Richard Talbot

“ Talbot's brother Peter says he denied the charge, ‘swearing and damning himself’ (Spicilegium Ossoriense, ii. 161) ; but another brother, Gilbert, was certainly in correspondence with Thurloe, and the Talbots hung closely together (Cal. of Clarendon Papers, iii. 70) . Richard Talbot served with Condé in June 1656 (ib. p. 141) . In spite of much opposition he was given the command of the Duke of York's regiment, consisting chiefly of Munster men (Carte, Ormonde, ii. 234) . ”

“ TALBOT, PETER (1620–1680) , titular archbishop of Dublin, born in 1620, was the second son of Sir William Talbot [q. v.] , and elder brother of Richard Talbot, earl of Tyrconnel [q. v.] He went to Portugal in 1635, joined the Jesuits there, and completed his theological training at Rome. He lectured in moral theology at Antwerp, and then went again to Portugal. He was in Ireland during part of the civil war, his order being opposed to Giovanni Battista Rinuccini [q. v.] , and inclined to make terms with Ormonde [see Butler, James, first Duke] . ”

“ Said Lord Arthur Talbot. “I have never borne arms against the nation. I have belonged to no camp. I have arrived in England but this evening, and came hither from the vessel.”
The puritans forgot themselves, for they gave a shout of joy.
And even the bitter Captain Richard Forth was heartily glad to find that Arthur Talbot’s blood had not been shed.
So the young bridegroom did not die, and the bride did not therefore destroy him, and his marriage at last took place, sanctified by the glorious truth that he, the bridegroom, had saved a human life. ”

“ On 15 April 1660 he was elected to the office of physician to poor strangers. As the older physicians died off he gradually became a regular Bath physician, often, as was then the custom, taking patients of distinction to reside in his house. Richard Talbot, earl of Tyrconnel, stayed with him for five weeks from April 1686, and was given Quercetanus's tartar pills for several nights, followed by two quarts of the King's Bath water in the morning for several days, as severe measures were needed to fit him within two or three months to take up his Irish government. ”

“ The stranger immediately turned towards Richard, to whom he was introduced by the name of Mr. Augustus Talbot.
This gentleman and the baronet then conversed together for a few moments; and Chichester, drawing near Markham, seized the opportunity of observing, "Talbot is an excellent fellow—a regular John Bull—not over polished, but enormously rich and well connected. You will see that he is not more cultivated in mind than in manners; but he would go to the devil to do any one a service; and, somehow or another, you can't help liking the fellow when once you know him." ”

“ To most people Mr. Talbot's death was the first intimation of his ever having lived, and one rather resents for the old man the one day's publicity which death enforced upon him. It was indeed well for him that he was dead, for such unwonted excitement would surely have killed him. This important coming and going of undertakers; this populous invasion of friends talking like muffled drums in the front parlour, and passing up and down and up and down the stairs, in and out and in and out of his still room; this throng of neighbours awaiting him in the streets ”

“ Talbot insisted upon practising his vocal powers by singing a hunting song, and was deeply indignant with his friends because they would not join in the very impressive but somewhat common chorus of "Fal de lal lal, fal de lal la." It is impossible to say what Mr. Talbot would have done next; but, much to the horror of the baronet, Mr. Chichester, and Diana—and equally to the surprise of Richard Markham and Walter Sydney—he suddenly lost his balance, and fell heavily upon the floor and into a sound sleep simultaneously. ”

“ TALBOT, CHARLES, Baron Talbot of Hensol (1685–1737) , lord chancellor, eldest son of William Talbot (1659?–1730) [q. v.] , successively bishop of Oxford, Salisbury, and Durham, by Catharine, daughter of Richard King, alderman of London, was baptised at Chippenham on 21 Dec. 1685. He was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, whence he matriculated on 25 March 1701–2. He graduated B.A. on 12 Oct. 1704, being elected fellow of All Souls' the same year, and was created D.C.L. on 29 Aug. ”

“ The night when the attack on Coalchester was planned was marked, as I have said, by rabbit-pie. Mrs. Talbot would hardly have understood the significance of that rabbit-pie, though in the course of her occasional bobbings in and out of the room, to see that the young men were doing justice to her food,--she had a curious notion that young men never ate enough,--she would hear snatches of what she called "deep talk," or shake her old head at her coming son-in-law, whom she already adored and mothered, with a "Law! what a boy it is!" ”

“ Johnson was one of his orderlies. Although it did not lie in the path of his duty, he took the greatest delight in doing all sorts of little odd jobs for Talbot. So unobtrusive he was about it all, that for some time Talbot hardly noticed that some one was trying to make him comfortable. When he did, by mutual agreement Johnson became his servant and faithful follower through everything. The man was perfectly casual and apparently unaffected by the heaviest shell-fire. It is absurd to say that a man "doesn't mind shell-fire." Every one dislikes it, and gets nervous under it. ”

“ It was during this time that Talbot developed a positive genius for disappearing whenever a gray habit came into sight. The nuns were splendid women: kind and hospitable and eager for our comfort, but they did not like to be imposed upon, however slightly. The first thing that Frenchwomen do—and these nuns were no exception—when soldiers are billeted with them, is to learn who is the officer in charge, in order that they may lose no time in bringing their complaints to him. The Mother Superior of the Hospice selected Talbot with unerring zeal. ”

“ The soldier of to-day has his drab and no music at all, unless he sings. And every man in an army is not gifted with a voice.
So Talbot looked with joy on the charming dresses and still more charming faces of the women and girls who passed him. Even the men in their civilian clothes were good to look upon.
Riding on French trains is very soothing unless one is in a hurry. But unlike a man in civil life, the soldier has no interest in the speed of trains. The civilian takes it as a personal affront if his train is a few minutes late, or if it does not go as fast as he thinks it should. ”

“ The aforesaid house, which four times sheltered both Mary of Scotland and once at least Lord Leicester, is 180now gone; in place of it is a hotel, and there is no trace of the “pleasant warm bowling-green planted about with large sycamore trees.” This, according to another authority, was part of its garden, and it was Gilbert Talbot’s duty to entertain his father’s dazzling guest and the Queen’s favourite in this pleasant spot. During the week of this memorable visit the young man never lost an opportunity of furthering his family’s cause and of sounding influential persons at all seasons. ”

“ There were thirty men in all who worked for him, and by them all he was respected and feared rather than liked. There was a chilling reserve wrapped about him, an utter absence of ingenuousness and frankness of character, that prevented any affection growing up amongst the men for their master, and his attitude towards them was summed up in the answer he gave to an acquaintance who once asked him how he got on with his men, if he had any friends amongst them. Talbot had raised his dark, marked eyebrows and merely said coldly, "I don't make friends of miners." ”

“ Hill kindly. “I am so glad that Miss Slater allowed you to come to tea.{98}”
But Margot had not come from the Bush. Her shyness disappeared instantly, as she rectified the mistake. “The Bush! Oh, no. Nobody lives in the Bush, you know. We’ve gone through. Once we camped there. But nobody, except kangaroos and....”
“Oh, mother; talking of kangaroos,” the impatient Stella burst in, “Margot’s most awfully interested in horses, and she told us all kinds of things in the dorm. She even likes Jerry. And I want to take her straightaway, before tea, to see those horses on the gipsies’ camping-ground. ”

“ The choristers stand surpliced, looking eastwards to where the sun is rearing his red shoulder. The crowd on the old lead roof is thickening. Undergraduates in cap and gown; fat Fellows, thin Fellows; young ladies, old ladies—every moment a new head, with an expression of relief upon its features at having come to the end of its corkscrew scramble, appears at the head of the ladder that closes the climb. Talbot is not paying much attention to any of them, least of all, perhaps, to his own party, when a voice that has surely a familiar ring in it brings him back to the present. ”

“ It is most fortunate. We need not now attempt an escape, for no one can suspect us, and before he recovers, we shall probably be in Havana. Let us place him in his room and retire; the vile, pandering steward will not dare to enter during the night, and in the morning, I will be hovering near. It is useless, no human efforts can awake them now,” he added, as he saw Talbot endeavoring to arouse the maiden: “but they are safe, and that they may continue so, we must not lose a moment.” ”

“ Fortune seemed to have favoured him, and to have smoothed the way for this intended harangue: he was alone with her in her chamber; and, what was still better, she was rallying him concerning Miss Boynton; saying, “that they were undoubtedly much obliged to him for attending them on their journey, whilst poor Miss Boynton had fainting fits at Tunbridge, at least twice every day, for love of him.” Upon this discourse, Talbot thought it right to begin the recital of his sufferings and fidelity, when Miss Temple, with a paper in her hand, entered the room. ”

“ YORK.
He dies, we lose; I break my warlike word;
We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get,
All long of this vile traitor Somerset.
LUCY.
Then God take mercy on brave Talbot’s soul,
And on his son young John, who two hours since
I met in travel toward his warlike father.
This seven years did not Talbot see his son;
And now they meet where both their lives are done.
YORK.
Alas, what joy shall noble Talbot have
To bid his young son welcome to his grave?
Away! Vexation almost stops my breath,
That sunder’d friends greet in the hour of death. ”

“ It is not without very considerable difficulty, not without some sacrifice of truth, some vague promises, that Talbot at length succeeds in making his escape without having tied himself down to any special day for making his appearance at that house from whose doors the wife has warned him off with as great an eagerness as—it cannot be greater than—the husband now shows to force him into them. ”

“ If there is one hour of the day at which the little Red House looks conspicuously better than another, it is that young one when the garden grass is still wet to the travelling foot, and the great fire-rose in the east has not yet soared high enough to swallow the shadows. So Talbot thinks, as he takes his way next morning to his love's little russet-coloured home. She has promised over-night to rise betimes, to give him an early tryst before he sets off on his dusty journey back into the world without her. ”

“ The only one that took my fancy was related to me in Paris, where he was as usual in the midst of the gayest of the gay, recklessly spending his money, and oftentimes resorting for resources to the gambling-table, where at last he was thoroughly pigeoned.
Talbot had tried in vain all the usual means of recruiting his empty purse. Being a Roman Catholic, like most of the members of one of the oldest families in Great Britain, he was a regular attendant upon the ceremonies of his Church, and acquainted with all the clergy in Paris ”

“ An’ there’s three times this blessed day as I’ve bin down to doctor’s. An’ now he’s on his way up, an’ he ses that sure as fate it’s the scarling fever. What with the ’orspital for the baby; and the men ’aving lorsted Rowsley Fair with it all——”
The woman began to weep.
“What!” yelled Stella.
It was the last word that she uttered within the gipsy tent. The next was addressed to Margot, whom she met returning speedily over the moor in the direction of the camp.
“The men have got the horses back all right,” she shouted. “I say—What! d’you mean to say you haven’t got the baby?” ”

“ About an hour before, Talbot, to whom the night previous had been a sleepless one, although racked with anxiety, had fallen into a light and fitful slumber, when he was instantly aroused by a hand being laid upon his chest, and a voice whispering in his ear, “Do not speak, but follow; imitate my motions as exactly as you can. For God’s sake be cautious, you know not how much is at stake.”
The speaker, who was lying beside him on the deck, then rolled over toward the hatchway; but when the sentry turned in his round, he remained perfectly still. ”

“ It was surprising how easily it followed him over the floor, down the bush track and on to the beach. But there was not much on it. What there was he contrived to bundle into the canoe, and with the dawn Kau was a blue smudge on the eastern horizon.
An outrigger is hard to beat "full-and-by," and the wind held as only a "trade" knows how. For a day and a night and part of yet another day Talbot sat at the steering paddle, speeding he knew not whither, provided it was away from Kau. And during that time, and for many days to follow, he was a man possessed. ”

“ We discovered Johnny and Yank, and pounded each other’s backs, and had drinks, and generally worked off our high spirits. Then we adjourned to a corner, lit cigars–a tremendous luxury for us miners–and plunged into recital. Talbot listened to us attentively, his eyes bright with interest, occasionally breaking in on the narrator to ask one of the others to supplement some too modestly worded statement.
“Well!” he sighed when we had finished. “You boys have certainly had a time! What an experience! You’ll never forget it!” He brooded a while. “I suppose the world will never see its like again. ”