Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/259

 10 S. VII. MAKCH 16, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

211

"Thus fell one of the greatest and most high- born Princes of the Western World. In his Person he was somewhat more than ordinarily tall, and the Composition of it was framed in most exact natural Proportion of Parts ; so that he was very active, and of a fine mien in his Motion, which was commonly more than ordinarily fast ; yet he appeared best on Horseback, and excelled in managing his Horse ; so that when he was in Spain, in sight of the King, Queen, the Infantas, and the Infanta Maria, whom he courted, and innumerable other Spectators, he took the Ring in his first Course. His Visage was long, and appeared best when he did not speak ; for he had a natural Impediment in his Speech, and would often stutter, especially when he was in Passion."

If Charles I. had " favoured his father, the sandy and slobbering James," Andrew Marvell, in his ' Horatian Ode upon Crom- well's Return from Ireland,' would not have penned these pathetic lines : He nothing common did or mean Upon that memorable scene, But with his keener eye The axe's edge did try ; Nor called the gods, with vulgar spite, To vindicate his helpless right ; But bow'd his comely head Down, as upon a bed.

Such evidence as this, to which more might be added, is enough to show how baseless is the assertion of the writer whose name has been mentioned.

JOHN T. CUBBY.

Charles II., in the portrait after Sir Peter Lely given in Lodge's ' Portraits,' is repre- sented in complete armour, with a long flowing peruke descending on his breast- plate ; he is wearing a thick moustache, and the likeness to his father is remarkable. The original picture is said to be in the collection of the Marquess of Hertford at Ragley.

In my possession is a fine engraving by Sir Robert Strange (the great master of line engraving, who died in 1792) of Charles I. after Sir Anthony Van Dyck ; he is repre- sented at full length, in his royal robes, with immense roses in his shoes, his hand resting on a table on which are the crown and orb. There is a long inscription under- neath, mentioning the dimensions of the picture, 3 ft. 9 in. by 2 ft. 3 in. The coun- tenance wears the usual sad expression, as though prophetic of his doom, and there can be little doubt of the engraving having been taken from the original picture, as the following account of its pedigree is given underneath :

" This picture, formerly in the collection of King Charles I 8t, was, amongst other portraits of the Royal family, carried abroad by James II ml . It was given by that monarch to Cardinal Philip

Thomas Howard. The Cardinal dying at Rome, it came afterwards into the possession of James Edgar, Esq., Secretary to the grandson of Charles, in whose custody it remained many years. Upon the death of Mr. Edgar, which happened during Mr. Strange's stay at Rome, he purchased it of the executors. '

There are other inscriptions underneath. Can this be an engraving of the identical ^ ortrait of Charles I. of which Sir Walter Scott has given us such a graphic description in ' Woodstock,' in describing the interview between Wildrake and Cromwell ?

' ' That Flemish painter,' he said,' that Antonio Vandyck what a power he has ! Steel may muti- late, warriors may waste and destroy still the King stands uninjured by time ; and our grand- children, while they read his history, may look on his image, and compare the melancholy features with the woeful tale. It was a stern necessity it was an awful deed. The calm pride of that eye, might have ruled worlds of crouching Frenchmen, or supple Italians, or formal Spaniards ; but its glances only roused the native courage of the stern Englishman.'" Chap. viii.

JOHN PICKFOBD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

Shall we, then, free Richard III. of ' ' Crook- back," and proceed to disfigure Charles I. adore that which we have spurned, and spurn that which we have hitherto adored ? Would Marvell have written " He. . . .bowed his comely head " unless beauty had been there ? The metre was not exacting, and the poet not too much given to feigning.

ST. SWITHIN.

There are portraits of Charles I. by Dobson and My tens, and also several minia- tures, in none of which there appears any likeness to James I., but some resemblance to Anne of Denmark. The coins and medals also, especially those designed by Rawlins and Briot, display the same fine countenance. S. B.

MABLY HOBSES (10 S. vii. 190). MABLI no doubt intended to refer to the well-known groups at the entrance to the Champs Elysees from the Place de la Concorde, and could have learnt from any guide-book that they are by Coustou the Younger, and are called the " Horses of Marly " because they were executed for Marly. A full account, addressed to " every visitor to Paris, even the most careless tourist," will be found in Lady Dilke's ' French Architects and Sculp- tors of the Eighteenth Century.' The finest work of France for over forty years was executed for Marly, and much of it now finds its place in the Louvre. " Italy " in the eighteenth century could not produce great sculpture. M. N. D.