| | | | | Placed between the momentous events of the restoration of the | monarchy and that revolution which made all things new, the | rash, ill-conducted, and resultless invasion of the Duke of | Monmouth has sunk into insignificance in the pages of English | history. But while volumes on volumes have been poured forth | on partial rebellions and insurrections, the career of Monmouth | and the Rising in the West, in the beginning of the reign of James | II. is surely worthy of historical inquiry, were it only from the | light which the circumstances leading to, and attending these | events, throw upon the state of popular feeling previous to the | Revolution of 1688. The young Pretender was not more popular | in the Highlands of Scotland, nor is Mr. O'Connell at this | moment more popular among the people of Ireland, than was the | Duke of Monmouth with the rural gentry and the populace of the | six western counties, ~~ where the events of his rebellion are | talked of, and his fate is lamented even to the present day. This | subject is indeed a hopeful one to a diligent local historian; and | Mr. Roberts has made from it one of those instructive and | pleasant books which, without any pretensions to the stately | march of general history, show the reader, in an easy, ambling | pace, how such affairs are managed behind the scenes, and how | the world really goes on. The author, from his local position, has | been able to avail himself of many private sources of information; | and during some years he has ransacked the State-paper Office, | and examined the collections in the British Museum, and the | Harleian, Ayscough, and other MSS. that refer to the political | schemes in which the Duke of Monmouth was implicated during | the life of his father, and to that final and unhappy enterprise | which, placing the dazzling hope of ascending a throne before | him, led him to the block in the thirty-sixth year of his age. | We need scarcely tell that James, Duke of Monmouth, was the | eldest son of Charles II. by the first of his many accredited | mistresses, Lucy Walters, a profligate woman who laid herself | out to entrap the young king while he was still in exile at the | Hague. Before captivating Charles, Lucy Walters had been the | mistress of Colonel Robert Sydney, the brother of the famous | Algernon Sydney. Her son, afterwards created Duke of | Monmouth, who was born at Rotterdam in April, 1649, and who | was by many believed to be the son | | of Colonel Robert Sydney, was always treated by Charles as his | own child, and cherished with peculiar affection. On the death of | his mother, the king placed him under the care of Lord Crofts, at | Paris, and he was known by the name of James Crofts. Tutors | were appointed for him, who, to serve their own objects, early | inspired him with ambitious hopes. The boy was petted by his | royal grandmother, who was made privy to the secret of his birth, | and who after the Restoration, brought Monmouth, then a youth | of twelve, to England, in her train, at the request of Charles. He | was extremely handsome, and in France had acquired the usual | showy accomplishments then affected by the young nobility, | while his mental faculties were left without cultivation. | Apartments were assigned him at Whitehall, and the favourite | son of the King was early surrounded by flatterers and parasites. | We must now allow Mr. Roberts to introduce his hero. | | | In spite of Clarendon's opposition, the youth was created Duke of | Monmouth, and married to the heiress of Buccleuch at the age of | sixteen. The marriage was an unhappy one for both parties. | Monmouth formed an attachment to the Lady Henrietta | Wentworth, who lived with him both in England and during his | exile, and whom in the face of death, regretting his marriage, he | declared to have been the choice of his mature years. | | Shaftesbury and the political schemers,who, as the King had no | legitimate issue, set up Monmouth as their puppet, and the rival | of the heir presumptive, the Duke of York, endeavoured to instill | the belief of his legitimacy, and that Charles had actually been | married to Lucy Walters, alias Barlow, previous to his marriage | with the Queen. Among the many plots of that era of plots, the | country was agitated by the Black Box plot, thus referred to by | Mr. Roberts: ~~ | | | | The King, by these intrigues, was gradually alienated from his | son, who, under the counsels of Shaftesbury, ~~ though opposed | by the nobility and clergy, who rallied round the principle of | legitimate descent, ~~ began to feel his way towards popularity, | and with great success: his uncle, the Duke of York, being | disliked and distrusted by many of the nation, and especially by | the Non-conformists. To extend his popularity, Monmouth made | what are royally termed progresses to different parts of the | kingdom, and particularly to the western counties, where his | principal strength afterwards lay. Of these journeys, on which | Monmouth was as enthusiastically welcomed and huzzaed as | ever was Mr. O'Connell at a monster meeting, Mr. Roberts | presents us with a minute and graphic narrative, for which he | draws largely upon county histories and the contemporary record | of family papers. Indeed, the charm of the work is, that it is | compiled in the very way that a London daily newspaper, with its | numerous correspondents and corps of intelligent reporters | following the Duke wherever he went, would have given us the | chronicle, had his progresses and rebellion occurred in the | present year; though by the expert penmen of the broad sheet it | might have been better written. We quote one specimen: ~~ | | | | We cannot follow the Duke of Monmouth and his historian | through all the stately piles and ancient manor houses of the | West; and shall cite but one more paragraph as illustrative of the | change of inhabitants in the homes of

"Merry England." |

| | | | Since we are among detached paragraphs, we shall quote another, | which proves that the Exeter Hall ultra-protestant meetings had | their prototypes in the reign of Charles II. The popish Duke of | York was by this time extremely unpopular, and every mark of | favour shown him by the King, his brother, was looked upon | with great suspicion. | | On Monmouth's second progress through the western counties, | he was arrested, while dining at a mercer's house in Stafford, by | an order from the principal Secretary of State, and carried in | custody to London, where he was, however, set at liberty on his | friends giving surety for his good behaviour. It is alleged, that at | this juncture, the party of which he was the nominal head | contemplated an immediate insurrection in London, and the | seizure of the Tower. In this they were to be aided by a diversion | made in the counties of Somerset, Devon, and Cheshire. | | Monmouth, from his position, and the popularity which he had | acquired among the Nonconformists, had by this time obtained | the confidence of that small band of patriots, numbering among | them Algernon Sydney, Lord William Russell, and the younger | Hampden, who then formed the forlorn hope of English freedom. | To this confidence, though Monmouth never could have had | much personal ascendancy in their councils, he was not entitled, | either by capacity for affairs, military talents, or firmness of | character. This the event soon showed. The arrest of the patriots | and the state trials took place; and Charles, who always described | his son as a blockhead, cajoled him into a betrayal of his friends. | Weakness and vacillation marked every part of his conduct. The | humane disposition which he had shown to the Covenanters at, | and after the battle of Bothwell Bridge, where he commanded the | King's forces, had exalted him in the estimation of the friends of | liberty in both kingdoms; but this was forfeited by the weakness | or baseness which led him to give all the information in his | power concerning what was termed the Ryehouse plot, which | precipitated the execution of Sydney. The King or the Duke of | York, and probably both in concert, having gained their object | with the weak Monmouth, acted towards him with what he | considered perfidy, and what was indeed bad faith on the part of | the King; though Monmouth's resentment and regret arose | mainly from being found out, and not from his dishonourable | conduct to those who had trusted one whom weakness betrayed | into wickedness. Resenting the treatment which he had received, | and out of favour at court, Monmouth went to the continent, | accompanied by his devoted mistress, and passed some time at | different places. The death of Charles II. found him at the Hague | with other exiles. When the Prince of Orange communicated the | news to him, it is said he was like one frantic, though it is not | easy to analyze the causes of his grief. | Of the various expeditions planned by the English and Scottish | exiles at the Hague, in connexion with the friends of freedom at | home, the unfortunate expedition of the Earl of Argyle was now | undertaken; and the rash and ill-conducted invasion of | Monmouth speedily followed. His own and his mistress's jewels | were pawned to purchase arms; for no money, though so much | wanted, came from England. Historians are divided in opinion | as to the motives of the Duke in this transaction; some alleging | that the attempt was disapproved by his judgment, and that he | was precipitated into it by the force of circumstances. Opinion is | equally divided as to the share taken in this affair by the wary | Prince of Orange; and it is probable that this sagacious Prince, | calculating upon his own advantages, whatever might be the | result, allowed Monmouth to take his own way, without either | aiding or retarding the rash expedition. Dalrymple has stated, | upon the authority of Fletcher of Saltoun, that the Prince of | Orange privately encouraged the expedition, with the design of | ruining Monmouth. However all this may be, the Duke | embarked at Santfort on the 24th of May, 1685, and, after a very | tedious and boisterous passage, reached Lyme Regis on the 11th | of June. It is said that he was expected by the dissenters in the | West. | Mr. Roberts has given a very circumstantial account | | of events as they arose. Monmouth and his adherents issued a | long Declaration or Manifesto, setting forth the grievances under | which the nation suffered, and stating the causes of the invasion. | From this curious document we select one or two paragraphs. | | The Declaration goes much farther; nor was Monmouth, or rather | his secretary, at all scrupulous as to the truth of the accusations | which were made. The incapacity of Monmouth became | apparent in everything he | undertook. One disaster followed on the back of another; and | though Monmouth was, on the 20th of June, proclaimed King of | England at Taunton, the 6th of July witnessed his defeat and | flight from the field of Sedgemoor. We have said that Mr. | Roberts' Life of Monmouth is less interesting as a piece of | general history, than from the view which it gives of the by-play | and hidden springs of public events, and of the character of the | age. Cruelty was still one of the odious features of the English | people. On this theme we find the following observations: ~~ | | | | The military executions and cold-blooded cruelties of the | ferocious and infamous Colonel Kirke, are duly commemorated | by our historian. We can give but a small specimen of the | atrocities committed by this monster of cruelty and rapacity. | | | | | Monmouth fleeing from the field of Sedgemoor, a reward of | 5000 pounds was offered for his apprehension, which took place | in the manner recorded below: ~~ | | Monmouth was conveyed, strongly guarded, to London, and | thrown into the Tower. He ought | | to have known the character of the King, and the relations in | which they stood, too well to expect mercy; but the unhappy man | clung to life, and made what may be reckoned humiliating | submissions to save it. On the day of his capture he wrote to the | King, supplicating for any interview, and offering to make some | disclosure important to the safety of his Majesty's person and | government. He also implored the good offices of the | Queen-Dowager, who had acted as his friend on former occasions. | Contemporary authorities and recent historians are at variance as | to the subject of these pretended disclosures, and whether they | related to the treachery of Sunderland, or to the encouragement | which Monmouth had received from the Prince of Orange in his | late enterprise. All of them, however, are tolerably well agreed | on the fact, that the Duke had nothing very important to disclose, | and had used this artifice as a pretext to gain a personal interview | at which he might move the clemency of the King. There are | several accounts of this interview, in which the unhappy | Monmouth humbled himself in vain, to his harsh and inflexible | uncle and sovereign, who saw him with the determined purpose | of taking away his life. The apologists of the Stuarts have vainly | attempted to remove this indelible stigma from the character of | James II. | From some new sources, Mr. Roberts has been enabled to give | an account of the interviews which passed between Monmouth | and his Duchess in the Tower, which possesses both interest and | novelty. We may premise, that the Buccleuch MS. on which Mr. | Roberts founds, is probably not unfavourable to the Duchess. | After the Duke had been committed to the Tower, the Duchess of | Monmouth obtained leave from the King to visit her husband | that evening, Monday, July 15th, the morning appointed for his | execution. The Buccleuch MS. contains full particulars of the | interview between the Duchess and her unfortunate husband. | | The relation of the last hours of Monmouth, weak as he was, and | abject as he had shown himself, inspires the reader with | compassion. After he was arrested, numerous amulets and | charms were found about his person, and his table-book | was covered with astrological figures and calculations. | | | | In Lord Somers's Collection of Tracts there is a curious account | of the execution of Monmouth, from which we select this | passage. He was attended to the scaffold by the Bishop of Ely | and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Dr. Tennison, and Dr. Hooper, | who were called assistants in preparing him for death, and had | been graciously sent by the King. These divines on the scaffold | renewed their exhortations to what they termed a | particular repentance, which they had | often used before. The Tract proceeds thus: ~~ | | | | The Buccleuch MS. gives a different account of the execution, | with which we may close this notice: ~~ | | The Duke of Monmouth had six children by the Duchess, of | whom three died in infancy. His children did not inherit the | Dukedom of Buccleuch till after the death of the Duchess; and | according to Sir Walter Scott, even then the Dukedom was | inherited under an act passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1690, | rescinding all forteitures and fines passed since the year 1665; | and Francis, Duke of Buccleuch, was, by an act of Parliament | passed in 1743, restored to the English titles of his family. The | Duchess married, secondly, Charles, third Lord Cornwallis, said | to have been one of the most accomplished men of his age, and a | great favourite with King William. The Duchess of | The Lay of the Last Minstrel is | distinguished as the patroness of men of letters. She was said to | be amusing and witty, insinuating and insincere. She died in | 1732, at the advanced age of eighty-one, and to the last claimed | to be treated as a Princess of the Blood. Mr. Roberts has eked | out his Memoirs of the Duke of Monmouth with several | extraneous matters, and an account of the numerous executions | of the Bloody Assize which was held after the suppression of the | rebellion, which, however, cannot be termed extraneous; nor yet | the relation of the persecution of the Dissenters and | Nonconformists in the west of England, and the biographical | notices of the persons implicated in Monmouth's rebellion. | Mr. Roberts is certainly not a brilliant writer; but he has | presented the public with a work which has more solid claims on | its attention than mere elegance of style.