CharlesII.died suddenly, but James lost no time in carrying out his brother’s intention; Ormonde was superseded by Lord Clarendon, the King’s father-in-law, and he had in turn to make way for Ormonde’s bitter enemy, Colonel Talbot, who, in 1687, was made Earl of Tyrconnell and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. His Majesty paid the Duke the scanty compliment of asking him to remain in his post at Court, which he did, and again carried the Crown at the Coronation.
In February 1686 he went to stay a while at Cornbury, a beautifully situated forest lodge in Oxfordshire, lent him by his friend, Lord Clarendon, whence he waited on the King at Bristol; and, being afterwards laid up with gout and rheumatism at Badminton, James visited him twice in person, and condescended to request him to continue his place at Court, though unable to attend. The Duke then proceededto Kingston Hall, a country house he had hired in Dorsetshire, where he died.
The constant society of his faithful friends, Sir Robert Southwell, and the Bishop of Worcester, who had been his domestic chaplain, cheered his last days, and he took much delight in seeing little Lord Thurles, his great-grandson, playing about the room, or in taking the child on his knee to caress him. One day, appearing more than usually downcast, he was asked the reason. ‘This is the anniversary of the saddest day of my life,’ replied the Duke,—‘the day on which I lost my beloved wife.’
He had always been of a religious turn of mind, never entering on any new duty, or assuming any responsibility, without writing for himself special prayers to be used on the occasion. He attended family prayers twice a day up to the very last, received the Sacrament, selecting his fellow-communicants, and took a tender leave of his servants, thanking them for their fidelity, and regretting he had nothing to leave them, beyond a recommendation in his will to his successor. His attendants were lifting him from one side of the bed to the other when his noble spirit passed away, gently, silently, without a groan or struggle.
He had eight sons, all of whom he survived, and two daughters: of his sons, five died very young, and one under peculiar (we are tempted to say national) circumstances. The boy was taking an airing in the Phœnix Park, when the horses took fright and ran away, and theIrishnurse, anxious to save the life of her little charge, flung him headlong from the window!
In appearance the first Duke of Ormonde was tall, well-shaped, and inclined toembonpoint; his complexion was fair, which gained for him the nickname among the Irish of Bawn. He was plain, but elegant, in his dress, especially at Court, when people began to be slovenly; hewore his hat without a button, uncocked, as it came from the block, after the fashion of his Majesty. But he was given to pomp on state occasions; the service of the Viceregal Court was simply splendid,—numbers of coaches, horses, and retainers. In travelling he always carried his staff of office with him, and when they came to a town, his gentleman (bareheaded) bore it through the streets, before his Grace’s coach. He used often to revert in after days to an incident which might well ‘point a moral’ on the danger of that offence, so frequently considered venial,—a white lie. One time, when Lord Ormonde was in France, it was deemed necessary he should go over suddenly and secretly to Ireland for the King’s service, and he accordingly embarked in a small boat, on a stormy day. ‘The master came up to his noble passenger during the voyage, and inquired the hour, and Lord Ormonde, being very anxious to make as quick a passage as possible, told the man an hour later than the real time. The consequence was, that the skipper miscalculated the time of the tide and the boat was wrecked, split in two on the rocks, and Lord Ormonde had to take to the cock-boat, and, finally, to be carried ashore on the shoulders of the seamen. There was no help at hand, for the good people of Havre were all at church, it being a festival. Thus, in consequence of a white lie, told with an excellent motive, the whole crew were nearly drowned, and the delay so great as to endanger the success of the undertaking in which Lord Ormonde was engaged.
We will end a notice, which has had little that is cheerful or exhilarating in its pages, with a repartee which the Duke made to a friend of the family, one Mr. Cottington, who lived near Dublin, and had a pretty house on the sea-shore. The Duke’s third son, Lord Gowran, a most genial and popular member of society, who had given his father much anxiety on account of the laxity of his morals, had presented Mr. Cottingtonwith a set of the Ten Commandments to place over the altar in his new chapel at his marine villa. Much delighted, and doubtless edified, by so appropriate a donation, Mr. Cottington expressed his gratification to the Duke, who thus answered him: ‘I think I can guess at the nature of my son’s generosity; he can easily part with things he does not intend to keep!’
No. 9.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.Black velvet suit. Battle-axe and armour beside him. His hand rests on a table. Landscape in background.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.Black velvet suit. Battle-axe and armour beside him. His hand rests on a table. Landscape in background.
PORTRAIT. UNKNOWN.
Black velvet suit. Battle-axe and armour beside him. His hand rests on a table. Landscape in background.
No. 10.
DUTCH LADY. UNKNOWN.Black dress. White ruff and cap. Standing by a table, on whichshe rests her hand.
DUTCH LADY. UNKNOWN.Black dress. White ruff and cap. Standing by a table, on whichshe rests her hand.
DUTCH LADY. UNKNOWN.
Black dress. White ruff and cap. Standing by a table, on which
she rests her hand.
No. 11.
MARY TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND.Dress of white and gold brocade. Dark bodice. Small ruff. Her hands are clasped.BORN 1516, SUCCEEDED 1553, DIED 1558.
MARY TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND.Dress of white and gold brocade. Dark bodice. Small ruff. Her hands are clasped.BORN 1516, SUCCEEDED 1553, DIED 1558.
MARY TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND.
Dress of white and gold brocade. Dark bodice. Small ruff. Her hands are clasped.
BORN 1516, SUCCEEDED 1553, DIED 1558.
No. 12.
CARDINAL TRENTO.In Cardinal’s robes. Sitting in an arm-chair.BORN 1728, DIED 1784.By Tintoretto.
CARDINAL TRENTO.In Cardinal’s robes. Sitting in an arm-chair.BORN 1728, DIED 1784.By Tintoretto.
CARDINAL TRENTO.
In Cardinal’s robes. Sitting in an arm-chair.
BORN 1728, DIED 1784.
By Tintoretto.
HIEROME Trento came of a noble family in Padua, and, at the age of eighteen, entered the Order of the Jesuits at Bologna. He was zealous and pious in his calling, and unambitious by nature, although he attained to the honours of the Cardinalate. He died in the performance of his duty, while concluding one of the Lent services in the church of San Leone, at Venice. His posthumous works, treating of religion and morality, were published almost immediately after his death.
No. 13.
LOUVE VAN WALTA.
LOUVE VAN WALTA.
LOUVE VAN WALTA.
He married the daughter of Jarich van Botnia, who was ancestor to Lady Henrietta Auverquerque, daughter of the Earl of Grantham, and first wife to the second Earl Cowper.
NORTH LIBRARY.
NORTH LIBRARY.
NORTH LIBRARY.