About the same period a duel took place between the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Buckingham. The latter, it appears, had debauched Lady Shrewsbury, the daughter of the Earl of Cardigan, and was challenged by her husband. The King, who had been apprised of the intended meeting, commanded the Duke of Albemarle to secure Buckingham, and confine him to his house. Albemarle, by all accounts, wilfully neglected the royal command; and the meeting took place. The Duke was attended by Captain Holman and Sir J. Jenkins; and Lord Shrewsbury was accompanied by Sir J. Talbot, a gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and Lord Bernard Howard, son of the Earl of Arundel. The parties met at Barnes Elms. According to the custom of the day, the seconds also engaged each other. The combat on both sides was long and desperate. Buckingham ran Lord Shrewsbury through the body; Sir John Talbot was severely wounded in both arms, and Jenkins was left dead on the field. Buckingham and the other seconds were only slightly wounded. It was reported, that during this murderous conflict Lady Shrewsbury, in a page’s attire, was holding Buckingham’s horse in a neighbouring thicket, to facilitate his escape in the event of his having killed her husband. Such a circumstance is very possible, as showing the profligacy of the times, since it was reported, and generally believed, that Lady Shrewsbury had not only been most anxious that the meeting should take place, but actually slept the same night with her paramour in the very shirt stained with the blood from the wound he had received as her champion.
The King, by proclamation, pardoned all parties concerned in the death of Sir J. Jenkins, but declared his determination not to extend his gracious mercy to future offenders. After this duel Buckingham, patronised by Lady Castlemaine, openly took Lady Shrewsbury to live with him in his own house; and when the Duchess ventured to expostulate on such a line of conduct, adding, that it was out of the question that she and his mistress should live under the same roof, he quietly replied, “That is also my opinion, madam, and I have therefore ordered your coach to carry you to your father.” Buckingham and Lady Shrewsbury afterwards lived together at Clifden.
Clifden’s proud alcove,
The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and love.
After the death of the Earl of Shrewsbury this worthy pair dissipated the estate of the young earl; when the matter was brought before the House of Lords, and an award was made that the Duke should not converse or cohabit with the Countess in future, and that each should enter into a security to the King’s Majesty in the sum of 10,000l. for that purpose.
Sir William Coventry, a commissioner of the treasury, having been obliged by the vexation he had experienced from Buckingham, to resign his office, sent him a challenge, which was carried by Captain Holmes, one of the favourite’s creatures, to the King, who immediately committed Coventry to the Tower.
The following anecdote fully illustrates the profligacy and venality of that period:—
“Gondemar was at this period one of the most dissolute and fashionable characters. He was then Spanish ambassador at our Court, and lived at Ely House, in Holborn, and his passage to Court was ordinarily through Drury-lane, Covent-garden being then an inclosed field. His gallantry was so renowned and sought for, that it is stated as he passed by, ladies would show themselves at their balconies to “present him their civilities” as he was carried in a litter, his infirmities being such that he could neither walk nor ride. One day passing by the Lady Jacob’s house in Drury Lane, she exposed herself for a salutation; he was not wanting to her, but she, moving nothing but her mouth, gaped wide open upon him. He wondered at the Lady’s incivility, but thought it might be haply a yawning fit that took her at that time; for trial whereof, the next day he finds her in the same place; his courtesies were again accosted with no better expression than an extended mouth. Whereupon he sent a gentleman to her, to let her know that the ladies of England were more gracious to him than to encounter his respects with such affront. She answered that it was true that he had purchased some of their favours at a dear rate, and she had a mouth to be stopped as well as others! Gondemar finding the cause of the emotion of her mouth, sent her a present as an antidote, which cured her of the distemper.”
Buckingham’s marriage was an act of reparation of his profligacy. He had seduced the only daughter of the Earl of Rutland, and carried her to his lodgings at Whitehall. After having kept her there for some time he returned her to her father, who intimated to the royal favourite, “that he had too much of the gentleman to suffer such an indignity, and if he did not marry his daughter immediately, to restore her honour, no power should protect him from his just revenge.” She was heiress to a considerable fortune, and Buckingham complied with the Earl’s injunction.
In 1661, a quarrel arose in London between several ambassadors, which proved likely to lead to serious consequences. Philip IV. of Spain had sent the Baron de Batteville to London, where the Comte d’Estrade was ambassador for France. The Comte de Brabe, the Swedish ambassador, had made his first entry in town, when a dispute arose amongst these ministers regarding precedence, each being anxious to take the lead of the other. The Baron de Batteville had cut the traces of the carriage of the French ambassador, and when the domestics of the latter sought to retaliate, they found that chains had been used instead of ordinary traces. The King of France recalled his minister, and the Spanish monarch sent the Comte de Fuentes to Paris to apologize for the conduct of his ambassador. A duel had been expected, as the Comte d’Estrade had been engaged in the hostile meeting between the Duc de Guise and the Comte de Coligny, and was considered a very punctilious person in such matters; but the parties very wisely had referred the affair to their respective courts.