SIR WALTER VANE,

Appointed 12th December, 1673.

Sir Walter Vane, fifth son of the celebrated Sir Henry Vane, secretary to King Charles I., served in the royal cause during the rebellion. He afterwards distinguished himself on the continent, and having acquired the character of a brave and meritorious officer, was advanced to the rank of marshal of the field in the Spanish service. On the decease of Colonel Robert Sidney, in 1668, King Charles II. conferred the colonelcy of the Holland regiment (now third foot, or the buffs) on Sir Walter Vane; who, in the winter of 1673-4, was promoted to the rank of major-general in the English army, and appointed commandant of the British troops in the pay of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and colonel of one of the English regiments (now Sixth foot) ordered to be raised for the service of the States-General. He joined the army in the field, commanded by the Prince of Orange, and signalized himself on the 1st of August, 1674, at the battle of Seneffe, where he was mortally wounded. He was interred in the great church at the Hague, and a mural monument was erected in the cloister of the said church, with the following inscription:—

Hic juxta reponuntur exuviae
WALTERI VANE,
militis,
filii quinti;
Henrici Vane
militis,
Carolo Primo Magnae Britanniae Regi
A sacris conciliis et secretarii Principal.
Qui a serenissimo principe
Auriaco
Campo præfectus,
media inter agmina,
forti manu, sed fortiori animo
in
Prælio Seneffensi
Hostium impetum et rabiem repellens,
Cæco sed inexpugnabili marte percussus,
Montii oppido quod est Hannoniæ
Anno Dom. CIƆ.IƆC.LXXIIII
Ætatis suæ LV.
III Nonas Augusti
Invictam ver vulnera reddidit
Animam Deo[40].

TRANSLATION.

Close to this spot are deposited the remains of
WALTER VANE,
a soldier,
Fifth son of
Henry Vane
soldier,
Privy Councillor and chief secretary to
Charles the first, King of Great Britain.
He was made marshal of the field,
by his serene highness
Auriacus.

And while repelling, in the midst of his troops, with a brave hand, but with a braver soul, a furious attack of the enemy, at the battle of Seneffe, was struck with a blind, but inevitable blow, and in the town of Montium, which is a town of Hannonia,

In the year of our Lord 1674
In the 55th year of his own age
On the 3rd day of August,
He gave up his soul, unconquered by his wounds,
To God.