments at Whitehall allotted him, and receive a pension +of twelve hundred a year, but he was lauded as the saviour of his +country, complimented with the title of doctor of divinity, honoured in +public, and entertained in private. Eachard mentions "a great supper +in the city," given in compliment to Oates by "twenty eminent +rich citizens;" and Sir John Reresby writes of meeting him at the +dinner-table of Dr. Gunning, Bishop of Ely. Nothing could exceed the +insolence and arrogance of the impostor. He appeared in a silk gown and +cassock, a long scarf, a broad hat with satin band and rose, and called +himself a doctor of divinity. No man dared contradict or oppose him, +lest he should be denounced as a conniver of the plot, and arrested as a +traitor. "Whoever he pointed at was taken up and committed," says North. +"So that many people got out of his way as from a blast, and glad they +could prove their last two years' conversation. The very breath of him +was pestilential, and if it brought not imprisonment, it surely poisoned +reputation." Sir John, speaking of him at the bishop's dinner-table, +says "he was blown up with the hopes of running down the Duke of York, +and spoke of him and his family after a manner which showed himself both +a fool and a knave. He reflected not only on him personally, but upon +her majesty; nobody daring to contradict him, for fear of being made a +party to the plot. I at least did not undertake to do it, when he left +the room in some heat. The bishop told me this was his usual discourse, +and that he had checked him formerly for taking so indecent a liberty, +but he found it was to no purpose." + +The impostor's conversation on this occasion furnishes the key-note of +a vile plot now contrived to intercept the lawful succession, either by +effectually removing the queen, and thereby enabling the king to marry +again; or otherwise excluding the Duke of York by act of parliament from +lawful right to the crown. Though Shaftesbury's hand was not plainly +seen, there can be no doubt it was busily employed in working out his +favourite design. + +The blow was first aimed at her majesty by Bedlow, who, on the 25th of +November, accused her of conspiring to kill her husband. About eighteen +months previously, he said, there had been a consultation in the chapel +gallery at Somerset House, which had been attended by Lord Bellasis, Mr. +Coleman, La Faire, Pritchard, Latham, and Sheldon, four Jesuits, and two +Frenchmen whom he took to be abbots, two persons of quality whose +faces he did not see, and lastly by her majesty. The Jesuits afterwards +confided in him as a person of trust, that the queen wept at a proposal +to murder the king which had been made, but subsequently yielding to +arguments of the French abbots, had consented to the design. Indeed, +Bedlow, who was in the sacristy when her majesty passed through at the +termination of this meeting, noticed her face had much changed. Here +his story ended; but, as was now usual, it was taken up and concluded by +Oates. + +Appearing at the Bar of the House of Commons, this vile impostor cried +out, "Aye, Taitus Oates, accause Caatharine, Quean of England, of haigh +traison." Then followed his audacious evidence. In the previous July, +Sir George Wakeham, in writing to a Jesuit named Ashby, stated her +majesty would aid in poisoning the king. A few days afterwards, Harcourt +and four other Jesuits having been sent for, attended the queen at +Somerset House. On that occasion Oates waited on them; they went into +a chamber, he stayed without. Whilst there he heard a woman's voice +say she would endure her wrongs no longer, but should assist Sir +George Wakeham in poisoning the king. He was afterwards admitted to the +chamber, and saw no woman there but her majesty; and he heard the same +voice ask Harcourt, whilst he was within, if he had received the last +ten thousand pounds. + +The appetite of public credulity seeming to increase by that on which it +fed, this avowal was readily believed. That the accusation had not been +previously made; that Oates had months before sworn he knew no others +implicated in the plot beyond those he named; that the queen had never +interfered in religious matters; that she loved her husband exceeding +well, were facts completely overlooked in the general agitation. +Parliament "was in a rage and flame;" and next day the Commons drew up +an address to the king, stating that "having received information of +a most desperate and traitorous design against the life of his sacred +majesty, wherein the queen is particularly charged and accused" they +besought him that "she and all her family, and all papists and reputed +papists, be forthwith removed from his court." Furthermore, the House +sent a message to the Peers, desiring their concurrence in this request; +but the Lords made answer, before doing so they would examine the +witnesses against her majesty. This resolution was loudly and indecently +protested against by Lord Shaftesbury and two of his friends. + +The king had discredited the story of the plot from the first; but +remembering the unhappy consequences which had resulted upon the +disagreement of the monarch and his parliament in the previous reign, he +weakly resolved to let himself be carried away by the storm, other than +offer it resistance. On the condemnation of the Jesuits, he had appeared +unhappy and dissatisfied; "but," says Lord Romney, "after he had had +a little advice he kept his displeasure to himself." The Duke of York +states, in the Stuart Papers, that "the seeming necessity of his affairs +made his majesty think he could not be safe but by consenting every day +to the execution of those he knew in his heart to be most innocent." +Now, however, when foul charges were made against the queen, calculated +not merely to ruin her honour but destroy her life, he resolved to +interfere. He therefore requested she would return to Whitehall, where +she should be safe under his protection; and feeling assured Oates had +received instructions from others more villainous than their tool, +he ordered a strict guard to be kept upon him. This he was, however, +obliged to remove next day at request of the Commons. + +On the examination before the House of Lords of Oates and Bedlow, their +evidence proved so vague and contradictory that it was rejected even by +the most credulous. When Bedlow was asked "why he had not disclosed such +a perilous matter in conjunction with his previous information touching +the murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey," he coolly replied, "it had +escaped his memory." On Oates being sent to point out the apartment in +which he had seen her majesty and the Jesuits, he first selected the +guard-room, and afterwards the privy chamber, places in which it would +have been impossible to have held secret consultation. Aware that the +king was resolved to protect her majesty, and conscious the evidence of +her accusers was more wildly improbable than usual, the Lords refused to +second the address of the Commons, when the charge against this hapless +woman was abandoned, to the great vexation of my Lord Shaftesbury. + +Though the queen happily escaped the toils of her enemies, the reign of +terror was by no means at an end. At request of the king, the Duke +of York left England and took refuge in Brussels; the catholic peers +imprisoned in the Tower were impeached with high treason; Hill, Green, +and Berry, servants of her majesty, charged with the murder of Sir +Edmondbury Godfrey, were, without a shadow of evidence, hurried to the +scaffold, as were soon after Whitebread, Fenwick, Harcourt, Gavan and +Turner, Jesuits all, and Langhorn, a catholic lawyer, for conspiring +to murder the king. On the morning when these unfortunate men stood +ignominiously bound to the gallows at Tyburn, the instruments of death +before their eyes, the angry murmurs of the surging mob ringing in their +ears, suddenly the sound of a voice crying aloud, "A pardon! a pardon!" +was heard afar off, and presently a horseman appeared riding at full +speed. The soldiers with some difficulty making way for him through a +line of excited people, he advanced to the foot of the scaffold, and +handed a roll of paper bearing the king's seal to the sheriff, who, +opening it, read a promise of pardon to those now standing face to face +with death, provided "they should acknowledge the conspiracy, and lay +open what they knew thereof." To this they replied they knew of no plot, +and had never desired harm to the king; and, praying for those who had +sought their lives, they died. + +The firmness and patience with which the victims of judicial murder had +one and all met death, refusing bribes, and resisting persuasions to +own themselves guilty, could not fail in producing some effect upon the +public mind; and towards the middle of the year 1679 the first signs of +reaction became visible, when three Benedictine monks and the queen's +physician were tried for conspiracy "to poison the king, subvert the +government, and introduce popery." During the examination, Evelyn tells +us, "the bench was crowded with the judges, lord mayor, justices, and +innumerable spectators." After a tedious trial of nine hours, the jury +brought the prisoners in not guilty, "without," says Evelyn, "sufficient +disadvantage and reflection on witnesses, especially on Oates and +Bedlow." + +As my Lord Shaftesbury had not yet succeeded in his desired project of +excluding the Duke of York from succession, the symptoms of change in +public opinion were thoroughly distasteful to him. He therefore resolved +to check them immediately, and stimulate the agitation and fear that +had for many months reigned paramount through out the nation. For this +purpose he had recourse to his former method of circulating wild and +baseless reports. Accordingly a rumour was soon brought before the House +of Commons of a horrible plot hatched by the papists to burn London to +the ground. This, it was alleged, would be effected by a servant-maid +setting a clothes-press on fire in the house of her master, situated in +Fetter Lane. Two vile Irishmen were to feed the flames, and meanwhile +the catholics would rise in rebellion, and, assisted by an army of sixty +thousand French soldiers, kill the king, and put all protestants to the +sword. Though this tale was in due time discredited, yet it served its +purpose in the present. The violent alarm it caused had not subsided +when another terrible story, started on the excellent authority of Lord +Shaftesbury's cook, added a new terror. This stated the Duke of York +had placed himself at the head of the French troops, with intention +of landing in England, murdering the king and forcing papacy on his +subjects. The scare was sufficiently effectual to cause Parliament to +petition his majesty that he might revoke all licenses recently granted +catholic householders to reside in the capital; and order the execution +of all priests who administered sacraments or celebrated mass within the +kingdom. Soon after this address, Lord Russell was sent by the Commons +to the Peers, requesting their concurrence in the statement that "the +Duke of York's being a papist, the hope of his coming to the crown had +given the greatest countenance and encouragement to the conspiracies and +designs of the papists." And now, in May, 1679, the condition of popular +feeling promising well for its success, the Bill of Exclusion was +introduced, ordaining that "James, Duke of York should be incapable of +inheriting the crowns of England and Ireland; that on the demise of his +majesty without heirs of his body, his dominions should devolve, as if +the Duke of York were also dead, on that person next in succession who +had always professed the protestant religion established by law." This +passed the House of Commons by a majority of seventy-nine votes. + +Alarmed by this bill, Charles resolved to show signs of resentment, and +at the same time check the increasing power of the Commons, by a sudden +and decisive movement. Therefore, without previously hinting at his +intentions, he prorogued parliament before the bill was sent to +the House of Lords. This was a keen surprise to all, and a bitter +disappointment to Shaftesbury, who vowed those who advised the king to +this measure should answer for it with their heads. Owing to various +delays, the Bill of Exclusion was not brought before the Peers until +eighteen months later. Its introduction was followed by a debate lasting +six hours, in which Shaftesbury distinguished himself by his force and +bitterness. At nine o'clock at night the House divided, when the measure +was rejected by a majority of thirty-three votes, amongst which were +those of the fourteen bishops present. + +Mortified by this unexpected decision, the violent passions of the +defeated party hurried them on to seek the blood of those peers lodged +in the Tower. Of the five, William Howard, Viscount Stafford--youngest +son of the Earl of Arran, and nephew of the Duke of Norfolk--was +selected to be first put upon his trial; inasmuch as, being over sixty +years, and a sufferer from many infirmities, it was judged he would be +the least capable of making a vigorous defence. Three perjured +witnesses swore he had plotted against the king's life, but no proof +was forthcoming to support their evidence. Notwithstanding this was +"bespattered and falsified in almost every point," it was received as +authentic by the judges, who made a national cause of his prosecution, +and considered no punishment too severe for a papist. After a trial of +five days sentence of death was pronounced upon him, and on the 29th of +December, 1680, he was beheaded on Tower Hill. + +Like those who had suffered from similar charges, he protested his +innocence to the last; but his words met with a reception different from +theirs. Their dying speeches had been greeted by groans, hisses, and +signs of insatiable fury; but his declarations fell upon silent and +sympathizing hearts. When he had made denial of the crimes of which he +was accused, a great cry rose from the mob, "We believe you--we believe +you, my lord;" and then a single voice calling out "God bless you!" +the words were taken up and repeated by a vast throng, so that the last +sounds he heard on earth were those of prayer. He died with a +firmness worthy of his caste. Having laid his head upon the block, the +executioner brandished his axe in the air, and then set it quietly +down at his feet. Raising his head, Lord Stafford inquired the cause of +delay; the executioner replied he awaited a sign. "Take your time," said +he who stood at the verge of eternity; "I shall make no sign." He who +held the axe in his hand hesitated a second, and then said in a low and +troubled voice, "Do you forgive me, sir?" To which Lord Stafford made +brief answer, "I do." Then he laid his head again upon the blood-stained +block. Once more the glitter of steel flashed through the air, a groan +arose from the crowd, and Lord Stafford's head was severed from his +body. + +A reaction now set in, and gained strength daily. The remaining peers +were in due time liberated; the blood of innocent victims was no longer +shed; and the Duke of York was recalled. Such was the end of the popish +plot, which, says Archdeacon Eachard, "after the strictest and coolest +examinations, and after a full length of time, the government could find +very little foundation to support so vast a fabrick, besides downright +swearing and assurance; not a gun, sword, nor dagger, not a flask of +powder or dark lanthorn, to effect this strange villainy, and with the +exception of Coleman's writings, not one slip of an original letter of +commission among those great numbers alledged to uphold the reputation +of the discoveries." + +Concerning those through whose malice such disturbance was wrought, and +so much blood shed, a few words may be added. Within twelve months of +Lord Stafford's execution, Shaftesbury was charged with high treason, +but escaping condemnation, fled from further molestation to Holland, +where, after a residence of six weeks, he died. Tonge departed this life +in 1680, unbenefited by the monstrous plot he had so skilfully devised; +and in the same year Bedlow was carried to the grave after an illness of +four days. Oates survived to meet a share of the ignominy and punishment +due to his crimes. After a residence of three years in Whitehall, he was +driven out of the palace on account of "certain misdemeanors laid to his +charge," and deprived of his salary. Two years later, in May, 1683, he +was accused of calling the Duke of York a traitor, and using scandalous +words towards his royal highness. Upon hearing of the case the jury +fined him one hundred thousand pounds. Unable to pay the sum, he was +cast into prison, where he remained six years, until liberated in the +reign of William and Mary, His punishment was not, however, at an +end. At the Michaelmas term of 1684 he was accused of having wilfully +perjured himself at the late trials. As he pleaded not guilty, his case +was appointed to be heard at the King's Bench Court. His trial did not +take place until May, 1685, on which occasion the lord chief justice, in +summing up the evidence, declared, "There does not remain the slightest +doubt that Oates is the blackest and most perjured villain on the face +of the earth." + +After a quarter of an hour's absence from court, the jury returned +a verdict of guilty, and sentence was pronounced against him. He was +stripped of his canonical habit; forced to walk through all the courts +of Westminster Hall proclaiming his crimes; to stand an hour on the +pillory opposite Westminster Hall gate on Monday; an hour on the pillory +at the Royal Exchange on Tuesday; and on Wednesday he was tied to a cart +and whipt at the hands of the common hangman from Aldgate to Newgate, in +the presence, says Eachard, "of innumerable spectators, who had a more +than ordinary curiosity to see the sight." + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + London under Charles II.--Condition and appearance of the + thoroughfares.--Coffee is first drunk in the capital.--Taverns and + their frequenters.--The city by night.--Wicked people do creep + about.--Companies of young gentlemen.--The Duke of Monmouth kills + a beadle.--Sir Charles Sedley's frolic.--Stately houses of the + nobility.--St. James's Park.--Amusement of the town.--At Bartholomew + Fair.--Bull, bear, and dog fights.--Some quaint sports. + +During the first six years of the merry monarch's reign, London town, +east of Temple Bar, consisted of narrow and tortuous streets of quaintly +gabled houses, pitched roofed and plaster fronted. Scarce four years had +passed after the devastating fire which laid this portion of the capital +in ashes, when a new and stately city rose upon the ruins of the old. +Thoroughfares lying close by the Thames, which were wont to suffer from +inundations, were raised; those which from limited breadth had caused +inconvenience and bred pestilence were made wide; warehouses and +dwellings of solid brick and carved stone, with doors, window-frames, +and breastsummers of stout oak, replaced irregular though not +unpicturesque habitations; whilst the halls of companies, eminent +taverns, and abodes of great merchants, were now built "with fair +courtyards before them, and pleasant gardens behind them, and fair +spacious rooms and galleries in them, little inferior to some princes' +palaces." Moreover, churches designed by the genius of Christopher Wren, +adorned with spires, steeples, and minarets, intersected the capital at +all points. + +This new, handsome, and populous city presented an animated, ever +changing, and merry scene. From "the high street which is called the +Strand," far eastwards, great painted signs, emblazoned with heraldic +arms, or ornamented with pictures of grotesque birds and animals, +swung above shop-doors and taverns. Stalls laden with wares of every +description, "set out with decorations as valuable as those of the +stage," extended into the thoroughfares. In the new Exchange, built by +the worshipful company of mercers at a cost of eight thousand pounds, +and adorned by a fair statue of King Charles II. in the habit of a Roman +emperor, were galleries containing rows of very rich shops, displaying +manufactures and ornaments of rare description, served by young men +known as apprentices, and likewise by comely wenches. + +At corners and nooks of streets, under eaves of churches and great +buildings, and other places of shelter, sat followers of various trades +and vendors of divers commodities, each in the place which had become +his from daily association and long habit. These good people, together +with keepers of stalls and shops, extolled their wares in deafening +shouts; snatches of song, shouts of laughter, and the clang of pewter +vessels came in bursts of discord from open tavern doors; women +discoursed with or abused each other, according to their temper and +inclination as they leaned from the jutting small-paned windows and open +balconies of their homesteads; hackney coaches or "hell carts," as they +drove by, cast filth and refuse lying in kennels upon the clothes of +passengers; the carriers of sedan-chairs deposited their burthens to +fight for right of way in narrow passages and round crowded corners. + +Through the busy concourse flowing up and down the thoroughfares from +dawn to dusk, street-criers took their way, bearing wares upon their +heads in wicker baskets, before them on broad trays, or slung upon their +backs in goodly packs. And as they passed, their voices rose above the +general din, calling "Fair lemons and oranges, oranges and citrons!" +"Cherries, sweet cherries, ripe and red!" "New flounders and great +plaice; buy my dish of great eels!" "Rosemary and sweet briar; who'll +buy my lavender?" "Fresh cheese and cream!" "Lily-white vinegar!" +"Dainty sausages!" which calls, being frequently intoned to staves +of melody, fell with pleasant sounds upon the ear. [These hawkers so +seriously interfered with legitimate traders, that in 1694 they were +forbidden to sell any goods or merchandise in any public place within +the city or liberties, except in open markets and fairs, on penalty of +forty shillings for each offence, both to buyers and sellers.] Moreover, +to these divers sights and sounds were added ballad singers, who piped +ditties upon topics of the day; quacks who sold nostrums and magic +potions; dancers who performed on tight-ropes; wandering musicians; +fire-eaters of great renown; exhibitors of dancing dolls, and such like +itinerants "as make show of motions and strange sights," all of whom +were obliged to have and to hold "a license in red and black letters, +under the hand and seal of Thomas Killigrew, Esq., master of the revels +to his sacred majesty Charles II." + +Adown the Strand, Fleet Street, and in that part of the city adjoining +the Exchange, coffee-houses abounded in great numbers. Coffee, which +in this reign became a favourite beverage, was introduced into London +a couple of years before the restoration. It had, however, been brought +into England at a much earlier period. John Evelyn, in the year 1638, +speaks of it being drunk at Oxford, where there came to his college +"one Nathaniel Conoposis out of Greece, from Cyrill the patriarch of +Constantinople, who, returning many years after, was made Bishop of +Smyrna." Twelve good years later, a coffee-house was opened at Oxford +by one Jacobs, a Jew, where this beverage was imbibed "by some +who delighted in novelty." It was, however, according to Oldys the +antiquarian, untasted in the capital till a Turkey merchant named +Edwards brought to London a Ragusan youth named Pasqua Rosee, who +prepared this drink for him daily. The eagerness to taste the strange +beverage drawing too much company to his board, Edwards allowed the lad, +together with a servant of his son-in-law, to sell it publicly; whence +coffee was first sold in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill by Pasqua +Rosee, "at the sign of his own head," about the year 1658. + +Though coffee-drinkers first met with much ridicule from wits about +town, and writers of broadsheet ballads, the beverage became gradually +popular, and houses for its sale quickly multiplied. Famous amongst +these, in the reign of the merry monarch, besides that already +mentioned, was Garraway's in Exchange Alley; the Rainbow, by the Inner +Temple Gate; Dick's, situated at No. 8, Fleet Street; Jacobs', the +proprietor of which moved in 1671 from Oxford to Southampton Buildings, +Holborn; the Grecian in the Strand, "conducted without ostentation +or noise;" the Westminster, noted as a resort of peers and members +of parliament; and Will's, in Russell Street, frequented by the poet +Dryden. + +These houses, the forerunners of clubs, were, according to their +situation and convenience, frequented by noblemen and men of quality, +courtiers, foreign ministers, politicians, members of learned +professions, wits, citizens of various grades, and all who loved to +exchange greetings and gossip with their neighbours and friends. Within +these low-ceilinged comfortable coffee-house rooms, fitted with strong +benches and oak chairs, where the black beverage was drunk from handless +wide brimmed cups, Pepys passed many cheerful hours, hearing much of the +news he so happily narrates, and holding pleasant discourse with many +notable men. It was in a coffee-house he encountered Major Waters, "a +deaf and most amorous melancholy gentleman, who is under a despayer in +love, which makes him bad company, though a most good-natured man." +And in such a place he listened to "some simple discourse about quakers +being charmed by a string about their wrists;" and saw a certain +merchant named Hill "that is a master of most sorts of musique and other +things, the universal character, art of memory, counterfeiting of hands, +and other most excellent discourses." + +In days before newspapers came into universal circulation, and general +meetings were known, coffee-houses became recognised centres for +exchange of thought and advocacy of political action. Aware of this, the +government, under leadership of Danby, not desiring to have its motives +too freely canvassed, in 1675 issued an order that such "places of +resort for idle and disaffected persons" should be closed. Alarmed by +this command, the keepers of such houses petitioned for its withdrawal, +at the same time faithfully promising libels should not be read under +their roofs. They were therefore permitted to carry on their business by +license. + +Next in point of interest to coffee-houses were taverns where men came +to make merry, in an age when simplicity and good fellowship largely +obtained. As in coffee-houses, gossip was the order of the day in +such places, each tavern being in itself "a broacher of more news than +hogsheads, and more jests than news." Those of good standing and fair +renown could boast rows of bright flagons ranged on shelves round +panelled walls; of hosts, rotund in person and genial in manner; and +of civil drawers, who could claim good breeding. The Bear, at the +bridge-foot, situated at the Southwark side, was well known to men of +gallantry and women of pleasure; and was, moreover, famous as the spot +where the Duke of Richmond awaited Mistress Stuart on her escape from +Whitehall. The Boar's Head, in Eastcheap, which gained pleasant mention +in the plays of William Shakespeare, when rebuilt, after the great fire, +became a famous resort. The Three Cranes, in the Vintry, was sacred to +the shade of rare Ben Jonson. The White Bear's Head, in Abchurch Lane, +where French dinners were served from five shillings a head "to a +guinea, or what sum you pleased," was the resort of cavaliers, The Rose +Tavern, in the Poultry, was famous for its excellent ale, and no less +for its mighty pretty hostess, to whom the king had kissed hands as he +rode by on his entry. The Rummer was likewise of some note, inasmuch as +it was kept by one Samuel Prior, uncle to Matthew Prior, the ingenious +poet. On the balcony of the Cock, near Covent Garden, Sir Charles +Sedley had stood naked in a drunken frolic; and at the King's Head, over +against the Inner Temple Gate, Shaftesbury and his friends laid their +plots, coming out afterwards on the double balcony in front, as North +describes them, "with hats and no peruques, pipes in their mouths, +merry faces and dilated throats, for vocal encouragement of the canaglia +below." + +All day long the streets were crowded by those whom business or +diversion carried abroad; but when night fell apace, the keepers of +stalls and shops speedily secured their wares and fastened their doors, +whilst the honest citizen and his family kept within house. For the +streets being unlighted, darkness fell upon them, relieved only as some +person of wealth rode homewards from visiting a friend, or a band of +late revellers returned from a feast, when the glare of flambeaux, +carried by their attendants, for a moment brought the outlines of houses +into relief, or flashed red light upon their diamond panes, leaving all +in profound gloom on disappearing. + +The condition of the thoroughfares favouring the inclination of many +loose persons, they wandered at large, dealing mischief to those whose +duty took them abroad. From the year 1556, in the reign of Queen Mary, +"fit persons with suitable strength" had been appointed to walk the +streets and watch the city by night; to protect those in danger, arrest +suspected persons, warn householders of danger by fire and candle, +help the poor, pray for the dead, and preserve the peace. These burly +individuals were known as watch or bell men; one was appointed for each +ward, whose duty it was to pass through the district he guarded ringing +his bell, "and when that ceaseth," says Stow, "he salutes his masters +and mistresses with his rhymes, suitable to the seasons and festivals of +the year, and bids them look to their lights." + +In the third year of the reign of King Charles II., whilst Sir John +Robinson was mayor of London town, divers good orders were made by him +and his common council for the better service of these watches. The +principal of these set forth that each should be accompanied by a +constable and a beadle selected from the inhabitants of their respective +wards, who should be required in turn to render voluntary service in +guarding the city, from nine of the clock at night till seven in the +morning, from Michaelmas to the 1st of April; and from that date until +the 31st of March, from ten at night till five in the morning. + +These rules were not, however, vigorously carried out; the volunteers +were frequently unwilling to do duty, or when, fearful of fine, they +went abroad, they usually spent their time in tippling in ale-houses, +so that, as Delaune remarks, "a great many wicked persons capable of the +blackest villainies do creep about, as daily and sad experience shows." +It was not only those who, with drawn swords, darted from some deep +porch or sheltering buttress, in hopes of enriching themselves at their +neighbour's expense, that were to be dreaded. It was a fashion of the +time for companies of young gentlemen to saunter forth in numbers after +route or supper, when, being merry with wine and eager for adventure, +they were brave enough to waylay the honest citizen and abduct his +wife, beat the watch and smash his lantern, bedaub signboards and +wrench knockers, overturn a sedan-chair and vanquish the carriers, sing +roystering songs under the casements of peaceful sleepers, and play +strange pranks to which they were prompted by young blood and high +spirits. + +Among those who made prominent figures in such unholy sports was the +king's eldest son, my Lord Duke of Monmouth. He and his young grace +of Albemarle--son to that gallant soldier now deceased, who was +instrumental in restoring his majesty--together with some seven or eight +young gentlemen, whilst on their rounds one Sunday morning encountered +a beadle, whose quaint and ponderous figure presented itself to +their blithe minds as a fit object for diversion in lieu of better. +Accordingly they accosted him with rough words and unceremonious usage, +the which he resenting, they came to boisterous threats and many blows, +that ended only when the poor fellow lay with outstretched limbs stark +dead upon the pavement. Sir Charles Sedley and Lord Brockhurst were also +notable as having been engaged in another piece of what has been called +"frolick and debauchery," when "they ran up and down all night almost +naked through the streets, at last fighting and being beaten by the +watch, and clapped up all night." + +It was not until the last years of the merry monarch's reign that there +was introduced "an ingenious and useful invention for the good of this +great city, calculated to secure one's goods, estates, and person; to +prevent fires, robberies and housebreakings, and several accidents and +casualties by falls to which man is liable by walking in the dark" This +was a scheme for lighting the streets, by placing an oil-lamp in +front of every tenth house on each side of the way, from Michaelmas to +Lady-day, every night from six of the clock till twelve, beginning the +third night after every full moon, and ending on the sixth night after +every new moon; one hundred and twenty nights in all. The originator of +this plan was one Edward Hemming, of London, gentleman. His project was +at first ridiculed and opposed by "narrow-souled and self-interested +people," who were no doubt children of darkness and doers of evil deeds; +but was eventually hailed with delight by all honest men, one of whom, +gifted with considerable imagination, declared these poor oil-lamps +"seemed but one great solar light that turned nocturnal shades to +noonday." + +In this reign the city proper was confined eastward of Temple Bar; to +the west lay the palaces of Somerset House and Whitehall, the stately +parks, and great houses of the nobility surrounded by wide gardens and +wooded grounds. Monsieur Sorbiere, who in this reign made a journey +into England, an account of which he subsequently published "to divert +a person of quality who loved him extremely," resided close by Covent +Garden during his stay. It was usual, he writes, for people in the +district to say, "I go to London," for "indeed 'tis a journey for those +who live near Westminster. 'Tis true," he adds, "they may sometimes get +thither in a quarter of an hour by water, which they cannot do in +less than two hours by land, for I am persuaded no less time will be +necessary to go from one end of its suburb to the other." For a crown +a week this ingenious and travelled gentleman had lodgings in Covent +Garden, not far removed from Salisbury House, a vicinity which he avows +was "certainly the finest place in the suburbs." Covent Garden itself +has been described by John Strype, native of the city of London, as "a +curious large and airy square enclosed by rails, between which railes +and houses runs a fair street." The square, or, as it was commonly +called, garden, was well gravelled for greater accommodation of those +who wished to take the air; and that its surface might more quickly dry +after rain, it was raised by an easy ascent to the centre, where stood a +sundial fixed on a black marble pillar, at the base of which were stone +steps, "whereon the weary' might rest." + +The west side of the square was flanked by the handsome portico of St. +Paul's Church, erected at the expense of Francis, Earl of Bedford, from +designs by Mr. Inigo Jones; the south side opened to Bedford Gardens, +"where there is a small grotto of trees, most pleasant in the summer +season." Here, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, a market was held, +well stocked with roots, fruits, herbs, and flowers. On the north and +east sides stood large and stately houses of persons of quality and +consideration, the fronts of which, being supported by strong pillars, +afforded broad walks, known as the Piazza, and found convenient in wet +and sultry weather. + +Here amongst other houses was that of my Lord Brouncker, where Mr. Pepys +enjoyed a most noble French dinner and much good discourse, in return +for which he gave much satisfaction by the singing of a new ballad, to +wit, Lord Dorset's famous song, "To all ye ladies now on land." Not far +distant, its face turned to the Strand, was the stately residence of the +Duke of Bedford, a large dark building, fronted by a great courtyard, +and backed by spacious gardens enclosed by red-brick walls. Likewise in +the Strand stood Arundel House, the residence of Henry Frederick Howard, +Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and Earl Marshal of England; Hatfield House, +built by Thomas Hatfield, Bishop of Durham, as a town residence for +himself and his heirs lawfully begotten; York House, richly adorned with +the arms of Villiers and Manners--one gloomy chamber of which was shown +as that wherein its late noble owner, George, first Duke of Buckingham, +was stabbed by Felton; Worcester House, at one time occupied by Lord +Chancellor Clarendon; and Essex House, situated near St. Clement Danes, +the town residence of Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex, "a sober, wise, +judicious, and pondering person, not illiterate beyond the rate of most +noblemen of this age." + +There were also many other noble mansions lying westward, amongst them +being those of the Dukes of Ormond and Norfolk in St. James's Square, +which was built at this time; Berkeley House, which stood on the site +now occupied by Berkeley Square, a magnificent structure containing +a staircase of cedar wood, and great suites of lofty rooms; Leicester +House, situated in Leicester Fields, subsequently known as Leicester +Square, behind which stretched a goodly common; Goring House, "a very +pretty villa furnished with silver jars, vases, cabinets, and other +rich furniture, even to wantonnesse and profusion," on the site of which +Burlington Street now stands; Clarendon House, a princely residence, +combining "state, use, solidity, and beauty," surrounded by fair +gardens, that presently gave place to Bond Street; Southampton House, +standing, as Evelyn says, in "a noble piazza--a little town," now known +as Bloomsbury Square, whose pleasant grounds commanded a full view of +the rising hills of Hampstead and Highgate; and Montagu House, described +as a palace built in the French fashion, standing on the ground now +occupied by the British Museum, which in this reign was backed by lonely +fields, the dread scenes of "robbery, murder, and every species of +depravity and wickedness of which the heart can think." + +Besides the grounds and gardens surrounding these stately mansions, a +further aspect of space and freshness was added to the capital by +public parks. Foremost amongst these was St. James's, to which the merry +monarch added several fields, and for its greater advantage employed +Monsieur La Notre, the famous French landscape-gardener. Amongst the +improvements this ingenious man effected were planting trees of stately +height, contriving a canal one hundred feet broad and two hundred and +eighty feet long, with a decoy and duck island, [The goodnatured Charles +made Monsieur St. Evremond governor of Duck Island, to which position he +attached a salary much appreciated by the exile. The island was removed +in 1790 to make room for fresh improvements.] and making a pleasant +pathway bordered by an aviary on either side, usually called Bird Cage +Walk. An enclosure for deer was formed in the centre of the park; not +far removed was the famous Physic Garden, where oranges were first seen +in England; and at the western end, where Buckingham Palace has been +erected, stood Arlington House, described as "a most neat box, and +sweetly seated amongst gardens, enjoying the prospect of the park and +the adjoining fields." + +The great attraction of St. James's Park was the Mall, which Monsieur +Sorbiere tells us was a walk "eight hundred and fifty paces in length, +beset with rows of large trees, and near a small wood, from whence you +may see a fine mead, a long canal, Westminster Abbey, and the suburbs, +which afford an admirable prospect." This path was skirted by a wooded +border, and at the extreme end was set with iron hoops, "for the purpose +of playing a game with a ball called the mall." ["Our Pall Mall is, +I believe, derived from paille maille, a game somewhat analogous to +cricket, and imported from France in the reign of the second Charles. +It was formerly played in St. James's Park, and in the exercise of the +sport a small hammer or mallet was used to strike the ball. I think it +worth noting that the Malhe crest is a mailed arm and hand, the latter +grasping a mallet."--NOTES AND QUERIES, 1st series, vol. iii. p. 351.] + +In St. James's Park Samuel Pepys first saw the Duke of York playing +at "pelemele"; and likewise in 1662 witnessed with astonishment people +skate upon the ice there, skates having been just introduced from +Holland; on another occasion he enjoyed the spectacle of Lords +Castlehaven and Arran running down and killing a stout buck for a wager +before the king. And one sultry July day, meeting an acquaintance here, +the merry soul took him to the farther end, where, seating himself under +a tree in a corner, he sung him some blithesome songs. It was likewise +in St. James's Park the Duke of York, meeting John Milton one day, asked +him if his blindness was not to be regarded as a just punishment from +heaven, due to his having written against the martyred king. "If so, +sir," replied the great poet and staunch republican, "what must we think +of his majesty's execution upon a scaffold?" To which question his royal +highness vouchsafed no reply. + +It was a favourite custom of his majesty, who invariably rose betimes, +to saunter in the park whilst the day was young and pass an hour or two +in stroking the heads of his feathered favourites in the aviary, feeding +the fowls in the pond with biscuits, and playing with the crowd of +spaniels ever attending his walks. For his greater amusement he had +brought together in the park a rare and valuable collection of birds +and beasts; amongst which were, according to a quaint authority, "an +onocratylus, or pelican, a fowl between a stork and a swan--a melancholy +water-fowl brought from Astracan by the Russian ambassador." This writer +tells us, "It was diverting to see how the pelican would toss up and +turn a flat fish, plaice or flounder, to get it right into its gullet +at its lower beak, which being filmy stretches to a prodigious wideness +when it devours a great fish. Here was also a small water-fowl, not +bigger than a more-hen, that went almost quite erect like the penguin +of America. It would eate as much fish as its whole body weighed, yet ye +body did not appear to swell the bigger. The Solan geese here are also +great devourers, and are said soon to exhaust all ye fish in a pond. +Here was a curious sort of poultry not much exceeding the size of a tame +pidgeon, with legs so short as their crops seemed to touch ye earth; a +milk-white raven; a stork which was a rarity at this season, seeing +he was loose and could fly loftily; two Balearian cranes, one of which +having had one of his leggs broken, and cut off above the knee, had a +wooden or boxen leg and thigh, with a joint so accurately made that ye +creature could walke and use it as well as if it had ben natural; it +was made by a souldier. The park was at this time stored with numerous +flocks of severall sorts of ordinary and extraordinary wild fowle +breeding about the decoy, which, looking neere so greate a citty, +and among such a concourse of souldiers and people, is a singular and +diverting thing. There are also deere of several countries, white, +spotted like leopards; antelopes, an elk, red deere, roebucks, staggs, +Guinea goates, Arabian sheepe, etc. There are withy-potts or nests for +the wild fowle to lay their eggs in, a little above ye surface of ye +water." + +Hyde Park, lying close by, likewise afforded a pleasant and convenient +spot for recreation. Here, in a large circle railed off and known as the +Ring, the world of quality and fashion took the air in coaches. The +king and queen, surrounded by a goodly throng of maids of honour and +gentlemen in waiting, were wont to ride here on summer evenings, whilst +courtiers and citizens looked on the brilliant cavalcade with loyal +delight. Horse and foot races were occasionally held in the park, as +were reviews likewise, Cosmo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, "a very jolly and +good comely man," whilst visiting England in 1669, was entertained by +his majesty with a military parade held here one Sunday in May. + +On arriving at Hyde Park, he found a great concourse of people and +carriages waiting the coming of his majesty, who presently appeared +with the Duke of York and many lords and gentlemen of the court. Having +acknowledged an enthusiastic greeting, Charles retired under shade of +some trees, in order to protect himself from the sun, and then gave +orders for the troops to march past. "The whole corps," says the Grand +Duke, "consisted of two regiments of infantry, and one of cavalry, and +of three companies of the body-guard, which was granted to the king by +parliament since his return, and was formed of six hundred horsemen, +each armed with carabines and pistols, all well mounted and dressed, +which are uniform in every thing but colour. When they had marched by, +without firing either a volley or a salve, his majesty dismounted from +his horse, and entering his carriage, retired to Whitehall." + +Besides such diversions as were enjoyed in the parks, the people had +various other sources of public amusement; amongst these puppet-shows, +exhibitions of strength and agility, bear-baiting, cock-fighting, and +dancing obtained. Until the restoration, puppet-shows had not been seen +for years; for these droll dolls, being regarded as direct agents of +Satan, were discountenanced by the puritans. With the coming of his +majesty they returned in vast numbers, and were hailed with great +delight by the people. One of these exhibitions which found special +favour with the town, and speedily drew great audiences of gallants and +ladies of quality, was situated within the rails of Covent Garden. And +so perfect were the marionettes of this booth in the performance of +divers sad tragedies and gay comedies, that they had the honour of +receiving a royal command to play before their majesties at Whitehall. +Amongst the most famous tumblers, or, as they were then styled, +posturemakers, of this reign were Jacob Hall the friend of my Lady +Castlemaine, and Joseph Clarke, beloved by the citizens. Though the +latter was "a well-made man and rather gross than thin," we are told he +"exhibited in the most natural manner almost every species of deformity +and dislocation; he could dislocate his vertebrae so as to render +himself a shocking spectacle; he could also assume all the uncouth faces +he had seen at a quaker's meeting, at the theatre, or any public place. +He was likewise the plague of all the tailors about town. He would send +for one of them to take measure of him, but would so contrive it as to +have a most immoderate rising in one of his shoulders; when his clothes +were brought home and tried upon him, the deformity was removed into the +other shoulder, upon which the tailor begged pardon for the mistake, +and mended it as fast as he could; but on another trial found him as +straight-shouldered a man as one would desire to see, but a little +unfortunate in a hump back. In fact, this wandering tumour puzzled +all the workmen about town, who found it impossible to accommodate so +changeable a customer." + +Florian Marchand, "the water-spouter," was another performer who +enjoyed considerable fame. Such was the dexterity of this conjurer that, +"drinking only fountaine-water, he rendered out of his mouth in severall +glasses all sorts of wine and sweete waters." A Turk, who walked up an +almost perpendicular line by means of his toes, danced blindfold on a +tight rope with a boy dangling from his feet, and stood on his head on +the top of a high mast, shared an equal popularity with Barbara Vanbeck, +the bearded woman, and "a monstrous beast, called a dromedary." These +wondrous sights, together with various others of a like kind, which were +scattered throughout the town and suburbs during the greater part of +the year, assembled in full strength at the fairs of St. Margaret, +Southwark, and St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield. These gatherings, which +usually lasted a fortnight, were looked forward to with considerable +pleasure, and frequented not only by citizens bent on sport, but by +courtiers in search of adventure. + +Nay, even her majesty was tempted on one occasion to go a-fairing, as we +gather from a letter addressed to Sir Robert Paston, contained in Ives's +select papers. "Last week," says the writer thereof, "the queen, the +Duchess of Richmond, and the Duchess of Buckingham had a frolick +to disguise themselves like country lasses, in red petticoates, +waistcoates, etc., and so goe see the faire. Sir Bernard Gascoign, on a +cart jade, rode before the queen; another stranger before the Duchess of +Buckingham, and Mr. Roper before Richmond. They had all so overdone it +in their disguise, and look'd so much more like antiques than country +volk, that as soon as they came to the faire, the people began to goe +after them; but the queen going to a booth to buy a pair of yellow +stockins for her sweethart, and Sir Bernard asking for a pair of gloves, +sticht with blew, for his sweethart, they were soon, by their gebrish, +found to be strangers, which drew a bigger flock about them. One amongst +them [who] had seen the queen at dinner, knew her, and was proud of her +knowledge. This soon brought all the faire into a crowd to stare at the +queen. Being thus discovered, they as soon as they could got to their +horses; but as many of the faire as had horses, got up with their wives, +children, sweetharts, or neighbours behind them, to get as much gape as +they could till they brought them to the court gate. Thus by ill conduct +was a merry frolick turned into a penance." + +On another occasion my Lady Castlemaine went to Bartholomew fair to see +the puppets play "Patient Grissel;" and there was the street "full of +people expecting her coming out," who, when she appeared, "suffered her +with great respect to take the coach." Not only the king's mistress, but +likewise the whole court went to St. Margaret's fair to see "an Italian +wench daunce and performe all the tricks on the high rope to admiration; +and monkies and apes do other feates of activity." "They," says a +quaint author, "were gallantly clad A LA MODE, went upright, saluted the +company, bowing and pulling off their hats, with as good a grace as +if instructed by a dancing master. They turned heels over head with +a basket having eggs in it, without breaking any; also with lighted +candles on their heads, without extinguishing them; and with vessells of +water without spilling a drop." + +The cruel sport of bull and bear baiting was also commonly practised. +Seated round an amphitheatre, the people witnessed these unfortunate +animals being torn to pieces by dogs, the owners of which frequently +jumped into the arena to urge them to their sanguinary work, on the +result of which great wagers depended. Indignation arising against those +who witnessed such sights may be somewhat appeased by the knowledge that +infuriated bulls occasionally tossed the torn and bleeding carcases of +their tormentors into the faces and laps of spectators. Pepys frequently +speaks of dense crowds which assembled to witness this form of cruelty, +which he designates as good sport; and Evelyn speaks of a gallant steed +that, under the pretence that he had killed a man, was baited by dogs, +but fought so hard for his life "the fiercest of them could not fasten +on him till he was run through with swords." Not only bull and bear +baiting, cock and dog fighting were encouraged, but prize combats +between man and man were regarded as sources of great diversion. Pepys +gives a vivid picture of a furious encounter he, in common with a great +and excited crowd, witnessed at the bear-garden stairs, at Bankside, +between a butcher and a waterman. "The former," says he, "had the better +all along, till by-and-by the latter dropped his sword out of his hand; +and the butcher, whether not seeing his sword dropped I know not, but +did give him a cut over the wrist, so as he was disabled to fight any +longer. But Lord! to see how in a minute the whole stage was full of +watermen to revenge the foul play, and the butchers to defend their +fellow, though most blamed him; and then they all fell to it to knocking +down and cutting many on each side. It was pleasant to see, but that I +stood in the pit, and feared that in the tumult I might get some hurt." + +Among the more healthy sports which obtained during the reign were +horse-racing, tennis, and bowling. The monarch had, at vast expense, +built a house and stables at Newmarket, where he and his court regularly +repaired, to witness racing. Here likewise the king and "ye jolly blades +enjoyed dauncing, feasting, and revelling, more resembling a luxurious +and abandoned route than a Christian court." He had likewise a +tennis-court and bowling green at Whitehall, where at noonday and +towards eve, blithe lords, and ladies in brave apparel, might be seen +at play. Bowling was a game to which the people were much devoted, +every suburban tavern having its green, where good friends and honest +neighbours challenged each other's strength and skill. And amongst other +pleasant sports and customs were those practised on May-day, when +maids rose betimes to bathe their faces in dew, that they might become +sweet-complexioned to men's sight; and milk-maids with garlands of +spring flowers upon their pails, and posies in their breasts, danced to +the merry music of fiddles adown the streets. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + Court customs in the days of the merry monarch.--Dining in public.--The + Duke of Tuscany's supper to the king.--Entertainment of guests by + mountebanks.--Gaming at court.--Lady Castlemaine's losses.--A fatal + duel.--Dress of the period.--Riding-habits first seen.--His majesty + invents a national costume.--Introduction of the penny post.--Divorce + suits are known.--Society of Antiquaries.--Lord Worcester's + inventions.--The Duchess of Newcastle. + +Few courts have been more brilliant than that of the merry monarch. All +the beauty of fair women, the gallantry of brave men, and the gaiety of +well-approved wits could compass, perpetually surrounded his majesty, +making the royal palace a lordly pleasure house. Noble banquets, +magnificent balls, and brilliant suppers followed each other in quick +succession. Three times a week--on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays--the +king and queen dined publicly in ancient state, whilst rare music was +discoursed, and many ceremonies observed, amongst these being that each +servitor of the royal table should eat some bread dipped in sauce of the +dish he bore. On these occasions meats for the king's table were brought +from the kitchen by yeomen of the guard, or beef-eaters. These men, +selected as being amongst the handsomest, strongest, and tallest in +England, were dressed in liveries of red cloth, faced with black velvet, +having the king's cipher on the back, and on the breast the emblems of +the Houses of York and Lancaster. By them the dishes were handed to the +gentlemen in waiting, who served royalty upon their knees. "You see," +said Charles one day to the Chevalier de Grammont, "how I am waited on." +"I thank your majesty for the explanation," said the saucy Frenchman; +"I thought they were begging pardon for offering you so bad a dinner." +[This mode of serving the sovereign continued unto the coming of George +I.] + +The costliness and splendour of some royal entertainments require the +description of an eye-witness to be fully realized. Evelyn, speaking of +a great feast given to the Knights of the Garter in the banqueting-hall, +tells us "the king sat on an elevated throne, at the upper end of the +table alone, the knights at a table on the right hand, reaching all the +length of the roome; over against them a cupboard of rich gilded plate; +at the lower end the musick; on the balusters above, wind musick, +trumpets, and kettle-drums. The king was served by the lords and +pensioners who brought up the dishes. About the middle of the dinner the +knights drank the king's health, then the king theirs, when the trumpets +and musick plaid and sounded, the guns going off at the Tower. At the +banquet came in the queene and stood by the king's left hand hand, +but did not sit. Then was the banquetting stuff flung about the roome +profusely. In truth the crowd was so great that I now staied no +longer than this sport began for fear of disorder. The cheere was +extraordinary, each knight having forty dishes to his messe, piled up +five or six high." + +Concerning the habit mentioned by Evelyn, of mobs rushing into +banquet-halls, in order to possess themselves of all on which they could +lay hands, many instances are mentioned. The Duke of Tuscany, amongst +other authorities, narrates the inconvenience it caused at a supper he +gave the king. When his majesty drove to the duke's residence he was +preceded by trumpeters and torch-bearers, attended by the horse-guards +and a retinue of courtiers, and accompanied by a vast crowd. On +alighting from the coach the Duke of Tuscany, together with the noblemen +and gentlemen of his household, received and conducted him through +passages lighted by torches to the banquet-hall. From the ceiling of +this saloon was suspended a chandelier of rock crystal, blazing with +tapers; beneath it stood a circular table, at the upper end of which was +placed a chair of state for the king. The whole entertainment was costly +and magnificent. As many as eighty dishes were set upon the table; +foreign wines, famous for great age and delicate flavour, sparkled in +goblets of chased gold; and finally, a dessert of Italian fruits and +Portuguese sweetmeats was served. But scarce had this been laid upon the +board, when the impatient crowd which had gathered round the house and +forced its way inside to witness the banquet, now violently burst +into the saloon and carried away all that lay before them. Neither the +presence of the king nor the appearance of his soldiers guarding the +entrance with carbines was sufficient to prevent entrance or hinder +pillage. Charles, used to such scenes, left the table and retired into +the duke's private apartments. + +A quaint and curious account of a less ceremonious and more convivial +feast, also graced by the king's presence, was narrated by Sir Hugh +Cholmely to a friend and gossip. This supper was given by Sir George +Carteret, a man of pleasant humour, and moreover treasurer of the navy. +By the time the meats were removed, the king and his courtiers waxed +exceedingly merry, when Sir William Armorer, equerry to his majesty, +came to him and swore, "'By God, sir,' says he, 'you are not so kind +to the Duke of York of late as you used to be.' 'Not I?' says the king. +'Why so?' 'Why,' says he, 'if you are, let us drink his health.' 'Why, +let us,' says the king. Then he fell on his knees and drank it; and +having done, the king began to drink it. 'Nay, sir,' says Armorer; 'by +God, you must do it on your knees!' So he did, and then all the company; +and having done it, all fell acrying for joy, being all maudlin and +kissing one another, the king the Duke of York, the Duke of York the +king; and in such a maudlin pickle as never people were." + +Throughout this reign the uttermost hospitality and good-fellowship +abounded. Scarce a day passed that some noble house did not throw open +its doors to a brilliant throng of guests; few nights grew to dawn that +the vicinities of St. James's and Covent Garden were not made brilliant +by the torches of those accompanying revellers to their homes. The +fashionable hour for dinner was three of the clock, and for greater +satisfaction of guests it now became the mode to entertain them after +that meal with performances of mountebanks and musicians, Various +diaries inform us of this custom. When my Lord Arlington had bidden his +friends to a feast, he subsequently diverted them by the tricks of a +fellow who swallowed a knife in a horn sheath, together with several +pebbles, which he made rattle in his stomach, and produced again, to the +wonder and amusement of all who beheld him. [At a great dinner given by +this nobleman, Evelyn, who was present, tells us that Lord Stafford, the +unfortunate nobleman afterwards executed on Tower Hill, "rose from the +table in some disorder, because there were roses stuck about the fruite +when the descert was set on the table; such an antipathie it seems he +had to them, as once Lady St. Leger also had, and to that degree, that, +as Sirr Kenelm Digby tell us, laying but a rose upon her cheeke when she +was asleepe, it raised a blister; but Sir Kenelm was a teller of strange +things."] The master of the mint, worthy Mr. Slingsby, a man of finer +taste, delighted his guests with the performances of renowned good +masters of music, one of whom, a German, played to great perfection on +an instrument with five wire strings called the VOIL D'AMORE; whilst +my Lord Sunderland treated his visitors to a sight of Richardson, the +renowned fire eater, who was wont to devour brimstone on glowing coals; +melt a beer-glass and eat it up; take a live coal on his tongue, on +which he put a raw oyster, and let it remain there till it gaped and was +quite broiled; take wax, pitch and sulphur, and drink them down flaming; +hold a fiery hot iron between his teeth, and throw it about like a stone +from hand to hand, and perform various other prodigious feats. + +Other means of indoor amusement were practised in those days, which +seem wholly incompatible with the gravity of the nation in these latter +times. Pepys tells us that going to the court one day he found the Duke +and Duchess of York, with all the great ladies, sitting upon a carpet on +the ground playing "I love my love with an A, because he is so-and-so; +and I hate him with an A, because of this and that;" and some of the +ladies were mighty witty, and all of them very merry. Grown persons +likewise indulged in games of blind man's buff, and amusements of a +like character; whilst at one time, the king, queen, and the whole court +falling into much extravagance, as Burnet says, "went about masked, and +came into houses unknown, and danced there with a great deal of wild +frolic. In all this they were so disguised, that without being in the +secret, none could distinguish them. They were carried about in hackney +chairs. Once the queen's chairmen, not knowing who she was, went from +her; so she was alone and was much disturbed, and came to Whitehall in a +hackney coach; some say it was in a cart." + +Dancing was also a favourite and common amusement amongst all classes. +Scarce a week went by that Whitehall was not lighted up for a ball, +at which the king, queen, and courtiers danced bransles, corants, and +French figures; [The bransle, or brawl, had all the characteristics of +a country-dance; several persons taking part in it, and all at various +times joining hands. The corant was a swift lively dance, in which two +persons only took part, and was not unlike our modern galop.] and no +night passed but such entertainments were likewise held in the city. +Billiards and chess were also played, whilst gambling became a ruling +passion. The queen, Duchess of York, and Duchess of Cleveland had +each her card-table, around which courtiers thronged to win and lose +prodigious sums. The latter being a thorough rake at heart, delighted +in the excitement which hazard afforded; and the sums changing owners +at her hoard were sometimes enormous. Occasionally she played for a +thousand, or fifteen hundred pounds at a cast, and in a single night +lost as much as twenty-five hundred guineas. It is related that once +when playing basset she lost all her money; but, being unwilling to +retire, and hopeful of regaining her losses, she asked young Churchill, +on whom she had bestowed many favours, to lend her twenty pieces. Though +the wily youth had a thousand before him on the table, he coolly refused +her request, on the plea that the bank--which he was then keeping--never +lent. "Not a person in the place," says the narrator of this anecdote, +"but blamed him; as to the duchess, her resentment burst out into a +bleeding at her nose, and breaking of her lace, without which aid it is +believed her vexation had killed her on the spot." + +The courtly Evelyn speaks of a certain Twelfth-night, when the king +opened the revels in his privy chamber by throwing dice, and losing +one hundred pounds; and Pepys describes the groom-porters' rooms where +gambling greatly obtained, and "where persons of the best quality do sit +down with people of any, though meaner." Cursing and swearing, grumbling +and rejoicing, were heard here to an accompanying rattle of guineas; the +whole causing dense confusion. And amongst the figures crouching round +the tables of this hell, that of my Lord St. Albans was conspicuous. So +great, indeed, was his passion for gambling, that when approaching his +eightieth year, and quite blind, he was unable to renounce his love for +cards, but with the help of a servant who named them to him, indulged +himself in this way as of yore. + +As may be expected, disputes, frequently ending in duels, continually +arose betwixt those who gambled. Although the king had, on his +restoration, issued a proclamation against this common practice, +threatening such as engaged in it with displeasure, declaring them +incapable of holding any office in his service, and forbidding them to +appear at court, yet but little attention was paid his words, and duels +continually took place, Though most frequently resorted to as a means +of avenging outraged honour, they were occasionally the result of +misunderstanding. A pathetic story is told of a fatal encounter, caused +by a trifle light as air, which took place in the year 1667 at Covent +Garden, between Sir Henry Bellasis and Tom Porter--the same witty soul +who wrote a play called "The Villain," which was performed at the Duke's +Theatre, and described as "a pleasant tragedy." + +These worthy gentlemen and loyal friends loved each other exceedingly. +One fatal day, both were bidden to dine with Sir Robert Carr, at whose +table it was known all men drank freely; and having feasted, they two +talked apart, when bluff Sir Henry, giving words of counsel to honest +Tom, from force of earnestness spoke louder than his wont. Marvelling +at this, some of those standing apart said to each other, "Are they +quarrelling, that they talk so high?" overhearing which the baronet +replied in a merry tone, "No, I would have you know I never quarrel but +I strike; and take that as a rule of mine." At these words Tom Porter, +being anxious, after the manner of those who have drunk deep, to +apprehend offence in speech of friend or foe, cried out he would like to +see the man in England that durst give him a blow. Accepting this as +a challenge, Sir Henry dealt him a stroke on the ear, which the other +would have returned in anger but that they were speedily parted. + +And presently Tom Porter, leaving the house full of resentment for the +injury he had received, and of resolution to avenge it, met Mr. Dryden +the poet, to whom he recounted the story. He concluded by requesting he +might have his boy to bring him word which way Sir Henry Bellasis would +drive, for fight he would that night, otherwise he felt sure they should +be friends in the morning, and the blow would rest upon him. Dryden +complying with his request, Tom Porter, still inflamed by fury, went +to a neighbouring coffee-house, when presently word arrived Sir Harry's +coach was coming that way. On this Tom Porter rushed out, stopped the +horses, and bade the baronet alight. "Why," said the man, who but an +hour before had been his best friend, "you will not hurt me in coming +out, will you?" "No," answered the other shortly. Sir Henry then +descended, and both drew their swords. Tom Porter asked him if he were +ready, and hearing he was, they fought desperately, till of a sudden +a sharp cry was heard; Sir Henry's weapon fell upon the ground, and +he placed one hand to his side, from which blood flowed freely. Then +calling his opponent to him, he looked in his face reproachfully, kissed +him lovingly, and bade him seek safety. "For, Tom," said he, struggling +hard to speak, "thou hast hurt me; but I will make shift to stand upon +my legs till thou mayest withdraw, and the world not take notice of +you, for," continued he, with much tenderness, "I would not have thee +troubled for what thou hast done." And the little crowd who had gathered +around carried him to his coach and twenty days later they followed him +to his grave. + +Throughout this merry reign, many fantastic changes took place in the +costumes of courtiers and their followers. At the restoration, the +dress most common to women of all ranks consisted of a gown with a laced +stomacher and starched neckerchief, a sad-coloured cloak with a French +hood, and a high-crowned hat. Such habiliments, admitting of little +variety and less ornament, found no favour in the eyes of those who +returned from foreign courts with the king, and therefore a change was +gradually effected. The simple gown of wool and cotton gave place to +loose and flowing draperies of silk and satin; the stiff neckerchief was +removed to display fair shoulders and voluptuous breasts; the hat was +bedecked by feathers of rare plumage and rich colour; the cloaks changed +hues from sad to gay; the hoods being of "yellow bird's eye," and other +bright tints. Indeed, the prodigal manner in which ladies of quality now +exposed their bosoms, though pleasing to the court, became a matter of +grave censure to worthy men. One of these in a pamphlet, entitled +"A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of Naked Breasts and Shoulders," +charges women of fashion with "overlacing their gown bodies, and +so thrusting up their breasts in order that they might show them +half-naked." It was not only at balls and in chambers of entertainment, +he avowed, they appeared in this manner, but likewise at church, +where their dress was "not only immodest, but sometimes impudent and +lascivious;" for they braved all dangers to have the satisfaction of +being seen, and the consolation of giving pleasure. + +The riding-habit, first introduced in 1664 caused considerable notice, +and no small amount of mirth. The garb, as it was called, consisted of +a doublet buttoned up the breast, a coat with long skirts, a periwig and +tall hat, so that women clad in this fashion might be mistaken for men, +if it were not for the petticoat which dragged under the coat. At the +commencement of the reign, ladies of the court wore their hair after the +French fashion, cut short in front and frizzed upon the forehead. +When the queen arrived, her hair was arranged A LA NEGLIGENCE, a mode +declared mighty pretty; but presently a fashion came in vogue of wearing +"false locks set on wyres to make them stand at a distance from the +head; as fardingales made the clothes stand out in Queen Elizabeth's +reign." Painting the face, which had been practised during the +Commonwealth, became fashionable; as did likewise the use of patches +and vizards or masks; which from the convenience they afforded wearers +whilst witnessing an immoral play, or conducting a delicate intrigue, +came greatly into use. + +According to Randal Holmes's notes on dress, in the Harleian Library, +the male costume at the restoration consisted of "a short-waisted +doublet, and petticoat breeches--the lining, being lower than the +breeches, is tied above the knees. The breeches are ornamented with +ribands up to the pocket, and half their breadth upon the thigh; the +waistband is set about with ribands, and the shirt hanging out over +them." This dress gradually increased in richness and ornamentation: the +doublet and breeches being changed from cloth to velvet and satin, the +hat trimmed with plumes of gay feathers, and the neck adorned with bands +of cambric, trimmed with Flanders and Brussels lace. The perfection and +costliness to which the costume eventually reached is best shown by a +description of Sir Richard Fanshaw ambassador of the king, as presented +in the diary of his spouse. "Sir Richard was dressed," she writes, "in +a very rich suit of clothes of a dark FILLEMONTE brocade, laced with +silver and gold lace--nine laces--every one as broad as my hand, and +a little silver and gold lace laid between them, both of very curious +workmanship; his suit was trimmed with scarlet taffety ribbon; his +stockings of white silk upon long scarlet silk ones; his shoes black, +with scarlet shoestrings and gaiters; his linen very fine, laced with +rich Flanders lace; a black beaver buttoned on the left side with a +jewel of twelve hundred pounds' value, a rich curious wrought gold +chain, made in the Indies at which hung the king his master's picture, +richly set with diamonds; on his fingers he wore two rich rings; his +gloves trimmed with the same ribbon as his clothes." + +The uttermost extravagance and luxury in dress now obtained; indeed, +to such a passion and pride did it reach that the monarch resolved on +giving it some check by inventing a suit of plainer pretensions, which +should become the national costume, and admit no change. + +This determination he solemnly declared to his council in October, 1666, +and on the 14th of the month appeared clad in a long vest slashed with +white silk, reaching the knee, having the sword girt over it, a loose +coat, straight Spanish breeches ruffled with black ribbons, and buskins +instead of shoes and stockings. Though the habit was pronounced decent +and becoming to his majesty, and was quickly adopted by the courtiers, +there were those amongst his friends who offered him a wager he would +not persist in wearing it long. At this the king stated his resolution +afresh of never changing; but before the month was out he had made an +alteration, for inasmuch as the vest being slashed with white, was said +by a wag to make the wearers look like magpies, his majesty changed the +colour of the silk to black. This "manly and comely habit" might +have become permanently the fashion, if the King of France, by way of +ridiculing the merry monarch, had not caused his footmen to be clad in +like manner. Therefore, in less than two years, this mode gave place +to others more fantastical. The vest was retained, but the shape and +material were altered; the surcoat of cloth was discarded for velvet and +rich plush, adorned with buckles of precious stones and chains of gold; +the Spanish leather boots were laid aside for high-heeled shoes with +rosettes and silver buckles. Towards the close of the reign the costume +became much plainer. Through all these varying fashions the periwig, +introduced in 1663, held its own, increasing in length and luxuriance +with time. On its first coming into general use, the clergy had cried +out against it as ministering to the vanity and extravagance of the age; +but in a while many of them adopted its use, for, as Granger remarks, +"it was observed that a periwig procured many persons a respect and even +veneration which they mere strangers to before, and to which they had +not the least claim from their personal merit." + +Amongst other strange innovations and various improvements known in +this reign, the introduction of a penny post may be considered the +most useful. King James I., of happy memory, had, in imitation of like +regulations in other countries, established a general post for foreign +parts; King Charles I. had given orders to Thomas Witherings, Esquire, +his postmaster-general, to settle "a running post or two, to run night +and day between Edinburgh, in Scotland, and the city of London, to go +thither and back in six days;" but the organization of a penny post, +for the conveyance of letters and parcels throughout the capital +and suburbs, was reserved for the reign of the merry monarch. This +beneficial scheme was originated by an upholsterer named Murray, who +communicated it to one William Dockwra, a man who for over ten years had +laboured with fidelity in the Custom House. Uniting their efforts, they, +with great labour and vast expense, carried the plan into execution in +the year 1680. + +The principal office was stationed at the residence of William Dockwra, +in Lime Street; seven sorting-houses and as many as four hundred +receiving-houses were speedily established in the cities of London, +Westminster, and the suburbs; and a great number of clerks and +messengers were employed to collect, enter, and deliver parcels and +letters not exceeding one pound in weight nor ten pounds in value. +Stamps were used as an acknowledgment that postage was paid, and +likewise to mark the hours when letters were sent out from the offices, +by which, in case of delay, its cause might be traced to the messengers; +and deliveries took place ten times in the vicinity of the Exchange and +Inns of Court, and four times in the suburbs daily. All persons were +requested to post their communications before six o'clock in the winter, +and seven in the summer, on Saturday nights, "that the many poor men +employed may have a little time to provide for their families against +the Lord's Day." And it was moreover intimated that upon three days at +Christmas, and two at Easter and Whitsuntide, as likewise upon the 30th +of January, the post would not be delivered. + +From the first this scheme promised success, the manner in which it was +carried out being wholly admirable; yet there were many who raised their +voices against it persistently. Porters and messengers declared it +took away their means of subsistence; whilst those of higher grade were +confident it was a contrivance of the papists, which enabled them +to carry out their wicked schemes with greater security. But these +illusions vanished with time; and the penny post became such a success +that Government laid claim to it as a branch of the General Post Office, +and annexed its revenues to the Crown. [In the year 1703 Queen Anne +bestowed a grant on Elizabeth, Dowager countess of Thanet, to erect a +penny post-office in Dublin, similar to that in existence in London.] + +Another innovation in this interesting reign were stage-coaches, +described as affording "admirable commodiousness both for men and women +of better rank, to travel from London and to almost all the villages +near this great city, that the like hath not been known in the world, +wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather +and foul ways, free from endamaging one's health or body by hard jogging +or over-violent emotion, and this not only at a low price, as about a +shilling for every five miles in a day; for the stage-coaches called +flying coaches make forty or fifty miles in a day, as from London to +Cambridge or Oxford, and that in the space of twelve hours, not counting +the time for dining, setting forth not too early, nor coming in too +late." + +Likewise were divorce suits introduced whilst Charles II. sat upon the +throne for the first time--if the case of Henry VIII. be excepted--when +my Lord Rosse, in consequence of the misconduct of his lady, had a bill +brought into the House of Lords for dissolving his marriage and enabling +him to wed again. There being at this period, 1669, a project for +divorcing the king from the queen, it was considered Lord Rosse's suit, +if successful, would facilitate a like bill in favour of his majesty. +After many and stormy debates his lordship gained his case by a majority +of two votes. It is worth noting that two of the lords spiritual, Dr. +Cosin, Bishop of Durham, and Dr. Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, voted in +favour of the bill. + +The social history of this remarkable reign would be incomplete without +mention of the grace and patronage which Charles II. extended towards +the Society of Antiquaries. This learned body, according to Stow, had +been in existence since the days of Elizabeth; but for lack of royal +acknowledgment of its worth and lore, was permitted to languish in +neglect and finally become extinct. However, under the commonwealth the +society had revived, from the fact that numbers of the nobility being +unemployed in affairs of state, and having no court to attend, applied +themselves whilst in retirement to the study of chemistry, mathematics, +mechanism, and natural philosophy. The Duke of Devonshire, Marquis of +Worcester, Viscount Brouncker, Honourable Robert Boyle, and Sir Robert +Murray, built laboratories, made machines, opened mines, and perfected +inventions. When the temper of the times permitted, these men, with +various others of like tastes, drew together, held weekly meetings at +Gresham College in Bishopsgate Street, discoursed on abstruse subjects, +and heard erudite lectures, from Dr. Petty on chemistry, from Dr. Wren +on astronomy, from Mr. Laurence Rooke on geometry; so that the Society +of Antiquaries may be said to have been founded in the last years of the +republic. + +Now Charles II., having some knowledge of chemistry and science, looked +upon the society with favourable eyes; and in the first year of his +restoration desired to become one of its members; expressed satisfaction +it had been placed upon a proper basis in his reign; represented +the difficulty of its labours; suggested certain investigations, and +declared his interest in all its movements. Moreover, in the year 1662 +he bestowed on the society a charter in which he styled himself its +founder and patron; presented it with a silver mace to be borne before +the president on meeting days; and gave it the use of the royal arms +for a seal. Nor did his concern for its welfare cease here. He was +frequently present at its meetings, and occasionally witnessed, and +assisted "with his own hands," in the performance of experiments. Some +of these were of a singularly interesting character; amongst which may +be mentioned infusion of the blood of an animal into the veins of a man. +This took place in the year 1667, the subject being one Arthur Coga, +a minister poor in worldly substance, who, in exchange for a guinea, +consented to have the operation performed on him. Accordingly two +surgeons of great skill and learning, named Lower and King, on a certain +day injected twelve ounces of sheep's blood into his veins. After which +he smoked an honest pipe in peace, drank a glass of good canary with +relish, and found himself no worse in mind or body. And in two days more +fourteen ounces of sheep's blood were substituted for eight of his own +without loss of virility to him. + +Nor were experiments in vivisection unknown to the Royal Society, as it +was called, for the "Philosophical Transactions" speak of a dog being +tied through the back above the spinal artery, thereby depriving him of +motion until the artery was loosened, when he recovered; and again, it +is recorded that Dr. Charleton cut the spleen out of a living dog with +good success. + +The weighty discourses of the learned men who constituted the society +frequently delighted his majesty; though it must be confessed he +sometimes laughed at them, and once sorely puzzled them by asking +the following question. "Supposing," said Charles, assuming a serious +expression, and speaking in a solemn tone, "two pails of water were +placed in two different scales and weighed alike, and that a live bream +or small fish was put into one, now why should not the pail in which it +was placed weigh heavier than the other?" Most members were troubled to +find the king a fitting reply, and many strange theories were advanced +by way of explaining why the pail should not be found heavier, none of +them being thought satisfactory. But at last a man sitting far down +the table was heard to express an opinion, when those surrounding him +laughed; hearing which the king, who had not caught his words, asked him +to repeat them. "Why, your majesty," said he boldly, "I do believe the +pail would weigh heavier." "Odds-fish!" cried Charles, bursting out into +laughter, "you are right, my honest fellow!" and so the merriment became +general. + +The Royal Society was composed of men of quality with a genius for +investigation, and men of learning eager for further knowledge. Persons +of all nationalities, religions, and professions were admitted members; +and it was continually enriched by the addition of curiosities, amongst +which in particular were an herb which grew in the stomach of a thrush; +the skin of a Moor tanned, with the beard and hair white; a clock, +having movements directed by loadstone; an ostrich, whose young had been +born alive; mummies; strange fish; and the hearts and livers of vipers. +Likewise was the society endowed with gifts, amongst the most notable +being the valuable library of Henry Howard, afterwards Duke of Norfolk. + +Fostered by this society, science received its first impulse towards the +astounding progress it has since achieved. Nay, in this reign the +germs of some inventions were sown, which, subsequently springing into +existence, have startled the world by their novelty, utility, and +power, Monsieur Sorbiere, when in England, was shown a journal kept by +Montconis, concerning the transactions of the Royal Society, in which +several new devices, "which scarce can be believed unless seen," were +described. Amongst these were an instrument for showing alterations +in the weather, whether from heat, cold, wind, or rain; a method for +blowing up ships; a process for purifying salt water, so that it could +be drunk; and an instrument by which those ignorant of drawing could +sketch and design any object. He also states Dr. Wallis had taught one +born deaf and dumb to read. + +In 1663, "the right honourable (and deservedly to be praised and +admired) Edward Somerset, Marquis of Worcester," published a quaint +volume entitled "A Century of the Names and Scantlings of such +Inventions as at present I can call to mind to have tried and perfected, +which (my former notes being lost) I have, at the instance of a powerful +friend, endeavoured to set down in such a way as may sufficiently +instruct me to put any of them in practice." Amongst these are +enumerated false decks, such as in a moment should kill and take +prisoners as many as should board the ship, without blowing her up, and +in a quarter of an hour's time should recover their former shape without +discovering the secret; a portable fortification, able to contain five +hundred men, which in the space of six hours might be set up, and made +cannon-proof; a dexterous tinder-box which served as a pistol, and +was yet capable of lighting a fire or candle at any hour of the night +without giving its possessor the trouble of stretching his hand from +bed; a lock, the ways of opening which might be varied ten millions of +times, but which on a stranger touching it would cause an alarm that +could not be stopped, and would register what moneys had been taken from +its keeping; a boat which would work against wind and tide; with various +other discoveries to the number of one hundred, all arrived at from +mathematical studies. + +The means of propelling a boat against such disadvantages, to which the +Marquis of Worcester alludes, was in all probability by steam-power. +This he described as "an admirable and most forcible way to drive +up water by fire," the secret of which he is believed to have first +discovered. [Before the century was concluded, Captain Savery contrived +a steam-engine which was certainly the first put to practical uses. It +has been stated that he owed the knowledge of this invention to hints +conveyed in Lord Worcester's little volume.] In the preface to his +little book, the marquis states he had sacrificed from six to +seven hundred thousand pounds in bringing his various inventions to +perfection; after which it is satisfactory to find he derived +some profit from one of them, conceived, as he says, "by heavenly +inspiration." This was a water-engine for drying marsh-lands and mines, +requiring neither pump, suckers, barrels, bellows, nor external nor +additional help, save that afforded from its own operations. This engine +Sorbiere describes as one of the most curious things he had a mind to +see, and says one man by the help of this machine raised four large +buckets full of water in an instant forty feet high, through a pipe +eight inches long. An act of parliament was passed enabling the marquis +to reap the benefit and profit from this invention, subject to a tenth +part which was reserved for the king and his heirs. + +The Royal Society soon became one of the foremost objects of interest +in the city. Foreigners of distinction were conducted to its rooms that +they might behold the visible signs of knowledge it could proudly boast; +and women of culture were admitted to hear the lectures its members +delivered. + +Amongst these latter may be mentioned the eccentric Duchess of +Newcastle; a lady who dressed her footmen in velvet coats, habited +herself in antique gowns, wrote volumes of plays and poetry, desired the +reputation of learning, and indulged in circumstances of pomp and state. +Having expressed her desire to be present at one of the meetings of +the Royal Society, the council prepared to receive her, not, it must be +admitted, without some fear her extravagance would expose them to the +ridicule of the town, and place them fit the mercy of ballad-mongers. +So it happened one fair May-day, in the year 1667 a vast concourse of +people had assembled to witness her arrival at Arundel House in the +Strand, where the society held its meetings for some years after +the burning of Gresham College. And she in good time reaching there, +surrounded by her maids of honour, gentlemen in waiting, and lackeys, +was met by the president, Viscount Brouncker, having his mace carried +before him, and was conducted to the great room. When the meeting was +over, various experiments were tried for her satisfaction; amongst +others a piece of roasted mutton was turned into pure blood. The while +she witnessed these sights, crowds of gallants gathered round her that +they might catch and retain such fine things as fell from her lips; but +she only cried out her wonder and admiration at all she saw; and at the +end of her visit was conducted in state to her coach by several noble +lords, notable amongst whom was a vastly pretty young man, Francis +Seymour, fifth Duke of Somerset. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + A period rich in literature.--John Milton's early life.--Writing + "Paradise Lost."--Its publication and success.--His later works and + death.--John Dryden gossips with wits and players.--Lord Rochester's + revenge.--Elkanah Settle.--John Crowne.--Thomas Otway rich in + miseries.--Dryden assailed by villains.--The ingenious Abraham + Cowley.--The author of "Hudibras."--Young Will Wycherley and Lady + Castlemaine--The story of his marriage.--Andrew Marvell, poet and + politician.--John Bunyan. + +The men of genius who lived in the days of the merry monarch have +rendered his reign, like that of Elizabeth, illustrious in the annals +of literature. The fact of "Paradise Lost," the "Pilgrim's Progress," +"Hudibras," and "Alexander's Feast" being given to the world whilst +Charles II. occupied the throne, would have sufficiently marked the +epoch as one exceeding in intellectual brilliancy; but besides these +works, an abundance of plays, poems, satires, treatises, and histories +added fresh lustre to this remarkable age. + +At the period of the restoration, John Milton had reached his +fifty-second year. He had studied in the University of Cambridge; +published the "Masque of Comus;" likewise a treatise against the +Established Church; taught school at Aldersgate Street; married a wife +and advocated divorce; printed a pamphlet to compose the minds of +those disturbed by the murder of Charles I.; as also a defence of his +murderers, justifying the monarch's execution, for which the author was +awarded a thousand pounds; had become secretary to Cromwell, whom he +stooped to flatter; and had even, on the advent of his majesty's +return, written and set forth "A Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free +Commonwealth." ["To your virtue," writes John Milton to Oliver Cromwell, +"overpowering and resistless, every man gives way, except some who, +without equal qualifications, aspire to equal honours, who envy the +distinctions of merit greater than their own, and who have yet to learn +that, in the coalition of human society, nothing is more pleasing to +God, or more agreeable to reason, than that the highest mind should have +the sovereign power. Such, sir, are you, by general confession: such +are the things achieved by you, the greatest and most glorious of +our countrymen, the director of our public councils, the leader of +unconquered armies the father of your country; for by that title does +every good man hail you with sincere and voluntary praise."] + +On the landing of Charles II. Milton withdrew to the privacy afforded +by a residence in Bartholomew Close, near West Smithfield. For a time he +was apprehensive of punishment. His pamphlet justifying the late king's +execution was, with others of a like kind, burned by the common hangman; +but though parliament ordered the attorney-general would prosecute the +authors of these works, Milton was neither seized nor brought to trial. +Soon after his arrival, Charles published an act of grace promising free +pardon to those instrumental in overthrowing his father's government, +with the exception of such as had contrived his death; and inasmuch as +Milton had but justified that monstrous act after it had taken place, +he escaped condemnation. Moreover, he received a special pardon, which +passed the privy seal in December, 1660. His escape has been attributed +to his friend Davenant. This loyal soldier had, when taken by Cromwell's +troopers in the civil war, been condemned to speedy death; from which, +by Milton's intercession, he escaped; an act of mercy Davenant +now repaid in kind, by appealing to his friends in behalf of the +republican's safety. + +Having secured his freedom, Milton lived in peace and obscurity in Jewin +Street, near Aldersgate Street. During the commonwealth his first wife, +the mother of his three children, had died; on which he sought solace +and companionship in a union with Catherine Woodcock, who survived her +marriage but twelve months; and being left free once more, he, in the +year of grace 1661, entered into the bonds of holy matrimony for a third +time, with Elizabeth Minshul, a lady of excellent family and shrewish +temper, who rendered his daughters miserable in their father's lifetime, +and defrauded them after his death. + +In order to support his family he continued to keep a school, and +likewise employed himself in writing "Paradise Lost" the composition of +which he had begun five years previously. From his youth upwards he +had been ambitious to furnish the world with some important work; and +prevision of resulting fame had given him strength and fortitude in +periods of difficulty and depression. And now the time had arrived for +realization of his dream, though stricken by blindness, harassed by an +unquiet wife, and threatened by poverty, he laboured sore for fame. The +more fully to enjoy quiet necessary to his mental condition, he removed +to a house in Artillery Walk, Bunhill Fields. His life was one of +simplicity. He rose as early as four o'clock in summer and five in +winter, and being "smit with the love of sacred song," had a chapter of +the Bible read to him; studied until twelve, dined frugally at one, and +afterwards held discourse with such friends as came to visit him. + +One of these was Thomas Elwood, a quaker much esteemed amongst good +men, who, in order that he might enjoy the advantages of the poet's +conversation, read Latin to him every afternoon save Sunday. The whilst +his voice rose and fell in regular monotony, the blind man drank his +words with thirsty ears; and so acute were the senses remaining to him, +that when Elwood read what he did not understand, Milton perceived it by +the inflection of his voice, and stopped him to explain the passage. In +fair weather the poet wandered abroad, enjoying the fragrance of sweet +pasture land, and the warmth of glad sunlight he might not behold. And +anon, seated in a high-backed chair without his door, his straight pale +face full of repose and dignity, his light brown hair falling in curls +upon his shoulders, his large grey eyes, "clear to outward view of +blemish or of spot," fixed on vacancy, his figure clad in coarse +cloth--he received those who sought his society. + +In their absence the poet spent solitary hours conning over as many +lines of the great poem as his memory could store, until one of his +friends arrived, and relieved him by taking the staazas down. Frequently +his nephew, Edward Philips, performed this task for him. To him Milton +was in the habit of showing his work as it advanced, and Philips +states he found it frequently required correction in orthography and +punctuation, by reason of the various hands which had written it. As +summer advanced, he was no longer favoured by a sight of the poem; +inquiring the reason of which, Milton told him "his vein never happily +flowed but from the autumnal equinox to the vernal; and that whatever +he attempted at other times was never to his satisfaction, though he +courted his fancy never so much." + +In the year 1665 "Paradise Lost" was completed, but no steps were taken +towards its publication, as the author, in company with his neighbours, +fled from the dreaded plague. The following year the citizens were +harassed by losses sustained from the great fire, so that Milton did not +seek to dispose of his poem until 1667; when, on the 27th of April, it +was sold to Samuel Simmons, a publisher residing in Aldersgate Street. +The agreement entered into stated Milton should receive an immediate +payment of five pounds, with the stipulation that he should be given an +equal sum on sale of thirteen hundred copies of the first edition, and +five pounds on disposal of the same number of the second edition, and +yet five pounds more after another such sale of the third edition. +Each edition was to number fifteen hundred books. Two years after the +publication of "Paradise Lost," its author received the second payment +of five pounds; five years later a third payment was made him; before +the fourth fell due his life had been set free from care. + +From the first his poem had come in contact with a few receptive minds, +and borne the blessed fruit of appreciation. Richardson recounts that +Sir John Denham, a poet and man of culture, one morning brought a +sheet of the great epic fresh from the press to his friend Sir George +Hungerford. "Why, what have you there?" asked the latter. "Part of the +noblest poem that was ever written in any, language or in any age," said +Sir John, as he laid the pages before him. And a few weeks later my Lord +Dorset, looking over a bookstall in Little Britain, found a copy of this +work, which he opened carelessly at first, until he met some passages +which struck him with surprise and filled him with admiration: observing +which the honest bookseller besought him to speak in favour of the poem, +for it lay upon his hands like so much waste-paper. My lord bought a +copy, carried it home, read and sent it to Dryden, who, in due time +returning the volume, expressed his opinion of its merits in flattering +terms. "The author," said he, "cuts us all out--aye, even the ancients +too." + +Such instances as these were, however, few in number. That the work did +not meet with wider appreciation and quicker sale is not surprising +when it is called to mind that from 1623 to 1664 but two editions of +Shakespeare's works, comprising in all about one thousand copies, had +been printed. In an age when learning was by no means universal, and +polite reading uncommon, it was indeed a scource of congratulation, +rather than a topic for commiseration, that the work of a republican had +in two years reached a sale of thirteen hundred copies. + +Before a third edition was required his fame had spread. The house in +which he had been born, in Bread Street, was shown with pride to foreign +visitors; parents sent their sons to read to him, that they might reap +the benefit of his remarks. The latter testimony to his genius was a +tribute the blind poet appreciated. But it happened there were times +and seasons when these obliging youths were not at hand, or when it was +inconvenient for him to receive them. On such occasions he demanded that +his daughters should read him the books he required, though these +were frequently written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, and +Spanish--languages of which they were wholly ignorant. The torment this +inflicted on those striving to pronounce unaccustomed words which had +no meaning to their ears, and the torture endured by him, may readily be +conceived. Expressions of complaint on the one side, and of pain on +the other, continually interrupted the readings, which were eventually +wholly abandoned; the poet sending his children, whose education was +so limited that they were unable to write, to learn "ingenious sorts +of manufacture proper for women, particularly embroideries in gold and +Silver." + +When in 1665 Milton had shown his poem to Elwood, the good quaker +observed, "Thou hast said a great deal upon Paradise Lost: what hast +thou to say upon Paradise Found?" This question resting in the poet's +mind, in due time produced fruit; for no sooner had his first poem been +published than he set about composing the latter, which, under the name +of "Paradise Regained," was given to the world in 1670 "This," said he +to Elwood, "is owing to you; for you put it into my head by the question +which you put to me, which otherwise I had not thought of." This poem, +he believed, had merits far superior to those of "Paradise Lost," which +he could not bear to hear praised in preference to "Paradise Regained." +In the same year he published "Samson Agonistes," and two years later +a treatise on "Logic," and another on "True Religion, Heresy, Schism, +Toleration, and the Best Methods to Prevent the Growth of Popery." In +this, the mind which had soared to heaven and descended to hell in its +boundless flight, argues that catholics should not be allowed the +right of public or private worship. In the last year of his life he +republished his "Juvenile Poems," together with "Familiar Epistles in +Latin." + +He had now reached his sixty-sixth year. His life had been saddened by +blindness, his health enfeebled by illness, his domesticity troubled by +his first marriage and his last, his desires disappointed by the result +of political events. So that when, on the 10th of November, 1674, death +summoned him, he departed without regret. + +Amongst those who visited Milton was John Dryden, whom the author of +"Paradise Lost" regarded as "a good rhymester, but no poet," an opinion +with which posterity has not held. At the restoration, John Dryden was +in his twenty-ninth year. The son of Sir Erasmus Dryden, Baronet, of +Canons Ashby, he enjoyed an income of two hundred pounds a year, a sum +then considered sufficient to defray the expenses of a young man of good +breeding. He had passed through Westminster School, taken a degree at +Cambridge, written a eulogistic stanza on the death of Cromwell, and a +joyous poem on the happy restoration of the merry monarch. + +Three years after the arrival of his majesty, Dryden's comedy entitled +"The Wild Gallant" was produced, this being the first of twenty-eight +plays which followed. In the year 1668 he had the honour to succeed Sir +William Davenant as poet laureate, the salary attached to which office +was one hundred pounds a year and a tierce of wine. His dignity was +moreover enhanced, though his happiness was by no means increased, by +his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of +Berkshire. For my lady's temper sorely marred the poet's peace, and +left such impressions upon his mind, that to the end of his days his +invectives against the bonds of matrimony were bitter and deep. In +justice it must be mentioned the Lady Elizabeth's mental condition +was supposed to be unsettled; a conjecture which was proved true by a +madness which befell her, subsequent to her husband's death. + +Dryden was now a well known figure in town, consorting with men of +the highest quality and parts, and gossiping with wits and players +who frequented Will's coffee-house. Here, indeed, a special chair was +appropriated to his use; which being placed by the fire in winter, and +on the balcony in summer, he was pleased to designate as his winter and +his summer seat. At Will's he was wont to hold forth on the ingenuity of +his plays, the perfection of his poems, and the truth of astrology. It +was whilst leaving this coffee house one night a memorable occurrence +befell the poet, of which more anon. + +It happened at one time the brilliant, poetical, and mercurial Earl of +Rochester extended his favour and friendship towards Dryden, gratified +by which, the poet had, after the manner of those days, dedicated a play +to him, "Marriage a la Mode." This favour his lordship received with +graciousness, and no doubt repaid with liberality. After a while, +Dryden, led by choice or interest, sought a new patron in the person of +the Earl of Mulgrave. For this nobleman Rochester had long entertained +a bitter animosity, which had arisen from rivalry, and had been +intensified from the fact that Rochester, refusing to fight him, had +been branded as a coward. Not daring to attack the peer, Rochester +resolved to avenge himself upon the poet. In order to effect his +humiliation, the earl at once bestowed his favour on Elkanah Settle, a +playwright and poet of mean abilities. He had originally been master +of a puppet-show, had written verses to order for city pageants, and +produced a tragedy in heroic verse, entitled "Cambyses, King of Persia." + +His patron being at this time in favour with the king, introduced Settle +to the notice of the court, and induced the courtiers to play his second +tragedy, "The Empress of Morocco," at Whitehall, before their majesties. +This honour, which Dryden, though poet laureate, had never received, +gave Elkanah Settle unmerited notoriety; the benefit of which was +apparent by the applause his tragedy received when subsequently produced +at the Duke's Theatre in Dorset Gardens. Nor did the honour and profit +which "The Empress of Morocco" brought him end here; it was published by +William Cademan, and had the distinction of being the first English play +ever illustrated, or sold for the price of two shillings. It was scarce +to be expected, in an age when men ventilated their merest grievances by +the publication of pamphlets, Dryden could refrain from pointing out to +the public the mistake into which they had fallen by honouring this man. +Nor was he singular in his feelings of animosity. The poets Shadwell and +Crowne, believing themselves ignored and neglected, whilst their rival +was enriched and exalted, joined Dryden in writing a merciless criticism +upon Settle's tragedy. This was entitled "The Empress of Morocco, +or some few erratas to be printed instead of the sculptures +[Illustrations.], with the second edition of the play." In this Settle +was described as "an animal of a most deplored intellect, without +reading and understanding;" whilst his play was characterized as "a tale +told by an idiot, full of noise and fury signifying nothing." To these +remarks and others of like quality, Settle replied in the same strain, +so that the quarrel diverted the town and even disturbed the quiet of +the universities. Time did ample justice to both men; lowering Settle +to play the part of a dragon in a booth at Bartholomew Fair, and +consecrating Dryden to immortality. + +Before the clamour resulting from this dispute had ended, Rochester, +fickle and eccentric, grew weary of his PROTEGE and consequently +abandoned him. He had not, however, tired of humiliating the laureate, +and to mortify him the more, introduced a new poet at court, This +was John Crowne, a man then little known to the town, and now best +remembered as author of "Sir Courtly Nice," a comedy of wit and +entertainment. So well did he succeed in obtaining favour at court, +through Rochester's influence, that the queen ordered him to write a +masque. This command he immediately obeyed, producing "Calisto, or the +Chaste Nymph," which was acted at Whitehall by the Duke of York's fair +daughters, the Princesses Mary and Anne, together with many gracious +ladies and noble lords. Dryden, probably the better to hide the +mortification he felt at seeing his office as laureate unceremoniously +usurped, offered to write an epilogue for the occasion; but this service +was, through Rochester's interference, rejected. The masque proved a +brilliant success; "the dancing, singing, and music, which were all in +the highest perfection, and the graceful action, incomparable beauty, +and splendid habits of those ladies who accompanied them, afforded the +spectators extraordinary delight." "Calisto" was therefore performed +thirty times. + +The author's gratitude for his lordship's patronage was only equalled +by his disappointment upon its hasty withdrawal. Growing weary of him, +Rochester found a more worthy object for his favour in Thomas Otway, a +poet rich in all the miseries which afflicted genius in those days. Son +of the rector of Woolbeding, pupil at Winchester School, and commoner +of Christchurch, Cambridge, he had on his arrival in town vainly sought +employment as an actor, and barely earned bread as a play-writer. Before +he became a PROTEGE of my Lord Rochester he had written "Alcibiades," a +tragedy, he being then, in 1665, in his twenty-fifth year. His next play +was "Don Carlos, Prince of Spain," which, through the earl's influence, +gained great success. In the preface to this tragedy he acknowledges his +unspeakable obligations to my lord, who he says made it his business to +establish "Don Carlos" in the good opinion of the king and of his royal +highness the Duke of York. Unwarned by the fate of his predecessors, +and heedless of the fickleness of his patron, he basked in hope in the +present, mercifully unconscious of the cruel death by starvation which +awaited him in the future. Alas! Rochester not only forsook him, but +loaded him with satire in a poem entitled "Session of the Poets." + +In verses which he wrote soon after, entitled "An Allusion to the Tenth +Satire," Rochester likewise attacked Dryden; who, in the preface of his +"All for Love," replied in like manner. Then there appeared an "Essay on +Satire," which ridiculed the king, dealt severely with his mistresses, +said uncivil things of the courtiers in general, and of my Lord +Rochester in particular. The noble earl was indeed described as being +"lewd in every limb," affected in his wit, mean in his actions, and +cowardly in his disposition. Now, though this was conceived and brought +forth by my Lord Mulgrave, Rochester suspected Dryden of its authorship, +and resolved to punish him forthwith. Accordingly on the night of the +18th of December, 1679, when Dryden was passing through Rose Street, +Covent Garden, on his homeward way from Will's Coffee House, he was +waylaid by some ruffians, and, before he could draw his sword, promptly +surrounded and severely beaten. + +This occurrence caused considerable sensation throughout the town, and +though surmises arose in many minds as to who had hired the bravoes, it +was found impossible to prove them. In hope of gaining some clue to the +instigator of the attack, Dryden caused the following advertisement to +be inserted in the LONDON GAZETTE AND DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE for three +consecutive days: "Whereas John Dryden, Esq., was on Monday, the 18th +instant, at night, barbarously assaulted and wounded in Rose Street, in +Covent Garden, by divers men unknown; if any person shall make discovery +of the said offenders to the said Mr. Dryden, or to any justice of the +peace, he shall not only receive fifty pounds, which is deposited in the +hands of Mr. Blanchard Goldsmith, next door to Temple Bar, for the said +purpose; but if he be a principal or an accessory in the said fact, his +majesty is graciously pleased to promise him his pardon for the same." + +Dryden sought no opportunity for revenge; for which restraint, outliving +Rochester, and having a noble mind and generous disposition, he was no +doubt glad at heart. Not only did he survive the earl, but likewise the +king. To the company and conversation of that gracious sovereign the +poet was frequently admitted, a privilege which resulted in satisfaction +and pleasure to both. One pleasant day towards the end of his majesty's +reign, whilst they walked in the Mall, Charles said to him, "If I were +a poet, and indeed I think I am poor enough to be one, I would write a +satire on sedition." Taking this hint, Dryden speedily set himself to +work, and brought a poem on such a subject to his royal master, who +rewarded him with a hundred broad pieces. + +Amongst Dryden's friends was the excellent and ingenious Abraham Cowley, +whose youth had given the promise of distinction his manhood fulfilled. +It is related that when quite a lad, he found in the window recess of +his mother's apartment a copy of Spencer's "Faerie Queene." Opening the +book, he read it with delight, and his receptive mind reflecting the +poet's fire, he resolved likewise to exercise the art of poesy. In 1628, +when at the age of ten, he wrote "The Tragic History of Pyramus and +Thisbe;" five years later he published a volume of poems; and whilst yet +a schoolboy wrote his pastoral comedy, "Love's Riddle." + +When at St. John's College, Oxford, he gave proof of his loyalty by +writing a poem entitled the "Puritan and the Papist," which gained him +the friendship of courtiers. On the Queen of Charles I. taking refuge in +France, he soon followed her, and becoming secretary to the Earl of St. +Albans, conducted the correspondence between her majesty and the king, +ciphering and deciphering their letters, and such as were sent or +received by those immediately concerned in the cause of royalty. In this +situation he remained until four years previous to the restoration, when +he was sent into England for the purpose of observing the condition of +the nation, and reporting the same. Scarce had he set foot in London +when he was seized, examined, and only liberated on a friend offering +bail for him to the amount of one thousand pounds. + +The better to disguise the object of his visit, and lull suspicions of +republicans, he took out the degree of Doctor of Physic at Oxford; after +which he retired into Kent, where he devoted a great portion of his +time to the study of botany and the composition of poetry. On Cromwell's +death he hastened to France, and remained there until the king's return; +which he celebrated by a song of triumph. Like hundreds of others who +had served Charles in his exile, he looked forward to gratitude and +reward, but met disappointment and neglect. Amongst the numerous places +and employments the change of government opened in court and state, not +one was offered the loyal poet. + +Nay, his hardships did not end here; for having, in 1663, produced his +merry comedy, "Cutter of Coleman Street," it was treated with severity +as a censure upon the king. Feeling over-nervous to witness the +result of its first representation, the poet absented himself from the +playhouse; but thither his friends Dryden and Sprat sped, hoping they +might be able to bear him tidings of its triumph. When they returned to +him at night and told him of its fate, "he received the news of its +ill success," says Sprat, "not with so much firmness as might have been +expected from so great a man." Of all intent to satirize the king he was +entirely innocent--a fact he set before the public in the preface to his +play on its publication. Having, he argues, followed the fallen fortunes +of the royal family so long, it was unlikely he would select the time of +their restoration to quarrel with them. + +Feeling his grievances acutely, he now published a poem called "The +Complaint," which met with but little success; whereon, depressed by +ill-fortune and disgusted by ingratitude, he sought consolation in the +peace of a country life. Through the influence of his old friend, Lord +St. Albans, and the Duke of Buckingham, he obtained a lease of the +queen's lands at Chertsey, which produced him an income of about three +hundred pounds a year--a sum sufficient for his few wants and moderate +desires. He resided here but two years, when he died, on the 28th of +July, 1667. Milton, on hearing of his death, was troubled. The three +greatest English poets, he declared, were Spenser, Shakespeare, and +Cowley. + +The ungrateful neglect with which he was treated in life was sought to +be atoned for by useless honours paid him after death. His remains were +first conveyed to Wallingford House, then a residence of the Duke +of Buckingham, from whence they were carried in a coach drawn by six +horses, and followed by all the men of letters and wits of the town, +divers stately bishops, courtiers, and men of quality, whose carriages +exceeded one hundred in number, to Westminster Abbey. Here the Poet was +laid at rest beside Geoffrey Chaucer, and not far removed from gentle +Spenser, whose words had first inspired his happy muse. + +The literary wealth of this reign was furthermore enhanced by the genius +of Butler, the inimitable author of "Hudibras," concerning whom little +is known, save that he was born in 1612, and spent his life in poverty. +He passed some years as clerk to a justice of the peace; he also served +a great man's steward, and acted as secretary to Sir Samuel Luke, one +of Cromwell's officers. With those of the commonwealth he held no part; +that he was a royalist at heart his great satire indicates. The first +part of this was published in the third year of the restoration, and was +introduced to the notice of his majesty by my Lord Dorset. So delighted +was the monarch by its wit that its lines were continually on his lips, +an example speedily followed by the courtiers. It was considered +certain a man possessing such brilliant genius and loyal nature would be +rewarded with place or pension; but neither boon was bestowed upon him. +Resting his hopes on future achievements, the second part of "Hudibras" +appeared in 1664; but again his recompense was delayed. Clarendon made +him promises of valuable employments, which were never fulfilled; and to +soothe his disappointment the king sent him a present of three hundred +guineas. + +Indignant at the neglect from which he suffered, his friend Wycherley +spoke to the Duke of Buckingham on his behalf, saying it was a shame to +the court a man of Butler's parts should be allowed to suffer want. With +this his grace readily agreed, and promised to use his influence towards +remedying the poet's ill-fortune; but time went by, and his condition +remained unaltered. Whereon Wycherley conceived the idea of bringing +Butler and the duke together, that the latter might the more certainly +remember him. He therefore succeeded in making his grace name an +hour and place in which they might meet. So it came to pass they were +together one day at the Roebuck Tavern; but scarce had Buckingham opened +his lips when a pimp of his acquaintance--"the creature was likewise +a knight"--passed by with a couple of ladies. To a man of Buckingham's +character the temptation was too seductive to be neglected; accordingly, +he darted after those who allured him, leaving the needy poet, whom he +saw no more. Butler lived until 1680, dying in poverty. Longueville, +having in vain solicited a subscription to defray the expenses of the +poet's burial in Westminster Abbey, laid him to rest in the churchyard +of Covent Garden. + +Wycherley, the friend of Butler, though a child of the Muses, was +superior to poverty. He was born in the year of grace 1640, and early +in life sent for his better education into France. Returning to England +soon after the king had come unto his own, young Wycherley entered +Queen's College, Oxford, from whence he departed without obtaining a +degree. He then betook himself to town, and became a law student. The +Temple, however, had less attraction for him than the playhouse. Indeed, +before leaving Oxford he had, written a couple of comedies--to wit, +"Love in a Wood," and "The Gentleman Dancing Master," a fact +entitling him to be considered a man of parts. Not satisfied with this +distinction, he soon developed tastes for pleasures of the town, and +became a man of fashion. His wit illuminated choice gatherings of +congenial spirits at coffee-houses; his epigrams were repeated by boon +companions in the precincts of the court. + +In the year 1672 his comedy "Love in a Wood" was produced. It +immediately gained universal favour, and, moreover, speedily attracted +the attention of his majesty's mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland. +Wycherley was a man well to look upon: her grace was a lady eager +for adventure. Desiring his acquaintance, and impatient of delay, she +introduced herself to his notice in a manner eminently characteristic +of the age. It happened when driving one day through Pall Mall, she +encountered Wycherley riding in his coach in an opposite direction. +Thrusting her head out of the window of her vehicle, she saluted the +author with a title unknown to the conversations of polite society in +the present day. + +The fashionable playwright understanding the motive which prompted her +remark, hastily ordered his coach to follow hers; and, overtaking her, +uncovered and began a speech becoming so ardent a gallant. + +"Madam," said he, "you have been pleased to bestow a title on me +which belongs only to the fortunate. Will your ladyship be at the play +to-night?" + +"Well," replied her grace, well pleased at this beginning, "what if I am +there?" + +"Why, then," answered he, "I will be there to wait on your ladyship, +though I disappoint a fine woman who has made me an assignation." + +"So," said this frail daughter of Eve, greedily swallowing his flattery, +"you are sure to disappoint a woman who has favoured you for one who has +not?" + +"Yes," quoth he, readily enough, "if the one who has not favoured me is +the finer woman of the two. But he who can be constant to your ladyship +till he can find a finer, is sure to die your captive." + +That night her grace sat in the front row of the king's box at Drury +Lane playhouse, and sure enough there was handsome Will Wycherley +sitting in the pit underneath. The gentleman cast his eyes upwards +and sighed; the lady looked down and played with her fan; after which +preliminaries they fell into conversation which both found far more +interesting than the comedy then being enacted before their eyes. This +was the beginning of an intimacy concerning which the court made merry, +and of which the town spoke scandal. My lady disguised herself as a +country wench, and visited his chambers, Mr. Wycherley dedicated his +play, "Love in a Wood," to her in elegant phraseology, He was of opinion +that she stood as little in need of flattery as her beauty did of art; +he was anxious to let the world know he was the greatest admirer she +had; and he was desirous of returning her his grateful acknowledgment +for the favours he had received from her. + +The interest of this romance was presently intensified by the +introduction of a rival in the person of the Duke of Buckingham. +Probably from fear an intrigue with such a prominent figure would, if +indulged in, quickly become known to the king, she refused to encourage +Buckingham's love. His grace was not only a passionate lover, but +likewise a revengeful man; accordingly, he resolved to punish my lady +for her lack of good taste. It therefore became his habit to speak of +her intrigues before the court, and to name the individuals who received +her favours. Now Wycherley, being amongst these, grew fearful his amour +with the duchess should become known to the king, from whom at this time +he expected an appointment. Accordingly, he besought his good friends, +Lord Rochester and Sir Charles Sedley, to remonstrate on his behalf with +the duke. These gentlemen undertook that kindly office, and in order +to make the rivals acquainted, besought his grace to sup with the +playwright. The duke complying with their request, met Wycherley in a +friendly spirit, and soon professed himself delighted with his wit; nay, +before the feast was over he drank his health in a bumper of red wine, +and declared himself Mr. Wycherley's very good friend and faithful +servant henceforth. + +Moreover, he was as good as his word; for, being master of the horse, he +soon after appointed Wycherley an equerry, and subsequently gave him a +commission as captain of a regiment of which he was colonel. Nor did the +duke's services to the dramatist end here; for when occasion offered he +introduced him to the merry monarch, and so pleased was the king +with the author's conversational powers that he admitted him to his +friendship. His majesty's regard for Wycherley gradually ripened, and +once when he lay ill of fever at his lodgings in Bow Street, Covent +Garden, the merry monarch visited him, cheered him with words of +kindness, and promised he would send him to Montpelier when he was well +enough to travel. For this good purpose Charles sent him five hundred +pounds, and Wycherley spent the winter of 1679 abroad. + +Previous to this date he had written, besides his first comedy, three +others which had been received with great favour by the town, viz., "The +Gentleman Dancing Master," "The Country Wife," and "The Plain Dealer." +Soon after his return to England the crisis of his life arrived, and he +married. His introduction to the lady whom fate ordained to become his +wife is not the least singular episode in a remarkable biography. Being +at Tunbridge Wells, then a place of fashion and liberty, he was one +day walking with a friend named Fairbeard. And it happened as they were +passing a book-stall they overheard a gentlewoman inquire for the "Plain +Dealer." + +"Madam," says Mr. Fairbeard, uncovering, "since you are for the 'Plain +Dealer,' there he is for you;" whereon he led Wycherley towards her. + +"This lady," says that gentleman, making her a profound bow, "can bear +plain speaking; for she appears to be so accomplished, that what would +be compliment said to others, spoken to her would be plain dealing." + +"No truly, sir," replied the lady; "I am not without my faults, like +the rest of my sex; and yet, notwithstanding all my faults, I love +plain dealing, and never am more fond of it than when it points out my +errors." + +"Then, madam," said Mr. Fairbeard, "you and the plain dealer seem +designed by heaven for each other." + +These pretty speeches having been delivered and received with every mark +of civility, Mr. Wycherley made his exit with the lady, who was none +other than the Countess of Drogheda, a young widow gifted with beauty +and endowed by fortune. Day by day he waited on her at her lodging, +accompanied her in her walks, and attended her to the assemblies. +Finally, when she returned to town he married her. It is sad yet true +the union did not result in perfect happiness. Mr. Wycherley had a +reputation for gallantry, the Countess of Drogheda was the victim of +suspicion. Knowing jealousy is beget by love, and mindful of sacrifices +she had made in marrying him, Wycherley behaved towards her with much +kindness. In compliance with her wishes he desisted visiting the court, +a place she probably knew from experience was rife with temptation; and +moreover when he cracked a bottle of wine with convivial friends at the +Cock Tavern, opposite his lodgings in Bow Street, he, for the greater +satisfaction of his wife, would leave the windows open of the room in +which he sat, that she might from the vantage ground of her home see +there were no hussies in the company. + +As proof of her love, she, when dying, settled her fortune upon him; but +unhappily his just right was disputed by her family. The case therefore +went into litigation, for the expenses of which, together with other +debts, Wycherley was cast into prison. Here the brilliant wit, clever +writer, and boon companion, was allowed to remain seven long years. When +released from this vile bondage, another king than the merry monarch +occupied the English throne. + +The name of Andrew Marvel is inseparably connected with this period. He +was born in the year 1620 in the town of Kingston-upon-Hull; his +father being a clever school-master, worthy minister, and "an excellent +preacher, who never broached what he had never brewed, but that which he +had studied some compitent time before." At the age of fifteen, Andrew +Marvell was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge. But he had not long been +there when he withdrew himself, lured, as some authorities state, by +wiles of the wicked Jesuits; repulsed, as others say, by severities of +the head of his college. Leaving the university, he set out for London, +where his father, who hastened thither in search of him, found him +examining some old volumes on a book-stall. He was prevailed to return +to his college, where, in 1638, he took his degree as bachelor of arts. + +On the completion of his studies and death of his father, he travelled +through Holland, France, and Italy. Whilst abroad he began to produce +those satirical verses such as were destined to render him famous. +One of his earliest efforts in this direction was aimed at the Abbe de +Maniban, a learned ecclesiastic, whose chief fault in Marvell's eyes lay +in the fact of his professing to judge characters from handwriting. + +Whilst in Italy, Andrew Marvell met John Milton, and they having many +tastes and convictions in common, became fast friends. In 1653, the +former returned to England, and for some time acted as tutor to Mistress +Fairfax; he being an excellent scholar, and a great master of the Latin +tongue. He now led a peaceful and obscure life until 1657. In that +year, Milton, "laying aside," as he wrote, "those jealousies, and that +emulation which mine own condition might suggest to me," introduced him +to Bradshaw; soon after which he was made assistant-secretary to Milton, +who was then in the service of Cromwell. + +He had not been long engaged in this capacity, when the usurper died; +and Marvell's occupation being gone, the goodly burgesses of the town +of Hull, who loved him well, elected him as their representative in +parliament, for which service, in accordance with a custom of the time, +he was paid. The salary, it is true, was not large, amounting to two +shillings a day for borough members; yet when kindly feeling and honest +satisfaction mutually existed between elector and representative, as in +Marvell's case, the wage was at times supplemented by such acceptable +additions as home-cured pork and home-brewed ale, "We must first give +you thanks," wrote Marvell on one occasion to his constituents, on the +receipt of a cask of beer, "for the kind present you have pleased to +send us, which will give occasion to us to remember you often; but the +quantity is so great, that it might make sober men forgetful." + +He now, in the warfare of political life, made free use of his keen wit +and bitter sarcasm as serviceable weapons. These were chiefly employed +in exposing measures he considered calculated to ruin the country, +though they might gratify the king. However, he had no hatred of +monarchy, but would occasionally divert Charles by the sharpness of his +satire and brilliancy of his wit. Considering how valuable these would +be if employed in service of the court, Charles resolved to tempt +Marvell's integrity. For this purpose the Lord Treasurer Danby sought +and found him in his chamber, situated in the second floor of a mean +house standing in a court off the Strand. Groping his way up the dark +and narrow staircase of the domicile, the great minister stumbled, and +falling against a door, was precipitated into Marvell's apartment, head +foremost. Surprised at his appearance, the satirist asked my Lord Danby +if he had not mistaken his way. "No," said the courtier with a bow, "not +since I have found Mr. Marvell." He then proceeded to tell him that the +king, being impressed by a high sense of his abilities, was desirous of +serving him. Apprehending what services were expected in return, Marvell +answered that he who accepted favours from the court was bound to vote +in its interests. "Nay," said my lord, "his majesty but desires to +know if there is any place at court you would accept." On which Marvell +replied he could receive nothing with honour, for either he must treat +the king with ingratitude by refusing compliance with court measures, +or be a traitor to his country by yielding to them. The only favour he +therefore begged was, that his majesty would esteem him a loyal subject; +the truer to his interests in refusing his offers than he would be +by accepting them. It is stated that Lord Danby, surprised at so much +purity in an age of corruption, furthermore tempted him with a bag of +gold, which Marvell obstinately refused to accept. + +He died suddenly in the year 1678, leaving behind him a reputation for +humour and satire which has rarely been excelled. + +Besides these poets and dramatists, there were other great men, who +as prose writers, helped to render the literary history of the period +remarkable for its brilliancy. Amongst these were Lord Clarendon, High +Chancellor of England, concerning whom much has already been said; and +Thomas Hobbs of Malmesbury, better known as author of "The History +of the Causes of the Civil War," and of "Human Nature," than as a +translator of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Dr. Gilbert Burnet, author of +"The History of his Own Times;" and Dr. Ralph Cudworth, author of "The +True Intellectual System of the Universe," were likewise men of note. +But one whose name is far more familiar than any writer of his time is +John Bunyan, author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." + +He was the son of a tinker, and was born within a mile of Bedford town +in the year 1628. He imbibed at an early age the spirit of Puritanism, +fought in the civil wars, took to himself a wife, and turned preacher. +Six months after the merry monarch landed, Bunyan was flung into Bedford +gaol, where, rather than refrain from puritanical discourses, in the +utterance of which he believed himself divinely inspired, he remained, +with some short intervals of liberty, for twelve years. When offered +freedom at the price of silence, he replied, "If you let me out to-day, +I will preach to-morrow." Nay, even in his confinement he delivered +sermons to his fellow-prisoners; and presently he commenced to write. +His convictions leading him to attack the liturgy of the Church of +England, and the religion of the Quakers, his productions became popular +amongst dissenters. At length, by an act annulling the penal statutes +against Protestant Nonconformists and Roman Catholics, passed in 1671, +he was liberated. When he left prison he carried with him a portion of +his "Pilgrim's Progress," which was soon after completed and published, +though at what date remains uncertain. In 1678 a second edition was +printed, and such was the growth of its popularity, that six editions +were issued within the following four years. + +Now he became famous, his lot was far different from what it had been; +his sermons were heard by eager audiences, his counsel was sought +by those in trouble, his prayers were regarded as the utterances of +inspiration. Once a year he rode, attended by vast crowds, from Bedford +Town to London City, that he might preach to those burdened by sin; and +from the capital he made a circuit of the country, where he was hailed +as a prophet. His life extended beyond the reign of King Charles; his +influence lasted till his death. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + Time's flight leaves the king unchanged.--The Rye House + conspiracy.--Profligacy of the court.--The three duchesses.--The king + is taken ill.--The capital in consternation.--Dr. Ken questions his + majesty.--A Benedictine monk sent for.--Charles professes catholicity + and receives the Sacraments.--Farewell to all.--His last night on + earth.--Daybreak and death.--He rests in peace. + +His majesty's habits changed but little with the flight of time, To the +end of his reign the court continued brilliant and profligate. Wits, +courtezans, and adventurers crowded the royal drawing-rooms, and +conversed without restraint; the monarch pursued his pleasures with +unsatiated zest, taking to himself two new mistresses, Lady Shannon +and Catherine Peg, who respectively bore him a daughter and a son, duly +created Countess of Yarmouth and Earl of Plymouth. For a while, indeed, +a shadow fell upon the life of the merry monarch, when, in 1683, he was +roused to a sense of danger by discovery of the Rye House conspiracy. + +This foul plot, entered into by the Whigs on failure of the Exclusion +Bill, had for its object the murder of his majesty and of the Duke of +York. Before arriving at maturity its existence and intentions were +revealed by one of the conspirators, when William Lord Russell, the Earl +of Essex, and Algernon Sidney, second son of the Earl of Leicester, were +arrested and charged with high treason. My Lord Essex died in the Tower +by his own hand; Lord Russell was condemned on testimony of one witness, +and duly executed; as was likewise Algernon Sidney, whose writings on +Republicanism were used as evidence against him. On the revelation +of this wicked scheme the country became wildly excited, and the king +grievously afflicted. A melancholy seized upon his majesty, who stirred +not abroad without double guards; and the private doors of Whitehall and +avenues of the park were closed. + +From this condition, however, he gradually recovered, and resumed his +usual habits. Accordingly, we find him engaged in "luxurious dalliance +and prophaneness" with the Duchess of Mazarine, and visiting the Duchess +of Portsmouth betimes in her chamber, where that bold and voluptuous +woman, fresh risen from bed, sat in loose garments talking to the king +and his gallants, the while her maids combed her beautiful hair. + +"I can never forget," says John Evelyn, writing on the 4th of February, +1685, "the inexpressible luxury and prophaneness, gaming, and all +dissoluteness, and as it were total forgetfullnesse of God (it being +Sunday evening), which this day se'nnight I was witnesse of, the king +sitting and toying with his concubines, Portsmouth, Cleveland, and +Mazarine, etc., a French boy singing love songs in that glorious +gallery, whilst about twenty of the greate courtiers and other dissolute +persons were at basset round a large table, a bank of at least two +thousand in gold before them, upon which two gentlemen who were with me +made reflexions with astonishment. Six days after was all in the dust." + +For now the end of all things had come for Charles Stuart. It happened +on the morning of the 2nd of February, 1685, the day being Monday, the +king whilst in his bedroom was seized by an apoplectic fit, when crying +out, he fell back in his chair, and lay as one dead. Wildly alarmed, his +attendants summoned Dr. King, the physician in waiting, who immediately +bled him, and had him carried to bed. Then tidings spread throughout the +palace, that his majesty hovered betwixt life and death; which should +claim him no man might say. Whereon the Duke of York hastened to his +bedside, as did likewise the queen, her face blanched, her eyes wild +with terror. His majesty after some time recovering consciousness, +slowly realized his sad condition. Then he conceived a fear, the +stronger as begotten by conviction, that the sands of his life had run +their course. Throughout that day and the next he fainted frequently, +and showed symptoms of epilepsy. On Wednesday he was cupped and bled +in both jugulars; but on Thursday he was pronounced better, when the +physicians, anxious to welcome hope, spoke of his probable recovery. + +But, alas, the same evening he grew restless, and signs of fever became +apparent. Jesuits' powders, then of great repute, were given him, but +with no good result. Complaining of a pain in his side, the doctors drew +twelve ounces more of blood from him. Exhaustion then set in; all hope +of life was over. + +Meanwhile, the capital was in a state of consternation. Prayers for his +majesty's recovery were offered up in all churches throughout the city; +likewise in the royal chapels, where the clergy relieved each other +every quarter of an hour. Crowds gathered by day and night without the +palace gates, eager to learn the latest change in the king's condition +from those who passed to and fro. Inside Whitehall all was confusion. +Members of the Privy Council assembled in the room adjoining that where +the monarch lay; politicians and ambassadors conversed in whispers in +the disordered apartments; courtiers of all degrees flocked through the +corridors bearing signs of deep concern upon their countenances. + +And amongst others who sought his majesty's presence was the Archbishop +of Canterbury, together with the Bishops of London, Durham, Ely, and +Bath and Wells; all being anxious to render spiritual services to the +king. Of these good men, Charles liked best Dr. Ken, Bishop of Bath and +Wells, having most faith in his honesty. For, when his lordship was a +prebend of Winchester, it had happened Charles passed through that city, +accompanied by Nell Gwynn, when Dr. Ken refused to receive her beneath +his roof even at the king's request. This proof of integrity so pleased +his majesty, that he gave him the next vacant bishopric by way of +reward. And now, his lordship being at hand, he read prayers for the +Sick from out the Common Prayer Book for his benefit, until coming to +that part where the dying are exhorted to make confession of their sins, +when the bishop paused and said such was not obligatory. He then asked +his majesty if he were sorry for the iniquities of his life? when the +sick man, whose heart was exceeding heavy, replied he was; whereon the +bishop pronounced absolution, and asked him if he would receive the +Sacrament. To this Charles made no reply, until the same question had +been repeated several times, when his majesty answered he would think of +it. + +The Duke of York, who stood by the while, noting the king's answer, and +aware of his tendencies towards Catholicism, bade those who had gathered +round stand aside; and then, bending over him, asked in a low tone if +he might send for a priest. A look of unspeakable relief came into the +king's face, and he answered, "For God's sake do, brother, and lose no +time." Then another thought flashing across his mind, he said, "But will +not this expose you to much danger?" James made answer, "Though it cost +me my life I will bring you a priest." He then hurried into the next +room, where, among all the courtiers, he could find no man he could +trust, save a foreigner, one Count Castelmachlor. Calling him aside, he +secretly despatched him in search of a priest. + +Between seven and eight o'clock that evening, Father Huddleston, the +Benedictine friar who had aided the king's escape after the battle of +Worcester, awaited at the queen's back stairs the signal to appear in +his majesty's presence. The duke being made aware of the fact, announced +it to the king, who thereon ordered all in his room to withdraw; but +James, mindful that slander might afterwards charge him with killing +his brother, begged the Earl of Bath, the lord of the bedchamber then +in waiting, and the Earl of Feversham, captain of the guard, might +stay--saying to the king it was not fitting he should be unattended in +his weak condition. These gentlemen therefore remained. And no sooner +had all others departed than the monk was admitted by a private entrance +to the chamber. The king received him with great joy and satisfaction, +stating he was anxious to die in the communion of the catholic church, +and declaring he was sorry for the wrongs of his past life, which he yet +hoped might be pardoned through the merits of Christ. + +He then, as we read in the Stuart Papers, "with exceeding compunction +and tenderness of heart," made an exact confession of his sins, after +which he repeated an act of contrition, and received absolution. He +next desired to have the other Sacraments of the church proper to his +condition administered to him: on which the Benedictine asked if he +desired to receive the Eucharist; eagerly he replied, "If I am worthy +pray fail not to let me have it." Then Father Huddleston, after some +exhortation, prepared to give him the Sacrament; when the dying man, +struggling to raise himself, exclaimed, "Let me meet my heavenly Lord in +a better posture than lying in bed." But the priest begged he would not +move, and then gave him the Communion, which he received with every sign +of fervour. And for some time he prayed earnestly, the monk and the duke +kneeling by the while, silence obtaining in the room. This was presently +broken by the sad and solemn tones of the priest's voice, reading +a commendation of the soul to its Maker: the which being ended, the +Benedictine, with tears in his eyes, took leave of his majesty. "Ah," +said Charles, "you once saved my body; you have now saved my soul." Then +the monk gave him his benediction, and departed as quietly as he had +come. + +Then those waiting without were once more admitted to the room, when +Charles nerved himself to take a sad farewell of those around him. He +first publicly thanked his brother for the services and affection he +had ever rendered him through life, and extolled his obedience and +submission to his commands. Giving him his keys, he said he had left +him all he possessed, and prayed God would bless him with a happy and +prosperous reign. Finally, he recommended all his children to him by +name, excepting only the Duke of Monmouth then in Holland, and suffering +from the king's displeasure; and besought him to extend his kindness +towards the Duchesses of Portsmouth and Cleveland; "and do not," said +he, "let poor Nelly starve." Whilst these commands were addressed him, +the duke had flung himself on his knees by the bedside, and, bursting +into tears, kissed his brother's hand. + +The queen, who had scarce left his majesty since the beginning of his +illness, was at this time absent, her love and grief not permitting her +to endure this afflicting scene. He spoke most tenderly of her; and +when presently she sent a message praying he would pardon her absence in +regard to her excessive grief, and forgive her withal if at any time she +had offended him, he replied, "Alas, poor woman! She beg my pardon?--I +beg hers, with all my heart." He next summoned his children to him, one +by one, and addressing them with words of advice, embraced them heartily +and blessed them fervently. And he being the Lord's anointed, the +bishops present besought he would give them his benediction likewise, +and all that were present, and in them the whole body of his subjects; +in compliance with which request he, with some difficulty, raised +himself, and all falling on their knees, he blessed them fervently. Then +they arose and departed. + +Silence fell upon the palace; night wore slowly away. Charles tossed +upon his bed racked with pain, but no complaint escaped his lips. Those +who watched him in the semi-darkened room heard him ask God to accept +his sufferings in atonement for his sins. Then, speaking aloud, he +declared himself weary of life, and hoped soon to reach a better +world. Courteous to the last, he begged pardon for the trouble he gave, +inasmuch as he was long in dying. And anon he slumbered, and quickly +woke again in agony and prayed with zeal. Never had time moved with +slower passage for him; not hours, but weeks, seemed to elapse between +each stroke of the clock; and yet around him was darkness and tardy +night. But after much weary waiting, morning was at hand, the time-piece +struck six. "Draw the curtains," said the dying man, "that I may once +more see day." The grey light of a February dawn, scarce brightened +to eastward a cheerless sky; but he hailed this herald of sunrise with +infinite relief and terrible regret; relief that he had lived to see +another day; regret that no more morns should break for him. + +His soul tore itself from his body with fierce struggles and bitter +pain. It was hard for him to die, but he composed himself to enter +eternity "with the piety becoming a Christian, and the resolution +becoming a king;" as his brother narrates. About ten o'clock on Friday +morning, February 6th, 1685, he found relief in unconsciousness; before +midday chimed he was dead. He had reached the fifty-fifth year of his +life, and the twenty-fifth year of his reign. + +His illegitimate progeny was numerous, numbering fifteen, besides those +who died in infancy. These were the Duke of Monmouth and a daughter +married to William Sarsfield, children of Lucy Walters; the Dukes of +Southampton, Grafton, and Northumberland, the Countesses of Litchfield +and of Sussex, and a daughter Barbara, who became a nun, children of +the Duchess of Cleveland; the Duke of Richmond, son of the Duchess of +Portsmouth; the Duke of St. Albans, and a son James, children of Nell +Gwynn; Lady Derwentwater, daughter of Moll Davis; the Countess of +Yarmouth, daughter of Lady Shannon; and the Earl of Plymouth, son of +Catherine Peg. + +For seven days the remains of the late king lay in state; on the eighth +they were placed in Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was of necessity +conducted in a semi-private manner for by reason of his majesty dying +in the Catholic religion, his brother considered it desirable the +ceremonies prescribed for the occasion by the English church should be +dispensed with. Therefore, in order to avoid disputes or scandal, the +king was laid in the tomb without ostentation. At night his remains were +carried from the painted chamber in Westminster sanctuary to the abbey. +The procession, headed by the servants of the nobility, of James II., +and his queen, of the dowager queen, and of the late king, was followed +by the barons, bishops, and, peers according to their rank; the officers +of the household, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then came all +that was mortal of his late majesty, borne under a canopy of velvet, +supported by six gentlemen of the privy chamber, the pall being held +by six earls. Prince George of Denmark--subsequently husband of Queen +Anne--acted as chief mourner, attended by the Dukes of Somerset and +Beaufort, and sixteen earls. One of the kings of Arms carried the crown +and cushion, the train being closed by the king's band of gentlemen +pensioners, and the yeomen of the guard. + +At the abbey entrance the dean and prebendaries, attended by torch +bearers, and followed by a surpliced choir, met the remains, and joined +the procession, the slow pacing figures of which seemed spectral in this +hour and place; then the sad cortege passed solemnly through the grey +old abbey, the choir chanting sorrowfully the while, the yellow flare +of torches marking the prevailing gloom. And being come to the chapel of +Henry VII., the body of the merry monarch was suffered there to rest in +peace. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Royalty Restored, by J. 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