'Arise, and away! for the King and the land;
Farewell to the couch and the pillow:
With spear in the rest, and with rein in the hand,
Let us rush on the foe like a billow.
'Call the hind from the plough, and the herd from the fold,
Bid the wassailer cease from his revel;
And ride for Old Stow, where the banner's unrolled
For the cause of King Charles and Sir Bevill.
'Trevanion is up, and Godolphin is nigh,
And Harris of Hayne's o'er the river;
From Lundy to Loo, "One and all" is the cry,
And "The King and Sir Bevill for ever!"
'Ay! by Tre, Pol, and Pen, ye may know Cornish men,
'Mid the names and the nobles of Devon;
But if truth to the King be a signal, why then
Ye can find out the Grenville in heaven.
'Ride! ride with red spur! there is death in delay,
'Tis a race for dear life with the devil;
If dark Cromwell prevail, and the King must give way,
This earth is no place for Sir Bevill.
'So at Stamford he fought, and at Lansdowne he fell,
But vain were the visions he cherished;
For the great Cornish heart that the King loved so well,
In the grave of the Grenville is perished.'
From Stow Bevill Grenville went to the famous old West-country college,
Exeter College, Oxford; where he was placed under Dr. Prideaux (one,
I fancy, of the worthy family of Prideaux Place, Padstow). He shortly
afterwards entered Parliament, and going to Scotland, in command of a
troop of horse, with the King, was knighted.[20]
The relations of Sir Bevill and Clarendon were peculiar. Clarendon
had quarrelled with Sir Bevill's fiery brother, Sir Richard (created,
according to Whitelocke, Baron of Lostwithiel in 1644), a man of high
spirit and of considerable bravery and military skill, but with an
unlucky facility for getting into scrapes and troubles of all sorts.
He begins with a squabble with his wife's brother-in-law, the powerful
Earl of Suffolk, which ends in Sir Richard's having to pay a fine of
£8,000, besides undergoing sixteen months' imprisonment in the Fleet.
He afterwards served in Ireland, and on his return to England, finding
it a matter of considerable difficulty to get his arrears of pay,
resorted to the following questionable artifice for the purpose. He
pretended to lend a not unwilling ear to the Parliament's suggestion,
that in return for being paid the money due to him, he should transfer
his sword from the King's cause to theirs. Indeed, he even went so far
as to take the command of a body of Roundhead horse, and marched upon
Basing. But on reaching Hounslow he, without much difficulty, persuaded
all his officers and men to proceed to Oxford instead, where he placed
the services of his whole party at the King's disposal, whereupon the
Parliamentarians righteously enough dubbed him 'skellum' (scoundrel)
and 'renegado.' He did yeoman's service for the King in Cornwall,
and Charles left the blockade of Plymouth in his charge--a blockade
which, as we know, was finally abandoned. The whole story is given in
Llewellyn Jewitt's 'History of Plymouth,' together with a scornful
letter to Sir Richard from the defenders. And I notice that in a letter
from Sir R. Grenville to his nephew, the Earl of Bath, then only about
sixteen years old, he is reported to have said, 'We have here made a
stand with our forces and the garrisons of Salt Ash, Milbrooke and
others considerable have come up and added to our former, and we hope
well.' The letter is dated 'Truro, 29 July, 1644.'
There appears to have been no sufficient reason why he should have been
asked to surrender his post of 'the King's General in the West'[21] in
favour of Lord Hopton, but he was compelled to do so; and on giving up
his command he refused to serve under that officer, upon which he was
forthwith 'clapped up' in Launceston Gaol, to the great dissatisfaction
of many of the Cornish officers and soldiers, who attributed their
ultimate discomfiture to the absence of Sir Richard from the field.[22]
Clarendon (his foe), and the prejudiced and inaccurate Echard, give
very unflattering accounts of Sir Richard; but his grand-nephew, George
Lord Lansdowne, published a skilful and temperate vindication of him
against their aspersions; and Sir Richard printed his own 'Defence'
in Holland, dating it 28th January, 1654. Whilst in Holland, by the
way, he seems to have attempted reprisals upon the Earl of Suffolk;
for we find that one of Milton's Latin 'State Letters' is addressed to
the Archduke Leopold of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands
(undated), to the effect that Sir Charles Harbord, an Englishman, has
had certain goods and household stuff violently seized at Bruges by Sir
Richard Grenville. The goods had originally been sent from England to
Holland in 1643 by the then Earl of Suffolk, in pledge for a debt owing
to Harbord; and Grenville's pretext was that he also was a creditor
of the Earl, and had obtained a decree of the English Chancery in
his favour. Now, by the English law, neither was the present Earl of
Suffolk bound by that decree, nor could the goods be distrained under
it. The decision of the Court to that effect was transmitted, and
his Serenity was requested to cause Grenville to restore the goods,
inasmuch as it was against the comity of nations that anyone should be
allowed an action in foreign jurisdiction which he would not be allowed
in the country where the cause of the action first arose. The letter
ends thus:
'The justice of the case itself and the universal reputation of your
Serenity for fair dealing have moved us to commend the matter to your
attention; and, if at any time there shall be occasion to discuss the
rights or convenience of your subjects with us, I promise that you
shall find our diligence in the same not remiss, but at all times most
ready.'
Clarendon and Sir Richard both went into exile, and more than once
hurled reproaches at each other; but the crowning misfortune of
Grenville's life was the refusal of Charles II., on Sir Richard's
failing to justify some statements which he had made against Lord
Clarendon, to let him appear at Court. This broke the old man's heart.
He let his beard grow from that time; and died soon afterwards.[23]
Hals, delighting, as usual, to say anything sour and disagreeable of
his fellow-countymen, states in his MSS. that when Sir Richard, at the
death of Charles I., 'for safe gaurd of his life fled beyond the seas,'
he passed most of his time 'in france and Itally, sufferinge greate
wants and necessities,' and 'was at Length comparitively starved to
Death.... His son Richard Grenvill, in the Interregnum of Cromwell, was
executed at Tyburne for robbinge Passengers on the high way to Relieve
his necessity. Moreover Sir Thomas Grenvill Kt. at the same tyme was
Driven to such Extreame wants in his owne Country that he was forced
for Reliefe to begge the Charity of his friends and Dyed in Great
want and penury--and his Lady also--though his Daughter Jane, being a
Servant to the Lady Robarts, was marryed to John Tregagle Gent. from
whom the Tregagles of Treworder are Descended.'
Here is, perhaps, a convenient place to add that Polwhele thought that
Henry Grenfield, Master of the Truro Grammar School in 1685, was one
of this family. He wrote a charming 'Hymnus Vespertinus,' which is
preserved in R. N. Worth's 'West Country Garland.'
A writer in _Notes and Queries_ (5th Series, X. Sept. 14th, 1878)
observes that, 'It is curious that, whereas the name of Grenville,
as one of distinction, has long died out in Cornwall, it appeared
suddenly in the registers of Fowey about a hundred years ago, the
persons bearing it being in humble circumstances. As this is the
only trace of the family name remaining in Cornwall or Devonshire,
counties with which it was so intimately connected in local history,
the matter may be of interest. There would, in fact, seem to be some
mystery enveloping the extinction of the name, which is at the present
moment borne _by right of birth_ by very few persons, although some
six creations of the title have been made to keep it in the peerage.
Gilbert is believed to have entertained an opinion that the family
still existed _in the direct line_ in Cornwall or Devonshire, and had
sunk out of sight by reason of poverty, when the never very flourishing
condition of the Grenvilles became untenable. The Carterets, Thynnes,
and Leveson-Gowers now jointly and severally represent the old family,
but only indirectly, and solely in the line which Sir Bevill Grenville
ennobled.'
But Clarendon, though he had quarrelled so utterly with Sir Richard,
had nothing but good to say of 'the most generally beloved man of the
county of Cornwall,' his brother, Sir Bevill[24]--'Sans peur et sans
reproche'--of his mild and conciliatory character, his indefatigable
activity, and his ardent courage--qualities which rendered him an
invaluable adherent of the first Charles during the unnatural struggles
of the Civil War--'the war without an enemy'--the black cloud' which
was to overspreade the whole kingdome, and cast all into disorder and
darknesse.'
It will be within the memory of all readers of the noble historian that
the King's cause suffered very much, from the first, from the superior
promptitude of the Parliamentary leaders, who had actually appointed
Militia Committees in the various counties--Cornwall included--long
before the King's standard was raised. But the Cornish gentry, headed
by our Sir Bevill, who had already in 1638 raised a troop of horse
to serve with Charles against the Scots, were conspicuous for their
loyalty, to which Charles's memorable letter of thanks from Sudeley
Castle, 10th September, 1643 (copies of which still hang in many of
the Cornish churches as commanded by the King) amply testifies. And
at first Sir Bevill, 'the Mirror of Chivalry,' as he was called in
the West, was more than a match for the Committees, which he speedily
suppressed; and at once, with the assistance of Trevanion, Arundell,
Basset, Godolphin, and others, set to work to raise a regular force.[25]
At this juncture, the following sweet and gallant letter, which Eliot
Warburton quotes as an example of the romantic loyalty of the day, in
his 'Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers,' was addressed to Sir
John Trelawny, the first baronet of that name--evidently in reply to a
communication from Sir John urging the Knight of Stow not to embark in
so perilous an enterprise:
'MOST HONOURABLE SIR,
'I have in many kinds had trial of your nobleness, but in none more
than in this singular expression of your kind care and love. I give
also your excellent Lady humble thanks for respect unto my poor Woman,
who hath been long a faithful much obliged servant of your Ladyes.
But, Sir, for my journey, it is fixed. I cannot contain myself within
my doors, when the King of England's standard waves in the field upon
so just occasion. The cause being such as must make all those that die
in it little inferior to martyrs. And for my own part, I desire to
acquire an honest name or an honourable grave. I never loved my life
or ease so much as to shun such an occasion; which if I should, I were
unworthy of the profession I have held, or to succeed those ancestors
of mine, who have so many of them in several ages sacrificed their
lives for their country.
'Sir, the barborous and implacable enemy, notwithstanding His
Majesty's gracious proceedings with them, do continue their
insolencies and rebellion in the highest degree, and are united in
a body of great strength; so, as you may expect, if they be not
prevented and mastered near their own homes, they will be troublesome
in yours, and in the remotest places ere long.
'I am not without the consideration, as you lovingly advise, of my
wife and family; and as for her, I must acknowledge, she hath ever
drawn so evenly in the yoke with me, as she hath never prest before,
or hung behind me, nor ever opposed or resisted my will. And yet
truly, I have not, in this or anything else, endeavoured to walk in
any way of power with her, but of reason; and though her love will
submit to either, yet truly my respect will not suffer me to urge
her with power unless I can convince with reason. So much for that,
whereof I am willing to be accomptable unto so good a friend.
'I have no suit unto you in mine own behalf, but for your prayers and
good wishes; and that if I live to come home again, you would please
to continue me in the number of your servants.
'I shall give a true relation unto my very noble friend Mr. Moyle, of
your and his Aunt's loving respect to him, which he hath good reason
to be thankful for. And so, I beseech God to send you and your noble
family all health and happiness, and while I live, I am, Sir,
'Your unfeigned loving and faithful Servant,
'BEVILL GRENVILE.'
Writing to his 'Deare love' and 'best friend,' from Bodmin on the
12th October, he says: 'My neighbours did ill that came not out, and
are punishable by the law in high degree; and although I will do
the best I can to save some of the honester sort, yet others shall
smart.' Nevertheless he was a staunch friend of Sir John Eliot (who
was godfather to one of his children), and was mainly instrumental
in procuring Sir John's release from the Tower. Forster quotes many
of Sir Bevill's letters, in his 'Life of Eliot,' all of which are in
the highest degree noble, patriotic, and affectionate. But by far the
most charming are the following delightful letters to his graceful,
affectionate, and accomplished wife:[26]
'To my best Frend--the Lady Grace Grenvile--these.
Plimp. (Plympton), Feb. 20, 1642.
'MY DEARE LOVE,
'Y^r great care and good affection, as they are very remarkable, so
they deserve my best thankes, and I could wish that the subject which
you bestowe them upon could better requite you.
'I shall returne ye messenger with but little certainty concerning our
present condition.'
(Here follows a description of the positions of the contending forces.)
'The Queene is coming with good Ayde to the King. The Parl. did
attempt to force severall quarters where the King's army lay, and
were beaten off with great losses to themselves in all places. We
have advertiz^{mt} that some ayde is coming from his Ma^{tie} to us,
but it is so slowe as we shall need it before we see it, but God's
will be done, I am satisfied I cannot expire in a better cause. I
have given some directions to Jack' (his son John Grenvile) 'for his
study, pray cause him to putt them in execution, and to make some
exercise in verse or prose every day. Intreat my cos.' (imperfect)
'and Bar. Geal. to take a little paines (with) him. I have released
the Prisoners that Bar. Geal. wrote for. Let Cap. Stanb. know, it is
all one to me whither he goe by Byd' (Bideford), 'or Pads. (Padstow)
so he make haste and now to conclude, I beseech you take care of your
health, I have nothing so much in my prayers. Y^r Phisiton Jennings is
turned a Traytor with the rest--whereby he hath lost my love, and I am
doubtfull to trust you with him. Present my humble duety and thanks to
your mother and I beseech God to blesse your young People.
'I rest y^r owne ever,
'BEVILL GRENVILLE.
'My new cap is a little to straight. I know not what forme of a
certifficate it is that Jo. Geal. desires, but if he will send it to
me drawne, I will get it sign'd.'
Then comes the account of the victory over the Parliamentary forces on
Braddock Down, half-way between Lostwithiel and Liskeard:
'MY DEARE LOVE,
'It hath pleas'd God to give us a happie victory this present Thursday
being ye 19th of Jan^y, for which pray join with me in giving God
thanks. We advanced yesterday from Bodmin to find ye enemy which we
heard was abroad, or if we miss'd him in the field we were resolved to
unhouse them in Liskeard or leave our boddies in the highway. We were
not above 3 miles from Bodmin, when we had view of two troops of their
horse to whom we sent some of ours, which chased them out of the field
while our foot march'd after our horse; but night coming on we could
march no further than Boconnocke Parke,[27] where (upon my co. Mohun's
kind notion) we quartered all our army by good fires under the hedge.
The next morning (being this day) we marched forth, and about noone
came in full view of the enemies whole army upon a fair heath between
Boconnocke and Braddocke Church. They were in horse much stronger than
we, but in foot we were superior, as I thinke. They were possest of
a pretty rising ground which was in the way towards Liskeard and we
planted ourselves upon such another against them with in muskett shot,
and we saluted each other with bulletts about two hours or more, each
side being willing to keep their ground and to have the other to come
over to his prejudice; but after so long delay, they standing still
firm, and being obstinate to hould their advantage, Sir Ra. Hopton
resolved to march over to them, and to leave all to the mercy of God
and valour of our side. I had the Van; so after solemne prayers in the
head of every division,[28] I led my part away, who followed me with
so good courage both down one hill and up the other, as it strooke
a terror in them, while the seconds came up gallantly after me, and
the wings of horse charged on both sides, but their courage so failed
them as they stood not our first charge of the foot, but fled in great
disorder and we chast them divers miles; many were not slain because
of their quick disordering, but we have taken above 600 prisoners
among which S^r Shilston Calmady is one, and more are still brought in
by the soldiers; much armes they have lost, and colours we have won,
and 4 pieces of ordinance from them, and without rest we marched to
Liskeard, and tooke it without delay, all their men flying from it
before we came, and so I hope we are now againe in ye way to settle
the country in peace. All our Cornish Grandies were present at the
battell with the Scotch Generall Ruthen, the Somersett Collonels and
the horse Captains Pim and Tomson, and but for their horses' speed had
been all in our hands; let my sister and my cossens of Clovelly, with
ye other friends, understande of God's mercy to us, and we lost not a
man. So I rest
'Yours ever,
'BEVILL GRENVILE.
'Liskeard, Jan. 19, 1642.
'For the Lady Grace Grenvile
at Stow. d. d.
'The messenger is paide, yet give him a shilling more.'
As a result of the battle, Saltash was now relieved, many prisoners,
guns, and a frigate were taken there, and the Parliamentary leaders
were reduced to propose (ineffectually, however) the neutrality of
Cornwall and Devon in the conflict. We next hear of Sir Bevill's being,
in conjunction with Sir Ralph Hopton, after a sudden and forced march
from Plymouth, attacked at Launceston; but the Cornish forces repulsed
their assailants and drove them back into Devonshire. Such was the
reputation of this gallant little force that it was now determined to
send an army of 7,000 men against them, and the battle of Stratton,
almost within sight of the old Grenville seat at Stow, ensued; in
which the Parliamentarians, though two to one, were again defeated.
Sir Bevill once more led the van of the King's army; and Clarendon
thus describes the engagement in language so vivid, that we almost see
the cavaliers as they dashed, all plumed and crimson-scarfed, through
fields of blood:
'Then "Spur and sword!" was the battle-word, and we made their
helmets ring,
Shouting like madmen all the while, "For God and for the King!"
And, though they snuffled psalms, to give the rebel dogs their due,
When the roaring shot poured thick and hot they were stalwart men
and true.'
Thus Clarendon:
'In this manner the fight begun: the King's forces pressing, with
their utmost vigour, up the hill, and the enemies as obstinately
defending their ground. The fight continued with very doubtful
success, till towards three of the clock in the afternoon; when
word was brought to the chief officers of the Cornish that their
ammunition was spent to less than four barrels of powder; which
(concealing the defect from the soldiers) they resolved could only be
supplied with courage; and therefore, by messengers to one another,
they agreed to advance with their full bodies, without making any
more shot, till they reached the top of the hill, and so might be
upon even ground with the enemy; wherein the officers' courage and
resolution was so well seconded by the soldiers, that they begun
to get ground in all places; and the enemy, in wonder of the men,
who out-faced their shot with their swords, to quit their post.
Major-General Chudlegh, who ordered the battle, failed in no part
of a soldier; and when he saw his men recoil from less numbers, and
the enemy in all places gaining the hill upon him, himself advanced,
with a good stand of pikes, upon that party which was led by Sir John
Berkley and Sir Bevil Grenville, and charged them so smartly that
he put them into disorder; Sir Bevil Grenville in the shock being
borne to the ground, but, quickly relieved by his companion, they so
re-inforced the charge that having killed most of the assailants, and
dispersed the rest, they took the Major-General prisoner, after he
had behaved himself with as much courage as a man could do. Then the
enemy gave ground apace, inasmuch as the four parties, growing nearer
and nearer as they ascended the hill, between three and four of the
clock, they all met together upon one ground near the top of the
hill, where they embraced with unspeakable joy, each congratulating
the other's success, and all acknowledging the wonderful blessing
of God; and being there possessed of some of the enemy's cannon,
they turned them upon the camp, and advanced together to the perfect
victory. But the enemy no sooner understood the loss of their
Major-General but their hearts failed them; and being so resolutely
pressed, and their ground lost, upon the security and advantage
whereof they wholly depended, some of them threw down their arms,
and others fled, dispersing themselves, and every man shifting for
himself.
'This victory,' pursues the historian, 'was in substance, as well
as circumstance, as signal a one as hath happened to either party
since the unhappy distraction; for on the King's party were not lost
in all above four score men, whereof few were officers, and none
above the degree of a captain; and though many more were hurt, not
above ten men died afterwards of their wounds. On the Parliament
side, notwithstanding their advantage of ground, and that the other
were the assailants, above three hundred were slain on the place,
and seventeen hundred taken prisoners with their Major-General and
above thirty other officers. They took likewise all their baggage and
tents, all their cannon, being, as was said before, thirteen pieces
of brass ordnance, and a brass mortar-piece: all their ammunition,
being seventy barrels of powder, and all other sorts of ammunition
proportionable, and a very great magazine of bisket and other
excellent provisions of victuals; which was as seasonable a blessing
as the victory, to those who for three or four days before had
suffered great want of food as well as sleep, and were equally tired
with duty and hunger.'
Perhaps I may be excused for mentioning here that Camden quotes
approvingly from Johannes Sarisburiensis a tribute to Cornish valour,
and that Michael Cornubiensis has also referred to the subject in the
following lines:
'Rex Arcturus nos primos Cornubienses
Bellum facturus vocat, ut puta Cæsaris enses
Nobis non aliis, reliquis, dat primitus ictum
Per quem pax lisque, nobis fit utrumque relictum
Quid nos deterret, si firmiter in pede stemus,
Fraus ni nos superet, nihil est quod non supremus.'
Charles was not unmindful of the gallant Sir Bevill's share in the
fight, as will be seen from 'His Majestie's letter to Sir Bevill
Granvill after the great victory obtained over the Rebels, at the
Battle of Stratton:'
'To our Right Trusty and Well beloved Sir Bevill Granvill at our Army
in Cornwall.
'CHARLES R.
'Right Trusty and Well beloved wee greet you Well. Wee have seen
your Letter to Endymion Porter Our Servant: But your whole conduct
of Our Affairs in the West, doth speak your Zeal to Our Service
and the Public Good in so full a Measure; as Wee Rest abundantly
satisfy'd with the Testimony thereof. Your labours and your Expenses
Wee are graciously Sensible of, and Our Royall Care hath been to ease
you in all that Wee could. What hath fallen short of Our Princely
Purposes, and your Expections, Wee know you will attribute to the
great malignity of the Rebellion Wee had, and have here to wrestle
withall; And Wee know well, how effectually a diversion of that
mischievous strength you have made from us at your own hazzards. Wee
assure you Wee have all tender sense of the hardness you have endured
and the State wherein you stand: Wee shall not fail to procure you
what speedy relief may be: In the mean space Wee send you Our most
hearty thanks for some encouragement, and assurances in the Word of a
Gracious Prince, that (God enabling us) Wee shall so reflect upon your
faithfull Services, as you and yours shall have cause to acknowledge
Our Bounty and Favours: And so Wee bid you heartily farewell. Given
at Our Court at Oxford the 24th March, 1642/3.'
Cornwall was thus cleared of the enemy, and secured for the King; and
the Cornish infantry were available for service elsewhere: they were
accordingly re-inforced by a body of cavalry under Prince Maurice,
and the combined troops met at Chard. Clarendon pauses to praise the
loyal spirit evinced by the Cornishmen, who, notwithstanding their
late gallant victories, now found themselves--both officers and
men--overshadowed by the superior military rank allotted to their new
associates. Nor were they less remarkable for their discipline and
conduct. 'The Chief Commanders of the Cornish army,' says the great
historian, 'had restrained their soldiers from all manner of licence,
obliging them to frequent acts of devotion; insomuch that the fame of
their religion and discipline was no less than of their courage.'
A junction with the King's troops at Oxford was the next object of the
Royalists in the west; and they accordingly advanced through Taunton
and Bridgewater upon Wells, where they fell upon the advanced guard of
Waller's forces, which they routed and drove back upon Bath. Here the
Parliamentarian General awaited, upon Lansdowne Hill, the advance of
the victorious and elated troops of the King. We cannot do better than
once again listen to the tale of the fight as told in Clarendon's own
words:
'It was upon the 5th of July, 1643, when Sir Wm. Waller, as soon
as it was light, possessed himself of that hill; and after he had
upon the brow of the hill, over the highway, raised breast-works
with faggots and earth, and planted cannon there, he sent a strong
party of horse towards Marsfield; which quickly alarmed the other
army, and was shortly driven back to their body. As great a mind as
the King's forces had to cope with the enemy, when they had drawn
into battalion, and found the enemy fixed on the top of the hill,
they resolved not to attack them upon so great disadvantage, and
so retired again towards their old quarters: which Sir Wm. Waller
perceiving, sent his whole body of horse and dragoons down the hill,
to charge the rear and flank of the King's forces; which they did
thoroughly, the regiment of cuirassiers so amazing the horse they
charged, that they totally routed them; and, standing firm and
unshaken themselves, gave so great terror to the King's horse, who
had never before turned from an enemy, that no example of their
officers, who did their parts with invincible courage, could make
them charge with the same confidence, and in the same manner they
had usually done. However, in the end, after Sir Nicholas Slanning,
with 300 musqueteers, had fallen upon, and beaten their reserve of
dragooners, Prince Maurice, and the Earl of Carnarvon, rallying
their horse, and winging them with the Cornish musqueteers, charged
the enemy's horse again, and totally routed them; and in the same
manner received two bodies more, and routed and chased them to the
hill; where they stood in a place almost inaccessible. On the brow
of the hill there were breast-works, on which were pretty bodies
of small shot, and some cannon; on either flank grew a pretty thick
wood towards the declining of the hill, in which strong parties of
musqueteers were placed; at the rear was a very fair plain, where the
reserves of horse and foot stood ranged, _yet the Cornish foot were
so far from being appalled at this disadvantage, that they desired to
fall on, and cried out "That they might have leave to fetch off those
cannon."_[29] In the end order was given to attempt the hill with
horse and foot. 'Two strong parties of musqueteers were sent into the
woods, which flanked the enemy; and the horse and other musqueteers
up the roadway, which were charged by the enemy's horse and routed;
then Sir Bevil Grenville advanced with a party of horse on his right
hand, that ground being best for them, and his musqueteers on his
left, himself leading up his pikes in the middle; and in the face
of their cannon, and small shot from the breast-works, gained the
brow of the hill, having sustained two full charges of the enemy's
horse; but in the third charge his horse failing, and giving ground,
he received, after other wounds, a blow on the head with a poll-axe,
with which he fell, and many of his officers about him;[30] yet the
musqueteers fired so fast on the enemy's horse, that they quitted
their ground, and the two wings who were sent to clear the woods,
having done their work, and gained those parts of the hill, at the
same time beat off their enemy's foot, and became possessed of the
breast-works, and so made way for their whole body of horse, foot,
and cannon, to ascend the hill, which they quickly did, and planted
themselves on the ground they had won; the enemy retiring about
demy-culverin shot, behind a stone wall upon the same level, and
standing in reasonable good order.
'Either party was sufficiently tired and battered, to be contented to
stand still. The King's horse were so shaken, that of 2000 which were
upon the field in the morning, there were not above 600 on the top
of the hill; so that, exchanging only some shot from their ordnance,
they looked upon one another till the night interposed. About twelve
of the clock, the night being very dark, the enemy made a show of
moving towards the ground they had lost; but giving a smart volly
of small shot, and finding themselves answered with the like, they
made no more noise; which the Prince observing, he sent a common
soldier to hearken as near the place where they were, as he could;
who brought word, That the enemy had left lighted matches in the wall
behind which they had lain, and were drawn off the field; which was
true; so that as soon as it was day, the King's army found themselves
possessed entirely of the field, and the dead, and all other ensigns
of victory: Sir Wm. Waller being marched into Bath, in so much
disorder and apprehension, that he had left great store of arms, and
ten barrels of powder, behind him, which was a very seasonable supply
to the other side, who had spent in that day's service no less than
four score barrels, and had not a safe proportion left.'
It is believed in the West that Sir Bevill was attended at the Battle
of Lansdowne by one of his servants from Stow--Anthony Paine, the
Cornish Giant, of whom Mr. Stokes tells us that
'His sword was made to match his size,
As Roundheads did remember;
And when it swung 'twas like the whirl
Of windmills in September.'
And there is a further tradition that, on seeing his master fall,
Anthony at once clapped John Grenville (afterwards first Earl of Bath),
then a youth of sixteen, on his father's steed in order to prevent
the Royalist troops from being discouraged. Anthony measured, so it
is said, seven feet two inches in height. He was present, not only at
Lansdowne, but at the fight on Stamford Hill, and remained on the field
that night to assist in burying the dead, after his master had returned
home to Stow. At the 'Tree' Inn, Stratton (said to have been the
headquarters of the Royalists on the night preceding that battle), the
hole in the ceiling is still shown through which, years afterwards, the
corpse of poor Anthony was removed from the room in which he died--his
coffin being too long to be taken out of the window or down the stairs
in the usual way.
Thus did the worthy retainer write to his mistress on the terrible day
of Lansdowne fight; at least so Mr. Hawker assures us:
'Honored Madam. Ill news flieth apace. The heavy tidings no doubt hath
already traveled to Stow that we have lost our blessed master by the
enemy's advantage. You must not, dear lady, grieve too much for your
noble spouse. You know, as we all believe, that his soul was in heaven
before his bones were cold. He fell, as he did often tell us he wished
to die, in the great Stewart cause, for his Country and his King. He
delivered to me his last commands, and with such tender words for you
and for his children as are not to be set down with my poor pen, but
must come to your ears upon my best heart's breath. Master John, when
I mounted him upon his father's horse, rode him into the war like a
young prince, as he is, and our men followed him with their swords
drawn and with tears in their eyes. They did say they would kill a
rebel for every hair of Sir Bevill's beard. But I bade them remember
their good master's word when he wiped his sword after Stamford fight:
how he said, when their cry was "Stab and slay!"--"Halt, men! God will
avenge." I am coming down with the mournfullest load that ever a poor
servant did bear, to bring the great heart that is cold to Kilkhampton
vault. O! my lady, how shall I ever brook your weeping face? But I
will be trothful to the living and to the dead.
'These, honoured Madam, from thy saddest, truest Servant,
'ANTHONY PAYNE.'
Anthony was, at the Restoration made 'Halberdier of the Guns' at
Plymouth Citadel, and Sir Godfrey Kneller was commissioned by the King
to paint Anthony's portrait. It was engraved as a frontispiece to the
1st vol. of C. S. Gilbert's 'History of Cornwall,' and the picture
itself was afterwards sold for £800. And here it may perhaps be added
that at the siege of Plymouth another Cornish man, John Langherne,
of Tregavethan, of huge strength and stature, being seven feet six
inches high, 'Rid up,' as Tonkin tells us, 'to one of the gates of the
Town, and stuck his sword in it so deep that two strong men could not
possibly pull it out.'--(Borlase's Additional MSS.)
It is gratifying to learn that the Cornishmen demeaned themselves so
well at Lansdowne; but the victory was far too dearly bought. Clarendon
goes on to say:
'In this battle, on the King's part, there were more officers and
gentlemen of quality slain, than common men; and more hurt than slain.
That which would have clouded any victory, and made the loss of others
less spoken of, was the death of Sir Bevil Grenville. He was indeed
an excellent person, whose activity, interest, and reputation was
the foundation of what had been done in Cornwall; and his temper and
affection so publick, that no accident which happened could make any
impressions in him; and his example kept others from taking anything
ill, or at least seeming to do so. In a word, _a brighter courage, and
a gentler disposition_, were never married together to make the most
chearful and innocent conversation.' 'Clarendon's immortals,' says
Forster, 'still lie unwithered' on Sir Bevill's grave.
A monument, erected by his grandson George Lord Lansdowne, marks the
spot where our hero fell.[31] On the north side of the monument was
inscribed:
'Conquest or death was all his thought, so fire
Either o'ercomes, or does itself expire.
His courage work'd like flames, cast heat about,
Here, there, on this, on that side, none gave out;
Nor any pike in that renowned stand,
But took new force from his inspiring hand.
Soldier encourag'd soldier, man urg'd man,
And he urg'd all, so much example can.
Hurt upon hurt, wound upon wound did call,
He was the mark, the butt, the aim of all;
His soul this while retired from cell to cell,
At last flew up from all, and then he fell;
But the devoted stand enrag'd the more
From that his fate, played hotter than before;
And proud to fall with him, sworn not to yield,
Each sought an honour'd grave, and won the field,
Thus he being fall'n, his actions fought anew
And the dead conquer'd, whilst the living flew.'
The remaining lines are those quoted as Sir Bevill's epitaph on the
fine monument to his memory,[32] and to that of the great Sir Richard,
at the old Church of Kilkhampton, where both of them must have often
worshipped. The epitaph runs as follows:
'To the immortal memory of his renowned grandfather this monument was
erected by the Right Honorable George, Lord Lansdowne, Treasurer of
the Household to Queen Anne, and one of her Majesty's Most Honorable
Privy Council, &c., in the year 1714.
'Thus slain thy valiant ancestor did lye,
When his one bark a navy did defy,
When now encompass'd round the victor stood,
And bath'd his pinnace in his conquering blood,
Till, all his purple current dried and spent,
He fell, and made the waves his monument.
Where shall the next famed Grenville's ashes stand?
Thy grandsire fills _the seas_, and thou the land.
'MARTIN LLEWELLYN.'
(_Vide also Oxford University Verses, printed 1643._)
Mrs. Delany has stated that Sir Bevill had the patent for an Earldom
in his pocket on the day of the fatal fight at Lansdowne; and in this
there seems nothing improbable, as his youngest daughter, Joan, or
Johanna, had a patent of precedence as an Earl's daughter.
We have seen something of Sir Bevill's epistolary productions; and, if
we are to accept the testimony of the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, the writer
of the biography of the Rev. R. S. Hawker, some specimens of Lady
Grace's were preserved under the following singular circumstances:
One day, he tells us, Mrs. Hawker, the first wife of the Vicar of
Morwenstow, when lunching at Stow in the farmhouse, noticed that a
letter in old handwriting was wrapped round the mutton bone that was
brought on the table. Moved by curiosity, she took the paper off,
and showed it to Mr. Hawker. On examination it was found that the
letter bore the signature of Sir Bevill Grenville. Mr. Hawker at
once instituted inquiries, and found a large chest full of letters
of different members of the Grenville family in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. He at once communicated with Lord Carteret,
owner of Stow, and the papers were removed, but by some unfortunate
accident they were lost! The only ones saved were a packet removed from
the chest by Mr. Davis, Rector of Kilkhampton, previous to their being
sent away from Stow. These were copied by Miss Manning, of Eastaway, in
Morwenstowe, and her transcript, together with some of the originals,
was said to be in the possession of Ezekiel Rous, Esq., of Bideford.
The following, from Lady Grace to her husband, was probably another of
the letters in the collection said to have been found by Mr. Hawker,
and afterwards so mysteriously lost.
'For My Best Friend, Sir Bevill Grenville.
'MY EVER DEAREST,
'I have received yours from Salisbury, and am glad to hear you came
so farr well, with poore Jack. Ye shall be sure of my prairs, which
is the best service I can doe you. I canott perceave whither you had
receaved mine by Tom, or no, but I believe by this time you have mett
that and another since by the post. Truly I have been out of frame
ever since you went, not with a cough, but in another kinde, much
indisposed. However, I have striven with it, and was at Church last
Sunday, but not the former. I have been vexed with diverse demands
made of money than I could satisfie, but I instantly paid what you
sent, and have intreated Mr. Rous his patience a while longer, as you
directed.
'It grieves me to think how chargeable your family is, considering
your occasion. It hath this many years troubled me to think to what
passe it must come at last, if it run on after this course. How many
times what hath appeared hopefull, and yet proved contrary in the
conclusion, hath befalen us, I am loth to urge, because tis farr from
my desire to disturbe your thoughts; but this sore is not to be curd
with silence, or patience either, and while you are loth to discourse
or thinke of that you can take little comfort to see how bad it is,
and I was unwilling to strike on that string which sounds harsh in
your eare (the matter still grows worse, though). I can never putt it
out of my thoughts, and that makes me often times seeme dreaming to
you, when you expect I should sometimes observe more complement with
my frends, or be more active in matters of curiousity in our House,
which doubtlesse you would have been better pleasd with had I been
capable to have performd it, and I believe though I had a naturall
dullness in me, it would never so much have appeard to my prejudice,
but twas increasd by a continuance of sundry disasters, which I still
mett with, yet never till this yeare, but I had some strength to
encounter them, and truly now I am soe cleane overcome, as tis in
vaine to deny a truth. It seems to me now tis high time to be sensible
that God is displeased, having had many sad remembrances in our
estate and children late, yet God spard us in our children long, and
when I strive to follow your advice in moderating my grieffe (which
I praise God) I have thus farr been able to doe as not to repine at
God's will, though I have a tender sence of griefe which hangs on me
still, and I think it as dangerous and improper to forgett it, for
I cannott but think it was a neer touched correction, sent from God
to check me for my many neglects of my duty to God. It was the tenth
and last plague God smote the Egyptians with, the deathe of their
first borne, before he utterly destroyed them, they persisting in
their disobedience notwithstanding all their former punishments. This
apprehension makes me both tremble and humbly beseech Him to withdraw
His punishments from us, and to give us grace to know and amend
whatever is amisse. Now I have pourd out my sad thoughts which in your
absence doth most oppresse me, and tis my weakness hardly to be able
to say thus much unto you, how brimfull soever my heart be, though
oftentimes I heartely wish I could open my heart truly unto you when
tis overchargd. But the least thought it may not be pleasing to you
will at all times restraine me. Consider me rightly, I beseech you,
and excuse, I pray, the liberty I take with my pen in this kinde. And
now at last I must thanke you for wishing me to lay aside all feare,
and depend on the Almighty, who can only helpe us; for his mercy I
daily pray, and your welfare, and our poore boys; so I conclude, and
am ever your faithfully and only
'GRACE GRENVILLE.
'Stow, Nov. 23, 1641.'
'I sent yours to Mr. Prust, but this from him came after mine was gone
last weeke. Ching is gone to Cheddar. I looke for Bawden, but as yet
is not come. Sir Rob. Bassett is dead.
'I heard from my cosen Grace Weekes, who writes that Mr. Luttrell says
if you could meete the liking between the young people, he will not
stand for money you shall finde. Parson Weekes wishes you would call
with him, and that he might entice you to take the Castle in your way
downe. She says they enquire in the most courteous maner that can be
imagind. Deare love, thinke how to farther this what you can.'
The following is said to have been an earlier letter by many years,
written when Grace was a wife of six years' standing:
'SWEET MR. GRENVILE,
'I cannott let Mr. Oliver passe without a line though it be only to
give you thankes for yours, which I have receaved. I will in all
things observe your directions as neer as I can, and because I have
not time to say much now I will write againe tomorrow ( ... something
torn away) and think you shall receave advertizment concerning us much
as you desyre. I can not say I am well, neither have I bin so since I
saw you, but, however, I will pray for your health, and good successe
in all businesses, and pray be so kinde as to love her who takes no
comfort in anything but you, and will remayne yours ever and only
'GRACE GRENVILE.
'Fryday night, Nov. 13, 1629.'
The superscription of this letter is:
'To my ever dearest and best Friend, Mr. Bevill Grenvile, at the
Rainbow, in Fleet Street.'
The other letters in this collection--alleged to have been so strangely
discovered--will be found enumerated in the Appendix to Mr. Gould's
'Life of Hawker.'
There are many portraits of Sir Bevill Grenville. One is in Prince's
'Worthies of Devon;' another in Lloyd's 'Worthies;' and one, by Dobson,
is in the fine collection at Petworth Park. Here also is a group
described as Sir Bevill Grenville, Anne St. Leger (his grandmother!)
and John Earl of Bath, their son--after Vandyck.
What can be added to such tributes as those which we have just read
but that, in Sir Bevill Grenville's case at least, 'the good was _not_
interred with his bones;'[33] his valiant spirit continued to animate
his friends and followers, and prompted their valour on Roundway Down,
at the siege of Bristol, and--when one of the last gleams of success
shone upon the Royal cause--when Essex's infantry surrendered to the
King in person, at Fowey. On the latter occasion Sir Richard, brother
of Sir Bevill, held and fortified Hall House, on the eastern side of
the harbour, for the King: he had previously captured Restormel Castle
near Lostwithiel.
Then there soon came a time when, as Macaulay says, England had
to witness spectacles such as these: 'Major-Generals fleecing
their districts--soldiers revelling on the spoils of a ruined
peasantry--upstarts, enriched by the public plunder, taking
possession of the hospitable firesides and hereditary trees
of the old gentry--boys smashing the beautiful windows of
cathedrals--Fifth-Monarchy men shouting for King Jesus--Quakers riding
naked through the market-place--and agitators lecturing from tubs on
the fate of Agag.'
'Where,' asked Dr. Llewellyn, the Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford,
in the stilted style of the day in which he wrote:
'Where shall next famous Grenvil's ashes stand?
Thy grandsire fills the sea--and thou the land.'
The answer to which question must be that the next famous
Grenville--Sir Bevill's eldest son, Sir John--was destined to become
a conspicuous figure in the field of Diplomacy. He even attained to a
higher rank than his father, soon after the Stuart cause became once
more triumphant. Leaving Gloucester Hall, Oxford,--where he was a
Gentleman Commoner,--when only fifteen years of age, he commanded his
father's regiment in the west; and at the second battle of Newbury (to
which he brought his Cornish troops) he was wounded, and left for dead
on the field. He had received a dangerous wound in the head from a
halberd, and was carried to the King and Prince of Wales, who ordered
him to be taken care of in Donnington Castle hard by. The Castle was
soon after besieged, and the bullets constantly whistled through his
sick-room; but the boy-warrior at last came safely off. When the Scilly
Isles revolted from the Parliament and became the last rallying-point
of the Royalists, he it was who (like one of his ancestors) was made
Governor, for the King--taking up his quarters at Elizabeth Castle on
St. Mary's Island. But the Parliamentary Admirals, Blake and Ayscough,
appeared before Scilly with so overwhelming a force, that Sir John
Grenville thought it best to capitulate; extorting, however, such
favourable terms that, until Blake represented to what an extent his
own honour was involved in their confirmation, the Parliament refused
to recognise them. It is said that Sir John had with him commissioned
officers enough to 'head an army.'
Sir John Grenville, although he now returned quietly to Stow, was by
no means unmindful of his royal master, and soon opened negotiations
with his cousin George Monk (afterwards Duke of Albemarle), who became
the well known chief instrument in the restoration of Charles II. A
brother of Monk's (afterwards Bishop of Hereford), who was at this
time in Cornwall, having been appointed by the Grenvilles to the
living of Kilkhampton, seems to have been the medium of this dangerous
intercourse; but our Sir John managed matters with such loyalty,
courage, and discretion, that all ultimately went well for the Royal
cause.[34] He had at one time accompanied Charles into exile, and
was one of the Commissioners, known as the 'Sealed Knot' from their
secrecy, appointed to conduct the affairs of the King in England during
his absence; and though Sir John Grenville could not obtain from
Monk (who was determined upon being supreme in the transaction) the
stipulations which even Charles's most loyal friends thought desirable
for the future, events proved that it would have been well if more
weight had been attached to the suggestions of the sagacious Cornish
Knight and his colleagues. So highly, however, were his fidelity and
wisdom esteemed, that he was selected to present to Parliament the
King's proposals from Breda: an office which he discharged with such
efficiency as to obtain the thanks of both Houses, and a jewel worth
£500, as well as a ring worth £300 from the Common Council, for his
services at this important crisis. (Cf. also Thurloe's 'State Papers,'
Grammont's 'Memoirs,' Clarendon's Correspondence and Diary, and Dr.
John Price's 'Mystery and Method of His Majesty's Happy Restoration,'
dedicated to the Earl of Bath.) Pepys describes the circumstances,
and tells us how, on 2nd March, 1660, Parliament continued bareheaded
whilst the King's letter was being read.[35]
The favours of royalty were also showered upon Grenville--though
Charles II. was apt to be unmindful of his friends in the past--and Sir
John was made a Secretary of State, and was created Lord Grenville, of
Kilkhampton and Bytheford, Viscount Grenville of Lansdowne, and Earl of
Bath; with a pension of £3,000 a year to be paid out of the Stannaries,
of which he was made Lord Warden, and a reversion to the Dukedom of
Albemarle. He also received the Royal Licence to use his titles of
Earl of Corboile, Thorigny, and Granville. Of the architectural merits
of his 'new house' at Stow, built for him, it is said, by the King,
Kingsley writes in disparaging terms, as we have seen. He married
Jane, the daughter of Sir Peter Wiche or Wych, by whom he left a
noble offspring. The eldest son, Charles, second Earl of Bath, died
in 1701,--twelve days after his father; the second son, John, who was
created Baron Grenville of Potheridge in 1703, died in 1707; and the
male line became extinct on the death, from small-pox, of his son
William Henry, third Earl of Bath, in 1771.
James II., however, seems to have shown the Earl of Bath--who was a
staunch Protestant--little favour. So Grenville declared for the Prince
of Orange; and, having first seized Plymouth citadel, admitted the
Dutch fleet into that harbour; his nephew Bevill performing a similar
service with his uncle's own regiment at Jersey. King William III.
consequently created him a member of his Privy Council, and continued
him in his previous offices.
The Earl's eldest son, Charles, was accidentally killed by the
discharge of a pistol at his father's funeral; and the title
consequently devolved upon his son William Henry, thus giving rise to
the observation that at one time there were 'three Earls of Bath above
ground at the same time.' From the first Earl descended, in the female
line, the present representatives of the family--the Thynnes, not
unknown to fame.
And Sir Bevill had another son, Dennis, who was by no means
undistinguished in his own walk of life. Born in 1636/7, and educated
probably at Eton,[36] he was entered a Gentleman Commoner of Exeter
College, Oxford, on 22nd Sept., 1657; took his degree of M.A. on 28th
Sept., 1660, and that of D.D. on 20th Dec, 1670. Kilkhampton was his
first preferment, though he does not appear to have taken up residence
there. He was Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles II.; and in 1684 was
made Archdeacon and Dean of Durham. But he was a true Grenville in his
attachment to the Stuarts; and early in 1690 went into exile with James
II., residing at Corbeil, in France (near the place whence his family
are supposed to have sprung), rather than acknowledge William III. as
his sovereign. He left several works behind him, and died in Paris in
1703.
There are many incidents, however, connected with his career which seem
to require a fuller notice of the Cavalier Dean. The command, 'Fear
God,' scarcely commended itself more forcibly to his conscience than
its complement 'Honour the King;' and, although he was in a _very_
small minority, his high-minded consistency and loyalty were such,
that, whatever we may think of his prudence, or of the practicability
of his views, we are bound, I think, to honour the man who chose rather
to sacrifice the highest preferments than to swear allegiance to one
whom he, at least, regarded as an invader and a usurper.
There are full details of the latter part of his career preserved
in the library of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, from which I have
gathered most of the following accounts.
He married Ann, daughter of Bishop Cosin (an unhappy union, for her
husband--and two physicians confirmed his statement--alleged that the
lady was subject to fits of temporary insanity), at a time when the
Church of England was in sad disorder, and when vigorous, earnest
spirits were wanted to remedy the listless slovenliness of many of her
clergy.
Dennis Grenville was equal to the trying occasion. He found that the
Church services were often either curtailed or omitted altogether;
many of the churches were 'altogether unprovided of ministers';
and the fabrics themselves were 'ruinous and in great decay.' Not
only the minor Canons and singing men, but even many of the highest
dignitaries were guilty, according to Cosin,[37] of sluttish and
disorderly habits, even in the cathedrals themselves; and the Rubrics
and Canons were almost ignored. But, as Parish Priest, as Prebendary,
and as Archdeacon, and afterwards, especially in securing a weekly
celebration of the Holy Communion in his own cathedral, Dennis
Grenville laboured so earnestly and so conscientiously, as to warrant
his promotion, young as he was, to the post of Dean.
His rapid advancement, however, seems to have almost turned his head;
he became ambitious and extravagant, was frequently absent from his
post, and fell into pecuniary troubles (aggravated by the non-payment
of an expected marriage portion with his wife) which, almost to the
last, hung like a millstone round his neck. On the 8th of July, 1674,
on returning from public prayers and Captain Foster's funeral, he was
actually arrested 'in his Hood and Surplice' for debt, within the
cloisters; and although he was afterwards released as a Chaplain in
Ordinary of the King, and though the bailiffs and the Under Sheriff who
were responsible for his arrest were reprimanded before the Council
Board at Hampton Court, yet the indignity seems to have entered into
the Dean's very soul, producing, however, more than one good result,
viz. the more economical management of his resources, and salutary
counsels to his nephew at Oxford, published in 1685. He was a capital
preacher, but a bad man of business: '"I cannot manage nor mind these
money affairs," is his own candid confession,' observes the Rev. George
Ormsby, in his interesting memoir.
Of the Dean's management of his own household full details are
preserved; they will probably be found interesting here as showing how
a Church dignitary lived two hundred years ago: one who was always
at work on the scheme of reformation to which he had laid his hands,
and who seems to have taken for his model George Herbert's 'Country
Parson.' This book he recommended to his curates, and to all the clergy
in his jurisdiction, 'for their rule and direction in order to the
exemplary discharge of their functions, having always made it mine.'
The Diocese of Durham, under such auspices as those of Cosin and
Grenville, (notwithstanding the incapacity of the latter to properly
manage his money affairs,) accordingly improved rapidly in tone, until
the Dean was at length able to report to the King that it was 'without
dispute the most exemplary county for good order and conformity of any
in the nation.'
These, then, were amongst Dean Grenville's thirty-two Home Rules:
'1. That all persons should labour to contrive their businesse soe as
to be present at God's service in the Church, as often as possible,
not only on publick daies but private ones; never staying at home
(any one) but in cases of infirmity, or of some necessary lawfull
impediment.'
'3. That as soon as the bells of the Church begin to ring or toll, all
persons who intend to goe to the Church at that time shall begin to
put themselves in readinesse, and wait for mee in the parlour and the
hall, that they may all goe forth with mee at the same time (for which
purpose there shall be given one toll of my House bell) and accompany
mee to the Church, not dropping in one after another after service is
begun.'
'5. That all persons of my family shall carry their Bibles and Common
Prayer-books to the Church with them, and use them in the performance
of the Service and Lessons.
'6. That when I keep daily labourers in the summer time, or have any
number of servants imployed without doores, that must goe to their
worke abroad, before the houre of morning prayers, that they repaire
to my house, and have some short prayers in my hall at five of the
clock, or at such houre and in such manner as I shall appoint.'
'11. That in case the worke and imployment of my house bee too much
to bee dispatched in the forenoon or before Evening Prayers on such
daies, I doe allow of the hiring one, two or three women for the
spedier dispatch of the same.
'12. That I allow all my domesticks some time every day for private
prayer and reading of the Scriptures (nay, doe in the Name of God
injoyne every person to imploy some to that purpose), and that every
person may have some reasonable time and liberty for devotion, and not
be oppressed with too much businesse, I am willing to keep a servant
or two more than would bee other wise necessary.'
'14. That all persons playing at any game (tho' they are in the middle
of a game) shall breake it off and cease their play, soe soon as the
bell tolls for prayers, either in church or chaple, or as soon as the
Butler appears with the things to lay the cloth for dinner or supper.
'15. That there shall bee noe playing in my family at any game on the
Vigills and other fasting daies of the Church, nor on Fridaies and
Saturdaies (unlesse within the 12 daies of Christmasse), but that
what time shall be gained from necessary businesse bee better imployed
in devotion, reading, good conference or the like.
'16. That to the former end and purpose I doe order my chesseboard,
bowles, and all other things relating to such games (as I doe allow)
to be locked up on Thursday night till Monday morning, as alsoe on
other daies before mentioned.
'17. That I allow of noe great game for any considerable summe to bee
played in my family, nor indeed of any at all when my poor box is
forgotten, which I doe recommend more earnestly than my Butler's.
'18. That at nine o'clock, our family prayers being ended, all
persons shall repair to their chambers; and are desired to dismisse
the servants soe soon as possible, that they may put the house in
order, and go to their beds near ten of the clock or by eleven at
farthest....'
'20. That my house bell be rung every morning at 5 in the winter, and
about 4 in the summer to awaken my family, and alarume my servants to
arise, and to give opportunity and incouragement to early risers, who
are alwaies the most welcome persons to my family.'
'25. That there shall bee no dinners on Wednesdaies and Fridaies in
Lent.'
* * * * *
But James II.'s 'Second Declaration of Indulgence,' 7th April, 1688, an
attempt to divide the Protestant party, and to secure the favour of the
Non-conformists after having failed to seduce from their allegiance
the leaders of the Church of England, placed the Dean in a most trying
position. His loyalty to his Church was in conflict with his loyalty to
his Sovereign; and the latter prevailed: 'If the King goes beyond his
Commission, he must answer for it to God, but I'le not deface one line
thereof. Let my liege and dread Sovereign intend to do what he pleases
to me or mine: yet my hand shall never be upon him, so much as to cut
off the skirt of his garment.' Not only (to the Dean's intense grief)
did his elder brother, the Earl of Bath, now desert the Stuart cause,
but another Cornish Church dignitary of this period--Bishop Jonathan
Trelawney--took the bolder course of opposing the King's views, thus
exemplifying the old Cornish saying that a _Trelawny never wanted
courage, nor a Grenville loyalty_. It is needless to repeat that the
Dean of Durham found himself in a _very_ small minority.
His loyalty was about to undergo another and a severer test. In the
autumn of 1688 news arrived of the projected 'invasion and usurpation,'
as our Dean would always call it, of the Prince of Orange: at once he
summoned his Chapter, prevailed upon them to assist the King's cause
'with their purses as well as their prayers,' and £700 were accordingly
subscribed forthwith. But Lord Lumley pounced upon Durham on the 6th
of December in that year, whilst the Dean was in his pulpit preaching
a sermon, still preserved in the Surtees Collection, on 'Christian
Resignation and Resolution, with some loyal reflexions on the Dutch
Invasion'; and Dr. Grenville was, on his refusal to deliver up his
arms and horses, confined within the walls of his own Deanery during
the occupation of the city by the friends of King William III. Another
similar sermon, however, did he, with undaunted courage, preach on the
following Sunday, notwithstanding his now almost solitary position
amongst his brother clergy. But James's cause was entirely lost; and
our Dean had to fly from Durham to Carlisle at midnight on the 11th
of December, with the help of two faithful servants. At Carlisle he
learned that all was over, and made up his mind to follow his King into
France, if only he could make good his escape by way of Edinburgh. On
his way thither he was roughly handled by a mob, who took him for a
Popish priest and Jesuit, and at eleven at night 'pulled me out of my
bed, rifling my pockets and my chamber, and carrying away my horses
(two geldings worth £40) and my portmantoe, and mounting me on a little
jade not worth 40s.' Once more he was plundered on the road, and
returned to Carlisle, where he preached on Christmas Day, when he says
he hoped that he convinced the people that he was no Romanist.
In the following month, however, he made another attempt--this time
successfully--to reach Edinburgh; and after a long and tedious voyage,
arrived at Honfleur on the 19th March--the very day after James had
left Brest for Ireland, 'a great mortification and disappointment to
mee,' adds Dean Grenville. Rouen was the place which he had fixed upon
for his abode, and thither he removed a few days afterwards, forthwith
setting about writing remonstrances to his Bishop, his brother, and
his 'lapsed assistants,' his Curates; printing his sermons, to which
reference has just been made, and also his 'Loyall farewell Visitation
Speech,' delivered on 15th November, 1688.[38]
Little remains to be told of him, but that he was formally deprived on
the appointed date of 1st February, 1690/1, and his goods and chattels
were distrained by the Sheriff, in consequence of his continued
pecuniary embarrassments; his library, also, which was very rich in
Bibles and Prayer-books, was purchased by Sir George Wheeler; and the
Chapter had to grant the unhappy Mrs. Grenville an allowance of £80 a
year 'in compassion to her necessities.' She died twelve years before
her husband, and was buried in Durham Cathedral.
Nor did James, to whose Court at St. Germains Dennis Grenville shortly
afterwards repaired, by any means console his faithful servant for
the troubles and trials he had undergone in his King's behalf. 'He
was slighted,' says Surtees, in his 'History of Durham,' 'by the
bigoted Prince, for whom he had forfeited every worldly possession,
because he would not also abandon his religion.'[39] In fact, the Dean
was at length compelled to retire from the Court to Corbeil, his
ancestral home, about twenty miles from Paris, in consequence of the
indignities heaped upon him there by his ecclesiastical opponents,
and by their persistent, though vain, attempts to draw him into
polemical discussions. Whilst in France, he sometimes went by the
name of Corbeil--sometimes by the name of Stotherd; and here it may
be added, that Mr. H. R. Fox Bourne, in his 'Life of John Locke,'
mentions that the illustrious metaphysician and Dean Grenville were
old friends, and that they corresponded in 1677-78 on the subjects of
Recreation and Scrupulosity. Copies of the letters are in the British
Museum, Additional MSS. 4290. Mr. Bourne states that James II. actually
appointed Dean Grenville Roman Catholic Archbishop of York.[40]
Two furtive journeys did he make to England, in disguise--one in
February, 1689-90, 'whereby he got a small sum of money to subsist
while abroad ... tho' with much trouble and danger occasioned him
by an impertinent and malitious post master, who discovered him in
Canterbury;' and once again in 1695, probably with the same object.
In 1702 he wrote an amusing letter to his nephew, Sir George Wheeler,
acknowledging 'a seasonable supply' of £20, from which it may be
gathered that he preserved to the last his unbroken and cheerful
spirit. But, in the following year, on Wednesday, the 8th April, 1703,
at six in the morning, the exiled, supplanted, and childless Dean of
Durham died--as he asserts, himself, in the preamble of his will--a
true son of the Church of England, at his lodgings at the Fossée St.
Victoire, in Paris, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
His portrait, admirably engraved by Edelinck, was painted by Beaupoille
when Dean Grenville was fifty-four years of age; a print of it is
prefixed to the copy of his 'Farewell Sermons' preserved in the
Bodleian Library, and there is another copy in the British Museum. His
character may almost be gathered from what we have seen of his life
and works; and it should be added that he was not only of good natural
abilities, but also no mean scholar. His kinsman, Lord Lansdowne,
may have drawn a somewhat too eulogistic account of the Dean; but,
overshadowed as his fame undoubtedly is by the greater names of his
ancestors, Sir Richard and Sir Bevill, it should never be forgotten
that he was an energetic reformer, in very difficult times, of the
Church and the clergy;--though, as he says, '_his_ religion and loyalty
were not of the new cutt, but of the old royall stamp;'--yet he was
the friend of such men as Beveridge and Comber--and, above all, it
should be remembered that, whatever we may think of his judgment, he
undoubtedly performed that rare act of moral heroism, the sacrifice
of his dignities and honours, his ample revenues, all the comforts
of his native land, and, in fact, all his worldly interests, to his
_conscience_.