_George Villiers, created Viscount Villiers 1616, Earl of Buckingham
1617, Marquis 1618, and Duke 1623. Born 1592. Assassinated 1628_.
By CLARENDON.
The Duke was indeede a very extraordinary person, and never any man in
any age, nor I believe in any country or nation, rose in so shorte a
tyme to so much greatenesse of honour fame and fortune upon no other
advantage or recommendation, then of the beauty and gracefulnesse
and becommingnesse of his person; and I have not the least purpose of
undervale[w]inge his good partes and qualityes (of which ther will be
occasion shortly to give some testimony) when I say, that his first
introduction into favour was purely from the handsomnesse of his
person: He was the younger Sunn of S'r George Villyers of Brookesby in
the County of Leicester, a family of an auncient extraction, even from
the tyme of the conquest, and transported then with the conqueror out
of Normandy, wher the family hath still remayned and still continues
with lustre: After S'r Georges first marriage, in which he had 2 or
3 Sunnes and some daughters, who shared an ample inheritance from
him, by a secounde marriage with a younge lady of the family of the
Beaumonts, he had this gentleman, and two other Sunns, and a daughter,
who all came afterwards to be raysed to greate titles and dignityes.
George, the eldest Sunn of this secounde bedd, was after the death
of his father, by the singular affection and care of his Mother, who
injoyed a good joynture in the accounte of that age, well brought up,
and for the improvment of his education, and givinge an ornament to
his hopefull person, he was by her sent into France, wher he spent
2. or 3. yeeres in attayninge the language, and in learninge the
exercises of rydinge and dauncinge, in the last of which he excelled
most men; and returned into Englande by the tyme he was 21. yeeres
old.
Kinge James raingned at that tyme, and though he was a Prince of
more learninge and knowledge then any other of that age, and really
delighted more in bookes, and in the conversation of learned men,
yett of all wise men livinge, he was the most delighted and taken with
handsome persons, and with fyne clothes; He begann to be weary of his
Favorite the Earle of Somersett, who was the only Favorite who kept
that post so longe without any publique reproch from the people, and
by the instigation and wickednesse of his wife, he became at least
privy to a horrible murther, that exposed him to the utmost severity
of the law (the poysoninge of S'r Thomas Overbury) upon which both he
and his wife were condemned to dy, after a tryall by ther Peeres, and
many persons of quality were executed for the same: Whilst this was
in agitation, and before the utmost discovery was made, Mr. Villiers
appeared in Courte, and drew the Kings eyes upon him: Ther were enough
in the Courte enough angry and incensed against Somersett, for beinge
what themselves desyred to be, and especially for beinge a Scotchman,
and ascendinge in so shorte a tyme from beinge a page, to the height
he was then at, to contribute all they coulde, to promote the one,
that they might throw out the other; which beinge easily brought to
passe, by the proceedinge of the law upon his cryme aforesayd, the
other founde very little difficulty in rendringe himselfe gracious to
the Kinge, whose nature and disposition was very flowinge in affection
towards persons so adorned, insomuch that in few dayes after his first
appearance in Courte he was made Cup-bearer to the Kinge, by which
he was naturally to be much in his presence, and so admitted to that
conversation and discource, with which that Prince alwayes abounded
at his meales; and his inclination to his new Cuppbearer disposed him
to administer frequent occasions of discourcinge of the Courte of
France, and the transactions ther, with which he had bene so lately
acquainted, that he could pertinently inlarge upon that subjecte,
to the Kings greate delight, and to the reconcilinge the esteeme and
valew of all the Standers by likewise to him, which was a thinge
the Kinge was well pleased with: He acted very few weekes upon this
Stage, when he mounted higher, and beinge knighted, without any other
qualification he was at the same tyme made Gentleman of the Bedd
chamber, and Knight of the Order of the Gartar; and in a shorte tyme
(very shorte for such a prodigious ascent,) he was made a Barron,
a Viscount, an Earle, a Marquisse, and became L'd High Admirall of
Englande, L'd Warden of the Cinque Ports, Master of the Horse, and
intirely disposed of all the graces of the Kinge, in conferringe
all the Honours and all the Offices of the three kingdomes without
a ryvall; in dispencinge wherof, he was guyded more by the rules of
appetite then of judgement, and so exalted almost all of his owne
numerous family and dependants, who had no other virtue or meritt then
ther allyance to him, which æqually offended the auncient nobility and
the people of all conditions, who saw the Flowres of the Crowne every
day fadinge and withered, whilst the Demeasnes and revennue therof
was sacrificed to the inrichinge a private family (how well soever
originally extracted) not heard of before ever to the nation, and
the exspences of the Courte so vast, unlimited by the old good rules
of Oeconomy, that they had a sadd prospecte of that poverty and
necessity, which afterwards befell the Crowne, almost to the ruine of
it.
Many were of opinion, that Kinge James before his death, grew weary of
his Favorite, and that if he had lyved, he would have deprived him at
least of his large and unlimited power; and this imagination prævayled
with some men, as the L'd Keeper Lincolne, the Earle of Middlesex, L'd
High Treasurer of England, and other gentlemen of name, though not
in so high stations, that they had the courage, to withdraw from ther
absolute dependance upon the Duke, and to make some other assayes,
which prooved to the ruine of every on of them, ther appearinge no
markes or evidence, that the Kinge did really lessen his affection
to him, to the houre of his death; on the contrary, as he created him
Duke of Buckingham, in his absence, whilst he was with the Prince
in Spayne, so after his returne, he exequted the same authority in
conferringe all favours and graces, and revenginge himselfe upon
those who had manifested any unkindnesse towards him: And yett
notwithstandinge all this, if that Kings nature had æqually disposed
him, to pull downe, as to builde and erecte, and if his courage and
severity in punishinge and reforminge had bene as greate, as his
generosity and inclination was to obliege, it is not to be doubted,
but that he would have withdrawne his affection from the Duke intirely
before his death, which those persons who were admitted to any privacy
with [him], and were not in the confidence of the other (for before
those he knew well how to dissemble) had reason enough to exspecte....
* * * * *
This greate man was a person of a noble nature and generous
disposition, and of such other indowments, as made him very capable
of beinge a greate favorite to a greate Kinge; he understoode the Arts
and artifices of a Courte, and all the learninge that is professed
ther, exactly well; by longe practice in businesse, under a Master
that discourced excellently, and surely knew all things wounderfully,
and tooke much delight in indoctrinatinge his younge unexsperienced
Favorite, who he knew would be alwayes looked upon as the
workemanshipp of his owne handes, he had obtayned a quicke conception
and apprehension of businesse, and had the habitt of speakinge very
gracefully, and pertinently. He was of a most flowinge courtesy and
affability to all men, who made any addresse to him, and so desyrous
to obliege them, that he did not enough consider the valew of the
obligation, or the meritt of the person he chose to obliege, from
which much of his misfortune resulted. He was of a courage not to be
daunted, which was manifested in all his actions, and his contests
with particular persons of the greatest reputation, and especially
in his whole demeanour at the Isle of Rees, both at the landinge and
upon the retriete, in both which no man was more fearelesse, or more
ready to expose himselfe to the brightest daungers. His kindnesse
and affection to his frends was so vehement, that it was so many
marriages, for better and worse, and so many leagues offensive and
defensive, as if he thought himselfe oblieged to love all his frends,
and to make warr upon all they were angry with, let the cause be what
it would. And it cannot be denyed, that he was an enimy in the same
excesse, and prosequted those he looked upon as his enimyes, with
the utmost rigour and animosity, and was not easily induced to a
reconciliation; and yett ther were some examples of his receadinge in
that particular; and in highest passyon, he was so farr from stoopinge
to any dissimulation, wherby his displeasure might be concealed and
covered, till he had attayned his revenge, the low methode of Courts,
that he never indeavoured to do any man an ill office, before he first
told him what he was to exspecte from him, and reproched him with the
injures he had done, with so much generosity, that the person found
it in his pouer, to receave farther satisfaction in the way he would
chuse for himselfe....
His single misfortune was (which indeede was productive of many
greater) that he never made a noble and a worthy frendshipp with a man
so neere his æquall, that he would frankely advize him, for his honour
and true interest, against the current, or rather the torrent of his
impetuous passyons: which was partly the vice of the tyme, when the
Courte was not replenished with greate choyce of excellent men, and
partly the vice of the persons, who were most worthy to be applyed
to, and looked upon his youth, and his obscurity, as obligations upon
him, to gayne ther frendshipps by extraordinary application; then his
ascent was so quicke, that it seemed rather a flight, then a growth,
and he was such a darlinge of fortune, that he was at the topp, before
he was seene at the bottome, for the gradation of his titles, was the
effecte, not cause of his first promotion, and as if he had bene borne
a favorite, he was supreme the first moneth he came to courte, and
it was wante of confidence, not of creditt, that he had not all at
first, which he obtayned afterwards, never meetinge with the least
obstruction, from his settinge out, till he was as greate as he could
be, so that he wanted dependants, before he thought he could wante
coadjutors; nor was he very fortunate in the election of those
dependants, very few of his servants havinge bene ever qualifyed
enough to assiste or advize him, and were intente only upon growinge
rich under [him], not upon ther masters growinge good as well as
greate, insomuch as he was throughout his fortune, a much wiser man,
then any servant or frende he had: Lett the faulte or misfortune be
what and whence it will, it may very reasonably be believed that if
he had bene blessed with one faythfull frende, who had bene qualifyed
with wisdome and integrity, that greate person would have committed
as few faults, and done as transcendant worthy actions, as any man
who shyned in such a sphere in that age, in Europe, for he was of
an excellent nature, and of a capacity very capable of advice and
councell; he was in his nature just and candid, liberall, generous,
and bountifull, nor was it ever knowne that the temptation of money
swayed him to do an unjust, or unkinde thinge, and though he left a
very greate inheritance to his heyres, consideringe the vast fortune
he inherited by his wife (the sole daughter and Heyre of Francis
Earle of Rutlande,) he owed no parte of it to his owne industry or
sollicitation, but to the impatient humour of two kings his masters,
who would make his fortune æquall to his titles, and the one above
other men, as the other was, and he considered it no otherwise then
as thers, and left it at his death ingaged for the crowne, almost to
the valew of it, as is touched upon before. If he had an immoderate
ambition, with which he was charged, and is a weede (if it be a weede)
apt to grow in the best soyles, it does not appeare that it was in
his nature, or that he brought it with him to the Courte, but rather
founde it ther, and was a garment necessary for that ayre; nor was
it more in his power to be without promotion, and titles, and wealth,
then for a healthy man to sitt in the sunn, in the brightest dogge
dayes, and remayne without any warmth: he needed no ambition who was
so seated in the hartes of two such masters.
4.