Rupert, Prince Palatine

by Eva Scott

CHAPTER XX

THE PALATINES ON THE CONTINENT. RUPERT'S DISPUTES
WITH THE ELECTOR. THE ELECTOR'S ANXIETY FOR
RUPERT'S RETURN. WANT OF AN HEIR TO THE
PALATINATE. FRANCISCA BARD. RUPERT'S
CHILDREN

The oath which Rupert had sworn in 1658, he faithfully kept; never again, in spite of changed circumstances, and the earnest entreaties of his family, did he set foot in the Palatinate. Yet he was not quite forgotten by his relatives. The lively and voluminous correspondence of Sophie and the Elector, from which we learn much of all family affairs, contains many allusions to "mon frère Rupert," in whose sayings and doings the brother and sister took a keen interest.

Sophie had been married, October 17th, 1658, to Ernest Augustus of Brunswick, one of the Dukes of Hanover, and titular bishop of Osnabrück. In her new home she was visited by Rupert, Sept. 1660, and she wrote of the visit to Charles Louis, as most satisfactory. "My brother Rupert made a great friendship with my Dukes," she said; "they agree so very well in their amusements!"[[1]] Since Sophie's Dukes were devoted to music and to hunting, it may easily be understood that Rupert's tastes accorded well with theirs.

Sophie wrote "Dukes" advisedly, for she had practically married, not only Ernest Augustus, but his elder brother, George William. These two were even more inseparable than Rupert and Maurice had been, and their mutual affection caused considerable annoyance to the unfortunate Sophie. She had been first betrothed to the elder of the two, but George William being seized with a panic that marriage would bore him horribly, had persuaded his devoted brother Ernest to take the lady off his hands. Sophie acquiesced placidly in the arrangement; she desired chiefly to secure a good establishment, and if she had any preference, it was for the younger brother. But she was not allowed to keep her husband to herself. Neither brother could bear the other out of his sight; and when constant intercourse with his sister-in-law had roused George William's regret for his hasty rejection of her, the position of Sophie became exceedingly difficult. Worse still, her husband was possessed with so ardent an admiration for his brother as to fancy that everyone else must adore him as he did; and this idea kept him in a terror of losing his wife's affections. As he would endure separation from neither wife nor brother there was no remedy, and for months the hapless Sophie was led in to dinner by George William, without ever daring to raise her eyes to his face. Luckily for her the strain became too much at last, even for Ernest Augustus, and he consented to take an eighteen months' tour in Italy with his brother, leaving his wife to visit her own relations in peace.[[2]]

The eldest sister, the learned Elizabeth, had devoted herself, like Louise, to a religious life; and became first Coadjutrice, and afterwards Abbess of the Lutheran Convent of Hervorden. In this capacity she governed a territory of many miles in circumference, and containing a population of seven thousand. She was recognized as a member of the Empire, had a right to send a representative to the Diet, and was required to furnish one horseman and six foot soldiers to the Imperial army. Every Saturday she might be seen gravely knitting in the courtyard of her castle, while she adjudged the causes brought for her decision. For some reason or other she and her religious views were a subject of great mirth to her brothers and sisters. Rupert visited her more than once in 1660 and 1661, but, said Sophie, "Il se raille beaucoup de La Signora Grecque."[[3]] And Sophie herself usually alluded to her eldest sister with mild amusement, Charles Louis with evident irritation.

Louise seems really to have been the happiest of all the family, and to have lived with true contentment in her convent of Maubuisson. Sophie, who had the joy of visiting her there in 1679, wrote to the Elector:—"She has not changed. I find her very happy, for she lives in a beautiful place; her garden is large and very pleasant, which is one of the things I love best in the world."[[4]] In her next letter she remarked that Louise was very regular in her observance of convent rules, "which makes her pass for a saint;" and she added, with a little sigh of envy for the peace she witnessed, "I could easily accommodate myself to a life like that."[[5]] But the reply of Charles Louis was satirical and unsympathetic. "I know not if I dare ask you to make my very devoted 'baisemains' to my sister the Abbess of Maubuisson, provided that the offering of my profane lips, which still smack somewhat of the world, does not offend her abstracted thoughts, and that she can still spare some for her carnal brother, who is now only skin and bones. At least, I am always grateful that she asks of me nothing mundane."[[6]]

Louise lived to a cheerful and healthful old age, retaining to the last her interest in art. Her own chapel and many neighbouring churches were beautified by the productions of her brush; and in 1699, when she had reached the age of seventy-seven, she was painting a copy of Pousin's Golden Calf, as a gift for Sophie. Her life was simple but peaceful: she ate no meat, slept on a bed "as hard as a stone," sat only on a straw stool, and rose always at mid-night to attend chapel.[[7]] Yet she was never ill, nor did she ever lose her high spirits. "She is better tempered, more lively, sees, hears and walks better than I do," wrote her niece Elizabeth Charlotte, the daughter of Charles Louis, when Louise was eighty. "She is still able to read the smallest print without spectacles, has all her teeth complete, and is quite full of fun (popierlich), like my father when he was in a good humour."[[8]]

Elizabeth Charlotte had been married to Philip of Orleans, the quondam husband of her fair cousin, Henrietta Stuart, and Louise was her chief consolation in an exceedingly unhappy life. "One cannot believe how pleasant and playful the Princess of Maubuisson was," she said, "I always visited her with pleasure; no moment could seem tedious in her company. I was in greater favour with her than her other nieces, (Edward's daughters,) because I could converse with her about everything she had gone through in her life, which the others could not. She often talked to me in German, which she spoke very well. She told me her comical tales. I asked her how she had been able to habituate herself to a stupid cloister life. She laughed, and said: 'I never speak to the nuns, except to communicate my orders.' She said she had always liked a country life, and fancied she lived like a country girl. I said: 'But to get up in the night and to go to church!' She answered, laughing, that I knew well what painters were; they like to see dark places and the shadows caused by lights, and this gave her every day fresh taste for painting. She could turn everything in this way, that it should not seem dull."[[9]] But in spite of her flippant speeches, Louise was respected by all who knew her, adored in her own convent, and died in the odour of sanctity, attesting to the end her staunch adherence to the Jacobite cause.

Edward, with whom Rupert had more intercourse than with the other members of his family, died young, three years after the Restoration, and thus Rupert was left alone in England. Occasionally he wrote to his sisters, but not very often. "If you knew how much joy your letters give me I am sure you would have the good nature to let me receive them oftener than you do,"[[10]] declared Elizabeth. And Sophie complained likewise: "It is so long since I have heard from Rupert that I do not know if he is still alive."[[11]] With Elizabeth, Rupert had a common ground in the contests they both waged with "Timon" the Elector: "Timon is so finely vexed at the 6,000 rix dollars he has to pay me, out of a clear debt, that he will not send me my annuity,"[[12]] declared Elizabeth in 1665. Rupert's own quarrels with "Timon" were more bitter. The unsettled dispute about the appanage had been aggravated by the struggle over their mother's will. The Queen had threatened, in her wrath, to bequeath her unsatisfied claims on the Elector to his brothers. This she had not done, but she had made Rupert her residuary legatee, leaving to him most of her jewels. The Elector, as we have seen, denied his mother's right to do this. Rupert refused to give up his legacy, and for years the sordid dispute dragged on.

In 1661 the Elector offered a sum of money in lieu of all Rupert's claims upon him; but the offer was rejected with scorn. The Elector professed himself much injured; and Sophie, who sided entirely with her eldest brother, wrote consolingly: "Rupert does not do you much harm by rejecting your money."[[13]] Next Charles Louis tried to put his brother off by assigning to him a debt which he pretended due to him from France; but neither would this satisfy Rupert. "Give me leave to tell you," he wrote to Arlington in 1664, "that the debt my brother pretends from France is a mere chimera. It was monys promised to Prince John Casimir to goe bake with his army out of France, whiche, you will finde, is not intended to be payed yett. As I assured His Majesty, I remitt the whoele business to him to dispose, and have given my Lord Craven order to satisfy His Majesty and yourself in all which shall be desired, in order to it. Soe you may easily believe I shall imbrace most willingly the offers you made unto me, assuring you that I shall repay the favor by possible meanes I can."[[14]]

But the mediation of Charles II did not bring matters to a peaceful end, and Rupert seems to have sought accommodation through Sophie. "It seems to me that Rupert never remembers my existence, except when he thinks of being reconciled with you," declared that lady to the Elector.[[15]] Nevertheless she did her best to produce the reconciliation. "I am very glad that you are anxious to do all you can to content Rupert," she wrote to her eldest brother; "I do not doubt he will be reasonable on his side, and that he will consider your present position, since he expresses a desire to be friends with you."[[16]] And in the next year, 1668, she was still hopeful. "I hope Rupert will be contented with what you offer him, for he seems to be in a very good temper."[[17]]

But, in spite of Rupert's good temper, the affair was not concluded, and in 1669, even the indolent Charles II was roused to pen an expostulatory letter to Charles Louis, with his own hand.

"Most dear Cosin,

"It is well known to you that I have always expressed myself very much concerned for the differences that have been between you and my Cosin, Prince Rupert; and that I have not been wanting, in my indeavor to bring them to a good conclusion, and how unsuccessful I have been therein. But, being still desirous thereof, I cannot but continue my interposition, and, upon a due consideration of both sides, (and very tenderly the state of your own affairs,) I have thought fit to offer yet one more expedient towards the accommodating of the matter, which is this:—that my Cousin Rupert shall disclaim and discharge you from all arrears of appanage due unto him by a former agreement, which, according to your owne computation,—as I am informed,—by this time, amounted above the sum of £6,000 sterl. He shall alsoe lay downe all his pretensions as executor to the late Queene, my Aunt, contenting himself only with the moveables in his possession, which belong to the Palatinate house, and £300 sterl. by the year,—if he have no lawful issue—ad duram vitae; the first payment to be made forthwith, and the subsequent allowances at Easter Fair at Frankfort. The one halfe of whiche sum, if contented, to be obliggeded to lay out in comodities and wines of the growth of your country. And that you may have a more particular accompt of this last proposition, and the reasons inducing to it, I have thought fit to send unto you the bearer, James Hayes, Esq., my Cousin Rupert's secretary, as being best acquainted with this affair; to whom I desire you to give credence in this matter, and conjuring you to give him such a despatch as may finally dethrone this unhappy controversy. Wherein, if ye shall comply with my desire, ye shall give me a great satisfaction; but if otherwise, you must excuse me, if I use my utmost interest for the obtaining of that to my cousin, which I conceive so justly belongs to him. I am, with all truth, most dear cosin,

"Your most affecionat cousen,
"Charles R.[[18]]

"March 31, '69."

This letter does considerable credit to Charles's business capacities; but even so modest a settlement as he proposed was refused. Nor did the interference of Louis XIV of France, in July 1670, produce any better result. "As to the letter of the King of France about Rupert, I think it is easy to answer with very humble thanks, neither accepting nor declining his mediation," advised Sophie.[[19]]

But Rupert's revenge was not long deferred. About five years later the Elector found cause to repent his ill-usage of his obstinate brother, and would have given much to recall him to the home of his fathers.

The scandals rife at the Court of Heidelberg, in 1658, had by no means abated after Rupert's withdrawal. The dissensions of the Elector and Electress became a subject of public remark, and the Queen of Bohemia had herself written of them to Rupert, adding prudently—"I do not tell you this for truth, for it is written from the Court of Cassel, where, I confess, they are very good at telling of stories, and enlarging of them."[[20]] But, unluckily, matters were so bad that no embellishments from the Court of Cassel could make them much worse. The scandal—"accidents fallen out in my domestic affairs," Charles Louis phrased it,[[21]]—had come to such a pitch that the Electress, after boxing her husband's ears at a public dinner, and attempting to shoot both him and Louise von Degenfeldt, fled from Heidelberg, leaving her two young children, Karl and Elizabeth Charlotte,—or Carellie and Liselotte, as their father called them,—to the mercy of her husband.

Thereupon Charles Louis formally married Louise von Degenfeldt, who was thenceforth treated as his wife. By her he had no less than eight children, but as the marriage was not, of course, really legal, none of those children could succeed him in the Electorate. Carellie, his only legitimate son, was delicate, and his marriage childless; Elizabeth Charlotte had renounced all claim to the Palatinate on her marriage with the Duke of Orleans, and in 1674 the extinction of the Simmern line seemed imminent. This danger affected Charles Louis very deeply. He had been a bad son, an unkind brother, and an unfaithful husband, but he was, for all that, a good ruler and an affectionate father. "The Regenerator" he was called in the war-wasted country to which his laborious care had brought peace and comparative prosperity; and his name was long remembered there with reverent love. The prospect of leaving his cherished country and his beloved children to the mercy of a distant and Roman Catholic cousin, caused him acute suffering. Nor did he believe the said children would be much better off in the care of their eldest brother and his wife.

"What devours my heart is that, in case of my death, I leave so many poor innocents to the mercy of their enemies," he wrote to Sophie; "Wilhelmena (the wife of Carellie) shows sufficiently what I may expect of her for those who will be under her power after my death; since, particularly in company, she shows so much contempt for them. This also has some influence on Carellie, who treats them—with the exception of Carllutz—like so many strangers, as does Wilhelmena;.... the poor little ones are always in fear of her severe countenance."[[22]]

With this depressing prospect before him, Charles Louis turned his thoughts to his neglected brother, showing his confidence in Rupert's generosity, by his readiness to entrust him with the care of his children. "George William says that the Prince Rupert ought to marry,"[[23]] wrote Sophie, quoting her troublesome brother-in-law, in Jan. 1674. Such was the opinion of the now regretful Elector, and he pressed his brother to return, promising to grant him all he could desire, if he would but come and raise up heirs to the house of Simmern. But Rupert remembered his oath, and answered as we have seen in a former chapter. Then Sophie tried her powers of persuasion, and bade Lord Craven tell Rupert how much the Elector would be pleased, if he would but yield. But Lord Craven showed himself, for once, severely practical. If Sophie would name to him some very rich lady willing to marry Rupert, he would be delighted to negotiate the matter, he said; if not, then he begged to be excused from interference. "And there I am stuck (je suis demeure)," confessed Sophie, "for I do not know how he would support her."[[24]]

Nevertheless the family continued their solicitations, to which Rupert next retorted that the Elector had better get his cousin, the Elector of Brandenburg, and his sister Elizabeth to persuade Charlotte of Hesse to agree to a divorce; when, Louise being dead, he could marry again. "He must either be very ignorant of our intrigues here, or wishes to appear so," wrote the Elector bitterly.[[25]] He knew that Charlotte would never forego her vengeance by setting him free, and that neither his cousin nor his sister would interfere in such an affair. Elizabeth was, however, so far pressed into the service, that she, in her turn, exhorted Rupert to come over and marry. To her he only replied, "that he was quite comfortable at Windsor, and had no intention of moving; that Charles Louis had insulted him and might do what he pleased for an heir, he should not have him."[[26]] Such was his final word, and consequently the Palatinate passed, on the death of Carellie in 1685, to the Neuburg branch of the family.

Charles Louis died in 1680, and Rupert did not cherish the enmity he had borne him beyond the grave. On the contrary, he was anxious to do what he could for the benefit of his impecunious nephews and nieces. For Carellie he did not care, the young Elector had offended him by his neglect,[[27]] but it was not Carellie who needed his protection; it was rather against Carellie that he took up the cause of the Raugräfen, as Charles Louis' children by Louise were called. The circumstances of the case had left them completely dependent on their eldest brother, who bore them no great love. This was not due to the fact that their mother had supplanted his own. Carellie had never loved his mother; he had often told his father that he paid no heed to what Charlotte might say, and had himself urged her to consent to a divorce.[[28]] But he was of a peculiar temperament, jealous, fretful, difficult, and his dislike of the Raugräfen was really due, partly to the influence of his disagreeable wife, and partly to jealousy of the affection which his father had always shown to them, especially to Moritzien,—poor Moritzien, gifted with all the Palatine fascination and brilliancy, but ruined by a life of uninterrupted indulgence, so that he drank himself to death.

Promises of providing for these cadets had been wrung from Carellie by his anxious father, but these promises he showed himself in no haste to keep, and Sophie appealed, on their behalf to Rupert. He showed himself ready to assist them, and demanded a concise account of the whole busiess, in order that he might be qualified to interfere.[[29]] "Not that he thinks the Elector will break his sacred promise to his father,"[[30]] declared Sophie. Nevertheless she urged the eldest Raugraf, Karl Ludwig, or "Carllutz," who had shortly before visited Rupert in England, to write very affectionately to his uncle, in gratitude for the interest shown in them.[[31]] But, unfortunately for the Raugräfen, Rupert did not long survive his brother; and only a few months later Sophie wrote to one of her nieces: "You have lost a great friend in my brother Prince Rupert. I am very much troubled and overwhelmed with the unexpected loss. I know the Electress Dowager will also bewail him."[[32]]

Considering that for more than twenty years Sophie had not seen her brother, her grief seems a little excessive, but doubtless she lamented him for many reasons. The memory of old days dwelt with her all the more as she advanced in years, and latterly she had drawn nearer to her brother. By his means a marriage had been projected between Sophie's eldest son George and the Princess Anne, the second daughter of the Duke of York. During the progress of this negotiation, Sophie sent George over to England, on a visit to his uncle. She had some misgivings about his reception, for, as she confessed, George was not "assez beau" to resemble a Palatine in any way, though her second son Friedrich, or "Gustien," as she called him, was tall and handsome,—"the very image of Rupert" (Rupert tout crâché).[[33]] Gustien had, moreover, not only Rupert's handsome face and gigantic stature, but also his resolute character. "If he would have changed his religion, he might have succeeded well at the Imperial Court," wrote his mother; "but he has too much of his uncle Rupert not to be firm in his religion."[[34]]

However, George, if less favoured by nature, was still the eldest son, and therefore of necessity the bridegroom elect. Notwithstanding his want of good looks he was very kindly received, both by King Charles and Rupert. The King declared that he would treat him "en cousin," and lodged him in Whitehall. Rupert paid him daily visits when his health allowed of it, but he was very ill, and often confined to his bed. "I went to visit Prince Rupert, who received me in bed," wrote George to his mother; "he has a malady in his leg, which makes him very often keep his bed; it appears that it is so, without any pretext, and that he has to take care of himself. He had not failed one day of coming to see me."[[35]]

But though entertained with "extraordinary magnificence,"[[36]] the Hanoverian was not favourably impressed with either England or the Princess Anne. The country was in a ferment over the alleged discovery of the Popish Plot, and George regarded the judicial murders then perpetrated with astonished disgust. "They cut off the head of Lord Stafford yesterday, and made no more ado than if they had chopped off the head of a pullet," he told his mother.[[37]]

But notwithstanding the averseness of the intended bridegroom, the project was not at once renounced; and Rupert's last letter to Sophie, written shortly before his death, contained definite proposals on the subject. "En ma dernière, chère soeur, je vous ai informé que cette poste je pourrai dire plus de nouvelles assurées de l'affaire en question. Saches done, en peu de mots, on offre 40 mille livres sterl. assigné caution marchande, et 10 mille livres sterl. par an, durant la vie de M. le Duc, votre mari; et on souhaite que donerez liberté a M votre fils de demeurer quelques temps en ce pays là, fin d'aprendre la langue, et faire connaître au peuple, ce qu'on trouve nécessaire en tout cas. Voyez ce que j'ai ordre de vous dire, et de demander un réponse pour savoir si l'affaire vous agrée; si vous avez pour agréable, quelle en face, il sera nécessaire que M. le Duc m'envoie un homme d'affaires, avec ses instructions, et ses assurées que sera bien ... de celui qui est à vous; Rupert.

"Il faut vous dire si 1'affaire se fait ou non vous avez fort grand obligation à la Duchesse de Portchmouth;[[38]] elle vous assure de toutes ses services en cette affaire."[[39]]

Apparently the offered terms were not acceptable to the Hanoverians, for the negotiation closed with Rupert's death.

Rupert died, to all appearance, unmarried, but he left two children, a son and a daughter. More than once he had seriously contemplated matrimony. In 1653 it had been rumoured that he was about to wed his cousin Mary, the Princess Royal, widow of the Prince of Orange.[[40]] In 1664 he made proposals for a Royal lady of France, but the said lady objected that he had been "too long and too deeply attached to a certain Duchess."[[41]] That obstacle was removed in the same year by the Duchess of Richmond's clandestine love-match with Thomas Howard; but the French lady was long in coming to a decision, and in the meantime the young Francesca Bard crossed Rupert's path.

Francesca was the eldest daughter of Sir Henry Bard, one of the wilder Cavaliers, who had been raised to the Irish peerage as Viscount Bellamont; the same who had pleaded so earnestly with Rupert for Windebank's life in 1645. He had died during the exile, when on a mission to Persia; and Francesca, on the death of her only brother, assumed the family title, as Lady Bellamont. Except a title her father had nothing to bequeath, and it was probably the urgent petitions for the relief of their poverty, addressed by the family to the King, that first brought Francesca into contact with Rupert.[[42]]

The Prince loved Francesca Bard, renounced his French alliance, and thenceforth turned a deaf ear to all entreaties that he would marry. A son was born to him, and christened "Dudley." Rupert seems to have cared for the boy, and he certainly conducted his education with anxious solicitude. He sent him first to school at Eton, where he could himself watch over him from Windsor. At Eton the boy was distinguished for his "gentleness of temper," and "the aimiableness of his behaviour," characteristics which he certainly did not inherit from his father. Nevertheless he had Rupert's martial spirit, and like his father before him, he early showed an aversion to study, and a passion for arms. Rupert observing this and remembering his own boyhood, removed his son from Eton and placed him under the care of Sir Jonas Moore at the Tower, in order that he might receive instructions in mathematics and other subjects necessary for a military profession.[[43]]

To Dudley, at his death, the Prince left his house and estate at Rhenen, the debts still due to him from the Emperor, from the Elector Palatine, and from all persons not natural born subjects of England. The English debts, which were considerably less, he destined to be divided amongst his servants.[[44]]

"Der armer Dodley,"[[45]] as his Aunt Sophie called him, went to Germany to secure his property, and was received with great kindness by the Palatines, though there was a difficulty about the house at Rhenen, that being entailed property.[[46]] In 1685 he was back again in England, fighting loyally for King James, as his father would have approved. In the battle of Norton St. Philip, where Monmouth fought an indecisive battle with Grafton, Churchill and Feversham, we find "Captain Rupert, the Prince's son," in command of the musketeers, and playing a prominent part.[[47]] But when the rebellion had been suppressed, Dudley returned to Germany, seeking employment in the wars waged by the Empire against the Turks. He had all his father's active spirit and dauntless courage, but he had not also his enchanted life. In August 1686 young Dudley fell, in a desperate attempt made by some English volunteers to scale the walls of Buda. His death is mentioned with deep regret in several contemporary letters and diaries. Though so young—he was only nineteen—he had already become famous for his valour, and exceedingly popular on account of his lovable character.[[48]]

Many believed him to have been Rupert's lawful son, and there seem to have been some grounds for the belief. He was universally known as "Dudley Rupert", and his mother maintained to the end of her days that she had been Rupert's wife. Her claim was practically acknowledged in Germany, where morganatic marriages were already in fashion; and even in England rumours of it were rife. "Some say Prince Rupert, in his last sickness, owned his marriage," says a letter in the Verney Correspondence, "if so, his son is next heir, after him, to the Palsgrave.[[49]] But no public acknowledgment ever took place, and Rupert styled the boy in his will, "Dudley Bard." On the other hand, he bequeathed to him property entailed on heirs male, and the Emperor actually paid to Francesca, after her son's death, the sum of 20,000 crowns which he had owed to Rupert.[[50]]

It seems possible that there was some kind of marriage,[[51]] but that such marriages were of rather doubtful legality. It could not have given Dudley royal rank, and hardly even a claim to the Palatinate,[[52]] for, had such a claim existed, Rupert would certainly have put his son forward when the House of Simmern was crying out for an heir. His niece, Elizabeth Charlotte of Orléans, declared that he had deceived Francesca with a false marriage. But the good Duchess was notoriously ignorant of her uncle's affairs, and added to her story several impossible circumstances which tend to discredit it, asserting, among other things, that Rupert had been lodging at the time, in Henry Bard's house, though Bard had been dead nearly ten years.[[53]] Moreover, such treachery is at variance with Rupert's whole character and all his known actions, and, though he cannot be said to have treated Francesca well, he may at least be acquitted of the baseness suggested by his niece.

During Rupert's life-time no mention is made of Francesca in letters or papers, public or private. Yet, after his death, we find frequent reference to her as to a well-known personage. Two reasons for her retirement suggest themselves. In the first place she was, as she herself asserted, too virtuous to care to have any dealings with the corrupt Court, and in the second place she was a devout Roman Catholic. Considering the prevalent horror of "Popery," the fanatical agitation concerning the second marriage of the Duke of York, and Rupert's position as the popular hero, it may be that Francesca's religion made him unwilling to bring her forward publicly. But, be the exact facts of his connection with her what they may, that bond was probably the true reason for his obdurate refusal to hear of any other marriage.

The later history of Francesca is sufficiently curious. In consequence of her own avoidance of the Court she had no powerful friends in England, and on Rupert's death, she sought refuge with his sister Sophie. The kindly Electress received her as a sister, though she quite realised the difficulty of proving her right to the name. "She says she was married to my brother," wrote Sophie, "but it will be very difficult to prove; and because she has always behaved herself honourably, she has no friends at Court."[[54]]

Of Dudley his aunt wrote as "the noble Dudley Rupert," and she actively assisted him to make good his claims to the property left him by his father.[[55]] After his death she endeavoured to get his possessions transferred to his mother, and wrote on the subject both to James II and to Lord Craven. "It will help her to enter a convent," she said, "for the poor woman will be inconsolable."[[56]]

But the lively Irish woman, devout, though she was, had no taste for the cloister, and preferred to remain at Sophie's Court, where she was greatly beloved. "She is an upright, good and virtuous woman; there are few like her; we all love her!"[[57]] declared the Electress. In a later letter she refers to the lively wit of Francesca, "who makes us all laugh,"[[58]]

Evidently she accompanied Sophie on her visits to other potentates, and by William III she was accorded almost royal rank. In 1700 she went with Sophie to visit him at his Palace at Loo, and was there admitted to the royal table. "The King ate in the back stairs, without an armchair, with only the two Electresses, the Princess, and the Irish Lady (Francesca), the Electoral Prince, and the Prince of Hesse," says an Englishman, writing to a friend. "The rest of the company dined at the other tables below."[[59]]

After the English Revolution of 1688 Francesca became a staunch and active Jacobite.[[60]] She made no secret of her views, and even stimulated Sophie's own sympathy for her exiled relatives. The envoys of William III and of Queen Anne inveighed bitterly against "one Madame Bellamont, a noted lady, who is in favour with the Electress, has been her chief confidante, and to her all the discontented politicians address themselves, Papists and Sectaries. She is of the former communion, and I may safely say she is one of the most silly creatures that ever was born and bred in it, to say nothing of the scandal her person hath so justly deserved."[[61]] The same writer asserted that Francesca was the only person who could speak English at the Electoral Court; and frequent references to her are found in the despatches of himself and his successor. "A Lady whom they call ye Lady Bellamont," says one, "whose character ye well know already. She was Mistress, and she pretends married, to Prince Rupert, and as she is a zealous Roman Catholic so she seems to be a faithful friend to the Court of St. Germains, but is nevertheless used here with much kindness and civility."[[62]]

In 1708 Francesca undertook a journey to France on Jacobite business, but, opposed though her actions were to Sophie's interests, they could not diminish that lady's love for her. The Electress, declared the enraged English envoys, was as much enamoured as her brother had been.[[63]] And so she remained until Francesca's death in August 1708, when she wrote mournfully to one of her nieces: "I have lost my good, honourable, charitable Madame Bellamont."[[64]]

Strange enough was the position of the Jacobite lady in the Hanoverian Court, but the situation was rendered yet more complicated by the presence of Rupert's daughter, Ruperta, as the wife of Brigadier-General Emanuel Scrope Howe, William III's "envoy extraordinary to the most Serene House of Brunswick Lunenburg." The mother of Ruperta was a far less reputable person than was Francesca Bard. Rupert had, as we have seen, kept himself apart from much of the wickedness of Charles II's court, but in the summer of 1668 he was unhappily persuaded to accompany his cousin to Tunbridge Wells. There he fell a victim to the charms of the actress, Margaret Hughes.[[65]] This woman obtained considerable influence over him, and he purchased for her a house at Hammersmith; also he left to her and his daughter, in equal shares, all that remained of his personal property, after the claims of Dudley and his servants had been satisfied. This, when all had been realised, amounted to about £6,000 each; not an extravagant provision, but then Rupert did not die rich.

Occasional mention of Mrs. Hughes is found in contemporary letters. In 1670 her brother, who was in Rupert's service, was killed by one of the King's servants, in a dispute over the rival charms of Peg Hughes and Nell Gwyn.[[66]] A little later, Sophie informed the Elector that the woman was in high favour at Windsor, and would, she feared, get possession of the Queen of Bohemia's jewels. "Ein jeder seiner Weis gefelt!" she concluded sarcastically.[[67]] In another letter she wrote that the Danish Ambassador thought Mrs. Hughes very modest. "I was going to say the most modest of the Court, but that would be no great praise!"[[68]] She seems, however, to have put slight faith in the assurance, for she earnestly desired Ruperta's marriage, on the grounds that she could get no good from her mother.[[69]] It was said that Rupert, when dying, had sent his Garter to the King, with the request that it, together with the hand of Ruperta, might be bestowed on Charles's son, Lord Burford.[[70]] With this request the King did not comply; and about 1696 Ruperta married Emmanuel Howe, son of Mr. John Howe of Langar, in Nottinghamshire.

For some time the marriage was kept a secret, for Howe feared the displeasure of the then King, William III. At last, just before his departure to Hanover, he permitted the Duke of Albemarle to break the news to the King. William was pleased to be gracious, and even recommended Ruperta to Sophie's notice, saying: "She is very modest, and lives like an angel with her husband."[[71]] The husband in question met with Sophie's approval, for she thought him "a fine man, rich, and in a good position."[[72]] With Francesca he had a double cause of enmity, both public and private, and he wrote of her as virulently as his predecessors had done, declaring that she "has done her endeavours continually to cross my transactions here for the Queen's service;"[[73]] and again,—"She is indeed a very simple creature, but as malitious and violent as is possible for anything to bee."[[74]]

Nevertheless the large-hearted Electress made her niece almost as welcome as she had made her reputed sister-in-law, and the Jacobite intrigante and the Orange Ambassadress, both so closely connected with Rupert, seem to have contrived to reside in comparative peace, under the protection of the mother of the house of Hanover.

But for the bar sinister the claim of Ruperta to the English throne would have preceded that of Sophie's son, George I. It has sometimes been regretted that Rupert left no legitimate child who might have reigned in George's stead; but it may be safely conjectured that the fact would not have been a subject of regret with Rupert himself. He would have been the last person to wish that any child of his should supplant the house of Stuart, which he had so long and so faithfully served. Honest in all his dealings, faithful to his friends, and unswervingly loyal to his king he had ever been, and in his old age he would not have turned traitor. Loyalty and strength were the key-notes of his character. Never did he break his given word, with friend and foe alike he scrupulously kept faith, and whatsoever he found to do, he did it with all his might. In all things he had the courage of his opinions; and the rigid temperance which he practised from his earliest youth, in an age and a country where drinking was almost universal, shows an unusual independence of character, and an unusual degree of self-respect.

His private life, if judged by the standard of the present day, was far from virtuous, but it was virtue itself when compared with the practice of those who were his daily associates. His exceptional powers of mind raised him above the ordinary intellectual level; his personal valour surpassed all common courage! But, if his talents and virtues were in the superlative degree, so also were his failings. His consciousness of his own powers made him over-confident, impatient of advice, intolerant of contradiction. His jealous pride rendered him incapable of filling the second place. With advancing years these faults were somewhat amended,—for Rupert was too wise not to profit by experience; but, as his hot temper and youthful insolence had won him the hatred of Charles I's courtiers, so his cold cynicism and haughty disdain made him detested of the Court of Charles II.

In the coarse and witty memoirs of that brilliant Court, Rupert passes without notice, or with only an occasional satirical reference. One noble writer, Anthony Hamilton, has, however, left a description of him, which, though written in prejudice, is not without its value.

"He was brave and courageous to rashness, but cross-grained, and incorrigibly obstinate. His genius was fertile in mathematical experiments, and he had some knowledge of chemistry. He was polite to extravagance when there was no occasion for it; but haughty and rude where it was his interest to conciliate. He was tall and ungracious. He had a hard, stern expression even when he wished to please, and when he was out of temper his countenance was truly terrifying"—("une physiognomic vraiment de reprouvé").[[75]]

Such was the view of a courtier; Rupert's friends and inferiors saw him in another light. Beneath the cynical exterior the Prince had a kind heart still; his personal followers loved him; the poor blessed him for his charity; the trades-people remembered with wondering gratitude his "just and ready payment of their bills;" the sailors looked to him as the "seaman's friend;" impecunious scholars and inventors sought, not in vain, his aid and countenance; the distressed Cavaliers appealed to him in well-founded confidence that they would be heard and helped.[[76]] "In respect of his private life," says Campbell, writing while the memory of the Prince still dwelt among the living, "he was so just, so beneficent, so courteous, that his memory remained dear to all who knew him; this I say of my own knowledge, having often heard old people in Berkshire speak in raptures of Prince Rupert!"[[77]]

[[1]] Briefwechsel der Herzogin Sophie mit Karl Ludwig von der Pfalz. p. 38. Sophie to Karl. 21 Sept. 1660.

[[2]] Memorien der Herzogin Sophie, pp. 64-67.

[[3]] Briefwechsel des Herzogin Sophie mit Karl Ludwig. p. 35. Sophie to Karl, 1660.

[[4]] Ibid. pp. 371-3. 24 Aug. 1679.

[[5]] Ibid. p. 374. 4 Sept. 1679.

[[6]] Ibid. p. 371. 15 Aug. 1679.

[[7]] Briefe der Prinzessin Elizabeth Charlotte von Orleans an die Raugräfinnen. 7 Aug. 1699. p. 43. ed. 1843.

[[8]] Strickland. Queens of Scotland, VIII. p. 403.

[[9]] Green's Princesses, VI. p. 61.

[[10]] Bromley Letters, p. 354. 20/30 May, 1665.

[[11]] Bromley, p. 226. 31 Oct. 1661.

[[12]] Bromley, p. 254. 20/30 May, 1665.

[[13]] Briefe der Herzogin Sophie, p. 48.

[[14]] Dom. State Papers. Chas. II. 103. 40. Rupert to Arlington. Oct. 11, 1644.

[[15]] Briefe der Herzogin. p. 133.

[[16]] Ibid. p. 116.

[[17]] Ibid. 133.

[[18]] Dom. Entry Book. Record Office, 31. fol. 21.

[[19]] Briefe der Herzogin, 9 July, 1669, p. 141.

[[20]] Bromley Letters, p. 291.

[[21]] Ibid. p. 236.

[[22]] Briefwechsel der Herzogin mit Karl Ludwig, p. 179. Karl to Sophie, 5 Mar. 1674.

[[23]] Briefe der Herzogin, p. 175. 24 Jan. 1674.

[[24]] Ibid. p. 315. 10 Feb. 1678.

[[25]] Ibid. p. 385, 28 Oct. 1679.

[[26]] Strickland's Elizabeth Stuart. Queens of Scotland, VIII. p. 210.

[[27]] Briefe der Herzogin Sophie an die Raugräfen, etc. p. 32. 27 Dec. 1682.

[[28]] Briefwechsel mit Karl Ludwig, pp. 348. 329. 7 Feb. 1679 and 25 June, 1678.

[[29]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 17. 14 Mar. 1680.

[[30]] Briefe. p. 11. 20 Dec. 1680.

[[31]] Ibid. p. 17.

[[32]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 32. 27 Dec. 1682.

[[33]] Strickland. Queens of Scotland, VIII. p. 334. Briefwechsel der Herzogin mit Karl Ludwig.

[[34]] Strickland. Queens of Scotland, VIII. p. 345.

[[35]] Strickland. Queens of England, X. p. 313.

[[36]] Memoir of Rupert, Preface.

[[37]] Queens of England, X. p. 313.

[[38]] Renée de la Querouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.

[[39]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. 9, 18 Sept. 1682. Morrison MSS.

[[40]] Clar. State Papers. Cal. Vol. II. Fol. 1271. News Letter, 8 July, 1653.

[[41]] Bromley Letters, p. 252, 22 Mar. 1664.

[[42]] Cal. Dom. S. P. 1660, pp. 300, 331.

[[43]] Wood's Athense Oxouiensis. ed. 1815. Vol. II. Fasti I. p. 490. Campbell II. 250.

[[44]] Wills from Doctor's Commons, p. 142.

[[45]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 33. 12 Mar. 1683.

[[46]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 49. Campbell, p. 250. Vol. II.

[[47]] Hist. MSS. Com. IX. 3. p. 36.

[[48]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. V. App. I. p. 187. Sutherland MSS. Aug. 1686. Autobiography of Sir John Bramston. p. 236. Camden Society.

[[49]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. VII. p. 479b. Verney MSS.

[[50]] Add. MSS. 28898. fol. 21. Brit. Mus.

[[51]] Since going to press the author has been shown a document purporting to be the marriage certificate of Prince Rupert and the Lady Francesca Bard; it is dated July 30 1664, and signed by Henry Biguell, Minister (Vicar of Petersham).

[[52]] Cf. Marriage of Geo. Wm. Duke of Hanover with Eleonore D'Olbreuse. His children were excluded from succession.

[[53]] Briefe der Prinzessin Elizabeth Charlotte, ed. Menzel. 1843. p. 86.

[[54]] Briefe der Kurfürstin Sophie an die Raugräfen, p. 84. 12 Mar. 1680.

[[55]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 49. 9 Sept. 1686.

[[56]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 49.

[[57]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 152. 11 Feb. 1697.

[[58]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 269. 1 Oct 1704.

[[59]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. 12. App. 3. MSS. of Earl Cowper, II. p. 404.

[[60]] A Jacobite at the Court of Hanover. Eng. Hist. Review. F. F. Chance.

[[61]] Regencies. Record Office. 2. 3. 12 Sept. 1702.

[[62]] Regencies. 3. 19 Sept. 1704.

[[63]] Add MSS. 23908. fol. 82. Brit. Mus.

[[64]] Briefe an die Raugräfen, p. 285. 16 Aug. 1708.

[[65]] Hamilton's Mémoires du Comte de Grammont. ed. 1876. pp. 242-243.

[[66]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. 12. Rutland MSS. II. 17.

[[67]] Briefwechsel mit Karl Ludwig, p. 194. 3 July, 1674.

[[68]] Briefwechsel mit Karl Ludwig, p. 368. 6 July, 1679.

[[69]] Briefe an die Raugräfen. p. 149. 4-14 Dec. 1696.

[[70]] Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. 7. p. 480b. Verney MSS.

[[71]] Briefe der Kurfürstin Sophie an die Raugräfen, p. 183, 26 Oct. 1698.

[[72]] Ibid.

[[73]] Regencies. 4 Jan., Feb. 1706.

[[74]] Ibid. 4, 22 May, 1708.

[[75]] Hamilton's De Grammont. ed. 1876. p. 242.

[[76]] Hist. Memoir of Prince Rupert, ed. 1683. Preface.

[[77]] Campbell's Admirals, II. p. 250.