87.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
87.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
87.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
88.“State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq.” Copy of a letter from Brussels, of the 13/3 of March 1660/59.
88.“State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq.” Copy of a letter from Brussels, of the 13/3 of March 1660/59.
88.“State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq.” Copy of a letter from Brussels, of the 13/3 of March 1660/59.
In the early spring of 1660, the year which was to see the end of King Charles’ dreary, aimless wanderings, the Duke of York was made captain-general of all the Spanish forces at sea, and “admiral of his fleets commanding his cinque-ports,”[89]but he had not time to enjoy these dignities long, for in the month of May he came home once more with his brothers, and was forthwith made admiral of the English fleet. Hyde had been strongly opposed to the Spanish appointment as it was supposed to involve the profession of the faith of Rome, but at that moment the fortunes of the royal house were at their lowest ebb. Charles himself had gone incognito to Calais, James to Boulogne, hoping for the success of Booth’s attempt, but itsfailure already mentioned sent both the brothers back to Brussels.
89.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
89.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
89.Whitelocke’s “Memorials.”
Only in March, came Bailey secretly to Ormonde with the tale that the King was toasted in the taverns of London. Only in March, and in May theRoyal Charleswas bringing him back to his inheritance, the Duke of York sailing in theLondon, the Duke of Gloucester in theSwiftsure.
The 29th of May—Oak-Apple Day—the day looked for through long years of suspense, the day almost despaired of, the day welcomed with a very agony of joy and exultation, had come at last.
To understand the fervour of welcome that greeted the restored King, we must consider the unhealed wounds suffered by the many, and the fact that the religious life of a great and representative class was inextricably bound up with the fortunes of the exiled race. In the eighteen years which had passed since the Standard was set up at Nottingham, castle and grange and manor—yes, and farmhouse too—had sent forth their sons, ungrudgingly for the most part, to fight under that banner, and the great Anglican Church, with her array of saintly doctors, never more conspicuous than in that age, had given herblessing on the enterprise. In either case the sacrifice had been exacted, the soldier had laid down his life, the priest had suffered for the cause, and above all the scaffold before Whitehall had for ever set the seal on both. It was nothing that England had known years of strong, heavy-handed government, that she had dictated terms to other nations. To many who cherished sorrowful memories, those years only represented a space of stern tyranny and repression, and the graves of the beloved slain at Edgehill and Newbury, Marston Moor and Naseby, were green for ever in their hearts. To such simple and devout souls, also, it was much that through that time the Liturgy had been forbidden, that the churches had been desecrated, that the whole land lay desolate, neither could she “enjoy her Sabbaths.” To them it was much that the end had come, and even with haunting memories of the past they could say it was worth while. If there was much that was short-sighted in this position, there was also much that was heroic.
JAMES, DUKE OF YORK
JAMES, DUKE OF YORK
JAMES, DUKE OF YORK
So in the sunshine of spring, an English spring with the laburnums and lilacs ablow, with the air scented with the breath of flowers, alive with the singing of birds, the King came “to his ownagain.” Thanksgivings had been offered in the glorious cathedral of Canterbury, Rochester had added to the welcome, and now on Restoration Day a gallant train rode slowly over Blackheath on its triumphant way to London. Blare of trumpet and ring of bridle-chains and a riot of colour were all combined, while the people who lined the way could, some of them, scarcely see, for their blinding tears, the dark-faced King, thirty years old to-day, glancing quickly around him, the saturnine mouth relaxed in a smile, as he bowed to right and left. No wonder that he could remark with easy cynicism that no doubt it must be his own fault that his coming had been so long delayed, since everyone was so glad to see him.
Just behind the King came his brothers, side by side.
As James, Duke of York, reined his fretting horse with practised skill, he looked in his costly attire a very comely prince in the eyes of his brother’s lieges. Yellow ribbons were fluttering from his shoulders, fleecy white plumes waved from his hat over the long brown curls which framed the proud and handsome face. He was now twenty-six, already a soldier of tried capacity, and as one of the Intelligencers ofLondon had already said of him, “cried up for the most accomplished gentleman both in arms and courtesie that graces the French Court.”[90]So people wrote and thought, yet this reputation was for the most part left behind him when he crossed the Channel.
90.“Queen Anne and her Court,” P. F. Williams Ryan. “The Duke of York, besides being an able Captain and successful administrator, was a man of many accomplishments, acquired by association with the most polished society of Western Europe.”
90.“Queen Anne and her Court,” P. F. Williams Ryan. “The Duke of York, besides being an able Captain and successful administrator, was a man of many accomplishments, acquired by association with the most polished society of Western Europe.”
90.“Queen Anne and her Court,” P. F. Williams Ryan. “The Duke of York, besides being an able Captain and successful administrator, was a man of many accomplishments, acquired by association with the most polished society of Western Europe.”
It was the fate of James Stuart, as it has often been the fate of obscure persons, just to miss the appreciation which in some measure he really deserved. His elder brother’s careless good humour and the grace of manner which concealed so much selfish indifference won for Charles II. from his people, weary of long repression and smarting under unwelcome conditions, an amount of real affection which was certainly both unreasonable and undeserved, but which nevertheless lasted for his lifetime, and made him one of the most popular sovereigns of his country.
James, on the other hand, because he lacked just those superficial attributes was, to the bitter end, mistrusted and misunderstood. He wasnot clever in any sense, possessing none of the brilliant gifts which Charles misused and flung away with absolute recklessness; but as Buckingham, with his rapid, mordant apprehension, once said of the brothers: “The King (Charles II.) could see things if he would, and the Duke would see things if he could.”[91]
91.Bishop Burnet’s “History of My Own Time.”
91.Bishop Burnet’s “History of My Own Time.”
91.Bishop Burnet’s “History of My Own Time.”
If he could—there was the key of the whole position. When the supreme moment of his life arrived, James proved absolutely blind to the issues involved—he could not see.
As to his better qualities, Bishop Burnet, as already mentioned at no time a friend to the Duke of York, was forced to admit his personal courage. “He was very brave in youth, and so much magnified by Marshal Turenne, that till his marriage he really clouded the King, and passed for the superior genius.” Also it is acknowledged that he was “a firm friend till affairs and his religion wore out all his first principles and inclinations.”
That same grace of constancy in friendship is endorsed by all his biographers, and unhappily it was in many cases to prove his undoing. He could not withdraw his confidence once given, and he was utterly blind to the faults of hisfriends, clinging to them through good and evil report, and in this respect he must be cleared of the charge of fickleness.
Presently we shall see how this insensate belief in his friends, and misapprehension of their motives, was to operate in the drama of his marriage, which was nearly thereby shipwrecked.
He had no gifts as a letter writer (in which capacity Charles II. certainly excelled, judging from the correspondence which survives[92]) and in speech he even stammered slightly, for which reason he was habitually silent. But while Charles was incurably idle, letting life drift by on the surface of a jest, and unutterably bored whenever he was forced to work (though no man knew better how to apply when put to it), James was plodding, methodical, diligent, though he got little credit for it, then nor later.
92.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
92.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
92.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
This difference, apart from diversity of temperament, may be partly accounted for by the circumstances of the brothers’ early life. Charles during his years of exile was for the most part condemned to inaction, while James gained in the arena of European warfare, under the eyeof the greatest generals of his day, the habit of action and of eager disposal of his time.
One more contrast is to be noted.
Charles deliberately allowed himself to sink deeper and deeper into the mire of degrading vice, successfully stifling the voice of his conscience, till to all appearance it ceased to trouble him. James, on the other hand, greatly as he had shared in the prevailing sins of his age, never lost the uneasy sense of remorse, and certainly for the last fifteen years of his life tried to atone for his stained youth by fervent and real penitence. Moreover it is to be reckoned in his favour that he never tolerated any sneers at religion in his presence.
For the rest, he loved England with even passionate fervour. To his dying day he steadily and enthusiastically extolled his fellow-countrymen, banished though he was from the land that was so dear to him; nor could he refrain from sympathetic admiration of his English sailors for their daring gallantry at La Hogue, a gallantry displayed as it was against himself, when with the navy of France he made one more fruitless attempt to regain his lost kingdom.[93]Grammont, gay, careless, superficial,was yet able to sum up the character of the Duke with unusual gravity and deliberation. He bore the “reputation of undaunted courage, inviolable attachment for his word, great economy in his affairs, hauteur, application, arrogance, each in their turn, a scrupulous observer of the rules of duty and the laws of justice; he was accounted a faithful friend and an implacable enemy.”[94]
93.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
93.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
93.Granger’s “Biographical History of England.”
94.“Memoir of the Court of Charles II.,” by Count Grammont, ed. by Sir Walter Scott, revised ed. 1846.
94.“Memoir of the Court of Charles II.,” by Count Grammont, ed. by Sir Walter Scott, revised ed. 1846.
94.“Memoir of the Court of Charles II.,” by Count Grammont, ed. by Sir Walter Scott, revised ed. 1846.
Lastly, let it be said of James Stuart that he cannot be denied the courage of his opinions, mistaken though they were, and grievously as he erred in enforcing them.