Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/785

Rh MONMOUTH 755 forces. Besides the churches the new church of St Mary, completed in 1882, and the church of St Thomas, an Old Norman structure the principal public buildings are the market -house, the town -hall, and Jones s free grammar school in the Tudor style, which dates from 1614. The manufactures of the town are unimportant. The fine scenery of the Wye attracts a large number of tourists. Monmouth was one of the strongholds of the Saxons ; and under the name of Blestium formed one of the stations of the Romans. It was incorporated by Edward VI., and received additional privileges from Queen Mary, James I., and Charles II. It has sent members to parliament since the 27th of Henry VIII., and, along with New port and Usk, forms the Monmouth district of boroughs. The area of the municipal and parliamentary borough is 4983 acres, with a population in 1871 of 5879, and in 1881 of 6111. MONMOUTH, a small manufacturing city of the United States, in Warren county, Illinois, 1 80 miles south west of Chicago by the main line of the Chicago, Burling ton, and Quincy Railroad, and 182 miles north of St Louis, by the St Louis division of the same railway. The Iowa Central Railway passes through the city. An opera- house and Monmouth College are among the principal buildings. The population increased from 4662 in 1870 to 5000 in 1880. The city charter dates from 1852. MONMOUTH, JAMES, DFJKE OF (1649-1685), was the son of Lucy Walters, &quot;a brown, beautiful, bold, but insipid creature,&quot; who became the mistress of Charles II. during his exile at the Hague. He was born at Rotterdam on 9th April 1649. That Charles was his father is more than doubtful, for Lucy Walters had previously lived with Robert Sidney, brother of Algernon, and the boy resem bled him very closely. Charles, however, always recog nized him as his son, and lavished on him an almost doting affection. Until the Restoration he was placed under the care, first of Lord Crofts, and then of the queen-dowager, receiving his education to the age of nine from Roman Catholics, but thenceforward from Protestant tutors. In July 1662 he was sent for by Charles, and at thirteen was placed under the protection of Lady Castlemaine and in the full tide of the worst influences of the court. No formal acknowledgment of his relation to the king was made until his betrothal to Anne Scott, daughter of the earl of Buccleuch, and the wealthiest heiress of Scotland, whom he married in 1665. During 1663 he was made duke of Orkney, duke of Monmouth, and knight of the Garter, and received honorary degrees at both universities. At court he was treated as a prince of the blood. In 1665 he served with credit under the duke of York in the san guinary naval battle off Lowestoft. A captaincy in the Life Guards was given him, and in 1670, on the death of Monk, he was made captain-general of the king s forces. Offices of wealth also were showered upon him, and he was admitted to the privy council. In 1670 Monmouth was with the court at Dover, and it is affirmed by Reresby that the mysterious death of Charles s sister, the duchess of Orleans, was due to her husband s revenge on the dis covery of her intrigue with the duke. It is certain, from an entry by Pepys, that as early as 1666 he had estab lished a character for vice and profligacy. He was the direct author of the attack in December 1670 on Sir John Coventry, and only a few months later received the royal pardon for his share in the wanton murder of a street watchman. De Gramont, in his vivid sketch of Mon mouth, after describing the beauty and bodily prowess for which he was celebrated, notices the fatal emptiness and poverty of his mind : &quot; Tous les avantages du corps par- loient pour lui ; mais son esprit ne disait pas un petit mot en sa faveur. II n avait de sentimens que ce qu on lui en inspirait.&quot; Hitherto Monmouth had been but the spoiled child of a wicked court. Now, however, by no act or will of his own, he began to be a person politically important. As early as 1662 the king s excessive fondness for him had caused anxiety. Even then the fear of a &quot;difference&quot; between Monmouth and James, duke of York, exercised men s minds ; and every caress or promotion kept the fear alive. Who could tell but that, in default of legitimate issue from his queen, Charles might declare Monmouth himself his lawful son ? A civil war would be the certain consequence. Soon after 1670 the matter took a more serious aspect. The anti-popery spirit was rapidly becoming a frenzy, and the succession of James a probability and a terror. Charles was urged to legitimize Monmouth by a declara tion of his marriage with Lucy Walters. He returned answer that, much as he loved the duke, he would rather see him hanged at Tyburn than own him for his legiti mate son. Every attempt, however, was henceforth made, especially by Shaftesbury, to accustom people to this idea. He was taught to regard himself as the representative of the Protestant interest, and his position was emphasized by James s second marriage with the Roman Catholic princess Mary of Modena. From this time his popular title was &quot; the Protestant duke.&quot; Charles was induced to confer many prominent employments upon him. The influence of James, however, was strong enough to prevent his obtaining the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland ; but he received the command of the 6000 troops who assisted the French in the second Dutch war, and, though without any claims to generalship, behaved with courage in the field. In 1674 he was made &quot;commander-in-chief ;&quot; and, in connexion with this, another unsuccessful attempt, graphically described in Clarke s Life of James, was made to gain from Charles a tacit admission of his legitimacy. At Shaftesbury s instance he was placed in command of the army employed in 1675 against the Scottish Covenanters, and was present at Both- well Bridge (22d June 1679). He was also, at the king s request, elected chancellor of the university of Cambridge. In 1678, when Charles was driven into war with Louis, Monmouth took the command of the English contingent, and again gained credit for personal courage at the battle of St Denis. On his return to London England was in the throes of the popish terror. The idea of securing the Protestant succession by legitimizing Monmouth again took shape and was eagerly pressed on by Shaftesbury ; at the time it seemed possible that success would wait on the audacity. The Pensionary parliament was dissolved in January 1678-79, and was succeeded by one still more determined in its anti-popery spirit. To avoid the storm, and to save, if possible, his brother s interests, Charles instructed him to leave the country. James retired to Brussels, the king having previously signed a declaration that he &quot;never was married, nor gave contract to any woman whatsoever but to my wife Queen Catherine.&quot; In spite of this, Mon mouth might naturally now nourish ambitious views. His rival was off the stage ; Shaftesbury, his chief supporter, was president of the remodelled privy council ; and he himself was the favourite of the city. In the summer of 1679 the king suddenly fell ill, and the dangers of a dis puted succession became terribly apparent. The party opposed to Monmouth, or rather to Shaftesbury, easily prevailed upon Charles to consent to his brother s tem porary return. When, after the king s recovery, James went back to Brussels, he received a promise that Mon mouth too should be removed from favour and ordered to leave the country. Accordingly, in September 1679, the latter repaired to Utrecht, while shortly afterwards James s friends so far gained ground as to obtain for him permission to reside at Edinburgh instead of at Brussels. Within two months of his arrival at Utrecht, Monmouth secretly returned to England, arriving in London on 27th