Duke of Shrewsbury

“ In due time matters were so far advanced in spite of obstacles thrown in the way by the allies, that the Duc d'Aumont was sent as ambassador into England; and the Duke of Hamilton was named as ambassador for France. This last, however, losing his life in a duel with Lord Mohun, the Duke of Shrewsbury was appointed in his stead.
At the commencement of the new year [1713] the Duke and Duchess of Shrewsbury arrived in Paris. The Duchess was a great fat masculine creature, more than past the meridian, who had been beautiful and who affected to be so still; bare bosomed; her hair behind her ears ”

“ The lives of statesmen who have failed are always interesting, and as English history is full of such the book that may some day record them will be worth both reading and writing. In such a work, of a surety, the career of the first and only Duke of Shrewsbury, who set out not to win fame and fortune, but to do what he believed right, and miserably failed, will be not the least dramatic. ”

“ Yet I was told that the duke of Shrewsbury was pitched on, as a sort of medium between, &c. He is a person of admirable qualities; and if he were somewhat more active, and less timorous in business, no man would be thought comparable to him.
The moderate of the other party seem now content to have a peace, and all our talk and expectations are full of it: but I protest to your grace I know not what to write upon this subject, neither could I tell what to say if I had the honour to be with you. ”

“ For Shrewsbury's career from the revolution to the close of the century the chief authority is the Private and Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, with King William, leaders of the Whig Party, &c., by Archdeacon Coxe, 1821 (it is here cited as ‘Correspondence’) . This collection includes a few of the letters addressed to Shrewsbury by James Vernon, secretary of state, and published under the title of ‘Letters illustrative of the Reign of William III,’ from 1696 to 1708, by the late G. P. R. James, 3 vols. ”

“ At Sheffield, apart from occasional visits to the baths at Buxton, to Chatsworth, or to the old hall at Hardwick, she remained under Shrewsbury's guardianship for the next fourteen years. During the winter 1571-2 the earl was in London, the queen during his absence being left in charge of Sir Ralph Sadler [q. v.] He had been created a privy councillor in 1571, and he was appointed high steward for the trial of the Duke of Norfolk, whose sentence to death he pronounced 'with weeping eyes' on 16 Jan. 1572; Shrewsbury succeeded the duke as earl marshal. ”

“ However, take my advice; depend not upon him in the least; go to the Duke of Shrewsbury at once, if he be in town, and if not, to Vernon. Try to interest them in favour of the Duke; see what you can allege in his favour. The King has just returned from Holland, you know, and any application made to him now may perhaps be received graciously. Have you anything that you can state in the Duke's favour?"
Wilton recapitulated all that could be said to palliate the error which Laura's father had committed, and Lord Sherbrooke answered eagerly, "That is enough, surely that is enough. ”

“ Shrewsbury could not, for very shame, argue that plea.
"I think you have another reason, your Grace," added William, kindly and a little sadly. "And I am an old enough friend for you to confide in me——"
Still the Duke could not speak, but trembled and looked into the fire.
"You are a man of honour," said the King. "I have and do trust you. I shall never forget the services you rendered me, when such services were vital indeed; I believe I do not lack gratitude; I should never—I could never—desert a friend." ”

“ The monument of Sir John Talbot of Lacock describes him as born of the most noble family of the Duke of Shrewsbury, which is somewhat confusing. Sir John was descended from John, second Earl of Shrewsbury, who died in 1460, and his monument was erected when the twelfth earl and first duke was living. ”

“ The queen, weary of these refined mistakes in the French politicks, and fully resolved to be trifled with no longer, sent her determinate orders to the duke of Shrewsbury, to let France know, "That her majesty had hitherto prorogued her parliament, in hopes of accommodating the difficulties in her own treaties of peace and commerce with that crown, as well as settling the interests of her several allies ”

“ Never before had her constancy been of so long a duration; nor had he ever been so submissive and respectful a lover.
This continued until Lord Shrewsbury, who never before had shown the least uneasiness at his lady’s misconduct, thought proper to resent this: it was public enough, indeed, but less dishonourable to her than any of her former intrigues. Poor Lord Shrewsbury, too polite a man to make any reproaches to his wife, was resolved to have redress for his injured honour: he accordingly challenged the Duke of Buckingham ”

“ Judging from the virtuous, no less than the vicious, men on whom she cast her spells, my Lady Shrewsbury, like King Arthur's sister Morgan le Fay, must have possessed the secret of enchantment. Not otherwise can one explain how the Earl of Arran, the noble Duke of Ormond's noble son, became the first and most ardent of her many lovers. This brave and upright young man long languished a slave to the passion with which she had inspired him. Perhaps, so powerful and seductive was her charm, he might never have been freed but for her own caprice. ”

“ It was during this last effort of her charms, that she would have been queen of England, had the king been as free to give his hand as he was to surrender his heart: for it was at this time that the Duke of Richmond took it into his head either to marry her, or to die in the attempt.
A few months after the celebration of the Duke of Monmouth's nuptials, Killegrew, having nothing better to do; fell in love with Lady Shrewsbury; and, as Lady Shrewsbury, by a very extraordinary chance, had no engagement at that time, their amour was soon established. ”

“ Caermarthen's thin face darkened.
"His Majesty doth not know his friends," he said.
"He will not be a party leader," returned Halifax; "but I do doubt whether England will be ever governed save by factions——"
Shrewsbury came up to the table and looked round the faces of his colleagues. He was by far the youngest of the company, and his soft good-looks were incongruous to the importance of his position; Lord Godolphin, a quiet, thin man, who so far had not opened his lips or taken any notice of anything, now fixed his eyes on Shrewsbury, and kept them there keenly while the Duke spoke. ”

“ To the poor Duchess of Buckingham, who was as saintly as her husband was impious, this was the last straw. "It is impossible for both of us to live under the same roof," she protested, when the Shrewsbury arrived. "So I thought," retorted the Duke, "and therefore I have ordered your carriage to be got ready to carry you back to your father's."
The public, staggered by the contempt with which this brazen couple treated their laws and opinions, were reduced to the usual futile expedient with which virtue when baffled by vice seeks to console itself. ”

“ On the 27th of July, when the queen was dying, the earl of Oxford received his long-delayed dismissal from the office of lord treasurer. On the 30th Shrewsbury and other ministers assembled at Kensington Palace, and being admitted to the queen’s bedchamber Bolingbroke recommended the appointment of Shrewsbury to the vacant treasurership; Anne at once placed the staff of that high ollice in the duke’s hands. When the queen died on the 1st of August Shrewsbury was thus in a position of supreme power with reference to the momentous question of the succession to the crown. ”

“ From extreme height, the ladies descended to extreme lowness, and these head-dresses, more simple; more convenient, and more becoming, last even now. Reasonable people wait with impatience for some other mad stranger who will strip our dames of these immense baskets, thoroughly insupportable to themselves and to others.
Shortly after the Duke of Shrewsbury arrived in Paris, the Hotel de Powis in London, occupied by our ambassador the Duc d'Aumont, was burnt to the ground. ”

“ Macky. He hath not yet been in the administration; is a fine personage, and very beautiful; hath good sense, and is a man of honour. About 30 years old.—Swift. He was a black man, and handsome for a Scot.
NOTE.—The characters on the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of Ranelagh, and Rear-Admiral Byng, have been entirely omitted. ”

“ Norfolk, it was clear, had gone upon the service most reluctantly. He, too, had deeper sympathies with the movement than he cared to avow; but, even from those very sympathies, he was the fittest person to be chosen to suppress it. The rebels professed to have risen in defence of the nobility and the Catholic faith. They would have to fight their way through an army led by the natural head of the party which they desired to serve. [65] The force under Shrewsbury was now at Doncaster, where, on the 25th, the Duke joined him. ”

“ John, the second earl of Shrewsbury, was the 1st earl’s son by his first wife. He had been knighted at Leicester in 1426 along with the infant king Henry VI., had served in the wars of France, and been made chancellor of Ireland during his father’s lifetime, when he was only Lord Talbot. Afterwards he was made lord high treasurer of England, and in 1459 was rewarded for his services to the house of Lancaster with a grant of 100 marks a year out of the lordship of Wakefield, forfeited by Richard, duke of York. ”

“ The Duke left behind him one of the wickedest lives of the most dissolute Courts of English history; but he left nothing viler than the name of Lord Shrewsbury's Countess, who rode in boy's clothes as a page to the duelling ground, and then held her seducer's horse while he shot her husband. They left him dying and rode back together. That was in 1667; an earlier and a kindlier association of Barn Elms is a resident who afterwards died at Chertsey, Abraham Cowley; later came Jacob Tonson, bibliophile and publisher of Pope and Dryden. ”

“ SHREWSBURY, EARLS OF. The earldom of Shrewsbury, one of the most ancient in the English peerage, dates from the time of William the Conqueror. Roger de Montgomery (c. 1030–1094) , son of another Roger de Montgomery, known as “the Great,” was a councillor of William, duke of Normandy, before his invasion of England, and was probably entrusted by William with the government of Normandy during the expedition of 1066. Roger came to England in the following year and received extensive grants of land in different parts of the kingdom. ”

“ After the homage of the Heir Apparent each Peer of the realm should have followed the traditionary form in the order of his rank and touched the Crown and kissed the King's cheek. This was modified, however, so as to enable each grade of the nobility to perform the function through its representative of oldest patent—the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquess of Winchester, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Viscount Hereford and the Baron de Ros. After this had been done the trumpets once more sounded their acclaims and the audience joined in shouting "God save King Edward." ”

“ William did not deny this, but intimated that such secret dealings with noted Jacobites raised suspicions which Shrewsbury could remove only by accepting the seals. "That," he said, "will put me quite at ease. I know that you are a man of honour, and that, if you undertake to serve me, you will serve me faithfully." So pressed, Shrewsbury complied, to the great joy of his whole party; and was immediately rewarded for his compliance with a dukedom and a garter. ”

“ In 1460, Edward IV. marched with an army of 23,000 men from this town to the battle of Mortimer’s Cross, and he chose this place for the residence of his queen, where she was delivered of her second and third sons, Richard and George Plantagenet.
On the landing of the Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry the Seventh, at Milford Haven, in August, 1485, he determined to march for Shrewsbury. On his arriving at the Welsh Bridge he found the place in a posture of defence, the gates closed against him, and the bailiffs within ready to give their answer. ”

“ Soul of my body! we shall have nothing but rebellion in the land. Answer my questions, I say."
"Anything that your Majesty asks in reason," replied the Countess, "I am willing to answer."
"Well, then," said the King, "tell me, have you been conniving at the marriage of your niece, a lady of the Blood Royal, with one William Seymour, the second son of a pitiful family?"
"As good as your own, sire," replied Lady Shrewsbury, calmly, "only not quite the head of the house."
"Heard ever man the like of that?" exclaimed the King. "As I am a crowned King, I will commit her to the Tower." ”

“ A good courtier always paid this dole to his queen under the guise of a handsome gift, while the nobles and country gentry in their turn were the recipients from their tenants and friends of heterogeneous articles varying from capons, wine, and foodstuffs to gloves, clothes, or furniture.
No one in that great and rich family group, so full of promise, had any notion of the events which would call down upon the Countess the wrath of the Queen, or the fresh accusations which would be hurled against the Earl.
Life just now was as easy as Shrewsbury could ever hope to find it. ”

“ He was early called the King of Hearts, and never, through a long, eventful, and chequered life, lost his right to that name. 315 Shrewsbury was Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire and Colonel of one of the regiments of horse which had been raised in consequence of the Western insurrection. He now refused to act under the board of regulators, and was deprived of both his commissions.
None of the English nobles enjoyed a larger measure of public favour than Charles Sackville Earl of Dorset. He was indeed a remarkable man. ”