BREAKFAST-ROOM.

As a boy. In the character of Cupid.BORN 1620, DIED 1653.By Honthorst.

As a boy. In the character of Cupid.

BORN 1620, DIED 1653.

By Honthorst.

HE was the fourth son of Frederic, Elector Palatine (King of Bohemia), by Elizabeth, Princess of England, daughter of James the First. After the battle of Prague, which wrecked their fortunes, the unhappy ex-King and Queen were driven from their palace at Prague, compelled to fly for their lives by unfrequented roads, and through the blinding snowstorms, which impeded the progress of their coach, and from which the fugitives were obliged to alight, and take horse.

Elizabeth displayed the utmost courage and fortitude, despite the intensity of the weather and the delicacy of her health, and mounted gladly on a pillion behind a young English volunteer of the name of Hopton, who would often speak in after-days with love and veneration of his royal fellow-traveller, the Queen of Hearts, the only sovereignty that was now left her. In their distress the unhappy pair sought about for some place of shelter where Elizabeth might be cared for in her hour of approaching trial and her husbandappealed to his brother-in-law, George William of Brandenburg, for the loan of one of his castles, either of Spandau or Custrine. The answer was a grudging permission to inhabit the latter residence, although the owner assured Frederic it was no place for a Queen just fresh from a palace; that it was not commodious or safe from the incursions of their enemies; and, moreover, they would be exposed to cold and famine, as there was no fuel and no food. The fugitives found this account but too true, and even this surly permission would have been withheld but for the intercession of the British Envoy, Wotton. Moreover, their parsimonious host bargained with his needy relatives to defray all expenses, but Elizabeth’s condition allowed of no alternative. Three days after their arrival Prince Maurice was born in this dreary old barrack, with its bare walls and unfurnished interior—a strange contrast to the scene of splendour and festivity which characterised the birth of his brother Rupert. Before the proper time had elapsed that it was advisable for her to travel, the ex-Queen was hurried away, accompanied by little Rupert, to Wolfenbüttel, and afterwards to the Hague, where she found a generous protector and devoted friend in the Stadtholder; the new-born infant being despatched to the care of his widowed grandmother, the Electress Juliana, in Polish Russia. Poor child! he had not the traditional good fortune of one born on Christmas Day. From his earliest childhood he bore his brother Rupert the most devoted affection, and through their lives they were brothers in very truth—brothers in arms and affection; their paths strangely intertwined for soldiers of fortune; they were both prematurely brave, and early initiated into the profession they so much adorned. When together at the siege of Breda, Maurice, waking in the night, heard a noise for which he could not account, so he roused Rupert, and they crept out together in the dark, and werejust in time to save the garrison from a surprise. In 1638 Prince Maurice prosecuted his studies at a French University, and in 1642 gained permission to accompany Rupert, who had been appointed to a high command in the army of their uncle, Charles the First. This gallant pair vied with each other in loyalty and devotion to the English King. Their bravery, their exploits, the various commands they filled, the numerous actions in which they fought (frequently side by side), all these incidents belong to the chronicles of the civil wars of the period. In 1646 the brothers left England, Prince Rupert proceeding to St. Germain to join the Queen-mother there in exile, while Prince Maurice embarked for Holland. The subsequent life of this Prince appears to have been almost entirely passed on the decks of the varied vessels which he in turn commanded, for both he and Rupert secured glory and renown on the broad ocean, as they had already done in the battlefield, and their voyages were frequently made in company. In the notice of the elder, we have given the account of a touching episode in the lives of the two brothers, which we therefore omit here. But Maurice was doomed to find a watery grave in the year 1653, in a hurricane which overtook his vessel off the Virgin Islands. The following is a description of the tragic event: ‘In this fatal wreck, besides many great gentlemen and others, the sea, to glut itself, swallowed the Prince, whose fame the mouth of detraction cannot blast. His very enemies bewailed his loss. Many had more power, few more merit; he lived beloved, and died bewailed.’ Two years after his death there was a rumour that he still lived (but the false report soon died away), that he had been captured by a pirate, and was a slave in Africa, but this unlikely tale gained little or no credence.

No.8. COLONEL WEST.

Black cloak over doublet of same colour. Left hand gloved with white glove and holding the other. Large white cuffs turned back. Hand resting on hip. White deep turned-down collar with tassels.

By Walker.

HE was a distinguished Parliamentarian officer, and much valued by Cromwell. He was engaged in Inverkeithing fight in 1651, and was commended in Oliver Cromwell’s letter to the Speaker of the Parliament of England, reporting the result of that engagement, which he described as an ‘unspeakable mercy.’

Robes of the Garter. Wand of office.DIED 1667.By Sir Peter Lely.

Robes of the Garter. Wand of office.

DIED 1667.

By Sir Peter Lely.

HE was the second born but only surviving son of the third Earl, by Elizabeth, daughter of John Vernon of Hodnet, County Salop. Educated at Eton and Oxford, where he distinguished himself, and afterwards travelled abroad; remained some time in France, where he probably espoused his first wife, and afterwards proceeded to the Low Countries. His father and elder brother had also gone thither, and were attacked by fever.The youth died, and his father (travelling before it was prudent for him to do so), borne down by sorrow, soon followed his beloved child to the grave. Thomas, who had now become Earl of Southampton, found on his return to England that public affairs were in great confusion. The Parliamentarians did all in their power to gain over the young nobleman to their side, but he disapproved of their proceedings, and would take no part in them. He was soon after appointed Privy Councillor and Lord of the Bedchamber to the King, and became henceforth, in every sense of the word, attached to the royal person, to whom he was an excellent friend, often giving him unpalatable advice. He used to sleep in the King’s apartment, and to the best of his power soothed his hours of mental anguish. In 1647, when the unhappy monarch fled from Hampton Court, he took shelter at Titchfield, in Hampshire, Lord Southampton’s country-house, and when brought back to the palace in the hands of his enemies, his first request was for the attendance of his trusty friend. This permission was granted him, and Southampton was one of the last allowed to remain with his royal master, and one of the four mourners who paid the last sad duties to his remains. With Charles the Second he kept up a continued correspondence, and supplied the exile with large sums, hastening to meet him on his arrival in England, when he was rewarded by being made Knight of the Garter, as were other faithful adherents to the Crown, and was shortly afterwards appointed Lord High Treasurer. In this capacity he showed so much independence of spirit and interest in the public welfare as to offend the King, who did not, however, remove him from his office, which was exercised by Southampton, although suffering from a terrible and painful disease which made business occasionally irksome to him. To his credit be it spoken, that during seven years’ management of the Treasury he made but an ordinary fortune, disdaining to sell places, as many of his predecessors had done.

The Earl of Southampton was thrice married: first, to Rachel, daughter of Daniel de Ruvigny, in France, by whom he had two sons, who died young, and three daughters, the second of whom was Rachel, the faithful wife and widow of the patriot, William, Lord Russell; his second Countess was Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Francis Booth, Lord Dunsmore, by whom he had four girls; and his third wife was the daughter of William, second Duke of Somerset, and widow of Viscount Molyneux. He died at Southampton House, in Bloomsbury, which he bequeathed to his daughter, Lady Russell, and was buried at Titchfield. By his death the title of Southampton in the Wriothesley family became extinct.

Slashed doublet. Long fair hair.DIED 1662v.p.By Stone after Vandyck.

Slashed doublet. Long fair hair.

DIED 1662v.p.

By Stone after Vandyck.

SIR George Goring of Hurstpierpoint, County Sussex, was created in 1629 Baron Goring, and in 1645 Earl of Norwich. He married Mary, daughter of Edward Neville, Lord Abergavenny. Their third eldest son was George, the subject of this notice, who distinguished himself greatly in the civil wars. He married in early life Lady Lettice Boyle, daughter of the Earl of Cork. He was wild, eccentric, and extravagant, and Lord Wentworth (afterwards Earl of Strafford), speaking of him in a letter to Lord Carlisle, 1633, says: ‘Young Mr. Goring is gone totravel, having run himself out of £8000, which he purposes to redeem by frugality abroad, unless my Lord Cork can be induced to put to his helping hand, which I have undertaken to solicit for him the best I can, and shall do it with all the power and care my credit and wit shall in any way suggest unto me.’ The noble writer was successful in his negotiation, and Lord Cork was most generous and liberal on this and several other occasions to a son-in-law who gave him much trouble. Not long after the marriage Lord Cork thus writes, in speaking of George Goring: ‘After borrowing money from me for himself and his father, he departed from us without once taking leave of me, and leaving his wife and servants, posted through Scotland on to England on the choice gray gelding I bestowed upon him called Gray Brown, hath much disquieted me, his wife, and friends.’ His poor wife had good reason to be disquieted on this and many other occasions, but she seems to have retained a real affection for her unworthy husband, willing to join him at any summons, and frequently interceding with her generous father for so-called loans and large sums, which never appear to have been repaid.

George Goring, on his arrival in the Low Countries, enlisted as a soldier, entered Lord Vere’s regiment, and soon gained a high command, distinguishing himself at the siege of Breda. On his return to England he was made Governor of Portsmouth, in which capacity he got into trouble with the Parliament, and was summoned before the House of Commons on suspicion of favouring the Royal cause. Anxious to provide for his own interests by pleasing both sides, he contrived to give satisfaction to the Parliament, and was therefore exonerated. Goring was indeed anything but straightforward in his dealings; Lord Clarendon says of him: ‘He could help himself with all the intimation of doubt, or fear, or shame, or simplicity in his face that might gain belief to a greater degreethan I ever saw in any man, and could seem most confounded when he was best resolved, and to want words when they flowed from no man with greater power.’ He cajoled the popular party, corresponded secretly with the King in 1642, threw off the mask he had worn as adherent to the Parliament, and declared openly that he held Portsmouth for Charles the First. The town was besieged by sea and land, and surrendered after a meagre defence; Goring stipulating that he might be allowed to transport himself beyond the seas, which caused great astonishment, as also did his appointment (on his return in 1644) to the command of cavalry in the Royal army in Lincolnshire. He now continued to distinguish himself greatly in the service of the King, and was present in almost every action. In 1646, his father being created Earl of Norwich, he became Lord Goring, and held the commission of Lieutenant-General of several counties, in which capacity he did little good, setting a bad example to the troops by his irregular and immoral conduct. Clarendon says of him that he had a good understanding, a sharp wit, and keen courage, but he did not value his promise or friendship according to any rules of honour or integrity. ‘He loved no man so well but he would cozen him and expose him to ridicule.’ The same historian speaks of Goring’s immoderate ambition, dissimulation, and want of religion. He continued his vacillating line of conduct, and when in difficulties pleaded illness, and gained permission to go to Bath for a cure, but returned to active service, became a Privy Councillor, and had undeserved favours showered upon him by the King. His whole career was marked by contrasts of success and failure, courage and blundering, and animosity towards those who like Prince Rupert filled a high position, and stood well in the opinion of others. After many vicissitudes he resolved to leave England, and proceeded to the Netherlands, where he became Lieutenant-General of the Spanish army, and afterwardsobtained the same command in Spain under Don John de Silva, who, finding that he was in communication with Cardinal Mazarin, had him seized at the head of his troops, and sent prisoner to Madrid. Writers differ as to the termination of this eccentric man’s career. Some say he was put to death in prison for treason, and others that he entered a monastery and died in the habit of a Dominican friar.

Lord Goring had no children. Dying in the lifetime of his father, Lord Norwich was succeeded by his second son, Charles, who married Alice, daughter of Robert Leman, Esq., and widow of Sir Richard Baker, Knight, but having no children the titles of Norwich and Goring became extinct.

In a classical dress, as Mars.BORN 1619, DIED 1682.By Honthorst.

In a classical dress, as Mars.

BORN 1619, DIED 1682.

By Honthorst.

HE was the third son of Frederic, Elector Palatine, and King of Bohemia, by Princess Elizabeth of England, daughter of James the First. Born at Prague during the short-lived period of his parents’ prosperity, while inhabiting the Palace of the Bohemian capital. More than half a century had elapsed since the birth of a royal Prince at Prague, and the event was the occasion of great excitement and rejoicing. Persons of all classes were invited to have a glimpse of the royal infant, swathed in rich wrappings of gold and embroidery. Nobles and ladies, burghers and their wives, officers of state, soldiers, peasants, all flocked to the Palace, and clusteredround the cradle of the future hero. His father thought well to name him Rupert, after the wise and fortunate Elector who, on the death of Wenceslaus, ascended the Imperial throne: and the ceremony of baptism was conducted on a scale of great magnificence, which helped not a little to drain the ill-filled coffers of Frederic and Elizabeth. On the other hand, donations of all kinds poured in from the nobles, the burghers, and their respective wives. Contributions of fruit and flowers were presented by the poorer population, offerings which were most graciously received by the gentle-hearted mother.

Her two elder sons were respectively heirs to titles (alas! how empty) of King, and Elector Palatine. The Bohemian Ministry, willing to do honour to a Prince born ‘in their midst,’ bestowed on the new-born babe the dignity of Duke of Lithuania, which the child did not long enjoy, seeing that a few months after his birth the decisive battle of Prague was the means of driving his parents from their newly-acquired kingdom, penniless and homeless wanderers, compelled to solicit shelter and assistance from cold relatives and fickle friends.

Rupert was the only one of her children who accompanied Elizabeth on her miserable flight from Custrin to Holland (a circumstance to which we have alluded in the sketch of his brother Maurice), where the ex-Queen with her family resided for many years, and where five children were born to her. Little Rupert was sent to the College at Leyden, where his eldest brother Henry was a student, and had already distinguished himself greatly. Amongst other accomplishments, Henry was an elegant letter-writer, and kept up a frequent correspondence with his mother. In one of his letters he tells how ‘dear Rupert is a most lively boy,’ and amused the students when he first arrived by speaking to them in Bohemian.

A soldier at heart from his earliest childhood, Rupert did not remain long at Leyden, but entered the army under Henry Frederic of Nassau, and (Lodge tells us) was present at the siege of Thynberg, although another biographer places the date of his first action several years later. Be this as it may, in 1637 he marched with his brother, Charles Louis, who now called himself Elector Palatine (their father being dead), against the Imperialists. The gallant Lord Craven had constituted himself the guardian of ‘the Palatine Princes,’ and accompanied them in the expedition, writing frequently to their mother at the Hague, to give tidings of Charles and the beloved Rupert. Lord Craven had warmly espoused the cause of Frederic, and was now the devoted friend of the royal widow and her family. He and his two charges distinguished themselves during the siege of Lippe, but being worsted in an encounter with General Hatzfeldt, Charles Louis had a narrow escape of his life. He crossed the river in his coach, and, clinging to the shrubs and underwood, climbed up on the precipitous bank of the opposite shore, and made his way to Holland. His brother and Lord Craven were both taken prisoners by the Imperialists, and carried to Vienna, where they were lodged in the castle. With much difficulty Rupert found means to have a few lines conveyed to his mother, wherein, after some tender expressions of filial love and respect, he assured her that no power on earth should induce him to renounce his party, or abjure his faith. Lord Craven succeeded in regaining his freedom, by paying the large ransom of £20,000; but all attempts to procure the deliverance of Rupert proved unavailing. It was only at the expiration of three years, and on condition that he would undertake never again to bear arms against the Emperor, that the young Prince was set at liberty, shortly after which event he received an offer from his uncle, Charles the First, of the command of the cavalry in theRoyal army, the King having unfurled his standard against the Parliamentarians. He was accompanied by his brother Maurice, whose love and admiration for his elder were unbounded; and the exploits of these gallant Princes in the service of their royal uncle, are they not written in the books of the chronicles of the civil wars of England?

After the execution of Charles the First Rupert received a new commission from Charles the Second, and continued to distinguish himself by sea and land; went to Portugal, the Mediterranean, the French coast, Madeira, the Azores, etc. etc.; encountered all kinds of dangers and vicissitudes, reverses and successes. A more chequered life is scarcely on record than that of Prince Rupert.

Our space is too limited to admit of any lengthened details of his adventures, ‘moving accidents by flood and field,’ and of all his ‘hair-breadth ‘scapes’; but one passage in his life is too full of romantic interest, and so characteristic of the fraternal affection of the Palatine Princes, to be passed over in silence. Captain Fearnes, who commanded the fine shipThe Admiral, gives a noble and touching description of the incidents connected with the wreck of his vessel. One of the most disastrous tempests ever recorded in a seaman’s log overtook the English fleet, then cruising among the Western Islands, and after every endeavour had been made to save the ship without a chance of success, Captain Fearnes, who survived the wreck, gives the following report: ‘It was resolved that the ship must be our grave, and every man very well resolved to die, and the minister told us that as many as would receive the Sacrament he would administer it, and desired that we would give him notice, when we saw we were past all hope, to come to the place appointed, there to receive it, and die all together.’

Prince Rupert, believing his last moments were at hand, waved his brother Maurice to bring his vessel,The HonestSeaman, under the Admiral’s stern, to bid his beloved brother an eternal farewell, to give him his last directions and express his last wishes. Maurice, regardless of his own safety, commanded his men to lower a boat, either to save Rupert, or to put him on board and let them die together. His officers refused, as they said it would be to their own destruction, and be of no avail in saving Rupert. They made, indeed, a feint of lowering the boat, but paid little heed to the agony of their commander. Then the crew ofThe Admiralcame to a noble decision. Deeply touched by the devotion which his Highness displayed, they conjured him to seek safety in the one little boat that was left them. This he steadily refused, saying ‘that as they had run all risks with him, so he would participate them.’ Thus did either try to breathe their last in unspeakable magnanimity. The brave seamen were not to be foiled; they elected a crew of undaunted lads, hoisted out their boat, and by force thrust their brave Prince into the same. He was put aboardThe Honest Seaman, and immediately sent back the skiff to save as many as was possible, specifying the names of three officers, one of whom alone (and that the captain in command) accepted the offer. Fearnes was blamed by many for deserting his ship’s company. He and the Prince’s servant were boarded on one of the vessels, but the unfortunate little skiff was swamped. The Prince strove in vain to approachThe Admiral, but it could not be done from stress of weather, and the doomed crew waved a sad farewell from the deck of the sinking ship to their comrades. In all, 333 men perished in this fatal storm, but the whole story remains a glorious passage in the annals of British seamen. Rupert’s regret for the loss of a noble ship, with a rich freight on board, was little in comparison with his grief for that of his valued messmates. He was again threatened with a watery grave in a tremendous hurricane which overtook the fleet when at a short distancefrom the Virgin Islands, and in this fatal storm he had to deplore the loss of his devoted friend and brother, Prince Maurice, who went down on the deck of the well-namedHonest Seaman. Yet once more he had an escape from drowning when at Paris at the Court of Louis the Fourteenth, in company with Charles the Second. A letter from a Roundhead thus details the circumstance:—

‘The Seine had like to have made an end of your Black Prince Rupert’ (he was swimming with the King and Duke of York); ‘he was near being drowned if it had not been for the help of one of his servants, who dragged him up by the hair of his head.’ These ‘highly liveried blackamoors,’ like all other dependants of the Prince, were much attached to their noble master.

On his return to England in 1662 Rupert seems to have given himself up to the pursuit of philosophical and scientific studies, even (so it was affirmed by many) to those of an occult nature. He fitted up for himself a workshop in the High Tower of Windsor Castle, furnished with forges, crucibles, retorts, instruments of all sorts, and here ‘the hero of a hundred fights’ might be seen with blacksmith’s apron and bare brawny arms indulging in all the experiments of vital interest to a chemist and an alchemist. In this laboratory he was frequently visited by his royal cousin the King, and his favourite the Duke of Buckingham, both of whom took a great delight in Rupert’s occupations. This strange man had other apartments assigned to him in the castle, where he kept stores of armour and weapons from all parts of the world, together with a library of valuable books, the catalogue of which is still extant. John Evelyn was a great admirer of Rupert’s versatile talents, and was a delighted listener when the Prince related to him the discovery that he had made of mezzotint engraving. The story is well known how on one occasion, when at Brussels, the Prince observed a sentinel at some distance fromhis post very busy doing something to his piece. Rupert asked what he was about; he replied the dew had fallen in the night, had made his fusil rusty, and that he was scraping and cleaning it. The Prince, examining the gun, was struck with something like a figure eaten into the barrel with innumerable little holes closed together like friezed work on gold or silver, part of which the soldier had scraped away. This suggested to the Prince a contrivance which resulted in the discovery of mezzotint engraving, carried out in company with his protégé, the painter, Wallerant Vaillant. Great rivalry was excited on the occasion, and many people laid claim to an invention which was clearly that of Rupert.

Other discoveries and inventions of this wonderful man we leave to his more complete biographers. He found time in the midst of these engrossing pursuits to become enamoured of the charms of Francisca Bard, daughter of Lord Bellamont, by whom he had a son, on whose education he bestowed much care. He was called Dudley Bard, and grew up to emulate his father’s military ardour and undaunted courage, but was killed at the siege of Buda in 1686, having just attained his twentieth year.

Negotiations were carried on at one time for an alliance between Rupert and a member of a royal house, but came to an end in consequence of the Prince’s slender means.

In 1660 he once more embarked to oppose the French, alternating his beloved studies with his military and naval duties, but an old wound he had received in the head some time before put him to great torture and endangered his life, so much so that he was obliged to be trepanned. Requiring rest after the operation, he joined the Merry Monarch’s merry Court at Tunbridge Wells, and had not long been there before he formed a connection with the fair Mistress Hughes, an actress belonging to the King’s company, and one of the earliest female performers, who began her theatrical career in1663, and gained great distinction in the character of Desdemona. The fascinations of this lady had a softening and refining influence on the manners and habits of his Highness, and even his beloved studies were neglected for the delights of her society. His dress was no longer neglected, and he vied with the other courtiers of his royal cousin in gallantry and compliments, but the beautiful comedian was not so easy of access as most of her compeers, and it was some time before she was induced to listen to her royal lover’s suit. He was most lavish in his expenditure, grudging nothing to the fair siren. He purchased for her the magnificent seat of Sir Nicholas Crispe, near Hammersmith, afterwards the residence of the Margrave of Brandenburg, which cost £25,000 in the building.

By her he had a daughter named Ruperta, married to General Howe, of whom there is a most characteristic portrait in the collection of the Earl of Sandwich at Hinchingbrook. Mrs. Hughes remained on the stage for many years after Prince Rupert’s death, who saw little of her in his later days, but bequeathed a large property to her and her daughter.

After leaving Tunbridge Wells he returned to Windsor, and resumed his studies, until called once more into active service. In 1673 he was appointed Lord High Admiral in place of the Duke of York, and commanded the fleet against the United Provinces, when, as usual, he distinguished himself. On the 29th of November 1682 Prince Rupert died in his house at Spring Gardens, ‘mourned and respected’ by men of the most differing interests. A magnificent funeral was allotted to him, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Count Grammont, in his Memoirs, gives anything but a flattering description of the Prince’s personal appearance, but we are more inclined to credit the testimony of such painters as Honthorst, Lely, and Kneller, whose portraits are undoubtedly noble and prepossessing.

No.33. LADY DIANA RUSSELL AS A CHILD.

Elizabethan ruff. Elaborate lace head-dress. Rich frock. Coraland bells. Holds a pack of cards.DIED 1701.

Elizabethan ruff. Elaborate lace head-dress. Rich frock. Coral

and bells. Holds a pack of cards.

DIED 1701.

SHE was the second daughter of William, fifth Earl (afterwards first Duke) of Bedford. At an early age she gave much anxiety to her family, from having, it is said, eaten some poisonous berries, which caused the death of her sister Anne. Diana recovered, and married, in 1667, Sir Greville Verney of Compton Verney, County Warwick; and secondly, William, third Baron Allington of Wymondley and Killard, of Horseheath, County Cambridge, Constable of the Tower. Lady Allington appears to have taken a keen interest in the passing events of the day, especially in the Revolution of 1688. She is often mentioned in terms of genuine affection by Rachel, Lady Russell, in her letters.

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