(Vol. viii., pp. 182. 228.)
To your correspondent C. I would say, that his observation--that the Query
was as to an _engraving_, whilst my answer was as to a _picture_--is not
true; as I am sure, from memory, that MR. WESTMACOTT used the word
"portraits." But I plead in extenuation of my pretended grave offence, 1.
That the Query was not propounded by C., but by a gentleman to whom the
information given might be, as I supposed, of some interest; more
particularly as I referred to the _Travels_ of an Englishman, both of
which, author and work, were accessible. 2. That, in common with the
American readers of "N. & Q.," I regarded it as "a journal of
inter-communication," through whose columns information might be asked for,
the request to be treated with the same consideration and courtesy as
though addressed to each individual subscriber. I may add that LORD
BRAYBROOKE and MR. WODDERSPOON (Vol. iv., p. 17.) have urged "the necessity
for recording the existence of painted historical portraits, scattered, as
we know they are," &c. {229}
Now, as to the expression "worthies, famous in English history." I presume
I need do no more concerning its application to Lord Orrery, Sir Robert
Walpole, &c., than say, it was used as signifying "men of mark," without
intending to endorse their "worth" either morally, mentally, or
politically; its application to Colonel Hill and Colonel Byrd, as meaning
"men of worth," might, did your limits permit, be defended on high grounds.
Then as to the possibility of Vandyke's having painted the portraits. If C.
will have the kindness to look at C. Campbell's _History of Virginia_, he
will find,--
"1654. At a meeting of the Assembly, William Hatchin, having been
convicted of having called Colonel Edward Hill 'an atheist and
blasphemer,' was compelled to make acknowledgment of his offence upon
his knees before Colonel Hill and the Assembly."
This Colonel Hill, generally known as Colonel Edward Hill the Elder, a
gentleman of great wealth, built the mansion at Shirley, where his
portrait, brought from England, hangs in the same place, in the same hall
in which he had it put up. It represents a youth in pastoral costume, crook
in hand, flocks in the background. By a comparison of dates, C. will find
it possible for Vandyke to have painted it. (See Bryan's _Engravers and
Painters_.) It has descended, along with the estate, to his lineal
representative, the present owner. Its authenticity rests upon _tradition_
coupled with the foregoing facts, as far as I know (though the family may
have abundant documentary proof), and I doubt very much whether many
"Vandykes in England" are better ascertained. I would add that several
English gentlemen, among them, as I have heard, a distinguished ambassador
recently in this country, recognised it as a Vandyke. This picture, amongst
others, was injured by the balls fired from the vessels which ascended the
James river, under command of General Arnold, then a British officer. On
the younger Mr. Hill's tomb at Shirley is a coat of arms, a copy of which,
had I one to send, would probably point out his family in England.[2]
As to Colonel Byrd's portrait. There were, I believe, three gentlemen of
this name and title, more or less confounded in reputation, the second of
whom, generally known as "Colonel Byrd the Elder," by reason of his son's
history, was born in 1674. The picture is of his _father_, that is, of
"old," or "the first Colonel Byrd," and is in the same style as that of
Colonel Hill's, representing a shepherd lad. He was an English gentleman of
great wealth, and certainly of some benevolence. In Campbell's _Virginia_,
p. 104. (see also Oldmixon, vol. i. p. 427.), it is stated, 1690, a large
body of Huguenots were sent to Virginia. "The refugees found in Colonel
Byrd, of Westover, a generous benefactor. Each settler was allowed a strip
of land running back from the river to the foot of the hill (Henrico
County). Here they raised cattle," &c. He sent his son to England to be
educated under the care of a friend, Sir Robert Southwell. The son became a
Fellow of the Royal Society, "was the intimate and bosom friend of the
learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery," was the author of
the _Westover MSS._ (mentioned in Oldmixon's preface, 2nd ed.), portions of
which, "Progress to the Mines," "History of the Dividing Line," &c., have
been printed, others are in the library of the American Philosophical
Society.[3] His portrait is "by Kneller, a fine old cavalier face," says
Campbell. The letters received at Westover might prove not uninteresting
even to C., seeing that there were so many titled people among the writers;
and to a gentleman of education and intelligence, the Westover library
would have been a treasure-house. In the Loganian Library in this city is a
large MS. folio, whose title-page declares it to be "a catalogue of books
in the library at Westover, belonging to William Byrd, Esq.," from which it
appears that in Law there were the English reporters (beginning with Y. B.)
and text-writers, laws of France, Scotland, Rome (various editions of
Pandects, &c.); Canon Law, with numerous approved commentators on each. In
Physic a great many works, which, as I am told, were, and some still are,
of high repute: I note only one, _Poor Planter's Physician interleaved_.
This, to every one who has been upon a great Virginia plantation, bespeaks
the benevolence characteristic of the proprietors of Westover. In Divinity,
besides pages of orthodox divines, Bibles in various languages (several in
Hebrew, one in seven vols.), are Socinius, Bellarmine, &c. The works on
Metallurgy, Natural History, Metaphysics, Military Science, Heraldry,
Navigation, Music, &c., are very numerous; and either of the collections of
history, or entertainment, or classics, or political science, would form no
inconsiderable library of itself. {230} An impression of Colonel Byrd's
book-plate, given by a friend, is enclosed. I must add that the pictures at
Brandon are at that mansion, through the marriage of Mr. Harrison (a signer
of the Declaration of Independence) with the daughter of the third Colonel
Byrd.
I have occupied much more space than I intended, but I have said enough I
hope to show, 1. That it is possible, from dates, from the character,
wealth, and position of Mr. Byrd and Mr. Hill, together with the length of
time the pictures have remained in the respective families, for Vandyke to
have painted these portraits. 2. That as men who directed the energies,
developed the resources, of our infant settlements, who brought hither the
products of science, literature, and art, who exhibited the refinements of
birth, the graces of good breeding, yet were always ready to serve their
country in the field or in the council, Mr. Byrd and Mr. Hill are vastly
more worthy of commemoration and reverence than all the Earls of
Dredlington that ever sat at his majesty's Board of Green Cloth.