RUPERT AT PARIS. ILLNESS. QUARREL WITH CHARLES II. FACTIONS AT ST.
GERMAINS. RUPERT GOES TO GERMANY. RECONCILED WITH CHARLES
Rupert's return was eagerly hailed by all parties in the exiled Court
of England. Wrote the King:
"My Dearest Cousin,
"I am so surprised with joy in the assurance of your safe arrival in
these parts that I cannot tell you how great it is; nor can I consider
any misfortunes or accidents which have happened, now I know that your
person is in safety. If I could receive the like comfort in a
reasonable hope of your brother's, I need not tell you how important it
would be to my affairs. While my affection makes me impatient to see
you I know the same desire will incline you, (after you have done what
can only be done by your presence there,) to make what haste to me your
health can endure, of which I must conjure you to have such a care as
it shall be in no danger."[1]
Hyde expressed himself with almost equal warmth. "For God's sake, Sir,
in the first place look to your health, and then to the safety of what
you have there, and lose no minute of coming away. I do not doubt you
will find the welcome that will please you with the King, the Queen,
and the Duke of York."[2]
And Jermyn added the assurance of his own "infinite joy," and the
Queen's constant friendship, concluding with {266} the appropriate
prayer: "God of Heaven keep you in all your dangers, and give you at
length some quiet, and the fruits of them."[3]
The King gave proof of his affection by the zeal with which he prepared
for his cousin's reception in Paris; an honour apparently disputed with
him by Rupert's brother Edward. "The King is very active in preparing
a lodging for you," writes one of the Prince's friends. "If I be not
deceived he would have liked well to have it left to him, of which the
Prince, your brother, as I understand, gives you some account. I will
send you more by the next, knowing no more as yet, but that the King
hath it in his love for you to have you near him, which certainly is
fitter than to have thought of another lodging, without his
knowledge."[4]
But, alas! the Rupert who returned was not the Rupert who had sailed
away three years before! He had, as Hyde expressed it, "endured
strange hardness,"[5] and the "hardness" had left its mark upon him.
He came back from his long voyage a changed and broken-hearted man.
"His Highness's fire was pretty much decayed, and his judgment
ripened," says Campbell; but the change went deeper than that. The
Prince had failed in his undertaking; he had lost the greater part of
his hard-won treasure, his ships, his men, above all his best-loved
brother--and these losses had carried with them a part of his old self.
The high spirits and buoyant hopefulness of earlier days were gone for
ever. Gone too was something of the youthful generosity; Rupert was
embittered now, harder, colder, more sardonic; a man, said Colbert,
"with a natural inclination to believe evil!"[6]
His health too, that best inheritance from his mother, had been ruined
by bad climates and insufficient food. On {267} his arrival at Nantes
he fell dangerously ill, nor was he ever again wholly free from
suffering. His illness created no small consternation among the
Royalists, and much sympathy was poured out upon him. "Think of your
health," urged one friend, "and if you dare venture on your old
apothecary you may, from whom you will receive some drugs, well meant,
if not well prepared."[7] This tempting offer was probably declined.
The Palatines had ideas of their own upon the subject of medicine, a
profound distrust of doctors, and a very reasonable aversion to the
then universal practice of bleeding. "Pray God she fall not into the
Frenchified physician's hands, and so let blood and die!"[8] Rupert
wrote of a fair friend, at a later date, On the present occasion he
recovered from his illness, with or without the aid of physicians, and
in April hastened to join his cousin, King Charles.
At Paris he met with as warm a reception as he could have desired. Not
only the English exiles, but the French Court also hastened to do him
honour. The Queen Regent and Mazarin had always been his good friends,
and now his strange adventures had fired the imagination of the young
King Louis, who "complimented him in an extraordinary manner."[9]
Indeed Rupert, with his romantic history, his striking personality,
gigantic stature, and supposed magical powers,[10] not to mention his
accredited wealth, his monkeys and "blackamours," made a considerable
sensation in the excitable world of Paris. Many were the anonymous
letters addressed to him by fair hands; but for some time his bad
health and his sorrowful heart made him indifferent to the adulation
bestowed on him. "Prince Rupert goes little abroad in France, and is
very sad that {268} he can hear nothing of his brother Maurice,"[11]
was the report made by Cromwell's spies. And wrote Hyde, April 25,
1653: "Prince Rupert is not yet well enough to venture to go abroad,
and therefore hath not visited the French Court, but I hope he will
within a day or two. Of Prince Maurice we hear not one word."[12]
But as his health improved, Rupert relaxed his austerity and joined his
Stuart cousins in their amusements. He was often to be seen in the
hall of the Palais Royal, playing at billiards with the King and the
Duke of York,[13] and sometimes he swam with them in the Seine. On one
such occasion he was very nearly drowned; he was seized with cramp, and
had already gone under water, when one of his train rescued him by the
hair of his head. "The River Seine had like to have made an end of
your black Prince Rupert," wrote one of the Puritan spies who watched
all his actions, "for, some days since, he would needs cool himself in
the river, where he was in danger of drowning, but, by the help of one
of his blackmores, escaped."[14]
The same spy related another adventure which, if true, illustrates the
singularly lawless state of Paris, and also suggests that Rupert was
not quite indifferent to the overtures of the ladies who courted him.
As he returned from hunting, one Sunday, accompanied only by Holmes, he
was overtaken by two gentlemen, riding in great haste towards Paris.
No sooner had they passed the Prince, than, wheeling suddenly round,
they both fired at him. Both missed, and Rupert promptly returning the
shots, wounded one and killed the other. A third gentleman then coming
up, was about to fire on the Prince, but seeing him prepared, changed
his mind and called out that he was the husband of the Marechal de
Plessy Praslin's daughter. Rupert retorted that he did {269} not
believe him, but, since he said so, would let him alone. So the matter
passed," concludes the narrator of the story coolly, "and the gentleman
killed, the worse for him!"[15]
In the midst of these adventures Rupert did not neglect business. He
had to dispose of the guns and other fittings of his ship, which it was
impossible to render sea-worthy again; and he also had a considerable
quantity of goods to sell, the nature of which we learn from the
letters of Holmes, who had gone back to Nantes in May 1653. From
Nantes, Holmes sent samples of sugar, copper, tobacco, various kinds of
woods, and elephants' teeth to the Prince at Paris. He also sent, at
Rupert's express desire, "the little nigger," and promised to search
among the ballast for two elephants' teeth which Rupert particularly
required.[16] His search was very successful, and May 24 he reported,
"I met, in tumbling over the ballast, 21 elephants' teeth, 36 sticks of
wood, a chest of white sugar, and a small chest of copper bars."[17]
It was time that some steps were taken for the disposing of these
commodities. The officers of the ships were "much destitute of money."
Fearnes refused to give Holmes any proper account of the stores, and
the sailors were mutinying for pay. Holmes encountered them with drawn
swords in their hands, but pacified them with "gentle mildness";[18]
and Rupert came himself to Nantes to attend the sale of his treasures.
In this matter, Mazarin lent all assistance in his power, and Cromwell
who claimed the Prince's goods as stolen from English merchants
remonstrated with the French court in vain.
"What should His Excellency the Lord General Cromwell expect from the
Cardinal but a parcel of fair promises?" protested an agent of the
Commonwealth. "I assure you the King and the Cardinal are resolved not
to {270} deliver Prince Rupert's merchandizes. The merchants, having
given a good deal of money to some ministers here, thinking to corrupt
them,--a thing very easy to be done, in any other occasion but
this,--find now that it is but so much money cast into the sea. Prince
Rupert was somewhat affrighted, by reason of the bribes, but there is
given him by the Queen, Cardinal, and Council such assurances as his
mind is at rest. I protest they laugh at you, and think your demands
so insolent as nothing more."[19]
In fact, while the English merchants lavished money, and Cromwell
protests, Rupert was quietly selling the disputed goods at Nantes, and
also the "Swallow" and her guns. He had no sooner accomplished this
than he hastened back to Paris, in obedience to an urgent letter
received from Charles.
"Dearest Cousin,
"According to your desire I sent the warrant to sell the 'Swallow' and
her guns. I have little to say to you, only to put you in mind to make
all the haste you can hither, when you can do it without harm to your
business. For, besides the great desire I have of your company, I do
believe there is something now to be done which I cannot do without
your presence and assistance. I have no more to say until I see you,
but to assure you that I am entirely, dearest Cousin,
"Your most affectionate Cousin,
"Charles R."[20]
After this very cordial letter it is rather surprising to find a
violent quarrel between the two cousins immediately following Rupert's
return to Paris. The truth was that Charles had expected to gain much
wealth on the return of the fleet, which would, he hoped, enable him to
leave {271} France, of which he was as weary as France was of him. But
before Rupert's first coming to Paris he had sent such an account as
ought to have convinced Charles that he had little to expect. That he
had gained treasure of great value the Prince confessed, but most of it
had been lost with Maurice, or in the wreck of the "Constant
Reformation." What remained would scarcely suffice to pay off the
sailors and discharge the old debt at Toulon. Moreover, the ships were
so worm-eaten that there was no possibility of again sending them to
sea.[21] Bitter as was this disappointment to the King, he still hoped
to gain something by the sale of the guns, and when he found that
Rupert laid claim to half the money thus obtained, it was more than he
could endure. Hyde, who had never loved Rupert, easily persuaded the
King that his cousin was dealing unfairly, and induced him to demand an
exact account. The Prince, hotly resenting Hyde's insinuations,
refused to offer any explanation more explicit than that already made.
When it is remembered how devotedly Rupert had exposed his person and
all that he had in Charles's service, how his mother's jewels had
helped to fit out the fleet, and how freely he had surrendered his
private share in the prizes to the King, it is scarcely credible that
he could have put forward an unjust, or even a selfish claim. Campbell
corroborates the Prince's own statement that the sale of the goods did
not realise enough to pay off all the sailors; and there still remained
the debts at Toulon, which Charles had been begged to pay two years
before. Nor were they paid now, in 1662, one Guibert Hessin petitioned
Charles II for 29,480 livres tournois, being the debt for victualling
the fleet at Toulon in 1650, of which Rupert had ordered payment in
1654.[22] It is therefore fairly evident that Rupert did not claim the
money for {272} his own use, but in order to satisfy the just claims of
others. The payment of his debts was a point on which he was
particularly sensitive, but the practice may well have failed to
commend itself to Charles. An important witness on Rupert's side is
Hatton, who, a little before the quarrel, had written to Nicholas: "I
am sure they now owe Prince Rupert L1,700, ... and that will, at the
day of reckoning, breed ill-blood."[23]
The day of reckoning came in February 1654, and all happened as Hatton
had predicted.
"You talk of money the King should have upon the prizes at Nantes!"
wrote Hyde indignantly. "Alas, he hath not only not had one penny from
thence, but Prince Rupert pretends that the King owes him more money
than ever I was worth."[24] The quarrel raged for a month before
Rupert would give any explanation of his claims. At last, in March, he
condescended to give the King "a little short paper, not containing
twenty lines," which he charged his cousin not to show to Hyde. But
Charles of course suffered Hyde to see it, charging him, in his turn,
to conceal his knowledge of it from Rupert.[25] The result was a worse
quarrel than ever. Seeing that the King was not going to acknowledge
his claim, Rupert prompted his creditors to arrest the guns. Charles
remonstrated,--"kindly expostulated," Hyde phrased it,--whereupon
Rupert lost his temper, and protested that "justice would have
justice," speaking, said Hyde, "with isolence enough."[26] The affair
was "exceedingly taken notice of,"[27] and it was rumoured that Rupert
would leave his cousin's service. Mazarin, who realised that the
sooner Charles got some money, the sooner he would leave France,
enabled him to {273} rescue the guns from the creditors' clutches; but
Queen Henrietta gave all her support to her nephew. "It is not
possible to believe how much, in so gross a thing, the Queen and Lord
Jermyn side with Prince Rupert," complained Hyde.[28] Probably
Henrietta and her favourite cared little whether the creditors were
paid or not; but more than a mere question of debts was at stake, the
exiled Court was as factious as ever. In the King's Council,
Henrietta, the Duke of York, the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Jermyn
opposed themselves violently to the policy of Ormonde, Rochester
(Wilmot), Percy, Inchiquin, Taafe, and Hyde. Hyde's party was then in
the ascendant, and the Queen was anxious to secure Rupert's adherence
to her own party. He was not without a considerable following of his
own, and there was a definite design to represent him "as head of the
Swordsmen, making it good by little insignificant particulars."[29]
The most influential of his friends was the Attorney-General, Herbert,
recently made Lord Keeper, to whom Henrietta had hastened to pay court
as soon as she heard of Rupert's arrival at Nantes. Herbert, though
distinguished neither for tact nor for wisdom, possessed great
influence with the Prince. "The Lord Keeper is so extreme vain and
foolish in his government of Prince Rupert that he does more towards
the ruin of that Prince than all his enemies could do,"[30] declared
Hyde. And though Charles declared that he could cure his cousin of his
infatuation, he failed to do so. Lord Gerard, a man of fertile brain,
who "could never lack projects,"[31] was not much wiser than Herbert.
Between them, they concocted a thousand schemes "to make Prince Rupert
General in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and Admiral of two or {274}
three fleets together," not to mention other projects, all contrived
for the benefit of the unlucky Prince, who, Hyde might justly say,
would "have cause to curse the day he ever knew either of them."[32]
The Queen, on her part, was doing her best to destroy Hyde's power with
the King, that being the chief obstacle to the exercise of her own
influence. The Chancellor had no lack of enemies, but the charges
brought against him were so absurd that he could afford to laugh at
them. "I hope you think it strange to hear that I have been in
England, and have had private conference with Cromwell; and that you
are not sorry that my enemies can frame no wiser calumny against
me,"[33] he wrote to a friend. The inventor of this extraordinary
story was the King's secretary, Long, who was backed up by the Queen
and her partisans. They expected the support of Rupert, but he, much
as he detested the Chancellor, was too honest to lend himself to any
such plot. "They are much disappointed to find Prince Rupert not of
their party," declared Hyde triumphantly. "He indeed carries himself
with great discretion."[34] Nor did the Prince content himself with
discretion, he even actively defended Hyde's character. A dispute on
the subject had arisen between Ormonde and Herbert, the latter having
remarked that "it was strange the King should make such a difference
between Mr. Chancellor and Mr. Long, whereas he held Mr. Long as good a
gentleman as Mr. Chancellor." Rupert, who was standing by, retorted
sharply that the King "made not the difference from their blood, but
from the honesty of the Chancellor and the dishonesty of Long."
Herbert vehemently protested that he believed Long as honest as Hyde;
to which replied Ormonde, "Ay, but the King thought not so, and perhaps
{275} there were times when his Lordship thought not so." And a very
pretty quarrel ensued.[35]
In the meantime Sir Marmaduke Langdale, a man of more sense than Gerard
or Herbert, seriously proposed that Rupert should take a new expedition
to Scotland. To this plan, the Queen lent a willing ear. The Scots,
though still resolved that only those "eminent for righteousness"
should enter Scotland with the King, were willing to include Rupert,
Ormonde, Nicholas, Gerard and Craven under that head.[36] The scheme
therefore seemed feasible, but Rupert and Henrietta were of one mind in
wishing that James of York, rather than the King, might be the nominal
leader of the enterprise. The wish was natural enough, for the life
led by Charles in Paris was not calculated to commend him to his
serious-minded cousin. James, on the contrary, seemed full of promise,
practical, conscientious, and energetic.[37] Negotiations with the
Scots were seriously opened, but they were not all agreed concerning
Rupert; and a letter shown to James by his secretary, Bennet, created
considerable stir in the Palais Royal. This letter stated that the
Scots still cherished a strong aversion to Rupert, and earnestly hoped
that he would not appear in their country. James hastened with the
letter to his cousin, who, "would needs know" the name of the writer.
This, Bennet refused to divulge, until the writer himself arrived on
the scene, in the person of Daniel O'Neil, who, seeing the excitement
he had caused, "told plainly he wrote it, and said further that most of
the friends of the English and Scots were of that opinion."[38]
Eventually the whole scheme fell through, as a hundred others had done,
but not before Charles's anger and jealousy had been excited against
James. The result of the negotiations was therefore to produce a
coldness between the {276} Stuart brothers, a further breach between
Charles and Rupert, and a definite quarrel between the King and the
Queen mother. Henrietta reproached her son violently with his conduct
towards Rupert, Herbert and Berkeley; and Charles retorted angrily,
that, after their behaviour to him, they should "never more have his
trust nor his company."[39]
Upon this, Rupert resigned his office of Master of the Horse--a mere
empty title--and departed for Germany, notwithstanding Henrietta's
entreaties that he would remain.[40] He had hardly declared his
intention of going, when the good-natured Charles half-repented of his
share in the quarrel; and a reconciliation was accomplished, so far as
the debt was concerned.[41] But Rupert adhered to his resolution of
visiting Germany, saying that he had affairs of his own to look after,
to obtain some appanage from his brother, and to demand the money due
to him from the Emperor, under the treaty of Munster. Charles
therefore wrote an apologetic letter to his aunt, the Queen of Bohemia,
explaining that his cousin had not quitted his service, and that,
though he did not deny having "taken some things unkindly" from Rupert,
he trusted that they might soon meet again, "with more kindness and a
better understanding," for, in spite of all that had passed, he
continued to "love him very much, and always be confident of his
friendship."[42]
Rupert went first to his brother at Heidelberg, with "a great train and
brave," consisting of twenty-six persons,--three negroes and "the
little nigger" included.[43] At Heidelberg he remained for about a
month, but his real destination was Vienna, whither he went to demand
the money {277} owed him by the Emperor. He arrived there in
September, and was received with great cordiality. He had been a
_persona grata_ to the Austrians ever since he had won their hearts as
their prisoner; and Cromwell's spies commented, in great disgust, on
the honour shown him, and the alacrity with which dues were promised to
him. "His Imperial Majesty hath commanded an assignation to Prince
Rupert Palatine of 30,000 rix dollars, of a certain sum due since the
Treaty of Munster. Prince Rupert has also obtained money for Charles
Stuart, and more is promised," they reported.[44]
It is here seen that not Rupert's private affairs alone had taken him
to Vienna, nor was his separation from Charles of long duration.
France had now concluded a treaty with Cromwell, so that the exiled
King was forced to quit that country. The money obtained through
Rupert enabled him to leave France with ease, and he proceeded to
Cologne. A rumour arose that he intended to throw himself upon the
hospitality of the Emperor, and perhaps Rupert's visit to Vienna had
been partly designed to ascertain the possibility of this move. But
the idea did not commend itself to the Austrian Court, and the Elector
Charles Louis wrote hastily to Rupert, October 1654: "I have ventured
to send M. Bunckley to the King of Great Britain, to warn him that he
would be unwelcome at Vienna. Doubtless you will be able to confirm
this, concerning which I have received an express messenger from his
Imperial Majesty."[45] Probably Rupert did confirm his brother's
message, for Charles stayed at Cologne, awaiting his cousin's "much
longed for" return. Rupert rejoined him there in January 1655, but did
not stay long. Hyde was still all powerful, and Rupert was never a man
who cared to take the second place. "I need not tell you," wrote one
of the ubiquitous spies, "by whom Prince Rupert was turned from Court;
yet perhaps you {278} have not known that Hyde offered Charles Stuart
that 50,000 men should be in arms in England, before a year went about,
if he would quit the Queen's Court, and the Prince's party. By the
last letters it doth seem as if Prince Rupert had an intention to see
Cologne before Modena, and, if he can break Hyde's neck here, it may
alter his design, and make him stay with the King, which he hath most
mind of."[46]
The last sentence alludes to an engagement entered into by Rupert to
raise men for the Duke of Modena. In May 1655 he was busy with his
levies, and he had offered commands in his force to Craven, Gerard, and
the once Puritan Massey.[47] The French Court patronised the Duke of
Modena, and Mazarin promised Rupert the command of 2,000 men chosen
from the best troops of France, 1,000 Swiss, and three other regiments.
The arrears of pay due to the Prince for his services to France in
1648, were less readily conceded. Fortunately Rupert had a friend at
court in the person of Edward's wife, Anne de Gonzague. This lady,
being a very powerful person in France, obtained a promise of speedy
payment, the more readily since Rupert declared that without the money
he could not equip himself for the enterprise, and without himself his
levies should not go.[48] Yet, in the very next month, he quietly
renounced the whole scheme, sent his troops to Modena, and returned to
Heidelberg. The reason for this sudden change of plan was the anxiety
of Charles, who, fearing to lose his cousin altogether, had "abruptly
begged him to quit all employments," and serve himself only. Rupert,
loyal as ever, answered with equal abruptness that he would serve his
cousin "with all his interest, either in men, money, arms, or friends,"
provided that he could effect "a handsome conjuncture," _i.e._ an
honourable arrangement, {279} with Modena.[49] This done, he joined
the King at Frankfort, whence we find Ormonde writing to Hyde: "When
to-morrow we have been to a Lutheran service, and on Monday have seen
the fair, I know not how we shall contrive divertissements for a longer
time, unless Prince Rupert, who is coming, find them."[50]
Whether Rupert found them or not is unrecorded, but he certainly made
friends with the King, in whose company he remained until October.
Charles had still some hopes of the Scots, and it was rumoured that
Rupert endeavoured to win the Presbyterians by stating--with perfect
truth--that he had been bred a Calvinist.[51] It was said also that he
had countenanced the plot of 1654 for Cromwell's assassination, and had
even introduced the author of it to the King. Whether the accusation
be true or false it is hard to say.[52] The only allusion to the plot
found in the Prince's own correspondence is in a letter written from
Heidelberg, which narrates the fate of the conspirators; "the Diurnal
says Jack Gerard is beheaded, and another hanged, and that the Portugal
ambassador's brother was beheaded at the same time, and another English
gentleman hanged about that business, but says little of any design. I
have not yet received one line, so I cannot give your Highness any
further account."[53] This letter may, or may not imply a previous
acquaintance with the design. It certainly assumes that Rupert knew
all about it, but the affair was then public property. Still there is
nothing absolutely impossible in the Prince's complicity. Cromwell was
regarded by the Royalists at that {280} time, as a being almost beyond
the pale of humanity. He was "the beast whom all the Kings of the
earth do worship;"[54] and, though Rupert's known words and actions fit
ill with assassination plots, it may be that the crime of murder looked
less black to him when the intended victim happened to be the English
Lord Protector.
In October 1655, the Prince was suddenly called away to Vienna, where
he seems to have acted as Charles II's informal ambassador. The
rumours as to his intended actions were many and various. At one time
he was expected to command the Dutch fleet against the fleet of the
Commonwealth, some said that he would take service with the Swedes,
others that he would adhere to the Emperor.[55] But his real intention
was, as we know, to serve his cousin, and Cromwell, evidently convinced
of this, deputed the traitor Bampfylde to watch the Prince's movements.
Concerning this same Bampfylde there is a rather amusing correspondence
extant. Jermyn, on whom he had successfully imposed, recommended him
to Rupert's patronage, as a man "suffering and persecuted" for his
loyalty.[56] Rupert referred the matter to the King, who expressed
himself "astonished" at Jermyn's letter, saying that he had already
warned him of Bampfylde's treachery.[57] Bampfylde, in his turn, wrote
to Cromwell, begging to be sent into Germany; "for I know the Duke of
Brandenburg, the Prince Elector and Prince Rupert, and could give you
no ill information. I would conceal my correspondence with you, and
only pretend that I wished to see Germany and to seek employment in the
wars there."[58] And when Cromwell had granted his desire, the spy
found that he had walked into the clutches of Rupert, who was fully
{281} aware of his intended treachery. "I have obeyed to the utmost
your commands about Colonel Bampfylde," wrote the Prince to the King.
"You will receive particulars from your factor, Sir William Curtius,
and from the Elector of Mayence. No impartial merchants being present,
we could do no more, and could not have done so much, had not Bampfylde
consented to a submission in this Imperial town. I will obey any
further commands you may send me, in these parts."[59]
Rupert's loyalty was, in spite of everything, inextinguishable, and the
tone which he now assumed towards his young cousin was singularly
deferential. "Wyndham writes to my servant, Valentine Pyne, conjuring
him to come with all possible speed to the King," he wrote, in 1658, to
Nicholas. "I owe my person, and any of mine to his service; but
represent to him that it would be a great obligation if Pyne could stay
with me, till there be some great business in hand. Meantime he can
study things in these parts, fit to use for some good design."[60]
Even his advice was couched in an apologetic form. Thus he advised
against attempting a Spanish alliance in 1656: "Sir, I received your
Majesty's of the 16th of December, but at my arrival at this place.
With great greefe I understand the continuation of the news that was
whispered at Vienna, before my departure, of the Spaniards tampering
for a peace with Cromwell. Yet I am so confident that they will come
off it, that I wish the King of England would not be too hasty in
offering himself to Spain. If the business between them and England
break, they will be sure to take the King of England by the hand; if
not, all will be vain. I humbly beseech Your Majesty to pardon this
boldness, which proceeds from a very faithful heart to serve Your
Majesty."[61]
{282}
This humble submission is indeed a contrast to the "insolence"
described by Hyde. Possibly the increased deference corresponds to a
decrease of friendship. What Rupert could do for Charles's service he
would do; but, though they were reconciled and, to all appearance, on
excellent terms, it is probable that the intimate friendship which had
existed between them, previous to their quarrel in 1653-4, was never
fully restored. Rupert was no longer the elder cousin, but the
faithful servant, and he evidently meant to mark his change of
position. In the early years of the Civil Wars, he had exercised a
paramount influence over Charles, but his three years' absence had lost
that for ever. With James he retained his influence longer. We find
him expressing "astonishment" at the contents of a letter written by
the younger of his royal cousins, and James meekly replying that he
does not remember what he said, but is sure he did not mean it. "Je
parlai a son Altesse (James) de l'etonnement qu'avait la votre de ce
qu'elle avait reconnu en sa derniere lettre; qu'il me dit ne se point
ressouvenir ni avoir fait a dessein; au contraire, qu'il fera toujours
son possible pour la service et contentement de Votre Altesse, a
laquelle il me dit vouloir en ecrire pour s'en excuser."[62] In the
differences between the Stuart brothers Rupert seems to have
sympathised with James. "My godson (James) I am sure will take very
well what you have answered for him," wrote his mother to the Prince;
"I am extremely glad you did it."[63]
[1] Warburton, III. p. 418. Charles II to Rupert, Mar. 22, 1653.
[2] Ibid. p. 419. Hyde to Rupert. No date.
[3] Warburton, III. p. 390. Jermyn to R., Feb. 6, 1653.
[4] Rupert Transcripts. -- to Rupert, 1653.
[5] Clar. State Papers, 1089. Hyde to Nicholas, Apr. 18, 1653.
[6] Cartwright. Madame: A Life of Henrietta of Orleans, p. 359.
[7] Warburton, III. p. 420.
[8] Ibid. p. 454.
[9] Memoir of Prince Rupert, ed. 1683, p. 35.
[10] Evelyn, IV. 282. He was supposed to have cured Jermyn of a
fever, with a charm. "His Highness, it seems, has learnt some magic in
the remote islands."
[11] Whitelocke, p. 556.
[12] Clar. State Papers. Hyde to Nicholas, 25 Apr. 1653. Printed Vol.
II, p. 163.
[13] Cartwright. Madame: Duchess of Orleans, p. 50.
[14] Evelyn, IV. 282, _note_. Thurloe, I. 306.
[15] Thurloe State Papers, II. 186. 1 April, 1654.
[16] Rupert Transcripts. Holmes to Rupert, May 3, May 17, 1654.
[17] Ibid. May 24, 1654.
[18] Ibid. May 17, June 24, 1654.
[19] Thurloe State Papers, I. p. 344. 19 July, 1653.
[20] Rupert Transcripts. Charles II to Rupert. Nov. 1654.
[21] Clarendon, Bk. XIV. p. 71. Campbell's British Admirals. 1785.
Vol. II. p. 243.
[22] Domestic State Papers. March 1662. Petition of Guibert Hessin.
[23] Nicholas Papers. Camd. Soc. New Series. Vol. II. p. 33. 9/19
Dec. 1653.
[24] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, Feb. 27, 1654.
[25] Ibid. March 13, 1654.
[26] Ibid. April 10, 1654.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, April 10, 1654.
[29] Nicholas Papers. Camden Society. Vol. II. p. 91, 25 Sept. 1654.
[30] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, June 13, 1653.
[31] Ibid. Apr. 24, 1654.
[32] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, Jan. 2, 1654.
[33] Evelyn, IV. 298, 27 Dec. 1653.
[34] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, 16 Jan. 1654.
[35] Nicholas Papers, Vol. II. p. 50, 16 Jan. 1654.
[36] Clarendon State Papers. News from London, May 27, 1653.
[37] Thurloe State Papers, Vol. II. p. 179.
[38] Thurloe, II. 140-141, 14 May, 1654.
[39] Thurloe, II. 312.
[40] Clar. State Papers, 1 May, 1654. Printed, III. p. 236.
[41] Thurloe, II. p. 327.
[42] Clarendon State Papers. Charles II to Elizabeth of Bohemia, May
29, 1654.
[43] Thurloe, II. 327, 9 June, 1654.
[44] Thurloe, II. 580, 567, 644, 1 Sept., 8 Sept., 13 Oct. 1654.
[45] Bromley Letters, p. 315, Elector to Rupert; also Thurloe, II. p.
644.
[46] Thurloe, III. 459, 1 June, 1655.
[47] Thurloe, III. 414, 591, 8 May, 8 July, 1655.
[48] Bromley Letters, pp. 196-202. De Choqueux to Rupert, June 23,
1655.
[49] Thurloe, III. 659. 28 June, 1655.
[50] Clar. State Papers. Ormonde to Hyde, Sept. 25, 1655.
[51] Dom. State Papers. Commonwealth. Vol. XCIX. fol. 33. 10-20
July, 1655.
[52] Dom. State Papers. Gerard's Trial. Common. Vol. 72_a_.
Clarendon State Papers. Aug. 1654. Henshaw's Vindication.
[53] Rupert Correspondence. Job Holder to Rupert, July 25, 1654. Add.
MSS. 18982.
[54] Elizabeth of Bohemia, 4 Jan., 1655. Evelyn IV. p. 222.
[55] Thurloe, II. 327. III. 683. IV. 697.
[56] Domestic State Papers, Jermyn to Rupert, Aug. 30 1657.
[57] Ibid. Nicholas to Rupert, May 16, 1658.
[58] Ibid. Bampfylde, June 24, 1657.
[59] Clar. State Papers. Rupert to Charles, Nov. 21, 1657.
[60] Dom. State Papers. Common. 179 fol. 13, 20 Jan. 1658.
[61] Thurloe, I. 694, 6 Feb. 1656.
[62] Bromley Letters, p. 201. De Choqueux to Rupert, June 23, 1655.
[63] Ibid. p. 294, Elizabeth of Bohemia to Rupert.
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