Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges

  Chapter VIII. I Travel To France And Bring Home A Portrait Of Rigaud

  Mr. Esmond did not think fit to take leave at Court, or to inform all theworld of Pall Mall and the coffee-houses, that he was about to quitEngland; and chose to depart in the most private manner possible. Heprocured a pass as for a Frenchman, through Dr. Atterbury, who did thatbusiness for him, getting the signature even from Lord Bolingbroke'soffice, without any personal application to the secretary. Lockwood, hisfaithful servant, he took with him to Castlewood, and left behind there:giving out ere he left London that he himself was sick, and gone toHampshire for country air, and so departed as silently as might be uponhis business.

  As Frank Castlewood's aid was indispensable for Mr. Esmond's scheme, hisfirst visit was to Bruxelles (passing by way of Antwerp, where the Duke ofMarlborough was in exile), and in the first-named place Harry found hisdear young Benedict, the married man, who appeared to be rather out ofhumour with his matrimonial chain, and clogged with the obstinate embraceswhich Clotilda kept round his neck. Colonel Esmond was not presented toher; but Monsieur Simon was, a gentleman of the Royal Cravat (Esmondbethought him of the regiment of his honest Irishman, whom he had seenthat day after Malplaquet, when he first set eyes on the young king); andMonsieur Simon was introduced to the Viscountess Castlewood, _nee_Comptesse Wertheim; to the numerous counts, the Lady Clotilda's tallbrothers; to her father the chamberlain; and to the lady his wife, Frank'smother-in-law, a tall and majestic person of large proportions, such asbecame the mother of such a company of grenadiers as her warlike sonsformed. The whole race were at free quarters in the little castle nigh toBruxelles which Frank had taken; rode his horses; drank his wine; andlived easily at the poor lad's charges. Mr. Esmond had always maintained aperfect fluency in the French, which was his mother tongue; and if thisfamily (that spoke French with the twang which the Flemings use)discovered any inaccuracy in Mr. Simon's pronunciation, 'twas to beattributed to the latter's long residence in England, where he had marriedand remained ever since he was taken prisoner at Blenheim. His story wasperfectly pat; there were none there to doubt it save honest Frank, and hewas charmed with his kinsman's scheme, when he became acquainted with it;and, in truth, always admired Colonel Esmond with an affectionatefidelity, and thought his cousin the wisest and best of all cousins andmen. Frank entered heart and soul into the plan, and liked it the betteras it was to take him to Paris, out of reach of his brothers, his father,and his mother-in-law, whose attentions rather fatigued him.

  Castlewood, I have said, was born in the same year as the Prince of Wales;had not a little of the prince's air, height, and figure; and, especiallysince he had seen the Chevalier de St. George on the occasion beforenamed, took no small pride in his resemblance to a person so illustrious;which likeness he increased by all the means in his power, wearing fairbrown periwigs, such as the prince wore, and ribbons, and so forth, of thechevalier's colour. This resemblance was, in truth, the circumstance onwhich Mr. Esmond's scheme was founded; and, having secured Frank's secrecyand enthusiasm, he left him to continue his journey, and see the otherpersonages on whom its success depended. The place whither Mr. Simon nexttravelled was Bar, in Lorraine, where that merchant arrived with aconsignment of broadcloths, valuable laces from Malines, and letters forhis correspondent there.

  Would you know how a prince, heroic from misfortunes, and descended from aline of kings, whose race seemed to be doomed like the Atridae ofold--would you know how he was employed, when the envoy who came to himthrough danger and difficulty beheld him for the first time? The youngking, in a flannel jacket, was at tennis with the gentlemen of his suite,crying out after the balls, and swearing like the meanest of his subjects.The next time Mr. Esmond saw him, 'twas when Monsieur Simon took a packetof laces to Miss Oglethorpe; the prince's antechamber in those days, atwhich ignoble door men were forced to knock for admission to his Majesty.The admission was given, the envoy found the king and the mistresstogether; the pair were at cards, and his Majesty was in liquor. He caredmore for three honours than three kingdoms; and a half-dozen glasses ofratafia made him forget all his woes and his losses, his father's crown,and his grandfather's head.

  Mr. Esmond did not open himself to the prince then. His Majesty was scarcein a condition to hear him; and he doubted whether a king who drank somuch could keep a secret in his fuddled head; or whether a hand that shookso, was strong enough to grasp at a crown. However at last, and aftertaking counsel with the prince's advisers, amongst whom were manygentlemen, honest and faithful, Esmond's plan was laid before the king,and her actual Majesty Queen Oglethorpe, in council. The prince liked thescheme well enough; 'twas easy and daring, and suited to his recklessgaiety and lively youthful spirit. In the morning after he had slept hiswine off, he was very gay, lively, and agreeable. His manner had anextreme charm of archness, and a kind simplicity; and, to do her justice,her Oglethorpean Majesty was kind, acute, resolute, and of good counsel;she gave the prince much good advice that he was too weak to follow, andloved him with a fidelity which he returned with an ingratitude quiteroyal.

  Having his own forebodings regarding his scheme should it ever befulfilled, and his usual sceptic doubts as to the benefit which mightaccrue to the country by bringing a tipsy young monarch back to it,Colonel Esmond had his audience of leave and quiet. Monsieur Simon tookhis departure. At any rate the youth at Bar was as good as the olderPretender at Hanover; if the worst came to the worst, the Englishman couldbe dealt with as easy as the German. Monsieur Simon trotted on that longjourney from Nancy to Paris, and saw that famous town, stealthily and likea spy, as in truth he was; and where, sure, more magnificence and moremisery is heaped together, more rags and lace, more filth and gilding,than in any city in this world. Here he was put in communication with theking's best friend, his half-brother, the famous Duke of Berwick; Esmondrecognized him as the stranger who had visited Castlewood now near twentyyears ago. His grace opened to him when he found that Mr. Esmond was oneof Webb's brave regiment, that had once been his grace's own. He was thesword and buckler indeed of the Stuart cause: there was no stain on hisshield except the bar across it, which Marlborough's sister left him. HadBerwick been his father's heir, James the Third had assuredly sat on theEnglish throne. He could dare, endure, strike, speak, be silent. The fireand genius, perhaps, he had not (that were given to baser men), but exceptthese he had some of the best qualities of a leader. His grace knewEsmond's father and history; and hinted at the latter in such a way asmade the colonel to think he was aware of the particulars of that story.But Esmond did not choose to enter on it, nor did the duke press him. Mr.Esmond said, "No doubt he should come by his name if ever greater peoplecame by theirs."

  What confirmed Esmond in his notion that the Duke of Berwick knew of hiscase was, that when the colonel went to pay his duty at St. Germains, herMajesty once addressed him by the title of Marquis. He took the queen thedutiful remembrances of her goddaughter, and the lady whom, in the days ofher prosperity, her Majesty had befriended. The queen remembered RachelEsmond perfectly well, had heard of my Lord Castlewood's conversion, andwas much edified by that act of Heaven in his favour. She knew that othersof that family had been of the only true Church too: "Your father and yourmother, _monsieur le marquis_," her Majesty said (that was the only timeshe used the phrase). Monsieur Simon bowed very low, and said he had foundother parents than his own who had taught him differently; but these hadonly one king: on which her Majesty was pleased to give him a medalblessed by the Pope, which had been found very efficacious in casessimilar to his own, and to promise she would offer up prayers for hisconversion and that of the family: which no doubt this pious lady did,though up to the present moment, and after twenty-seven years, ColonelEsmond is bound to say that neither the medal nor the prayers have had theslightest known effect upon his religious convictions.

  As for the splendour of Versailles, Monsieur Simon, the merchant, onlybeheld them as a humble and distant spectator, seeing the old king butonce, when he went to feed h
is carps; and asking for no presentation athis Majesty's Court.

  By this time my Lord Viscount Castlewood was got to Paris, where, as theLondon prints presently announced, her ladyship was brought to bed of ason and heir. For a long while afterwards she was in a delicate state ofhealth, and ordered by the physicians not to travel; otherwise 'twas wellknown that the Viscount Castlewood proposed returning to England, andtaking up his residence at his own seat.

  Whilst he remained at Paris, my Lord Castlewood had his picture done bythe famous French painter Monsieur Rigaud, a present for his mother inLondon; and this piece Monsieur Simon took back with him when he returnedto that city, which he reached about May, in the year 1714, very soonafter which time my Lady Castlewood and her daughter, and their kinsman,Colonel Esmond, who had been at Castlewood all this time, likewisereturned to London; her ladyship occupying her house at Kensington, Mr.Esmond returning to his lodgings at Knightsbridge, nearer the town, andonce more making his appearance at all public places, his health greatlyimproved by his long stay in the country.

  The portrait of my lord, in a handsome gilt frame, was hung up in theplace of honour in her ladyship's drawing-room. His lordship wasrepresented in his scarlet uniform of Captain of the Guard, with alight-brown periwig, a cuirass under his coat, a blue ribbon, and a fallof Bruxelles lace. Many of her ladyship's friends admired the piece beyondmeasure, and flocked to see it; Bishop Atterbury, Mr. Lesly, good old Mr.Collier, and others amongst the clergy, were delighted with theperformance, and many among the first quality examined and praised it;only I must own that Dr. Tusher happening to come up to London, and seeingthe picture (it was ordinarily covered by a curtain, but on this day MissBeatrix happened to be looking at it when the doctor arrived), the Vicarof Castlewood vowed he could not see any resemblance in the piece to hisold pupil, except perhaps, a little about the chin and the periwig; but weall of us convinced him, that he had not seen Frank for five years ormore; that he knew no more about the fine arts than a ploughboy, and thathe must be mistaken; and we sent him home assured that the piece was anexcellent likeness. As for my Lord Bolingbroke, who honoured her ladyshipwith a visit occasionally, when Colonel Esmond showed him the picture heburst out laughing, and asked what devilry he was engaged on? Esmond ownedsimply that the portrait was not that of Viscount Castlewood, besought thesecretary on his honour to keep the secret, said that the ladies of thehouse were enthusiastic Jacobites, as was well known; and confessed thatthe picture was that of the Chevalier St. George.

  The truth is, that Mr. Simon, waiting upon Lord Castlewood one day atMonsieur Rigaud's, whilst his lordship was sitting for his picture,affected to be much struck with a piece representing the chevalier,whereof the head only was finished, and purchased it of the painter for ahundred crowns. It had been intended the artist said, for Miss Oglethorpe,the prince's mistress, but that young lady quitting Paris, had left thework on the artist's hands; and taking this piece home, when my lord'sportrait arrived, Colonel Esmond, alias Monsieur Simon, had copied theuniform and other accessories from my lord's picture to fill up Rigaud'sincomplete canvas: the colonel all his life having been a practitioner ofpainting, and especially followed it during his long residence in thecities of Flanders, among the masterpieces of Vandyck and Rubens. Mygrandson hath the piece, such as it is, in Virginia now.

  At the commencement of the month of June, Miss Beatrix Esmond, and my ladyviscountess, her mother, arrived from Castlewood; the former to resume herservice at Court, which had been interrupted by the fatal catastrophe ofDuke Hamilton's death. She once more took her place, then, in herMajesty's suite and at the maids' table, being always a favourite withMrs. Masham, the queen's chief woman, partly perhaps on account of herbitterness against the Duchess of Marlborough, whom Miss Beatrix loved nobetter than her rival did. The gentlemen about the Court, my LordBolingbroke amongst others, owned that the young lady had come backhandsomer than ever, and that the serious and tragic air, which her facenow involuntarily wore, became her better than her former smiles andarchness.

  All the old domestics at the little house of Kensington Square werechanged; the old steward that had served the family any time thesefive-and-twenty years, since the birth of the children of the house, wasdispatched into the kingdom of Ireland to see my lord's estate there: thehousekeeper, who had been my lady's woman time out of mind, and theattendant of the young children, was sent away grumbling to Walcote, tosee to the new painting and preparing of that house, which my lady dowagerintended to occupy for the future, giving up Castlewood to herdaughter-in-law, that might be expected daily from France. Another servantthe viscountess had was dismissed too--with a gratuity--on the pretext thather ladyship's train of domestics must be diminished; so, finally, therewas not left in the household a single person who had belonged to itduring the time my young Lord Castlewood was yet at home.

  For the plan which Colonel Esmond had in view, and the stroke he intended,'twas necessary that the very smallest number of persons should be put inpossession of his secret. It scarce was known, except to three or four outof his family, and it was kept to a wonder.

  On the 10th of June, 1714, there came by Mr. Prior's messenger from Paris,a letter from my Lord Viscount Castlewood to his mother, saying that hehad been foolish in regard of money matters, that he was ashamed to own hehad lost at play, and by other extravagances; and that instead of havinggreat entertainments as he had hoped at Castlewood this year, he must liveas quiet as he could, and make every effort to be saving. So far everyword of poor Frank's letter was true, nor was there a doubt that he andhis tall brothers-in-law had spent a great deal more than they ought, andengaged the revenues of the Castlewood property, which the fond mother hadhusbanded and improved so carefully during the time of her guardianship.

  His "Clotilda", Castlewood went on to say, "was still delicate, and thephysicians thought her lying-in had best take place at Paris. He shouldcome without her ladyship, and be at his mother's house about the 17th or18th day of June, proposing to take horse from Paris immediately, andbringing but a single servant with him; and he requested that the lawyersof Gray's Inn might be invited to meet him with their account, and theland-steward come from Castlewood with his, so that he might settle withthem speedily, raise a sum of money whereof he stood in need, and be backto his viscountess by the time of her lying-in." Then his lordship gavesome of the news of the town, sent his remembrance to kinsfolk, and so theletter ended. 'Twas put in the common post, and no doubt the French policeand the English there had a copy of it, to which they were exceedingwelcome.

  Two days after another letter was dispatched by the public post of France,in the same open way, and this, after giving news of the fashion at Courtthere, ended by the following sentences, in which, but for those that hadthe key, 'twould be difficult for any man to find any secret lurked atall:--

  (The king will take) medicine on Thursday. His Majesty is better than he hath been of late, though incommoded by indigestion from his too great appetite. Madame Maintenon continues well. They have performed a play of Mons. Racine at St. Cyr. The Duke of Shrewsbury and Mr. Prior, our envoy, and all the English nobility here were present at it. (The Viscount Castlewood's passports) were refused to him, 'twas said; his lordship being sued by a goldsmith for _Vaisselle plate_, and a pearl necklace supplied to Mademoiselle Meruel of the French Comedy. 'Tis a pity such news should get abroad (and travel to England) about our young nobility here. Mademoiselle Meruel has been sent to the Fort l'Evesque; they say she has ordered not only plate, but furniture, and a chariot and horses (under that lord's name), of which extravagance his unfortunate viscountess knows nothing.

  (His majesty will be) eighty-two years of age on his next birthday. The Court prepares to celebrate it with a great feast. Mr. Prior is in a sad way about their refusing at home to send him his plate. All here admired my lord viscount's portrait, and said it was a masterpiece of Rigaud. Have you seen it? It is (at the Lady Castlewood's house
in Kensington Square). I think no English painter could produce such a piece.

  Our poor friend the abbe hath been at the Bastille, but is now transported to the Conciergerie (where his friends may visit him. They are to ask for) a remission of his sentence soon. Let us hope the poor rogue will have repented in prison.

  (The Lord Castlewood) has had the affair of the plate made up, and departs for England.

  Is not this a dull letter? I have a cursed headache with drinking with Mat and some more overnight, and tipsy or sober am

  Thine ever ----.

  All this letter, save some dozen of words which I have put above betweenbrackets, was mere idle talk, though the substance of the letter was asimportant as any letter well could be. It told those that had the key,that _the king will take the Viscount Castlewood's passports and travel toEngland under that lord's name. His Majesty will be at the LadyCastlewood's house in Kensington Square, where his friends may visit him;they are to ask for the Lord Castlewood_. This note may have passed underMr. Prior's eyes, and those of our new allies the French, and taught themnothing; though it explains sufficiently to persons in London what theevent was which was about to happen, as 'twill show those who read mymemoirs a hundred years hence, what was that errand on which ColonelEsmond of late had been busy. Silently and swiftly to do that about whichothers were conspiring, and thousands of Jacobites all over the country,clumsily caballing; alone to effect that which the leaders here were onlytalking about; to bring the Prince of Wales into the country openly in theface of all, under Bolingbroke's very eyes, the walls placarded with theproclamation signed with the secretary's name, and offering five hundredpounds reward for his apprehension: this was a stroke, the playing andwinning of which might well give any adventurous spirit pleasure: the lossof the stake might involve a heavy penalty, but all our family were eagerto risk that for the glorious chance of winning the game.

  Nor should it be called a game, save perhaps with the chief player, whowas not more or less sceptical than most public men with whom he hadacquaintance in that age. (Is there ever a public man in England thataltogether believes in his party? Is there one, however doubtful, thatwill not fight for it?) Young Frank was ready to fight without muchthinking, he was a Jacobite as his father before him was; all the Esmondswere Royalists. Give him but the word, he would cry, "God save KingJames!" before the palace guard, or at the Maypole in the Strand; and withrespect to the women, as is usual with them, 'twas not a question of partybut of faith; their belief was a passion; either Esmond's mistress or herdaughter would have died for it cheerfully. I have laughed often, talkingof King William's reign, and said I thought Lady Castlewood wasdisappointed the king did not persecute the family more; and those whoknow the nature of women may fancy for themselves, what needs not here bewritten down, the rapture with which these neophytes received the mysterywhen made known to them; the eagerness with which they looked forward toits completion; the reverence which they paid the minister who initiatedthem into that secret Truth, now known only to a few, but presently toreign over the world. Sure there is no bound to the trustingness of women.Look at Arria worshipping the drunken clodpate of a husband who beats her;look at Cornelia treasuring as a jewel in her maternal heart the oaf herson; I have known a woman preach Jesuit's bark, and afterwards Dr.Berkeley's tar-water, as though to swallow them were a divine decree, andto refuse them no better than blasphemy.

  On his return from France Colonel Esmond put himself at the head of thislittle knot of fond conspirators. No death or torture he knew wouldfrighten them out of their constancy. When he detailed his plan forbringing the king back, his elder mistress thought that that restorationwas to be attributed under Heaven to the Castlewood family and to itschief, and she worshipped and loved Esmond, if that could be, more thanever she had done. She doubted not for one moment of the success of hisscheme, to mistrust which would have seemed impious in her eyes. And asfor Beatrix, when she became acquainted with the plan, and joined it, asshe did with all her heart, she gave Esmond one of her searching brightlooks: "Ah, Harry," says she, "why were you not the head of our house? Youare the only one fit to raise it; why do you give that silly boy the nameand the honour? But 'tis so in the world; those get the prize that don'tdeserve or care for it. I wish I could give you _your_ silly prize,cousin, but I can't; I have tried and I can't." And she went away, shakingher head mournfully, but always, it seemed to Esmond, that her liking andrespect for him was greatly increased, since she knew what capability hehad both to act and bear; to do and to forgo.