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THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OE 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 PR5612 
 • A 1 
 1853 
 v. 2 
 
I riKl'Kl^.^Kf - AT C «APEL HILL 
 
 mm 
 
 00045729158 
 
 This book is due at the LOUIS R. WILSON LIBRARY on the 
 last date stamped under "Date Due." If not on hold it may be 
 renewed by bringing it to the library. 
 
 DATE 
 DUE 
 
 RET. 
 
 DATE 
 DUE 
 
 RET. 
 
 
 DEC - 1 7£ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ESMOND. 
 
 A STORY OF QUEEN ANNE'S REIGN. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. M. THACKERAY, 
 
 Author of " Vanity Fair," " Pendennis" &c. 
 
 Volume II. 
 
 §£fr The Author of this work gives notice that he referves to 
 himfelf the right of translating it. 
 
■i 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/historyofhenryes02thac 
 
4 \ 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY ESMOND, 
 
 A COLONEL IN THE SERVICE OF HER MAJESTY 
 Q. ANNE. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 Servetur ad imum 
 Qualis ab incepto proceflerit, et fibi conftet, 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 Volume the Second. 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for SMITH, ELDER, & Company, 
 
 OVER AGAINST ST. PETER'S CHURCH IN CORNHILL. 
 
 1853. 
 
 Esq. 
 
LONDON: 
 nted by Bradbury & Evans, 
 /// the PrecinFi of Whitefriars. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Page 
 
 Contains Mr. EfmoncTs military life and other matters 
 
 appertaining to the Efmond family . . . , I 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I am in prifon, and vifited, but not confoled there . . 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I come to the end of my captivity, but not of my trouble 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I take the Queen's pay in Quin's Regiment ... 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Recapitulations . . 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I go on the Vigo Bay Expedition, tafte fait water and 
 
 fmell powder ........ 75 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The 29th December 98 
 
vi Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Page 
 
 I am made welcome at Walcote 113 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Family talk . . . . . . . . . 134 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 I make the campaign of 1704 . . . . . 148 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 An old ftory about a fool and a woman . . . . 168 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The famous Mr. Jofeph Addifon 188 
 
 • CHAPTER XII. 
 I get a company in the campaign of 1706 . . . . 211 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 I meet an old acquaintance in Flanders, and find my 
 
 mother's grave and my own cradle there . . .222 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The campaign of 1707, 1708 248 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 General Webb wins the battle of Wynendael . . .265 
 
BOOK II. 
 
 CONTAINS MR. ESMOND'S MILITARY LIFE AND 
 OTHER MATTERS APPERTAINING TO THE 
 ESMOND FAMILY. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY ESMOND. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I AM IN PRISON, AND VISITED, BUT NOT CONSOLED THERE. 
 
 THOSE may imagine, who have feen 
 Death untimely ftrike down perfons 
 revered and beloved, and know how unavailing 
 confolation is, what was Harry Efmond's anguifti 
 after being an a<5tor in that ghaftly midnight 
 fcene of blood and homicide. He could not, he 
 felt, have faced his dear miftrefs, and told her 
 that ftory . He was thankful that kind Atterbury 
 confented to break the fad news to her ; but, 
 befides his grief, which he took into prifon with 
 him, he had that in his heart which fecretly 
 cheered and confoled him. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 A great fecret had been told to Efmond by 
 his unhappy ftricken kinfman, lying on his death- 
 bed. Were he to difclofe it, as in equity and 
 honour he might do> the difcovery would but 
 bring greater grief upon thofe whom he loved beft 
 in the world, and who were fad enough already. 
 Should he bring down fhame and perplexity upon 
 all thofe beings to whom he was attached by fo 
 many tender ties of affe&ion and gratitude ? 
 degrade his father's widow ? impeach and fully 
 his father's and kinfman's honour ? and for what ? 
 for a barren title, to be worn at the expenfe of 
 an innocent boy, the fon of his deareft bene- 
 fa&refs. He had debated this matter in his 
 confcience, whilft his poor lord was making his 
 dying confeflion. On one fide were Ambition, 
 Temptation, Juftice, even ; but Love, Gratitude, 
 and Fidelity, pleaded on the other. And when 
 the ftruggle was over in Harry's mind, a glow 
 of righteous happinefs filled it ; and it was with 
 grateful tears in his eyes that he returned thanks 
 to God for that decifion which he had been 
 enabled to make. 
 
 " When I was denied by my own blood," 
 thought he, cf thefe deareft friends received and 
 
In prifon. 
 
 5 
 
 cherifhed me. When I was a namelefs orphan 
 myfelf, and needed a protedtor, I found one in 
 yonder kind foul, who has gone to his account 
 repenting of the innocent wrong he has done. 
 
 And with this confoling thought he went away 
 to give himfelf up at the prifon, after kifling the 
 cold lips of his benefador. 
 
 It was on the third day after he had come to 
 the Gatehoufe prifon, (where he lay in no fmall 
 pain from his wound, which inflamed and ached 
 feverely ;) and with thofe thoughts and refolutions 
 that have been juft fpoke of, to deprefs, and yet 
 to confole him ; that H. Efmond's keeper came 
 and told him that a vifitor was afking for him, 
 and though he could not fee her face, which was 
 enveloped in a black hood, her whole figure, too, 
 being veiled and covered with the deepeft: 
 mourning, Efmond knew at once that his vifitor 
 was his dear miftrefs. 
 
 He got up from his bed, where he was lying, 
 being very weak ; and advancing towards her, as 
 the retiring keeper fhut the door upon him and 
 his gueft in that fad place, he put forward his left 
 hand (for the right was wounded and bandaged), 
 and he would have taken that kind one of his 
 
6 The Hijlory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 miftrefs, which had done fo many offices of 
 friendfhip for him for fo many years. 
 
 But the Lady Caftlewood went back from him, 
 putting back her hood, and leaning againft the 
 great ftanchioned door which the gaoler had juft 
 clofed upon them. Her face was ghaftly white, 
 as Efmond faw it, looking from the hood ; and 
 her eyes, ordinarily fo fweet and tender, were 
 fixed at him with fuch a tragick glance of 
 woe and anger, as caufed the young man, 
 unaccuftomed to unkindnefs from that perfon, to 
 avert his own glances from her face. 
 
 Cf And this, Mr. Efmond," flie faid, cf is 
 where I fee you ; and 'tis to this you have 
 brought me ! " 
 
 cc You have come to confole me in my 
 calamity, madam," faid he (though, in truth, he 
 fcarce knew how to addrefs her, his emotions, at 
 beholding her, fo overpowered him). 
 
 She advanced a little, but flood filent and 
 trembling, looking out at him from her black 
 draperies, with her fmall white hands clafped 
 together, and quivering lips and hollow eyes. 
 
 cc Not to reproach me/' he continued, after a 
 paufe. cc My grief is fufficient as it is." 
 
In torture. 7 
 
 cc Take back your hand — do not touch 
 me with it ! " fhe cried. cc Look ! there's 
 blood on it!" 
 
 fc I wifh they had taken it all," faid Efmond, 
 <c if you are unkind to me." 
 
 "Where is my hufband ? " fhe broke out. 
 cc Give me back my hufband, Henry. Why did 
 you ftand by at midnight and fee him murdered ? 
 Why did the traitor efcape who did it ? You, 
 the champion of your houfe, who offered to die 
 for us ? You that he loved and trufted, and to 
 whom I confided him — you that vowed devotion 
 and gratitude, and I believed you — yes, I believed 
 you — why are you here, and my noble Francis 
 gone ? Why did you come among us ? You 
 have only brought us grief and forrow; and 
 repentance, bitter, bitter repentance, as a return 
 for our love and kindnefs. Did I ever do you 
 a wrong, Henry ? You were but an orphan 
 child when I firft faw you — when he first faw you, 
 who was fo good, and noble, and trufting. He 
 would have had you fent away, but like a foolifh 
 woman, I befought him to let you ftay. And 
 you pretended to love us, and we believed you — and 
 you made our houfe wretched, and my hufband's 
 
8 T'he Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 heart went from me : and I lost him through 
 you — I loft him — the hufband of my youth, I 
 fay. I worfhipped him : you know I worfhipped 
 him — and he was changed to me. He was no 
 more my Francis of old — my dear, dear foldier. 
 He loved me before he faw you ; and I loved 
 him ; O, God is my witnefs how I loved him ! 
 Why did he not fend you from among us ? 
 5 Twas only his kindnefs that could refufe me 
 nothing then. And, young as you were, — yes, 
 and weak and alone — there was evil, I knew there 
 was evil, in keeping you. I read it in your face 
 and eyes. I faw that they boded harm to us — 
 and it came, I knew it would. Why did you 
 not die when you had the fmall-pox — and I came 
 myfelf and watched you, and you didn't know 
 me in your delirium — and you called out for me, 
 though I was there at your fide. All that has 
 happened fince, was a juft judgment on my 
 wicked heart — my wicked jealous heart. O, I 
 am punifhed, awfully punifhed ! My hufband 
 lies in his blood — murdered for defending me, 
 my kind, kind, generous lord — and you were by, 
 and you let him die, Henry ! " 
 
 Thefe words, uttered in the wildnefs of her 
 
In torture. 
 
 9 
 
 grief, by one who was ordinarily quiet, and fpoke 
 feldom except with a gentle fmile and a foothing 
 tone, rung in Efmond's ear ; and 'tis said that 
 he repeated many of them in the fever into 
 which he now fell from his wound, and perhaps 
 from the emotion which fuch paffionate unde- 
 ferved upbraidings caufed him. It feemed as if 
 his very sacrifices and love for this lady and her 
 family were to turn to evil and reproach : as if 
 his presence amongfl: them was indeed a caufe of 
 grief, and the continuance of his life but woe and 
 bitternefs to theirs. As the Lady Caftlewood 
 fpoke bitterly, rapidly, without a tear, he never 
 offered a word of appeal or remonftrance ; but 
 fate at the foot of his prifon-bed, ftricken only 
 with the more pain at thinking it was that foft 
 and beloved hand which fhould ftab him fo 
 cruelly, and powerlefs againft her fatal sorrow. 
 Her words as fhe fpoke ftruck the chords of all 
 his memory, and the whole of his boyhood and 
 youth paffed within him, whilft this lady, fo fond 
 and gentle but yefterday, — this good angel whom 
 he had loved and worfhipped, — ftood before him, 
 pursuing him with keen words and afpeft malign. 
 " I wifti I were in my lord's place," he groaned 
 
io The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 out. cc It was not my fault that I was not there, 
 Madam. But Fate is ftronger than all of us, 
 and willed what has come to pafs. It had been 
 better for me to have died when I had the 
 illnefs." 
 
 cc Yes, Henry/' faid fhe — and as fhe fpoke 
 fhe looked at him with a glance that was at once 
 fo fond and fo fad, that the young man toffing 
 up his arms wildly fell back, hiding his head in 
 the coverlet of the bed. As he turned he ftruck 
 against the wall with his wounded hand, difplacing 
 the ligature ; and he felt the blood rufhing again 
 from the wound. He remembered feeling a 
 fecret pleafure at the accident — and thinking 
 cc Suppofe I were to end now, who would grieve 
 for me ?" 
 
 This hemorrhage, or the grief and defpair in 
 which the lucklefs young man was at the time of 
 the accident, muft have brought on a deliquium 
 prefently ; for he had fcarce any recollection 
 afterwards, fave of fome one, his miftrefs 
 probably, feizing his hand — and then of the 
 buzzing noife in his ears as he awoke, with two 
 or three perfons of the prifon around his bed, 
 whereon he lay in a pool of blood from his arm. 
 
Love lies a bleeding. 1 1 
 
 It was now bandaged up again by the prifon 
 furgeon, who happened to be in the place : and 
 the governor's wife and fervant, kind people both, 
 were with the patient. Efmond faw his miftrefs 
 ftill in the room when he awoke from his trance : 
 but fhe went away without a word ; though the 
 governor's wife told him that fhe fate in her room 
 for fome time afterward, and did not leave the 
 prifon until fhe heard that Efmond was likely to 
 do well. 
 
 Days afterwards, when Efmond was brought 
 out of a fever which he had, and which attacked 
 him that night pretty fharply, the honeft keeper's 
 wife brought her patient a handkerchief frefh 
 wafhed and ironed, and at the corner of which 
 he recognifed his miftrefs's well-known cipher 
 and vifcountefs's crown. cf The lady had bound 
 it round his arm when he fainted, and before fhe 
 called for help/' the keeper's wife faid. cc Poor 
 lady ; fhe took on fadly about her hufband. He 
 has been buried to-day, and a many of the 
 coaches of the nobility went with him, — my Lord 
 Marlborough's and my Lord Sunderland's, and 
 many of the officers of the Guards, in which he 
 ferved in the old King's time : and my lady 
 
12 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 has been with her two children to the King at 
 Kenfington, and alked for juftice againft my Lord 
 Mohun, who is in hiding, and my lord the Earl 
 of Warwick and Holland, who is ready to give 
 himfelf up and take his trial." 
 
 Such were the news, coupled with aflertions 
 about her own honefty and that of Molly her 
 maid, who would never have ftolen a certain 
 trumpery gold fleeve-button of Mr. Efmond's 
 that was miffing after his fainting fit, that the 
 keeper's wife brought to her lodger. His 
 thoughts followed to that untimely grave, the 
 brave heart, the kind friend, the gallant gentle- 
 man, honeft of word and generous of thought 
 (if feeble of purpofe, but are his betters much 
 ftronger than he ?) who had given him bread and 
 fhelter when he had none ; home and love when 
 he needed them ; and who, if he had kept one 
 vital fecret from him, had done that of which he 
 repented ere dying, — a wrong indeed, but one 
 followed by remorfe, and occafioned by almoft 
 irrefiftible temptation. 
 
 Efmond took his handkerchief when his nurfe 
 left him, and very likely kifled it, and looked at 
 the bauble embroidered in the corner. cc It has 
 
Trial of my Lords. 
 
 f3 
 
 coft thee grief enough/' he thought, cf dear lady, 
 fo loving and fo tender. Shall I take it from 
 thee and thy children ? No, never ! Keep it, 
 and wear it, my little Frank, my pretty boy. If 
 I cannot make a name for myfelf, I can die with- 
 out one. Some day, when my dear miftrefs fees 
 my heart, I fhall be righted ; or if not here or 
 now, why, elfewhere : where Honour doth not 
 follow us, but where love reigns perpetual." 
 
 'Tis needlefs to narrate here, as the reports of 
 the lawyers already have chronicled them, the par- 
 ticulars or iflue of that trial which enfued upon 
 my Lord Caftlewood's melancholy homicide. 
 Of the two lords engaged in that fad matter, the 
 fecond, my lord the Earl of Warwick and 
 Holland, who had been engaged with Colonel 
 Weftbury, and wounded by him, was found not 
 guilty by his peers, before whom he was tried 
 (under the prefidence of the Lord Steward, Lord 
 Somers) ; and the principal, the Lord Mohun, 
 being found guilty of the manflaughter, (which, 
 indeed, was forced upon him, and of which he 
 repented moft fincerely,) pleaded his clergy ; and 
 fo was difcharged without any penalty. The 
 widow of the ilain nobleman, as it was told us 
 
14 The Hijlory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 in prifon, fhowed an extraordinary fpirit ; and 
 though fhe had to wait for ten years before her 
 fon was old enough to compafs it, declared flie 
 would have revenge of her hufband's murderer. 
 So much and fuddenly had grief, anger and mif- 
 fortune appeared to change her. But fortune, 
 good or ill, as I take it, does not change men and 
 women. It but develops their characters. As 
 there are a thoufand thoughts lying within a man 
 that he does not know till he takes up the pen to 
 write, fo the heart is a fecret even to him (or her) 
 who has it in his own breaft. Who hath not 
 found himfelf furprifed into revenge, or a&ion, 
 or paflion, for good or evil ; whereof the feeds 
 lay within him, latent and unfufpefted until the 
 occafion called them forth ? With the death 
 of her lord, a change feemed to come over the 
 whole condud: and mind of Lady Caftlewood ; 
 but of this we fhall fpeak in the right feafon 
 and anon. 
 
 The lords being tried then before their peers at 
 Weftminfter, according to their privilege, being 
 brought from the Tower with ftate proceflions 
 and barges, and accompanied by lieutenants and 
 axemen, the commoners engaged in that melan- 
 
The feconds alfo tried. 
 
 choly fray took their trial at Newgate, as became 
 them ; and, being all found guilty, pleaded like- 
 wife their benefit of clergy. The fentence, as we 
 all know, in thefe cafes is, that the culprit lies a 
 year in prifon, or during the King's pleafure, and 
 is burned in the hand, or only ftamped with a 
 cold iron ; or this part of the punifhment is 
 altogether remitted at the grace of the Sovereign. 
 So Harry Efmond found himfelf a criminal and a 
 prifoner at two- and- twenty years old ; as for the 
 two colonels, his comrades, they took the matter 
 very lightly. Duelling was a part of their bufi- 
 nefs ; and they could not in honour refufe any 
 invitations of that fort. 
 
 But the cafe was different with Mr. Efmond. 
 His life was changed by that ftroke of the 
 fword which deftroyed his kind patron's. As 
 he lay in prifon old Dr. Tufher fell ill and died ; 
 and Lady Caftlewood appointed Thomas Tufher 
 to the vacant living ; about the filling of which 
 fhe had a thoufand times fondly talked to Harry 
 Efmond : how they never fhould part ; how he 
 fhould educate her boy ; how to be a country 
 clergyman, like faintly George Herbert or pious 
 Dr. Ken, was the happinefs and greateft lot in 
 
1 6 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 life; how (if he were obftinately bent on it, 
 though, for her part, fhe owned rather to holding 
 Queen Befs's opinion, that a bifhop fhould have 
 no wife, and if not a bifhop, why a clergyman ?) 
 fhe would find a good wife for Harry Efmond : 
 and fo on, with a hundred pretty profpe<5ts told 
 by firefide evenings, in fond prattle, as the chil- 
 dren played about the hall. All thefe plans were 
 overthrown now. Thomas Tufher wrote to 
 Efmond, as he lay in prifon, announcing that his 
 patronefs had conferred upon him the living his 
 reverend father had held for many years ; that fhe 
 never, after the tragical events which had 
 occurred (whereof Tom fpoke with a very 
 edifying horror), could fee in the revered 
 Tufher's pulpit, or at her fon's table, the man 
 who was anfwerable for the father's life ; that her 
 ladyfhip bade him to fay that fhe prayed for her 
 kinfman's repentance and his worldly happinefs ; 
 that he was free to command her aid for any 
 fcheme of life which he might propofe to himfelf ; 
 but that on this fide of the grave fhe would fee 
 him no more. And Tufher, for his own part, 
 added that Harry ihould have his prayers as a 
 friend of his youth, and commended him whilft 
 
Thos. Tujher. 
 
 17 
 
 he was in prifon to read certain works of 
 theology, which his Reverence pronounced to be 
 very wholefome for finners in his lamentable 
 condition. 
 
 And this was the return for a life of devotion 
 - — this the end of years of affedionate intercourfe 
 and paffionate fidelity ! Harry would have died 
 for his patron , and was held as little better than 
 his murderer : he had facrificed, fhe did not 
 know how much, for his miftrefs, and fhe threw 
 him afide — he had endowed her family with all 
 they had, and fhe talked about giving him alms 
 as to a menial ! The grief for his patron's lofs : 
 the pains of his own prefent pofition, and doubts 
 as to the future : all thefe were forgotten under 
 the fenfe of the confummate outrage which he 
 had to endure, and overpowered by the fuperior 
 pang of that torture. 
 
 He writ back a letter to Mr. Tufher from his 
 prifon, congratulating his Reverence upon his 
 appointment to the living of Caftlewood: 
 farcaftically bidding him to follow in the foot- 
 fteps of his admirable father, whofe gown had 
 defcended upon him — thanking her ladyfhip for 
 her offer of alms, which he faid he fhould truft 
 
 VOL. II. c 
 
1 8 fhe Hijlory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 not to need ; and befeeching her to remember 
 that if ever her determination fliould change 
 towards him, he would be ready to give her 
 proofs of a fidelity which had never wavered and 
 which ought never to have been queftioned by 
 that houfe. f f And if we meet no more, or only 
 as ftrangers in this world/' Mr. Efmond con- 
 cluded, fC a fentence againfl: the cruelty and 
 injuftice of which I difdain to appeal ; hereafter 
 fhe will know who was faithful to her, and 
 whether fhe had any caufe to fufpedt the love and 
 devotion of her kinfman and fervant." 
 
 After the fending of this letter, the poor 
 young fellow's mind was more at eafe than it had 
 been previoufly. The blow had been ftruck, and 
 he had borne it. His cruel Goddefs had Jthaken 
 her wings and fled : and left him alone and 
 friendlefs, but virtute Jud. And he had to 
 bear him up, at once the fenfe of his right, and 
 the feeling of his wrongs, his honour and his 
 misfortune. As I have feen men waking and 
 running to arms, at a fudden trumpet ; before 
 emergency a manly heart leaps up refolute ; meets 
 the threatening danger with undaunted counten- 
 ance ; and whether conquered or conquering, faces 
 
My fellow-prifoners . 1 9 
 
 it always. Ah ! no man knows his ftrength or 
 his weaknefs, till occafion proves them. If there 
 be fome thoughts and aftions of his life from 
 the memory of which a man fhrinks with ftiame, 
 fure there are fome which he may be proud to 
 own and remember ; forgiven injuries, conquered 
 temptations (now and then), and difficulties 
 vanquifhed by endurance. 
 
 It was thefe thoughts regarding the living, 
 far more than any great poignancy of grief 
 refpefting the dead, which affetfted Harry Efmond 
 whilft in prifon after his trial : but it may be 
 imagined that he could take no comrade of 
 misfortune into the confidence of his feelings, 
 and they thought it was remorfe and forrow 
 for his patron's lofs which affeded the young 
 man, in error of which opinion he chofe to 
 leave them. As a companion he was fo moody 
 and filent that the two officers, his fellow fuf- 
 ferers, left him to himfelf moftly, liked little 
 very likely what they knew of him, confoled 
 themfelves with dice, cards, and the bottle, and 
 whiled away their own captivity in their own 
 way. It feemed to Efmond as if he lived years 
 
 c 2 
 
20 The Hijtory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 in that prlfon : and was changed and aged when 
 he came out of it. At certain periods of life 
 we live years of emotion in a few weeks — and 
 look back on thofe times, as on great gaps 
 between the old life and the new. You do not 
 know how much you fuffer in thofe critical 
 maladies of the heart, until the difeafe is over 
 and you look back on it afterwards. During 
 the time, the fuffering is at leaft fufferable. The 
 day pafles in more or lefs of pain, and the night 
 wears away fomehow. 'Tis only in after days 
 that we fee what the danger has been — as a man 
 out a hunting or riding for his life looks at a 
 leap, and wonders how he fliould have furvived 
 the taking of it. O, dark months of grief and 
 rage ! of wrong and cruel endurance ! He is 
 old now who recals you. Long ago he has 
 forgiven and bleft the foft hand that wounded 
 him : but the mark is there, and the wound 
 is cicatrized only — no time, tears, carefFes, or 
 repentance, can obliterate the fear. We are 
 indocile to put up with grief, however. Reficimus 
 rates qua/fas: we tempt the ocean again and 
 again, and try upon new ventures. Efmond 
 thought of his early time as a noviciate, and of 
 
Our Vifitors. 
 
 21 
 
 this paft trial as an initiation before entering into 
 life, — as our young Indians undergo tortures 
 filently before they pafs to the rank of warriors 
 in the tribe. 
 
 The officers, meanwhile, who were not let 
 into the fecret of the grief which was gnawing at 
 the fide of their filent young friend, and being 
 accuftomed to fuch tranfa&ions in which one 
 comrade or another was daily paying the forfeit 
 of the fword, did not of courfe bemoan themfelves 
 very inconfolably about the fate of their late com- 
 panion in arms. This one told ftories of former 
 adventures of love, or war, or pleafure in which 
 poor Frank Efmond had been engaged ; t'other 
 recolledted how a conftable had been bilked, or a 
 tavern-bully beaten : whilft my lord's poor widow 
 was fitting at his tomb worfhipping him as an 
 aftual faint and fpotlefs hero, — fo the vifitors 
 faid who had news of Lady Caftlewood; and 
 Weftbury and Macartney had pretty nearly had 
 all the town to come and fee them. 
 
 The duel, its fatal termination, the trial of the 
 two peers and the three commoners concerned, 
 had caufed the greateft excitement in the town. 
 The prints and News Letters were full of them. 
 
22 The Hijlory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 The three gentlemen in Newgate were almoft as 
 much crowded as the biftiops in the Tower, or a 
 highwayman before execution. We were allowed 
 to live in the Governor's houfe, as hath been faid, 
 both before trial and after condemnation, waiting 
 the King's pleafure ; nor was the real caufe of the 
 fatal quarrel known, fo clofely had my lord and 
 the two other perfons who knew it kept the 
 fecret, but every one imagined that the origin of 
 the meeting was a gambling difpute. Except 
 frefh air, the prifoners had, upon payment, moft 
 things they could defire. Intereft: was made that 
 they fhould not mix with the vulgar convi&s, 
 whofe ribald chorufes and loud laughter and 
 curfes could be heard from their own part of 
 the prifon, where they and the miferable debtors 
 were confined pell-mell. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 I COME TO THE END OF MY CAPTIVITY, BUT NOT OF 
 MY TROUBLE. 
 
 AMONG the company which came to vifit 
 the two officers was an old acquaintance 
 of Harry Efmond ; that gentleman of the Guards, 
 namely, who had been fo kind to Harry when 
 Captain Weftbury's troop had been quartered at 
 Caftlewood more than feven years before. Dick 
 the Scholar was no longer Dick the Trooper now, 
 but Captain Steele, of Lucas's Fufileers, and 
 fecretary to my Lord Cutts, that famous officer 
 of King William's, the braveft and moft beloved 
 man of the Englifh army. The two jolly pri- 
 foners had been drinking with a party of friends 
 (for our cellar and that of the keepers of New- 
 gate, too, were fupplied with endlefs hampers of 
 Burgundy and Champagne that the friends of the 
 Colonels fent in) ; and Harry, having no wifh 
 
24 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 for their drink, or their converfation, being too 
 feeble in health for the one, and too fad in fpirits 
 for the other, was fitting apart in his little room, 
 reading fuch books as he had, one evening, when 
 honeft Colonel Weftbury, flufhed with liquor, and 
 always good-humoured in and out of his cups, 
 came laughing into Harry's clofet, and faid cc Ho, 
 young Killjoy ! here's a friend come to fee thee ; 
 he'll pray with thee, or he'll drink with thee ; or 
 he'll drink and pray turn about. Dick, my 
 Chriftian Hero, here's the little fcholar of 
 Caftlewood." 
 
 Dick came up and kifled Efmond on both 
 cheeks, imparting a ftrong perfume of burnt fack 
 along with his carefs to the young man. 
 
 <c What ! is this the little man that ufed to talk 
 Latin and fetch our bowls ? How tall thou art 
 grown ! I proteft I fhould have known thee 
 anywhere. And fo you have turned ruffian and 
 fighter ; and wanted to meafure fwords with 
 Mohun, did you ? I proteft that Mohun faid at 
 the Guard dinner yefterday, where there was a 
 pretty company of us, that the young fellow 
 wanted to fight him, and was the better man of 
 the two." 
 
I get news of my Miftrefs. 25 
 
 cc I wifh we could have tried and proved it, 
 Mr. Steele/' fays Efmond, thinking of his dead 
 benefadtor, and his eyes filling with tears. 
 
 With the exception of that one cruel letter 
 which he had from his miftrefs, Mr. Efmond 
 heard nothing from her, and fhe feemed deter- 
 mined to execute her refolve of parting from him 
 and difowning him. But he had news of her, 
 fuch as it was, which Mr. Steele affiduoufly 
 brought him from the Prince's and PrincefTes' 
 Court, where our honeft Captain had been 
 advanced to the poft of gentleman waiter. When 
 off duty there, Captain Dick often came to 
 confole his friends in captivity ; a good nature 
 and a friendly difpofition towards all who were in 
 ill-fortune no doubt prompting him to make his 
 vifits, and good fellowlhip and good wine to 
 prolong them. 
 
 "Faith," fays Weftbury, cc the little fcholar 
 was the firft to begin the quarrel — I mind me of 
 it now — at Lockit's. I always hated that fellow 
 Mohun. What was the real caufe of the quarrel 
 betwixt him and poor Frank ? I would wager 
 'twas a woman." 
 
 cc 'Twas a quarrel about play — on my word, 
 
a 6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 about play/' Harry faid. " My poor lord loft 
 great fums to his gueft at Caftlewood. Angry 
 words paired between them ; and though Lord 
 Caftlewood was the kindeft and moft pliable foul 
 alive, his fpirit was very high ; and hence that 
 meeting which has brought us all here," fays 
 Mr. Efmond, refolved never to acknowledge 
 that there had ever been any other but cards for 
 the duel. 
 
 cc I do not like to ufe bad words of a noble- 
 man," fays Weftbury. fC But if my Lord 
 Mohun were a commoner, I would fay, 'twas a 
 pity he was not hanged. He was familiar with 
 dice and women, at a time other boys are at 
 fchool, being birched ; he was as wicked as the 
 oldeft rake, years ere he had done growing ; 
 and handled a fword, and a foil, and a bloody 
 one, too, before ever he ufed a razor. He 
 held poor Will Mountford in talk that night, 
 when bloody Dick Hill ran him through. He 
 will come to a bad end, will that young lord ; 
 and no end is bad enough for him," fays 
 honeft Mr. Weftbury : whofe prophecy was 
 fulfilled twelve years after, upon that fatal day 
 when Mohun fell, dragging down one of the 
 
Steele in raptures with my Mifirejs. iy 
 
 braveft and greateft gentlemen in England in 
 his fall. 
 
 From Mr. Steele, then, who brought the 
 publick rumour, as well as his own private intelli- 
 gence, Efmond learned the movements of his 
 unfortunate miftrefs. Steele's heart was of very 
 inflammable compofition ; and the gentleman 
 uflier fpoke in terms of boundlefs admiration 
 both of the widow (that moft beautiful woman, 
 as he faid), and of her daughter, who, in the 
 Captain's eyes, was a ftill greater paragon. If 
 the pale widow, whom Captain Richard, in his 
 poetick rapture, compared to a Niobe in tears, — 
 to a Sigifmunda, — to a weeping Belvidera, was 
 an obje6t the moft lovely and pathetick which his 
 eyes had ever beheld, or for which his heart had 
 melted, even her ripened perfedions and beauty 
 were as nothing, compared to the promife of that 
 extreme lovelinefs which the good Captain faw in 
 her daughter. It was matre fulcra filia pulcrior. 
 Steele compofed fonnets whilft he was on duty in 
 his Prince's antechamber, to the maternal and 
 filial charms. He would fpeak for hours about 
 them to Harry Efmond ; and, indeed, he could 
 have chofen few fubje&s more likely to intereft 
 
2 8 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 the unhappy young man, whofe heart was now as 
 always devoted to thefe ladies ; and who was 
 thankful to all who loved them, or praifed them, 
 or wifhed them well. 
 
 Not that his fidelity was recompenfed by any 
 an{wering kindnefs, or fhow of relenting even, on 
 the part of a miftrefs obdurate now after ten years 
 of love and benefactions. The poor young man 
 getting no anfwer, fave Tufher's, to that letter 
 which he had written, and being too proud to 
 write more, opened a part of his heart to Steele, 
 than whom no man, when unhappy, could find a 
 kinder hearer or more friendly emiflary ; defcribed 
 (in words which were no doubt pathetick, for they 
 came imo peffore, and caufed honeft Dick to weep 
 plentifully) his youth, his conftancy, his fond 
 devotion to that houfehold which had reared him ; 
 his affe&ion, how earned, and how tenderly 
 requited until but yefterday, and (as far as he 
 might) the circumftances and caufes for which 
 that fad quarrel had made of Efmond a prifoner 
 under fentence, a widow and orphans of thofe 
 whom in life he held deareft. In terms that 
 might well move a harder-hearted man than 
 young Efmond's confidant ; for, indeed, the 
 
My rage and defpair. 
 
 29 
 
 fpeaker's own heart was half broke as he uttered 
 them ; he defcribed a part of what had taken place 
 in that only fad interview which his miftrefs had 
 granted him ; how flie had left him with anger 
 and almoft imprecation, whofe words and thoughts 
 until then had been only bleffing and kindnefs ; 
 how fhe had accufed him of the guilt of that 
 blood, in exchange for which he would cheerfully 
 have facrificed his own (indeed, in this the Lord 
 Mohun, the Lord Warwick, and all the gentle- 
 men engaged, as well as the common rumour 
 out of doors — Steele told him — bore out the 
 lucklefs young man); and with all his heart, and 
 tears, he befought Mr. Steele to inform his 
 miftrefs of her kinfman's unhappinefs, and to 
 deprecate that cruel anger fhe ftiowed him. Half 
 frantick with grief at the injuftice done him, and 
 contrafting it with a thoufand foft recollections of 
 love and confidence gone by, that made his prefent 
 mifery inexpreflibly more bitter, the poor wretch 
 paffed many a lonely day and wakeful night in a 
 kind of powerlefs defpair and rage againft his 
 iniquitous fortune. It was the fofteft hand that 
 ft ruck him, the gentleft and mod compaffionate 
 nature that perfecuted him.. cc I would as lief," 
 
30 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 he {aid, cc have pleaded guilty to the murder, and 
 have fuffered for it like any other felon, as have 
 to endure the torture to which my miftrefs 
 fubjedts me." 
 
 Although the recital of Efmond' s ftory, and 
 his paflionate appeals and remonftrances drew fo 
 many tears from Dick who heard them, they 
 had no effe<5fc upon the perfon whom they were 
 defigned to move. Efmond's ambaflador came 
 back from the miflion with which the poor 
 young gentleman had charged him, with a fad 
 blank face and a fhake of the head which told 
 that there was no hope for the prifoner ; and 
 fcarce a wretched culprit in that prifon of New- 
 gate ordered for execution, and trembling for a 
 reprieve, felt more caft down than Mr. Efmond, 
 innocent and condemned. 
 
 As had been arranged between the prifoner 
 and his council in their confultations, Mr. Steele 
 had gone to the dowager's houfe in Chelfea, 
 where it has been faid the widow and her orphans 
 were, had feen my Lady Vifcountefs and pleaded 
 the caufe of her unfortunate kinfman. "And 
 I think I fpoke well, my poor boy," fays 
 Mr. Steele; cc for who would not fpeak well in 
 
A childifh duel. 
 
 3i 
 
 fuch a caufe, and before fo beautiful a judge. I 
 did not fee the lovely Beatrix (fure her famous 
 namefake of Florence was never half fo beautiful), 
 only the young vifcount was in the room with 
 the Lord Churchill, my Lord of Marlborough's 
 eldeft fon. But thefe young gentlemen went off 
 to die garden, I could fee them from the window 
 tilting at each other with poles in a mimick 
 tournament (grief touches the young but lightly, 
 and I remember that I beat a drum at the coffin 
 of my own father). My Lady Vifcountefs 
 looked out at the two boys at their game, and 
 faid — f You fee, fir, children are taught to ufe 
 weapons of death as toys, and to make a fport of 
 murder/ and as flie fpoke fhe looked fo lovely, 
 and ftood there in herfelf fo fad and beautiful an 
 inftance of that docftrine whereof I am a humble 
 preacher, that had I not dedicated my little volume 
 of the Chriftian Hero — (I perceive, Harry, thou 
 haft not cut the leaves of it. The fermon is good, 
 believe me, though the preacher's life may not 
 anfwer it) — I fay, hadn't I dedicated the volume 
 to Lord Cutts, I would have alked permiflion 
 to place her ladyftiip's name on the firft page. 
 I think I never faw fuch a beautiful violet as 
 
32 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 that of her eyes, Harry. Her complexion is of 
 the pink of the blufhrofe, flie hath an exquifite 
 turned wrift and dimpled hand, and I make no 
 doubt—" 
 
 Cf Did you come to tell me about the dimples 
 on my lady's hand ? " broke out Mr. Efmond, 
 fadly. | 
 
 Cf A lovely creature in affliction feems always 
 doubly beautiful to me," fays the poor Captain, 
 who indeed was but too often in a ftate to fee 
 double, and fo checked he refumed the inter- 
 rupted thread of his ftory. "As I fpoke my 
 bufinefs," Mr. Steele faid, "and narrated to 
 your miftrefs what all the world knows, and the 
 other fide hath been eager to acknowledge — that 
 you had tried to put yourfelf between the two 
 lords, and to take your patron's quarrel on your 
 own point : I recounted the general praifes of 
 your gallantry, befides my Lord Mohun's 
 particular teftimony to it : I thought the widow 
 liftened with fome intereft, and her eyes — I have 
 never feen fuch a violet, Harry — looked up at 
 mine once or twice. But after I had fpoken on 
 this theme for a while flie fuddenly broke away 
 with a cry of grief. c I would to God, fir,' fhe 
 
Gallantry. 
 
 33 
 
 faid, c I had never heard that word gallantry 
 which you ufe, or known the meaning of it. 
 My lord might have been here but for that; 
 my home might be happy ; my poor boy have 
 a father. It was what you gentlemen call 
 gallantry came into my home, and drove my 
 hufband on to the cruel fword that killed him. 
 You fhould not fpeak the word to a Chriftian 
 woman, fir — a poor widowed mother of orphans, 
 whofe home was happy until the world came into 
 it — the wicked godlefs world, that takes the blood 
 of the innocent and lets the guilty go free.' 
 
 <f As the afflicted lady fpoke in this ftrain, 
 fir," Mr. Steele continued, cc it feemed as if 
 indignation moved her, even more than grief. 
 c Compenfation ! ' flie went on paflionately, her 
 cheeks and eyes kindling, f what compenfation 
 does your world give the widow for her hufband, 
 and the children for the murderer of their father ? 
 The wretch who did the deed has not even a 
 punifhment. Confcience ! what confcience has 
 he, who can enter the houfe of a friend, 
 whifper falfehood and infult to a woman that 
 never harmed him, and ftab the kind heart that 
 trufted him ? My lord — my Lord Wretch, my 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
34 
 
 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Lord Villain's, my Lord Murderer's peers meet 
 to try him, and they difmifs him with a word or 
 two of reproof, and fend him into the world 
 again, to purfue women with luft and falfehood, 
 and to murder unfufpe&ing guefts that harbour 
 him. That day, my lord — my Lord Murderer — 
 (I will never name him) — was let loofe, a woman 
 was executed at Tyburn for ftealing in a fliop. 
 But a man may rob another of his life, or a 
 lady of her honour, and fliall pay no penalty ! 
 I take my child, run to the throne, and, on my 
 knees, afk for juftice, and the King refufes me. 
 The King ! he is no king of mine — he never 
 fliall be. He, too, robbed the throne from the 
 king his father — the true king — and he has gone 
 unpuniflied, as the great do.' 
 
 cf I then thought to.fpeak for you," Mr. Steele 
 continued, cc and I interpofed by faying, c There 
 was one, madam, who, at leaft, would have put 
 his own breaft between your hufband's and 
 my Lord Mohun's fword. Your poor young 
 kinfman, Harry Efmond, hath told me that he 
 tried to draw the quarrel on himfelf.' 
 
 <f c Are you come from him ? 9 afked the lady 
 (fo Mr. Steele went on) rifing up with a great 
 
My miftrefs is relentlefs. 35 
 
 feverity and ftatelinefs. c I thought you had 
 come from the Princefs. I faw Mr. Efmond in 
 his prifon, and bade him farewell. He brought 
 mifery into my houfe. He never fhould have 
 entered it.' 
 
 Cf c Madam, madam, he is not to blame/ I 
 interpofed," continued Mr. Steele. 
 
 cc f Do I blame him to you, fir?' afked the 
 widow. c If 'tis he who fent you, fay that I 
 have taken counfel, where' — fhe fpoke with a 
 very pallid cheek now, and a break in her voice 
 — f where all who afk may have it ; — and that it 
 bids me to part from him, and to fee him no 
 more. We met in the prifon for the laft time 
 — at leaft for years to come. It may be, in 
 years hence, when — when our knees and our 
 tears and our contrition have changed our finful 
 hearts, fir, and wrought our pardon, we may 
 meet again — but not now. After what has 
 paffed, I could not bear to fee him. I wifti him 
 well, fir ; but I wifh him farewell, too ; and if 
 he has that — that regard towards us, which he 
 fpeaks of, I befeech him to prove it by obeying 
 me in this.' 
 
 fC c I fhall break the young man's heart, 
 
 D 2 
 
36 The Hijlory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 madam, by this hard fentence,"' Mr. Steele 
 faid. 
 
 cc The lady fhook her head/' continued my kind 
 fcholar. cc f The hearts of young men, Mr. Steele, 
 are not fo made/ fhe faid. f Mr. Efmond will find 
 other — other friends. The miftrefs of this houfe 
 has relented very much towards the late lord's 
 fon,' fhe added, with a blufh, c and has promifed 
 me, that is, has promifed that fhe will care for 
 his fortune. Whilft I live in it, after the horrid 
 horrid deed which has patted, Caftlewood muft 
 never be a home to him — never. Nor would I 
 have him write to me — except — no — I would 
 have him never write to me, nor fee him more. 
 Give him, if you will, my parting — Hufh ! not 
 a word of this before my daughter/ 
 
 cc Here the fair Beatrix entered from the river, 
 with her cheeks flulhing with health, and looking 
 only the more lovely and frefh for the mourning 
 habiliments which fhe wore. And my Lady 
 Vifcountefs faid : 
 
 cc c Beatrix, this is Mr. Steele, gentleman 
 ufher to the Prince's Highnefs. When does your 
 new comedy appear, Mr. Steele? I hope thou 
 wilt be out of prifon for the firft night, Harry.' " 
 
Our life in Newgate. 
 
 37 
 
 The fentimental captain concluded his fad tale, 
 faying, " Faith, the beauty of Filia pulcrior drove 
 pulcram matrem out of my head ; and yet, as I 
 came down the river, and thought about the 
 pair, the pallid dignity and exquifite grace of the 
 matron had the uppermoft, and I thought her 
 even more noble than the virgin ! " 
 
 The party of prifoners lived very well in 
 Newgate, and with comforts very different to 
 thofe which were awarded to the poor wretches 
 there (his infenfibility to their mifery, their 
 gaiety ftill more frightful, their curfes and 
 blafphemy, hath ftruck with a kind of fhame 
 fince — as proving how felfifh during his 
 imprifonment, his own particular grief was, and 
 how entirely the thoughts of it abforbed him) : 
 if the three gentlemen lived well under the care 
 of the Warden of Newgate, it was becaufe they 
 paid well : and indeed the coft: at the dearefl: 
 ordinary or the grandeft tavern in London could 
 not have furniftied a longer reckoning, than our 
 hoft of the Handcuff Inn — as Colonel Weftbury 
 called it. Our rooms were the three in the gate 
 over Newgate — on the fecond ftory looking up 
 
38 The Hiftory of Henry Efmona. 
 
 Newgate Street towards Cheapfide and Paul's 
 Church. And we had leave to walk on the roof, 
 and could fee thence Smithfield and the Bluecoat 
 Boys' School, Gardens, and the Chartreux, where, 
 as Harry Efmond remembered, Dick the Scholar, 
 and his friend Tom Tuflier, had had their 
 fchooling. 
 
 Harry could never have paid his fhare of that 
 prodigious heavy reckoning which my landlord 
 brought to his guefts once a week : for he had 
 but three pieces in his pockets that fatal night 
 before the duel, when the gentlemen were at 
 cards, and offered to play five. But whilft he 
 was yet ill at the Gatehoufe, after Lady Caftle- 
 wood had vifited him there, and before his 
 trial, there came one in an orange-tawny coat 
 and blue lace, the livery which the Efmonds 
 always wore, and brought a fealed packet for 
 Mr. Efmond, which contained twenty guineas, 
 and a note faying that a counfel had been 
 appointed for him, and that more money would 
 be forthcoming whenever he needed it. 
 
 'Twas a queer letter from the fcholar as fhe 
 was, or as fhe called herfelf : the Dowager 
 Vifcountefs Caftlewood, written in the ftrange 
 
c Mon Coufin? 
 
 39 
 
 barbarous French, which fhe and many other 
 fine ladies of that time — witnefs Her Grace of 
 Portfmouth — employed. Indeed, fpelling was 
 not an article of general commodity in the world 
 then, and my Lord Marlborough's letters can 
 Ihow that he, for one, had but a little fhare of 
 this part of grammar. 
 
 cc Mong Couflin," my Lady Vifcountefs 
 Dowager wrote, cc je fcay que vous vous etes 
 bravement batew et grievement bleflay — du cofte 
 de feu M. le Vicomte. M. le Compte de Varique 
 ne fe playt qua parlay de vous : M. de Moon 
 au^y. II di que vous avay voulew vous baftre 
 avecque luy — que vous eftes plus fort que luy 
 fur rayfcrimme — quil'y a furtout certaine Botte 
 que vous fcavay quil n' a jammay fceu pariay : et 
 que e'en eut etc fay de luy fi voufeluy vous vous 
 fuffiay battews anfamb. Aincy ce pauv Vicompte 
 eft mort. Mort et peutayt — Mon couflin, mon 
 couflin ! jay dans la tayfte que vous n'eftes quung 
 pety Monft — angcy que les Efmonds ong 
 toufjours efte. La veuve eft chay moy. J'ay 
 recuilly cet' pauve famme. Elle eft furieufe cont 
 vous, allans tous les jours chercher le Roy (d'icy) 
 demandant a gran cri revanche pour fon Mary. 
 
40 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Elle ne veux voyre ni entende parlay de vous : 
 pourtant elle ne fay qu'en parlay milfoy par jour. 
 Quand vous feray hor prifon venay me voyre. 
 J'auray foing de vous. Si cette petite Prude 
 veut fe defaire de fong pety Monfte (Helas je 
 craing quil ne foy trotar !) je m'en chargeray. 
 J'ay encor quelqu interay et quelques efcus de 
 coftay. 
 
 ff La Veuve fe raccommode avec Miladi 
 Marlboro qui eft tout pui^ante avecque la Reine 
 Anne. Cet dam fenterayfent pour la petite 
 prude ; qui pour&ant a un fi du mefme afge 
 que vous favay. 
 
 cc En fortant de prifong venez icy. Je ne puy 
 vous recevoir chaymoy a caufe des mechanfetes 
 du monde^ may pre du moy vous aurez logement. 
 
 cf ISABELLE VlCOMPTESSE b'EsMOND. ,> 
 
 Marchionefs of Efmond this lady fometimes 
 called herfelf, in virtue of that patent which had 
 been given by the late King James to Harry 
 Efmond's father ; and in this ftate fhe had her 
 train carried by a knight's wife, a cup and cover 
 of afTay to drink from, and fringed cloth. 
 
 He who was of the fame age as little Francis, 
 
My lord and the Prince of the fame age. 41 
 
 whom we fhall henceforth call Vifcount Caftle- 
 wood here, was H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 
 born in the fame year and month with Frank, 
 and juft proclaimed at Saint Germains, King of 
 Great Britain, France and Ireland. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 I TAKE THE QUEEN'S PAY IN QUIN'S REGIMENT. 
 
 THE fellow in the orange-tawny livery 
 with blue lace and facings was in 
 waiting when Efmond came out of prifon, 
 and taking the young gentleman's flender 
 baggage, led the way out of that odious 
 Newgate, and by Fleet Conduit, down to the 
 Thames, where a pair of oars was called, and 
 they went up the river to Chelfea. Efmond 
 thought the fun had never flione fo bright ; nor 
 the air felt fo frelh and exhilarating. Temple 
 Garden, as they rowed by, looked like the garden 
 of Eden to him, and the afped of the quays, 
 wharves, and buildings by the river, Somerfet 
 Houfe, and Weftminfter (where the fplendid 
 new bridge was juft beginning), Lambeth tower 
 and palace, and that bufy fhining fcene of the 
 
A vijit to my relation. 43 
 
 Thames fwarming with boats and barges, filled 
 his heart with pleafure and cheerfulnefs — as well 
 fuch a beautiful fcene might to one who had 
 been a prifoner fo long, and with fo many dark 
 thoughts deepening the gloom of his captivity. 
 They rowed up at length to the pretty village of 
 Chelfea, where the nobility have many handfome 
 country-houfes ; and fo came to my Lady 
 Vifcountefs's houfe ; a cheerful new houfe in the 
 row facing the river, with a handfome garden 
 behind it, and a pleafant look-out both towards 
 Surrey and Kenfington, where ftands the noble 
 ancient palace of the Lord Warwick, Harry's 
 reconciled adverfary. 
 
 Here in her ladyfhip's faloon, the young man 
 faw again fome of thofe pidures which had been 
 at Caftlewood, and which flie had removed thence 
 on the death of her lord, Harry's father. 
 Specially, and in the place of honour, was Sir 
 Peter Lely's pi&ure of the Honourable Miftrefs 
 Ifabella Efmond as Diana, in yellow fatin, with 
 a bow in her hand and a crefcent in her forehead ; 
 and dogs frifldng about her. 'Twas painted 
 about the time when royal Endymions were faid 
 to find favour with this virgin huntrefs ; and as 
 
44 STfo Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 goddefles have youth perpetual, this one believed 
 to the day of her death that fhe never grew 
 older : and always perfifted in fuppofing the 
 pidure was ftill like her. 
 
 After he had been fhown to her room by the 
 groom of the chamber, who filled many offices 
 befides in her ladyfhip's modeft houfehold ; and 
 after a proper interval, this elderly goddefs Diana 
 vouchfafed to appear to the young man. A 
 blackamoor in a Turkifh habit, with red boots 
 and a filver collar on which the Vifcountefs's 
 arms were engraven, preceded her and bore her 
 cufhion ; then came her gentlewoman ; a little 
 pack of fpaniels barking and frifking about 
 preceded the auftere huntrefs — then, behold, the 
 Vifcountefs herfelf cc dropping odours." Efmond 
 recolledled from his childhood that rich aroma of 
 mufk which his mother-in-law (for fhe may be 
 called fo) exhaled. As the fky grows redder and 
 redder towards funfet, fo, in the decline of her 
 years, the cheeks of my Lady Dowager blufhed 
 more deeply. Her face was illuminated with 
 vermilion^ which appeared the brighter from the 
 white paint employed to fet it off". She wore 
 the ringlets which had been in fafhion in King 
 
The Vifcountefs Marchionefs. 
 
 Charles's time ; whereas the ladies of King 
 William's had head-dreffes like the towers of 
 Cybele. Her eyes gleamed out from the midft 
 of this queer ftrufture of paint, dyes, and 
 pomatums. Such was my Lady Vifcountefs, 
 Mr. Efmond's father's widow. 
 
 He made her fuch a profound bow as her 
 dignity and relationfhip merited : and advanced 
 with the greateft gravity and once more luffed 
 that hand upon the trembling knuckles of which 
 glittered a fcore of rings — remembering old times 
 when that trembling hand made him tremble. 
 cc Marchionefs," fays he, bowing, and on one 
 knee, cc is it only the hand I may have the 
 honour of faluting ? " For, accompanying that 
 inward laughter, which the fight of fuch an 
 aftonifhing old figure might well produce in the 
 young man, there was good- will too, and the 
 kindnefs of confanguinity. She had been his 
 father's wife, and was his grandfather's daughter. 
 She had fuffered him in old days, and was kind 
 to him now after her fafhion. And now that 
 bar-finifter was removed from Efmond's thoughts, 
 and that fecret opprobrium no longer caft upon 
 his mind, he was pleafed to feel family ties and 
 
46 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 own them — perhaps fecretly vain of the facrifice 
 he had made, and to think that he, Efmond, was 
 really the chief of his houfe, and only prevented 
 by his own magnanimity from advancing his 
 claim. 
 
 At leaft, ever fince he had learned that fecret 
 from his poor patron on his dying bed, adhially 
 as he was ftanding befide it, he had felt an inde- 
 pendency which he had never known before, and 
 which fince did not defert him. So he called his 
 old aunt Marchionefs, but with an air as if he was 
 the Marquis of Efmond who fo addrefled her. 
 
 Did fhe read in the young gentleman's eyes, 
 which had now no fear of hers or their fuper- 
 annuated authority, that he knew or fufpefted 
 the truth about his birth ? She gave a ft art of 
 furprife at his altered manner : indeed, it was 
 quite a different bearing to that of the Cambridge 
 ftudent who had paid her a vifit two years fince, 
 and whom ftie had difmified with five pieces fent 
 by the groom of the chamber. She eyed him, 
 then trembled a little more than was her wont, 
 perhaps, and faid, "Welcome, coufin," in a 
 frightened voice. 
 
 His refolution, as has been faid before, had 
 
I/peak my mind. 
 
 47 
 
 been quite different, namely, fo to bear himfelf 
 through life as if the fecret of his birth was not 
 known to him ; but he fuddenly and rightly 
 determined on a different courfe. He afked that 
 her ladyfhip's attendants fhould be difmiffed, and 
 when they were private — "Welcome, nephew, at 
 leaft, madam, it fhould be," he faid. cc A great 
 wrong has been done to me and to you, and to 
 my poor mother, who is no more." 
 
 Cf I declare before Heaven that I was guiltlefs 
 of it," fhe cried out, giving up her caufe at once. 
 f f It was your wicked father who " 
 
 cc Who brought this difhonour on our family," 
 fays Mr. Efmond. cc I know it full well. I 
 want to difturb no one. Thofe who are in 
 prefent poffeflion have been my deareft bene- 
 factors, and are quite innocent of intentional 
 wrong to me. The late lord, my dear patron, 
 knew not the truth until a few months before 
 his death, when Father Holt brought the news 
 to him." 
 
 cf The wretch ! he had it in confeffion ! He 
 had it in confeffion !" cried out the dowager lady. 
 
 cc Not fo. He learned it elfewhere as well as 
 in confeffion," Mr. Efmond anfwered. "My 
 
48 The Hijtory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 father, when wounded at the Boyne, told the 
 truth to a French prieft, who was in hiding after 
 the battle, as well as to the prieft there, at whofe 
 houfe he died. This gentleman did not think fit 
 to divulge the ftory till he met with Mr. Holt at 
 Saint Omer's. And the latter kept it back for 
 his own purpofe, and until he had learned 
 whether my mother was alive or no. She is dead 
 years fince : my poor patron told me with his 
 dying breath ; and I doubt him not. I do not 
 know even whether I could prove a marriage. I 
 would not if I could. I do not care to bring 
 fhame on our name, or grief upon thofe whom I 
 love, however hardly they may ufe me. My 
 father's fon, madam, won't aggravate the wrong 
 my father did you. Continue to be his widow, 
 and give me your kindnefs. 'Tis all I afk from 
 you; and I fhall never fpeak of this matter 
 again." 
 
 "Mais vous etes un noble jeune homme!" 
 breaks out my lady, fpeaking, as ufual with her 
 when fhe was agitated, in the French language. 
 
 " Nobleffe oblige" fays Mr. Efmond, making 
 her a low bow. cc There are thofe alive to 
 whom, in return for their love to me, I often 
 
What came ye out to admire ? 
 
 fondly faid I would give my life away. Shall I be 
 their enemy now, and quarrel about a title ? What 
 matters who has it ? 'Tis with the family ftill." 
 
 cc What can there be in that little prude of a 
 woman, that makes men fo raffoler about her ? " 
 cries out my Lady Dowager. cf She was here for 
 a month petitioning the King. She is pretty, 
 and well conferved ; but fhe has not the bel air. 
 In his late Majefty's court all the men pretended 
 to admire her; and fhe was no better than a 
 little wax doll. She is better now, and looks 
 the fifter of her daughter : but what mean you 
 all by bepraifing her ? Mr. Steele, who was in 
 waiting on Prince George, feeing her with her 
 two children going to Kenfington, writ a poem 
 about her ; and fays he fhall wear her colours, 
 and drefs in black for the future. Mr. Congreve 
 fays he will write a Mourning Widow, that fhall 
 be better than his Mourning Bride. Though 
 their hufbands quarrelled and fought when that 
 wretch Churchill deferted the King (for which 
 he deferved to be hung), Lady Marlborough has 
 again gone wild about the little widow ; infulted 
 me in my own drawing-room, by faying that 
 'twas not the old widow, but the young 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
50 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 vifcountefs, fhe had come to fee. Little Caftle- 
 wood and little Lord Churchill are to be fworn 
 friends, and have boxed each other twice or thrice 
 like brothers already. 'Twas that wicked young 
 Mohun who, coming back from the provinces 
 laft year, where he had difinterred her, raved 
 about her all the winter ; faid fhe was a pearl fet 
 before fwine ; and killed poor ftupid Frank. 
 The quarrel was all about his wife. I know 
 'twas all about her. "Was there anything between 
 her and Mohun, nephew ? Tell me now ; was 
 there anything ? About yourfelf, I do not afk 
 you to anfwer queftions." Mr. Efmond blufhed 
 up. cf My lady's virtue is like that of a faint 
 in Heaven, madam," he cried out. 
 
 fC Eh ! — mon neveu. Many faints get to 
 Heaven after having a deal to repent of. I believe 
 you are like all the reft of the fools, and madly 
 in love with her." 
 
 cc Indeed, I loved and honoured her before all 
 the world," Efmond anfwered. cc I take no 
 ftiame in that." 
 
 <c And fhe has fhut her door on you — given 
 the living to that horrid young cub, fon of that 
 horrid old bear, Tuiher, and fays fhe will never 
 
Tittle-tattle. 5 1 
 
 fee you more. Monfieur mon neveu — we are 
 all like that. When I was a young woman., I'm 
 pofitive that a thoufand duels were fought about 
 .me. And when poor Monfieur de Souchy 
 drowned himfelf in the canal at Bruges, becaufe 
 I danced with Count Springbock, I couldn't 
 fqueeze out a fingle tear, but danced till five 
 o'clock the next morning. 'Twas the Count — 
 no, 'twas my Lord Ormond that payed the 
 fiddles, and His Majefty did me the honour of 
 dancing all night with me. — How you are 
 grown ! You have got the bel air. You are a 
 black man. Our Efmonds are all black. The 
 little prude's fon is fair ; fo was his father — fair 
 and ftupid. You were an. ugly little wretch, 
 when you came to Caftlewood — you were all 
 eyes, like a young crow. We intended you 
 ftiould be a prieft. That awful Father Holt — 
 how he ufed to frighten me when I was ill ! 
 I have a comfortable director now — the Abbe 
 Douillette — a dear man. We make meagre on 
 Fridays always. My cook is a devout, pious 
 man. You, of courfe, are of the right way of 
 thinking. They say the Prince of Orange is very 
 ill indeed." 
 
 E 2 
 
52 The Hijlory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 In this way the old dowager rattled on re- 
 morfeleffly to Mr. Efmond, who was quite 
 aftounded with her prefent volubility, contrafting 
 it with her former haughty behaviour to him. 
 But fhe had taken him into favour for the 
 moment, and chofe not only to like him, as far 
 as her nature permitted, but to be afraid of him ; 
 and he found himfelf to be as familiar with her 
 now as a young man, as, when a boy, he had 
 been timorous and filent. She was as good as 
 her word receding him. She introduced him 
 to her company, of which fhe entertained a good 
 deal — of the adherents of King James, of courfe 
 — and a great deal of loud intriguing took place 
 over her card-tables. She prefented Mr. Efmond 
 as her kinfman to many perfons of honour ; fhe 
 fupplied him not illiberally with money, which 
 he had no fcruple in accepting from her, con- 
 fidering the relationfliip which he bore to her, 
 and the facrifices which he himfelf was making in 
 behalf of the family. But he had made up his 
 mind to continue at no woman's apron-ftrings 
 longer ; and perhaps had caft about how he 
 lhould diftinguifli himfelf, and make himfelf a 
 name, which his Angular fortune had denied 
 
I am an Ensign of Quin's. 53 
 
 him. A difcontent with his former bookifh life 
 and quietude, — a bitter feeling of revolt at that 
 flavery in which he had chofen to confine himfelf 
 for the fake of thofe whofe hardnefs towards him 
 made his heart bleed, — a reftlefs wilh to fee men 
 and the world, — led him to think of the military 
 profeffion : at any rate, to defire to fee a few 
 campaigns, and accordingly he prefTed his new 
 patronefs to get him a pair of colours ; and one 
 day had the honour of finding himfelf appointed 
 an enfign in Colonel Quin's regiment of Fufileers 
 on the Irifh eftablilhment. 
 
 Mr. Efmond's commiffion was fcarce three 
 weeks old when that accident befel King William 
 which ended the life of the greateft, the wifeft, 
 the braveft, and mod; clement fovereign whom 
 England ever knew. 'Twas the fafhion of the 
 hoftile party to aflail this great prince's reputa- 
 tion during his life ; but the joy which they and 
 all his enemies in Europe fhowed at his death, is 
 a proof of the terror in which they held him. 
 Young as Efmond was, he was wife enough (and 
 generous enough, too, let it be faid), to fcorn that 
 indecency of gratulation which broke out amongft 
 the followers of King James in London, upon 
 
54 - STAj Htfiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 the death of this illuftrious prince, this invincible 
 warrior, this wife and moderate ftatefrnan. 
 Loyalty to the exiled king's family was tra- 
 ditional, as has been faid, in that houfe to which 
 Mr. Efmond belonged. His father's widow had 
 all her hopes, fympathies, recollections, preju- 
 dices, engaged on King James's fide ; and was 
 certainly as noify a confpirator as ever afferted the 
 King's rights or abufed his opponent's, over a 
 quadrille table or a difh of bohea. Her lady- 
 Ihip's houfe fwarmed with ecclefiafticks, in difguife 
 and out; with tale-bearers from St. Germains; 
 and quidnuncs that knew the laft news from 
 Verfailles ; nay, the exa6fc force and number of 
 the next expedition which the French king was 
 to fend from Dunkirk, and which was to 
 fwallow up the Prince of Orange, his army, and 
 his court. She had received the Duke of 
 Berwick when he landed here in '96. She kept 
 the glafs he drank from, vowing flie never would 
 ufe it till fhe drank King James the Third's 
 health in it on His Majefty's return; fhe had 
 tokens from the Queen, and relics of the faint 
 who, if the ftory was true, had not always been 
 a faint as far as fhe and many others were con- 
 
St* James of St. Ger mains. 55 
 
 cerned. She believed in the miracles wrought at 
 his tomb, and had a hundred authentick ftories of 
 wondrous cures effeded by the blefled king's 
 rofaries, the medals which he wore, the locks of 
 his hair, or what not. Efmond remembered a 
 fcore of marvellous tales, which the credulous 
 old woman told him. There was the Bilhop of 
 Autun, that was healed of a malady he had for 
 forty years, and which left him after he faid mafs, 
 for the repofe of the king's foul. There was 
 M. Marais, a furgeon in Auvergne, who had a 
 palfy in both his legs, v/hich was cured through 
 the king's interceffion. There was Philip Pitet, 
 of the Benedidtines, who had a fuffocating cough, 
 which well nigh killed him, but he befought 
 relief of Heaven, through the merits and inter- 
 ceffion of the bleffed king, and he fbaightway 
 felt a profufe fweat breaking out all over him, 
 and was recovered perfedtly. And there was the 
 wife of Mons. Lepervier, dancing-mafter to the 
 Duke of Saxe-Gotha, who was entirely eafed of a 
 rheumatifm by the king's interceffion, of which 
 miracle there could be no doubt, for her furgeon 
 and his apprentice had given their teftimony, under 
 oath, that they did not in any way contribute 
 
56 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 to the cure. Of thefe tales, and a thoufand like 
 them, Mr. Efmond believed as much as he chofe. 
 His kinfwoman's greater faith had fwallow for 
 them all. 
 
 The Englilh High Church party did not 
 adopt thefe legends. But truth and honour, 
 as they thought, bound them to the exiled 
 king's side ; nor had the banifhed family any 
 warmer fupporter than that kind lady of Caftle- 
 wood, in whose houfe Efmond was brought up. 
 She influenced her hufband, very much more 
 perhaps than my lord knew, who admired his 
 wife prodigioufly though he might be incon- 
 ftant to her, and who, adverfe to the trouble of 
 thinking himfelf, gladly enough adopted the 
 opinions which fhe chofe for him. To one of 
 her fimple and faithful heart, allegiance to any 
 fovereign but the one was impoffible. To serve 
 King William for interest's fake would have been 
 a monftrous hypocrify and treafon. Her pure 
 confcience could no more have confented to it 
 than to a theft, a forgery, or any other bafe 
 a&ion. Lord Caftlewood might have been won 
 over, no doubt, but his wife never could ; and 
 he fubmitted his confcience to hers in this 
 
Jacobites all. 
 
 57 
 
 cafe as he did in moft others, when he was 
 not tempted too forely. And it was from his 
 affedtion and gratitude moft likely, and from that 
 eager devotion for his miftrefs, which charac- 
 terifed all Efmond's youth, that the young man 
 fubfcribed to this, and other articles of faith, 
 which his fond benefaftrefs fet him. Had lhe 
 been a Whig, he had been one; had fhe fol- 
 lowed Mr. Fox, and turned Quaker, no doubt 
 he would have abjured ruffles and a periwig, and 
 have forefworn fwords, lace coats, and clocked 
 ftockings. In the fcholars' boyifh difputes at the 
 Univerfity, where parties ran very high, Efmond 
 was noted as a Jacobite, and very likely from 
 vanity as much as afFe&ion took the fide *of 
 his family. 
 
 Almoft the whole of the clergy of the country 
 and more than a half of the nation were on 
 this fide. Ours is the moft loyal people in the 
 world furely ; we admire our kings, and are 
 faithful to them long after they have ceafed to be 
 true to us. 5 Tis a wonder to any one who looks 
 back at the hiftory of the Stuart family to think 
 how they kicked their crowns away from them ; 
 how they flung away chances after chances ; what 
 
5 8 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 treafures of loyalty they diffipated, and how 
 fatally they were bent on confummating their 
 own ruin. If ever men had fidelity, 'twas they ; 
 if ever men fquandered opportunity, 'twas they ; 
 and of all the enemies they had, they themfelves 
 were the moft fatal.* 
 
 When the Princefs Anne fucceeded, the wearied 
 nation was glad enough to cry a truce from all 
 thefe wars, controverfies, and confpiracies, and 
 to accept in the perfon of a Princefs of the blood 
 royal a compromife between the parties into 
 which the country was divided. The Tories 
 could ferve under her with eafy confciences ; 
 though a Tory herfelf, fhe reprefented the 
 triumph of the Whig opinion. The people 
 of England, always liking that their Princes 
 fhould be attached to their own families, were 
 pleafed to think the Princefs was faithful to hers ; 
 and up to the very laft day and hour of her 
 reign, and but for that fatality which he inherited 
 from his fathers along with their claims to the 
 Englifh crown, King James the Third might have 
 
 * Q TTOTTOl, OLOV hf] W 06OVS fipOTOl CLITIOUVTCLI 
 
 e£ 7]fjL€oov yap (paffi kclk e/ufievai, ol 5e kcu avrot 
 adrqcriv aTaadaXirjcriv virep {xopov a\ye exovatu 
 
The Stuarts. 
 
 59 
 
 worn it. But he neither knew how to wait an 
 opportunity, nor to ufe it when he had it ; he 
 was venturefome when he ought to have been 
 cautious, and cautious when he ought to have 
 dared everything. 'Tis with a fort of rage at 
 his inaptitude that one thinks of his melancholy 
 ftory. Do the Fates deal more fpecially with 
 kings than with common men ? One is apt to 
 imagine fo, in confidering the hiftory of that 
 royal race, in whofe behalf fo much fidelity, fo 
 much valour, fo much blood were defperately and 
 bootleffly expended. 
 
 The King dead then, the Princefs Anne (ugly 
 Anne Hyde's daughter, our dowager at Chelfea 
 called her) was proclaimed by trumpeting 
 heralds all over the town from Weftminfter to 
 Ludgate Hill, amidft immenfe jubilations of the 
 people. 
 
 Next week my Lord Marlborough was pro- 
 moted to the Garter and to be Captain-General 
 of Her Majefty's forces at home and abroad. 
 This appointment only inflamed the Dowager's 
 rage, or, as fhe thought it, her fidelity to her 
 rightful fovereign. "The Princefs is but a 
 puppet in the hands of that fury of a woman, 
 
6o The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 who comes into my drawing-room and infults 
 me to my face. What can come to a country 
 that is given over to fuch a woman ? " fays the 
 Dowager : cc As for that double-faced traitor, my 
 Lord Marlborough, he has betrayed every man 
 and every woman with whom he has had to deal, 
 except his horrid wife who makes him tremble. 
 'Tis all over with the country when it has got 
 into the clutches of fuch wretches as thefe." 
 
 Efmond's old kinfwoman faluted the new 
 powers in this way ; but fome good fortune at 
 leaft occurred to a family which flood in great 
 need of it, by the advancement of thefe famous 
 perfonages who benefited humbler people that 
 had the luck of being in their favour. Before 
 Mr. Efmond left England in the month of 
 Auguft, and being then at Portfmouth, where he 
 had joined his regiment, and was bufy at drill, 
 learning the pradtice and myfteries of the mufket 
 and pike, he heard that a penfion on the Stamp 
 Office had been got for his late beloved miftrefs, 
 and that the young Miftrefs Beatrix was alfo to 
 be taken into court. So much good, at leaft, had 
 come of the poor widow's vifit to London, not 
 revenge upon her hufband's enemies, but recon- 
 
We are all Jet free. 
 
 61 
 
 cilement to old friends, who pitied, and feemed 
 inclined to ferve her. As for the comrades in 
 prifon and the late misfortune : Colonel Weft- 
 bury was with the Captain- General gone to 
 Holland ; Captain Macartney was now at Portf- 
 mouth, with his regiment of Fufileers and the 
 force under command of his Grace the Duke of 
 Ormond, bound for Spain it was faid ; my Lord 
 Warwick was returned home ; and Lord Mohun, 
 fo far from being puniftied for the homicide 
 which had brought fo much grief and change into 
 the Efmond family, was gone in company of my 
 Lord Macclesfield's fplendid embafly to the 
 Eledtor of Hanover, carrying the Garter to his 
 Highnefs, and a complimentary letter from the 
 Queen. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RECAPITULATIONS. 
 
 FROM fuch fitful lights as could be caft 
 upon his dark hiftory by the broken 
 narrative of his poor patron, torn by remorfe 
 and ftruggling in the laft pangs of diffolution, 
 Mr. Efmond had been made to underftand fo 
 far, . that his mother was long fince dead ; and 
 fo there could be no queftion as regarded her or 
 her honour, tarniflied by her hufband's defertion 
 and injury, to influence her fon in any fteps 
 which he might take either for profecuting or 
 relinquifhing his own juft claims. It appeared 
 from my poor lord's hurried confeffion, that he 
 had been made acquainted with the real fadls of 
 the cafe only two years fince, when Mr. Holt 
 vifited him, and would have implicated him in 
 one of thofe many confpiracies by which the 
 
cc The curfe of Kings." 63 
 
 fecret leaders of King James's party in this 
 country were ever endeavouring to deftroy the 
 Prince of Orange's life or power ; confpiracies 
 fo like murder, fo cowardly in the means ufed, 
 fo wicked in the end, that our nation has fure 
 done well in throwing off all allegiance and 
 fidelity to the unhappy family that could not 
 vindicate its right except by fuch treachery, — by 
 fuch dark intrigue and bafe agents. There were 
 defigns againft King William that were no more 
 honourable than the ambufhes of cut-throats 
 and footpads. 'Tis humiliating to think that 
 a great Prince, pofleffor of a great and facred 
 right, and upholder of a great caufe, ftiould have 
 ftooped to fuch bafenefs of affaffination and 
 treafons as are proved by the unfortunate King 
 James's own warrant and fign manual given to 
 : his fupporters in this country. What he and 
 , they called levying war was, in truth, no better 
 than inftigating murder. The noble Prince of 
 .Orange burfl: magnanimoufly through thofe 
 feeble mefhes of confpiracy in which his enemies 
 tried to envelop him: it feemed as if their 
 cowardly daggers broke upon the breaft of his 
 undaunted refolution. After King James's 
 
64 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 death, the Queen and her people at St. Germains 
 — priefts and women for the moft part — con- 
 tinued their intrigues in behalf of the young 
 Prince, James the Third, as he was called in 
 France and by his party here (this Prince, or 
 Chevalier de St. George, was born in the fame 
 year with Efmond's young pupil Frank, my 
 Lord Vifcount's fon) : and the Prince's affairs, 
 being in the hands of priefts and women, were 
 condudted as priefts and women will conduct 
 them, artfully, cruelly, feebly, and to a certain 
 bad iffue. The moral of the Jefuits' ftory I 
 think as wholefome a one as ever was writ : the 
 artfulleft, the wifeft, the moft toilfome, and 
 dexterous plot-builders in the world, — there 
 always comes a day when the roufed publick 
 indignation kicks their flimfy edifice down, and 
 fends its cowardly enemies a-flying. Mr. Swift 
 hath finely defcribed that paffion for intrigue, 
 that love of fecrefy, flander and lying, which be- 
 longs to weak people, hangers-on of weak courts. 
 'Tis the nature of fuch to hate and envy the ftrong, 
 and confpire their ruin ; and the confpiracy 
 fucceeds very well, and everything prefages the 
 fatisfa&ory overthrow of the great vidlim ; until 
 
A hero. 
 
 65 
 
 one day Gulliver roufes himfelf, fliakes off the 
 little vermin of an enemy, and walks away un- 
 molefted. Ah ! the Irifh foldiers might well fay 
 after the Boyne, <c Change kings with us, and we 
 will fight it over again." Indeed, the fight was 
 not fair between the two. 'Twas a weak prieft- 
 ridden, woman- ridden man, with fuch puny allies 
 and weapons as his own poor nature led him 
 to choofe, contending againft the fchemes, the 
 generalfhip, the wifdom, and the heart of a 
 hero. 
 
 On one of thefe many coward's errands, then 
 (for, as I view them now, I can call them no 
 lefs), Mr. Holt had come to my Lord at Caftle- 
 wood, propofing fome infallible plan for the 
 Prince of Orange's deftrudtion, in which my Lord 
 Vifcount, loyalift as he was, had indignantly 
 refufed to join. As far as Mr. Efmond could 
 gather from his dying words, Holt came to my 
 lord with a plan of infurredion, and offer of the 
 renewal, in his perfon, of that marquis's title, 
 which King James had conferred on the pre- 
 ceding vifcount ; and on refufal of this bribe, a 
 threat was made, on Holt's part, to upfet my 
 Lord Vifcount's claim to his eftate and title of 
 
 VOL. IT. T 
 
66 The Hiftory. of Henry EfmGnd. 
 
 Caftlewood altogether. To back this aftounding 
 piece of intelligence, of which Henry Efmond's 
 patron now had the firft light, Holt came armed 
 with the late lord's dying declaration, after the 
 affair of the Boyne, at Trim, in Ireland, made 
 both to the Irifh prieft and a French ecclefiaftick 
 of Holt's order, that was with King James's 
 army. Holt fhowed, or pretended to fhow, the 
 marriage certificate of the late Vifcount Efmond 
 with my mother, in the city of Brufiels, in the 
 year 1677, when the vifcount, then Thomas 
 Efmond, was ferving with the Englifh army in 
 Flanders ; he could fliow, he faid, that this Ger- 
 trude, deferted by her hulband long fince, was 
 alive, and a profeffed nun in the year 1685, at 
 Bruflels, in which year Thomas Efmond married 
 his uncle's daughter, Ifabella, now called 
 Vifcountefs Dowager of Caftlewood ; and leaving 
 him, for twelve hours, to confider this aftounding 
 news (fo the poor dying lord faid), difappeared 
 with his papers in the myfterious way in which 
 he came. Efmond knew how, well enough : by 
 that window from which he had feen the father 
 iflue : — but there was no need to explain to 
 my poor lord, only to gather from his 
 
Holt goes to prifon. 
 
 6 7 
 
 parting lips the words which he would foon be 
 able to utter no more. 
 
 Ere the twelve hours were over, Holt himfelf 
 was a prifoner, implicated in Sir John Fenwick's 
 confpiracy, and locked up at Hexton firft, 
 whence he was transferred to the Tower; 
 leaving the poor Lord Vifcount, who was not 
 aware of the other's being taken, in daily appre- 
 henfion of his return, when (as my Lord 
 Caftlewood declared, calling God to witnefs, and 
 with tears in his dying eyes), it had been his 
 intention at once to give up his eftate and his 
 title to their proper owner, and to retire to his 
 own houfe at Walcote with his family. cc And 
 would to God I had done it," the poor lord 
 faid ; CC I would not be here now, wounded to 
 death, a miferable, ftricken man ! " 
 
 My lord waited day after day, and, as may 
 be fuppofed, no meflenger came ; but at a 
 month's end Holt got means to convey to him 
 a meflage out of the Tower, which was to 
 this effe6l : that he fhould confider all unfaid 
 that had been faid, and that things were as 
 they were. 
 
 cc I had a fore temptation," faid my poor lord. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 "Since I had come into this curfed title of 
 Caftlewood, which hath never profpered with 
 me, I have fpent far more than the income of 
 that eftate, and my paternal one, too. I calcu- 
 lated all my means down to the laft fhilling, and 
 found I never could pay you back, my poor 
 Harry, whofe fortune I had had for twelve years. 
 My wife and children muft have gone out of the 
 houfe difhonoured, and beggars. God knows, it 
 hath been a miferable one for me and mine. 
 Like a coward, I clung to that refpite which 
 Holt gave me. I kept the truth from Rachel 
 and you. I tried to win money of Mohun, and 
 only plunged deeper into debt ; I fcarce dared 
 look thee in the face when I faw thee. This 
 fword hath been hanging over my head thefe two 
 years. I fwear I felt happy, when Mohun's 
 blade entered my fide." 
 
 After lying ten months in the Tower, Holt, 
 againft whom nothing could be found, except 
 that he was a Jefuit-prieft, known to be in King 
 James's intereft, was put on fhipboard by the 
 incorrigible forgivenefs of King William, who 
 promifed him, however, a hanging, if ever he 
 fhould again fet foot on Englifh fhore. More 
 
¥ he family 'papers loft. 69 
 
 than once, whilft he was in prifon himfelf, 
 Efmond had thought where thofe papers could 
 be, which the Jefuit had fliown to his patron, 
 and which had fuch an intereft for himfelf. They 
 were not found on Mr. Holt's perfon when 
 that Father was apprehended, for had fuch been 
 the cafe my lords of the council had feen them, 
 and this family hiftory had long fince been made 
 publick. However, Efmond cared not to feek 
 the papers. His refolution being taken ; his 
 poor mother dead ; what matter to him that 
 documents exifted proving his right to a title 
 which he was determined not to claim, and of 
 which he vowed never to deprive that family 
 which he loved beft in the world ? Perhaps he 
 took a greater pride out of his facrifice than he 
 would have had in thofe honours which he was 
 refolved to forego. Again, as long as thefe 
 titles were not forthcoming, Efmond's kinfman, 
 dear young Francis, was the honourable and 
 undifputed owner of the Caftlewood eftate and 
 title. The mere word of a Jefuit could not 
 overfet Frank's right of occupancy, and fo 
 Efmond's mind felt actually at eafe to think the 
 papers were miffing, and in their abfence his dear 
 
70 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 miftrefs and her fon the lawful Lady and Lord of 
 Caftlewood. 
 
 Very foon after his liberation, Mr. Efmond 
 made it his bufinefs to ride to that village of 
 Ealing where he had pafled his earlieft years in 
 this country, and to fee if his old guardians were 
 ftill alive and inhabitants of that place. But the 
 only relique which he found of old M. Paftoureau 
 was a ftone in the churchyard, which told that 
 Athanafius Paftoureau, a native of Flanders, 
 lay there buried, aged 87 years. The old man's 
 cottage, which Efmond perfectly recollefted, and 
 the garden (where in his childhood he had pafled 
 many hours of play and reverie, and had many a 
 beating from his termagant of a fofter-mother,) 
 were now in the occupation of quite a different 
 family ; and it was with difficulty that he could 
 learn in the village what had come of Paftoureau' s 
 widow and children. The clerk of the parifh 
 recollefted her — the old man was fcarce altered 
 in the fourteen years that had pafled fince laft 
 Efmond fet eyes on him — it appeared fhe had 
 pretty foon confoled herfelf after the death of her 
 old hufband, whom fhe ruled over, by taking a 
 new one younger than herfelf, who fpent her 
 
Widow Paftoureau. 
 
 money and ill-treated her and her children. The 
 girl died ; one of the boys 'lifted ; the other had 
 gone apprentice. Old Mr. Rogers, the clerk, 
 laid he had heard that Mrs. Paftoureau was dead 
 too. She and her hufband had left Ealing this 
 feven year ; and fo Mr. Efmond's hopes of 
 gaining any information regarding his parentage 
 from this family, were brought to an end. He 
 gave the old clerk a crown-piece for his news, 
 fmiling to think of the time when he and his 
 little playfellows had flunk out of the churchyard, 
 or hidden behind the graveftones, at the approach 
 of this awful authority. 
 
 Who was his mother ? What had her name 
 been ? When did fhe die ? Efmond longed to 
 find fome one who could anfwer thefe queftions 
 to him, and thought even of putting them to his 
 aunt the vifcountefs, who had innocently taken 
 the name which belonged of right to Henry's 
 mother. But fhe knew nothing, or chofe to 
 know nothing, on this fubjedfc, nor, indeed, could 
 Mr. Efmond prefs her much to fpeak on it. 
 Father Holt was the only man who could 
 enlighten him, and Efmond felt he muft wait 
 until fome frefh chance or new intrigue might 
 
J 2 The Hijlory of Henry Ejmona. 
 
 put him face to face with his old friend, or bring 
 that reftlefs indefatigable fpirit back to England 
 again. 
 
 The appointment to his enfigncy, and the 
 preparations neceflary for the campaign, pre- 
 fently gave the young gentleman other matters 
 to think of. His new patronefs treated him 
 very kindly and liberally ; fhe promifed to make 
 intereft and pay money, too, to get him a 
 company fpeedily ; fhe bads him procure a 
 handfome outfit, both of clothes and of arms, 
 and was pleafed to admire him when he made 
 his firft appearance in his laced fcarlet coat, and 
 to permit him to falute her on the occafion of 
 this interefting inveftiture. cc Red/' fays fhe, 
 toffing up her old head, cc hath always been the 
 colour worn by the Efmonds. ,, And fo her 
 ladyfhip w r ore it on her own cheeks very faith- 
 fully to the laft. She would have him be 
 dreffed, ftie faid a as became his father's fon, and 
 paid cheerfully for his five-pound beaver, his 
 black buckled periwig, and his fine holland fhirts, 
 and his fwords, and his piftols, mounted with 
 filver. Since the day he w T as born, poor Harry 
 had never looked fuch a fine gentleman : his 
 
Enfign Efmond. 
 
 73 
 
 liberal ftepmother filled his purfe with guineas, 
 too, some of which Captain Steele and a few 
 choice fpirits helped Harry to fpend in an enter- 
 tainment which Dick ordered (and, indeed, 
 would have paid for, but that he had no money 
 when the reckoning was called for ; nor would 
 the landlord give him any more credit,) at the 
 Garter, over againft the gate of the Palace, in 
 Pall Mall. 
 
 The old vifcountefs, indeed, if fhe had done 
 Efmond any wrong formerly, feemed inclined to 
 repair it by the prefent kindnefs of her behaviour : 
 fhe embraced him copioufly at parting, wept 
 plentifully, bade him write by every packet, and 
 gave him an ineftimable relick, which fhe be- 
 fought him to wear round his neck — a medal, 
 blefled by I know not what Pope, and worn by 
 his late facred Majefty King James. So Efmond 
 arrived at his regiment with a better equipage 
 than moft young officers could afford. He was 
 older than moft of his feniors, and had a further 
 advantage which belonged but to very few of 
 the army gentlemen in his day — many of whom 
 could do little more than write their names — ■ 
 that he had read much, both at home and at 
 
74 ^he Hiftory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 the Univerfity, was mafter of two or three 
 languages, and had that further education 
 which neither books nor years will give, but 
 which fome men get from the filent teaching of 
 adverfity. She is a great fchoolmiftrefs, as 
 many a poor fellow knows, that hath held his 
 hand out to her ferule, and whimpered over his 
 leflbn before her awful chair. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 I GO ON THE VIGO E AY EXPEDITION, TASTE SALT WATER 
 AND SMELL POWDER. 
 
 t | ^HE firft expedition in which Mr. Efmond 
 JL had the honour to be engaged, rather 
 refembled one of the invafions projected by the 
 redoubted Captain Avory, or Captain Kid, than 
 a war between crowned heads, carried on by 
 generals of rank and honour. On the ift day of 
 July, 1702, a great fleet, of a hundred and fifty 
 fail, fet fail from Spithead, under the command 
 of Admiral Shovell, having on board 12,000 
 troops, with his Grace the Duke of Ormond as 
 the Capt.-General of the expedition. One of 
 thefe 12,000 heroes having never been to 
 fea before, or, at leaft, only once in his infancy, 
 when he made the voyage to England from that 
 unknown country where he was born, — one of 
 those 12,000 — the junior enfign of Col. Quin's 
 
J 6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 regiment of Fufileers — was in a quite unheroick 
 ftate of corporal proftration a few hours after 
 failing ; and an enemy, had he boarded the ftiip, 
 would have had eafy work of him. From 
 Portfmouth we put into Plymouth, and took in 
 frefh reinforcements. We were off Finifterre on 
 the 31ft of July, fo Efmond's table-book informs 
 him ; and on the 8th of Auguft made the rock 
 of Lifbon. By this time the enfign was grown 
 as bold as an admiral, and a week afterwards had 
 the fortune to be under fire for the firft time, — 
 and, under water, too, — his boat being fwamped 
 in the furf in Toros Bay, where the troops 
 landed. The ducking of his new coat was all 
 the harm the young foldier got in this expedition, 
 for, indeed, the Spaniards made no ftand before 
 our troops, and were not in ftrength to do fo. 
 
 But the campaign, if not very glorious, was 
 very pleafant. New fights of nature, by fea and 
 land, — a life of adtion, beginning, now, for the 
 firft time, — occupied and excited the young man. 
 The many accidents, and the routine of fhip- 
 board, — the military duty, — the new acquaint- 
 ances, both of his comrades in arms, and of the 
 officers of the fleet, ferved to cheer and occupy 
 
1 'fmell powder. 
 
 77 
 
 his mind, and waken it out of that felfifli 
 depreflion into which his late unhappy fortunes 
 had plunged him. He fel,t as if the ocean fepa- 
 rated him from his paft care, and welcomed the 
 new era of life which was dawning for him. 
 Wounds heal rapidly in a heart of two-and- 
 twenty ; hopes revive daily ; and courage rallies, 
 in fpite of a man. Perhaps, as Efmond thought 
 of his late defpondency and melancholy, and how 
 irremediable it had feemed to him, as he lay in 
 his prifon a few months back, he was almoft 
 mortified in his fecret mind at finding himfelf fo 
 cheerful. 
 
 To fee with one's own eyes men and countries, 
 is better than reading all the books of travel in 
 the world ; and it was with extreme delight and 
 exultation that the young man found himfelf 
 actually on his grand tour, and in the view of 
 people and cities which he had read about as a 
 boy. He beheld war, for the firft time — the 
 pride, pomp, and circumftance of it, at leaft, if 
 not much of the danger. He faw adtually, and 
 with his own eyes, thofe Spanifh cavaliers and 
 ladies whom he had beheld in imagination in that 
 immortal ftory of Cervantes, which had been the 
 
7'8 The Hijtory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 delight of his youthful leifure. 'Tis forty years 
 fince Mr. Efmond witneffed thofe fcenes, but 
 they remain as frefh in his memory as on the day 
 when firft he faw them as a young man. A cloudy 
 as of grief, that had lowered over him, and had 
 wrapped the laft years of his life in gloom, feemed 
 to clear away from Efmond during this fortunate 
 voyage and campaign. His energies feemed to 
 awaken and to expand, under a cheerful fenfe of 
 freedom. Was his heart fecretly glad to have 
 efcaped from that fond but ignoble bondage at 
 home ? Was it that the inferiority to which the 
 idea of his bafe birth had compelled him, 
 vaniflied with the knowledge of that fecret, which 
 though, perforce, kept to himfelf, was yet 
 enough to cheer and confole him ? At any rate, 
 young Efmond of the army was quite a different 
 being to the fad little dependant of the kind 
 Caftlewood houfehold, and the melancholy 
 ftudent of Trinity Walks ; difcontented with his 
 fate, and with the vocation into which that drove 
 him, and thinking, with a fecret indignation, 
 that the caffock and bands, and the very facred 
 office with which he had once propofed to inveft 
 himfelf, were, in fa6t, but marks of a fervitude 
 
1 am not made for a Par/on. 
 
 79 
 
 which was to continue all his life long. For, 
 difguife it as he might to himfelf, he had all 
 along felt that to be Caftlewood's chaplain was to 
 be Caftlewood's inferior ftill, and that his life was 
 but to be a long, hopelefs fervitude. So, indeed, 
 he was far from grudging his old friend Tom 
 Tufher's good fortune (as Tom, no doubt, 
 thought it). Had it been a mitre and Lambeth 
 which his friends offered him, and not a fmall 
 living and a country parfonage, he would have 
 felt as much a flave in one cafe as in the other, 
 and was quite happy and thankful to be free. 
 
 The braveft man I ever knew in the army, and 
 who had been prefent in moft of King William's 
 a&ions, as well as in the campaigns of the great 
 Duke of Marlborough, could never be got to 
 tell us of any achievement of his, except that 
 once Prince Eugene ordered him up a tree to 
 reconnoitre the enemy, which feat he could not 
 achieve on account of the horfeman's boots he 
 wore; and on another day that he was very nearly 
 taken prifoner becaufe of thefe jack-boots, which 
 prevented him from running away. The prefent 
 narrator fhall imitate this laudable referve, and 
 doth not intend to dwell upon his military 
 
80 The Hijiory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 exploits, which were, in truth, not very different 
 from thofe of a thoufand other gentlemen. 
 This firft campaign of Mr. Efmond's lafted but 
 a few days ; and as a fcore of books have been 
 written concerning it, it may be difmiffed very 
 briefly here. 
 
 When our fleet came within view of Cadiz, 
 our commander fent a boat with a white flag and 
 a couple of officers to the Governor of Cadiz, 
 Don Scipio de Brancaccio, with a letter from his 
 Grace, in which he hoped that as Don Scipio had 
 formerly ferved with the Auftrians againft the 
 French in England, 'twas to be hoped that his 
 Excellency would now declare himfelf againft the 
 French king and for the Auftrian in the war 
 between King Philip and King Charles. But 
 his Excellency, Don Scipio, prepared a reply, in 
 which he announced that, having ferved his 
 former king with honour and fidelity, he hoped 
 to exhibit the fame loyalty and devotion to- 
 wards his prefent fovereign, King Philip V. ; 
 and by the time this letter was ready, the officers, 
 who had been taken to fee the town, and the 
 alameda, and the theatre, where bull-fights are 
 fought, and the convents, where the admirable 
 
I go ajhore at Cadiz. 
 
 8i 
 
 works of Don Bartholomew Murillo infpired one 
 of them with a great wonder and delight — fuch 
 as he had never felt before — concerning this 
 divine art of painting ; and thefe fights over, 
 and a handfome refedtion and chocolate being 
 ferved to the Englifh gentlemen, they were 
 accompanied back to their ftiallop with every 
 courtefy, and were the only two officers of the 
 Englifti army that faw at that time that famous 
 city. 
 
 The General tried the power of another 
 proclamation on the Spaniards, in which he 
 announced that we only came in the intereft 
 of Spain and King Charles, and for ourfelves 
 wanted to make no conqueft nor fettlement in 
 Spain at all. But all this eloquence was loft 
 upon the Spaniards, it would feem : the Captain- 
 General of Andalufia would no more liften to 
 us than the Governor of Cadiz ; and in reply 
 to his Grace's proclamation, the Marquis of 
 Villadarias fired off another, which thofe who 
 knew the Spanifh thought rather the beft of the 
 two ; and of this number was Harry Efmond, 
 whofe kind Jefuit in old days had inftrudled him, 
 and now had the honour of tranflating for his 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
8 2 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Grace thefe harmlefs documents of war. There 
 was a hard touch for his Grace, and, indeed, for 
 other generals in Her Majefty's fervice, in the 
 concluding fentence of the Don. "That he. and 
 his council had the generous example of their 
 anceftors to follow, who had never yet fought 
 their elevation in the blood or in the flight of 
 their kings. c Mori pro patria* was his device, 
 which the Duke might communicate to the 
 Princefs who governed England." 
 
 Whether the troops were angry at this 
 repartee or no, 'tis certain fomething put them in 
 a fury, for not being able to get pofieffion of 
 Cadiz, our people feized upon Port Saint Mary's 
 and facked it, burning down the merchants' 
 ftorehoufes, getting drunk with the famous wines 
 there ; pillaging and robbing quiet houfes and 
 convents, murdering and doing worfe. And the 
 only blood which Mr. Efmond drew in this 
 fhameful campaign, was the knocking down an 
 Englifh fentinel with a half-pike, who was 
 offering infult to a poor trembling nun. Is flie 
 going to turn out a beauty ? — or a princefs ? — or 
 perhaps Efmond's mother that he had loft and 
 never feen ? Alas no, it was but a poor wheezy 
 
We go to Vigo. 
 
 33 
 
 old dropfical woman, with a wart on her nofe. 
 But having been early taught a part of the Roman 
 religion, he never had the horror of it that fome 
 Proteftants have fhown and feem to think, to be 
 a part of ours. 
 
 After the pillage and plunder of St. Mary's, 
 and an afiault upon a fort or two, the troops all 
 took fhipping, and finifhed their expedition, at 
 any rate, more brilliantly than it had begun. 
 Hearing that the French fleet with a great 
 treafure was in Vigo Bay, our Admirals, Rooke 
 and Hopfon, purfued the enemy thither; the 
 troops landed and carried the forts that proteded 
 the bay, Hopfon paffing the boom firft on board 
 his fhip the Torbay, and the reft of the fhips, 
 Englifh and Dutch, following him. Twenty 
 {hips w T ere burned or taken in the Port of 
 Redondilla, and a vaft deal more plunder than 
 was ever accounted for ; but poor men before 
 that expedition were rich afterwards, and fo often 
 was it found and remarked that the Vigo officers 
 came home with pockets full of money, that the 
 notorious Jack Shafto who made fuch a figure at 
 the coffee-houfes and gaming-tables in London, 
 and gave out that he had been a foldier at Vigo, 
 
 Gr 2 
 
84 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 owned, when he was about to be hanged, that 
 Bagfhot Heath had been his Vigo, and that he 
 only fpoke of La Redondilla to turn away 
 people's eyes from the real place where the booty 
 lay. Indeed, Hounflow or Vigo — which matters 
 much? The latter was a bad bufinefs, though 
 Mr. Addifon did fing its praifes in Latin. That 
 honeft gentleman's mufe had an eye to the main 
 chance ; and I doubt whether fhe faw much 
 infpiration in the lofing fide. 
 
 But though Efmond, for his part, got no fliare 
 of this fabulous booty, one great prize which he 
 had out of the campaign was, that excitement of 
 adtion and change of fcene, which fhook off a 
 great deal of his previous melancholy. He learnt 
 at any rate to bear his fate cheerfully. He 
 brought back a browned face, a heart refolute 
 enough, and a little pleafant ftore of knowledge 
 and obfervation, from that expedition, which was 
 over with the autumn, when the troops were 
 back in England again ; and Efmond giving up 
 his poft of fecretary to General Lumley, whofe 
 command was over, and parting with that officer 
 with many kind expreffions of good-will on the 
 General's fide, had leave to go to London, to fee 
 
I return to Chelfea. 
 
 85 
 
 if he could pufh his fortunes any way further, 
 and found himfelf once more in his dowager 
 aunt's comfortable quarters at Chelfea, and in 
 greater favour than ever with the old lady. He 
 propitiated her with a prefent of a comb, a fan, 
 and a black mantle, fuch as the ladies of Cadiz 
 w 7 ear, and which my Lady Vifcountefs pronounced 
 became her ftyle of beauty mightily. And flie 
 was greatly edified at hearing of that ftory of his 
 refcue of the nun, and felt very little doubt but 
 that her King*James's relick, which he had always 
 dutifully worn in his defk, had kept him out of 
 danger, and averted the fliot of the enemy. My 
 lady made feafts for him, introduced him to more 
 company, and puflied his fortunes with fuch 
 enthufiafm and fuccefs that flie got a promife of 
 a company for him through the Lady Marl- 
 borough's intereft, who was gracioufly pleafed to 
 accept of a diamond worth a couple of hundred 
 guineas, which Mr. Efmond was enabled to 
 prefent to her ladyfhip through his aunt's bounty, 
 and who promifed that flie would take charge of 
 Efmond's fortune. He had the honour to make 
 his appearance at the Queen's drawing-room occa- 
 fionally, and to frequent my Lord Marlborough's 
 
86 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 levees. That great man received the young 
 one with very efpecial favour, fo Efmond's 
 comrades faid, and deigned to fay that he had 
 received the beft reports of Mr. Efmond, both 
 for courage and ability, whereon you may be 
 fure the young gentleman made a profound 
 bow, and exprefled himfelf eager to ferve 
 under the moft diftinguifhed captain in the 
 world. 
 
 Whilft his bufinefs was going on thus prof- 
 peroufly, Efmond had his fhare of pleafure, too, 
 and made his appearance along with other young 
 gentlemen at the coffee-houfes, the theatres, and 
 the Mall. He longed to hear of his dear miftrefs 
 and her family : many a time, in the midft of 
 the gaieties and pleafures of the town, his heart 
 fondly reverted to them ; and often as the young 
 fellows of his fociety were making merry at the 
 tavern, and calling toafts (as the fafhion of that 
 day was) over their wine, Efmond thought of 
 perfons — of two fair women, whom he had been 
 ufed to adore almoft, and emptied his glafs with 
 a figh. 
 
 By this time the elder Vifcountefs had grown 
 tired again of the younger, and whenever fhe 
 
Why folks quarrel. 
 
 8 7 
 
 fpoke of my lord's widow, 'twas in terms by no 
 means complimentary towards that poor lady : 
 the younger woman not needing her protection 
 any longer, the elder abufed her. Moft of the 
 family quarrels that I have feen in life (faving 
 always thofe arifing from money-difputes, when 
 a divifion of twopence halfpenny will often drive 
 the deareft relatives into war and eftrangement,) 
 fpring out of jealoufy and envy. Jack and Tom, 
 born of the fame family and to the fame fortune, 
 live very cordially together, not until Jack is 
 ruined when Tom deferts him, but until Tom 
 makes a fudden rife in profperity, which Jack 
 can't forgive. Ten times to one 'tis the un- 
 profperous man that is angry, not the other who 
 is in fault. 'Tis Mrs. Jack, who can only afford 
 a chair, that fickens at Mrs. Tom's new coach- 
 and-fix, cries out againft her fifter's airs, and 
 fets her hufband againft his brother. 'Tis 
 Jack who fees his brother fhaking hands with a 
 lord (with whom Jack would like to exchange 
 fhuff-boxes himfelf ) ; that goes home and tells 
 his wife how poor Tom is fpoiled, he fears, and 
 no better than a fneak, parafite, and beggar on 
 horfeback. I remember how furious the coffee- 
 
88 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 houfe wits were with Dick Steele when he fet up 
 his coach, and fine houfe in Bloomlbury : they 
 began to forgive him when the bailiffs were 
 after him, and abufed Mr. Addifon for felling 
 Dick's country-houfe. And yet Dick in the 
 fpunging-houfe, or Dick in the Park, with his 
 four mares and plated harnefs, was exactly the 
 fame gentle, kindly, improvident, jovial Dick 
 Steele : and yet Mr. Addifon was perfectly 
 right in getting the money which was his, and 
 not giving up the amount of his juft claim, to be 
 fpent by Dick upon champagne and fiddlers, 
 laced clothes, fine furniture, and parafites, Jew 
 and Chriftian, male and female, who clung to 
 him. As, according to the famous maxim 
 of Monfieur de Rochefoucault, cc in our friend's 
 misfortunes there's fomething fecretly pleafant 
 to us ; " fo, on the other hand, their good 
 fortune is difagreeable. If 'tis hard for a 
 man to bear his own good luck, 'tis harder 
 ftill for his friends to bear it for him ; and 
 but few of them ordinarily can ftand that 
 trial: whereas one of the "precious ufes" of 
 adverfity is, that it is a great reconciler ; that it 
 brings back averted kindnefs, difarms animofity> 
 
Homines jumiis. 
 
 8 9 
 
 and caufes yefterday's enemy to fling his hatred 
 afide, and hold out a hand to the fallen friend of 
 old days. There's pity and love, as well as 
 envy, in the fame heart and towards the fame 
 perfon. The rivalry flops when the competitor 
 tumbles ; and, as I view it, we fliould look at 
 thefe agreeable and difagreeable qualities of our 
 humanity humbly alike. They are confequent 
 and natural, and our kindnefs and meannefs both 
 manly. 
 
 So you may either read the fentence, that the 
 elder of Efmond's two kinfwomen pardoned 
 the younger her beauty, when that had loft 
 fomewhat of its freflinefs, perhaps ; and forgot 
 moft her grievances againft the other, when the 
 fubje£t of them was no longer profperous and 
 enviable ; or we may fay more benevolently (but 
 the fum comes to the fame figures, worked either 
 way), that Ifabella repented of her unkindnefs 
 towards Rachel, when Rachel was unhappy ; and 
 beftirring herfelf in behalf of the poor widow 
 and her children, gave them flielter and friend- 
 fliip. The ladies were quite good friends as 
 long as the weaker one needed a prote&or. 
 Before Efmond went away on his firft campaign, 
 
90 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 his miftrefs was ftill on terms of friendfhip 
 (though a poor little chit, a woman that had 
 evidently no fpirit in her, &c.) with the elder 
 Lady Caftlewood; and Miftrefs Beatrix was 
 allowed to be a beauty. 
 
 But between the firft year of Queen Anne's 
 reign, and the fecond, fad changes for the worfe 
 had taken place in the two younger ladies, at 
 leaft in the elder's defcription of them. Rachel, 
 Vifcountefs Caftlewood, had no more face than 
 a dumpling, and Mrs. Beatrix was grown quite 
 coarfe, and was lofing all her beauty. Little 
 Lord Blandford — (fhe never would call him 
 Lord Blandford ; his father was Lord Churchill 
 — the King, whom he betrayed, had made him 
 Lord Churchill, and he was Lord Churchill ftill) 
 — might be making eyes at her ; but his mother, 
 that vixen of a Sarah Jennings, would never hear 
 of fuch a folly. Lady Marlborough had got her 
 to be a maid of honour at court to the Princefs, 
 but fhe would repent of it. The widow Francis 
 (fhe was but Mrs. Francis Efmond,) was a 
 fcheming, artful, heartlefs huffey. She was 
 fpoiling her brat of a boy, and fhe would end by 
 marrying her chaplain. 
 
A fang of jealoufy. 91 
 
 cc What, Tuilier ! 99 cried Mr. Efmond, feeling 
 a ftrange pang of rage and aftonifhment. 
 
 cc Yes — Tufher, my maid's fon ; and who has 
 got all the qualities of his father, the lacquey in 
 black, and his accomplifhed mamma, the waiting- 
 woman," cries my lady. f c What, do you fuppofe 
 that a fentimental widow, who will live down in 
 that dingy dungeon of a Caftlewood, where fhe 
 fpoils her boy, kills the poor with her drugs, has 
 prayers twice a day and fees nobody but the 
 chaplain — what do you fuppofe fhe can do, mon 
 Coufin, but let the horrid parfon, with his great 
 fquare toes, and hideous little green eyes, make 
 love to her ? Cela c'ejl vu> mon Coufin. When 
 I was a girl at Caftlewood, all the chaplains fell 
 in love with me — they've nothing elfe to do." 
 
 My lady went on with more talk of this kind, 
 though, in truth, Efmond had no idea of what 
 fhe faid further, fo entirely did her firft words 
 occupy his thought. Were they true ? Not all, 
 nor half, nor a tenth part of what the garrulous 
 old woman faid, was true. Could this be fo ? 
 No ear had Efmond for anything elfe, though his 
 patronefs chattered on for an hour. 
 
 Some young gentlemen of the town, with 
 
92 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 whom Efmond had made acquaintance, had 
 promifed to prefent him to that moft charming 
 of adtreffes, and lively and agreeable of women, 
 Mrs. Bracegirdle, about whom Harry's old 
 adverfary Mohun had drawn fwords, a few years 
 before my poor lord and he fell out. The 
 famous Mr. Congreve had ftamped with his high 
 approval, to the which there was no gainfaying, 
 this delightful perfon : and ihe was adling in 
 Dick Steele's comedies, and finally, and for 
 twenty-four hours after beholding her, Mr. 
 Efmond felt himfelf, or thought himfelf, to be as 
 violently enamoured of this lovely brunette, as 
 were a thoufand other young fellows about the 
 city. To have once feen her was to long to 
 behold her again ; and to be offered the delightful 
 privilege of her acquaintance was a pleafure the 
 very idea of which fet the young lieutenant's 
 heart on fire. A man cannot live with comrades 
 under the tents without finding out that he too is 
 five-and-twenty. A young fellow cannot be cafl 
 down by grief and misfortune ever fo fevere but 
 fome night he begins to fleep found, and fome 
 day when dinner-time comes to feel hungry for a 
 beef-ftake. Time, youth, and good health, new 
 
I wear but half-mourning. 
 
 93 
 
 fcenes, and the excitement of a&ion and a 
 campaign, had pretty well brought Efmond's 
 mourning to an end ; and his comrades faid that 
 Don Difmal, as they called him, was Don Difmal 
 no more. So when a party was made to dine at 
 the Rofe and go to the playhoufe afterward, 
 Efmond was as pleafed as another to take his 
 fliare of the bottle and the play. 
 
 How was it that the old aunt's news, or it 
 might be fcandal about Tom Tufher, caufed fuch 
 a ftrange and Hidden excitement in Tom's old 
 play-fellow ? Hadn't he fworn a thoufand times 
 in his own mind, that the Lady of Caftlewood, 
 who had treated him with fuch kindnefs once, 
 and then had left him fo cruelly, was, and was to 
 remain henceforth, indifferent to him for ever ? 
 Had his pride and his fenfe of juftice not long 
 fince helped him to cure the pain of that 
 defertion — was it even a pain to him now ? 
 Why, but laft night as he walked acrofs the fields 
 and meadows to Chelfea from Pall Mall, had he 
 not compofed two or three ftanzas of a fong, 
 celebrating Bracegirdle's brown eyes, and declaring 
 them a thoufand times more beautiful than the 
 brightefi: blue ones that ever languifhed under the 
 
94 Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 lafhes of an infipid fair beauty. But Tom 
 Tufher ! Tom Tufher, the waiting-woman's fon, 
 raifing up his little eyes to his miftrefs ! Tom 
 Tufher prefuming to think of Caftlewood's 
 widow ! Rage and contempt filled Mr. Harry's 
 heart at the very notion ; the honour of the family, 
 of which he was the chief, made it his duty to 
 prevent fo monftrous an alliance, and to chaftife 
 the upftart who could dare to think of fuch an 
 infult to their houfe. 'Tis true Mr. Efmond 
 often boafted of republican principles, and could 
 remember many fine fpeeches he had made at 
 College and elfewhere, with worth and not birth 
 for a text : but Tom Tufher, to take the place of 
 the noble Caftlewood — faugh ! 'twas as monftrous 
 as King Hamlet's widow taking off her weeds for 
 Claudius. Efmond laughed at all widows, all 
 wives, all women ; and were the banns about to 
 be publifhed, as no doubt they were, that very 
 next Sunday at Walcote Church ; Efmond fwore 
 that he would be prefent to fhout no ! in the 
 face of the congregation, and to take a private 
 revenge upon the ears of the bridegroom. 
 
 Inftead of going to dinner then at the Rofe 
 that night, Mr. Efmond bade his fervant pack a 
 
I ride at midnight. 
 
 95 
 
 portmanteau and get horfes, and was at Farnham, 
 half way on the road to Walcote, thirty miles 
 off, before his comrades had got to their fupper 
 after the play. He bade his man give no hint to 
 my Lady Dowager's houfehold of the expedition 
 on which he was going : and as Chelfea was 
 diftant from London, the roads bad, and infefted 
 by foot-pads ; and Efmond, often in the habit, 
 when engaged in a party of pleafure, of lying 
 at a friend's lodging in town, there was no need 
 that his old aunt fhould be disturbed at his 
 abfence — indeed nothing more delighted the old 
 lady than to fancy that mon Coufin> the incor- 
 rigible young linner, was abroad boxing the 
 watch, or fcouring St. Giles's. When fhe was 
 not at her books of devotion, flie thought 
 Etheridge and Sedley very good reading. She 
 had a hundred pretty ftories about Rochefter, 
 Harry Jermyn, and Hamilton ; and if Efmond 
 would but have run away wkh the wife even of 
 a citizen, 'tis my belief fhe would have pawned 
 her diamonds (the beft of them went to our 
 Lady of Chaillot) to pay his damages. 
 
 My lord's little houfe of Walcote, which he 
 inhabited before he took his title and occupied 
 
96 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 the houfe of Caftlewood — lies about a mile from 
 Winchefter, and his widow had returned to 
 Walcote after my lord's death as a place always 
 dear to her, and where her earlieft and happieft 
 days had been fpent, cheerfuller than Caftlewood, 
 which was too large for her ftraitened means, 
 and giving her, too, the protection of the ex-Dean, 
 her father. The young Vifcount had a year's 
 fchooling at the famous college there, with Mr. 
 Tufher as his governor. So much news of them 
 Mr. Efmond had had during the paft year from 
 the old Vifcountefs, his own father's widow ; 
 from the young one there had never been a 
 word. 
 
 Twice or thrice in his benefactor's lifetime, 
 Efmond had been to Walcote ; and, now, taking 
 but a couple of hours reft only at the inn on the 
 road, he was up again long before day-break, and 
 made fuch good fpeed, that he was at Walcote 
 by two o'clock of the day. He rid to the inn 
 of the village, where he alighted and fent a man 
 thence to Mr. Tufher, with a meftage that a 
 gentleman from London would fpeak with him 
 on urgent bufinefs. The meffenger came back 
 to fay the Doctor was in town, moft likely at 
 
My miftrefs at her prayers. 97 
 
 prayers in the Cathedral. My Lady Vifcountefs 
 was there too ; flie always went to Cathedral 
 prayers every day. 
 
 The horfes belonged to the poft-houfe at 
 Winchefter. Efmond mounted again, and rode 
 on to the George : whence he walked, leaving 
 his grumbling domeftick at laft happy with a 
 dinner, ftraight to the Cathedral. The organ 
 was playing : the winter's day was already 
 growing grey : as he pafled under the ftreet-arch 
 into the cathedral-yard and made his way into 
 the ancient folemn edifice. 
 
 YOL. II. 
 
 H 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 — — 
 
 THE 2<jTH DECEMBER. 
 
 / | ^HERE was fcarce a fcore of perfons in 
 the Cathedral befides the Dean and fome 
 of his clergy, and the chorifters, young and old, 
 that performed the beautiful evening prayer. 
 But Dr. Tufher was one of the officiants, and 
 read from the eagle, in an authoritative voice, 
 and a great black periwig ; and in the ftalls, 
 ftill in her black widow's hood, fate Efmond's 
 dear miftrefs, her fon by her fide, very much 
 grown, and indeed a noble-looking youth, with 
 his mother's eyes, and his father's curling brown 
 hair, that fell over his point de Venife — a pretty 
 picture fuch as Vandyke might have painted. 
 Mons. Rigaud's portrait of my Lord Vifcount, 
 done at Paris afterwards, gives but a French 
 verfion of his manly, frank Englifh face. When 
 
Prayers and Anthem. 
 
 he looked up there were two fapphire beams out 
 of his eyes, ftich as no painter's palette has the 
 colour to match, I think. On this day there 
 was not much chance of feeing that particular 
 beauty of my young lord's countenance ; for the 
 truth is, he kept his eyes ftiut for the moft part, 
 and, the anthem being rather long, was afleep. 
 
 But the mufick ceafing, my lord woke up, 
 looking about him, and his eyes lighting on 
 Mr. Efmond, who was fitting oppofite him, 
 gazing with no fmall tender nefs and melancholy 
 upon two perfons who had had fo much of his 
 heart for fo many years; Lord Caftlewood, with 
 a ftart, pulled at his mother's fleeve (her face had 
 fcarce been lifted from her book), and faid, 
 cc Look, mother ! " fo loud, that Efmond could 
 hear on the other fide of the church, and the old 
 Dean on his throned ftall. Lady Caftlewood 
 looked for an inftant as her fon bade her, and 
 held up a warning finger to Frank ; Efmond felt 
 his whole face flufh, and his heart throbbing, as 
 that dear lady beheld him once more. The reft 
 of the prayers were fpeedily over : Mr. Efmond 
 did not hear them ; nor did his miftrefs, very 
 likely, whofe hood went more clofely over her 
 
 - H 2 
 
i oo The Hifiory of Henry E/mond. 
 
 face, and who never lifted her head again until 
 the fervice was over, the bleffing given, and 
 Mr. Dean, and his procefTion of ecclefiafticks, 
 out of the inner chapel. 
 
 Young Caftlewood came clambering over the 
 ftalls before the clergy were fairly gone, and 
 running up to Efmond, eagerly embraced him. 
 Cf My dear, deareft old Harry," he faid, fc are 
 you come back ? Have you been to the 
 wars ? You'll take me with you when you go 
 again ? Why didn't you write to us ? Come 
 to mother." 
 
 Mr. Efmond could hardly fay more than a 
 God blefs you, my boy, for his heart was very 
 full and grateful at all this tendernefs on the lad's 
 part ; and he was as much moved at feeing Frank, 
 as he was fearful about that other interview 
 which was now to take place ; for he knew not 
 if the widow would rejeft him as fhe had done 
 fo cruelly a year ago. 
 
 cf It was kind of you to come back to us, 
 Henry," Lady Efmond faid. f f I thought you 
 might come." 
 
 cc We read of the fleet coming to Portfmouth. 
 Why did you not come from Portfmouth ? " 
 
A meeting. 
 
 101 
 
 Frank alked, or my Lord Vifcount as he now 
 mud; be called. 
 
 Efmond had thought of that too. He would 
 have given one of his eyes fo that he might fee 
 his dear friends again once more ; but believing 
 that his miftrefs had forbidden him her houfe, he 
 had obeyed her, and remained at a diftance. 
 
 cc You had but to afk, and you knew I would 
 be here/' he faid. 
 
 She gave him her hand, her little fair hand: 
 there was only her marriage ring on it. The 
 quarrel was all over. The year of grief and 
 eftrangement was pafled. They never had been 
 feparated. His miftrefs had never been out of 
 his mind all that time. No, not once. No, not 
 in the prifon ; nor in the camp ; nor on fhore 
 before the enemy ; nor at fea under the ftars of 
 folemn midnight, nor as he watched the glorious 
 rifing of the dawn : not even at the table where 
 he fate caroufing with friends, or at the theatre 
 yonder where he tried to fancy that other eyes 
 were brighter than hers. Brighter eyes there 
 might be, and faces more beautiful, but none fo 
 dear — no voice fo fweet as that of his beloved 
 miftrefs, who had been fifter, mother, goddefs to 
 
io2 T/ie Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 him [during his youth — goddefs now no more, 
 for he knew of her weaknefles ; and by thought, 
 by fuffering, and that experience it brings, was 
 older now than fhe ; but more fondly cherifhed 
 as woman perhaps than ever fhe had been adored 
 as divinity. What is it ? Where lies it ? the 
 fecret which makes one little hand the dearefi: of 
 all ? Whoever can unriddle that myftery ? 
 Here fhe was, her fon by his fide, his dear boy. 
 Here fhe was, weeping and happy. She took 
 his hand in both hers ; he felt her tears. It was 
 a rapture of reconciliation. 
 
 cc Here comes Squaretoes," fays Frank. 
 " Here's Tufher." 
 
 Tufher, indeed, now a ppeared, creaking on 
 his great heels. Mr. Tom had divefced himfelf 
 of his alb or furplice, and came forward habited 
 in his caffock and great black periwig. How 
 had Harry Efmond ever been for a moment 
 jealous of this fellow ? 
 
 <c Give us thy hand, Tom Tuftier," he faid. 
 The chaplain made him a very low and ftately 
 bow. cc I am charmed to fee Captain Efmond," 
 fays he. cc My lord and I have read the Reddas 
 incolumem precor, and applied it, I am fure, to 
 
^ufher's compliments. 103 
 
 you. You come back with Gaditanian laurels : 
 when I heard you were bound thither, I wifhed, 
 I am fure, I was another Septimius. My Lord 
 Vifcount, your lordfhip remembers Septimi> 
 Gades aditure me cum ? " 
 
 cc There's an angle of earth that I love better 
 than Gades, Tufher," fays Mr. Efmond. cc 'Tis 
 that one where your reverence hath a parfonage, 
 and where our youth was brought up." 
 
 cc A houfe that has fo many facred recol- 
 lections to me/' fays Mr. Tuftier (and Harry 
 remembered how Tom's father ufed to flog him 
 there) — cc a houfe near to that of my refpefted 
 patron, my moft . honoured patronefs, mult ever 
 be a dear abode to me. But, madam, the verger 
 waits to clofe the gates on your ladyfhip." 
 
 fc And Harry's coming home to fupper. 
 Huzzay ! huzzay ! " cries my lord. cc Mother, 
 ftiall I run home and bid Beatrix put her ribbons 
 on. Beatrix is a maid of honour, Harry. 
 Such a fine fet-up minx ! " 
 
 Cf Your heart was never in the Church, Harry," 
 the widow faid, in her fweet low tone, as they 
 walked away together. (Now, it feemed they 
 had never been parted, and again, as if they had 
 
104 Tlie Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 been ages afunder.) " I always thought you 
 had no vocation that way ; and that 'twas a pity 
 to fhut you out from the world. You would 
 but have pined and chafed at Caftlewood : and 
 'tis better you fhould make a name for yourfelf. 
 I often faid fo to my dear lord. How he loved 
 you ! 'Twas my lord that made you ftay 
 with us." 
 
 " I alked no better than to ftay near you 
 always," faid Mr. Efmond. 
 
 cc But to go was beft, Harry. When the 
 world cannot give peace, you will know where to 
 find it ; but one of your ftrong imagination and 
 eager defires muft try the world firfl: before he 
 tires of it. 'Twas not to be thought of, or if it 
 once was, it was only by my felfifhnefs, that you 
 jfhould remain as chaplain to a country gentle- 
 man and tutor to a little boy. You are of the 
 blood of the Efmonds, kinfman ; and that was 
 always wild in youth. Look at Francis. He is 
 but fifteen, and I fcarce can keep him in my 
 neft. His talk is all of war and pleafure, and he 
 longs to ferve in the next campaign. Perhaps 
 he and the young Lord Churchill fliall go the 
 next. Lord Marlborough has been, good to us. 
 
We walk hand in hand. 105 
 
 You know how kind they were in my misfor- 
 tune. And fo was your — your father's widow. 
 No one knows how good the world is, till grief 
 comes to try us. 'Tis through my Lady Marl- 
 borough's goodnefs that Beatrix hath her place 
 at Court ; and Frank is under my Lord Cham- 
 berlain. And the dowager lady, your father's 
 widow, has promifed to provide for you — has 
 flie not? " 
 
 Efmond faid cf Yes. As far as prefent favour 
 went, Lady Caftlewood was very good to him. 
 And fhould her mind change," he added gaily, 
 cc as ladies' minds will, I am ftrong enough to 
 bear my own burthen, and make my way fome- 
 how. Not by the fword very likely. Thou- 
 fands have a better genius for that than I, but 
 there are many ways in which a young man of 
 good parts and education can get on in the 
 world ; and I am pretty fure, one way or other, 
 of promotion ? " Indeed, he had found patrons 
 already in the army, and amongft perfons very 
 able to ferve him, too ; and told his miftrefs of 
 the flattering afped: of fortune. They walked 
 as though they had never been parted, {lowly, 
 with the grey twilight clofing round them. 
 
106 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 cc And now we are drawing near to home," 
 ftie continued, cc I knew you would come, 
 Harry, if — if it was but to forgive me for 
 having fpoken unjuftly to you after that horrid 
 — horrid misfortune. I was half frantick 'with 
 grief then when I faw you. And I know 
 now — they have told me. That wretch, whofe 
 name I can never mention, even has faid it : how 
 you tried to avert the quarrel, and would have 
 taken it on yourfelf, my poor child : but it was 
 God's will that I fhould be punifhed, and that 
 my dear lord fhould fall." 
 
 cc He gave me his bleffing on his death-bed," 
 Efmond faid. iC Thank God for that legacy !" 
 
 cc Amen, amen! dear Henry," fays the lady, 
 prefling his arm. cf I knew it. Mr. Atter- 
 bury, of St. Bride's, who was called to him, told 
 me fo. And I thanked God, too, and in my 
 prayers ever fince, remembered it." 
 
 cc You had fpared me many a bitter night, 
 had you told me fooner," Mr. Efmond faid. 
 
 <c I know it, I know it," fhe anfwered, in a 
 tone of fuch fweet humility, as made Efmond 
 repent that he fhould ever have dared to reproach 
 her. cc I know how wicked my heart has been ; 
 
£)ui Jeminant in lacrymis. 107 
 
 and I have fuffered, too, my dear. I confefled 
 to Mr. Atterbury — I muft not tell any more. 
 He — I faid I would not write to you or go to 
 you — and it was better, even, that having parted, 
 we fhould part. But I knew you would come 
 back — I own that. That is no one's fault. And 
 to-day, Henry, in the anthem, when they fang it, 
 'When the Lord turned the captivity of Zion, 
 we were like them that dream,' I thought, yes, 
 like them that dream — them that dream. And 
 then it went, c They that fow in tears fhall reap 
 in joy ; and he that goeth forth and weepeth, 
 fliall doubtlefs come home again with rejoicing, 
 bringing his (heaves with him ; ' I looked up 
 from the book, and faw you. I was not furprifed 
 when I faw you. I knew you would come, 
 my dear, and faw the gold funfliine round your 
 head." 
 
 She fmiled an almofi: wild fmile, as fhe looked 
 up at him. The moon was up by this time, 
 glittering keen in the frofty Iky. He could fee, 
 for the firfl: time now clearly, her fweet care- 
 worn face. 
 
 cc Do you know what day it is ? " fhe con- 
 tinued. cc It is the 29th of December — it is your 
 
io8 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 birthday ! But laft year we did not drink it — 
 no, no. My lord was cold, and my Harry was 
 likely to die ; and my brain was in a fever ; and 
 we had no wine. But now — now you are come 
 again, bringing your fheaves with you, my dear." 
 She burft into a wild flood of weeping as fhe 
 fpoke ; fhe laughed and fobbed on the young 
 man's heart, crying out wildly, f c bringing your 
 fheaves with you — your fheaves with you !" 
 
 As he had fometimes felt, gazing up from the 
 deck at midnight into the boundlefs ftarlit depths 
 overhead, in a rapture of devout wonder at that 
 endlefs brightnefs and beauty — in fome fuch a 
 way now, the depth of this pure devotion (which 
 was, for the firft time, revealed to him quite) 
 fmote upon him, and filled his heart with thanks- 
 giving. Gracious God, who was he, weak and 
 friendlefs creature, that fuch a love fhould be 
 poured out upon him ? Not in vain, not in vain 
 has he lived, — hard and thanklefs fhould he be to 
 think fo — that has fuch a treafure given him. What 
 is ambition compared to that ? but felfifh vanity. 
 To be rich, to be famous ? What do thefe profit a 
 year hence, when other names found louder than 
 yours, when you lie hidden away under ground, 
 
In exfultatione metent. 
 
 along' with the idle titles engraven on your coffin ? 
 But only true love lives after you, — follows your 
 memory with fecret blefling, — or precedes you, 
 and intercedes for you. Non omnis mortar > — if 
 dying, I yet live in a tender heart or two ; nor 
 am loft and hopelefs living, if a fainted departed 
 foul ftill loves and prays for me. 
 
 " If — if 'tis fo, dear lady," Mr. Efmond faid, 
 cc why fhould I ever leave you ? If God hath 
 given me this great boon,— and near or far from 
 me, as I know now, — the heart of my deareft 
 miftrefs follows me ; let me have that blefling 
 near me, nor ever part with it till life feparate 
 us. Come away — leave this Europe, this place 
 which has fo many fad recolledions for you. 
 Begin a new life in a new world. My good lord 
 often talked of vifiting that land in Virginia 
 which King Charles gave us — gave his anceftor. 
 Frank will give us that. No man there will 
 afk if there is a blot on my name, or inquire 
 in the woods what my title is." 
 
 <c And my children, — and my duty,— and my 
 good father ? — Henry," fhe broke out. <f He has 
 none but me now ; for foon my After will leave 
 him, and the old man will be alone. He has 
 
1 1 o The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 conformed fince the new Oueen's reign ; and here 
 in Winchefter, where they love him, they have 
 found a church for him. When the children 
 leave me, I will ftay with him. I cannot follow 
 them into the great world, where their way lies 
 — it fcares me. They will come and vifit me ; 
 and you will, fometimes, Henry — yes, fometimes, 
 as now, in the Holy Advent feafon, when I have 
 feen and blefted you once more." 
 
 fC I would leave all to follow you," faid Mr. 
 Efmond ; cc and can you not be as generous for 
 me, dear lady ? 99 
 
 fc Hufh, boy ! " file faid, and it was with a 
 mother's fweet plaintive tone and look that fhe 
 fpoke. cf The world is beginning for you. For 
 me, I have been fo weak and finful that I muft 
 leave it, and pray out an expiation, dear Henry. 
 Had we houfes of religion as there were once, 
 and many divines of our church would have them 
 again, I often think I would retire to one and 
 pafs my life in penance. But I would love you 
 ftill — yes, there is no fin in fuch a love as mine 
 now ; and my dear lord in heaven may see my 
 heart ; and knows the tears that have wafhed my 
 fin away — and now — now my duty is here, by 
 
Fond Confeffions. 
 
 11 1 
 
 my children whilft they need me ; and by my poor 
 old father, and " — 
 
 (c And not by me ? " Henry faid. 
 
 Cf Hulh," (be faid again, and raifed her hand 
 up to his lip. cc I have been your nurfe. You 
 could not fee me, Harry, when you were in the 
 fmall-pox, and I came and fate by you. Ah! I 
 prayed that I might die, but it would have been 
 in fin, Henry. Oh, it is horrid to look back to 
 that time. It is over now and paft, and it has 
 been forgiven me. When you need me again I 
 will come ever fo far. When your heart is 
 wounded, then come to me, my dear. Be filent ! 
 let me fay all. You never loved me, dear Henry 
 — no, you do not now, and I thank Heaven for 
 it. I ufed to watch you, and knew by a 
 thoufand figns that it was fo. Do you remember 
 how glad you were to go away to College ? 
 'Twas I fent you. I told my papa that, and 
 Mr. Atterbury too, when I fpoke to him in 
 London. And they both gave me abfolution 
 — both — and they are godly men having 
 authority to bind and to loofe. And they 
 for gave me, as my dear lord forgave me before 
 he went to heaven." 
 
ii2 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 ff I think the angels are not all In heaven/' 
 Mr. Efmond faid. And as a brother folds a 
 lifter to his heart ; and as a mother cleaves to her 
 fon's breaft — fo for a few moments Efmond' s 
 beloved miftrefs came to him and bleffed him. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I AM MADE WELCOME AT WALCOTE. 
 
 AS they came up to the houfe at Walcote, 
 the windows from within were lighted up 
 with friendly welcome ; the fupper-table was 
 fpread in the oak-parlour ; it feemed as if 
 forgivenefs and love were awaiting the returning 
 prodigal. Two or three familiar faces of 
 domefticks were on the look-out at the porch — 
 the old houfekeeper was there, and young 
 Lockwood from Caftlewood in my lord's livery 
 of tawney and blue. His dear miftrefs prefled 
 his arm as they paffed into the hall. Her eyes 
 beamed out on him with affedtion indefcribable. 
 * f Welcome/' was all fhe faid : as fhe looked up, 
 putting back her fair curls and black hood. A 
 fweet rofy fmile blufhed on her face : Harry 
 thought he had never feen her look fo charming. 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
1 14 The Hijlory g/ Henry Efmond. 
 
 Her face was lighted with a joy that was brighter 
 than beauty — fhe took a hand of her fon who 
 was in the hall waiting his mother — fhe did not 
 quit Efmond's arm. 
 
 "Welcome, Harry!" my young lord echoed 
 after her. cc Here, we are all come to fay fo. 
 Here's old Pincot, hafn't flie grown handfome ?" 
 and Pincot, who was older, and no handfomer 
 than ufual, made a curtfey to the Captain as fhe 
 called Efmond, and told my lord to Cf Have done, 
 now." 
 
 cc And here's Jack Lockwood. He'll make a 
 famous grenadier, Jack ; and fo fhall I ; we'll 
 both lift under you, Coufin. As foon as I am 
 feventeen I go to the army — every gentleman 
 goes to the army. Look! who comes here — 
 ho, ho !" he burft into a laugh. ff 'Tis Miftrefs 
 Trix, with a new ribbon ; I knew fhe would put 
 one on as foon as fhe heard a Captain was coming 
 to fupper." 
 
 This laughing colloquy took place in the hall 
 of Walcote Houfe : in the midft of which is a 
 ftaircafe that leads from an open gallery, where 
 are the doors of the fleeping chambers : and 
 from one of thefe, a wax candle in her hand, 
 
Beatrix grown to womanhood. 115 
 
 and illuminating her, came Miftrefs Beatrix — the 
 light falling indeed upon the fcarlet ribbon which 
 flie wore, and upon the moft brilliant white neck 
 in the world. 
 
 Efmond had left a child, and found a woman, 
 grown beyond the common height ; and arrived 
 at fuch a dazzling completenefs of beauty, that his 
 eyes might well ftiow furprife and delight at 
 beholding her. In hers there was a brightnefs fo 
 luftrous and melting, that I have feen a whole 
 aflembly follow her as if by an attraction irre- 
 fiftible : and that night the great Duke was at 
 the play-houfe after Ramillies, every foul turned 
 and looked (flie chanced to enter at the oppofite 
 fide of the theatre at the fame moment) at her, 
 and not at him. She was a brown beauty : that 
 is, her eyes, hair, and eye-brows and eye-lafhes, 
 were dark : her hair curling with rich undulations, 
 and waving over her fhoulders ; but her com- 
 plexion was as dazzling white as fnow in funfhine ; 
 except her cheeks, which were a bright red, and 
 her lips, which were of a ftill deeper crimfon. 
 Her mouth and chin, they faid, were too large 
 and full, and fo they might be for a goddefs in 
 marble, but not for a woman whofe eyes were 
 
 1 2 
 
1 1 6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 iire 3 whofe look was love, whofe voice was the 
 fweeteft low fong, whofe fhape was perfect 
 fymmetry, health, decifion, a6tivity, whofe foot 
 as it planted itfelf on the ground was firm but 
 flexible, and whofe motion, whether rapid or 
 flow, was always perfedl grace — agile as a nymph, 
 lofty as a queen — now melting, now imperious, 
 now farcaftick, there was no fingle movement of 
 hers but was beautiful. As he thinks of her, 
 he who writes, feels young again, and remembers 
 a paragon. 
 
 So fhe came holding her drefs with one fair 
 rounded arm, and her taper before her, tripping 
 down the flair to greet Efmond. 
 
 cc She hath put on her fcarlet ftockings and 
 white fhoes," fays my lord, ftill laughing. cc O, 
 my fine miftrefs ! is this the way you fet your 
 cap at the Captain!" She approached, Alining 
 fmiles upon Efmond, who could look at nothing 
 but her eyes. She advanced holding forward 
 her head, as if fhe would have him kifs her as 
 he ufed to do when fhe was a child. 
 
 cc Stop," fhe faid, c< I am grown too big ! 
 Welcome, coufin Harry," and fhe made him 
 an arch curtfey, fweeping down to the ground 
 
Filia pulcrior. 
 
 117 
 
 alrnoft, with the moft gracious bend, looking 
 up the while with the brighteft eyes and 
 fweeteft fmile. Love feemed to radiate from 
 her. Harry eyed her with fuch a rapture as 
 the firft lover is defcribed as having by Milton. 
 
 Cf West ce pas ? " fays my lady, in a low, fweet 
 voice, ftill hanging on his arm. 
 
 Efmond turned round with a ftart and a blufh, 
 as he met his miftrefs's clear eyes. He had 
 forgotten her, wrapt in admiration of the filia 
 pulcrior. 
 
 " Right foot forward, toe turned out, fo : now 
 drop the curtfey, and fhow the red ftockings, 
 Trix. They've filver clocks, Harry. The 
 dowager fent 'em. She went to put 'em on," 
 cries my lord. 
 
 < c Hufh, you ftupid child ! " fays Mifs, 
 (mothering her brother with kiffes ; and then fhe 
 mull come and kifs her mamma, looking all the 
 while at Harry, over his miftrefs's fhoulder. 
 And if fhe did not kifs him, fhe gave him both 
 her hands, and then took one of his in both 
 hands, and faid, cc Oh, Harry, we're fo, Jo glad 
 you're come ! " 
 
 cc There are woodcocks for fupper, " fays 
 
1 1 8 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 my lord: tc Huzzay! It was fuch a hungry 
 fermon." 
 
 Cf And it is the 29th of December; and our 
 Harry has come home." 
 
 cc Huzzay, old Pincot ! " again fays my lord ; 
 and my dear lady's lips looked as if they were 
 trembling with a prayer. She would have 
 Harry lead in Beatrix to the fupper-room, 
 going herfelf with my young Lord Vifcount ; 
 and to this party came Tom Tufher direftly, 
 whom four at leaft out of the company of five, 
 wiftied away. Away he went, however, as foon 
 as the fweetmeats were put down, and then, by 
 the great crackling fire, his miftrefs or Beatrix 
 with her blufhing graces filling his glafs for 
 him, Harry told the ftory of his campaign, and 
 pafled the moft delightful night his life had ever 
 known. The fun was up long ere he was, fo deep, 
 fweet, and refreftiing was his flumber. He woke 
 as if angels had been watching at his bed all 
 night. I darefay one that was as pure and loving 
 as an angel had bleft his lleep with her prayers. 
 
 Next morning the chaplain read prayers to 
 the little houfehold at Walcote, as the cuftom 
 was ; Efmond thought Miftrefs Beatrix did not 
 
Tuftier exhorts in vain. 1 1 9 
 
 liften to Tuftier's exhortation much : her eyes 
 were wandering everywhere during the fervice, 
 at leaft whenever he looked up he met them. 
 Perhaps he alfo was not very attentive to his 
 Reverence the chaplain. fC This might have 
 been my life/' he was thinking ; cc this might 
 have been my duty from now till old age. 
 Well, were it not a pleafant one to be with thefe 
 dear friends and part from 'em no more ? 
 Until — until the deftined lover comes and takes 
 away pretty Beatrix" — and the beft part of Tom 
 Tufher's expofition, which may have been very 
 learned and eloquent, was quite loft to poor 
 Harry by this vifion of the deftined lover, who 
 put the preacher out. 
 
 All the while of the prayers, Beatrix knelt 
 a little way before Harry Efmond. The red 
 ftockings were changed for a pair of grey, and 
 black fhoes> in which her feet looked to the full 
 as pretty. All the rofes of fpring could not 
 vie with the brightnefs of her complexion ; 
 Efmond thought he had never feen anything 
 like the funny luftre of her eyes. My Lady 
 Vifcountefs looked fatigued, as if with watching, 
 and her face was pale. 
 
1 20 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Mifs Beatrix remarked thefe figns of indifpo- 
 fition in her mother, and deplored them. cc I 
 am an old woman," fays my lady, with a kind 
 fmile ; cc I cannot hope to look as young as you 
 do, my dear." 
 
 cc She'll never look as good as you do if fhe 
 lives till fhe's a hundred," fays my lord, taking 
 his mother by the waift, and kifling her hand. 
 
 cc Do I look very wicked, coufin ? " fays 
 Beatrix, turning full round on Efmond, with 
 her pretty face fo clofe under his chin, that the 
 foft perfumed hair touched it. She laid her 
 finger-tips on his fleeve as fhe fpoke ; and he 
 put his other hand over hers. 
 
 cc Pm like your looking-glafs," fays he, cc and 
 that can't flatter you." 
 
 cc He means that you are always looking at 
 him, my dear," fays her mother, archly. Beatrix 
 ran away from Efmond at this, and flew to 
 her mamma, whom fhe kifled, flopping my 
 lady's mouth with her pretty hand. 
 
 cc And Harry is very good to look at," fays 
 my lady, with her fond eyes regarding the young 
 man. 
 
 cf If 'tis good to fee a happy face," fays he, 
 
Our fine apparel. 
 
 121 
 
 <c you fee that." My lady faid Amen, with 
 a figh ; and Harry thought the memory of her 
 dead lord rofe up and rebuked her back again 
 into fadnefs; for her face loft the fmile, and 
 refumed its look of melancholy. 
 
 ff Why, Harry , how fine we look in our 
 fcarlet and filver, and our black periwig/' 
 cries my lord. fC Mother, I am tired of my 
 own hair. When fhall I have a perruke ? Where 
 did you get your fteenkirk, Harry ? " 
 
 cc It's fome of my Lady Dowager's lace/' fays 
 Harry ; f c file fgave me this and a number of 
 other fine things." 
 
 cc My Lady Dowager ifn't fuch a bad woman," 
 my lord continued. 
 
 cc She's not fo — fo red as file's painted," fays 
 Mifs Beatrix. 
 
 Her brother broke into a laugh. cc I'll tell 
 her you faid fo ; by the Lord, Trix, I will," he 
 cries out. 
 
 cc She'll know that you hadn't the wit to fay 
 it, my lord," fays Mifs Beatrix. 
 
 Cf We won't quarrel the firft day Harry's here, 
 will we, mother ? " faid the young lord. fc We'll 
 fee if we can get on to the new year without a 
 
122 T/ie Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fight. Have fome of this Chriftmas pie ? and 
 here comes the tankard ; no, it's Pincot with 
 the tea." 
 
 f c Will the Captain choofe a difh ? " afks 
 Miftrefs Beatrix. 
 
 cc I fay, Harry," my lord goes on, cc I'll fhow 
 thee my horfes after breakfaft ; and we'll go a 
 bird- netting to-night, and on Monday there's a 
 cock-match at Winchefter — do you love cock- 
 fighting, Harry ? — between the gentlemen of 
 Sufiex and the gentlemen of Hampfhire, at ten 
 pound the battle, and fifty pound the odd battle, 
 to fhow one-and-twenty cocks." 
 
 cf And what will you do, Beatrix, to amufe 
 ourkinfman ?" alks my lady. 
 
 "I'll Men to him," fays Beatrix, CC I am 
 fare he has a hundred things to tell us. And 
 I'm jealous already of the Spanifh ladies. Was 
 that a beautiful nun at Cadiz that you refcued 
 from the foldiers ? Your man talked of it laft 
 night in the kitchen, and Mrs. Betty told me 
 this morning as fhe combed my hair. And he 
 fays you muft be in love, for you fate on deck 
 all night, and fcribbled verfes all day in your 
 table-book." Harry thought if he had wanted 
 
t 
 
 A theme for a Poet. \ 23 
 
 a fubjedt for verfes yefterday, to-day he had 
 found one : and not all the Lindamiras and 
 Ardelias of the poets were half fo beautiful as 
 this young creature ; but he did not fay fo, 
 though fome one did for him. 
 
 This was his dear lady who, after the meal 
 was over, and the young people were gone, 
 began talking of her children with Mr. Efmond, 
 and of the characters of one and the other, and 
 of her hopes and fears for both of them. cc 'Tis 
 not while they are at home," fhe faid, cc and in 
 their mother's neft, I fear for them — 'tis when 
 they are gone into the world whither I fhall not 
 be able to follow them. Beatrix will begin her 
 fervice next year. You may have heard a 
 rumour about — about my Lord Blandford. They 
 were both children ; and it is but idle talk. I 
 know my kinfwoman would never let him make 
 fuch a poor marriage as our Beatrix would be. 
 There's fcarce a princefs in Europe that fhe 
 thinks is good enough for him or for her 
 ambition." 
 
 fC There's not a princefs in Europe to compare 
 with her," fays Efrpond. 
 
 Cf In beauty ? No, perhaps not," anfwered 
 
124 'The Hijlory of Henry Ejmond. 
 
 my lady. cf She is mod beautiful, ifn't fhe ? 
 'Tis not a mother's partiality that deceives me. 
 I marked you yefterday when fhe came down the 
 flair : and read it in your face. We look when 
 you don't fancy us looking, and fee better than 
 you think, dear Harry : and juft now when they 
 fpoke about your poems — you writ pretty lines 
 when you were but a boy — you thought Beatrix 
 was a pretty fubjedl for verfe, did not you, 
 Harry ? (The gentleman could only blufh for 
 a reply.) And fo fhe is — nor are you the firft 
 her pretty face has captivated. 'Tis quickly 
 done. Such a pair of bright eyes as hers learn 
 their power very foon, and ufe it very early." 
 And, looking at him keenly with hers, the fair 
 widow left him. 
 
 And fo it is — a pair of bright eyes with a 
 dozen glances fuffice to fubdue a man ; to enflave 
 him, and enflame him : to make him even forget : 
 they dazzle him fo that the pafh becomes ftraight- 
 way dim to him : and he fo prizes them that he 
 would give all his life to poffefs 'em. What is 
 the fond love of deareft friends compared to this 
 treafure ? Is memory as ftrong as expectancy ? 
 fruition, as hunger ? gratitude, as defire ? I 
 
Her eyes. 
 
 125 
 
 have looked at royal diamonds in the jewel rooms 
 in Europe, and thought how wars have been 
 made about 'em : Mogul fovereigns depofed and 
 ftrangled for them, or ranfomed with them : 
 millions expended to buy them ; and daring lives 
 loft in digging out the little Alining toys that I 
 value no more than the button in my hat. And 
 fo there are other glittering baubles (of rare 
 water too) for which men have been fet to kill 
 and quarrel ever fince mankind began ; and which 
 laft but for a fcore of years, when their fparkle is 
 over. Where are thofe jewels now that beamed 
 under Cleopatra's forehead, or fhone in the fockets 
 of Helen ? 
 
 The fecond day after Efmond's coming to 
 Walcote, Tom Tufher had leave to take a 
 holiday and went off in his very beft gown and 
 bands to court the young woman whom his 
 Reverence defired to marry, and who was not a 
 vifcount's widow, as it turned out, but a brewer's 
 relid: at Southampton, with a couple of thoufand 
 pounds to her fortune : for honest Tom's heart 
 was under such excellent controul, that Venus 
 herfelf without a portion would never have caufed 
 it to flutter. So he rode away on his heavy- 
 
126 The Hiftory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 paced gelding to purfue his jog-trot loves, leaving 
 Efmond to the fociety of his dear miftrefs and 
 her daughter, and with his young lord for a 
 companion, who was charmed not only to fee an 
 old friend, but to have the tutor and his Latin 
 books put out of the way. 
 
 The boy talked of things and people, and not 
 a little about himfelf, in his frank artlefs way. 
 'Twas eafy to fee that he and his fifter had the 
 better of their fond mother, for the firft place in 
 whofe affections though they fought conftantly, 
 and though the kind lady perfiited that fhe loved 
 both equally, 'twas not difficult tq underftand 
 that Frank was his mother's darling and favourite. 
 He ruled the whole houfehold (always excepting 
 rebellious Beatrix) not lefs now than w 7 hen he was 
 a child marfhalling the village boys in playing at 
 foldiers, and caning them luftily too like the 
 fturdieft corporal. As for Tom Tufher, his 
 Reverence treated the young lord with that 
 politenefs and deference which he always fhowed 
 for a great man, whatever his age or his ftature 
 was. Indeed with refpeft to this young one, it 
 was impoflible not to love him, fo frank and 
 winning were his manners, his beauty, his gaiety, 
 
Francis, fourth Vif count. 127 
 
 the ring of his laughter, and the delightful tone 
 of his voice. Wherever he went, he charmed 
 and domineered. I think his old grandfather, 
 the Dean, and the grim old houfekeeper, Mrs. 
 Pincot, were as much his flaves as his mother 
 was : and as for Efmond, he found himfelf 
 prefently fubmitting to a certain fafcination the 
 boy had, and flavin g it like the reft of the family. 
 The pleafure which he had in Frank's mere 
 company and converfe, exceeded that which he 
 ever enjoyed in the fociety of any other man, 
 however delightful in talk, or famous for wit. 
 His prefence brought funfhine into a room, his 
 laugh, his prattle, his noble beauty and bright- 
 nefs of look cheered and charmed indefcribably. 
 At the leaft tale of forrow, his hands were in his 
 purfe, and he was eager with fympathy and 
 bounty. The way in which women loved and 
 petted him, when, a year or two afterwards, he 
 came upon the world, yet a mere boy, and the 
 follies which they did for him, (as indeed he for 
 them,) recalled the career of Rochefter, and 
 outdid the fuccefles of Grammont. His very 
 creditors loved him ; and the hardeft ufurers, and 
 fome of the rigid prudes of the other fex too, 
 
128 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 could deny him nothing. He was no more 
 witty than another man, but what he faid, he 
 faid and looked as no man elfe could fay or 
 look it. I have feen the women at the comedy 
 at Bruxelles crowd round him in the lobby : 
 and as he fate on the ftage more people looked 
 at him than at the adors, and watched him; 
 and I remember at Ramillies, when he was 
 hit, and fell, a great big red-haired Scotch 
 fergeant flung his halberd down, burft out 
 a-crying like a woman, feizing him up as if he 
 had been an infant, and carrying him out of 
 the fire. This brother and fifter were the moft 
 beautiful couple ever feen : though after he 
 winged away from the maternal neft this pair 
 were feldom together. 
 
 Sitting at dinner two days after Efmond's 
 arrival (it was the laft day of the year), and fo 
 happy a one to Harry Efmond, that to enjoy it 
 was quite worth all the previous pain which he 
 had endured and forgot : my young lord, filling a 
 bumper, and bidding Harry take another, drank 
 to his fifter, faluting her under the title of 
 « Marchionefs." 
 
 <c Marchionefs !" fays Harry, not without a 
 
A Marchionefs. 
 
 129 
 
 pang of wonder, for he was curious and jealous 
 already. 
 
 cc Nonfenfe, my Lord," fays Beatrix, with a 
 tofs of her head. My Lady Vifcountefs looked 
 up for a moment at Efmond, and caft her eyes 
 down. 
 
 cc The Marchionefs of Blandford," fays Frank, 
 fc don't you know — hath not Rouge Dragon told 
 you ? (My lord ufed to call the dowager at 
 Chelfea by this and other names.) Blandford 
 has a lock of her hair : the Duchefs found him 
 on his knees to Miftrefs 'Trix, and boxed his 
 ears, and faid Dr. Hare fhould whip him." 
 
 cc I wifh Mr. Tufher would whip you too," 
 fays Beatrix. 
 
 My lady only faid : cc I hope you tell none 
 of thefe filly ftories elfewhere than at home, 
 Francis." 
 
 cc 'Tis true, on my word," continues Frank : 
 cc look at Harry fcowling, mother, and fee how 
 Beatrix blufhes as red as the filver-clocked 
 ftockings." 
 
 fC I think we had beft leave the gentlemen to 
 their wine, and their talk," fays Miftrefs Beatrix, 
 rifing up with the air of a young queen, toffing 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
130 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 her ruftling, flowing draperies about her, and 
 quitting the room, followed by her mother. 
 
 Lady Caftlewood again looked at Efmond, as 
 Ihe ftooped down and kiffed Frank. cc Do not 
 tell thofe filly ftories, child," fhe faid : fC do not 
 drink much wine, flr; Harry never loved to 
 drink wine." And flie went away, too, in her 
 black robes, looking back on the young man 
 with her fair, fond face. 
 
 cc Egad ! it's true," fays Frank, fipping his 
 wine with the air of a lord. Cf What think you 
 of this Lilbon — real Collares ? 'Tis better than 
 your heady port : we got it out of one of the 
 Spanifh fhips that came from Vigo laft year : 
 my mother bought it at Southampton, as the 
 fhip was lying there, — the Rofe, Captain 
 Hawkins." 
 
 cc Why, I came home in that fhip," fays 
 Harry. 
 
 fC And it brought home a good fellow and 
 good wine," fays my lord. ff I fay, Harry, I 
 wifti thou hadft not that curfed bar finifter." 
 
 cc And why not the bar finifter ? " alks the 
 other. 
 
 <c Suppofe I go to the army and am killed — 
 
The noble Efmonds. 131 
 
 every gentleman goes to the army — who is to 
 take care of the women ? 'Trix will never 
 flop at home ; mother's in love with you, — yes, 
 I think mother's in love with you. She was 
 always praifing you, and always talking about 
 you ; and when fhe went to Southampton, to 
 fee the ftiip, I found her out. But you fee it 
 is impoffible : we are of the oldeft blood in 
 England ; we came in with the Conqueror ; we 
 were only baronets, — but what then ? we were 
 forced into that. James the Firfl: forced our 
 great grandfather. We are above titles ; we 
 old Englifh gentry don't want 'em ; the Queen 
 can make a duke any day. Look at Bland- 
 ford's father, Duke Churchill, and Duchefs 
 Jennings, what were they, Harry ? Damn it, 
 fir, what are they, to turn up their nofes at us ? 
 Where were they, when our anceftor rode with 
 King Henry at Agincourt, and filled up the 
 French king's cup after Poictiers ? 'Fore George, 
 fir, why fhouldn't Blandford marry Beatrix? 
 By G — ! he /hall marry Beatrix, or tell me the 
 reafon why. We'll marry with the beft blood 
 of England, and none but the beft blood of 
 England. You are an Efmond, and you can't 
 
 K 2 
 
i j 2 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 help your birth, my boy. Let's have another 
 bottle. What ! no more ? I've drunk three 
 parts of this myfelf. I had many a night with 
 my father ; you flood to him like a man, Harry. 
 You backed your blood ; you can't help your 
 misfortune, you know, — no man can help that." 
 
 The elder faid he would go in to his miftrefs's 
 tea-table. The young lad, with a heightened 
 colour and voice, began finging a fnatch of a 
 fong, and marched out of the room. Efmond 
 heard him prefently calling his dogs about him, 
 and cheering and talking to them ; and by a 
 hundred of his looks and geftures, tricks of 
 voice and gait, was reminded of the dead lord, 
 Frank's father. 
 
 And fo, the fylvefter night paffed away ; the 
 family parted long before midnight, Lady Caftle- 
 wood remembering, no doubt, former New 
 Years' Eves, when healths were drunk, and 
 laughter went round in the company of him, to 
 whom years, paft, and prefent, and future, were 
 to be as one ; and fo cared not to fit with her 
 children and hear the Cathedral bells ringing the 
 birth of the year 1703. Efmond heard the 
 chimes as he fat in his own chamber, ruminating 
 
Beatrix's Stars. 
 
 *33 
 
 by the blazing fire there, and Hftened to the laft 
 notes of them, looking out from his window 
 towards the city, and the great grey towers of 
 the Cathedral lying under the frofty Iky, with the 
 keen ftars fhining above. 
 
 The fight of thefe brilliant orbs no doubt 
 made him think of other luminaries. cc And fo 
 her eyes have already done execution," thought 
 Efmond — cc on whom ? — who can tell me ? " 
 Luckily his kinfman was by, and Efmond knew 
 he would have no difficulty in finding out 
 Miftrefs Beatrix's hiftory from the fimple talk 
 of the boy. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 FAMILY TALK. 
 
 HAT Harry admired and fubmitted to 
 in the pretty lad, his kinfman, was (for 
 
 why fhould he refift it ?) the calmnefs of 
 patronage which my young lord aflumed, as if 
 to command was his undoubted rights and all 
 the world (below his degree) ought to bow down 
 to Vifcount Caftlewood. 
 
 fc I know my place, Harry/' he faid. "I'm 
 not proud — the boys at Winchefter College fay 
 I'm proud : but I'm not proud. I am /imply 
 Francis James Vifcount Caftlewood in the 
 peerage of Ireland. I might have been (do you 
 know that ?) Francis James, Marquis and Earl of 
 Efmond in that of England. The late lord refufed 
 the title which was offered to him by my godfather, 
 his late Majefty. You fhould know that — you are 
 
My lord's affability. 135 
 
 of our family, you know — you cannot help your 
 bar finifter, Harry, my dear fellow ; and you 
 belong to one of the beft families in England, in 
 fpite of that ; and you ftood by my father, 
 and by G — ! I'll ftand by you. You fhall never 
 want a friend, Harry, while Francis James 
 Vifcount Caftlewood has a (hilling. It's now 
 1703 — I fhall come of age in 1709. I fnall go 
 back to Caftlewood ; I fhall live at Caftlewood ; 
 I fhall build up the houfe. My property will be 
 pretty well reftored by then. The late vifcount 
 mifmanaged my property, and left it in a very 
 bad ftate. My mother is living clofe, as you 
 fee, and keeps me in a way hardly befitting a 
 peer of thefe realms ; for I have but a pair of 
 horfes, a governor, and a man that is valet and 
 groom. But when I am of age, thefe things 
 will be fet right, Harry. Our houfe will be as it 
 fhould be. You'll always come to Caftlewood, 
 won't you ? You fhall always have your two 
 rooms in the court kept for you ; and if anybody 
 
 flights you, d them ! let them have a care 
 
 of me. I fhall marry early- -'Trix will be a 
 duchefs by that time, moft likely ; for a cannon- 
 ball may knock over his Grace any day, you 
 know." 
 
136 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 cf How ? " fays Harry. 
 
 <c Hufh, my dear ! " fays my Lord Vifcount. 
 < c You are of the family — you are faithful to us, 
 by George, and I tell you everything. Blandford 
 will marry her — or — " and here he put his little 
 hand on his fword — cc you underftand the reft. 
 Blandford knows which of us two is the beft 
 weapon. At fmall-fword, or back-fword, or 
 fword and dagger, if he likes : I can beat him. 
 I have tried him, Harry ; and begad, he knows I 
 am a man not to be trifled with." 
 
 <c But you do not mean/' fays Harry, con- 
 cealing his laughter, but not his wonder, cc that 
 you can force my Lord Blandford, the fon of the 
 firft man of this kingdom, to marry your lifter 
 at fword's point ? " 
 
 cc I mean to fay that we are coufins by the 
 mother's fide, though that's nothing to boaft of. 
 I mean to fay that an Efmond is as good as a 
 Churchill ; and when the King comes back, the 
 Marquis of Efmond's fifter may be a match for 
 any nobleman's daughter in the kingdom. 
 There are but two marquifes in all England, 
 William Herbert, Marquis of Powis, and Francis 
 James, Marquis of Efmond ; and hark you, 
 
A Jecret. 
 
 J 37 
 
 Harry, now fwear you'll never mention this. 
 Give me your honour as a gentleman, for you 
 are a gentleman, though you are a " 
 
 cf Well, well," fays Harry, a little impatient. 
 
 cc Well, then, when after my late vifcount's 
 misfortune, my mother went up with us to 
 London, to afk for juftice againft you all (as 
 for Mohun, I'll have his blood, as fure as my 
 name is Francis Vifcount Efmond), we went to 
 ftay with our coufin, my Lady Marlborough, 
 with whom we had quarrelled for ever fo long. 
 But when misfortune came, fhe ftood by her 
 blood : — fo did the Dowager Vifcountefs ftand 
 by her blood, — fo did you. Well, fir, whilft 
 my mother was petitioning the late Prince of 
 Orange — for I will never call him king — and 
 while you were in prifon, we lived at my Lord 
 Marlborough's houfe, who was only a little there, 
 being away with the army in Holland. And 
 then ... I fay, Harry, you won't tell, now ? " 
 
 Harry again made a vow of fecrecy. 
 
 cc Well, there ufed to be all forts of fun, you 
 know : my Lady Marlborough was very fond of 
 us, and flie faid I was to be her page ; and fhe got 
 'Trix to be a maid of honour, and while fhe was 
 
138 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 up in her room crying, we ufed to be always 
 having fun, you know ; and the Duchefs ufed to 
 kifs me, and fo did her daughters, and Blandford 
 fell tremendous in love with 'Trix, and flie liked 
 him ; and one day he — he kiffed her behind a 
 door — he did though, — and the Duchefs caught 
 him, and flie banged fuch a box of the ear both 
 to 'Trix and Blandford — you fhould have feen 
 it ! And then fhe faid that we muft leave 
 dire&ly, and abufed my mamma, who was 
 cognizant of the bufinefs ; but fhe wafn't, — never 
 thinking about anything but father. And fo 
 we came down to Walcote. Blandford being 
 locked up, and not allowed to fee 'Trix. But I 
 got at him. I climbed along the gutter, and in 
 through the window, where he was crying. 
 
 cf c Marquis,' fays I, when he had opened it 
 and helped me in, c you know I wear a fvvord,' 
 for I had brought it. 
 
 cc c O, vifcount,' fays he — c O, my deareft 
 Frank ! ' and he flung himfelf into my arms, and 
 burft out a-crying. c I do love Miftrefs Beatrix 
 fo, that I fhall die, if I don't have her.' 
 
 ccc My dear Blandford,' fays I, c you are 
 young to think of marrying ; ' for he was but: 
 
A promife of marriage. 139 
 
 fifteen, and a young fellow at that age can fcarce 
 do fo, you know. 
 
 cc c But I'll wait twenty years, if fhe'll have 
 me/ fays he. c I'll never marry — no never, 
 never, never, marry anybody but her. No, not a 
 princefs, though they would have me do it ever fo. 
 If Beatrix will wait for me, her Blandford fwears 
 he will be faithful/ And he wrote a paper (it 
 wafn't fpelt right, for he wrote c I'm ready to 
 fine with my Mode, which you know, Harry, 
 ifn't the way of fpelling it), and vowing that he 
 would marry none other but the Honourable 
 Miftrefs Gertrude Beatrix Efmond, only fitter of 
 his deareft friend Francis James, fourth Vifcount 
 Efmond. And fo I gave him a locket of her 
 hair." 
 
 f f A locket of her hair ! " cries Efmond. 
 
 <c Yes. 'Trix gave me one after the fight 
 with the Duchefs that very day. I'm fure I 
 didn't want it ; and fo I gave it him, and we 
 kifled at parting, and faid — c Good-bye, brother.' 
 And I got back through the gutter ; and we fet 
 off home that very evening. And he went to 
 King's College, in Cambridge, and Pm going to 
 Cambridge foon ; and if he doefn't ftand to his 
 
140 The Hijlory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 promife (for he's only wrote once,) — he knows I 
 wear a fword, Harry. Come along, and let's go 
 fee the cocking-match at Winchefter." 
 
 <c . . . . But I fay/' he added, laughing, after a 
 paufe, cc I don't think 'Trix will break her heart 
 about him. Law blefs you ! Whenever fhe fees 
 a man, fhe makes eyes at him ; and young 
 Sir Wilmot Crawley of Queen's Crawley, and 
 Anthony Henley of Alresford, were at fwords 
 drawn about her, at the Winchefter AiTembly, a 
 month ago." 
 
 That night Mr. Harry's fleep was by no 
 means fo pleafant or fweet as it had been on the 
 firft two evenings after his arrival at Walcote. 
 cc So, the bright eyes have been already jfhining 
 on another,'' thought he, cc and the pretty lips, 
 or the cheeks at any rate, have begun the work 
 which they were made for. Here's a girl not 
 fixteen, and one young gentleman is already 
 whimpering over a lock of her hair, and two 
 country fquires are ready to cut each other's 
 throats that they may have the honour of a 
 dance with her. What a fool am I to be 
 dallying about this paflion, and fingeing my 
 wings in this foolifh flame. Wings ! — why not 
 
I am tempted. 
 
 fay crutches ? There is but eight years difference 
 between us, to be fure ; but in life I am thirty 
 years older. How could I ever hope to pleafe 
 fuch a fweet creature as that, with my rough 
 ways and glum face ? Say that I have merit 
 ever fo much, and won myfelf a name, could 
 fne ever liften to me ? She muft be my Lady 
 Marchionefs, and I remain a namelefs baftard. 
 Oh ! my mafter, my mafter ! (here he fell to 
 thinking with a paffionate grief of the vow 
 which he had made to his poor dying lord) ; 
 Oh ! my miftrefs, deareft and kindeft, will 
 you be contented with the facrifice which the 
 poor orphan makes for you, whom you love, 
 and who fo loves you ? " 
 
 And then came a fiercer pang of temptation. 
 cc A word from me," Harry thought, fC a syllable 
 of explanation, and all this might be changed ; 
 but no, I fwore it over the dying bed of my 
 benefaftor. For the fake of him and his; for 
 the facred love and kindnefs of old days ; I gave 
 my promife to him, and may kind Heaven 
 enable me to keep my vow ! " 
 
 The next day, although Efmond gave no fign 
 of what was going on in his mind, but ftrove to 
 
142 The Hiftory of Henry EfmoncL 
 
 be more than ordinarily gay and cheerful when he 
 met his friends at the morning meal, his dear 
 miftrefs, whofe clear eyes it feemed no emotion 
 of his could efcape, perceived that fomething 
 troubled him, • for fhe looked anxiously towards 
 him more than once during the breakfaft, and 
 when he went up to his chamber afterwards fhe 
 prefently followed him, and knocked at his door. 
 
 As fhe entered, no doubt the whole ftory was 
 clear to her at once, for Ihe found our young 
 gentleman packing his valife, purfuant to the 
 refolution which he had come to over-night of 
 making a brifk retreat out of this temptation. 
 
 She clofed the door very carefully behind her, 
 and then leant againft it, very pale, her hands 
 folded before her, looking at the young man, 
 who was kneeling over his work of packing. 
 f e Are you going fo foon ? " fhe faid. 
 
 He rofe up from his knees, blufhing, perhaps, 
 to be fo difcovered, in the very act, as it were, 
 and took one of her fair little hands — it was that 
 which had her marriage ring on — and kifled it. 
 
 cc It is beft that it fhould be fo, deareft lady/' 
 he faid. 
 
 f< I knew you were going, at breakfaft. 
 
And fly from temptation. 143 
 
 I — I thought you might ftay. What has 
 happened ? Why can't you remain longer with 
 us ? What has Frank told you — you were 
 talking together late laft night ? " 
 
 cc I had but three days leave from Cheifea," 
 Efmond faid, as gaily as he could. fC My aunt 
 — ftie lets me call her aunt — is my miftrefs now ; 
 I owe her my lieutenantcy and my laced coat. 
 She has taken me into high favour ; and my new 
 general is to dine at Cheifea to-morrow — General 
 Lumley, madam — who has appointed me his 
 aide-de-camp, and on whom I muft have the 
 honour of waiting. See, here is a letter from the 
 dowager ; the poft brought it laft night ; and I 
 would not fpeak of it, for fear of difturbing our 
 laft merry meeting." 
 
 My lady glanced at the letter, and put it down 
 with a fmile that was fomewhat contemptuous. 
 €C I have no need to read the letter/' fays fhe — 
 (indeed, 'twas as well fhe did not ; for the 
 Cheifea miffive, in the poor dowager's ufual 
 French jargon, permitted him a longer holiday 
 than he faid. 'Jevousdonne,' quoth her lady- 
 fhip, f out jour, pour vous fatigay parfaictement 
 de vos parens fatigans') — cc I have no need to 
 
144 37^ Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 read the letter/' fays ftie. cc What was it Frank 
 told you laft night ? " 
 
 cc He told me little I did not know," 
 Mr. Efmond anfwered. Cf But I have thought 
 of that little, and here's the refult : I have no 
 right to the name I bear, dear lady ; and it is 
 only by your fufferance that I am allowed to 
 keep it. If I thought for an hour of what has 
 perhaps croffed your mind too " 
 
 cc Yes, I did, Harry," faid flie ; cc I thought 
 of it ; and think of it. I would fooner call you 
 my fon, than the greateft prince in Europe — 
 yes, than the greateft prince. For who is there 
 fo good and fo brave, and who would love her 
 as you would ? But there are reafons a mother 
 can't tell." 
 
 cc I know them," faid Mr. Efmond, inter- 
 rupting her with a fmile, Cf I know there's Sir 
 Wilmot Crawley of Oueen's Crawley, and Mr. 
 Anthony Henley of the Grange, and my Lord 
 Marquis of Blandford, that feems to be the 
 favoured fuitor. You fhall afk me to wear my 
 Lady Marchionefs's favours and to dance at her 
 ladyfhip's wedding." 
 
 " O ! Harry, Harry, it is none of thefe follies 
 
Was it not good council ? 
 
 *45 
 
 that frighten me," cried out Lady Caftlewood. 
 cc Lord Churchill is but a child, his outbreak 
 about Beatrix was a mere boyifh folly. His 
 parents would rather fee him buried than married 
 to one below him in rank. And do you think that 
 I would ftoop to fue for a hufband for Francis 
 Efmond's daughter ; or fubmit to have my girl 
 fmuggled into that proud family to caufe a 
 quarrel between fon and parents, and to be treated 
 only as an inferior ? I would difdain fuch a 
 meannefs. Beatrix would fcorn it. Ah ! Henry, 
 'tis not with you the fault lies, 'tis with her. I 
 know you both, and love you ; need I be afhamed 
 of that love now ? No, never, never, and 'tis 
 not you, dear Harry, that is unworthy. 'Tis 
 for my poor Beatrix I tremble, — whofe headftrong 
 will frightens me ; whofe jealous temper (they 
 fay I was jealous too, but, pray God, I am cured 
 of that fin) and whofe vanity no words or prayers 
 of mine can cure — only fuffering, only experience, 
 and remorfe afterwards. Oh ! Henry, flie will 
 make no man happy who loves her. Go away, 
 my fon : leave her : love us always, and think 
 kindly of us : and for me, my dear, you know 
 thefe walls contain all that I love in the world." 
 
 VOL. IT. 
 
 L 
 
146 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 In after life, did Efmond find the words true 
 which his fond miftrefs fpoke from her fad heart ? 
 Warning he had : but I doubt others had warning 
 before his time, and fince : and he benefited by- 
 it as moft men do. 
 
 My young Lord Vifcount was exceeding forry 
 when he heard that Harry could not come to the 
 cock-match with him, and muft go to London, 
 but no doubt my lord confoled himfelf when the 
 Hampfhire cocks won the match ; and he faw 
 every one of the battles, and crowed properly 
 over the conquered Suflex gentlemen. 
 
 As Efmond rode towards town his fervant 
 coming up to him informed him with a grin, that 
 Miftrefs Beatrix had brought out a new gown, 
 and blue ftockings for that day's dinner, in which 
 fhe intended to appear, and had flown into a rage 
 and given her maid a flap on the face foon after 
 fhe heard he was going away. Miftrefs Beatrix's 
 woman, the fellow faid, came down to the fervants' 
 hall, crying, and with the mark of a blow ftill 
 on her cheek : but Efmond peremptorily ordered 
 him to fall back and be filent, and rode on with 
 thoughts enough of his own to occupy him — 
 fome fad ones, fome inexpreflibly dear and pleafant. 
 
I go hack to London. 147 
 
 His miftrefs, from whom he had been a year 
 feparated, was his deareft miftrefs again. The 
 family from which he had been parted, and which 
 he loved with the fondeft devotion, was his 
 family once more. If Beatrix's beauty Ihone 
 upon him, it was with a friendly luftre, and he 
 could regard it with much fuch a delight as he 
 brought away after feeing the beautiful piftures 
 of the fmiling Madonnas in the convent at Cadiz, 
 when he was difpatched thither with a flag : and 
 as for his miftrefs, 'twas difficult to fay with 
 what a feeling he regarded her. 'Twas happi- 
 nefs to have feen her : 'twas no great pang to 
 part ; a filial tendernefs, a love that was at once 
 refpedt and protection, filled his mind as he 
 thought of her ; and near her or far from her, 
 and from that day until now, and from now 
 till death is paft, and beyond it, he prays that 
 facred flame may ever burn. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I MAKE THE CAMPAIGN OF 1704* 
 
 MR. ESMOND rode up to London then, 
 where, if the dowager had been angry at 
 the abrupt leave of abfence he took, fhe was 
 mightily pleafed at his fpeedy return. 
 
 He went immediately and paid his court to his 
 new general, General Lumley, who received him 
 gracioufly, having known his father, and alfo, 
 he was pleafed to fay, having had the very beft 
 accounts of Mr. Efmond from the officer whofe 
 aide-de-camp he had been at Vigo. During this 
 winter Mr. Efmond was gazetted to a lieutenancy 
 in Brigadier Webb's regiment of Fufileers, then 
 with their colonel in Flanders ; but being now 
 attached to the fuite of Mr. Lumley, Efmond 
 did not join his own regiment until more than 
 a year afterwards, and after his return from the 
 
Marquis Blandford's death. 145 
 
 campaign of Blenheim, which was fought the 
 next year. The campaign began very early, 
 our troops marching out of their quarters before 
 the winter was almoft over, and inverting the 
 city of Bonn, on the Rhine, under the Duke's 
 command. His Grace joined the army in deep 
 grief of mind, with crape on his fleeve, and 
 his houfehold in mourning ; and the very 
 fame packet which brought the Commander-in- 
 Chief over, brought letters to the forces 
 which preceded him, and one from his dear 
 miftrefs to Efmond, which interefted him not 
 a little. i 
 
 The young Marquis of Blandford, his Grace's 
 fon, who had been entered in King's College in 
 Cambridge (whither my Lord Vifcount- had alfo 
 gone, to Trinity, with Mr. Tulher as his governor), 
 had been feized with fmall-pox, and was dead 
 at fixteen years of age, and fo poor Frank's 
 fchemes for his fitter's advancement were over, 
 and that innocent childifh paffion nipped in 
 the birth. 
 
 Efmond's miftrefs would have had him return, 
 at leaft her letters hinted as much ; but in the 
 prefence of the enemy this was impoffible, and 
 
150 *£h* Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 our young man took his humble fhare in the 
 iiege, which need not be defcribed here, and had 
 the good luck to efcape without a wound of any 
 fort, and to drink his general's health after the 
 furrender. He was in conftant military duty 
 this year, and did not think of afking for a 
 leave of abfence, as one or two of his lefs for- 
 tunate friends did, who were caffc away in that 
 tremendous ftorm which happened towards the 
 clofe of November, that cc which of late o'er pale 
 Britannia paft," (as Mr. Addifon fang of it,) 
 and in which fcores of our greateft fhips and 
 15,000 of our feamen went down. 
 
 They faid that our Duke was quite heart- 
 broken by the calamity which had befallen his 
 family ; but his enemies found that he could 
 fubdue them, as well as mafter his grief. 
 Succefsful as had been this great General's 
 operations in the paft year, they were far 
 enhanced by the fplendour of his vidory in 
 the enfuing campaign. His Grace the Captain- 
 General went to England after Bonn, and our 
 army fell back into Holland, where, in April, 
 1 704, his Grace again found the troops embark- 
 ing from Harwich and landing at Maefland Sluys : 
 
Preparations for the Campaign. 151 
 
 thence His Grace came immediately to the 
 Hague, where he received the foreign minifters, 
 general-officers, and other people of quality. 
 The greateft honours were paid to his Grace 
 everywhere, — at the Hague, Utrecht, Rure- 
 monde, and Maeftricht ; the civic authorities 
 coming to meet his coaches : falvos of cannon 
 faluting him, canopies of ftate being ereded for 
 him where he flopped, and feafts prepared for 
 the numerous gentlemen following in his fuite. 
 His Grace reviewed the troops of the States- 
 General between Liege and Maeftricht, and 
 afterwards the Englifh forces, under the com- 
 mand of General Churchill, near Bois-le-Duc. 
 Every preparation was made for a long march ; 
 and the army heard, with no fmall elation, that 
 it was the Commander-in-Chief's intention to 
 carry the war out of the Low Countries, and 
 to march on the Mozelle. Before leaving our 
 camp at Maeftricht, we heard that the French, 
 under the Marfhal Villeroy, were alio bound 
 towards the Mozelle. 
 
 Towards the end of May, the army reached 
 Coblentz; and next day, his Grace, and the 
 generals accompanying him, went to vifit the 
 
152 The Htfiory of Henry Ejmond. 
 
 Elector of Treves at his Caftle of Ehrenbreit- 
 ftein, the Horfe and Dragoons palling the Rhine 
 whilft the Duke was entertained at a grand feaft 
 by the Ele6toi\ All as yet was novelty , feftivity, 
 and fplendour, — a brilliant march of a great and 
 glorious army through a friendly country, and 
 fure through fome of the mod beautiful fcenes 
 of nature which I ever witneffed. 
 
 The Foot and Artillery, following after the 
 Horfe as quick as poffible, croffed the Rhine 
 under Ehrenbreitftein, and fo to Caftel, over 
 againft Mayntz, in which city his Grace, his 
 generals, and his retinue were received at the 
 landing-place by the Eledor's coaches, carried 
 to his Highnefs's palace amidft the thunder of 
 cannon, and then once more magnificently en- 
 tertained. Gidlingen, in Bavaria, was appointed 
 as the general rendezvous of the army, and 
 thither, by different routes, the whole forces of 
 Englilh, Dutch, Danes, and German auxiliaries 
 took their way. The Foot and Artillery 
 under General Churchill pafied the Neckar, at 
 Heidelberg ; and Efmond had an opportunity 
 of feeing that city and palace, once fo famous 
 and beautiful (though ftiattered and battered by 
 
T he Prince of Savoy. 
 
 the French, under Turenne, in the late war), 
 where his grandfire had ferved the beautiful and 
 unfortunate Ele&refs-Palatine, the firft King 
 Charles's lifter. 
 
 At Mindeifheim, the famous Prince of Savoy 
 came to vifit our commander, all of us crowding 
 eagerly to get a light of that brilliant and 
 intrepid warrior ; and our troops were drawn up 
 in battalia before the Prince, who was pleafed 
 to exprefs his admiration of this noble Englifh 
 army. At length we came in fight of the 
 enemy between Dillingen and Lawingen, the 
 Brentz lying between the two armies. The 
 Elector, judging that JDonauwort would be the 
 point of his Grace's attack, fent a ftrong de- 
 tachment of his beft troops to Count Darcos, 
 who was polled at Schellenberg, near that place, 
 where great intrenchments were thrown up, and 
 thoufands of pioneers employed to ftrengthen the 
 pofition. 
 
 On the 2nd of July, his Grace ftormed the 
 poft, with what fuccefs on our part need fcarce 
 be told. His Grace advanced with fix thoufand 
 Foot, Englifh and Dutch, thirty fquadrons, and 
 three regiments of Imperial Cuiraffiers, the Duke 
 
154 ^he Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 croffing the river at the head of the Cavalry. 
 Although our troops made the attack with un- 
 paralleled courage and fury, — rufhing up to the 
 very guns of the enemy, and being fiaughtered 
 before their works, — we were driven back many 
 times, and fhould not have carried them, but 
 that the Imperialists came up under the Prince 
 of Baden, when the enemy could make no head 
 againft us : we purfued him into the trenches, 
 making a terrible flaughter there, and into the 
 very Danube, where a great part of his troops, 
 following the example of their generals, Count 
 Darcos and the Ele&or himfelf, tried to fave 
 themfelves by fwimming. Our army entered 
 Donauwort, which the Bavarians evacuated ; and 
 where 'twas faid the Eledtor purpofed to have 
 given us a warm reception, by burning us in 
 our beds ; the cellars of the houfes, when we 
 took pofleffion of them, being found fluffed with 
 ftraw. But though the links were there, the 
 link-boys had run away. The townfmen faved 
 their houfes, and our General took pofleffion of 
 the enemy's ammunition in the arfenals, his 
 ftores, and magazines. Five days afterwards a 
 great cc Te Deum" was fung in Prince Lewis's 
 
We ravage the Electorate. 
 
 *55 
 
 army, and a folemn day of thankfgiving held in 
 our own ; the Prince of Savoy's compliments 
 coming to his Grace the Captain-General during 
 the day's religious ceremony, and concluding, as 
 it were, with an amen. 
 
 And now, having feen a great military march 
 through a friendly country ; the pomps and 
 feftivities of more than one German court ; the 
 fevere ftruggle of a hotly-contefted battle, and 
 the triumph of vi&ory; Mr. Efmond beheld 
 another part of military duty ; our troops 
 entering the enemy's territory, and putting all 
 around them to fire and fword ; burning farms, 
 wafted fields, fhrieking women, flaughtered fons 
 and fathers, and drunken foldiery, curfing and 
 caroufing in the midfl: of tears, terror, and 
 murder. Why does the ftately Mufe of hiftory, 
 that delights in defcribing the valour of heroes 
 and the grandeur of conqueft, leave out thefe 
 fcenes, fo brutal, mean, and degrading, that yet 
 form by far the greater part of the drama of war ? 
 You, gentlemen of England, who live at home 
 at eafe, and compliment yourfelves in the 
 fongs of triumph with which our chieftains are 
 bepraifed., — you pretty maidens, that come 
 
156 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 tumbling down the flairs when the fife and 
 drum call you, and huzzah for the Britifh 
 Grenadiers, — do you take account that thefe 
 items go to make up the amount of the triumph 
 you admire, and form part of the duties of the 
 heroes you fondle ? Our chief, whom England 
 and all Europe, faving only the Frenchmen, 
 worfliipped almoft, had this of the god-like in 
 him, that he was impaflible before vidtory, 
 before danger, before defeat. Before the greateft 
 obftacle or the moft trivial ceremony ; before a 
 hundred thoufand men drawn in battalia, or a 
 peafant flaughtered at the door of his burning 
 hovel ; before a caroufe of drunken German 
 lords, or a monarch's court, or a cottage- 
 table, where his plans were laid, or an enemy's 
 battery, vomiting flame and death, and ftrewing 
 corpfes round about him ; — he was always cold, 
 calm, refolute, like fate. He performed a 
 treafon or a court-bow ; he told a falfehood as 
 black as Styx, as eafily as he paid a compliment 
 or fpoke about the weather. He took a miftrefs, 
 and left her; he betrayed his benefador, and 
 fupported him, or would have murdered him, with 
 the fame calmnefs always, and having no more 
 
Eugenius and Marlborough. 157 
 
 remorfe than Clotho, when ftie weaves the thread, 
 or Lachefis, when {he cuts it. In the hour of 
 battle I have heard the Prince of Savoy's officers 
 fay, the Prince became poflefled wtth a fort of 
 warlike fury ; his eyes lighted up ; he rufhed 
 hither and thither, raging ; he fhrieked curfes 
 and encouragement, yelling and harking his 
 bloody war-dogs on, and himfelf always at the 
 firft of the hunt. Our Duke was as calm at the 
 mouth of the cannon, as at the door of a drawing- 
 room. Perhaps he could not have been the 
 great man he was, had he had a heart either for 
 love or hatred, or pity or fear, or regret or 
 remorfe. He achieved the higheft deed of 
 daring, or deepeft calculation of thought, as he 
 performed the very meaneft adlion of which a 
 man is capable ; told a lie, or cheated a fond 
 woman, or robbed a poor beggar of a half-penny 
 with a like awful ferenity and equal capacity of 
 the higheft and loweft ads of our nature. 
 
 His qualities were pretty well known in the 
 army, where there were parties of all politicks, 
 and of plenty of fhrewdnefs and wit ; but there 
 exifted fuch a perfect confidence in him, as the 
 firft captain of the world, and fuch a faith and 
 
158 TM Hijiory of Henry Ejmond. 
 
 admiration in his prodigious genius and fortune, 
 that the very men whom he notorioufly cheated 
 of their pay, the chiefs whom he ufed and 
 injured — (for he ufed all men, great and fmall, 
 that came near him, as his inftruments alike, and 
 took fomething of theirs, either fome quality or 
 fome property, — the blood of a foldier, it might 
 be, or a jewelled hat, or a hundred thoufand 
 crowns from a king, or a portion out of a 
 frarving fentinel's three farthings ; or (when he 
 was young) a kifs from a woman, and the gold 
 chain off her neck, taking all he could from 
 woman or man, and having, as I have faid, this 
 of the god-like in him, that he could fee a hero 
 perifh or a fparrow fall, with the fame amount 
 of fympathy for either. Not that he had no 
 tears ; he could always order up this referve at the 
 proper moment to battle ; he could draw upon 
 tears or fmiles alike, and whenever need was for 
 ufing this cheap coin. He would cringe to a 
 fhoeblack, as he would flatter a minifter or a 
 monarch ; be haughty, be humble, threaten, 
 repent, weep, grafp your hand or ftab you when- 
 ever he faw occafion) — But yet thofe of the 
 army, who knew him befl and had fuffered moft 
 
We advance to Blenheim. 159 
 
 from him, admired him mod of all : and as he 
 rode along the lines to battle or galloped up in 
 the nick of time to a battalion reeling from 
 before the enemy's charge or ftiot, the fainting 
 men and officers got new courage as they faw 
 the fplendid calm of his face, and felt that his 
 will made them irrefiftible. 
 
 After the great vidtory of Blenheim the 
 enthufiafm of the army for the Duke, even of 
 his bittereft perfonal enemies in it, amounted 
 to a fort of rage — nay, the very officers who 
 curfed him in their hearts, were among the moft 
 frantick to cheer him. Who could refufe his 
 meed of admiration to fuch a victory and fuch 
 a vi&or ? Not he who writes : a man may 
 profefs to be ever fo much a philofopher ; but 
 he who fought on that day muft feel a thrill of 
 pride as he recalls it. 
 
 The French right was ported near to the 
 village of Blenheim, on the Danube, where the 
 Marflial Tallard's quarters were ; their line 
 extending through, it may be, a league and a 
 half, before Lutzingen and up to a woody 
 hill, round the bafe of which, and ading againft 
 the Prince of Savoy, were forty of his fquadrons. 
 
160 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Here was a village that the Frenchmen had 
 burned, the wood being, in fadt, a better fhelter 
 and eafier of guard than any village. 
 
 Before thefe two villages and the French lines 
 ran a little ftream, not more than two foot 
 broad, through a marfh (that was moftly dried up 
 from the heats of the weather), and this ftream 
 was the only feparation between the two armies 
 — ours coming up and ranging themfelves in 
 line of battle before the French, at fix o'clock 
 in the morning ; fo that our line was quite 
 vifible to theirs ; and the whole of this great 
 plain was black and fwarming with troops for 
 hours before the cannonading began. 
 
 On one fide and the other this cannonading 
 lafted many hours. The French guns being in 
 pofition in front of their line, and doing fevere 
 damage among our Horfe efpecially, and on our 
 right wing of Imperialifts under the Prince of 
 Savoy, who could neither advance his artillery 
 nor his lines, the ground before him being cut 
 up by ditches, morafles, and very difficult of 
 paffage for the guns. 
 
 It was paft mid-day when the attack began 
 on our left, where Lord Cutts commanded, the 
 
Augufi 13, 1704. 161 
 
 braveft and mod beloved officer in the Englifh 
 army. And now, as if to make his experience 
 in war complete, our young aide-de-camp 
 having feen two great armies facing each other 
 in line of battle, and had the honour of riding 
 with orders from one end to other of the line, 
 came in for a not uncommon accompaniment 
 of military glory, and was knocked on the head, 
 along with many hundred of brave fellows, almoft 
 at the very commencement of this famous day of 
 Blenheim. A little after noon, the difpofition 
 for attack being completed with much delay and 
 difficulty, and under a fevere fire from the 
 enemy's guns, that were better pofted and 
 more numerous than ours, a body of Englifh 
 and Heffians, with Major-General Wilkes com- 
 manding at the extreme left of our line, marched 
 upon Blenheim, advancing with great gallantry, 
 the Major-General on foot, with his officers, at 
 the head of the column, and marching, with his 
 hat off, intrepidly in the face of the enemy, 
 who was pouring in a tremendous fire from his 
 guns and mufketry, to which our people were 
 inftrudled not to reply, except with pike and 
 bayonet when they reached the French palifades. 
 
 VOL. IT, M 
 
1 6 '2 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 To thefe Wilkes walked intrepidly, and ftruck 
 the wood-work with his fword, before our people 
 charged it. He was ftiot down at the inftant 
 with his colonel, major, and feveral officers ; 
 and our troops cheering and huzzaing, and 
 coming on, as they did, with immenfe refolution 
 and gallantry, were neverthelefs flopped by the 
 murderous fire from behind the enemy's defences, 
 and then attacked in flank by a furious charge 
 of French horfe which fwept out of Blenheim, 
 and cut down our men in great numbers. Three 
 fierce and defperate aflaults of our Foot were 
 made and repulfed by the enemy ; fo that our 
 columns of Foot were quite fliattered, and fell 
 back, fcrambling over the little rivulet, which 
 we had crofled fo refolutely an hour before, and 
 purfued by the French cavalry, flaughtering us 
 and cutting us down. 
 
 And now the conquerors were met by a furious 
 charge of Englifli horfe under Efmond's general, 
 General Lumley, behind whofe fquadrons the 
 flying Foot found refuge, and formed again, 
 whilft Lumley drove back the French horfe, 
 charging up to the village of Blenheim and the 
 palifades where Wilkes and many hundred more 
 
I am wounded. 
 
 i6 3 
 
 gallant Englifhmen lay in flaughtered heaps. 
 Beyond this moment, and of this famous victory, 
 Mr. Efmond knows nothing ; for a fhot brought 
 down his horfe and our young gentleman on it, 
 who fell crufhed and ftunned under the animal ; 
 and came to his fenfes he knows not how long 
 after, only to lofe them again from pain and lofs 
 of blood. A dim fenfe, as of people groaning 
 round about him, a wild incoherent thought or 
 two for her who occupied fo much of his heart 
 now, and that here his career, and his hopes, and 
 misfortunes were ended, he remembers in the 
 courfe of thefe hours. When he woke up it was 
 with a pang of extreme pain, his breaftplate was 
 taken off, his fervant was holding his head up, 
 the good and faithful lad of Hampfhire* was 
 blubbering over his mafter, whom he found and 
 had thought dead, and a furgeon was probing a 
 wound in the fhoulder, which he muft have got 
 at the fame moment when his horfe was fhot and 
 fell over him. The battle was over at this end 
 of the field, by this time : the village was in 
 
 * My miftrefs before I went this campaign fent me John 
 Lockwood out of Walcote, who hath ever fince remained with 
 me. — H, E. 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 pofleffion of the Englifh, its brave defenders 
 prifoners, or fled, or drowned, many of them, in 
 the neighbouring waters of Donau. But for 
 honeft Lockwood's faithful fearch after his mafter 
 there had no doubt been an end of Efmond here, 
 and of this his ftory. The marauders were out 
 rifling the bodies as they lay on the field, and 
 Jack had brained one of thefe gentry with the 
 club- end of his mufket, who had eafed Efmond 
 of his hat and periwig, his purfe, and fine filver- 
 mounted piftols, which the dowager gave him, 
 and was fumbling in his pockets for further 
 treafure, when Jack Lockwood came up and put 
 an end to the fcoundrel's triumph. 
 
 Hofpitals for our wounded were eftablifhed at 
 Blenheim, and here for feveral weeks Efmond 
 lay in very great danger of his life ; the wound 
 was not very great from which he fuffered, and 
 the ball extradled by the furgeon on the fpot 
 where our young gentleman received it ; but a 
 fever fet in next day, as he was lying in hofpital, 
 and that almoft carried him away. Jack Lock- 
 wood faid he talked in the wildeft manner during 
 his delirium ; that he called himfelf the Marquis 
 of Efmond, and feizing one of the furgeon's 
 
And lie ill of my wounds. 165 
 
 affiftants who came to drefs his wounds, fwore 
 that he was Madam Beatrix, and that he would 
 make her a duchefs if fhe would but fay yes. 
 He was paffing the days in thefe crazy fancies, 
 and vana /omnia, whilft the army was finging 
 Te Deum for the vi&ory, and thofe famous 
 feftivities were taking place at which our Duke, 
 now made a Prince of the Empire, was entertained 
 by the King of the Romans and his nobility. 
 His Grace went home by Berlin and Hanover, 
 and Efmond loft the feftivities which took place 
 at thofe cities, and which his general fhared in 
 company of the other general officers who 
 travelled with our great captain. When he 
 could move it was by the Duke of Wirtemburg's 
 city of Stuttgard that he made his way home- 
 wards, revifiting Heidelberg again, whence he 
 went to Manheim, and hence had a tedious but 
 eafy w r ater journey down the river of Rhine, 
 which he had thought a delightful and beautiful 
 voyage indeed, but that his heart was longing 
 for home, and fomething far more beautiful and 
 delightful. 
 
 As bright and welcome as the eyes almoft 
 of his miftrefs fhone the lights of Harwich, 
 
1 66 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 as the packet came in from Holland. It was 
 not many hours ere he, Efmond, was in London, 
 of that you may be fure, and received with open 
 arms by the old dowager of Chelfea, who vowed, 
 in her jargon of French and Englifh, that he had 
 the air noble, that his pallor embellifhed him, 
 that he was an Amadis and deferved a Gloriana, 
 and, oh ! flames and darts ! what was his joy 
 at hearing that his miftrefs was come into v/aiting, 
 and was now with her Majefty at Kenfington ! 
 Although Mr. Efmond had told Jack Lockwood 
 to get horfes and they would ride for Winchester 
 that night ; when he heard this news he counter- 
 manded the horfes at once ; his bufinefs lay 
 no longer in Hants ; all his hope and defire lay 
 within a couple of miles of him in Kenfington 
 Park wall. Poor Harry had never looked in 
 the glafs before fo eagerly to fee whether he 
 had the bel air, and his palenefs really did 
 become him : he never took fuch pains about 
 the curl of his periwig, and the tafte of his 
 embroidery and point-lace, as now, before 
 Mr. Amadis prefented himfelf to Madam 
 Gloriana. Was the fire of the French lines half 
 fo murderous as the killing glances from her 
 
Eurydice. 
 
 167 
 
 ladyfhip's eyes ? Oh ! darts and raptures, how 
 beautiful were they ! 
 
 And as, before the blazing fun of morning, the 
 moon fades away in the iky almoft invifible ; — • 
 Efmond thought, with a blufh perhaps, of 
 another fweet pale face, fad and faint, and fading 
 out of fight, with its fweet fond gaze of afFedtion ; 
 fuch a laffc look it feemed to caft as Eurydice 
 might have given, yearning after her lover, when 
 fate and Pluto fummoned her, and fhe pafled 
 away into the fhades. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN OLD STORY ABOUT A FOOL AND A WOMAN. 
 
 ANY tafte for pleafure which Efmond had 
 (and he liked to defipere in loco, neither 
 more nor lefs than moft young men of his age) 
 he could now gratify, to the utmoft extent, and 
 in the beft company which the town afforded. 
 When the army went into winter quarters abroad, 
 thofe of the officers who had intereft or money, 
 eafily got leave of abfence, and found it much 
 pleafanter to fpend their time in Pall-Mall and 
 Hyde Park, than to pafs the winter away behind 
 the fortifications of the dreary old Flanders 
 towns, where the Englifh troops were gathered. 
 Yatches and packets paffed daily between the 
 Dutch and Flemifh ports and Harwich; the 
 roads thence to London and the great inns were 
 crowded with army gentlemen ; the taverns and 
 
Brigadier Webb. 169 
 
 ordinaries of the town fwarmed with red-coats ; 
 and our great Duke's levees at St. James's were 
 as thronged as they had been at Ghent and 
 Bruffels, where we treated him and he us, with 
 the grandeur and ceremony of a fovereign. 
 Though Efmond had been appointed to a lieu- 
 tenancy in the Fufileer regiment, of which that 
 celebrated officer, Brigadier John Richmond 
 Webb, was colonel, he had never joined the 
 regiment, nor been introduced to its excellent 
 commander, though they had made the fame 
 campaign together, and been engaged in the fame 
 battle. But being aide-de-camp to General 
 Lumley, who commanded the divifion of Horfe, 
 and the army marching to its point of deftination 
 on the Danube by different routes, Efmond had 
 not fallen in, as yet, with his commander and 
 future comrades of the fort ; and it was in 
 London, in Golden Square, where Major-General 
 Webb lodged, that Captain Efmond had the 
 honour of firft paying his refpe6ts to his friend, 
 patron, and commander of after days. 
 
 Thofe who remember this brilliant and accom- 
 plished gentleman may recoiled his character, 
 upon which he prided himfelf, I think, not a 
 
170 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 little, of being the handfomeft man in the army ; 
 a poet who writ a dull copy of verfes upon the 
 battle of Oudenarde three years after, defcribing 
 Webb, says : — 
 
 " To noble danger Webb conduces the way, 
 " His great example all his troops obey 5 
 " Before the front the general fternly rides, 
 " With fuch an air as Mars to battle ftrides : 
 " Propitious Heaven muft fure a hero fave, 
 "Like Paris handfome, and like He&or brave. " 
 
 Mr. Webb thought thefe verfes quite as fine 
 as Mr. Addifon's on the Blenheim Campaign, 
 and, indeed, to be He&or a la mode de Paris, 
 was a part of this gallant gentleman's ambition. 
 It would have been difficult to find an officer 
 in the whole army, or amongft the fplendid cour- 
 tiers and cavaliers of the Maifon du Roy, that 
 fought under Vendofme and Villeroy in the army 
 oppofed to ours, who was a more accomplifhed 
 foldier and perfedt gentleman, and either braver 
 or better-looking. And, if Mr. Webb believed 
 of himfelf what the world faid of him, and was 
 deeply convinced of his own indifputable genius, 
 beauty, and valour, who has a right to quarrel 
 with him very much ? This felf-content of his 
 
The Webbs of Wiltjhire. 171 
 
 kept him in general good-humour, of which his 
 friends and dependants got the benefit. 
 
 He came of a very ancient Wiltiliire family, 
 which he refpedled above all families in the 
 world ; he could prove a lineal defcent from 
 King Edward the Firft, and his firft anceftor, 
 Roaldus de Richmond, rode by William the 
 Conqueror's fide on Haftings field. cc We were 
 gentlemen, Efmond," he ufed to fay, cc when 
 the Churchills were horfe-boys." He was a very 
 tall man, ftanding in his pumps fix feet three 
 inches (in his great jack-boots, with his tall, 
 fair periwig, and hat and feather, he could not 
 have been lefs than eight feet high). cc I am 
 taller than Churchill/' he would fay, furveying 
 himfelf in the glafs, cc and I am a better made 
 man ; and if the women won't like a man that 
 hafn't a wart on his nofe, faith, I can't help 
 myfelf, and Churchill has the better of me there." 
 Indeed, he was always meafuring himfelf with 
 the Duke, and always afking his friends to 
 meafure them. And talking in this frank way, 
 as he would do, over his cups, wags would 
 laugh and encourage him ; friends would be forry 
 for him ; fchemers and flatterers would egg him 
 
172 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 on, and tale-bearers carry the ftories to head- 
 quarters, and widen the difference which already 
 exifted there between the great captain and one 
 of the ableft: and braveft lieutenants he ever had. 
 
 His rancour againft the Duke was fo apparent, 
 that one faw it in the firft half-hour's converfation 
 with General Webb ; and his lady, who adored 
 her General, and thought him a hundred times 
 taller, handfomer, and braver than a prodigal 
 nature had made him, hated the great Duke 
 with fuch an intenfity as it becomes faithful wives 
 to feel againft their hufbands' enemies. Not 
 that my Lord Duke was fo yet ; Mr. Webb 
 had faid a thoufand things againft him, which 
 his fuperior had pardoned ; and his Grace, whofe 
 fpies were everywhere, had heard a thoufand 
 things more that Webb had never faid. But 
 it coft this great man no pains to pardon ; and 
 he paffed over an injury or a benefit alike eafily. 
 
 Should any child of mine take the pains to 
 read thefe, his anceftor's memoirs, I would not 
 have him judge of the great Duke * by what 
 
 * This paflage in the Memoirs of Efmond is written on a 
 leaf inferted into the MS. book and dated 1744, probably after 
 he had heard of the Duchefs's death. 
 
The Duke's levee. 
 
 J 73 
 
 a cotemporary has written of him. No man 
 hath been fo immenfely lauded and decried as 
 this great ftatefman and warrior ; as, indeed, no 
 man ever defer ved better the very greateft praife 
 and the ftrongeft cenfure. If the prefent writer 
 joins with the latter fadtion, very likely a private 
 pique of his own may be the caufe of his ill-feeling. 
 
 On prefenting himfelf at the Commander-in- 
 Chief's levee, his Grace had not the leaft remem- 
 brance of General Lumley's aide-de-camp, and 
 though he knew Efmond's family perfectly well, 
 having ferved with both lords (my Lord Francis 
 and the Vifcount, Efmond's father) in Flanders, 
 and in the Duke of York's Guard, the Duke 
 of Marlborough, who was friendly and fervice- 
 able to the (fo-ftyled) legitimate reprefentatives 
 of the Vifcount Caftlewood, took no fort of notice 
 of the poor lieutenant, who bore their name. 
 A word of kindnefs or acknowledgment, or a 
 fingle glance of approbation, might have changed 
 Efmond's opinion of ^the great man ; and inftead 
 of a fatire, which his pen cannot help writing, 
 who knows but that the humble hiftorian might 
 have taken the other fide of panegyrick? We 
 have but to change the point of view, and the 
 
174 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 greateft acStion looks mean ; as we turn the 
 perfpe6tive-glafs, and a giant appears a pigmy. 
 You may defcribe, but who can tell whether 
 your fight is clear or not, or your means of 
 information accurate ? Had the great man faid 
 but a word of kindnefs to the fmall one (as he 
 would have ftepped out of his gilt chariot to 
 fhake hands with Lazarus in rags and fores, 
 if he thought Lazarus could have been of any 
 fervice to him), no doubt Efmond would have 
 fought for him with pen and fword to the utmoft 
 of his might ; but my lord the lion did not want 
 mafter moufe at this moment, and fo Mufcipulus 
 went off and nibbled in oppofition. 
 
 So it was, however, that a young gentleman, 
 who, in the eyes of his family, and in his own, 
 doubtlefs, was looked upon as a confummate 
 hero, found that the great hero of the day took 
 no more notice of him than of the fmalleft 
 drummer in his Grace's army. The dowager 
 at ^Chelfea was furious againft this negled: of 
 her family, and had a great battle with Lady 
 Marlborough (as Lady Caftlewood infifted on 
 calling the Duchefs). Her Grace was now 
 Miftrefs of the Robes to her Majefty, and one 
 
The Dowager and the Duche/s. 175 
 
 of the greatefl: perfonages in this kingdom, as 
 her hufband was in all Europe, and the battle 
 between the two ladies took place in the Queen's 
 drawing-room. 
 
 The Duchefs, in reply to my aunt's eager 
 clamour, faid haughtily, that fhe had done her 
 beft for the legitimate branch of the Efmonds, 
 and could not be expefted to provide for the 
 baftard brats of the family. 
 
 Cf Baftards," fays the Vifcountefs, in a fury, 
 "there are baftards amongft the Churchills, as 
 your Grace knows, and the Duke of Berwick is 
 provided for well enough." 
 
 "Madam," fays the Duchefs, <f you know 
 whofe fault it is that there are no fuch dukes in 
 the Efmond family too, and how that little 
 fcheme of a certain lady mifcarried." 
 
 Efmond's friend, Dick Steele, who was in 
 waiting on the Prince, heard the controverfy 
 between the ladies at court, Cf And faith," fays 
 Dick, " I think, Harry, thy kinfwoman had the 
 worft of it." 
 
 He could not keep the ftory quiet ; 'twas all 
 over the cofFee-houfes ere night ; it was printed 
 in a News Letter before a month was over, and 
 
176 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 <f The Reply of her Grace the Duchefs of 
 M-rlb-r-gh to a Popish Lady of the Court once 
 a favourite of the late K — J-m-s" was printed 
 in half a dozen places, with a note ftating that 
 cf this duchefs > when the head of this lady's family 
 came by his death lately in a fatal duel, never 
 refted until fhe got a penfion for the orphan heir, 
 and widow, from her Majefty's bounty.'' The 
 fquabble did not advance poor Efmond's promo- 
 tion much, and indeed made him fo afhamed of 
 himfelf that he dared not fhow his face at the 
 Commander-in-Chief's levees again. 
 
 During thofe eighteen months which had 
 pafled fince Efmond faw his dear miftrefs, her 
 good father, the old Dean, quitted this life, firm 
 in his principles to the verylaft, and enjoining his 
 family always to remember that the Queen's 
 brother, King James the Third, was their 
 rightful fovereign. He made a very edifying 
 end, as his daughter told Efmond, and, not a 
 little to her furprife, after his death (for he had 
 lived always very poorly) my lady found that 
 her father had left no lefs a fum than £3000 
 behind him, which he bequeathed to her. 
 
A young /cape-grace. 1 77 
 
 With this little fortune Lady Caftlewood was 
 enabled, when her daughters turn at Court came, 
 to come to London, where ftie took a fmall 
 genteel houfe at Kenfington in the neighbourhood 
 of the Court, bringing her children with her, and 
 here it was that Efmond found his friends. 
 
 As for the young lord, his univerfity career 
 had ended rather abruptly. Honeft Tuftier, his 
 governor, had found my young gentleman quite 
 ungovernable. My lord worried his life away 
 with tricks ; and broke out, as home-bred lads 
 will, into a hundred youthful extravagancies, fo 
 that Dr. Bentley, the new mafter of Trinity, 
 thought fit to write to the Vifcountefs Caftle- 
 wood, my lord's mother, and beg her to remove 
 the young nobleman from a college where he 
 declined to learn, and where he only did harm 
 by his riotous example. Indeed, I believe he 
 nearly fet fire to Nevil's Court, that beautiful 
 new quadrangle of our college, which Sir 
 Chriftopher Wren had lately built. He knocked 
 down a prodor's man that wanted to arreft him 
 in a midnight prank ; he gave a dinner party on 
 the Prince of Wales's birthday, which was within 
 a fortnight of his own, and the twenty young 
 
 TOL. IT. X 
 
178 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 gentlemen then prefent fallied out after their 
 wine, having toafted King James's health with 
 open windows, and fung cavalier fongs, and 
 fhouted cc God fave the King ! " in the great 
 court, fo that the matter came out of his 
 lodge at midnight, and diflipated the riotous 
 aflembly. 
 
 This was my lord's crowning freak, and the 
 Rev. Thomas Tufher, domeftick chaplain to the 
 Right Honourable the Lord Vifcount Caftle- 
 wood, finding his prayers and fermons of no 
 earthly avail to his lordlhip, gave up his duties 
 of governor ; went and married his brewer's 
 widow at Southampton, and took her and her 
 money to his parfonage-houfe at Caftlewood. 
 
 My lady could not be angry with her fon for 
 drinking King James's health, being herfelf a 
 loyal Tory, as all the Caftlewood family were, 
 and acquiefced with a figh, knowing, perhaps, 
 that her refufal would be of no avail to the 
 young lord's defire for a military life. She 
 would have liked him to be in Mr. Efmond's 
 regiment, hoping that Harry might act as 
 guardian and advifer to his wayward young 
 kinfman ; but my young lord would hear of 
 
The young people. 179 
 
 nothing but the Guards, and a commiffion was 
 got for him in the Duke of Ormond's regiment ; 
 fo Efmond found my lord, enfign and lieutenant 
 when he returned from Germany after the 
 Blenheim campaign. 
 
 The efFedl produced by both Lady Caftlewood's 
 children when they appeared in publick was extra- 
 ordinary, and the whole town fpeedily rang with 
 their fame ; fuch a beautiful couple it was 
 declared, never had been feen ; the young maid 
 of honour was toafted at every table and tavern, 
 and as for my young lord, his good looks were 
 even more admired than his fitter's . A hundred 
 fongs were written about the pair, and as the 
 fafhion of that day was, my young lord was 
 praifed in thefe Anacreonticks as warmly as 
 Bathyllus. You may be fure that he accepted 
 very complacently the town's opinion of him, 
 and acquiefced with that franknefs and charming 
 good-humour he always fhowed in the idea that 
 he was the prettieft fellow in all London. 
 
 The old dowager at Chelfea, though fhe could 
 never be got to acknowledge that Miftrefs Beatrix 
 was any beauty at all (in which opinion, as it 
 may be imagined, a vafl: number of the ladies 
 
 N 2 
 
i So The Hifiory of Henry Eftnond. 
 
 agreed with her), yet, on the very firft fight of 
 young Caftlewood, ftie owned fhe fell in love 
 with him ; and Henry Efmond, on his return to 
 Chelfea, found himfelf quite fuperfeded in her 
 favour by her younger kinfman. That feat of 
 drinking the King's health at Cambridge would 
 have won her heart, fhe faid, if nothing elfe 
 did. f c How had the dear young fellow got fuch 
 beauty ?" fhe afked. fC Not from his father — 
 certainly not from his mother. How had he 
 come by fuch noble manners, and the perfeft bel 
 air? That countrified Walcote widow could 
 never have taught him." Efmond had his own 
 opinion about the countrified Walcote widow, who 
 had a quiet grace, and ferene kindnefs, that had 
 always feemed to him the perfection of good 
 breeding, though he did not try to argue this 
 point with his aunt. But he could agree in moft 
 of the praifes which the enraptured old dowager 
 beftowed on my Lord Vifcount, than whom he 
 never beheld a more fafcinating and charming 
 p-entleman. Caftlewood had not wit fo much 
 
 o 
 
 as enjoyment. cc The lad looks good things," 
 Mr. Steele ufed to fay ; cc and his laugh lights 
 up a converfation as much as ten repartees from 
 
Frank. 
 
 181 
 
 Mr. Congreve. I would as foon fit over a 
 bottle with him as with Mr. Addifon ; and 
 rather liften to his talk than hear Nicolini. 
 Was ever man fo gracefully drunk as my Lord 
 Caftlewood ? I would give anything to carry 
 my wine (though, indeed, Dick bore his very 
 kindly, and plenty of It, too) like this incom- 
 parable young man. When he is fober he is 
 delightful ; and when tipfy, perfectly irrefiftible." 
 And referring to his favourite, Shakfpeare, (who 
 was quite out of falhion until Steele brought 
 him back into the mode,) Dick compared Lord 
 Caftlewood to Prince Hal, and was pleafed to 
 dub Efmond as ancient Piftol. 
 
 The Miftrefs of the Robes, the greateft lady 
 in England after the Queen, or even before 
 her Majefty, as the world faid, though fhe never 
 could be got to fay a civil word to Beatrix, 
 whom fhe had promoted to her place of maid of 
 honour, took her brother into inftant favour. 
 When young Caftlewood, in his new uniform, 
 and looking like a prince out of a fairy-tale, 
 went to pay his duty to her Grace, fhe looked 
 at him for a minute in filence, the young man 
 blufhing and in confufion before her, then 
 
1 8 2 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fairly burfl: out a-crying, and kiffed him before 
 her daughters and company. cc He was my 
 boy's friend/' ihe faid, through her fobs. cc My 
 Blandford might have been like him." And 
 everybody faw, after this mark of the Duchefs's 
 favour, that my young lord's promotion was 
 fecure, and people crowded round the favourite's 
 favourite, who became vainer and gayer, and 
 more good-humoured than ever. 
 
 Meanwhile Madam Beatrix was making her 
 conquefts on her own fide, and amongft them 
 was one poor gentleman, who had been fhot by 
 her young eyes two years before, and had never 
 been quite cured of that wound ; he knew, to be 
 fure, how hopelefs any paffion might be, directed 
 in that quarter, and had taken that beft, though 
 ignoble, remedium amoris, a fpeedy retreat from 
 before the charmer, and a long abfence from her; 
 and not being dangeroufly fmitten in the firft 
 inftance, Efmond pretty foon got the better of 
 his complaint, and if he had it ftill, did not know 
 he had it, and bore it eafily. But when he 
 returned after Blenheim, the young lady of 
 fixteen, who had appeared the mod beautiful 
 objed his eyes had ever looked on two years 
 
I relapfe into the old fever. 1 83 
 
 hack., was now advanced to a perfect ripenefs 
 and perfedtion of beauty fuch as inftantly en- 
 thralled the poor devil, who had already been a 
 fugitive from her charms. Then he had feen her 
 but for two days, and fled ; now he beheld her 
 day after day, and when fhe was at court, watched 
 after her ; when fhe was at home, made one of 
 the family party ; when fhe went abroad, 
 rode after her mother's chariot ; when fhe 
 appeared in publick places was in the box near 
 her, or in the pit looking at her ; when fhe 
 went to church was fure to be there, though 
 he might not liften to the fermon, and be ready 
 to hand her to her chair if fhe deigned to accept 
 of his fervices, and feledfc him from a fcore of 
 young men who were always hanging round 
 about her. When fhe went away, accompanying 
 her Majefty to Hampton Court, a darknefs 
 fell over London ; Gods, what nights has 
 Efmond paffed, thinking of her, rhyming about 
 her, talking about her ! His friend Dick Steele 
 was at this time courting the young lady, 
 Mrs. Scurlock, whom he married ; fhe had a 
 lodging in Kenfington Square, hard by my 
 Lady Caftlewood's houfe there. Dick and Harry 
 
184 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 being on the fame errand ufed to meet conftantly 
 at Kenfington. They were always prowling 
 about that place, or difmally walking thence, or 
 eagerly running thither. They emptied fcores 
 of bottles, at the King's Arms, each man prating 
 of his love, and allowing the other to talk on 
 condition that he might have his own turn as a 
 liftener. Hence arofe an intimacy between them, 
 though to all the reft of their friends they muft 
 have been infu/Ferable. Efmond's verfes to 
 cc Gloriana at the Harpfichord," to cc Gloriana's 
 Nofegay," to Cf Gloriana at Court," appeared 
 this year in the cc Obfervator." — Have you never 
 read them ? They were thought pretty poems, 
 and attributed by fome to Mr. Prior. 
 
 This paffion did not efcape — how ftiould it ? 
 — the clear eyes of Efmond's miftrefs : he told 
 her all ; what will a man not do when frantick 
 with love ? To what bafenefs will he not 
 demean himfelf? What pangs will he not 
 make others fuffer, fo that he may eafe his 
 felfifh heart of a part of its own pain ? Day 
 after day he would feek his dear miftrefs, pour 
 infane hopes, fupplications, rhapfodies, raptures, 
 into her ear. She liftened, fmiled, confoled, with 
 
Abjefl; prqftration. 185 
 
 untiring pity and fweetnefs. Efmond was the 
 eldeft of her children, fo {he was pleafed to fay ; 
 and as for her kindnefs, who ever had or would 
 look for aught elfe from one who was an angel 
 of goodnefs and pity ? After what has been 
 faid, 'tis needlefs almoft to add that poor Efmond's 
 fuit was unfuccefsful. What was a namelefs, 
 pennylefs lieutenant to do, when fome of the 
 greateft in the land were in the field ? Efmond 
 never fo much as thought of alking permiffion 
 to hope fo far above his reach as he knew this 
 prize was — and pafled his foolifh, ufelefs life in 
 mere abjecft fighs and impotent longing. What 
 nights of rage, what days of torment, of paflionate 
 unfulfilled defire, of fickening jealoufy, can he 
 recall Beatrix thought no more of him than 
 of the lacquey that followed her chair. His 
 complaints did not touch her in the leaft ; his 
 raptures rather fatigued her ; fhe cared for his 
 verfes no more than for Dan Chaucer's, who's 
 dead thefe ever] fo many hundred years ; fhe did 
 not hate him ; flie rather defpifed him, and juft 
 fuffered him. 
 
 One day, after talking to Beatrix's mother, 
 his dear, fond, conftant miftrefs — for hours — for 
 
1 86 The Hijlory cf Henry 'Efmond. 
 
 all day along — pouring out his flame and his 
 paflion, his defpair and rage, returning again 
 and again to the theme, pacing the room, 
 tearing up the flowers on the table, twifting 
 and breaking into bits the wax out of the ftand- 
 difti, and performing a hundred mad freaks of 
 paflionate folly ; feeing his miftrefs at laft quite 
 pale and tired out with flieer wearinefs of com- 
 paflion, and watching over his fever for the 
 hundredth time, Efmond feized up his hat, and 
 took his leave. As he got into Kenfington 
 Square, a fenfe of remorfe came over him for 
 the wearifome pain he had been infli&ing upon 
 the deareft and kindeft friend ever man had. 
 He went back, to the houfe, where the fervant 
 ftill flood at the open door, ran up the flairs, 
 and found his miftrefs where he had left her 
 in the embrafure of the window, looking over 
 the fields towards Chelfea. She laughed, wiping 
 av/ay at the fame time the tears which were in 
 her kind eyes ; he flung himfelf down on his 
 knees, and buried his head in her lap. She had 
 in her hand the ftalk of one of the flowers, a 
 pink, that he had torn to pieces. cf Oh, pardon 
 me, pardon me, my deareft and kindeft, ,> he 
 
What love will do. 187 
 
 faid ; cf I am in hell, and you are the angel that 
 brings me a drop of water." 
 
 cc I am your mother, you are my fon, and I 
 love you always/' fhe faid, folding her hands 
 over him ; and he went away comforted and 
 humbled in mind as he thought of that amazing 
 and conftant love and tendernefs with which 
 this fweet lady ever blefled and purfued him. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 — — 
 THE FAMOUS MR. JOSEPH ADDISON. 
 
 t I ^HE gentlemen ulliers had a table at 
 Kenfington, and the Guard a very 
 fplendid dinner daily at St. James's, at either 
 of which ordinaries Efmond was free to dine. 
 Dick Steele liked the Guard-table better than 
 his own at the gentleman ufhers', where there 
 was lefs wine and more ceremony ; and Efmond 
 had many a jolly afternoon in company of his 
 friend, and a hundred times at leaft faw Dick 
 into his chair. If there is verity in wine, 
 according to the old adage, what an amiable- 
 natured charafter Dick's muft have been ! In 
 proportion as he took in wine he overflowed 
 with kindnefs. His talk was not witty fo much 
 as charming. He never faid a word that could 
 anger anybody, and only became the more 
 
Dick Steele. 
 
 benevolent the more tipfy he grew. Many of 
 the wags derided the poor fellow in his cups, 
 and chofe him as a butt for their fatire ; but 
 there was a kindnefs about him, and a fweet 
 playful fancy, that feemed to Efmond far more 
 charming than the pointed talk of the brighteft 
 wits, with their elaborate repartees and affedted 
 feverities. I think Steele fhone rather than 
 fparkled. Thofe famous beaux-efprits of the 
 coffee-houfes (Mr. William Congreve, for in- 
 ftance, when his gout and his grandeur permitted 
 him to come among us) would make many 
 brilliant hits — half a dozen in a night fometimes 
 — but, like fharp-fhooters, when they had fired 
 their fhot, they were obliged to retire under 
 cover, till their pieces were loaded again, and 
 wait till they got another chance at their enemy ; 
 whereas Dick never thought that his bottle- 
 companion was a butt to aim at — only a friend 
 to fhake by the hand. The poor fellow had 
 half the town in his confidence ; everybody knew 
 everything about his loves and his debts, his 
 creditors or his miftrefs's obduracy. When 
 Efmond firft came on to the town honeft Dick 
 was all flames and raptures for a young lady, 
 
190 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 a Weft India fortune, whom he married. In a 
 couple of years the lady was dead, the fortune 
 was all but fpent, and the honeft widower was 
 as eager in purfuit of a new paragon of beauty as 
 if he had never courted and married and buried 
 the laft one. 
 
 Quitting the Guard-table on one funny after- 
 noon, when by chance Dick had a fober fit upon 
 him, he and his friend were making their way 
 down Germain Street, and Dick all of a fudden 
 left his companion's arm, and ran after a gentle- 
 man, who was poring over a folio volume at the 
 bookfhop near to St. James's church. He was 
 a fair, tall man, in a fnuff-coloured fuit, with a 
 plain fword, very fober and almoft fhabby in 
 appearance, — at leaft, when compared to Captain 
 Steele, who loved to adorn his jolly round 
 perfon with the fineft of clothes, and fhone in 
 fcarlet and gold lace. The Captain rufhed up, 
 then, to the ftudent of the bookftall, took him 
 in his arms, hugged him, and would have kiffed 
 him, — for Dick was always hugging and buffing 
 his friends, — but the other ftepped back with a 
 flufh on his pale face, feeming to decline this 
 publick manifeftation of Steele's regard. 
 
Mr. Addifon. 
 
 cc My deareft Joe, where haft thou hidden 
 thyfelf this age?" cries the Captain, ftill holding 
 both his friend's hands ; cc I have been languiftiing 
 for thee this fortnight. " 
 
 cc A fortnight is not an age, Dick," fays the 
 other, very good-humouredly. (He had light 
 blue eyes, extraordinary bright, and a face per- 
 fectly regular and handfome, like a tinted ftatue. ) 
 cc And I have been hiding myfelfy — where do 
 you think ? " 
 
 cc What ! not acrofs the water, my dear Joe ? " 
 fays Steele, with a look of great alarm : cc thou 
 knoweft I have always " 
 
 <f No/' fays his friend, interrupting him with 
 a fmile : cf we are not come to fuch ftraits as 
 that, Dick. I have been hiding, fir, at a place 
 where people never think of finding you, — at 
 my own lodgings, whither I am going to fmoke 
 a pipe now and drink a glafs of fack ; will your 
 honour come ? " 
 
 cc Harry Efmond, come hither," cries out 
 Dick. cf Thou haft heard me talk over and 
 over again at my deareft Joe, my guardian- 
 angel." 
 
 " Indeed," fays Mr. Efmond, with a bow 
 
192 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 " it is not from you only that I have learnt to 
 admire Mr. Addifon. We loved good poetry 
 at Cambridge, as well as at Oxford ; and I have 
 fome of yours by heart, though I have put on a 
 
 red-coat f O, qui canoro blandius Orpheo 
 
 vocale ducis carmen ; 9 fhall I go on, fir ? " fays 
 Mr. Efmond, who indeed had read and loved 
 the charming Latin poems of Mr. Addifon, as 
 every fcholar of that time knew and admired them. 
 
 cc This is Captain Efmond, who was at 
 Blenheim," fays Steele. 
 
 <c Lieutenant Efmond," fays the other, with 
 a low bow ; cc at Mr. Addifon's fervice." 
 
 cc I have heard of you," fays Mr. Addifon, 
 with a fmile ; as, indeed, everybody about town 
 had heard that unlucky ftory about Efmond's 
 dowager aunt and the Duchefs. 
 
 fc We were going to the George, to take a 
 bottle before the play," fays Steele ; ff wilt thou 
 be one, Joe ? " 
 
 Mr. Addifon faid his own lodgings were hard 
 by, where he was ftill rich enough to give a good 
 bottle of wine to his friends ; and invited the 
 two gentlemen to his apartment in the Hay- 
 market, whither we accordingly went. 
 
Mr. Addifon' s lodging. 1 93 
 
 €< I fliall get credit with my landlady/' fays 
 he, with a fmile, f f when £he fees two fuch fine 
 gentlemen as you come up my ftair." And 
 he politely made his vifitors welcome to his 
 apartment, which was indeed but a fhabby one, 
 though no grandee of the land could receive his 
 guefts with a more perfedl and courtly grace 
 than this gentleman. A frugal dinner, confifting 
 of a flice of meat and a penny loaf, was awaiting 
 the owner of the lodgings. f c My wine is better 
 than my meat," fays Mr. Addifon ; cc my Lord 
 Halifax fent me the Burgundy." And he fet a 
 bottle and glaffes before his friends, and eat his 
 fimple dinner in a very few minutes ; after 
 which the three fell to, and began to drink. 
 cc You fee," fays Mr. Addifon, pointing to his 
 writing-table, whereon was a map of the action 
 at Hochftedt, and feveral other gazettes and 
 pamphlets relating to the battle, f c that I, too, 
 am bufy about your affairs, captain. I am 
 engaged as a poetical gazetteer, to fay truth, and 
 am writing a poem on the campaign." 
 
 So Efmond, at the requefl: of his hoft, told 
 him what he knew about the famous battle, drew 
 the river on the table, aliquo mero> and with 
 
 VOL. II. o 
 
1 94 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 the aid of fome bits of tobacco-pipe, fhowed the 
 advance of the left wing, where he had been 
 engaged. 
 
 A fheet or two of the verfes lay already on 
 the table befide our bottles and glafTes, and Dick 
 having plentifully refrefhed himfelf from the 
 latter, took up the pages of manufcript, writ out 
 with fcarce a blot or correftion, in the author's 
 Aim, neat handwriting, and began to read there- 
 from with great emphafis and volubility. At 
 paufes of the verfe the enthufiaftick reader ftopped 
 and fired off a great falvo of applaufe. 
 
 Efmond fmiled at the enthufiafm of Addifon's 
 friend. cc You are like the German Burghers," 
 fays he, ff and the Princes on the Mofelle ; when 
 our army came to a halt, they always fent 
 a deputation to compliment the chief, and 
 fired a falute with all their artillery from their 
 walls." 
 
 cc And drunk the great chief's health afterward, 
 did not they ? " fays Captain Steele, gaily filling 
 up a bumper ; — he never was tardy at that fort 
 of acknowledgment of a friend's merit. 
 
 " And the Duke, fince you will have me aft 
 his Grace's part," fays Mr. Addifon, with a fmile 
 
We drink a bottle. 
 
 l 95 
 
 and fomething of a blufh, cc pledged his friends 
 in return. Moft ferene Eleftor of Covent 
 Garden, I drink to your Highnefs's health," 
 and he filled himfelf a glafs. Jofeph required 
 fcarce more preffing than Dick to that fort of 
 amufernent; but the wine never feemed at all 
 to flufter Mr. Addifon's brains ; it only 
 unloofed his tongue, whereas Captain Steele's 
 head and fpeech were quite overcome by a fingle 
 bottle. 
 
 No matter what the verfes were, and, to fay 
 truth, Mr. Efmond found fome of them more 
 than indifferent, Dick's enthufiafm for his chief 
 never faltered, and in every line from Addifon's 
 pen, Steele found a mafter-ftroke. By the time 
 Dick had come to that part of the poem, wherein 
 the bard defcribes as blandly as though he were 
 recording a dance at the opera, or a harmlefs 
 bout of bucolick cudgelling at a village fair, 
 that bloody and ruthlefs part of our campaign, 
 with the remembrance whereof, every foldier 
 who bore a part in it muffc ficken with fhame, 
 — when we were ordered to ravage and lay 
 wafte the Ele&or's country; and with fire and 
 murder, flaughter and crime, a great part of 
 
 o 2 
 
196 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 his dominions was overrun ; — when Dick came 
 to the lines : 
 
 " In vengeance roufed the foldier fills his hand 
 With fword and fire, and ravages the land. 
 In crackling flames a thoufand harvefts burn, 
 A thoufand villages to afhes turn. 
 To the thick woods the woolly flocks retreat, 
 And mixed with bellowing herds confufedly bleat. 
 Their trembling lords the common fhade partake, 
 And cries of infants found in every brake. 
 The liftening foldier fixed in forrow ftands, 
 Loth to obey his leader's juff. commands. 
 The leader grieves, by generous pity fwayed, 
 To fee his juft commands fo well obeyed:" 
 
 by this time wine and friendfhip had brought 
 poor Dick to a perfectly maudlin ftate, and he 
 hiccupped out the laft line with a tendernefs that 
 fet one of his auditors a-laughing. 
 
 f f I admire the licenfe of you poets/' fays 
 Efmond to Mr. Addifon. (Dick, after reading 
 of the verfes, was fain to go off, infilling on 
 kifling his two dear friends before his departure, 
 and reeling away with his periwig over his eyes.) 
 cc I admire your art : the murder of the campaign 
 is done to military mufick, like a battle at the 
 opera, and the virgins fhriek in harmony, as our 
 victorious grenadiers march into their villages. 
 
The portrait of Victory. 197 
 
 Do you know what a fcene it was ? (By this time, 
 perhaps, the wine had warmed Mr. Efmond's 
 head too,) what a triumph you are celebrating? 
 what fcenes of fhame and horror were ena<5ted, 
 over which the commander's genius prefided, as 
 calm as though he didn't belong to our fphere ? 
 You talk of the c liftening foldier fixed in 
 forrow,' the c leader's grief fwayed by generous 
 pity ;' to my belief the leader cared no more for 
 bleating flocks than he did for infants' cries, and 
 many of our ruffians butchered one or the other 
 with equal alacrity. I was afhamed of my trade 
 when I faw thofe horrors perpetrated, which 
 came under every man's eyes. You hew out of 
 your polifhed verfes a ftately image of fmiling 
 vidlory ; I tell you 'tis an uncouth, diftorted, 
 favage idol ; hideous, bloody, and barbarous. 
 The rites performed before it are fhocking to 
 think of. You great poets fliould fliow it as it 
 is — ugly and horrible, not beautiful and ferene. 
 O, fir, had you made the campaign, believe me, 
 you never would have fung it fo." 
 
 During this little outbreak, Mr. Addifon was 
 liftening, fmoking out of his long pipe, and 
 fmiling very placidly. cc What would you 
 
198 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 have?" fays he, cc In our poliftied days, and 
 according to the rules of art, 'tis impoffible that 
 the Mufe fhould depid tortures or begrime her 
 hands with the horrors of war. Thefe are indicated 
 rather than defcribed ; as in the Greek tragedies, 
 that, I dare fay, you have read; (and fure there can 
 be no more elegant fpecimens of compofition;) 
 Agamemnon is flain, or Medea's children de- 
 ftroyed, away from the fcene ; — the chorus 
 occupying the ftage and finging of the adion to 
 pathetick mufick. Something of this I attempt, 
 my dear fir, in my humble way : 'tis a panegyrick 
 I mean to write, and not a fatire. Were I to fing 
 as you would have me, the town would tear the 
 poet in pieces, and burn his book by the hands 
 of the common hangman. Do you not ufe 
 tobacco ? Of all the weeds grown on earth, 
 fure the nicotian is the rnoft foothing and 
 falutary. We muft paint our great Duke," 
 Mr. Addifon went on, cc not as a man, which no 
 doubt he is, with weaknefies like the reft of us, 
 but as a hero. 'Tis in a triumph, not a battle, 
 that your humble fervant is riding his fleek 
 Pegafus. We college-poets trot, you know, on 
 very eafy nags ; it hath been, time out of mind, 
 
Ars poetica. 
 
 199 
 
 part of the poet's profeflion to celebrate the 
 a&ions of heroes in verfe, and to fing the deeds 
 which you men of war perform. I muft follow 
 the rules of my art, and the compofition- of fuch 
 a ftrain as this muft be harmonious and majeftick, 
 not familiar, or too near the vulgar truth. Si 
 parva licet : if Virgil could invoke the divine 
 Auguftus, a humbler poet from the banks of the 
 Ifis may celebrate a vidtory and a conqueror of 
 our own nation, in whofe triumphs every Briton 
 has a fhare, and whofe glory and genius con- 
 tributes to every citizen's individual honour. 
 When hath there been, fince our Henrys and 
 Edwards' days, fuch a great feat of arms as that 
 from which you yourfelf have brought away 
 marks of diftinction. If 'tis in my power to fing 
 that fong worthily, I will do fo, and be thankful 
 to my Mufe. If I fail as a poet, as a Briton at 
 leaft I will ftiow my loyalty, and fling up my cap 
 and huzzah for the conqueror : 
 
 " < Rheni pacator et Iftri 
 
 Omnis in hoc uno variis difcordia ceflit 
 Ordinibus ; laetatur eques, plauditque fenator, 
 Votaque patricio certant plebeia favori.' " 
 
 ff There were as brave men on that field," 
 
200 The Hiftory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 fays Mr. Efmond (who never could be made 
 to love the Duke of Marlborough, nor to forget 
 thofe ftories which he ufed to hear in his youth 
 regarding that great chiePs felfifhnefs and trea- 
 chery), "there were men at Blenheim as good 
 as the leader, whom neither knights or fenators 
 applauded, nor voices plebeian or patrician 
 favoured, and who lie there forgotten, under 
 the clods. What poet is there to fing them ? " 
 
 " To fing the gallant fouls of heroes fent to 
 Hades ! " fays Mr. Addifon, with a fmile : cc Would 
 you celebrate them all ? If I may venture to 
 queftion anything in fuch an admirable work, 
 the catalogue of the fhips in Homer hath always 
 appeared to me as fomewhat wearifome ; what 
 had the poem been, fuppofing the writer had 
 chronicled the names of captains, lieutenants, 
 rank and file ? One of the greateft of a great 
 man's qualities is fuccefs ; 'tis the refult of all the 
 others ; 'tis a latent power in him which compels 
 the favour of the gods, and fubjugates fortune. 
 Of all his gifts I admire that one in the great 
 Marlborough. To be brave ? every man is 
 brave. But in being victorious, as he is, I fancy 
 there is fomething divine. In prefence of the 
 
c The Campaign.' 
 
 20 1 
 
 occafion, the great foul of the leader fhines out, 
 and the god is confefled. Death itfelf refpeds 
 him, and paffes by him to lay others low. War 
 and carnage flee before him to ravage other parts 
 of the field, as He&or from before the divine 
 Achilles. You fay he hath no pity ; no more 
 have the gods, who are above it, and fuper- 
 human. The fainting battle gathers ftrength at 
 his afpe6l ; and wherever he rides, vidlory charges 
 with him." 
 
 A couple of days after, when Mr. Efmond 
 revifited his poetick friend, he found this thought, 
 ftruck out in the fervour of converfation improved 
 and fhaped into thofe famous lines, which are in 
 truth the nobleft in the poem of the cc Campaign." 
 As the two gentlemen fat engaged in talk, Mr. 
 Addifon folacing himfelf with his cuftomary pipe ; 
 the little maid-fervant that waited on his lodging 
 came up, preceding a gentleman in fine laced 
 clothes, that had evidently been figuring at 
 Court or a great man's levee. The courtier 
 coughed a little at the fmoke of the pipe, and 
 looked round the room curioufly, which was 
 fhabby enough, as was the owner in his worn 
 fnufF-coloured fuit and plain tie-wig. 
 
202 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 cc How goes on the magnum opus, Mr. 
 Addifon ? " fays the Court gentleman on looking 
 down at the papers that were on the table. 
 
 £C We were but now over it/' fays Addifon 
 (the greateft courtier in the land could not have 
 a more fplendid politenefs, or greater dignity of 
 manner) ; cc here is the plan," fays he^ Cf on the 
 table : hac ibat Simots, here ran the little river 
 Nebel : hie eft Sigeia tellus, here are Tallard's 
 quarters, at the bowl of this pipe, at the attack 
 of which Captain Efmond was prefent. I have 
 the honour to introduce him to Mr. Boyle ; and 
 Mr. Efmond was but now depidiing aliquo fraiia 
 mixta mere, when you came in." In truth the 
 two gentlemen had been fo engaged when the 
 vifitor arrived, and Addifon in his fmiling way, 
 fpeaking of Mr. Webb, Colonel of Efmond's 
 regiment (who commanded a brigade in the 
 aftion, and greatly diftinguifhed himfelf there), 
 was lamenting that he could find never a fuitable 
 rhyme for Webb, otherwife the brigadier fliould 
 have had a place in the poet's verfes. Cf And for 
 you, you are but a lieutenant/ ' fays Addifon, 
 "and the Mufe can't occupy herfelf with any 
 gentleman under the rank of a field-officer." 
 
A meffenger of Fortune. 
 
 203 
 
 Mr. Boyle was all impatient to hear, faying 
 that my Lord Treafurer and my Lord Halifax 
 were equally anxious ; and Addifon, blufhing, 
 began reading of his verfes, and, I fulped', knew 
 their weak parts as well as the moft critical 
 hearer. When he came to the lines defcribing 
 the angel, that 
 
 66 Infpired repulfed battalions to engage, 
 And taught the doubtful battle where to rage," 
 
 he read with great animation, looking at Efmond, 
 as much as to fay, cc You know where that fimile 
 came from — from our talk, and our bottle of 
 Burgundy, the other day." 
 
 The poet's two hearers were caught with 
 enthufiafm, and applauded the verfes with all 
 their might. The gentleman of the Court 
 fprang up in great delight. fc Not a word 
 more, my dear fir," fays he. cc Truft me with 
 the papers — Ell defend them with my life. Let 
 me read them over to my Lord Treafurer, whom 
 I am appointed to fee in half an hour. I venture 
 to promife, the verfes fhall lofe nothing by my 
 reading, and then, fir, we fhall fee whether Lord 
 Halifax has a right to complain that his friend's 
 penfion is no longer paid." And without more 
 
204 %*h e Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 ado, the courtier in lace feized the manufcript 
 pages, placed them in his breaft with his ruffled 
 hand over his heart, executed a moft gracious 
 wave of the hat with the difengaged hand, and 
 fmiled and bowed out of the room, leaving an 
 odour of pomander behind him. 
 
 cc Does not the chamber look quite dark ? 99 
 fays Addifon, furveying it, cc after the glorious 
 appearance and difappearance of that gracious 
 meffenger? Why, he illuminated the whole 
 room. Your fcarlet, Mr. Efmond, will bear 
 any light ; but this thread-bare old coat of mine, 
 how very worn it looked under the glare of that 
 fplendour ! I wonder whether they will do any- 
 thing for me," he continued. cc When I came 
 out of Oxford into the world, my patrons 
 promifed me great things ; and you fee where 
 their promifes have landed me, in a lodging up 
 two pair of flairs, with a fixpenny dinner from 
 the cook's fhop. Well, I fuppofe this promife 
 will go after the others, and fortune will jilt me, 
 as the jade has been doing any time thefe feven 
 years. < I puff the proftitute away,' " fays he, 
 fmiling, and blowing a cloud out of his pipe. 
 " There is no hardfhip in poverty, Efmond, that 
 
A philosopher. 
 
 is not bearable ; no hardftiip even in honeft 
 dependence that an honeft man may not put up 
 with. I came out of the lap of Alma-Mater, 
 puffed up with her praifes of me, and thinking 
 to make a figure in the world with the parts and 
 learning which had got me no fmall name in our 
 college. The world is the ocean, and Ifis and 
 Charwell are but little drops, of which the fea 
 takes no account. My reputation ended a mile 
 beyond Maudlin Tower ; no one took note of 
 me ; and I learned this, at leaft, to bear up 
 againft evil fortune with a cheerful heart. Friend 
 Dick hath made a figure in the world, and has 
 paffed me in the race long ago. What matters 
 a little name or a little fortune ? There is no 
 fortune that a philofopher cannot endure. I have 
 been not unknown as a fcholar, and yet forced to 
 live by turning bear-leader, and teaching a boy to 
 fpell. What then ? The life was not pleafant, 
 but poffible — the bear was bearable. Should 
 this venture fail, I will go back to Oxford ; and 
 fome day, when you are a general, you ftiall find 
 me a curate in a caflbck and bands, and I fhall 
 welcome your honour to my cottage in the 
 country, and to a mug of penny ale. 'Tis not 
 
io6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 poverty that's the hardeft to bear, or the leaft 
 happy lot in life," fays Mr. Addifon, fhaking 
 the afh out of his pipe. cc See, my pipe is 
 fmoked out. Shall we have another bottle ? 
 I have ftill a couple in the cupboard, and of the 
 right fort. No more? — let us go abroad and 
 take a turn on the Mall, or look in at the theatre 
 and fee Dick's comedy. * 'Tis not a mafterpiece 
 of wit; but Dick is a good fellow, though he 
 doth not fet the Thames on fire." 
 
 Within a month after this day, Mr. Addifon's 
 ticket had come up a prodigious prize in the 
 lottery of life. All the town was in an uproar 
 of admiration of his poem, the cc Campaign," 
 which Dick Steele was fpouting at every cofFee- 
 houfe in Whitehall and Covent Garden. The 
 wits on the other fide of Temple Bar faluted 
 him at once as the greateft poet the world had 
 feen for ages ; the people huzza'ed for Marl- 
 borough and for Addifon, and, more than this, 
 the party in power provided for the meritorious 
 poet, and Mr. Addifon got the appointment of 
 Commilfioner of Excife, which the famous Mr. 
 Locke vacated, and rofe from this place to other 
 dignities and honours ; his profperity from 
 
A prize in the lottery. 
 
 207 
 
 henceforth to the end of his life being fcarce ever 
 interrupted. But I doubt whether he was not 
 happier in his garret in the Haymarket, than 
 ever he was in his fplendid palace at Kenfington ; 
 and I believe the fortune that came to him irr 
 the fhape of the countefs his wife, was no better 
 than a Airew and a vixen. 
 
 Gay as the town was, 'twas but a dreary place 
 for Mr. Efmond, whether his charmer was in it 
 or out of it, and he was glad when his general 
 gave him notice that he was going back to his 
 divifion of the army which lay in winter-quarters 
 at Bois-le-Duc. His dear miftrefs bade him 
 farewell with a cheerful face ; her bleffing he 
 knew he had always, and wherefoever fate carried 
 him. Mrs. Beatrix was away in attendance on 
 her Majefty at Hampton Court, and kiffed her 
 fair finger-tips to him, by way of adieu, when he 
 rode thither to take his leave. She received her 
 kinfman in a waiting-room where there were 
 half a dozen more ladies of the Court, fo that 
 his high-flown fpeeches, had he intended to make 
 any (and very likely he did), were impoflible ; 
 and flie announced to her friends that her coufin 
 
2o8 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 was going to the army, in as eafy a manner 
 as fhe would have faid he was going to a 
 chocolate-houfe. He afked with a rather rueful 
 face, if fhe had any orders for the army ? 
 and fhe was pleafed to fay that fhe would like a 
 mantle of Mechlin lace. She made him a faucy 
 curtfey in reply to his own difmal bow. She 
 deigned to kifs her finger-tips from the window, 
 where fhe flood laughing with the other ladies, 
 and chanced to fee him as he made his way to 
 the Toy. The dowager at Chelfea was not 
 forry to part with him this time. cc Mon cher, 
 vous etes trifle comme un Jermon" fhe did him the 
 honour to fay to him ; indeed, gentlemen in his 
 condition are by no means amufing companions, 
 and befides, the fickle old woman had now found 
 a much more amiable favourite, and raffoled 
 for her darling lieutenant of the Guard. Frank, 
 remained behind for a while, and did not join 
 the army till later, in the fuite of His Grace the 
 Commander-in-Chief. His dear mother, on the 
 laft day before Efmond went away, and when 
 the three dined together, made Efmond promife 
 to befriend her boy, and befought Frank to take 
 the example of his kinfman as of a loyal gentle- 
 
/ return to Flanders. 209 
 
 man and brave foldier, fo file was pleafed to 
 fay ; and at parting, betrayed not the leaft fign 
 of faltering or weaknefs, though, God knows, 
 that fond heart was fearful enough when others 
 were concerned, though fo refolute in bearing 
 its own pain. 
 
 Efmond's general embarked at Harwich. 
 'Twas a grand fight to fee Mr. Webb dreffed in 
 fcarlet on the deck, waving his hat as our yatch 
 put off, and the guns fainted from the fhore. 
 Harry did not fee his vifcount again, until three 
 months after, at Bois-le-Duc, when his Grace the 
 Duke came to take the command, and Frank 
 brought a budget of news from home : how 
 he had fupped with this a&refs, and got: tired of 
 that ; how he had got the better of Mr. St. John, 
 both over the bottle, and with Mrs. Mountford, of 
 the Haymarket Theatre, (a veteran charmer of 
 fifty, with whom the young fcape-grace chofe to 
 fancy himfelf in love) ; how his filler was always 
 at her tricks, and had jilted a young baron for 
 an old earl. <c I can't make out Beatrix," he 
 faid ; cc fhe cares for none of us — ftie only thinks 
 about herfelf ; fhe is never happy unlefs fhe is 
 quarrelling; but as for my mother, — my mother, 
 
 VOL. II. P 
 
2io The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Harry, is an angel." Harry tried to imprefs on 
 the young fellow the neceffity of doing every- 
 thing in his power to pleafe that angel ; not to 
 drink too much ; not to go into debt ; not to 
 run after the pretty Flemifh girls, and fo forth, 
 as became a fenior fpeaking to a lad. cc But 
 Lord blefs thee ! " the boy faid ; fC I may do 
 what I like, and I know fhe will love me all the 
 fame;" and fo, indeed, he did what he liked. 
 Everybody fpoiled him, and his grave kinfman 
 as much as the reft. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I GET A COMPANY IN THE CAMPAIGN Of I J06. 
 
 /AN Whit-Sunday, the famous 23rd of May, 
 V^/ 1706, my young lord firft came under 
 the fire of the enemy, whom we found pofted in 
 order of battle, their lines extending three miles 
 or more, over the high ground behind the little 
 Gheet river, and having on his left the little 
 village of Anderkirk or Autre-eglife, and on his 
 right Ramillies, which has given its name to one 
 of the moft brilliant and difaftrous days of battle 
 that hiftory ever hath recorded. 
 
 Our Duke here once more met his old enemy 
 of Blenheim, the Bavarian Ele&or and the 
 Marefchal Villeroy, over whom the Prince of 
 Savoy had gained the famous victory of Chiari. 
 What Englifhman or Frenchman doth not know 
 the iffue of that day ? Having chofen his own 
 
 p 2 
 
212 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 ground, having a force fuperior to the Englifh, 
 and befides the excellent Spanifh and Bavarian 
 troops, the whole Maifon-du-Roy with him, the 
 moft fplendid body of Horfe in the world, — in 
 an hour (and in fpite of the prodigious gallantry 
 of the French Royal Houfehold, who charged 
 through the centre of our line and broke it), 
 this magnificent army of Villeroy was utterly 
 routed by troops that had been marching for 
 twelve hours, and by the intrepid fkill of a com- 
 mander, who did, indeed, feem in the prefence 
 of the enemy to be the very Genius of Victory. 
 
 I think it was more from conviction than 
 policy, though that policy was furely the moft 
 prudent in the world, that the great Duke 
 always fpoke of his victories with an extra- 
 ordinary modefty, and as if it was not fo much 
 his own admirable genius and courage which 
 achieved thefe amazing fuccefles, but as if he 
 was a fpecial and fatal inftrument in the hands 
 of Providence, that willed irrefiftibly the enemy's 
 overthrow. Before his actions he always had 
 the Church fervice read folemnly, and profeffed 
 an undoubting belief that our Queen's arms 
 were blefled and our victory fure. All the letters 
 
The 'Duke's modefty. 
 
 213 
 
 which he writ after his battles fhow awe rather 
 than exultation ; and he attributes the glory of 
 thefe achievements, about which I have heard 
 mere petty officers and men bragging with a 
 pardonable vain-glory, in no wife to his own 
 bravery or (kill, but to the fuperintending pro- 
 tection of Heaven, which he ever feemed to 
 think was our efpecial ally. And our army got 
 to believe fo, and the enemy learnt to think fo 
 too ; for we never entered into a battle without a 
 perfedt confidence that it was to end in a vi&ory ; 
 nor did the French, after the iffue of Blenheim, 
 and that aftonifhing triumph of Ramillies, ever 
 meet us without feeling that the game was loft 
 before it was begun to be played, and that our 
 general's fortune was irrefiftible. Here, as at 
 Blenheim, the Duke's charger was fhot, and 
 'twas thought for a moment he was dead. As 
 he mounted another, Binfield, his Mafter-of- the 
 Horfe, kneeling to hold his Grace's ftirrup, had 
 his head fhot away by a cannon-ball. A French 
 gentleman of the Royal Houfehold, that was a 
 prifoner with us, told the writer that at the time 
 of the charge of the Houfehold, when their 
 Horfe and ours were mingled, an Irifh officer 
 
214 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 recognifed the Prince-Duke, and calling out — 
 " Marlborough, Marlborough ! " fired his piftol 
 at him a bout-portant, and that a fcore more 
 carbines and piftols were difcharged at him. Not 
 one touched him : he rode through the French 
 Cuiraffiers fword-in-hand, and entirely unhurt, 
 and calm and fmiling rallied the German Horfe, 
 that was reeling before the enemy, brought thefe 
 and twenty fquadrons of Orkney's back upon 
 them, and drove the French acrofs the river again, 
 — leading the charge himfelf, and defeating the 
 only dangerous move the French made that day. 
 
 Major-General Webb commanded on the left 
 of our line, and had his own regiment under the 
 orders of their beloved colonel. Neither he nor 
 they belied their character for gallantry on this 
 occafion ; but it was about his dear young lord 
 that Efmond was anxious, never having fight of 
 him fave once, in the whole courfe of the day, 
 when he brought an order from the Commander- 
 in-Chief to Mr. Webb. When our Horfe, 
 having charged round the right flank of the 
 enemy by Overkirk, had thrown him into entire 
 confufion, a general advance was made, and our 
 whole line of Foot, crofling the little river and 
 
Ramillies. 
 
 215 
 
 the morafs, afcended the high ground where the 
 French were pofted, cheering as they went, the 
 enemy retreating before them. 'Twas a fervice of 
 more glory than danger, the French battalions 
 never waiting to exchange pufh of pike or 
 bayonet with ours ; and the gunners flying from 
 their pieces which our line left behind us as 
 they advanced, and the French fell back. 
 
 At firft it was a retreat orderly enough ; but 
 prefently the retreat became a rout, and a fright- 
 ful flaughter of the French enfued on this panick ; 
 fo that an army of fixty thoufand men was utterly 
 crufhed and deftroyed in the courfe of a couple 
 of hours. It was as if a hurricane had feized a 
 compact and numerous fleet, flung it all to the 
 winds, fhattered, funk, and annihilated it ; afflavit 
 Deus y et dijfipati funt. The French army of 
 Flanders was gone, their artillery, their itandards, 
 their treafure, provifions, and ammunition were 
 all left behind them : the poor devils had even 
 fled without their foup-kettles, which are as much 
 the palladia of the . French infantry as of the 
 Grand Signor's JaniiTaries, and round which they 
 rally even more than round their lilies. 
 
 The purfuit, and a dreadful carnage which 
 
21 6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 enfued (for the dregs of a battle, however bril- 
 liant, are ever a bafe refidue of rapine, cruelty, 
 and drunken plunder), was carried far beyond 
 the field of Ramillies. 
 
 Honeft Lockwood, Efmond's fervant, no 
 doubt wanted to be among the marauders him- 
 felf and take his fhare of the booty ; for when, 
 the adlion over, and the troops got to their ground 
 for the night, the Captain bade Lockwood get 
 a horfe, he alked, with a very rueful coun- 
 tenance, whether his honour would have him 
 come, too ; but his honour only bade him go 
 about his own bufinefs, and Jack hopped away 
 quite delighted as foon as he faw his mafter 
 mounted. Efmond made his way, and not 
 without danger and difficulty, to his Grace's 
 head-quarters, and found for himfelf very 
 quickly where the aides-de-camp's quarters 
 were, in an out-building of a farm, where 
 feveral of thefe gentlemen were feated, drinking 
 and finging, and at fupper. If he had any 
 anxiety about his boy, 'twas relieved at once. 
 One of the gentlemen was finging a fong to a 
 tune that Mr. Farquhar and Mr. Gay both had 
 ufed in their admirable comedies, and very 
 
Frank is Jafe. 
 
 217 
 
 popular in the army of that day ; after the fong 
 came a chorus, cc Over the hills and far away 
 and Efmond heard Frank's frelh voice foaring, 
 as it were, over the fongs of the reft of the young 
 men — a voice that had always a certain artlefs, 
 indefcribable pathos with it, and indeed which 
 caufed Mr. Efmond's eyes to fill with tears now, 
 out of thankfulnefs to God the child was fafe 
 and ftill alive to laugh and fing. 
 
 When the fong was over Efmond entered the 
 room, where he knew feveral of the gentlemen 
 prefent, and there fat my young lord, having 
 taken off his cuirafs, his waiftcoat open, his face 
 flufhed, his long yellow hair hanging over his 
 fhoulders, drinking with the reft ; the youngeft, 
 gayeft, handfomeft there. As foon as he faw 
 Efmond, he clapped down his glafs, and, running 
 towards his friend, put both his arms round him 
 and embraced him. The other's voice trembled 
 with joy as he greeted the lad ; he had thought 
 but now as he flood in the court-yard under the 
 clear-fhining moonlight; cc Great God! what a 
 fcene of murder is here within a mile of us ; what 
 hundreds and thoufands have faced danger to-day; 
 and here are thefe lads finging over their cups, 
 
ai8 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 and the fame moon that is Ihining over yonder 
 horrid field is looking down on Walcote very 
 likely, while my lady fits and thinks about her 
 boy that is at the war." As Efmond embraced 
 his young pupil now, 'twas with the feeling of 
 quite religious thankfulnefs, and an almoft 
 paternal pleafure that he beheld him. 
 
 Round his neck was a ftar with a ftriped 
 ribbon, that was made of fmall brilliants and 
 might be worth a hundred crowns. <c Look/' 
 fays he, "won't that be a pretty prefent for 
 mother ?" 
 
 "Who gave you the Order?" fays Harry, 
 faluting the gentleman : cf did you win it in 
 battle?" 
 
 " I won it," cried the other, cc with my fword 
 and my fpear. There was a moufquetaire that 
 had it round his neck, — fuch a big moufquetaire, 
 as big as General Webb. I called out to him to 
 furrender, and that I'd give him quarter : he 
 called me a petit poliJfon y and fired his pifcol at 
 me, and then fent it at my head with a curfe. I 
 rode at him, fir, drove my fword right under his 
 arm-hole, and broke it in the rafcaPs body. I 
 found a purfe in his holfter with fixty-five Louis 
 
A young champion. 
 
 219 
 
 in it, and a bundle of love-letters, and a flafk of 
 Hungary-water. Vive la guerre ! there are the 
 ten pieces you lent me. I fhould like to have a 
 fight every day and he pulled at his little 
 mouftache and bade a fervant bring a fupper to 
 Captain Efmond. 
 
 Harry fell to with a very good appetite ; he 
 had tailed nothing fince twenty hours ago, at 
 early dawn. M after Grandfon, who read this, 
 do you look for the hiftory of battles and fieges ? 
 Go, find them in the proper books ; this is only 
 the ftory of your grandfather and his family. 
 Far more pleafant to him than the vi&ory, 
 though for that too he may fay meminifse juvat> 
 it was to find that the day was over, and his 
 dear young Caftlewood was unhurt. 
 
 And would you, firrah, wifh to know how it 
 was that a fedate Captain of Foot, a ftudious and 
 rather folitary bachelor of eight or nine and 
 twenty years of age, who did not care very much 
 for the jollities which his comrades engaged in, 
 and was never known to lofe his heart in any 
 garrifon-town — fhould you wifh to know why 
 fuch a man had fo prodigious a tendernefs, and 
 tended fo fondly a boy of eighteen, wait, my 
 
iio The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 good friend^ until thou art in love with thy 
 fchool-fellow's fifter, and then fee how mighty 
 tender thou wilt be towards him. Efmond's 
 general and his Grace the Prince-Duke were 
 notorioufly at variance, and the former's friend- 
 fhip was in no wife likely to advance any man's 
 promotion, of whofe fervices Webb fpoke well ; 
 but rather likely to injure him, fo the army 
 faid, in the favour of the greater man. How- 
 ever, Mr. Efmond had the good fortune to 
 be mentioned very advantageoufly by Major- 
 General Webb in his report after the adtion ; 
 and the major of his regiment and two of the 
 captains having been killed upon the day of 
 Ramillies, Efmond, who was fecond of the lieu- 
 tenants, got his company, and had the honour of 
 ferving as Captain Efmond in the next campaign. 
 
 My lord went home in the winter, but Efmond 
 was afraid to follow him. His dear miftrefs 
 wrote him letters more than once, thanking him, 
 as mothers know how to thank, for his care and 
 protection of her boy, extolling Efmond's own 
 merits with a great deal more praife than they 
 deferved ; for he did his duty no better than any 
 other officer ; and fpeaking fometimes, though 
 
News from Home. 
 
 121 
 
 gently and cautioufly, of Beatrix. News came 
 from home of at leaft half a dozen grand matches 
 that the beautiful maid of honour was about to 
 make. She was engaged to an earl, our gentle- 
 men of St. James's faid, and then jilted him for 
 a duke, who, in his turn, had drawn off. Earl 
 or duke it might be who fhould win this Helen, 
 Efmond knew fhe would never beftow herfelf on 
 a poor captain. Her conduct, it was clear, was 
 little fatisfaftory to her mother, who fcarcely 
 mentioned her, or elfe the kind lady thought it 
 was beft to fay nothing, and leave time to work 
 out its cure. At any rate, Harry was beft away 
 from the fatal obje£t which always wrought him fo 
 much mifchief ; and fo he never afked for leave 
 to go home, but remained with his regiment 
 that was garrifoned in BrufTels, which city fell 
 into our hands when the vidtory of Ramillies 
 drove the French out of Flanders. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 I MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE IN FLANDERS, AND FIND 
 MY MOTHER'S GRAVE AND MY OWN CRADLE THERE. 
 
 TP^ EING one day in the Church of St, Gudule, 
 Jl3 at Bruflels, admiring the antique fplendour 
 of the architecture (and always entertaining a 
 great tendernefs and reverence for the Mother 
 Church, that hath been as wickedly perfecuted in 
 England, as ever fhe herfelf perfecuted in the 
 days of her profperity), Efmond faw kneeling at 
 a fide altar, an officer in a green uniform coat, 
 very deeply engaged in devotion. Something 
 familiar in the figure and pofture of the kneeling 
 man ftruck Captain Efmond, even before he faw 
 the officer's face. As he rofe up, putting away 
 into his pocket a -little black breviary, fuch as 
 priefts ufe, Efmond beheld a countenance fo like 
 that of his friend and tutor of early days, Father 
 Holt, that he broke out into an exclamation of 
 
A Jefuit Captain. 223 
 
 aftonifhment and advanced a ftep towards the 
 gentleman, who was making his way out of 
 church. The German officer too looked furprifed 
 when he faw Efmond, and his face from being 
 pale grew fuddenly red. By this mark of 
 recognition, the Englishman knew that he could 
 not be miftaken ; and though the other did not 
 flop, but on the contrary rather haftily walked 
 away towards the door; Efmond purfued him 
 and faced him once more, as the officer, helping 
 himfelf to holy water, turned mechanically 
 towards the altar to bow to it ere he quitted the 
 facred edifice. 
 
 " My Father ! 99 fays Efmond in Englifh. 
 
 Cf Silence ! I do not underftand. I do not 
 fpeak EngliSh," fays the other, in Latin. 
 
 Efmond fmiled at this fign of confufion, and 
 replied in the fame language. Cf I fhould know 
 my Father in any garment, black or white, 
 {haven or bearded : " for the Auftrian officer was 
 habited quite in the military manner, and had as 
 warlike a mouftachio as any Pandour. 
 
 He laughed — we were on the church fteps by 
 this time paffing through the crowd of beggars 
 that ufually is there holding up little trinkets for 
 
224 Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fale and whining for alms. cc You fpeak Latin/' 
 fays he, cc in the Englifh way, Harry Efmond; 
 you have forfaken the old true Roman tongue 
 you once knew." His tone was very frank, and 
 friendly quite ; the kind voice of fifteen years 
 back ; he gave Efmond his hand as he fpoke. 
 
 cc Others have changed their coats too, my 
 Father," fays Efmond, glancing at his friend's 
 military decoration. 
 
 cc Hufli ! I am Mr. or Captain von Holtz, 
 in the Bavarian Elector's fervice, and on a miffion 
 to his Highnefs the Prince of Savoy. You can 
 keep a fecret I know from old times." 
 
 cc Captain von Holtz," fays Efmond, fC I am 
 your very humble fervant." 
 
 cc And you too have changed your coat," 
 continues the other in his laughing way; cc I have 
 heard of you at Cambridge and afterwards : we 
 have friends everywhere ; and I am told that 
 Mr. Efmond at Cambridge was as good a fencer 
 as he was a bad theologian." (So, thinks 
 Efmond, my old mditre d'armes was a Jefuit as 
 they faid. ) 
 
 cc Perhaps you are right," fays the other, 
 reading his thoughts quite as he ufed to do in 
 
Monfieur von Holtz. 225 
 
 old days : cc you were all but killed at Hochftedt 
 of a wound in the left fide. You were before 
 that at Vigo, aide-de-camp to the Duke of 
 Ormonde. You got your company the other day 
 after Ramillies ; your general and the Prince- 
 Duke are not friends ; he is of the Webbs of 
 Lydiard Tregoze, in the county of York, a 
 relation of my Lord St. John. Your coufin, 
 M. de Caftlewood, ferved his firft campaign this 
 year in the Guard : yes, I do know a few things 
 as you fee." 
 
 Captain Efmond laughed in his turn. cc You 
 have indeed a curious knowledge/' he fays. A 
 foible of Mr. Holt's, who did know more about 
 books and men than, perhaps, almoft any perfon 
 Efmond had ever met, was omnifcience ; thus in 
 every point he here profefled to know, he was 
 nearly right, but not quite. Efmond's wound 
 was in the right fide, not the left, his first 
 general was General Lumley ; Mr. Webb came 
 out of Wiltshire, not out of Yorkfhire ; and fo 
 forth. Efmond did not think fit to corredt his 
 old matter in thefe trifling blunders, but they 
 ferved to give him a knowledge of the other's 
 character, and he fmiled to think that this was 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
226 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 his oracle of early days ; only now no longer 
 infallible or divine. 
 
 f c Yes," continues Father Holt, or Captain von 
 Holtz, cc for a man who has not been in England 
 thefe eight years, I know what goes on in London 
 very well. The old Dean is dead, my Lady 
 Caftlewood's father. Do you know that your 
 recufant bifhops wanted to confecrate him Bifhop 
 of Southampton, and that Collier is Bifhop of 
 Thetford by the fame impolition ? The Princefs 
 Anne has the gout and eats too much ; when the 
 King returns, Collier will be an archbilhop." 
 
 cf Amen ! " fays Efmond, laughing ; cc and I 
 hope to fee your eminence no longer in jack- 
 boots, but red ftockings, at Whitehall." 
 
 cc You are always with us — I know that — 
 I heard of that when you were at Cambridge ; 
 fo was the late lord ; fo is the young vifcount." 
 
 cc And fo was my father before me," faid Mr. 
 Efmond, looking calmly at the other, who did 
 not, however, fhow the leaft fign of intelligence 
 in his impenetrable grey eyes — how well Harry 
 remembered them and their look ! only crow's 
 feet were wrinkled round them — marks of black 
 old Time, who had fettled there. 
 
A parley. 
 
 227 
 
 Efmond's face chofe to fhow no more fign of 
 meaning than the Father's. There may have 
 been on the one fide and the other juft the 
 fainteft glitter of recognition, as you fee a 
 bayonet ftiining out of an ambufii ; but each 
 party fell back, when everything was again dark. 
 
 cc And you, mon capitaine, where have you 
 been ? " fays Efmond, turning away the conver- 
 fation from this dangerous ground, where neither 
 chofe to engage. 
 
 f c I may have been in Pekin," fays he, cc or I 
 may have been in Paraguay — who knows where ? 
 I am now Captain von Holtz, in the fervice 
 of his Ele&oral Highnefs, come to negotiate 
 exchange of prifoners with his Highnefs of 
 Savoy." 
 
 'Tw as well known that very many officers in 
 our army were well-affe&ed towards the young 
 king at St. Germains, whofe right to the throne 
 was undeniable, and whofe acceffion to it, at the 
 death of his fifter, by far the greater part of the 
 Englifh people would have preferred, to the 
 having a petty German prince for a fovereign, 
 about whofe cruelty, rapacity, boorifh manners, 
 and odious foreign ways, a thoufand ftories were 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 current. It wounded our Englifh pride to 
 think, that a fhabby high-Dutch duke, whofe 
 revenues were not a tithe as great as thofe of 
 many of the princes of our ancient Englifh 
 nobility, who could not fpeak a word of our 
 language, and whom we chofe to reprefent as a 
 fort of German boor, feeding on train-oil and 
 four-crout, with a bevy of miftrefles in a barn, 
 fhould come to reign over the proudeft and mo ft 
 polilhed people in the world. Were we, the 
 conquerors of the Grand Monarch, to fubmit to 
 that ignoble domination ? What did the Hano- 
 verian's Proteftantifm matter to us ? Was it 
 not notorious (we were told and led to believe 
 fo) that one of the daughters of this Protectant 
 hero was being bred up with no religion at all, as 
 yet, and ready to be made Lutheran or Roman, 
 according as the hufband might be, whom her 
 parents fhould find for her? This talk, very 
 idle and abufive much of it was, went on at a 
 hundred mefs-tables in the army ; there was 
 fcarce an enfign that did not hear it, or join in 
 it, and everybody knew, or affe&ed to know, 
 that the Commander-in-Chief himfelf had rela- 
 tions with his nephew, the Duke of Berwick 
 
Herrenhaufen and St. Ger mains. 2,2,9 
 
 ('twas by an Englifhman, thank God, that we 
 were beaten at Almanza), and that his Grace 
 was moft anxious to reftore the royal race of his 
 benefactors, and to repair his former treafon. 
 
 This is certain, that for a confiderable period 
 no officer in the Duke's army loft favour with the 
 Commander-in-Chief for entertaining or pro- 
 claiming his loyalty towards the exiled family. 
 When the Chevalier de St. George, as the King 
 of England called himfelf, came with the dukes 
 of the French blood royal, to join the French 
 army under Vendofme, hundreds of ours faw 
 him and cheered him, and we all faid he was like 
 his father in this, who, feeing the aftion of La 
 Hogue fought between the French fhips and 
 ours, was on the fide of his native country during 
 the battle. But this, at leaft, the Chevalier 
 knew, and every one knew, that, however well 
 our troops and their general might be inclined 
 towards the prince perfonally, in the face of the 
 enemy there was no queftion at all. Wherever 
 my Lord Duke found a French army, he would 
 fight and beat it, as he did at Oudenarde, two 
 years after Ramillies, where his Grace achieved 
 another of his tranfcendent victories ; and the 
 
230 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 noble young prince, who charged gallantly along 
 with the magnificent Maifon-du-Roy, fent to 
 compliment his conquerors after the a&ion. 
 
 In this battle, where the young Eleftoral 
 Prince of Hanover behaved himfelf very gal- 
 lantly, fighting on our fide, Efmond's dear 
 General Webb diftinguifhed himfelf prodigioufly, 
 exhibiting confummate fkill and coolnefs as a 
 general, and fighting with the perfonal bravery 
 of a common foldier. Efmond's good luck 
 again attended him ; he efcaped without a hurt, 
 although more than a third of his regiment was 
 killed, had again the honour to be favourably 
 mentioned in his commander's report, and was 
 advanced to the rank of major. But of this 
 a&ion there is little need to fpeak, as it hath been 
 related in every Gazette, and talked of in every 
 hamlet in this country. To return from it to 
 the writer's private affairs, which here, in his old 
 age, and at a diftance, he narrates for his children 
 who come after him. Before Oudenarde, and 
 after that chance rencontre with Captain von 
 Holtz, at Bruflels, a fpace of more than a year 
 elapfed, during which the captain of Jefuits and 
 the captain of Webb's Fufileers were thrown 
 
A negotiator. 
 
 231 
 
 very much together. Efmond had no difficulty 
 in finding out (indeed, the other made no fecret 
 of it to him, being affured from old times of 
 his pupil's fidelity), that the negotiator of prifoners 
 was an agent from St. Germains, and that he 
 carried intelligence between great perfonages in 
 our camp and that of the French. cc My bufi- 
 nefs," faid he, cc and I tell you, both becaufe I 
 can truft you, and your keen eyes have already 
 difcovered it, is between the King of England 
 and his fubjedts, here engaged in fighting the 
 French king. As between you and them, all 
 the Jefuits in the world will not prevent your 
 quarrelling : fight it out, gentlemen. St. George 
 for England, I fay — and you know who fays fo, 
 wherever he may be." 
 
 I think Holt loved to make a parade of 
 myftery, as it were, and would appear and dis- 
 appear at our quarters as fuddenly as he ufed to 
 return and vanifh in the old days at Caftlewood. 
 He had paffes between both armies, and feemed 
 to know (but with that inaccuracy which belonged 
 to the good Father's omnifcience) equally well 
 what pafled in the French camp and in ours. 
 One day he would give Efmond news of a great 
 
23 1 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fefte that took place in the French quarters, of a 
 {upper of Monfieur de Rohan's, where there was 
 play and violins, and then dancing and masques : 
 the King drove thither in Marfhal Villar's own 
 guinguette. Another day he had the news of 
 his Majefty's ague, the King had not had a fit 
 thefe ten days, and might be faid to be well. 
 Captain Holtz made a vifit to England during 
 this time, fo eager was he about negotiating 
 prifoners ; and 'twas on returning from this 
 voyage that he began to open Jhimfelf more to 
 Efmond, and to make him, as occafion ferved, at 
 their various meetings, feveral of thofe confidences 
 which are here fet down all together. 
 
 The reafon of his increafed confidence was 
 this : upon going to London, the old director of 
 Efmond's aunt, the dowager, paid her ladyfhip a 
 vifit at Chelfea, and there learnt from her that 
 Captain Efmond was acquainted with the fecret 
 of his family, and was determined never to 
 divulge it. The knowledge of this fa6t raifed 
 Efmond in his old tutor's eyes, fo Holt was 
 pleafed to fay, and he admired Harry very much 
 for his abnegation. 
 
 cc The family at Caftlewood have done far 
 
Father Holt flatters me. 233 
 
 more for me than my own ever did/' Efmond 
 faid. cc I would give my life for them. Why 
 fhould 1 grudge the only benefit that 'tis in my 
 power to confer on them ? " The good Father's 
 eyes filled with tears at this fpeech, which to 
 the other feemed very fimple : he embraced 
 Efmond, and broke out into many admiring ex- 
 preflions ; he faid he was a noble coeur, that he was 
 proud of him, and fond of him as his pupil and 
 friend, — regretted more than ever that he had 
 loft him, and been forced to leave him in thofe 
 early times, when he might have had an influence 
 over him, have brought him into that only true 
 church, to which the Father belonged, and en- 
 lifted him in the nobleft army in which a man 
 ever engaged, — meaning his own Society of 
 Jefus, which numbers (fays he) in its troops 
 the greateft heroes the world ever knew ; — 
 warriors, brave enough to dare or endure any- 
 thing, to encounter any odds, to die any 
 death ; — foldiers that have won triumphs a 
 thoufand times more brilliant than thofe of the 
 greateft general : that have brought nations on 
 their knees to their facred banner, the Crofs ; 
 that have achieved glories and palms incom- 
 
234 2%* Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 parably brighter than thofe awarded to the moft 
 fplendid earthly conquerors^ — crowns of im- 
 mortal light, and feats in the high places of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Efmond was thankful for his old friend's good 
 opinion, however little he might lhare the 
 Jefuit-father's enthufiafm. cc I have thought of 
 that queftion, too/' fays he, cc dear Father/' and 
 he took the other's hand — cc thought it out for 
 myfelf, as all men muft, and contrive to do the 
 right, and truft to Heaven as devoutly in my 
 way as you in yours. Another fix months of 
 you as a child, and I had defired no better. I 
 ufed to weep upon my pillow at Caftlewood as I 
 thought of you, and I might have been a brother 
 of your order ; and who knows," Efmond added, 
 with a fmile, Cf a prieft in full orders, and with a 
 pair of mouftachios, and a Bavarian uniform." 
 
 " My fon," fays Father Holt, turning red, 
 cc in the caufe of religion and loyalty all difguifes 
 are fair." 
 
 cc Yes," broke in Efmond, cc all difguifes are 
 fair, you fay ; and all uniforms, fay I, black or 
 red, — a black cockade or a white one, or a laced 
 hat, or a fombrero, with a tonfure under it. I 
 
1 afk about my mother. 235 
 
 cannot believe that St. Francis Xavier failed over 
 the fea in a cloak, or raifed the dead — I tried ; 
 and very nearly did once, but cannot. Suffer 
 me to do the right, and to hope for the beft 
 in my own way." 
 
 Efmond wifhed to cut fhort the good Father's 
 theology, and fucceeded ; and the other, fighing 
 over his pupil's invincible ignorance, did not 
 withdraw his affection from him, but gave him 
 his utmoft confidence — as much, that is to fay, 
 as a prieft can give : more than mod do ; for he 
 was naturally garrulous, and too eager to fpeak. 
 
 Holt's friendfhip encouraged Captain Efmond 
 to alk, what he long wifhed to know, and none 
 could tell him, fome hiftory of the poor mother 
 whom he had often imagined in his dreams, and 
 whom he never knew. He defcribed to Holt 
 thofe circumftances which are already put down 
 in the first part of this ftory, — the promife 
 he had made to his dear lord, and that dying 
 friend's confeifion ; and he befought Mr. Holt 
 to tell him what he knew regarding the poor 
 woman from whom he had been taken. 
 
 fc She was of this very town," Holt faid, and 
 took Efmond to fee the ftreet where her father 
 
236 The Hiftory of Henry Efrnond. 
 
 lived, and where, as he believed, fhe was born. 
 ff In 1676, when your father came hither in the 
 retinue of the late king, then Duke of York, 
 and banifhed hither in difgrace, Captain Thomas 
 Efrnond became acquainted with your mother, 
 purfued her, and made a vi6lim of her : he hath 
 told me in many fubfequent converfations, which 
 I felt bound to keep private then, that fhe was a 
 woman of great virtue and tendernefs, and in all 
 refpefts a moft fond, faithful creature. He 
 called himfelf Captain Thomas, having good 
 reafon to be afhamed of his condudl towards her, 
 and hath fpoken to me many times with fincere 
 remorfe for that, as with fond love for her 
 many amiable qualities. He owned to having 
 treated her very ill ; and that at this time his life 
 was one of profligacy, gambling, and poverty. 
 She became with child of you ; was curfed by her 
 own parents at that difcovery ; though fhe never 
 upbraided, except by her involuntary tears, and 
 the mifery depidted on her countenance, the 
 author of her wretchednefs and ruin. 
 
 cc Thomas Efrnond — Captain Thomas, as he 
 was called — became engaged in a gaming-houfe 
 brawl, of which the confequence was a duel, and 
 
My mother's marriage. 
 
 237 
 
 a wounds fo fevere that he never — his furgeon 
 faid — could outlive it. Thinking his death 
 certain, and touched with remorfe, he fent for 
 a prieft, of the very Church of St. Gudule, 
 where I met you ; and on the fame day, after 
 his making fubmiffion to our church, was 
 married to your mother a few weeks before 
 you were born. My Lord Vifcount Caltlewood, 
 Marquis of Efmond by King James's patent, 
 which I mvfelf took to your father, your lord- 
 Ihip was chriftened at St. Gudule by the fame 
 cure who married your parents, and by the 
 name of Henry Thomas, fon of E. Thomas, 
 officer Anglois, and Gertrude Maes. You fee 
 you belong to us from your birth, and why I did 
 not chriften you when you became my dear little 
 pupil at Caftlewood. 
 
 cc Your father's wound took a favourable turn, 
 — perhaps his confcience was eafed by the right 
 he had done, — and to the furprife of the 
 do6lors he recovered. But as his health came 
 back, his wicked nature, too, returned. He 
 was tired of the poor girl, whom he had 
 ruined ; and receiving fome remittance from 
 his uncle, my lord the old vifcount then in 
 
238 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 England, he pretended bufinefs, promifed return, 
 and never faw your poor mother more. 
 
 fC He owned to me, in confeffion firft, but 
 afterwards in talk before your aunt, his wife, elfe 
 I never could have difclofed what I now tell you, 
 that on coming to London he writ a pretended 
 confeffion to poor Gertrude Maes — Gertrude 
 Efmond — of his having been married in Eng- 
 land previoufly, before uniting himfelf with her ; 
 faid that his name was not Thomas : that he 
 was about to quit Europe for the Virginia 
 plantations, where, indeed, your family had a 
 grant of land from King Charles the Firft ; 
 fent her a fupply of money, the half of the 
 laft hundred guineas he had, entreated her 
 pardon, and bade her farewell. 
 
 cc Poor Gertrude never thought that the news 
 in this letter might be untrue as the reft of your 
 father's condu6t to her. But though a young 
 man of her own degree, who knew her hiftory, 
 and whom fhe liked before fhe faw the Englifh 
 gentleman who was the caufe of all her mifery, 
 offered to marry her, and to adopt you as his 
 own child, and give you his name, fhe refufed 
 him. This refufal only angered her father, who 
 
My early hijlory. i^y 
 
 had taken her home ; Ihe never held up her head 
 there j being the fubjedt of conftant unkindnefs 
 after her fall ; and fome devout ladies of her 
 acquaintance offering to pay a little penfion for 
 her, fhe went into a convent, and you were 
 put out to nurfe. 
 
 CC A fifter of the young fellow, who would 
 have adopted you as his fon, was the perfon 
 who took charge of you. Your mother and 
 this perfon were coufins. She had juft loft a 
 child of her own, which you replaced, your own 
 mother being too fick and feeble to feed you ; 
 and prefently your nurfe grew fo fond of you, 
 that fhe even grudged letting you vilit the convent 
 where your mother was, and where the nuns 
 petted the little infant, as they pitied and loved 
 its unhappy parent. Her vocation became 
 ftronger every day, and at the end of two years 
 fhe was received as a fifter of the houfe. 
 
 f c Your nurfe's family were filk- weavers out of 
 France, whither they returned to Arras in 
 French Flanders, fhortly before your mother 
 took her vows, carrying you with them, then 
 a child of three years old. 'Twas a town, before 
 the late vigorous meafures of the French king, 
 
240 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 full of Proteftants, and here your nurfe's father, 
 old Paftoureau, he with whom you afterwards 
 lived at Ealing, adopted the Reformed dodtrines, 
 perverting all his houfe with him. They were 
 expelled thence by the edidl of his moft Chriftian 
 Majefty, and came to London, and fet up their 
 looms in Spittlefields. The old man brought 
 a little money with him, and carried on his trade, 
 but in a poor way. He was a widower ; by this 
 time his daughter, a widow too, kept houfe for 
 him, and his fon and he laboured together at 
 their vocation. Meanwhile your father had 
 publickly owned his converlion juft before King 
 Charles's death (in whom our church had much 
 fuch another convert), was reconciled to my 
 Lord Vifcount Caftlewood and married, as you 
 know, to his daughter. 
 
 cc It chanced that the younger Paftoureau, 
 going wirh a piece of brocade to the mercer, 
 who employed him, on Ludgate Hill, met his 
 old rival coming out of an ordinary there. 
 Paftoureau knew your father at once, feized him 
 by the collar, and upbraided him as a villain, 
 who had feduced his miftrefs, and afterwards 
 deferted her and her fon. Mr. Thomas Efmond 
 
My good PaJtoure.au. 241 
 
 alfo recognifed Paftoureau at once, befought him 
 to calm his indignation, and not to bring a 
 crowd round about them ; and bade him to enter 
 into the tavern, out of which he had juft ftepped, 
 when he would give him any explanation. 
 Paftoureau entered, and heard the landlord order 
 the drawer to fhow Captain Thomas to a room ; 
 it was by his Chriftian name that your father 
 was familiarly called at his tavern haunts, 
 which, to fay the truth, were none of the moft 
 reputable. 
 
 cf I muft tell you that Captain Thomas, or my 
 Lord Vifcount afterwards, was never at a lofs for 
 a ftory, and could cajole a woman or a dun with 
 a volubility, and an air of fimplicity at the fame 
 time, of which many a creditor of his has been 
 the dupe. His tales ufed to gather verifimilitude 
 as he went on with them. He ftrung together 
 fa6t after fadfc with a wonderful rapidity and 
 coherence. It required, faving your prefence, 
 a very long habit of acquaintance with your 
 
 father to know when his lordfhip was 1 
 
 — telling the truth or no. 
 
 cc He told me with rueful remorfe when he 
 was ill — for the fear of death fet him inftantly 
 
 VOL. II. R 
 
242 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 repenting, and with fhrieks of laughter when he 
 was well, his lordfhip having a very great fenfe 
 of humour — how in half-an-hour's time, and 
 before a bottle was drunk, he had completely 
 fucceeded in biting poor Paftoureau. The 
 feduftion he owned to : that he could not help : 
 he was quite ready with tears at a moment's 
 warning, and ftied them profufely to melt his 
 credulous liftener. He wept for your mother 
 even more than Paftoureau did, who cried very 
 heartily, poor fellow, as my lord informed me ; 
 he fwore upon his honour that he had twice 
 fent money to Bruflels, and mentioned the 
 name of the merchant with whom it was lying 
 for poor Gertrude's ufe. He did not even 
 know whether flie had a child or no, or whether 
 {he was alive or dead ; but got thefe fails eafily 
 out of honeft Paftoureau's anfwers to him. 
 When he heard that (he was in a convent, he 
 faid he hoped to end his days in one himfelf, 
 fhould he furvive his wife, whom he hated, and 
 had been forced by a cruel father to marry ; and 
 when he was told that Gertrude's fon was alive, 
 and aitually in London, c I ftarted,' fays he; f for 
 then, damme, my wife was expecting to lie-in, 
 
Pajioureau loves me for my mother's Jake. 243 
 
 and I thought, fhould this old Put, my father- 
 in-law, run rufty, here would be a good chance 
 to frighten him.' 
 
 " He exprefled the deepeft gratitude to the 
 Paftoureau family for their care of the infant : 
 you were now near fix years old ; and on 
 Paftoureau bluntly telling him when he pro- 
 pofed to go that inftant and fee the darling child, 
 that they never wifhed to fee his ill-omened face 
 again within their doors ; that he might have the 
 boy, though they fhould all be very forry to lofe 
 him ; and that they would take his money, they 
 being poor, if he gave it ; or bring him up, by 
 God's help, as they had hitherto done, without : 
 he acquiefced in this at once, with a figh, faid, 
 c Well, 'twas better that the dear child fhould 
 remain with friends who had been fo admirably 
 kind to him ;' and in his talk to me afterwards, 
 honeftly praifed and admired the weaver's con- 
 duft and fpirit ; owned that the Frenchman was 
 a right fellow, and he, the Lord have mercy 
 upon him, a fad villain. 
 
 cc Your father," Mr. Holt went on to fay, cc was 
 good-natured with his money when he had it ; 
 and having that day received a fupply from his 
 
 R 2 
 
244 Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 uncle, gave the weaver ten pieces with perfeft 
 freedom, and promifed him further remittances. 
 He took down eagerly Paftoureau's name and 
 place of abode in his table-book, and when the 
 other afked him for his own, gave, with the 
 utmoft readinefs, his name as Captain Thomas, 
 New Lodge, Penzance, Cornwall ; he faid he 
 was in London for a few days only on bufinefs 
 connedted with his wife's property ; defcribed 
 her as a fhrew, though a woman of kind difpofi- 
 tion ; and depidted his father as a Cornifh fquire, 
 in an infirm ftate of health, at whofe death he 
 hoped for fomething handfome, when he promifed 
 richly to reward the admirable prote&or of his 
 child, and to provide for the boy. c And by 
 Gad, fir/ he faid to me in his ftrange laughing 
 way, c I ordered a piece of brocade of the very 
 fame pattern as that which the fellow was carry- 
 ing, and prefented it to my wife for a morning 
 wrapper, to receive company in after fhe lay-in 
 of our little boy/ 
 
 ff Your little penfion was paid regularly 
 enough ; and when your father became Vifcount 
 Caftlewood on his uncle's demife, I was employed 
 to keep a watch over you, and 'twas at my 
 
My mother's refting-place. 245 
 
 inftance that you were brought home. Your 
 fofter-mother was dead ; her father made ac- 
 quaintance with a woman whom he married, who 
 quarrelled with his fon. The faithful creature 
 came back to Bruflels to be near the woman he 
 loved, and died, too, a few months before her. 
 Will you fee her crofs in the convent cemetery ? 
 The Superior is an old penitent of mine, and 
 remembers Soeur Marie Madeleine fondly ft ill." 
 
 Efmond came to this fpot in one funny 
 evening of fpring, and faw, amidft a thoufand 
 black crofles, cafting their fliadows acrofs the 
 graffy mounds, that particular one which marked 
 his mother's refting-place. Many more of thofe 
 poor creatures that lay there had adopted that 
 fame name, with which forrow had rebaptifed 
 her, and which fondly feemed to hint their indi- 
 vidual ftory of love and grief. He fancied her, 
 in tears and darknefs, kneeling at the foot of her 
 crofs, under which her cares were buried. Surely 
 he knelt down, and faid his own prayer there, 
 not in forrow fo much as in awe (for even his 
 memory had no recolledtion of her), and in pity 
 for the pangs which the gentle foul in life had 
 
246 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 been made to {uffer. To this crofs flie brought 
 them ; for this heavenly bridegroom fhe ex- 
 changed the hufband who had wooed her, the 
 traitor who had left her. A thoufand fuch 
 hillocks lay round about, the gentle dailies 
 fpringing out of the grafs over them, and each 
 bearing its crofs and requiefcat. A nun, veiled 
 in black, was kneeling hard by, at a fleeping 
 fitter's bed-fide (fo frefli made, that the fpring 
 had fcarce had time to fpin a coverlid for it) ; 
 beyond the cemetery walls you had glimpfes of 
 life and the world, and the fpires and gables of 
 the city. A bird came down from a roof oppo- 
 fite, and lit firft on a crofs, and then on the 
 grafs below it, whence it flew away prefently 
 with a leaf in its mouth : then came a found as 
 of chanting, from the chapel of the fitters hard by : 
 others had long fince filled the place, which poor 
 Mary Magdeieine once had there, were kneeling 
 at the fame ftall, and hearing the fame hymns 
 and prayers in which her ftricken heart had 
 found confolation. Might fhe fleep in peace — 
 might fhe fleep in peace ; and we, too, when our 
 ftruggles and pains are over ! But the earth is 
 the Lord's, as the heaven is ; we are alike His 
 
Requiefcat. 
 
 247 
 
 creatures, here and yonder. I took a little 
 flower off the hillock, and kiffed it, and went 
 my way like the bird that had juft lighted on the 
 crofs by me, back into the world again. Silent 
 receptacle of death ! tranquil depth of calm, out 
 of reach of tempeft and trouble ! I felt as one 
 who had been walking below the fea, and 
 treading amidft the bones of fhipwrecks. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF IJOJy I708. 
 
 DURING the whole of the year which 
 fucceeded that in which the glorious 
 battle of Ramillies had been fought, our army 
 made no movement of importance, much to the 
 difguft of very many of our officers, remaining 
 inactive in Flanders, who faid that his Grace the 
 Captain-General had had fighting enough, and 
 was all for money now, and the enjoyment of his 
 five thoufand a-year and his fplendid palace at 
 Woodftock, which was now being built. And 
 his Grace had fufficient occupation fighting his 
 enemies at home this year, where it begun to be 
 whifpered that his favour was decreafing, and his 
 duchefs lofing her hold on the Queen, who was 
 transferring her royal affedions to the famous 
 Mrs. Mafham, and Mrs. Mafham's humble 
 
"The Duke and Mr. Harley. 249 
 
 fervant, Mr. Harley. Againft their intrigues, 
 our Duke paffed a great part of his time in- 
 triguing. Mr. Harley was got out of office, 
 and his Grace, in fo far, had a vidory. But her 
 Majefty, convinced againft her will, was of that 
 opinion ftill, of which the poet fays people are, 
 when fo convinced, and Mr. Harley before 
 long had his revenge. 
 
 Meanwhile the bufinefs of fighting did not go 
 on any way to the fatisfadion of Marlborough's 
 gallant lieutenants. During all 1707, with the 
 French before us, we had never fo much as a 
 battle ; our army in Spain was utterly routed at 
 Almanza by the gallant Duke of Berwick ; and 
 we of Webb's, which regiment the young Duke 
 had commanded before his father's abdication, 
 were a little proud to think that it was our 
 colonel who had achieved this victory. <f I think 
 if I had had Galway's place, and my Fufileers," 
 fays our general, u we would not have laid down 
 our arms, even to our old colonel, as Galway 
 did; and Webb's officers fwore if we had had 
 Webb, at leaf!: we would not have been taken 
 prifoners. Our dear old general talked in- 
 cautioufly of himfelf and of others ; a braver or 
 
250 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 a more brilliant foldier never lived than he ; but 
 he blew his honeft trumpet rather more loudly 
 than became a commander of his ftation, and, 
 mighty man of valour as he was, fhook his great 
 fpear, and bluftered before the army too fiercely. 
 
 Myfterious Mr. Holtz went off on a fecret 
 expedition in the early part of 1708, with great 
 elation of fpirits, and a prophecy to Efmond that 
 a wonderful fomething was about to take place. 
 This fecret came out on my friend's return to 
 the army, whither he brought a moil rueful and 
 dejedled countenance, and owned that the great 
 fomething he had been engaged upon had failed 
 utterly. He had been indeed with that lucklefs 
 expedition of the Chevalier de St. George, who 
 was fent by the French king with fhips and an 
 army from Dunkirk, and was to have invaded 
 and conquered Scotland. But that ill wind which 
 ever oppofed all the proje&s upon which the 
 Prince ever embarked, prevented the Chevalier's 
 invafion of Scotland, as 'tis known, and blew 
 poor Monfieur von Holtz back into our camp 
 again, to fcheme and foretell, and to pry about 
 as ufual. The Chevalier, (the King of England, 
 as fome of us held him,) went from Dunkirk to 
 
Before Oudenarde. 
 
 251 
 
 the French army to make the campaign againft 
 us. The Duke of Burgundy had the command 
 this year, having the Duke of Berry with him, 
 and the famous Marefchal Vendofme, and the 
 Duke of Matignon to aid him in the campaign. 
 Holtz, who knew everything that was paffing in 
 Flanders and France, (and the Indies for what I 
 know,) infifted that there would be no more 
 fighting in 1708 than there had been in the 
 previous year, and that our commander had 
 reafons for keeping him quiet. Indeed, Efmond's 
 general, who was known as a grumbler, and to 
 have a hearty miftruft of the great Duke, and 
 hundreds more officers befides, did not fcruple 
 to fay that thefe private reafons came to the 
 Duke in the fhape of crown-pieces from the 
 French King, by whom the Generaliffimo was 
 bribed to avoid a battle. There were plenty of 
 men in our lines, quidnuncs, to whom Mr. Webb 
 liftened only too willingly, who could fpecify the 
 exact fums the Duke got, how much fell to 
 Cadogan's ftiare, and what was the precife fee 
 given to Do&or Hare. 
 
 And the fucceiTes with which the French began 
 the campaign of 1708, ferved to give ftrength to 
 
2 5 2 2"A* Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 thefe reports of treafon, which were in every- 
 body's mouth. Our general allowed the enemy 
 to get between us and Ghent, and declined to 
 attack him, though for eight and forty hours 
 the armies were in prefence of each other. 
 Ghent was taken, and on the fame day Monfieur 
 de la Mothe fummoned Bruges ; and thefe two 
 great cities fell into the hands of the French 
 without firing a fhot. A few days afterwards 
 La Mothe feized upon the fort of Plafhendall : 
 and it began to be fuppofed that all Spanifh 
 Flanders, as well as Brabant, would fall into the 
 hands of the French troops ; — when the Prince 
 Eugene arrived from the Mozelle, and then there 
 was no more fhilly-fhallying. 
 
 The Prince of Savoy always fignalifed his 
 arrival at the army by a great feaft (my Lord 
 Duke's entertainments were both feldom and 
 fhabby) : and I remember our general returning 
 from this dinner with the two commanders-in- 
 chief ; his honeft head a little excited by wine, 
 which was dealt out much more liberally by the 
 Auftrian than by the Englifh commander: — 
 cc Now," fays my general, flapping the table, with 
 an oath, cc he muft fight ; and when he is forced 
 
Major-General Webb. 253 
 
 to it, d — it, no man in Europe can ftand up 
 againfl: Jack Churchill. " Within a week the 
 battle of Oudenarde was fought, when, hate each 
 other as they might, Efmond's general and the 
 Commander-in-Chief were forced to admire each 
 other, fo fplendid was the gallantry of each upon 
 this day. 
 
 The brigade commanded by Major- General 
 Webb gave and received about as hard knocks 
 as any that were delivered in that action, which 
 Mr. Efmond had the fortune to ferve at the 
 head of his own company in his regiment, under 
 the command of their own colonel as Major- 
 General ; and it was his good luck to bring the 
 regiment out of adion as commander of it, the 
 four fenior officers above him being killed in 
 the prodigious flaughter which happened on that 
 day. I like to think that Jack Haythorn, 
 who fneered at me for being a baftard and a 
 parafite of Webb's, as he chofe to call me, and 
 With whom I had had words, fhook hands with 
 me before the battle begun. Three days before, 
 poor Brace our lieutenant-colonel had heard 
 of his elder brother's death, and was heir to 
 a baronetcy in Norfolk, and four thoufand 
 
254 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 a-year ; Fate, that had left him harmlefs through 
 a dozen campaigns, feized on him juft as the 
 world was worth living for, and he went into 
 a&ion, knowing, as he faid, that the luck was 
 going to turn againft him. The major had juft 
 joined us — a creature of Lord Marlborough, put 
 in much to the diflike of the other officers, and 
 to be a fpy upon us, as it was faid. I know 
 not whether the truth was fo, nor who took the 
 tattle of our mefs to head-quarters, but Webb's 
 regiment, as its colonel, was known to be in the 
 Commander-in-Chief's black books: <c And if 
 he did not dare to break it up at home," our gallant 
 old chief ufed to fay, cc he was determined to 
 deftroy it before the enemy ; " fo that poor 
 Major Proudfoot was put into a poft of danger. 
 
 Efmond's dear young vifcount, ferving as 
 aide-de-camp to my Lord Duke, received a 
 wound, and won a honourable name for himfelf 
 in the Gazette ; and Captain Efmond's name 
 was fent in for promotion by his general, too, 
 whofe favourite he was. It made his heart beat 
 to think that certain eyes at home, the brighteft 
 in the world, might read the page on which his 
 humble fervices were recorded ; but his mind 
 
Caftiewood is hit. 
 
 2 5S 
 
 was made up fteadily to keep out of their 
 dangerous influence,, and to let time and abfence 
 conquer that paffion he had ftill lurking about 
 him. Away from Beatrix., it did not trouble 
 him ; but he knew as certain that if he returned 
 home, his fever would break out again, and 
 avoided Walcote as a Lincolnfhire-man avoids 
 returning to his fens, where he is fure that the 
 ague is lying in wait for him. 
 
 We of the Englifh party in the army, who 
 were inclined to fneer at everything that came 
 out of Hanover, and to treat as little better than 
 boors and favages the Elector's court and family, 
 were yet forced to confefs that on the day of 
 Oudenarde, the young Ele&oral Prince, then 
 making his firft campaign, conducted himfelf 
 with the fpirit and courage of an approved 
 foldier. On this occafion his Electoral Highnefs 
 had better luck than the King of England, who 
 was with his coufins in the enemy's camp, and 
 had to run with them at the ignominious end 
 of the day. With the moll; confummate generals 
 in the world before them, and an admirable 
 commander on their own fide, they chofe to 
 negledt the councils, and to rufh into a combat 
 
256 
 
 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 with the former, which would have ended in 
 the utter annihilation of their army but for the 
 great fkill and bravery of the Duke of Vendofme, 
 who remedied, as far as courage and genius 
 might, the difafters occafioned by the fquabbles 
 and follies of his kinfmen, the legitimate princes 
 of the blood royal. 
 
 f c If the Duke of Berwick had but been in the 
 army, the fate of the day would have been very 
 different," was all that poor Mr. von Holtz could 
 fay ; cc and you would have feen that the hero of 
 Almanza was fit to meafure fwords with the 
 conqueror of Blenheim." 
 
 The bufinefs relative to the exchange of 
 prifoners was always going on, and was at leaft 
 that oftenfible one which kept Mr. Holtz per- 
 petually on the move between the forces of the 
 French and the Allies. I can anfwer for it, that 
 he was once very near hanged as a fpy by Major- 
 General Wayne, when he was releafed and fent 
 on to head-quarters by a fpecial order of the 
 Commander-in-Chief. He came and went, 
 always favoured, wherever he was, by fome 
 high though occult prote&ion. He carried 
 mefTages between the Duke of Berwick and his 
 
An intriguer. 257 
 
 uncle, our Duke. He feemed to know as well 
 what was taking place in the Prince's quarter 
 as our own : he brought the compliments of 
 the King of England to fome of our officers, 
 the gentlemen of Webb's among the reft, for 
 their behaviour on that great day ; and after 
 Wynendael, when our general was chafing 
 at the negled of our Commander-in-Chief, he 
 faid he knew how that a&ion was regarded 
 by the chiefs of the French army, and that 
 the ftand made before Wynendael wood 
 was the paflage by which the Allies entered 
 Lille. 
 
 cc Ah!" fays Holtz, (and fome folks were very 
 willing to liften to him,) cc if the King came by 
 his own, how changed the condudl of affairs 
 would be ! His Majefty's very exile has this 
 advantage, that he is enabled to read England 
 impartially, and to judge honeftly of all the 
 eminent men. His lifter is always in the hand 
 of one greedy favourite or another, through 
 whofe eyes ftie fees, and to whofe flattery or 
 dependents fhe gives away everything. Do 
 you fuppofe that his Majefty, knowing 
 England fo well as he does, would negled fuch 
 
 YOL. IT. S 
 
258 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 a man as General Webb ? He ought to be in 
 the Houfe of Peers as Lord Lydiard. The 
 enemy and all Europe know his merit; it is 
 that very reputation which certain great people, 
 who hate all equality and independence, can 
 never pardon/ ' It was intended that thefe 
 converfations fhould be carried to Mr. Webb. 
 They were very welcome to him, for great as 
 his fervices were, no man could value them more 
 than John Richmond Webb did himfelf, and 
 the differences between him and Marlborough 
 being notorious, his Grace's enemies in the 
 army and at home began to court Webb, and 
 fet him up againft the all-grafping, domi- 
 neering chief. And foon after the viftory of 
 Oudenarde, a glorious opportunity fell into 
 General Webb's way, which that gallant war- 
 rior did not negle<5t, and which gave him the 
 means of immenfely increafing his reputation 
 at home. 
 
 After Oudenarde, and againft the counfels of 
 Marlborough, it was faid the Prince of Savoy 
 fat down before Lille, the capital of French 
 Flanders, and commenced that fiege, the moft 
 celebrated of our time, and almoft as famous as 
 
Prince Eugene. 259 
 
 the fiege of Troy itfelf, for the feats of valour 
 performed in the affault and the defence. The 
 enmity of that Prince of Savoy againft the 
 French king was a furious perfonal hate, quite 
 unlike the calm hoftility of our great Englifli 
 general, who was no more moved by the game 
 of war than that of billiards, and pufhed for- 
 ward his fquadrons, and drove his red battalions 
 hither and thither as calmly as he would com- 
 bine a ftroke or make a cannon with the balls. 
 The game over (and he played it fo as to be 
 pretty fure to win it), not the leaft animofity 
 againft the other party remained in the breaft of 
 this confummate taftician. Whereas between 
 the Prince of Savoy and the French it was 
 guerre a mort. Beaten off in one quarter, as he 
 had been at Toulon in the laft year, he was 
 back again on another frontier of France, aflail- 
 ing it with his indefatigable fury. When the 
 Prince came to the army, the fmouldering fires 
 of war were lighted up and burft out into a 
 flame. Our phlegmatick Dutch allies were made 
 to advance at a quick march, — our calm Duke 
 forced into a&ion. The Prince was an army 
 in himfelf againft the French; the energy of 
 
 s 2 
 
260 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 his hatred prodigious, indefatigable, — infe&ious 
 over hundreds of thoufands of men. The 
 Emperor's general was repaying, and with a 
 vengeance, the flight the French king had put 
 upon the fiery little Abbe of Savoy. Brilliant 
 and famous as a leader himfelf, and beyond 
 all meafure daring and intrepid, and enabled 
 to cope with almoft: the beft of thofe famous 
 men of war who commanded the armies of the 
 French king, Eugene had a weapon, the equal 
 of which could not be found in France, fince 
 the cannon-fhot of Safbach laid low the noble 
 Turenne, and could hurl Marlborough at the 
 heads of the French hoft, and crufh them 
 as with a rock, under which all the gathered 
 ftrength of their ftrongeft captains muft go 
 down. 
 
 The Englifli Duke took little part in that 
 vaft fiege of Lille, which the Imperial Generalif- 
 fimo purfued with all his force and vigour, 
 further than to cover the befieging lines from 
 the Duke of Burgundy's army, between which 
 and the Imperialifts our Duke lay. Once, when 
 Prince Eugene was wounded, our Duke took his 
 Highnefs's place in the trenches ; but the fiege 
 
An Expedition into France. 261 
 
 was with the Imperialifts, not with us. A divi- 
 fion under Webb and Rantzau was detached 
 into Artois and Picardy upon the moft painful 
 and odious fervice that Mr. Efmond ever faw 
 in the courfe of his military life. The wretched 
 towns of the defencelefs provinces, whofe young 
 men had been drafted away into the French 
 armies, which year after year the infatiable war 
 devoured, were left at our mercy ; and our orders 
 were to fliow them none. We found places 
 garrifoned by invalids, and children and women : 
 poor as they were, and as the cofts of this 
 miferable war had made them, our commiffion 
 was to rob thefe almoft ftarving wretches — to 
 tear the food out of their granaries, and ftrip 
 them of their rags. 'Twas an expedition of 
 rapine and murder we were fent on : our foldiers 
 did deeds fuch as an honeft man muft blufh to 
 remember. We brought back money and pro- 
 vifions in quantity to the Duke's camp ; there 
 had been no one to refift us, and yet who dares 
 to tell with what murder and violence, with what 
 brutal cruelty, outrage, infult, that ignoble booty 
 had been ravifhed from the innocent and miferable 
 victims of the war ? 
 
z6i The Hifiory of Henry E mznd. 
 
 Meanwhile, gallantlv as the operations before 
 Lille had been conducted, the Allies had made 
 but little progrefs, and 'twas faid when we 
 returned to the Duke of Marlborough's camp 
 that the fiege would never be brought to a 
 fatisfacftory end, and that the Prince of Savoy 
 would be forced to raife it. Mv Lord Marl- 
 borough gave this as his opinion openly ; thofe 
 who miitrufted him, and Mr. Elmond owns 
 himfelf to be of the number, hinted that the 
 Duke had his reafons why Lille fhould not be 
 taken, and that he was paid to that end bv the 
 French king. If this was fo, and I believe ir, 
 General Webb had now a remarkable opportunity 
 of gratifying his hatred of the Commander-in- 
 Chief, of balking that ftiameful avarice, which 
 was one of the bafeft and moil notorious quali- 
 ties of the famous Duke, and of fhowing his 
 own confummate Ikill as a commander. And 
 when I confider all the circumftances preceding 
 the event which will now be related, that my 
 Lord Duke was actually offered certain millions 
 of crowns, provided that the fiege of Lille 
 fhould be railed ; that the Imperial army 
 before it was without provisions and ammuni- 
 
Was he a traitor ? 
 
 tion, and muffc have decamped but for the 
 fupplies that they received ; that the march 
 of the convoy deftined to relieve the fiege was 
 accurately known to the French ; and that the 
 force covering it was fhamefully inadequate to 
 that end, and by fix times inferior to Count 
 de la Mothe's army, which was fent to inter- 
 cept the convoy ; when 'tis certain that the 
 Duke of Berwick, de la Mothe's chief, was 
 in conftant correfpondence with his uncle, the 
 Englifh generaliffimo : I believe on my con- 
 fcience that 'twas my Lord Marlborough's 
 intention to prevent thofe fupplies, of which 
 the Prince of Savoy ftood in abfolute need, 
 from ever reaching his Highnefs ; that he meant 
 to facrifice the little army, which covered this 
 convoy, and to betray it as he had betrayed 
 Tollemache at Breft ; as he betrayed every 
 friend he had, to further his own fchemes of 
 avarice or ambition. But for the miraculous 
 vidlory which Efmond's general won over an 
 army fix or feven times greater than his own, 
 the liege of Lille muft have been raifed ; and it 
 muft be remembered that our gallant little force 
 was under the command of a general whom 
 
264 The Hifiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Marlborough hated, that he was furious with 
 the conqueror, and tried by the moft open 
 and fhamelefs injuftice afterwards to rob him 
 of the credit of his vi&ory. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 GENERAL WEBB WINS THE BATTLE OF WYNENDAEL. 
 
 BY the befiegers and befieged of Lille, fome 
 of the moft brilliant feats of valour were 
 performed that ever illuftrated any war. On 
 the French fide (whofe gallantry was prodigious, 
 the fkill and bravery of Marfhal Boufflers actually 
 eclipfing thofe of his conqueror, the Prince of 
 Savoy,) may be mentioned that daring action of 
 Meffieurs de Luxembourg and Tournefort, who, 
 with a body of Horfe and Dragoons, carried 
 powder into the town, of which the befieged were 
 in extreme want, each foldier bringing a bag with 
 forty pounds of powder behind him ; with which 
 perilous provifion they engaged our own Horfe, 
 faced the fire of the Foot brought out to meet 
 them : and though half of the men were blown 
 up in the dreadful errand they rode on^ a part of 
 
266 The Hijiory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 them got into the town with the fuccours of which 
 the garrifon was fo much in want. A French 
 officer, Monfieur du Bois, performed an a6t 
 equally daring, and perfectly fuccefsful. The 
 Duke's great army lying at Helchin, and covering 
 the fiege, and it being neceffary for M. de 
 Vendofme to get news of the condition of the 
 place, Captain Dubois performed his famous 
 exploit : not only paffing through the lines 
 of the fiege but fwimming afterwards no lefs 
 than feven moats and ditches : and coming back 
 the fame way fwimming with his letters in his 
 mouth. 
 
 By thefe letters Monfieur de Boufflers faid 
 that he could undertake to hold the place till 
 October ; and that if one of the convoys of the 
 Allies could be intercepted, they muft raife the 
 fiege altogether. 
 
 Such a convoy as hath been faid was now 
 prepared at Oftend, and about to march for the 
 fiege ; and on the 27th September we (and the 
 French too) had news that it was on its way. 
 It was compofed of 700 wagons containing 
 ammunition of all forts, and was efcorted out 
 of Oftend by 2000 Infantry and 300 Horfe. At 
 
WynendaeL 
 
 267 
 
 the fame time M. de Lamothe quitted Bruges, 
 having with him five-and-thirty battalions, and 
 upwards of fixty fquadrons, and forty guns in 
 purfuit of the convoy. 
 
 Major-General Webb had meanwhile made up 
 a force of twenty battalions, and three fquadrons 
 of dragoons, at Turout, whence he moved to 
 cover the convoy and purfue Lamothe : with 
 whofe advanced guard ours came up upon the 
 great plain of Turout, and before the little wood 
 and caftle of Wynendael : behind which the 
 convoy was marching. 
 
 As foon as they came in fight of the enemy, 
 our advanced troops were halted, with the wood 
 behind them, and the reft of our force brought 
 up as quickly as poffible, our little body of Horfe 
 being brought forward to the opening of the 
 plain, as our general faid, to amufe the enemy. 
 When M. Lamothe came up he found us pofted 
 in two lines in front of the wood ; and formed 
 his own army in battle facing ours, in eight lines, 
 four of Infantry in front and Dragoons and 
 cavalry behind. 
 
 The French began the adion, as ufual, with a 
 cannonade which lafted three hours, when they 
 
268 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 made their attack, advancing in twelve lines, four 
 of Foot and four of Horfe, upon the allied troops 
 in the wood where we were pofted. Their 
 infantry behaved ill, they were ordered to charge 
 with the bayonet, but, inftead, began to fire, and 
 almoft at the very firft difcharge from our men, 
 broke and fled. The cavalry behaved better ; 
 with thefe alone, who were three or four times as 
 numerous as our whole force, Monfieur de la 
 Mothe might have won a vidtory : but only two 
 of our battalions were fhaken in the leaft ; and 
 thefe fpeedily rallied : nor could the repeated 
 attacks of the French horfe caufe our troops to 
 budge an inch from the pofition in the wood in 
 which our general had placed them. 
 
 After attacking for two hours, the French 
 retired at nightfall entirely foiled. With all the 
 lofs we had inflicted upon him, the enemy was 
 ftill three times ftronger than we : and it could 
 not be fuppofed that our general could purfue 
 M. de la Mothe, or do much more than hold 
 our ground about the wood, from which the 
 Frenchman had in vain attempted to diflodge us. 
 La Mothe retired behind his forty guns, his 
 cavalry protecting them better than it had been 
 
Major-General Cadogan. 169 
 
 enabled to annoy us ; and meanwhile the convoy, 
 which was of more importance than all our little 
 force, and the fafe paflage of which we would 
 have dropped to the laft man to accomplifh, 
 marched away in perfed: fafety during the aftion, 
 and joyfully reached the befieging camp before 
 Lille. 
 
 Major-General Cadogan, my Lord Duke's 
 Ouartcr-Mafter General (and between whom and 
 Mr. Webb there was no love loft), accompanied 
 the convoy, and joined Mr. Webb with a couple 
 of hundred horfe juft as the battle was over and 
 the enemy in full retreat. He offered, readily 
 enough, to charge with his Horfe upon the 
 French as they fell back ; but his force was too 
 weak to inflift any damage upon them ; and Mr. 
 Webb, commanding as Cadogan's fenior, thought 
 enough was done in holding our ground before 
 an enemy that might ftill have overwhelmed us, 
 had we engaged him in the open territory, and 
 in fecuring the fafe paflage of the convoy. Ac- 
 cordingly, the Horfe brought up by Cadogan did 
 not draw a fword ; and only prevented, by the 
 good countenance they fhowed, any difpofition 
 the French might have had to renew the attack 
 
270 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 on us. And no attack coming, at nightfall 
 General Cadogan drew off with his fquadron, 
 being bound for head-quarters, the two generals 
 at parting grimly faluting each other. 
 
 cc He will be at Roncq time enough to lick 
 my Lord Duke's trenchers at (upper," fays 
 Mr. Webb. 
 
 Our own men lay out in the woods of 
 Wynendael that night, and our general had 
 his fupper in the little caftle there. 
 
 cc If I was Cadogan, I would have a peerage 
 for this day's work," General Webb faid ; cc and 
 Harry, thou ftiouldft have a regiment. Thou 
 haft been reported in the laft two aftions : 
 thou wert near killed in the firft. I fhall 
 mention thee in my defpatch to his Grace the 
 Commander-in-Chief, and recommend thee to 
 poor Dick Harwood's vacant majority. Have 
 you ever a hundred guineas to give Cardonnel ? 
 Slip them into his hand to-morrow, when you 
 go to head-quarters with my report." 
 
 In this report the Major-General was good 
 enough to mention Captain Efmond's name with 
 particular favour; and that gentleman carried 
 the defpatch to head-quarters the next day, and 
 
My General's promotion. 271 
 
 was not a little pleafed to bring back a letter by 
 his Grace's fecretary, addreffed to Lieutenant - 
 General Webb. The Dutch officer defpatched 
 by Count Naflau Woudenbourg, Vaelt-Marefchal 
 Auverquerque's fon, brought back alfo a com- 
 plimentary letter to his commander, who had 
 feconded Mr. Webb in the aftion with great 
 valour and fkill. 
 
 Efmond, with a lov/ bow and a fmiling face, 
 prefented his defpatch, and faluted Mr. Webb 
 as Lieutenant-General, as he gave it in. The 
 gentlemen round about him — he was riding with 
 his fuite on the road to Menin as Efmond came 
 up with him — gave a cheer, and he thanked 
 them, and opened the defpatch with rather a 
 flufhed eager face. 
 
 He flapped it down on his boot in a rage, after 
 he had read it. Cf 'Tis not even writ with his 
 own hand. Read it out, Efmond." And Efmond 
 read it out : — 
 
 fC Sir, — Mr. Cadogan is juft now come in, 
 and has acquainted me with the fuccefs of the 
 a&ion you had yefterday in the afternoon againft 
 the body of troops commanded by M. de la 
 Mothe, at Wynendael, which muft be attributed 
 
272 ^Ihe Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 chiefly to your good conduft and refolution. 
 You may be fure I fhall do you juftice at home, 
 and be glad on all occafions to own the fervice 
 you have done in fecuring this convoy. 
 
 < f Yours, &c, M." 
 
 cc Two lines by that d d Cardonnel, and 
 
 no more, for the taking of Lille — for beating 
 five times our number — for an adlion as brilliant 
 as the beft he ever fought/' fays poor Mr. Webb. 
 <c Lieutenant- General ! That's not his doing. I 
 
 was the oldeft major-general. By , I believe 
 
 he had been better pleafed if I had been beat." 
 
 The letter to the Dutch officer was in French, 
 and longer and more complimentary than that to 
 Mr. Webb. 
 
 fC And this is the man," he broke out, cc that's 
 gorged with gold, — that's covered with titles 
 and honours that we won for him, — and that 
 grudges even a line of praife to a comrade in 
 arms ! Hafn't he enough ? Don't we fight 
 that he may roll in riches ? Well, well, wait for 
 the Gazette, gentlemen. The Queen and the 
 country will do us juftice, if his Grace denies it 
 us." There were tears of rage in the brave 
 warrior's eyes, as he fpoke ; and he dafhed them 
 
A fair offer. 
 
 273 
 
 off his face on to his glove. He fhook his fift in 
 the air. cc O, by the Lord ! " fays he, cc I know 
 what I had rather have than a peerage ! " 
 
 cc And what is that, fir ?" fome of them afked. 
 
 Cf I had rather have a quarter of an hour with 
 John Churchill, on a fair green field, and only a 
 pair of rapiers between my ftiirt and his — " 
 
 cc Sir ! J> interpofes one. 
 
 Cf Tell him fo ! I know that's what you mean. 
 I know every word goes to him that's dropped 
 from every general officer's mouth. I don't fay 
 he's not brave. Curfe him ! he's brave enough ; 
 but we'll wait for the Gazette, gentlemen. God 
 fave her Majefty! fhe'll do us juftice." 
 
 The Gazette did not come to us till a month 
 afterwards ; when my general and his officers 
 had the honour to dine with Prince Eugene in 
 Lille ; his Highnefs being good enough to fay 
 that we had brought the provifions, and ought 
 to fhare in the banquet. 'Twas a great banquet. 
 His Grace of Marlborough was on his High- 
 nefs's right, and on his left the Marefchal de 
 Bouffiers, who had fo bravely defended the place. 
 The chief officers of either army were prefent ; 
 and you may be fure Efmond's general was 
 
 VOL. II. t 
 
274 *£he Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fplendid this day : his tall, noble perfon and 
 manly beauty of face made him remarkable 
 anywhere ; he wore, for the firfl: time, the ftar 
 of the Order of Generofity, that his Pruflian 
 Majefty had fent to him for his vidtory. His 
 Highnefs the Prince of Savoy called a toaft to 
 the conqueror of Wynendael. My Lord Duke 
 drank it with rather a fickly fmile. The aides- 
 de-camp were prefent ; and Harry Efmond and 
 his dear young lord were together, as they 
 always drove to be when duty would permit : 
 they were over againft the table where the 
 generals were, and could fee all that paffed 
 pretty well. Frank laughed at my Lord Duke's 
 glum face : the affair of Wynendael, and the 
 Captain-General's conduft to Webb, had been 
 the talk of the whole army. When his High- 
 nefs fpoke, and gave — cc Le vainqueur de 
 Wynendael ; fon armee et fa vidtoire," adding 
 cc qui nous font diner a Lille aujourdhuy" — 
 there was a great cheer through the hall ; for 
 Mr. Webb's bravery, generofity, and very 
 weakneffes of character caufed him to be beloved 
 in the army. 
 
 cc Like Hedtor, handfome, and like Paris, 
 
The Gazette doth not always tell truth. 275 
 
 brave ! " whifpers Frank Caftlewood. cc A Venus, 
 an elderly Venus, couldn't refufe him a pippin. 
 Stand up, Harry, See, we are drinking the 
 army of Wynendael. Ramillies is nothing to 
 it. Huzzay ! huzzay!" 
 
 At this very time, and juft after our general 
 had made his acknowledgment, fome one brought 
 in an Englifh Gazette — and was pafling it from 
 hand to hand down the table. Officers were 
 eager enough to read it ; mothers and fifters at 
 home mull have fickened over it. There fcarce 
 came out a Gazette for fix years that did not 
 tell of fome heroick death or fome brilliant 
 achievement. 
 
 Cf Here it is — A6lion of Wynendael — here 
 you are, general," fays Frank, feizing hold of 
 the little dingy paper that foldiers love to read 
 fo ; and, fcrambling over from cur bench, he 
 went to where the General fat, who knew him, and 
 had feen many a time at his table his laughing, 
 handfome face, which everybody loved who faw. 
 The generals in their great perukes made way for 
 him. He handed the paper over General Dohna's 
 buff coat to our general on the oppofite fide. 
 
 He came hobbling back, and bluftiing at his 
 
 t 2 
 
276 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 feat: <C I thought he'd like it, Harry," the 
 young fellow whifpered. u Didn't I like to read 
 my name after Ramillies, in the c London 
 Gazette'? — Vifcount Caftlewood ferving a 
 volunteer 1 say, what's yonder?" 
 
 Mr. Webb, reading the cc Gazette," looked 
 very ftrange — flapped it down on the table — 
 then fprung up in his place, and began to, — 
 "Will your Highnefs pleafe to 
 
 His Grace the Duke of Marlborough here 
 jumped up too — " There's fome miftake, my 
 dear General Webb." 
 
 <c Your Grace had better re6Hfy it," fays Mr. 
 Webb, holding out the letter ; but he was five 
 off his Grace the Prince Duke, who, befides, 
 was higher than the General (being feated with 
 the Prince of Savoy, the Electoral Prince of 
 Hanover, and the envoys of Pruflia and Den- 
 mark, under a baldaquin), and Webb could not 
 reach him, tall as he was. 
 
 cc Stay," fays he, with a fmile, as if catching at 
 fome idea, and then, with a perfedl courtefy, 
 drawing his fword, he ran the fc Gazette" 
 through with the point, and faid, cc Permit me 
 to hand it to your Grace." 
 
Tulit alter honores. 
 
 *77 
 
 The Duke looked very black. "Take it," 
 fays he, to his Mafter of the Horfe, who was 
 waiting behind him. 
 
 The Lieutenant-General made a very low 
 bow, and retired and finifhed his glafs. The 
 <f Gazette" in which Mr. Cardonnel, the Duke's 
 fecretary, gave an account of the vidtory of 
 Wynendael, mentioned Mr. Webb's name, but 
 gave the fole praife and conduft of the action to 
 the Duke's favourite, Mr. Cadogan. 
 
 There was no little talk and excitement 
 occafioned by this ftrange behaviour of General 
 Webb, who had almoft drawn a fword upon the 
 Commander-in-Chief ; but the General, after the 
 firft outbreak of his anger, maftered it out- 
 wardly altogether ; and, by his fubfequent be- 
 haviour, had the fatisfadtion of even more angering 
 the Commander-in-Chief, than he could have done 
 by any publick exhibition of refentment. 
 
 On returning to his quarters, and confulting 
 with his chief advifer, Mr. Efmond, who was 
 now entirely in the General's confidence, and 
 treated by him as a friend, and almoft a fon, 
 Mr. Webb writ a letter to his Grace the 
 Commander-in-Chief, in which he faid: — 
 
278 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 cc Your Grace mud be aware that the fudden 
 perufal of the c London Gazette/ in which your 
 Grace's fecretary, Mr. Cardonnel, hath mentioned 
 Major-General Cadogan's name, as the officer 
 commanding in the late afhion of Wynendael, 
 mud have caufed a feeling of anything but 
 pleafure to the General who fought that a6Hon. 
 
 cf Your Grace mull be aware that Mr. 
 Cadogan was not even prefent at the battle, 
 though he arrived with fquadrons of Horfe at its 
 clofe, and put himfelf under the command of his 
 fuperior officer. And as the refult of the battle 
 of Wynendael, in which Lieutenant-General 
 Webb had the good fortune to command, was 
 the capture of Lille, the relief of Bruflels, then 
 inverted by the enemy under the Ele&or of 
 Bavaria, the reftoration of the great cities of 
 Ghent and Bruges, of which the enemy (by 
 treafon within the walls) had got poffeffion in 
 the previous year : Mr. Webb cannot confent 
 to forego the honours of fuch a fuccefs and 
 fervice, for the benefit of Mr. Cadogan, or any 
 other perfon. 
 
 fC As foon as the military operations of the 
 year are over, Lieutenant-General Webb will 
 
Webb ajks to go home. 
 
 279 
 
 requeft permiflion to leave the army, and return 
 to his place in Parliament, where he gives notice 
 to his Grace the Commander-in-Chief that he 
 fhall lay his cafe before the Houfe of Commons, 
 the country, and her Majefty the Queen. 
 
 cc By his eagernefs to rectify that falfe ftatement 
 of the Gazette, which had been written by his 
 Grace's fecretary, Mr. Cardonnel, Mr. Webb, 
 not being able to reach his Grace the Commander- 
 in-Chief on account of the gentlemen feated 
 between them, placed the paper containing the 
 falfe ftatement on his fword, fo that it might 
 more readily arrive in the hands of his Grace 
 the Duke of Marlborough, who furely would 
 wifti to do juftice to every officer of his army. 
 
 cf Mr. Webb knows his duty too well to think 
 of infubordination to his fuperior officer, or of 
 ufing his fword in a campaign againft any but 
 the enemies of her Majefty. He folicits per- 
 miflion to return to England immediately the 
 military duties will permit, and take with him 
 to England Captain Efmond, of his regiment, 
 who afted as his aide-de-camp, and was prefent 
 during the entire a&ion, and noted by his watch 
 the time when Mr. Cadogan arrived at its clofe." 
 
28o 
 
 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief could not but grant 
 this permiffion, nor could he take notice of 
 Webb's letter, though it was couched in terms 
 the mod infulting. Half the army believed that 
 the cities of Ghent and Bruges were given up 
 by a treafon, which fome in our army very well 
 underftood ; that the Commander-in-Chief would 
 not have relieved Lille if he could have helped 
 himfelf ; that he would not have fought that 
 year had not the Prince of Savoy forced him. 
 When the battle once began, then, for his own 
 renown, my Lord Marlborough would fight as 
 no man in the world ever fought better ; and no 
 bribe on earth could keep him from beating the 
 enemy.* 
 
 * Our Grandfather's hatred of the Duke of Marlborough 
 appears all through his account of thefe campaigns. He always 
 perfifted that the Duke was the greateft traitor and soldier 
 Hiftory ever told of : and declared that he took bribes on all 
 hands during the war. My Lord Marquis (for fo we may call 
 him here, though he never went by any other name than Colonel 
 Efmond) was in the habit of telling many ftories which he did 
 not fet down in his memoirs, and which he had from his friend 
 the Jefuit, who was not always correctly informed, and who 
 persifted that Marlborough was looking for a bribe of two 
 millions of crowns before the campaign of Ramillies. 
 
 And our Grandmother ufed to tell us children that on his 
 nrft prefentation to my Lord Duke, the Duke turned his back 
 upon my Grandfather ; and faid to the Duchefs, who told my 
 
A battle after a vittory. 28 1 
 
 But the matter was taken up by the fubordi- 
 nates ; and half the army might have been by 
 the ears, if the quarrel had not been flopped. 
 General Cadogan fent an intimation to General 
 Webb to fay that he was ready if Webb liked, and 
 would meet him. This was a kind of invitation 
 our ftout old general was always too ready to 
 accept, and 'twas with great difficulty we got 
 the General to reply that he had no quarrel with 
 Mr. Cadogan, who had behaved with perfe6t 
 gallantry, but only with thofe at head-quarters, 
 who had belied him. Mr. Cardonnel offered 
 General Webb reparation, Mr. Webb faid he 
 had a cane at the fervice of Mr. Cardonnel, and 
 the only fatisfaftion he wanted from him was one 
 he was not likely to get, namely, the truth. 
 The officers in our ftaff of Webb's, and thofe in 
 the immediate fuite of the General, were ready 
 to come to blows : and hence arofe the only 
 affair in which Mr. Efmond ever engaged as 
 
 lady dowager at Chelfea, who afterwards told Colonel Efmond, 
 — " Tom Efmond's baftard has been to my levee : he has the 
 hang-dog look of his rogue of a father"" — an expreffion which 
 my Grandfather never forgave. He was as conftant in his 
 dinikes as in his attachments : and exceedingly partial to Webb, 
 whofe fide he took againft the more celebrated general. We 
 have General Webb's portrait now at Caftlewood. Va. 
 
282 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 principal, and that was from a revengeful wifh 
 to wipe off an old injury. 
 
 My Lord Mohun, who had a troop in Lord 
 Macclesfield's regiment of the Horfe Guards, 
 rode this campaign with the Duke. He had 
 funk by this time to the very worfh reputation ; 
 he had had another fatal duel in Spain ; he had 
 married, and forfaken his wife ; he was a gambler, 
 a profligate, and debauchee. He joined juft 
 before Oudenarde ; and, as Efmond feared, as 
 foon as Frank Caftlewood heard of his arrival, 
 Frank was for feeking him out, and killing him. 
 The wound my lord got at Oudenarde prevented 
 their meeting, but that was nearly healed, and 
 Mr. Efmond trembled daily left any chance 
 fhould bring his boy and this known affaffin 
 together. They met at the mefs-table of 
 Handyfide's regiment at Lille ; the officer com- 
 manding not knowing of the feud between the 
 two noblemen. 
 
 Efmond had not feen the hateful handfome 
 face of Mohun for nine years, fince they had met 
 on that fatal night in Leicefter Field. It was 
 degraded with crime and paffion now ; it wore 
 the anxious look of a man who has three deaths 
 
Bloody Mohun. 
 
 — and who knows how many hidden fhames, 
 and lufts, and crimes on his confcience. He 
 bowed with a fickly low bow, and flunk away 
 when our hoft prefented us round to one another. 
 Frank Caftlewood had not known him till then, 
 fo changed was he. He knew the boy well 
 enough. 
 
 'Twas curious to look at the two — efpecially 
 the young man, whofe face flufhed up when he 
 heard the hated name of the other ; and who faid 
 in his bad French and his brave boyifh voice — 
 cf he had long been anxious to meet my Lord 
 Mohun." The other only bowed and moved 
 away from him. I do him juftice, he wifhed to 
 have no quarrel with the lad. 
 
 Efmond put himfelf between them at table. 
 f f D — it/' fays Frank, cc why do you put 
 yourfelf in the place of a man who is above you 
 in degree ? My Lord Mohun fhould walk after 
 me. I want to fit by my Lord Mohun.' ' 
 
 Efmond whifpered to Lord Mohun, that 
 Frank was hurt in the leg at Oudenarde ; and 
 befought the other to be quiet. Quiet enough 
 he was for fome time ; difregarding the many 
 taunts which young Caftlewood flung at him, 
 
284 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 until after feveral healths, when my Lord Mohun 
 got to be rather in liquor. 
 
 fc Will you go away, my lord ?" Mr. Efmond 
 faid to him, imploring him to quit the table. 
 
 <c No, by G— ," fays my Lord Mohun. cc Til 
 not go away for any man ; " he was quite flufhed 
 with wine by this time. 
 
 The talk got round to the affairs of yefterday. 
 Webb had offered to challenge the Commander- 
 in-Chief : Webb had been ill-ufed : Webb was 
 the braveft, handfomeft, vaineft man in the army. 
 Lord Mohun did not know that Efmond was 
 Webb's aide-de-camp. He began to tell fome 
 ftories againft the General : which, from t'other 
 fide of Efmond, young Caftlewood contradi&ed. 
 
 CC I can't bear any more of this," fays my Lord 
 Mohun. 
 
 "Nor can I, my lord," fays Mr. Efmond, 
 ftarting up. <c The ftory my Lord Mohun has 
 told refpedting General Webb is falfe, gentlemen 
 — falfe, I repeat," and making a low bow to 
 Lord Mohun, and without a fingle word more, 
 Efmond got up and left the dining-room. Thefe 
 affairs were common enough among the military 
 of thofe days. There was a garden behind the 
 
An affair of honour. 285 
 
 houfe, and all the party turned inftantly into it : 
 and the two gentlemen's coats were off and 
 their points engaged within two minutes after 
 Efmond's words had been fpoken. If Captain 
 Efmond had put Mohun out of the world, as he 
 might, a villain would have been punifhed and 
 fpared further villanies — but who is one man to 
 punifh another ? I declare upon my honour that 
 my only thought was to prevent Lord Mohun 
 from mifchief with Frank, and the end of this 
 meeting was, that after half-a-dozen paffes my 
 lord went home with a hurt which prevented him 
 from lifting his right arm for three months. 
 
 " O Harry ! why didn't you kill the villain ?" 
 young Caftlewood afked. cc I can't walk without 
 a crutch : but I could have met him on horfeback 
 with fword and piftol." But Harry Efmond 
 faid, cc 'Twas beft to have no man's life on one's 
 confcience, not even that villain's and this affair, 
 which did not occupy three minutes, being over, 
 the gentlemen went back to their wine, and my 
 Lord Mohun to his quarters, where he was 
 laid up with a fever which had fpared mifchief 
 had it proved fatal. And very foon after 
 this affair Harry Efmond and his general 
 
286 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 left the camp for London ; whither a certain 
 reputation had preceded the Captain, for my 
 Lady Caftlewood of Chelfea received him as if 
 he had been a conquering hero. She gave a great 
 dinner to Mr. Webb, where the General's chair 
 was crowned with laurels ? and her ladyfhip called 
 Efmond's health in a toaft, to which my kind 
 general was gracioufly pleafed to bear the 
 ftrongeft teftimony : and took down a mob of at 
 leaft forty coaches to cheer our general as he 
 came out of the Houfe of Commons, the day 
 when he received the thanks of Parliament for 
 his aftion. The mob huzza'd and applauded 
 him, as well as the fine company : it was fplendid 
 to fee him waving his hat, and bowing, and 
 laying his hand upon his Order of Generofity. 
 He introduced Mr. Efmond to Mr. St. John 
 and the Right Honourable Robert Harley, 
 Efquire, as he came out of the houfe walking 
 between them ; and was pleafed to make many 
 flattering obfervations regarding Mr. Efmond's 
 behaviour during the three laft campaigns. 
 
 Mr. St. John (who had the moft winning 
 prefence of any man I ever faw, excepting always 
 my peerlefs young Frank Caftlewood,) faid he 
 
Mr. Harley and Mr. St, John. 287 
 
 had heard of Mr. Efmond before from Captain 
 Steele, and how he had helped Mr. Addifon to 
 write his famous poem of the cc Campaign.'' 
 
 fC 'Tis as great an achievement as the victory 
 of Blenheim itfelf," Mr. Harley faid, who was 
 famous as a judge and patron of letters, and fo 
 perhaps it may be — though for my part I think 
 there are twenty beautiful lines, but all the reft is 
 common-place, and Mr. Addifon's hymn worth 
 a thoufand fuch poems. 
 
 All the town was indignant at my Lord 
 Duke's unjuft treatment of General Webb, and 
 applauded the vote of thanks which the Houfe 
 of Commons gave to the General for his viftory 
 at Wynendael. 'Tis certain that the capture of 
 Lille was the confequence of that lucky achieve- 
 ment, and the humiliation of the old French 
 king, who was faid to fuffer more at the lofs of 
 this great city, than from any of the former 
 victories our troops had won over him. And, 
 I think, no fmall part of Mr. Webb's ^xultation 
 at his vidtory arofe from the idea that Marl- 
 borough had been difappointed of a great bribe 
 the French king had promifed him, fhould the 
 fiege be raifed. The very fum of money offered 
 
288 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 to him was mentioned by the Duke's enemies ; 
 and honefl: Mr. Webb chuckled at the notion not 
 only of beating the French, but of beating 
 Marlborough too, and intercepting a convoy of 
 three millions of French crowns, that were on 
 their way to the Generaliflimo's infatiable pockets. 
 When the General's lady went to the Queen's 
 drawing-room, all the Tory women crowded 
 round her with congratulations, and made her a 
 train greater than the Duchefs of Marlborough's 
 own. Feafts were given to the General by all 
 the chiefs of the Tory party, who vaunted him 
 as the Duke's equal in military Ikill ; and 
 perhaps ufed the worthy foldier as their inftru- 
 ment, whilft he thought they were but acknow- 
 ledging his merits as a commander. As the 
 General's aide-de-camp, and favourite officer, 
 Mr. Efmond came in for a fhare of his chief's 
 popularity, and was prefented to her Majefty, 
 and advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 at the requeft of his grateful chief. 
 
 We may be fure there was one family in which 
 any good fortune that happened to Efmond, 
 caufed fuch a fincere pride and pleafure, that he, 
 for his part, was thankful he could make them 
 
I am a hero in my Family. 289 
 
 fo happy. With thefe fond friends, Blenheim and 
 Oudenarde feemed to be mere trifling incidents 
 of the war ; and Wynendael was its crowning 
 vi&ory. Efmond's miftrefs never tired to hear 
 accounts of the battle ; and I think General 
 Webb's lady grew jealous of her, for the General 
 was for ever at Kenfington, and talking on 
 that delightful theme. As for his aide-de-camp, 
 though, no doubt, Efmond's own natural vanity 
 was pleafed at the little {hare of reputation which 
 his good fortune had won him, yet it was chiefly 
 precious to him (he may fay fo, now that he 
 hath long fince outlived it) becaufe it pleafed 
 his miftrefs, and, above all, becaufe Beatrix 
 valued it. 
 
 As for the old dowager of Chelfea, never was 
 an old woman in all England more delighted 
 nor more gracious than ftie. Efmond had his 
 quarters in her ladyftiip's houfe, where the 
 domefticks were inftrufted to confider him as 
 their mafter. She bade him give entertainments, 
 of which fhe defrayed the charges, and was 
 charmed when his guefts were carried away tipfy 
 in their coaches. She mult have his pifture 
 taken ; and accordingly he was painted by 
 
 VOL. II. u 
 
290 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Mr. Jervas, in his red coat, and fmiling upon a 
 bomb-fhell, which was burfting at a corner of 
 the piece. She vowed that unlefs he made a 
 great match, fhe fliould never die eafy, and was 
 for ever bringing young ladies to Chelfea, with 
 pretty faces and pretty fortunes, at the difpofal 
 of the Colonel. He fmiled to think how times 
 were altered with him, and of the early days in 
 his father's lifetime, when a trembling page he 
 flood before her, with her ladyfhip's bafin and 
 ewer, or crouched in her coach-ftep. The only 
 fault fhe found with him was, that he was more 
 fober than an Efmond ought to be ; and would 
 neither be carried to bed by his valet, nor lofe 
 his heart to any beauty, whether of St. James's 
 or Covent Garden. 
 
 What is the meaning of fidelity in love, and 
 whence the birth of it? 'Tis a ftate of mind 
 that men fall into, and depending on the man 
 rather than the woman. We love being in love, 
 that's the truth on't. If we had not met Joan, 
 we fhould have met Kate, and adored her. We 
 know our miftrefles are no better than many 
 other women, nor no prettier, nor no wifer, nor 
 no wittier. 'Tis not for thefe reafons we love 
 
Why do we fall in love? 291 
 
 a woman, or for any fpecial quality or charm 
 I know of; we might as well demand that a 
 lady fhould be the talleft woman in the worlds like 
 the Shropfhire giantefs,* as that fhe fhould be 
 a paragon in any other character, before we 
 began to love her. Efmond's miftrefs had a 
 thoufand faults befide her charms : he knew both 
 perfectly well ! fhe was imperious, fhe was light- 
 minded, fhe was flighty, fhe was falfe, fhe had 
 no reverence in her character ; fhe was in every- 
 thing, even in beauty, the contraft of her 
 mother, who was the moft devoted and the 
 leaft felfifh of women. Well, from the very 
 firft moment he faw her on the flairs at Walcote, 
 Efmond knew he loved Beatrix. There might 
 be better women — he wanted that one. He 
 cared for none other. Was it becaufe fhe was 
 glorioufly beautiful ? Beautiful as fhe was, he 
 hath heard people fay a fcore of times in their 
 company, that Beatrix's mother looked as young, 
 and was the handfomer of the two. Why did 
 her voice thrill in his ear fo ? She could not 
 fing near fo well as Nicolini or Mrs. Tofts ; nay, 
 
 * *Tis not thus woman loves: Col. E. hath owned to this 
 folly for a fcore of women befides. — R. 
 
 U 2 
 
292 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 flie fang out of tune, and yet he liked to hear 
 her better than St. Cecilia. She had not a finer 
 complexion than Mrs. Steele (Dick's wife, whom 
 he had now got, and who ruled poor Dick with 
 a rod of pickle), and yet to fee her dazzled 
 Efmond ; he would fhut his eyes, and the 
 thought of her dazzled him all the fame. She 
 was brilliant and lively in talk, but not fo incom- 
 parably witty as her mother, who, when fhe was 
 cheerful, faid the fineft things ; but yet to hear 
 her, and to be with her, was Efmond's greateft 
 pleafure. Days pafTed away between him 
 and thefe ladies, he fcarce knew how. He 
 poured his heart out to them, fo as he never 
 could in any other company, where he hath 
 generally paffed for being moody, or fupercilious 
 and filent. This fociety* was more delightful 
 than that of the greateft wits to him. May 
 Heaven pardon him the lies he told the dowager 
 at Chelfea, in order to get a pretext for going 
 away to Kenfington ; the bufinefs at the Ordnance 
 which he invented; the interview with his 
 General, the courts and ftatefman's levees which 
 
 * And, indeed, fo was his to them, a thoufand thoufand 
 times more charming, for where was his equal ? — R. 
 
A faithful Swain. 293 
 
 he didn't frequent and defcribe : who wore a new 
 fuit on Sunday at Saint James's or at t he Queen's 
 birth-day ; how many coaches filled the ftreet 
 at Mr. Harley's levee ; how many bottles he 
 had had the honour to drink over night with 
 Mr. St. John at the Cocoa Tree, or at the 
 Garter with Mr. Walpole and Mr. Steele. 
 
 Miftrefs Beatrix Efmond had been a dozen 
 times on the point of making great matches, 
 fo the Court fcandal faid ; but for his part 
 Efmond never would believe the ftories againft 
 her ; and came back, after three years' abfence 
 from her, not fo frantick as he had been perhaps, 
 but ftill hungering after her and no other; ftill 
 hopeful, ftill kneeling, with his heart in his hand 
 for the young lady to take. We were now 
 got to 1709. She was near twenty-two years 
 old, and three years at Court, and without a 
 hufband. 
 
 fC 'Tis not for want of being alked," Lady 
 Caftlewood faid, looking into Efmond's heart, as 
 fhe could, with that perceptivenefs affedtion 
 gives. "But fhe will make no mean match, 
 Harry : ftie will not marry as I would have 
 her ; the perfon whom I fhould like to call my 
 
294 Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fon, and Henry Efmond knows who that is, 
 is beft ferved by my not preffing his claim. 
 Beatrix is fo wilful, that what I would urge on 
 her, flie would be fure to refift. The man who 
 would marry her will not be happy with her, 
 unlefs he be a great perfon, and can put her in a 
 great pofition. Beatrix loves admiration more 
 than love ; and longs, beyond all things, for 
 command. Why fliould a mother fpeak fo of 
 her child ? You are my fon, too, Harry. You 
 fhould know the truth about your fifter. I 
 thought you might cure yourfelf of your paffion," 
 my lady added, fondly. "Other people can 
 cure themfelves of that folly, you know. But 
 I fee you are ftill as infatuated as ever. When 
 we read your name in the Gazette, I pleaded for 
 you, my poor boy. Poor boy, indeed ! You 
 are growing a grave old gentleman now, and I 
 am an old woman. She likes your fame well 
 enough, and fhe likes your perfon. She fays 
 you have wit, and fire, and good breeding, and 
 are more naturaj than the fine gentlemen of the 
 Court. But this is not enough. She wants a 
 commander-in-chief, and not a colonel. Were 
 a duke to afk her, Ihe would leave an earl whom 
 
§>ue voulez vous ? Je Vaime. 295 
 
 fhe had promifed. I told you fo before. I know 
 not how my poor girl is fo worldly." 
 
 fc Well/' fays Efmond, cc a man can but give 
 his beft and his all. She has that from me. 
 What little reputation I have won, I fwear I cared 
 for it but becaufe I thought Beatrix would be 
 pleafed with it. What care I to be a colonel 
 or a general ? Think you 'twill matter a few 
 fcore years hence, what our foolifh honours to- 
 day are ? I would have had a little fame, that 
 fhe might wear it in her hat. If I had anything 
 better, I would endow her with it. If fhe wants 
 my life, I would give it her. If fhe marries 
 another, I will fay God blefs him. I make no 
 boaft, nor no complaint. I think my fidelity is 
 folly, perhaps. But fo it is. I cannot help 
 myfelf. I love her. You are a thoufand times 
 better: the fondeft, the faireft, the deareft, of 
 women. Sure, my dear lady, I fee all Beatrix's 
 faults as well as you do. But fhe is my fate. 
 'Tis endurable. I fhall not die for not having 
 her. I think I fhould be no happier, if I won 
 her. due voulez vous ? as my Lady of Chelfea 
 would fay. Je Fairne" 
 
 CC I wifh fhe would have you/' faid Harry's 
 
2cj6 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 fond miftrefs, giving a hand to him. He kiffed 
 the fair hand ('twas the prettieft dimpled little 
 hand in the world, and my Lady Caftlewood, 
 though now almoft forty years old, did not look 
 to be within ten years of her age). He kiffed 
 and kept her fair hand, as they talked together. 
 
 cc Why," fays he, Cf (hould ftie hear me r She 
 knows what I would fay. Far or near fhe 
 knows I'm her flave. I have fold myfelf for 
 nothing, it may be. Well, 'tis the price I 
 choofe to take. I am worth nothing, or I am 
 worth all." 
 
 cf You are fuch a treafure," Efmond's miftrefs 
 was pleafed to fay, cc that the woman who has 
 your love, fhouldn't change it away againft a 
 kingdom, I think. I am a country-bred woman, 
 and cannot fay but the ambitions of the town 
 feem mean to me. I never was awe-ftricken by 
 my Lady Duchefs's rank and finery, or afraid," 
 fhe added, with a fly laugh, cc of anything but 
 her temper. I hear of Court ladies who pine 
 becaufe her Majefty looks cold on them ; and 
 great noblemen who would give a limb that they 
 might wear a garter on the other. This world- 
 linefs, which I can't comprehend, was born with 
 
My Miftrefs. 
 
 Beatrix, who, on the firft day of her waiting, was 
 a perfect courtier. We are like fitters, and fhe 
 the elder fifter, fomehow. She tells me I have 
 a mean fpirit. I laugh, and fay fhe adores a 
 coach-and-fix. I cannot reafon her out of her 
 ambition. 'Tis natural to her, as to me to 
 love quiet, and be indifferent about rank and 
 riches. What are they, Harry ? and for how 
 long do they laft ? Our home is not here/' 
 She fmiled as fhe fpoke, and looked like an 
 angel that was only on earth on a vifit. fc Our 
 home is where the juft are, and where our fins 
 and forrows enter not. My father ufed to rebuke 
 me, and fay that I was too hopeful about Heaven. 
 But I cannot help my nature, and grow obftinate 
 as I grow to be an old woman ; and as I love 
 my children fo, fure Our Father loves us with 
 a thoufand and a thoufand times greater love. 
 It muft be that we fiiall meet yonder, and be 
 happy. Yes, you — and my children, and my 
 dear lord. Do you know, Harry, fince his 
 death, it has always feemed to me as if his 
 love came back to me, and that we are parted 
 no more. Perhaps he is here, now, Harry — I 
 think he is. Forgiven I am fure he is : even 
 
298 The Hi/iory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 Mr. Atterbury abfolved him, and he died for- 
 giving. O, what a noble heart he had ! How 
 generous he was ! I was but fifteen, and a 
 child when he married me. How good he was 
 to ftoop to me ! He was always good to the 
 poor and humble." She flopped, then prefently, 
 with a peculiar expreflion, as if her eyes were 
 looking into Heaven, and faw my lord there, 
 fhe fmiled, and gave a little laugh. fC I 
 laugh to fee you, fir," fhe fays ; c< when you 
 come, it feems as if you never were away.". 
 One may put her words down, and remember 
 them, but how defcribe her fweet tones, fweeter 
 than mufick. 
 
 My young lord did not come home at the 
 end of the campaign, and wrote that he was 
 kept at Bruxelles on military duty. Indeed, I 
 believe he was engaged in laying fiege to a 
 certain lady, who was of the fuite of Madame 
 de Soiflbns, the Prince of Savoy's mother, 
 who was juft dead, and who, like the Flemifh 
 fortrefles, was taken and retaken a great num- 
 ber of times during the war, and occupied by 
 French, Englifh, and Imperialifts. Of courfe, 
 Mr. Efmond did not think fit to enlighten Lady 
 
Frank tells of the DueL 299 
 
 Caftlewood regarding the young fcapegrace's 
 doings : nor had he faid a word about the affair 
 with Lord Mohun, knowing how abhorrent that 
 man's name was to his miftrefs. Frank did not 
 wafte much time or money on pen and ink ; 9 
 and, when Harry came home with his general, 
 only writ two lines to his mother, to fay his 
 wound in the leg was almoft healed, that he 
 would, keep his coming of age next year, — that 
 the duty aforefaid would keep him at Bruxelles, 
 and that Coufin Harry would tell all the 
 news. 
 
 But from Bruxelles, knowing how the Lady 
 Caftlewood always liked to have a letter about 
 the famous 29th of December, my lord writ her 
 a long and full one, and in this he muft have 
 defcribed the affair with Mohun ; for when Mr. 
 Efmond came to vifit his miftrefs one day, early 
 in the new year, to his great wonderment, ftie 
 and her daughter both came up and faluted him, 
 and after them the dowager of Chelfea, too, 
 whofe chairman had juft brought her ladyftiip 
 from her village to Kenfington acrofs the fields. 
 After this honour, I fay, from the two ladies of 
 Caftlewood, the dowager came forward in great 
 
300 The Hiftory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 ftate, with her grand tall headdrefs of King 
 James's reign, that fhe never forfook, and faid, 
 Cf Coufin Henry, all our family have met ; and 
 we thank you, coufin, for your noble condud 
 towards the head of our houfe." And pointing 
 to her blufhing cheek, fhe made Mr. Efmond 
 aware that he was to enjoy the rapture of an 
 embrace there. Having faluted one cheek, fhe 
 turned to him the other. cc Coufin Harry," 
 faid both the other ladies, in a little chorus, 
 cc We thank you for your noble condud ; " and 
 then Harry became aware that the ftory of the 
 Lille affair had come to his kinfwomen's ears. 
 It pleafed him to hear them all faluting him as 
 one of their family. 
 
 The tables of the dining-room were laid for 
 a great entertainment ; and the ladies were in 
 gala drefles — my Lady of Chelfea in her higheft 
 tour, my Lady Vifcountefs out of black, and 
 looking fair and happy, a ravir ; and the Maid 
 of Honour attired with that fplendour which 
 naturally diftinguifhed her, and wearing on her 
 beautiful breaft the French officer's ftar, which 
 Frank had fent home after Ramillies. 
 
 <f You fee, 'tis a gala day with us" fays fhe, 
 
A feaft at Kenjington. 301 
 
 glancing down to the ftar complacently, Cf and we 
 have our orders on. Does not mamma look 
 charming? 'Twas I drefled her!" Indeed, 
 Efmond's dear miftrefs, blufhing as he looked at 
 her, with her beautiful fair hair and an elegant 
 drefs, according to the mode, appeared to have 
 the fliape and complexion of a girl of twenty. 
 
 On the table was a fine fword, with a red 
 velvet fcabbard, and a beautiful chafed filver 
 handle, with a blue ribbon for a fword-knot. 
 <f What is this ?" fays the Captain, going up to 
 look at this pretty piece. 
 
 Mrs. Beatrix advanced towards it. cc Kneel 
 down," fays fhe : cc we dub you our knight with 
 this" — and fhe waved the fword over his head 
 — cf my Lady Dowager hath given the fword; 
 and I give the riband, and mamma hath fewn 
 on the fringe." 
 
 fC Put the fword on him, Beatrix," fays her 
 mother. <c You are our knight, Harry — our 
 true knight. Take a mother's thanks and 
 prayers for defending her fon, my dear, dear 
 friend." She could fay no more, and even the 
 dowager was affefted, for a couple of rebellious 
 tears made fad marks down thofe wrinkled old 
 
302 The Hijlory of Henry E/mond. 
 
 rofes which Efmond had juft been allowed 
 to falute. 
 
 " We had a letter from deareft Frank," his 
 mother faid, cc three days fince, whilft you 
 were on your vifit to your friend Captain Steele, 
 at Hampton. He told us all that you had done, 
 and how nobly you had put yourfelf between 
 him and that — that wretch/' 
 
 fC And I adopt you from this day/' fays the 
 dowager ; cc and I wifh I was richer, for your 
 fake, fon Efmond," fhe added, with a wave of 
 her hand ; and as Mr. Efmond dutifully went 
 down on his knee before her ladyfhip, fhe cafl: 
 her eyes up to the ceiling (the gilt chandelier, 
 and the twelve wax candles in it, for the party 
 was numerous), and invoked a bleffing from 
 that quarter upon the newly adopted fon. 
 
 <c Dear Frank," fays the other vifcountefs, 
 " how fond he is of his military profeffion ! He 
 is ftudying fortification very hard. I wifli he 
 were here. We fhall keep his coming of age at 
 Caftlewood next year." 
 
 cc If the campaign permit us," fays Mr. 
 Efmond. 
 
 CC I am never afraid, when he is with you," 
 
Vive le Roy. 303 
 
 cries the boy's mother. cf I am fure my Henry 
 will always defend him." 
 
 "But there will be a peace before next year ; 
 we know it for certain/' cries the Maid of 
 Honour. cc Lord Marlborough will be difmiffed, 
 and that horrible duchefs turned out of all her 
 places. Her Majefty won't fpeak to her now. 
 Did you fee her at Bufhy, Harry ? fhe is 
 furious, and flie ranges about the park like a 
 lionefs, and tears people's eyes out." 
 
 cc And the Princefs Anne will fend for fome- 
 body," fays my Lady of Chelfea, taking out her 
 medal, and killing it. 
 
 cc Did you fee the King at Oudenarde, 
 Harry ? " his miftrefs alked. She was a ftaunch 
 Jacobite, and would no more have thought of 
 denying her king than her God. 
 
 cf I faw the young Hanoverian only : " Harry 
 faid, Cf The Chevalier de St. George." 
 
 cc The King, fir, the King ! " faid the ladies 
 and Mifs Beatrix ; and fhe clapped her pretty 
 hands, and cried fC Vive le Roy." 
 
 By this time there came a thundering knock, 
 that drove in the doors of the houfe almoft. 
 It was three o'clock, and the company were 
 
304 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 •arriving ; and prefently the fervant announced 
 Captain Steele and his lady. 
 
 Captain and Mrs. Steele, who were the firft 
 to arrive, had driven to Kenfington from their 
 country- houfe, the Hovel at Hampton Wick, 
 fC Not from our manfion in Bloomfbury Square," 
 as Mrs. Steele took care to inform the ladies. 
 Indeed, Harry had ridden away from Hampton 
 that very morning, leaving the couple by the 
 ears ; for, from the chamber where he lay, in a 
 bed that was none of the cleaneft, and kept 
 awake by the company which he had in his own 
 bed, and the quarrel which was going on in 
 the next room, he could hear both night and 
 morning the curtain ledture which Mrs. Steele 
 was in the habit of adminiftering to poor Dick. 
 
 At night, it did not matter fo much for the 
 culprit; Dick was fuddled, and when in that 
 way no fcolding could interrupt his benevolence. 
 Mr. Efmond could hear him coaxing and fpeaking 
 in that maudlin manner, which punch and claret 
 produce, to his beloved Prue, and befeeching 
 her to remember that there was a diftiwi/ht 
 officer ithe rex roob, who would overhear her. 
 She went on, neverthelefs, calling him a drunken 
 
I overhear a Curtain Lefture. 
 
 wretch, and was only interrupted in her harangues 
 by the Captain's fnoring. 
 
 In the morning, the unhappy vidtim awoke to 
 a headache and confcioufnefs, and the dialogue of 
 the night was refumed. cc Why do you bring 
 captains home to dinner when there's not a 
 guinea in the houfe ? How am I to give dinners 
 when you leave me without a fhilling ? How 
 am I to go trapefing to Kenfington in my yellow 
 fatin fack before all the fine company ? I've 
 nothing fit to put on ; I never have and fo 
 the difpute went on — Mr. Efmond interrupting 
 the talk when it feemed to be growing too 
 intimate by blowing his nofe as loudly as ever he 
 could, at the found of which trumpet there came 
 a lull. But Dick was charming, though his 
 wife was odious, and 'twas to give Mr. Steele 
 pleafure, that the ladies of Caftlewood, who were 
 ladies of no fmall fafhion, invited Mrs. Steele. 
 
 Befides the Captain and his lady, there was a 
 great and notable aflemblage of company : my 
 Lady of Chelfea having fent her lackeys and 
 liveries to aid the modeft attendance at Ken- 
 fington. There was Lieutenant- General Webb, 
 Harry's kind patron, of whom the dowager took 
 
 VOL. IX, x 
 
306 The Hifiory of Henry EJmond. 
 
 pofleflion, and who refplended in velvet and gold 
 lace; there was Harry's new acquaintance, the 
 Right Honourable Henry St. John, Efquire, the 
 General's kinfman, who was charmed with the 
 Lady Caftlewood, even more than with her 
 daughter ; there was one of the greateft noblemen 
 in the kingdom, the Scots Duke of Hamilton, 
 juft created Duke of Brandon in England ; and 
 two other noble lords of the Tory party, my Lord 
 Afhburnham, and another I have forgot ; and 
 for ladies, her Grace the Duchefs of Ormonde 
 and her daughters, the Lady Mary and the Lady 
 Betty, the former one of Miftrefs Beatrix's 
 colleagues in waiting on the Queen. 
 
 cc What a party of Tories !" whifpered Captain 
 Steele to Efmond, as we were aflembled in the 
 parlour before dinner. Indeed, all the company 
 prefent, fave Steele, were of that fadlion. 
 
 Mr. St. John made his fpecial compliments to 
 Mrs. Steele, and fo charmed her, that fhe declared 
 flie would have Steele a Tory too. 
 
 <c Or will you have me a Whig?" fays Mr. 
 St John. c< I think, madam, you could convert 
 a man to anything." 
 
 " If Mr. St. John ever comes to Bloomfbury 
 
Pericles /peaks of Afyafia. 307 
 
 Square I will teach him what I know/' f a Y s 
 Mrs. Steele, dropping her handfome eyes. f c Do 
 you know Bloomfbury Square ? " 
 
 "Do I know the Mall? Do I know the 
 Opera ? Do I know the reigning toaft ? Why, 
 Bloomfbury is the very height of the mode," 
 fays Mr. St. John. cc 'Tis rus in urbe. You have 
 gardens all the way to Hampftead, and palaces 
 round about you — Southampton Houfe and 
 Montague Houfe." 
 
 cc Where you wretches go and fight duels," 
 cries Mrs. Steele. 
 
 Cf Of which the ladies are the caufe ! " fays her 
 entertainer. cc Madam, is Dick a good fwords- 
 man ? How charming the Tatler is ! We all 
 recognifed your portrait in the 49th number, 
 and I have been dying to know you ever fince 
 I read it. c Afpafia muft be allowed to be the 
 firft of the beauteous order of love/ Doth not 
 the paffage run fo ? € In this accomplifhed lady 
 love is the conftant effe6t, though it is never 
 the defign; yet though her mien carries much 
 more invitation than command, to behold her 
 is an immediate check to loofe behaviour, and 
 to love her is a liberal education.'" 
 
 x 2 
 
308 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 " Oh indeed ! " fays Mrs. Steele, who did not 
 feem to underftand a word of what the gentleman 
 was faying. 
 
 (C Who could fail to be accomplifhed under 
 fuch a miftrefs ? " fays Mr. St. John, ftill gallant 
 and bowing. 
 
 " Miftrefs! upon my word, fir!" cries the 
 lady. cc If you mean me, fir, I would have you 
 know that I am the Captain's wife." 
 
 cc Sure we all know it," anfwers Mr. St. John, 
 keeping his countenance very gravely ; and Steele 
 broke in, faying, " 'Twas not about Mrs. Steele 
 I writ that paper — though I am fure fhe is worthy 
 of any compliment I can pay her — but of the 
 Lady Elizabeth Haftings." 
 
 " I always thought that paper was Mr. 
 Congreve's," cries Mr. St. John, ftiowing that 
 he knew more about the fubjeft than he pretended 
 to Mr. Steele, and who was the original Mr. 
 Bickerftaffe drew. 
 
 cc Tom Boxer faid fo in his Obfervator. But 
 Tom's oracle is often making blunders," cries 
 Steele. 
 
 <c Mr. Boxer and my hufband were friends 
 once, and when the Captain was ill with the fever 
 
A polite converfation. 309 
 
 no man could be kinder than Mr. Boxer, who 
 ufed to come to his bedfide every day, and 
 adlually brought Dr. Arbuthnot who cured him," 
 whifpered Mrs. Steele. 
 
 fc Indeed, madam! How very interefting !" 
 fays Mr. St. John. 
 
 cc But when the Captain's laft comedy came 
 out, Mr. Boxer took no notice of it, — you know 
 he is Mr. Congreve's man, and won't ever give a 
 word to the other houfe, — and this made my 
 hufband angry." 
 
 fC Oh! Mr. Boxer is Mr. Congreve's man!" 
 fays Mr. St. John. 
 
 " Mr. Congreve has wit enough of his own," 
 cries out Mr. Steele. cc No one ever heard me 
 grudge him or any other man his ftiare." 
 
 " I hear Mr. Addifon is equally famous as a 
 wit and a poet," fays Mr. St. John. cc Is it true 
 that his hand is to be found in your Tatler, 
 Mr. Steele?" 
 
 "Whether 'tis the fublime or the humourous, 
 no man can come near him," cries Steele. 
 
 " A fig, Dick, for your Mr. Addifon ! " cries 
 out his lady : cc a gentleman who gives himfelf 
 fuch airs and holds his head fo high now. I hope 
 
310 The Hijtory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 your ladyfhip thinks as I do : I can't bear thofe 
 very fair men with white eyelafhes — a black man 
 for me. (All the black men at table applauded, 
 and made Mrs. Steele a bow for this compliment.) 
 As for this Mr. Addifon," flie went on, "he 
 comes to dine with the Captain fometimes, 
 never fays a word to me, and then they walk up 
 flairs, both tipfy, to a difh of tea. I remember 
 your Mr. Addifon when he had but one coat 
 to his back, and that with a patch at the 
 elbow." 
 
 cc Indeed — a patch at the elbow ! You intereft 
 me," fays Mr. St. John. " 'Tis charming to 
 hear of one man of letters from the charming 
 wife of another." 
 
 fC Law, I could tell you ever fo much about 
 'em," continues the voluble lady. Cf What do 
 you think the Captain has got now ? — a little 
 hunchback fellow — a little hop-o'-my-thumb 
 creature that he calls a poet — a little popifli 
 brat ! " 
 
 "Hufti, there are two in the room," whifpers 
 her companion. 
 
 <c Well, I call him popifh becaufe his name is 
 Pope," fays the lady. " 'Tis only my joking 
 
Mr. Pope. 
 
 3" 
 
 way. And this little dwarf of a fellow has wrote 
 a paftoral poem — all about fhepherds and fhep- 
 herdefles, you know. 
 
 cc A fhepherd fliould have a little crook/' fays 
 my miftrefs, laughing from her end of the table : 
 on which Mrs. Steele faid, Cf flie did not know, 
 but the Captain brought home this queer little 
 creature when flie was in bed with her firft 
 boy, and it was a mercy he had come 
 no fooner ; and David raved about his genus , 
 and was always raving about fome nonfenfe 
 or other. n 
 
 " Which of the Tatlers do you prefer, Mrs. 
 Steele ?" afked Mr. St. John. 
 
 " I never read but one, and think it all a pack 
 of rubbifti, fir," fays the lady. "Such ftuff 
 about Bickerftaffe, and DiftafF, and QuarterftafF, 
 as it all is ! There's the Captain going on ftill 
 with the Burgundy — I know he'll be tipfy before 
 he flops — Captain Steele !" 
 
 fc I drink to your eyes, my dear," fays the 
 Captain, who feemed to think his wife charming, 
 and to receive as genuine all the fatirick compli- 
 ments which Mr. St. John paid her. 
 
 All this while the Maid of Honour had been 
 
3 1 2 The Hiftory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 trying to get Mr. Efmond to talk, and no doubt 
 voted him a dull fellow. For, by fome miftake, 
 juft as he was going to pop into the vacant place, 
 he was placed far away from Beatrix's chair, 
 who fate between his Grace and my Lord 
 Afhburnham, and Ihrugged her lovely white 
 flioulders, and caft: a look as if to fay, cf Pity me," 
 to her coufin. My Lord Duke and his young 
 neighbour were prefently in a very animated and 
 clofe converfation. Mrs. Beatrix could no more 
 help ufing her eyes than the fun can help fhining, 
 and fetting thofe it fhines on a-burning. By the 
 time the firft courfe was done the dinner feemed 
 long to Efmond : by the time the foup came he 
 fancied they muft have been hours at table : and 
 as for the fweets and jellies he thought they never 
 would be done. 
 
 At length the ladies rofe, Beatrix throwing a 
 Parthian glance at her duke as fhe retreated ; a 
 frefli bottle and glafles were fetched, and toafts 
 were called. Mr. St. John afked his Grace the 
 Duke of Hamilton and the company to drink to 
 the health of his Grace the Duke of Brandon. 
 Another lord gave General Webb's health, "and 
 may he get the command the braveft officer in 
 
We drink 'Toafts. 
 
 3 l 3 
 
 the world deferves." Mr. Webb thanked the 
 company, complimented his aide-de-camp, and 
 fought his famous battle over again. 
 
 "11 eft fatiguant" whifpers Mr. St. John, 
 cc avec sa trompette de Wynendael" 
 
 Captain Steele, who was not of our fide, 
 loyally gave the health of the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, the greateft general of the age. 
 
 Cf I drink to the greateft general with all my 
 heart," fays Mr. Webb ; cc there can be no gain- 
 faying that character of him. My glafs goes to 
 the General, and not to the Duke, Mr. Steele." 
 And the ftout old gentleman emptied his bumper ; 
 to which Dick replied by filling and emptying a 
 pair of brimmers, one for the General and one 
 for the Duke. 
 
 And now his Grace of Hamilton, rifing up, 
 with flafhing eyes (we had all been drinking 
 pretty freely), propofed a toaft to the lovely, 
 to the incomparable Mrs. Beatrix Efmond ; 
 we all drank it with cheers, and my Lord 
 Aftiburnham efpecially, with a fhout of 
 enthufiafm. 
 
 cf What a pity there is a Duchefs of Hamil- 
 ton," whifpers St. John, who drank more wine 
 
314 The Hi/lory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 and yet was more fteady than moft of the others, 
 and we entered the drawing-room, where the 
 ladies were at their tea. As for poor Dick, we 
 were obliged to leave him alone at the dining- 
 table, where he was hiccupping out the lines 
 from the cc Campaign," in which the greateft poet 
 had celebrated the greateft general in the world ; 
 and Harry Efmond found him, half an hour 
 afterwards, in a more advanced ftage of liquor, 
 and weeping about the treachery of Tom 
 Boxer. 
 
 The drawing-room was all dark to poor 
 Harry, in fpite of the grand illumination. 
 Beatrix fcarce fpoke to him. When my Lord 
 Duke went away, fhe pra&ifed upon the next in 
 rank, and plied my young Lord Afhburnham 
 with all the fire of her eyes and the fafcinations 
 of her wit. Moft of the party were fet to cards, 
 and Mr. St. John, after yawning in the face of 
 Mrs. Steele, whom he did not care to purfue 
 any more ; and talking in his moft brilliant, 
 animated way to Lady Caftlewood, whom he 
 pronounced to be beautiful, of a far higher order 
 of beauty than her daughter, prefently took his 
 leave, and went his way. The reft of the com- 
 
A Bon Soir. 
 
 315 
 
 pany fpeedily followed, my Lord Afhburnham 
 the laft, throwing fiery glances at the fmiling 
 young temptress, who had bewitched more 
 hearts than his in her thrall. 
 
 No doubt, as a kinfman of the houfe, Mr. 
 Efmond thought fit to be the laft of all in it ; 
 he remained after the coaches had rolled away, — 
 after his dowager aunt's chair and flambeaux had 
 marched off in the darknefs towards Chelfea, and 
 the town's-people had gone to bed, who had been 
 drawn into the fquare to gape at the unufual 
 affemblage of chairs and chariots, lacqueys and 
 torchmen. The poor mean wretch lingered yet 
 for a few minutes, to fee whether the girl would 
 vouchfafe him a fmile, or a parting word of 
 confolation. But her enthufiafm of the morning 
 was quite died out, or {he chofe to be in a 
 different mood. She fell to joking about the 
 dowdy appearance of Lady Betty, and mimicked 
 the vulgarity of Mrs. Steele ; and then fhe put 
 up her little hand to her mouth and yawned, 
 lighted a taper, and fhrugged her fhoulders, and 
 dropping Mr. Efmond a faucy curtfey, failed 
 off to bed. 
 
 c< The day began fo well, Henry, that I had 
 
3 1 6 The Hijiory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 hoped it might have ended better/' was all the 
 confolation that poor Efmond's fond miftrefs 
 could give him ; and as he trudged home 
 through the dark alone, he thought, with bitter 
 rage in his heart, and a feeling of almoft revolt 
 againft the facrifice he had made : — cc She would 
 have me," thought he, " had I but a name 
 to give her. But for my promife to her 
 father, I might have my rank and my miftrefs 
 too." 
 
 I fuppofe a man's vanity is ftronger than any 
 other paflion in him ; for I blulh, even now, as 
 I recall the humiliation of thofe diftant days, the 
 memory of which ftill fmarts, though the fever 
 of baulked defire has pafled away more than a 
 fcore of years ago. When the writer's de- 
 fendants come to read this memoir, I wonder 
 will they have lived to experience a fimilar 
 defeat and fhame ? Will they ever have knelt to 
 a woman, who has liftened to them, and played 
 with them, and laughed at them, — who beckon- 
 ing them with lures and carefles, and with 
 Yes, fmiling from her eyes, has tricked them 
 on to their knees, and turned her back and left 
 them. All this fhame, Mr. Efmond had to 
 
My Lord Afhburnham. 317 
 
 undergo ; and he fubmitted, and revolted, and 
 prefently came crouching back for more. 
 
 After this fefte, my young Lord Aftiburnham's 
 coach was for ever rolling in and out of Ken- 
 fington Square ; his lady-mother came to vifit 
 Efmond's miftrefs, and at every aflembly in the 
 town, wherever the Maid of Honour made her 
 appearance, you might be pretty fure to fee 
 the young gentleman in a new fuit every week, 
 and decked out in all the finery that his tailor or 
 embroiderer could furnifh for him. My lord was 
 for ever paying Mr. Efmond compliments : 
 bidding him to dinner, offering him horfes to 
 ride, and giving him a thoufand uncouth marks 
 of refped: and good-will. At laft, one night at 
 the coffee-houfe, whither my lord came con- 
 fiderably flufhed and excited with drink, he 
 rufhes up to Mr. Efmond, and cries out — 
 cc Give me joy, my deareft Colonel ; I am the 
 happieft of men." 
 
 cc The happieft of men needs no deareft colonel 
 to give him joy," fays Mr. Efmond. c 'What 
 is the caufe of this fupreme felicity ? " 
 
 cf Haven't you heard ? " fays he. Cf Don't 
 you know ? I thought the family told you 
 
3 1 8 The Hijlory of Henry Efmond. 
 
 everything : the adorable Beatrix hath promifed 
 to be mine." 
 
 "What!" cries out Mr. Efmond, who had 
 fpent happy hours with Beatrix that very 
 morning, — had writ verfes for her, that fhe 
 had fung at the harpfkhord. 
 
 cc Yes," fays he ; <c I waited on her to-day. 
 I faw you walking towards Knightlbridge, as I 
 paffed in my coach ; and fhe looked fo lovely, 
 and fpoke fo kind that I couldn't help going 
 down on my knees, and — and — fure Pm the 
 happieft of men in all the world ; and I'm very 
 young ; but fhe fays I fhall get older : and you 
 know I fhall be of age in four months ; and 
 there's very little difference between us ; and I'm 
 fo happy. I fhould like to treat the company 
 to fomething. Let us have a bottle — a dozen 
 bottles — and drink the health of the fineft woman 
 in England." 
 
 Efmond left the young lord toffing off bumper 
 after bumper, and ftrolled away to Kenfington 
 to afk whether the news was true. 'Twas only 
 too fure: his miftrefs's fad, compaffionate face 
 told him the ftory ; and then fhe related what 
 particulars of it fhe knew, and how my young 
 
Love and a Song. 319 
 
 lord had made his offer, half-an-hour after 
 Efmond went away that morning, and in the 
 very room where the fong lay yet on the harp- 
 fichord, which Efmond had writ, and they had 
 fung together. 
 
 END OF VOL. 11. 
 
 Bradbury & Evans, Printers, Whitefriars,