Chapter IV: Part 4

Prince Rupert, believing his last moments were at hand, waved his brother Maurice to bring his vessel, _The Honest_ _Seaman_, 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 of _The Admiral_ came 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 aboard _The 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 approach _The 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 distance from 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-named _Honest 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 from his 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 in 1663, 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.

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No. 33. LADY DIANA RUSSELL AS A CHILD.

_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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DRAWING-ROOM.

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DRAWING-ROOM.

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No. 1. LADY ISABELLA DORMER, AFTERWARDS COUNTESS OF MOUNTRATH, AS A
CHILD.

_Tawny dress. Blue drapery. Fastening up a flower._

BY SIR PETER LELY.

She was the second daughter of Charles, third Lord Dormer, and second and last Earl of Carnarvon (of that family), by Elizabeth, daughter of Arthur, Lord Capel. She married Sir Charles Coote, fourth Earl of Mountrath, of a noble family of French extraction, which settled first in Devonshire, and subsequently in Ireland. Sir Charles Coote, for his loyalty and military services, was, at the Restoration, created, with other honours, Earl of Mountrath. It was his grandson, and third Earl of Mountrath, who married the subject of this notice. He was much considered at Court, carried the banner of Ireland at the funeral of Queen Mary in 1694, was one of the Lords Justices in 1696, and died in 1709. His grandson, the sixth Earl, married Lady Diana Newport, daughter of the Earl of Bradford.

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No. 2. LADY DIANA FEILDING.

_Oval. Blue dress. Dark hair._

DIED 1731.

BY SIR PETER LELY.

She was the daughter of Francis Newport, first Earl of Bradford, by Lady Diana Russell. She married, first, Thomas Howard of Ashtead, County Surrey, Esq., Knight of the Bath, Groom of the Bedchamber to George the First, Auditor of the Exchequer, and Clerk Comptroller of the Board of Green Cloth, by whom she had a son, who died while a schoolboy at Westminster, and a daughter married to Lord Dudley and Ward. By her second husband, the Honourable William Feilding, younger son of William, fifth Earl of Denbigh, and second Earl of Desmond (whom she also survived), she left no children. A marble tablet, surmounted by a bust, at Ashtead, where she lies buried, bears this inscription: ‘Be this monument sacred to the memory of Lady Diana Feilding, daughter of Francis Newport, first Earl of Bradford. Her first husband was grandson to the Earl of Berkshire. Surviving her children, this illustrious branch of the house of Howard became her family. To it during her life she assured the inheritance of that estate she enjoyed by the bounty of her first husband, and at her death she made provision still more ample to support the honour and dignity of the present Earl of Berkshire and his descendants. That his gratitude therefore may be preserved in the minds of his latest posterity, Henry Bowes, Earl of Berkshire, has caused this monument to be erected, 1773.’ Lady Diana was very charitable to the poor, and built and endowed alms-houses for six poor widows in the neighbourhood of Leatherhead.

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No. 3. LADY DIANA RUSSELL.

_Oval. Blue velvet gown. Pearl necklace. Fair curls._

BORN 1622, DIED 1694.

BY VERELST.

SHE was the youngest daughter of Francis William, son of William, Lord Russell of Thornhaugh, County North Hants, who succeeded his cousin Edward, as fourth Earl of Bedford. Her mother was Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Giles Bridges, Lord Chandos. Lady Diana married Francis, Viscount Newport (afterwards first Earl of Bradford), a distinguished loyalist, and brave soldier in Charles the First’s army. He was taken prisoner at Oswestry in 1644, at which time his wife (with Lady D’Aubigny and others) also fell into the hands of the rebels, as appears by a letter from the famous Hugh Peters to the Earl of Stamford, soliciting the release of Lady Newport. She died in 1694, and was interred at Chenies, the burial-place of the Russell family in Buckinghamshire.

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No. 4. PORTRAIT OF A LADY. UNKNOWN.

_Dark blue dress. Seated, leaning her arm on a boulder. Landscape in the
background._

BY SIR PETER LELY.

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LIBRARY.

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LIBRARY.

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No. 1. HONOURABLE ORLANDO BRIDGEMAN, GRENADIER GUARDS.

_Undress. Guard’s uniform._

BORN 1794, DIED 1827.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER.

HE was the third son of the first Earl of Bradford by the Hon. Lucy Byng. Was in the Grenadier Guards, and wounded at the battle of Waterloo, and at first reported dead. He married, in 1817, Lady Selina Needham, daughter of Francis, first Earl of Kilmorey, by whom he had three children.

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No. 2. CAPTAIN THE HONOURABLE CHARLES ORLANDO BRIDGEMAN, R.N.

_Naval uniform. Holding a telescope._

BORN 1791, DIED 1860.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER.

HE was the second son of Orlando, first Earl of Bradford (of the Bridgeman family), by Lucy Elizabeth Byng, daughter of George, fourth Viscount Torrington. He entered the Navy in 1804 as first-class volunteer, on board the _Repulse_, Captain the Honourable Arthur Legge, under whom the following year he became Midshipman, and was present at Sir Robert Calder’s action at the Passage of the Dardanelles, and also in the Expedition of the Scheldt. In 1809 he joined the _Manilla_, 36, Captain George Francis Seymour (grandfather to the present Marquis of Hertford, 1885); in 1810 he was confirmed Lieutenant in the _Semiramis_, both on the Lisbon station. He was subsequently appointed Flag-Lieutenant to his old Commander, Rear-Admiral Legge, under whose orders he had first sailed. Charles Bridgeman was present at the defence of Cadiz, and joined successively the _Bellerophon_, hoisting the flag of Sir Richard Keats, on the Newfoundland station, and the _Royal Sovereign_, yacht, Captain Sir John Poer Beresford. For two years he then commanded the _Badger_, in the West Indies station, and assisted in the reduction of Guadaloupe, and later on was appointed to the _Icarus_, in South America, and the _Ruttenheimer_, which was attached to the squadron in the Mediterranean.

Charles Bridgeman retired from active service in 1846, attaining the rank of Vice-Admiral before his death. He married, in 1819, Elizabeth Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Chamberlain, British Consul at Rio Janeiro, by whom he had a family of three sons and five daughters. Charles Bridgeman was remarkable for his personal beauty, and was deservedly popular in the service.

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No. 3. THE HONOURABLE SELINA FORESTER, PRESENT COUNTESS OF BRADFORD.

_Black gown. Small dog in her lap._

BY FRANCIS GRANT, AFTERWARDS SIR FRANCIS GRANT, P.R.A.

THE youngest of the five beautiful daughters of the first Baron Forester, by Lady Katherine Manners, second daughter of the fourth Duke of Rutland. She married, in 1844, Viscount Newport, who succeeded his father as third and present Earl of Bradford, by whom she had four sons and two daughters.

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No. 4. PORTRAIT, SAID TO BE KING RICHARD THE THIRD.

PAINTER UNKNOWN.

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No. 5. ROBERT JENKINSON, SECOND EARL OF LIVERPOOL, K.G.

_Dark coat. White waistcoat._

BORN 1770, DIED 1828.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER.

BEGAN his education at a school at Parsons-green, where he remained till he was thirteen, and was then removed to the Charterhouse, where he continued for two or three years, and distinguished himself in classics and other branches of learning. He afterwards entered Christ Church College, Oxford, but his father had early destined him for public life, and directed Robert’s studies with a view to his future career, making a point that political science, commerce, and finance should be especially attended to. At college young Jenkinson became the companion and friend of George Canning, afterwards Prime Minister, a friendship which continued for a very long period. Robert Jenkinson was at Paris on the breaking out of the Revolution, and witnessed the demolition of the Bastille by the mob: he was the means of affording useful information to the British Government respecting the state of French public affairs, being in close correspondence with Mr. Pitt. On his return to England he was chosen Member of Parliament for Rye, under the especial patronage of the Minister. But his election taking place twelve months before his age qualified him to sit in the House of Commons, he passed the intervening time in Paris. In 1791, on attaining his twenty-first year, he took his seat, and made his first speech in opposition to a motion of Mr. Whitbread’s on foreign affairs, in which the young member showed a wonderful acquaintance with European politics and international law. Both he and his father were opposed to the Abolition of the Slave-trade. When in 1792 Charles Fox moved an address to the King to the effect that his Majesty should send an Ambassador to the French Republic (Lord Gower having been recalled), Mr. Jenkinson, in the absence of Mr. Pitt, replied in indignant and eloquent terms: ‘On this very day, while we are here debating about sending an Ambassador to Paris—on this very day is the King of France to receive sentence; and in all probability it is the day of his murder.’ And he proceeded in glowing terms to point out how ill-advised, undignified, and unfeeling the sanction which would thus be given to ‘sanguinary monsters’ would appear in the sight of all men. Fox’s motion was rejected without a division, and Jenkinson’s eloquence gained him universal praise, Edmund Burke being loud in his approbation. The young member rose in the opinion of all parties from that moment, and continued to take a prominent part as an upholder of the Government, which course he pursued for several years. In 1793 he was appointed one of the Commissioners of the India Board: he invariably distinguished himself, especially when speaking on matters connected with trade and commerce, for which, Mr. Sheridan said, ‘Mr. Jenkinson might be expected to have some claims to hereditary knowledge.’ In 1796 Robert’s father was created Earl of Liverpool, and he himself assumed the title of Lord Hawkesbury. He was a staunch advocate for the union with Ireland, and in 1801 he became Foreign Secretary, on the formation of a new Ministry, which gave him ample scope for his knowledge of political affairs on the Continent; and in the fulfilment of his official duties, he gained new laurels on many occasions too numerous to detail here. Later on, the management of the House of Commons (as it is technically called) devolved upon Lord Hawkesbury, who spoke on all the important questions of the day, and, at the opening of the next session, was called up to the House of Lords in order to strengthen the Ministry in the Upper House. On the return of Mr. Pitt at the head of the Ministry, he received the seals of the Home Department. At a late period of this session, on Mr. Wilberforce again bringing forward his favourite question of the Abolition of the Slave-trade, Lord Hawkesbury was instrumental in opposing the measure in the House of Lords, after it had passed the Commons, a course which he also pursued with regard to the Emancipation of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, advocated by Lord Grenville. On the death of Mr. Pitt in 1806, the King sent for Lord Hawkesbury to form a new Ministry, an offer which he deemed it advisable to decline, accepting, however, the office of Warden of the Cinque Ports. He afterwards resumed his old post as Home Secretary, and, his father dying in 1808, he succeeded to the Earldom of Liverpool. He warmly advocated the cause of Spain, and was selected to move the thanks of the House of Lords to Lord Wellington for his gallantry in the Peninsula. After the assassination of Mr. Perceval in 1812, Lord Liverpool was prevailed upon, after frequent refusals, to accept the office of Prime Minister, and during his long administration, which lasted from 1812 to 1827, many of the questions of the deepest importance connected with home and foreign politics were brought under the notice of the Government. Lord Liverpool never slackened in his attention to public affairs, whatever difference of opinion may have existed then, or subsequently as to the liberality of his opinions. The last occasion on which Lord Liverpool was seen at his post was on the 15th of February 1827, when he moved an address expressing the willingness of the House to make an additional provision for the Duke and Duchess of Clarence. On the next day, after rising apparently in good health, and reading his morning letters, he was found by his servant stretched lifeless on the floor, and when the three most eminent physicians of the day were called in, it was ascertained that Lord Liverpool was suffering from an attack of an apoplectic and paralytic nature. As soon as prudence allowed, he was removed to his house at Combe Wood, where he gradually declined, both in mental and bodily power, and expired, in the presence of his wife, and his brother and successor, the Honourable Charles Cecil Jenkinson, on the 4th of December 1828.

Lord Liverpool was twice married: first, to Lady Louisa Hervey, third daughter of the Bishop of Derry, fourth Earl of Bristol, who died in 1821; and secondly, to Mary, daughter of Charles Chester, Esq., formerly Bagot, brother of the first Lord Bagot. He had no children by either marriage.

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No. 6. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE THE FIRST: EMPEROR OF FRANCE.

_Dark green uniform._

BY DAVID.

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No. 7. GEORGE AUGUSTUS FREDERICK HENRY, SECOND EARL OF BRADFORD.

_Blue coat. White waistcoat. Cloak._

BORN 1789, DIED 1865.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER.

HE was the eldest son of the first Earl of Bradford by the Hon. Lucy Byng. He married, first, Georgina, only daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, Bart., by whom he had several children; and secondly, Helen, widow of Sir David Moncreiffe, Bart., and daughter of Æneas Mackay, Esq., who died at Cannes in 1869.

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No. 8. ANNE BOLEYN, SECOND WIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHTH.

_Large cap. Gown cut square._

EXECUTED 1536.

THIS is a crayon sketch by Holbein, with a memorandum in his own handwriting.

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No. 9. ORLANDO, FIRST EARL OF BRADFORD.

BORN 1762, DIED 1825.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER.

HE was the second Baron Bradford, and promoted to the Earldom in 1815. He married, in 1788, the Hon. Lucy Byng, daughter of George, fourth Viscount Torrington.

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No. 10. QUEEN VICTORIA.

A SKETCH BY THOMAS.

EXECUTED FOR ORLANDO, LORD BRADFORD, WHEN LORD CHAMBERLAIN, BY HER
MAJESTY’S PERMISSION.

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No. 11. GEORGE THE SECOND, KING OF ENGLAND.

_Red coat. Ribbon of the Garter._

BORN 1683, CROWNED KING OF ENGLAND 1727, DIED 1760.

BY PINE.

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No. 13. EDWARD STANLEY, FOURTEENTH EARL OF DERBY, K.G.

_Black frock-coat. White waistcoat. Right hand on a table. Left holds
the string of eye-glass._

BORN 1799, DIED 1869.

BY SIR FRANCIS GRANT, P.R.A.

HE was the eldest son of Edward, Lord Stanley, afterwards thirteenth Earl of Derby by Charlotte, second daughter of the Rev. Geoffrey Hornby.

The subject of this notice was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where in 1819 he gained the Chancellor’s prize for Latin verse for his poem of _Syracuse_. In 1821 he entered the House of Commons as member for Stockbridge, and sat subsequently for Preston, Windsor, and North Lancashire. He was Under-Secretary for the Colonies from 1830 to 1833, Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1833 to 1834, and again from 1841 to 1845. In 1844 he was summoned to the House of Lords in his father’s barony of Stanley, and in 1859 was made a K.G. He was First Lord of the Treasury in 1852, 1858, and 1866. He was a strenuous opposer of Free-trade and the Repeal of the Corn Laws, and his name is invariably connected with ‘Protection.’ Lord Derby was remarkable as a statesman, a scholar, a wit, and an orator. In the latter capacity his enthusiasm and eloquence gained him the sobriquet of ‘the Rupert of Debate.’ In society his brilliant conversation, keen sense of humour, and genial disposition, made him a favourite with men and women of all classes and opinions, and his death was as much deplored in private as in political circles.

He married, in 1825, Emma Caroline, second daughter of Edward, first Lord Skelmersdale, who survived him, and by whom he had two sons and a daughter.

This little picture is the original design of Sir F. Grant for a large portrait of Lord Derby, which was painted for the family, and he afterwards finished it with great care, and gave it to Lord Bradford.

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No. 15. HENRY GRESWOLD LEWIS, ESQ. OF MALVERN HALL.

DIED 1819.

BY CONSTABLE.

HE married the Honourable Charlotte Bridgeman, daughter of Henry, Lord Bradford.

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No. 16. THE HONOURABLE AND REVEREND GEORGE BRIDGEMAN.

_Black coat._

BORN 1765, DIED 1832.

BY CONSTABLE.

HE was the youngest son of Henry, first Lord Bradford, by the daughter and heir of the Rev. John Simpson. He entered the Church, and held successively the family livings of Weston, and Wigan (in Lancashire), where he died.

In 1792 he married Lady Lucy Boyle, only daughter of Edmund, seventh Earl of Cork and Orrery, by whom he had two daughters and one son. Lady Lucy died in 1801, and in 1809 the widower married Charlotte Louisa, daughter of William Poyntz, Esq. of Midgham, Berks, who was first cousin to his first wife. This lady had no children, and she died in 1840, at Hampton Court. Mr. Bridgeman was a most amiable man and a most genial companion. He was beloved in his own family, and among a large circle of friends, by the servants of his household, the poor in his parish, by children, horses, and dogs. Indeed, the influence he exercised over animals was wonderful. In his latter days he possessed a beautiful thoroughbred chestnut mare, hot-tempered and violent by nature, who let no opportunity slip of taking the bit between her teeth. The grooms, until they became ‘up to her wicked ways,’ fought shy of riding her, and the writer’s sister, a splendid and fearless horsewoman, was very much mortified one day at finding she could not hold ‘uncle George’s’ mare. Yet the moment Mr. Bridgeman, then old and infirm, got into the saddle, the generous beast became as quiet as a lamb, and her master would often lay the reins on her beautiful neck, to show the perfect understanding that subsisted between them. Added to an earnest and by no means morose piety, the good pastor possessed a vein of genial humour, and a genuine love of fun, which was doubtless one of the qualities that endeared him to the younger part of the community, and an anecdote is told of him which is highly characteristic. One evening, dining alone at a club in London, where he was little known, it was impossible to avoid overhearing the conversation at a neighbouring table, which, strangely enough, turned on his own son, an officer of the Guards. The diners spoke of the pecuniary difficulties into which he had lately been plunged, and while they confessed his extravagance, they sang his praises—at least he was not selfish, at least he spent his money on others, etc. etc.; no doubt about it, Bridgeman was a capital fellow, the best fellow in the world, and many were the jolly parties they had had at his expense. Now this was a sore subject at that moment to the Rector of Wigan, but his sense of the ludicrous triumphed over every other feeling, and, rising quietly, he advanced towards the astonished group at the other table. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘I am very grateful for the handsome terms in which you have spoken of my son, but will you allow me to remark that it is I who am the best fellow in the world, since it is I who have paid for all those dinners and suppers, which I am delighted to think you have so much enjoyed.’

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No. 17. THE HONOURABLE JOHN BRIDGEMAN SIMPSON.

_Brown coat. White waistcoat._

BORN 1763, DIED 1850.

AFTER HOPPNER. _The Original is at Babworth._

HE was the second son of Henry Bridgeman, first Baron Bradford, of Weston under Lizard, by the daughter and heir of the Rev. John Simpson of Babworth, County Notts. In 1784 he married Henrietta Frances, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Worsley, Bart., by whom (who died in 1791) he had, besides two children who died young, a daughter who became heir to her uncle, Sir Richard Worsley, and married the Honourable Charles Pelham, afterwards Lord Yarborough. John Bridgeman assumed the maternal arms and name of Simpson in 1785, and eventually inherited the property of that family. In 1793 he married, as his second wife, Grace, daughter of Samuel Estwicke, Esq., by whom he had a very numerous family.

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No. 18. SIR GEORGE GUNNING, BART.

_Dark coat._

BORN 1783, DIED 1823.

BY CONSTABLE.

HE was the eldest son of Sir Robert Gunning, Bart., K.B., of Horton, County North Hants, by Anne, only daughter of Robert Sutton, Esq. of Scofton, County Notts. Sir Robert had resided some time at the Courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg, as Minister Plenipotentiary, and was created a Baronet for his diplomatic services. His son and successor, George, married the daughter of Henry Bridgeman, first Lord Bradford, in 1794. Sir George represented the boroughs of Wigan, Hastings, and East Grinstead, at different periods in Parliament.

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No. 19. SIR WILLIAM LOWTHER, BART.

_Brown coat. White waistcoat. Right hand holding a fold of the coat.
White frill._

DIED 1763 (?).

BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

HE was the son of Sir Thomas Lowther of Holker Hall, by Lady Elizabeth Cavendish (called in the family Lady Betty), daughter of the second Duke of Devonshire.

A note in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ handwriting says that he made three copies of the portrait of Sir William Lowther: one for Major Kynaston, one for Mr. Bridgeman, and one for Lord Frederick Cavendish, Lady Elizabeth’s nephew, in 1758. He died unmarried, and left all the Holker property to Lord George Cavendish, on whose death in 1794 the estates devolved on the Duke of Devonshire, and are now in possession of the present Duke (1888). Sir William Lowther was a man of refined taste, had travelled much in Italy, and made an excellent collection of pictures, respecting the purchase of which he gives some amusing details in letters which are still extant at Holker.

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No. 20. VICE-ADMIRAL LORD HUGH SEYMOUR.

_Naval uniform._

BORN 1759, DIED 1801.

BY HOPPNER.

HE was the fifth son of Francis, Earl, afterwards Marquis, of Hertford, by a daughter of the Duke of Grafton. He entered the Royal Navy while yet a boy, and justified his parents’ choice of a profession for him, never losing an opportunity of distinguishing himself in the service he loved. His first cruise was on board the _Pallas_, Captain the Honourable Leveson Gower.

In 1785 he married Lady Horatia Waldegrave, daughter of James, second Earl Waldegrave, with whose beautiful features we are well acquainted in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ world-famed picture of ‘The Three Sisters,’ so long the glory of Strawberry Hill. The union was very happy, only marred by the separations which Lord Hugh’s profession entailed; they had a family of five sons and three daughters. Seymour gained post-rank early, and in 1794 did good service in command of the _Leviathan_, on the glorious 1st of June (Lord Howe’s victory), when he was promoted to a colonelcy of marines. Next year he attained flag-rank, and commanded the _Spaniel_, under Lord Bridport, in that Admiral’s encounter with the French fleet off the island of St. Croix. From 1795 to 1798 Lord Hugh had a seat at the Board of Admiralty, after which he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands, during which time the colony of Surinam surrendered to the English combined naval and military forces under Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour and General Trigge. The Admiral’s eldest son, afterwards Admiral Sir George Seymour, whose son succeeded to the Marquisate of Hertford, was on board his father’s ship, but was invalided home in 1801, and on his arrival in England sad news awaited him. His beloved mother was no more; while a fast sailing ship brought the fatal tidings that a few days after his own departure, Lord Hugh had died of yellow fever. Yet another blow was in store for the poor young sailor, enfeebled by illness, and nearly overwhelmed by this accumulation of sorrow, in the loss of his favourite little brother, William, the pet of the family. The tenderest care and most consummate skill were needed to snatch George Seymour from the jaws of death. But he lived to be an honour to his profession, and a blessing to his family and friends. He inherited his mother’s beauty, as those who remember him can testify. His countenance was noble, his eyes large and brilliant, while even the wide gash of a sabre cut, received in action, across the lips, was powerless to mar the rare sweetness of his smile.

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No. 21. HENRY, FIRST LORD BRADFORD.

_Peer’s Parliamentary robes. White hair._

DIED 1800.

BY ROMNEY (?).

[See page 188.]

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No. 22. GEORGE BRIDGEMAN, ESQ.

_Uniform Grenadier Guards. Scarlet cloak._

BORN 1727, DIED 1767.

BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

HE was the third son of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, by Lady Ann Newport, daughter and heiress of the second Earl of Bradford. He died unmarried at Lisbon.

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No. 23. CAPTAIN JOHN WILLETT PAYNE, R.N., AFTERWARDS VICE-ADMIRAL.

_Naval uniform._

BORN 1752, DIED 1803.

BY HOPPNER.

HE entered the Royal Navy in 1769, on board the _Quebec_, thirty-two guns, Captain Lord Ducie; then served in the _Eagle_, sixty-four guns, bearing the flag of Earl Howe, during the American war, whence he was made Lieutenant, and afterwards promoted to post-rank, July 1780.

Captain Payne distinguished himself on several occasions, especially in an engagement in the West Indies, in 1783, with the _Pluto_, a ship of very superior force. He was in command of the _Russell_, in Lord Howe’s memorable victory, the glorious 1st of June 1794. In 1799 he became Rear-Admiral of the _Red_, and the following year succeeded Lord Bridport as Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital. He brought over Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales, on board the _Jupiter_. Jack Payne, as he was called in society, was a great favourite and constant companion of the Prince of Wales, who appointed him Comptroller of his Household, in which capacity he made himself extremely popular by his courtesy, geniality, and genuine kindness. At the time of his death he had also the command (being then Vice-Admiral) of the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries.

He died at Greenwich, whence he was followed to the grave by an interminable procession of carriages, many of which contained friends and acquaintances, for Admiral Payne was a most popular member of society. He was buried in St. Margaret’s, Westminster.

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No. 24. THE HONOURABLE ORLANDO GEORGE CHARLES BRIDGEMAN, THIRD EARL OF
BRADFORD.

_When a child. In a red frock. Sitting on the lawn._

BORN 1819.

BY SIR GEORGE HAYTER, R.A.

HE is the eldest son of the second Earl of Bradford (of the Bridgeman family), by Georgina, the only daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, Bart. Educated at Harrow School and at Trinity College, Cambridge; was M.P. for Shropshire, from 1842 until he succeeded to the Earldom in 1865; was Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household from February till December 1852, and from February 1858 till June 1859; Lord Chamberlain from 1866 till December 1868; and Master of the Horse to the Queen from 1874 till May 1880; and again from June 1885 till Feb. 1886. He is Deputy-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, and Deputy-Lieutenant of Warwickshire; Captain of the Salopian Yeomanry, 1844, and Lieutenant-Colonel of 1st Battalion of Shropshire Volunteers; also Lord-Lieutenant and _Custos Rotulorum_ of Shropshire since 1875.

In 1844 he married the Honourable Selina Forester, youngest daughter of the first Lord Forester, by Lady Katherine Manners, second daughter of the fourth Duke of Rutland.

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DINING-ROOM.

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DINING-ROOM.

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No. 1. MARGARET HOWARD, COUNTESS OF CARLISLE, AND HER NIECE, LADY DIANA
RUSSELL.

_Reddish brown gown. Resting her hand on a table. Little girl in a white
frock leaning against her aunt’s knee._

BORN 1618. DIED 1664.

BY STONE AFTER VANDYCK.

SHE was the third daughter of Francis, fourth Earl of Bedford, by Catherine Brydges. She married at a very early age James Hay, afterwards second Earl of Carlisle, of that family. Margaret’s father-in-law was often connected with her own father in the political events of the reign of Charles the First. After the death of her husband in 1660, she married her second lord, Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, second Earl of Holland; and lastly, Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester, of whom Clarendon speaks in terms of high eulogium. The little girl in the picture is Lady Diana Russell, afterwards Lady Allington.

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No. 3. THOMAS, EARL OF ARUNDEL AND SURREY.

_In armour. With a boy beside him._

BORN 1592. DIED 1646.

BY VANDYCK.

RESPECTING this picture there has been more than one controversy, and it has been not only erroneously named in a catalogue of a gallery at Madrid, but copied, doubtless from thence, into the edition of engravings of Vandyck’s portraits in the British Museum. It has been miscalled Don Alonzo Perez de Guzman el Bueno and his son. The late Lord Bradford, when in Madrid, saw a replica of the picture in his possession, and made a note to the effect that the portrait could not be that of the Spanish nobleman in question, according to the date of Vandyck’s death. His lordship identified it as that of Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and his grandson.

Thomas was the only son of Philip, Earl of Arundel (who died a prisoner in the Tower), by Anne, sister and co-heir of Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillesland. He was deprived, by his father’s attainder, of the honours and greater part of the estates of his family, and had only the title of Lord Maltravers by courtesy during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, but was restored by Act of Parliament in the first year of James the First (1603) to all the titles and estates which his father had enjoyed before his attainder, as also to the Earldom of Surrey, and to such dignity of baronies as his grandfather, the Duke of Norfolk, had also forfeited. He was, moreover, created Earl Marshal in 1621, and Earl of Norfolk in 1644; he married Lady Alatheia Talbot, daughter, and eventually sole heir, of Gilbert, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, and was succeeded by his second son, Henry Frederick.

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No. 5. DOROTHY, COUNTESS OF SUNDERLAND.

_Crimson dress. Pearl ornaments. Pillar in the background._

BORN 1620, DIED 1683-4.

BY VANDYCK.

IT has been well said of this beautiful and exemplary woman, that she is even (like the old Italian masters of painting) better known to posterity by her sobriquet than her name, for there were more than one Lady Sunderland, but only one ‘Saccharissa.’ The poet, therefore, may lay better claim to the title of godfather than the sponsors who held the infant Dorothy at the font. She was the eldest of the eight daughters of Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester, of that name, by Dorothy, daughter of Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland. Lord and Lady Leicester bore a high character for ‘integrity and refinement of breeding at the Court of Charles the First, while in private life they shone a bright example of domestic harmony.’ Lady Leicester was a provident as well as a tender mother, and she entertained early projects in the matter of an advantageous marriage for her daughter, while Dorothy was still very young. At sixteen the girl was renowned for her beauty, and already surrounded by suitors. There appears to have been a talk at Court of the probability of a match with my Lord Russell, the heir of the house of Bedford; and Lady Leicester writes from the country to her lord at Court, in 1635:

‘It would rejoice me much to receave some hope of that lord’s
addresses to Doll, that you writt of to me, for next to what
consarns you, I confess she is considered by me above any thing
of this world.’

This marriage, however, was not to be, and there was shortly after a talk of the Earl of Devonshire, which, by Lady Leicester’s correspondence, appears to have had some let or hindrance, through the interference of meddling interferers; beside, she considered his mother and sister were ‘full of decaite and jugling,’ professing to desire the union. The next aspirant to the fair hand of the beautiful daughter of Penshurst was no other than the celebrated Lord Lovelace, of whom her mother thus writes: ‘I find my Lord Lovelace so uncertaine and so idle, so much addicted to mean companie, and easily drawn to debaucherie, it is now my studie to brake off with him. Many particulars I could tell you of his wildnesse, but the knowledge of them would be of no use to you, as he is likely to be a stranger to us. For tho’ his estate is goode, his person pretie enowfe, his witte much more than ordinarie, yet dare I not venture to give Doll to him.’ Lady Leicester concludes her letter to her husband by saying, ‘My deere hart, let not these cross accidents trouble you, for we do not know what God has provided for her.’

The poet Waller now came forward and laid himself at the feet of the high-born beauty; he had been left a widower when quite young, and had gifts of nature and fortune to recommend him, but Dorothy’s parents looked for noble birth in a suitor for their daughter’s hand, and it is to be feared the poor poet was dismissed with some disdain. He was not inconsolable, however; he sought solace from his Muse, and, better still, in his union shortly afterwards with a willing bride.

A marriage was at length concluded ‘for dear Doll,’ which was calculated to satisfy the best expectations of her parents, and to ensure her own happiness.

Henry, Lord Spencer of Wormleighton, the first-born son of the second lord, by Penelope, daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, was born at Althorp, his father’s country house, in 1620. To that father’s titles and large estates the young man succeeded in 1636, and in 1639 he was married at Penshurst, Lord Leicester’s beautiful home in Kent, to that nobleman’s eldest and most beloved daughter, Lady Dorothy Sidney. Lord Leicester was at the time Ambassador to the Court of France, and immediately after the marriage the happy young couple hurried off to join the bride’s father in Paris, where they remained for two years, that is to say, until Lord Leicester’s diplomatic mission was at an end. On their return, Lord Spencer took his seat in the House of Lords, and soon made himself an object of esteem and commendation by his talents and general good conduct. These qualities, added to his high position and large property, naturally made him an object worth contending for by the two adverse parties that were now beginning to convulse England. Lord Spencer had liberal views in the literal acceptation of the word, and stoutly opposed many measures which he considered arbitrary that emanated from the Throne; and the Parliament, which was now beginning to assume the executive, had great hopes of the young lord, and believed that they had bound him to their side when he accepted the Lord-Lieutenancy of his native county which they offered him. But Lord Spencer came of a loyal stock, and there is little doubt he cherished the hope of mediating between the King and his Parliament, in which expectation he had many sharers amongst the nobility and gentry of the land. He strove all he could to be a ‘daysman’ between the two factions, but finding that his admonitions to the Parliament when they broke out into open rebellion were of no avail, he proclaimed himself stoutly for the King; and in the early and blissful days of his married life he tore himself from the embrace of his beautiful wife and the calm happiness of his ancestral home, to mix in the noise, turmoil, and danger of a camp, in company with his kinsman and countyman, the gallant Spencer Compton, Earl of Northampton, who was destined to fall at Hopton Heath. Lord Spencer joined the King at York, and when the royal standard was unfurled at Nottingham, he took the field as a volunteer. In his constant letters to his ‘dearest harte,’ he gives a melancholy picture of the perplexed and unsatisfactory state of affairs in the royal army. He says: ‘The discontent that I and other honest men receive dayly is beyond expression,’ and he declares ‘that were it not for the punctilio of honour’ he would not ‘remaine an howre.’

Lord Spencer was with the King at Edgehill, and with Prince Rupert at Bristol, etc. etc., and in 1643 he was raised to the dignity of Earl of Sunderland. He writes a long and most loving letter to his sweetest Doll from before Gloucester, and thanks her for her letters, ‘writing to you and hearing from you being the most pleasant entertainment I am capable of receiving in anie place, but especially here, where, but when I am in the trenches (which are seldom without my company), I am more solitarie than ever I was in mie life.’ In another letter written from Oxford in September 1643, he thus speaks of his little daughter: ‘Pray bless Popet for me, and tell her I would have writt to her, but on deliberation I deem it uncivil to return an answer to a ladie in anie other characters but her own, and that I am not learned enough to do.’ Alas! the brave soldier was never more destined to enjoy his wife’s dear company, or clasp his sweet Popet to his heart. Four days after that letter was penned, the writer was struck down by a cannon ball on the field of Newbury, in company with his friend and brother in arms, ‘the incomparable Falkland,’ and many other brave and loyal spirits. For twelve months Lord Sunderland had fought beside the King, as a volunteer, for he never would accept a commission. There is a most touching letter extant from Lord Leicester to his widowed daughter, which our limited space alone prevents our inserting here. The fair hopes contained in her old admirer Waller’s letter, written at the time of her marriage, to her sister, Lady Lucy Sidney, were far from being fulfilled. After wishing the couple every happiness, he says, ‘May her lord not mourn her long, but go hand in hand with her to that place where is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, but being divorced, we may all have an equal interest in her.’ There spoke the disappointed and jealous lover. Lady Sunderland was with child of a daughter at the period of her lord’s untimely death, who scarcely survived its birth. She retired to her husband’s estate in Northamptonshire, where she made herself generally beloved. ‘She is not to be mentioned,’ says Lloyd in his Memoirs of the Loyalists, ‘without the highest honour, in the catalogue of sufferers, to so many of whom her house was a sanctuary, her interest a protection, her estate a maintenance.’ Influenced, it is said, by her father’s wishes, she contracted a second marriage in 1652 to Sir Robert Smythe, of the family of the Lords Strangford, a gentleman of Kent, but was again left a widow; she survived Sir Robert some time, and, we are told, she continued to see her old flame Waller, to whom she one day put the dangerous question—‘Pray, Master Waller, when will you write such pretty verses to me again?’ Was it the sting of old mortification which prompted the cruel answer, ‘When your ladyship is young and beautiful again’? By her first husband Lady Sunderland had two children, Robert, the second Earl,—the Minister of whom the anecdote is told that when Addison intrusted Edmund Smith with the task of writing a history of the Revolution of 1688, the proposed author asked the staggering question, ‘What shall I do with the character of Lord Sunderland?’ and a daughter, Dorothy, who married Sir George Saville, afterwards Marquis of Halifax. By her second husband she had an only child, Robert, Governor of Dover Castle. Lady Sunderland lies buried by the side of her dearly loved Henry in a beautiful monument, in the Spencer chapel, in the church of Brington, hard by Althorp House, and in that house her name is still a household word; and Saccharissa’s bed, the curtains of which, having her embroidered monogram of S twisting round columns, may still be seen in one of the principal guest-chambers.

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No. 7. CHARLES THE FIRST, KING OF ENGLAND.

_Front face and two profiles._

BORN 1600, SUCCEEDED 1625, EXECUTED 1649.

BY CARLO MARATTI AFTER VANDYCK.

THE second son of James the First, by Anne of Denmark. Married Henrietta Maria of France. Dethroned and beheaded by his subjects. The original of this picture by Vandyck, now at Windsor Castle, was sent to Rome to Bernini, in order that he might make a bust from the same; Carlo Maratti copied the picture while in the sculptor’s studio. On first beholding the beautiful and noble head, the sculptor is said to have exclaimed, ‘That is the portrait of one who is born to misfortune.’

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No. 12. VENETIAN COURTESAN.

BY TITIAN.

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No. 14. EDWARD SEYMOUR, FIRST DUKE OF SOMERSET, THE PROTECTOR.

_Tight-fitting vest. Black hat._

EXECUTED 1552.

BY HOLBEIN.

THE second but eldest surviving son of Sir John Seymour, of Wulfhall, County Wilts, by Margaret, daughter of Sir John Wentworth of Nettlested, County Suffolk. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, and joining his father, who was in high favour at Court, entered the army, distinguished himself in France, and was knighted for his services in 1525. On his return to England he was appointed Esquire to the King, and was one of the challengers in the tilt-yard at Greenwich, when Henry the Eighth kept his Christmas there.