Buckingham.
At a banquet given at Whitehall, attended by all the principal lords and
ladies of the court, a wager was laid between the Conde de Gondomar and
the Marquis of Buckingham, the decision of which was referred to the
King.
The circumstance occurred in this way. The discourse happened to turn
upon jousting, and the magnificent favourite, who was held unrivalled in
all martial exercises and chivalrous sports, and who, confident in his
own skill, vauntingly declared that he had never met his match in the
tilt-yard; whereupon the Spanish Ambassador, willing to lower his pride,
immediately rejoined, that he could, upon the instant, produce a better
man-at-arms than he; and so certain was he of being able to make good
his words, that he was willing to stake a thousand doubloons to a
hundred on the issue of a trial.
To this Buckingham haughtily replied, that he at once accepted the
Ambassador's challenge; but in regard to the terms of the wager, they
must be somewhat modified, as he could not accept them as proposed; but
he was willing to hazard on the result of the encounter all the gems,
with which at the moment his habiliments were covered, against the
single diamond clasp worn by De Gondomar; and if the offer suited his
Excellency, he had nothing to do but appoint the day, and bring forward
the man.
De Gondomar replied, that nothing could please him better than the
Marquis's modification of the wager, and the proposal was quite
consistent with the acknowledged magnificence of his Lordship's notions;
yet he begged to make one further alteration, which was, that in the
event of the knight he should nominate being adjudged by his Majesty to
be the best jouster, the rich prize might be delivered to him.
Buckingham assented, and the terms of the wager being now fully settled,
it only remained to fix the day for the trial, and this was referred to
the King, who appointed the following Thursday--thus allowing, as the
banquet took place on a Friday, nearly a week for preparation.
James, also, good-naturedly complied with the Ambassador's request, and
agreed to act as judge on the occasion; and he laughingly remarked to
Buckingham--"Ye are demented, Steenie, to risk a' those precious stanes
with which ye are bedecked on the skill with which ye can yield a frail
lance. We may say unto you now in the words of the poet--
'Pendebant ter ti gemmata monilia collo;'
but wha shall say frae whose round throat those gemmed collars and
glittering ouches will hang a week hence, if ye be worsted? Think of
that, my dear dog."
"Your Majesty need be under no apprehension," replied Buckingham. "I
shall win and wear his Excellency's diamond clasp. And now, perhaps, the
Count will make us acquainted with the name and title of my puissant
adversary, on whose address he so much relies. Our relative chances of
success will then be more apparent. If, however, any motives for secrecy
exist, I will not press the inquiry, but leave the disclosure to a more
convenient season."
"_Nunc est narrandi tempus_," rejoined the King. "No time like the
present. We are anxious to ken wha the hero may be."
"I will not keep your Majesty a moment in suspense," said De Gondomar.
"The young knight whom I design to select as the Marquis's opponent, and
whom I am sure will feel grateful for having such means of honourable
distinction afforded him, is present at the banquet."
"Here!" exclaimed James, looking round. "To whom do you refer, Count? It
cannot be Sir Gilbert Gerrard, or Sir Henry Rich; for--without saying
aught in disparagement of their prowess--neither of them is a match for
Buckingham! Ah! save us! We hae it. Ye mean Sir Jocelyn Mounchensey."
And as the Ambassador acknowledged that his Majesty was right, all eyes
were turned towards the young knight, who, though as much surprised as
any one else, could not help feeling greatly elated.
"Aweel, Count," said James, evidently pleased, "ye might hae made a waur
choice--that we are free to confess. We begin to tremble for your braw
jewels, Steenie."
"They are safer than I expected," replied Buckingham, disdainfully. But
though he thus laughed it off, it was evident he was displeased, and he
muttered to his confidential friend, Lord Mordaunt,--"I see through it
all: this is a concerted scheme to bring this aspiring galliard forward;
but he shall receive a lesson for his presumption he shall not easily
forget, while, at the same time, those who make use of him for their own
purposes shall be taught the risk they incur in daring to oppose me. The
present opportunity shall not be neglected."
Having formed this resolution, Buckingham, to all appearance, entirely
recovered his gaiety, and pressed the King to give importance to the
trial by allowing it to take place in the royal tilt-yard at Whitehall,
and to extend the number of jousters to fourteen--seven on one side, and
seven on the other. The request was readily granted by the monarch, who
appeared to take a stronger interest in the match than Buckingham
altogether liked, and confirmed him in his determination of ridding
himself for ever of the obstacle in his path presented by Mounchensey.
The number of jousters being agreed upon, it was next decided that the
party with whom Buckingham was to range should be headed by the Duke of
Lennox; while Mounchensey's party was to be under the command of Prince
Charles; and though the disposition was too flattering to his adversary
to be altogether agreeable to the haughty favourite, he could not raise
any reasonable objection to it, and was therefore obliged to submit with
the best grace he could.
The two parties were then distributed in the following order by the
King:--On the side of the Duke of Lennox, besides Buckingham himself,
were the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke, and the Lords Clifford and
Mordaunt; and while the King was hesitating as to the seventh, Sir Giles
Mompesson was suggested by the Marquis, and James, willing to oblige his
favourite, adopted the proposition. On the side of Prince Charles were
ranked the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earls of Montgomery, Rutland, and
Dorset, Lord Walden, and, of course, Sir Jocelyn Mounchensey. These
preliminaries being fully adjusted, other topics were started, and the
carouse, which had been in some degree interrupted, was renewed, and
continued, with the entertainments that succeeded it, till past
midnight.
Not a little elated by the high compliment paid to his prowess by the
Spanish Ambassador, and burning to break a lance with Buckingham, Sir
Jocelyn resolved to distinguish himself at the trial. Good luck, of
late, had invariably attended him. Within the last few weeks, he had
been appointed one of the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Bed-chamber; and
this was looked upon as the stepping-stone to some more exalted post.
Supported by the influence of De Gondomar, and upheld by his own
personal merits, which by this time, in spite of all hostility towards
him, had begun to be appreciated; with the King himself most favourably
inclined towards him, and Prince Charles amicably disposed; with many of
the courtiers proffering him service, who were anxious to throw off
their forced allegiance to the overweening favourite, and substitute
another in his stead: with all these advantages, it is not to be
wondered at, that in a short space of time he should have established a
firm footing on that smooth and treacherous surface, the pavement of a
palace, and have already become an object of envy and jealousy to many,
and of admiration to a few.
Possessing the faculty of adapting himself to circumstances, Sir Jocelyn
conducted himself with rare discretion; and while avoiding giving
offence, never suffered a liberty to be taken with himself; and having
on the onset established a character for courage, he was little
afterwards molested. It was creditable to him, that in a court where
morality was at so low an ebb as that of James I., he should have
remained uncorrupted; and that not all the allurements of the numerous
beauties by whom he was surrounded, and who exerted their blandishments
to ensnare him, could tempt him for a moment's disloyalty to the object
of his affections. It was creditable, that at the frequent orgies he was
compelled to attend, where sobriety was derided, and revelry pushed to
its furthest limits, he was never on any occasion carried beyond the
bounds of discretion. It was still more creditable to him, that in such
venal and corrupt days he maintained his integrity perfectly unsullied.
Thus severely tested, the true worth of his character was proved, and he
came from the ordeal without a blemish.
The many excellent qualities that distinguished the newly-made knight
and gentleman of the bed-chamber, combined with his remarkable personal
advantages and conciliatory manner, considerably improved by the polish
he had recently acquired, drew, as we have intimated, the attention of
the second personage in the kingdom towards him. Struck by his manner,
and by the sentiments he expressed, Prince Charles took frequent
opportunities of conversing with him, and might have conceived a regard
for him but for the jealous interference of Buckingham, who, unable to
brook a rival either with the King or Prince, secretly endeavoured to
set both against him. Such, however, was Sir Jocelyn's consistency of
character, such his solidity of judgment and firmness, and such the
respect he inspired, that he seemed likely to triumph over all the
insidious snares planned for him. Things were in this state when the
trial of skill in jousting was proposed by De Gondomar. The wily
Ambassador might have--and probably had--some secret motive in making
the proposal; but whatever it was, it was unknown to his _protégé_.