circumstance in the lives of these two heroes, both heads of the
Huguenot party, both beloved, from their reputation alone, by noble and
beautiful women, and both victims of a cruel murder. By De Coligny,
Jacqueline had a posthumous daughter named Beatrice; we cannot close
this brief notice without inserting a translation of the characteristic
epitaph which was written in Latin:—
‘Ci gissent les os de Gaspard de Coligny, Grand Amiral de France,
Seigneur de Châtillon, son âme est dans le sein de Celui pour lequel il
combattit avec tant de constance.’
--------------
No. 49.
ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX.
BORN 1567, EXECUTED 1601.
_Full length. White dress. Embroidered vest. George, Ribbon, and Garter.
Left hand resting on the pommel of his sword; right hand holding a
cane._
THE eldest son of Walter, first Earl of Essex of the Devereux family, by
Lettice, daughter of Sir Francis Knollys, Knight. He succeeded to the
title and estates before he had reached his ninth year. But his father’s
solicitude had provided him with worthy guardians; Lords Burghley and
Sussex, and Dr. Waterhouse, of whom, in his last moments, Walter, Lord
Essex, took leave in these terms—‘Farewell, Ned; thou art the
friendliest and faithfullest gentleman that ever I knew;’ and well did
Waterhouse fulfil the trust imposed on him by his dying friend, he took
the direction of the minor’s affairs, which he managed with great
ability, and watched over the boy himself, with paternal care.
In 1577 young Essex went to Cambridge, where he bore an excellent
character, and gained the reputation of ‘an elegant scholar,’ while his
refined and genial manners made him generally popular. He remained at
the University till 1581, when he retired to his country house in
Pembrokeshire, and seemed to have ‘become enamoured of a rural life.’ In
1584, on his first presentation at Court, he found his stepfather, the
Earl of Leicester, reigning supreme, with whom he was in no way inclined
to stand on friendly relations. The sudden death of Essex’s father, and
the indecent haste of his mother’s marriage with Robert Dudley, were too
vivid in his remembrance. But the royal ægis had been thrown over the
pair, and the matter had been hushed up. Lord Leicester strove by every
means in his power to propitiate his wife’s son, and the young man was
not proof against the professions of affection, or the prospects of
advancement. At least so it would seem, for in the following year the
two Earls went together to the Low Countries, Leicester as
Captain-General, and Essex (though not more than eighteen at the time)
as General of the Horse. Here the latter was greatly commended for his
valour, more especially at the battle of Zutphen.
On his return to England he was made Master of the Horse, and not only
intrusted with a high command in the army, at the time of the threatened
Spanish invasion, but invested with the Order of the Garter—a proceeding
which excited no little jealousy. Lord Leicester dying in the same year,
the post of first favourite became vacant, and to that dangerous
elevation was the new knight elected without loss of time; and now began
afresh the disgraceful farce which Elizabeth Tudor had already enacted
with Leicester, and in a minor degree with Sir Philip Sidney, and
others. Alas! this time the curtain was to fall on a tragedy. The
Queen’s coquetries, her advances and retreats, her attacks on the
citadel of the handsome and accomplished courtier’s heart, are part of
history, and need not be detailed here. Notwithstanding the honours she
heaped upon him, his eager spirit was often ‘vexed past patience,’ even
in these early days.
In 1589 he absented himself without leave from Court, even as Sir Philip
Sidney had done before him, and sailed with Sir Francis Drake on his
expedition to Portugal. Elizabeth ordered him to return in a most
peremptory letter written with her own hand; but when he did so, she
received him with open arms, keeping up for some time a skirmish of
lover’s quarrels. At length her indignation was seriously aroused on
learning the old story, that her favourite had married without her
permission.
She called it a _mésalliance_, a word that could scarcely apply in the
case of the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, and the widow of Sir
Philip Sidney.
In 1591 he commanded troops sent to the assistance of Henry IV. of
France, and on his return was made a Privy Councillor; but jealousy was
rife, plots were hatching against him, and the train was laid which was
to be fired some years later.
He was appointed to the joint command of the fleet in the expedition
against Spain, with Admiral Howard, and on their return, the marked
difference between the manner in which the Ministers received Essex and
his coadjutor was most distasteful to the former. Howard was treated
with honour and consideration, while Essex was exposed to blame and
mortification. He now retired to the country in disgust, and would not
even attend Parliament till the question arose of a proposed treaty with
Spain, when he hastened up to London to be present at a Council, and to
advocate war, which he did in such vehement and passionate terms that
his quondam guardian, Lord Burghley, rose from the table, and drawing a
prayer-book from his pocket, pointed to a passage in the Psalms which
proved too prophetic—
‘The bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his days.’
Burghley, who died soon after, was indeed a tried and trusty friend,
ever ready to defend him against all his enemies, even the worst of all,
Essex’s own self. Peace was concluded, however, and Robert Devereux
added to his general unpopularity, while he angered the Queen, by
rushing into print on the occasion, and that in most unmeasured terms.
Not long afterwards, occurred the well-known scene at the Council, where
was a hot discussion relative to the choice of a Governor for Ireland,
and Lord Essex’s language was so intemperate that Elizabeth in a rage
rose from her seat and struck him on the cheek. Stung to the quick, he
half drew his sword, and swearing he would not endure such treatment,
left the royal presence in a fury, and once more hurried off to his
country house, whence it required much persuasion to induce him to
return to his allegiance. The ill-fated man did not realise (after he
had made a species of proud apology) how far he was playing into his
enemies’ hand, by accepting the command now given him, to put down a
rebellious outbreak in Ireland. The complete failure of this expedition
is well known. Essex incurred the unmitigated censure of the Government,
and of the Queen herself.
His mind was at this time in a very wretched and unsettled state, and on
the receipt of a letter from Elizabeth full of reproaches, he left
Ireland, and drew no breath till he stood suddenly in her presence at
Nonsuch Place, coming, he said, to throw himself on her mercy, and
implore her to listen to his vindication. After a conference of some
duration, she dismissed him with the desire that he should remain in the
custody of the Lord Keeper. In this species of honourable imprisonment
he continued for some time in suspense, probably relying on Her
Majesty’s constancy to pardon him. But there were those who whispered
distrust and slander in the royal ear.
Alas for the proud spirit of Robert Devereux! he was examined for eleven
hours before the Privy Council, during most of the time compelled ‘to
remain on his knees.’
When released, he once more retired to the country, and then came up to
London, where he made his house the centre of the disaffected; and
although still professing unshaken loyalty, yet his actions and the
companions he drew around him were well calculated to excite the
suspicions both of the Queen and of her Ministers. Again summoned before
the Council, he refused to appear; and when the Lord Keeper and the Lord
Chancellor went to his house to expostulate, he detained them prisoners.
A climax to his rashness was the step he took in sallying forth into the
city to enlist volunteers, at the head of a large body of armed
adherents, and on his return to his house he fortified himself therein.
He was proclaimed a traitor, besieged, and taken prisoner on the 8th of
February 1601, and on the 19th brought to trial, and condemned to die.
The struggle between anger, tenderness, and compassion in the breast of
Elizabeth has been recorded in history, drama, and fiction; and the
story of the ring, which will be found in another page, is one of the
widest circulated of historical romances. There is little doubt that
Elizabeth never recovered the shock of Essex’s death, although her own
hand dealt the blow to both.
On the night preceding his execution, the noble prisoner opened his
window, and addressing the guards and pages, regretted he had nothing to
give them; ‘for I have nothing save what I am going to pay the Queen on
the morrow.’ He rose soon after midnight, and prayed with the chaplain,
saying, ‘God bless you, as you shall comfort me.’ He dressed himself
with care in a black suit, velvet gown, felt hat, and starched ruff. On
his road to the scaffold he continued instant in prayer. ‘God grant me
true penitence, true patience, true humility, and put all worldly
thoughts from my mind.’ No one can deny that Robert Devereux made a
noble end.
He spoke earnestly to the crowd, asking them to join in prayer with him,
repeated the Lord’s Prayer with great fervour, desired forgiveness of
God and of the Queen, ‘whom he had never intended to harm,’ and answered
the executioner with gentle courtesy, who kneeling, asked his
forgiveness. ‘Thou art but the minister of justice,’ said Essex; then
taking off his velvet gown and doublet, he continued to pray till the
cruel blow silenced that noble voice for ever. He was deeply mourned by
many. ‘My Lady of Essex,’ says a contemporary writer (she had made
strenuous efforts to save him), ‘is a most sorrowful creature, she wears
black of the meanest price, and will receive no comfort.’
She loved him dearly, and was his chosen companion in the quieter
moments of his life, sharing and lightening his literary studies and
labour. They had an only son, Robert, the last Devereux who bore the
title of Essex, and two daughters—Frances, married to William, Marquis
of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset; and Dorothy, married, first,
to Sir Henry Shirley of Stanton Harold, county Leicester, and secondly,
to William Stafford of Blatherwyck, county North Hants.
--------------
No. 50.
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, KING OF SWEDEN.
BORN 1594, KILLED IN ACTION 1632.
_Full length. Drab leather coat, grey and gold embroidered sleeves, and
trunk hose. High drab boots. Helmet with grey and drab feathers on
the table beside him._
THE son of Charles IX., King of Sweden, by Christina of Holstein, and
grandson of the great Gustavus Vasa. He ascended the throne when only
fifteen, and at that early age showed great capacity for government, and
discrimination in the choice of his ministers. But his education and
tastes led him to a military career; he engaged in wars with Denmark,
Muscovy, and Poland with wonderful success, and he then entered into an
alliance with the Protestant powers of Germany against the Emperor of
Austria, and was the hero of the Thirty Years’ War, the friend and
comrade-in-arms of all those brave spirits whose names live for ever in
the pages of Schiller, and the memory of all lovers of religion and
valour.
After a series of brilliant campaigns, where he appeared to bear a
charmed life, Gustavus Adolphus fell at the battle of Lützen. It was
said of him, ‘He died with the sword in his hand, the word of command on
his tongue, and the victory in his anticipation.’
When surrounded by enemies, his page tried to hide the rank of his royal
master, but the hero exclaimed, ‘I am the King of Sweden, and I seal
with my blood the Protestant faith and the liberties of Germany.’ Then
he called on the God he had served so well, and with the name of his
beloved Queen on his lips he expired. The body was instantly stripped,
for every one was anxious to possess some relic of Gustavus Adolphus;
but his noble and commanding form, though divested of all the trappings
of royalty, caused it to be recognised amid the heaps of less eminent
slain.
In appearance the King of Sweden was fair, his eyes were light blue, but
most expressive, his features aquiline, his complexion florid. All his
portraits resemble each other so nearly that we cannot but feel familiar
with the personal aspect of this great and good man. He was idolised by
his friends, subjects, and comrades. His death seems to have stricken
down the unfortunate King of Bohemia, who loved him dearly, and on all
the Protestant princes it fell like a thunderbolt. He cultivated the
arts and sciences, and improved the social position of Sweden, although
so often absent on foreign campaigns. By his beloved and beautiful wife,
Maria Elenora, Princess of Brandenburgh, Gustavus left an only daughter,
the famous Christina, who succeeded her father on the throne of Sweden;
but after reigning about twenty years she abdicated.
--------------
No. 51.
VISCOUNTESS TORRINGTON.
_Blue mantle trimmed with fur._
LADY Lucy Boyle, only daughter of John Earl of Cork and Orrery, by
Margaret, daughter and sole heir of John Hamilton of Caledon, county
Tyrone, Ireland, and wife of George, fourth Viscount Torrington.
--------------
No. 52.
LOUISA CARTERET, VISCOUNTESS WEYMOUTH.
THE SECOND WIFE OF THE SECOND VISCOUNT WEYMOUTH.
_In the Coronation robes of a Peeress._
--------------
No. 53.
THOMAS, SECOND VISCOUNT WEYMOUTH.
BY SIR GODFREY KNELLER.
_Full length. In a Peer’s Parliamentary robes._
--------------
No. 54.
VISCOUNTESS LANSDOWNE.
BY SIR GODFREY KNELLER.
_In the Coronation robes of a Peeress._
SHE was the daughter of the Earl of Jersey, by Barbara, daughter of
Chiffinch, the closet-keeper and close confidant of Charles II., who has
gained no enviable fame from the sketch which Sir Walter Scott has drawn
of him in _Peveril of the Peak_. She married first, Thomas Thynne, Esq.,
of Old Windsor, who died, leaving her with child. Her son succeeded to
the title of Weymouth. Lady Mary Thynne afterwards married Lord
Lansdowne, by whom she had four daughters.
--------------
No. 55.
WILLIAM, EARL, AFTERWARDS MARQUIS, OF
HERTFORD AND DUKE OF SOMERSET.
OLD STONE. AFTER VANDYCK.
DIED 1660.
_In armour. Holding a truncheon._
HE was the eldest surviving son of Lord Beauchamp (consequently
great-grandson to Protector Somerset), by Honora, daughter of Sir
Richard Rogers of Bryanston, county Dorset.
He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, at the time that James _I._
and his Queen were keeping Court at Woodstock. Amongst the fairest and
noblest of Her Majesty’s ladies, was the King’s own cousin, the Lady
Arabella Stuart. As soon as she and William Seymour met, they loved, and
the young lady, suspecting that her royal kinsman would be averse to
their union, impressed on her lover the importance of secrecy.
Their attachment was discovered, and Arabella Stuart and William Seymour
were summoned before the Privy Council, and reprimanded in no moderate
terms, but the affection had taken so deep a root, that even the
tyrannical decrees of James could not prevent the consummation of the
marriage. As we have told at length in the notice of Arabella Stuart’s
life, they were privately united, for which crime they were both
imprisoned, and both in the course of time made their escape. Seymour
was far more fortunate than his wife, and it was supposed that the
authorities were not unwilling that he should regain his liberty.
Disguised, in a black peruke, and tawny suit, he followed a cart out of
the courtyard of the Tower, which had brought in firewood, and found a
faithful friend at the iron gate, in whose company he travelled with all
speed to the sea-coast, where it had been arranged he should meet
Arabella.
Foiled in this hope, he made his way to Ostend, and resided some time in
Flanders, after the death of his wife, until that of his grandfather,
when he succeeded to the titles of Lord Beauchamp and Earl of Hertford.
He then returned to England, and went to reside on his estates, and in
the society of a few chosen friends, passed his time in study, and the
improvement of the fortune, which had been sadly diminished, at the time
of the attainder of Protector Somerset.
For some time after the accession of Charles I., Lord Hertford voted on
the popular side, but he became disgusted with their ultra views, and
with the injustice of the proceedings at the trial of Lord Strafford,
although that nobleman was no personal friend of his. As was the case
with many leading men of the time, Hertford now seceded from the party
he had hitherto upheld, and devoted his services, his fortune, and his
influence to the Royal cause.
In his new career he displayed an energy and activity of which he had
hitherto appeared incapable. He proved his zeal, moreover, by accepting
the post of Governor to the Prince of Wales, for which Clarendon tells
us he was not fitted, neither did he incline to the duties. But so
conscientious was he in their discharge, that he boldly withstood
Parliament in a matter where the Prince of Wales’s interests were
involved.
About this time he succeeded to the Marquisate of Hertford. In 1643 he
was named Lieutenant-General Commandant of the western counties, with
power to raise troops at his discretion for the King’s service. He was
not very successful at first, but was afterwards joined by the Princes
Maurice and Rupert, who served under him, and was present at the
victories of Lansdowne and Roundway. At the taking of Weymouth a dispute
arose between him and Rupert as to the nomination of a Governor to that
town. Hertford waived his claim in submission to the King’s wish, but,
throwing up his military command, went to reside with Charles at Oxford,
who gave him a place in the household, and he was elected Chancellor of
the University. He now served the King in a civil capacity, taking part
in the negotiations between his Majesty and the Parliament, and that
with so much rectitude and moderation as to procure him the respect of
both parties. His generosity kept pace with his loyalty; his coffers
were open to his King; and during the time of Charles II.’s exile,
Hertford allowed him an annual income, and he was one of the few
mourners permitted to pay their last tribute to their martyred King by
attending his funeral. At the Restoration he met Charles at Dover, who
invested him with the Garter to which he had been named some years
before; Cromwell had deprived him of the Chancellorship of Oxford, which
he now resumed, and the King, in the most flattering manner, restored to
him the Dukedom of Somerset, forfeited by the Protector, and after
expressing his gratitude for the loyalty which Lord Hertford had evinced
to his father and himself, hoped ‘no man would envy the honours thus
bestowed,’ observing ‘that it was no more than a good master should do
for such a servant.’
The Duke did not survive this mark of royal favour very long. He died in
1660, and was buried at St. Bedwin in Wales.
His second wife was the Lady Frances Devereux, daughter of Robert, the
second Earl of Essex, and sister and co-heir of Robert, the third Earl,
and Parliamentary General.
Of his five sons, three died unmarried, and his four daughters all
married Peers of the realm.
Lord Clarendon said of him, ‘He was a man of good parts and conversant
with books, both Greek and Latin; he loved study better than exercise,
and a country better than a public life. By nature he was indolent, and
though brave and faithful, he was by no means a good soldier.’
He was succeeded by his grandson and namesake, William Duke of Somerset,
who died young.
--------------
No. 56.
JOAN HAYWARD, LADY THYNNE.
BY ZUCCHERO.
_Full length. Black and white embroidered dress. Ruff.
Holding a feather fan._
YOUNGEST daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward, Knight, who was twice Lord
Mayor of London. She was co-heir to her mother, Joan Tylsworth, and
brought into the Thynne family Cawse Castle, the Manor of Tretton,
county Salop, and other lands. She married Sir John Thynne, (the second
of that name,) by whom she had Sir Thomas and other children.
--------------
No. 57.
THE LADIES DEVEREUX.
BY ZUCCHERO(?).
(_According to one Catalogue of an earlier date, ‘Two Ladies, by
Honthorst,’ or as it is spelled, Hunthurst._)
_Two sisters dressed alike, in one picture. Half length. Light hair. Red
and gold velvet bodices. White sleeves. Pearl necklaces._
IN all probability, the Lady Frances and the Lady Dorothy Devereux,
daughters of Robert, the second Earl of Essex (Queen Elizabeth’s
favourite)—the eldest married to the Earl of Hertford, widower of
Arabella Stuart, afterwards Duke of Somerset; and the younger to Sir
Henry Shirley of Stanton Harold, county Leicester, and secondly, to
William Stafford, Esq. of Blatherwyck, county North Hants.
--------------
No. 58.
SIR JOHN THYNNE, THE SECOND.
DIED 1604.
_Black dress. White collar and sleeves. Right hand resting on hip,
left on pommel of sword._
ELDEST son of Sir John, the builder of Longleat, by Christian, daughter
of Sir Richard Gresham. He married Joan, daughter of Sir Rowland
Hayward, who brought many estates into the family.
--------------
No. 59.
LADY ARABELLA STUART.
_A head. Dress as in large picture on staircase._
--------------
No. 60.
GRACE, COUNTESS GRANVILLE.
BY SIR GODFREY KNELLER.
_Full length. In the Coronation robes of a Peeress._
SHE was the daughter of John Granville, first Earl of Bath, by Jane,
daughter of Sir Peter Wyche. The Granvilles, or Grenvilles, as they were
originally called, were a noble and heroic race; witness the exploits by
sea of Sir Richard, immortalised in history and poetry, who lived in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, and of the brave Sir Bevil, who perished in
arms for King Charles _I._ at the battle of Lansdowne, he on whose death
it was written—
‘Where shall the next famed Grenvil’s ashes stand?
Thy grandsire fills the sea, and thou the land,’
a couplet most characteristic of the high-flown language of the period.
Lady Grace was destined to be allied with heroes, for she married Sir
George Carteret, afterwards raised to the Peerage as Baron Carteret, in
consideration of the services of his father, and his grandfather, the
gallant Earl of Sandwich. These two brave men died at Solebay fight in
1682, in an engagement with the Dutch, when Lord Sandwich’s ship held
out singly for five hours, at fearful odds with the enemy. After Sir
George’s death, his widow was created Countess Granville and Baroness
Carteret, in her own right, with limitation of her first title to her
eldest son; she also succeeded to vast wealth and estates on the death
of her nephew, the Earl of Bath.
But both these titles soon became extinct, that of Carteret being
renewed in the person of Henry Thynne, son of the second Lord Weymouth
by Lady Louisa Carteret, Lady Granville’s granddaughter. The Peerage of
Carteret was destined to be short-lived, as it is now again extinct.
--------------
No. 61.
EDWARD VILLIERS, FIRST EARL OF JERSEY.
DIED 1711.
_Full length. In Peer’s Coronation robes, holding a wand._
THE eldest son of Sir Edward Villiers, by Frances, daughter to the Earl
of Suffolk. He accompanied Princess Mary to Holland on her marriage with
the Prince of Orange; returned to England with them in 1688, and was
appointed Master of the Horse to the Queen, with other marks of royal
favour.