At this point it may be as well to see what manner of man the English prince, fated from childhood to a life of exile, appeared to his contemporaries at this period of his life.

CHAPTER III
JAMES STUART

James, the second son of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria, was born on the 15th of October 1633, being baptized by Laud on the 24th,[[49]] and like his elder brother was bandied about, hither and thither, during the progress of the great Civil War, in a manner and among associates unlikely to have a satisfactory effect on the character of a boy.

[49]. “Adventures of King James II.,” by the author of the “Life of Sir Kenelm Digby,” introduction by F. A. Gasquet, D.D.

It can scarcely be a matter for surprise that it was so. The King, more and more harassed and preoccupied as time went on, could hardly be supposed to give adequate consideration to his sons’ surroundings, although, as we have seen, he did his best for the elder in committing him to the guardianship of Edward Hyde.

In 1648 James was named Lord High Admiral of England, a barren title in the state of affairs as they then were, but before this he had passed through some exciting adventures. He was in Oxford when that loyal city surrendered to Fairfax in 1646, two years earlier, and with his sister Elizabeth and their little brother Henry was taken to St James’s Palace, where they were detained as wards of the Parliament. Although the children’s intercourse with their father had of late been of necessity intermittent,[[50]] yet they loved him very dearly, as he had been always tender and indulgent to them. On this point there is a pathetic story of James, at that time but twelve years of age. For some time he had been kept in ignorance of the King’s imprisonment, but in January 1647 “one of his attendants, a servant of the Earl of Northumberland, told him of it, to which he replied, How durst any rogues to use his Father after that manner! and then fell a-weeping. The man told him he would inform his Lord of what had been said, whereupon the Duke took a long bow then in the place to have shot him, had not another behind him held his hand. For this it is reported the Earl of Northumberland will have the Duke whipped, but whether it hath been done I know not.”[[51]]

[50]. “Anecdotal Memories of English Princes.” D. Adams.

[51]. Clarendon State Papers, vol. ii., Appendix.

It is easy to picture the scene. The insolent serving-man, “armed with a little brief authority,” meanly rejoicing in the opportunity to sting a fallen prince; and the boy, the passionate tears still wet on his young, flushed face, wild with indignant wrath at the bitter news and his own helplessness. One cannot bear to think that such hot, impetuous affection and grief should have been so requited.