Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/265

 ii s. in. APRIL i, ion.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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The First Duke and Duchess of Ncwcasile-upon- Tyne, By the Author of ' A Life of Sir Ken elm Digby,' ' The Life of a Prig,' &c. (Longmans & Co.)

THE work before us is extremely interesting, but can by no means be regarded as an adequate biography of two illustrious persons who have never had justice done to them. When we look back on the past, it is plain that inferior, and indeed sometimes worthless, people have frequently been commemorated, while those of high character have been left in shadow.

The first Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was the most important commander in Charles I.'s army, and the series of his victories would, it is almost certain, have been crowned by another triumph on Marston Moor if Cromwell had not taken the matter in hand and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Royalists. Before hostilities began the Duke (only then an Earl) had served the King in many ways, as well as entertaining him and the Queen at his seats of Welbeck and Bolsover, incurring expenses which were very great. *At the beginning of the Civil War, or, to speak more accurately, before it actually broke out, the King sent the Earl to Hull as governor. This, one would have thought, had historic order been kept, would have been recorded previously to the crushing defeat at Marston Moot, but in the present volume chronological sequence is often not regarded. There is no doubt that, if the work before us had been compiled with strict regard to dates, many things would have been dwelt upon before that great Puritan victory was reached.

The Duke of Newcastle was the commander of the Royalist party, and Fairfax that of the Parlia- ment, in the North of England. In many ways Fairfax had the advantage, not only as being a Yorkshireman of old and respected family, but also a soldier of some experience, he having served with an English army abroad, while the Duke of Newcastle had never seen military service.

The first wife of the Duke died on 17 April, 1043. She was succeeded by Elizabeth, Lady Lucas, whose marriage took place in December, 1645. The Duke had fled to Holland almost immediately after the battle of Marston Moor. He was much blamed by many of his own party for going abroad, but it seems, when we weigh all the circumstances, the wisest thing to have done ; for if he had fallen into the hands of the Parliamentarians, it is almost certain he would have been put to death. It was not until after Hit- battle of Naseby, when Cromwell had gained ift-cat influence, that mercy for the Royalist commander would have been taken into con- sideration.

Newcastle did not return to his native country until the Restoration, and during his long absence he suffered much from poverty. Sometimes, indeed, it seems to have been well-nigh impossible for him to supply himself with money, although he visited at intervals Paris, Amsterdam, Ant- werp, and, we believe, other places. His second vrife possessed funds of her own, with which she

could relieve him, at least for a time ; but creditors became more and more importunate, and it was absolutely necessary that her husband's brother Charles should accompany her to England, where the sum of two hundred pounds was raised, and arrangements were made regarding the estates which were in the long run satisfactory. During the whole period of the Duchess's exile Queen Henrietta Maria, it seems, assisted the Duke and Duchess by gifts of money, though there is no evidence of the various amounts.

The conduct of the Duke, upright man as he was, must have been very irritating to all who tried to assist him. for difficult as it proved on many occasions to get even a fitting supply of food," he was too passionately fond of horses to practise economy. On one occasion, when money came in freely, he is said to have had in his possession eight of these animals, and we believe he had always a pair at least. His love of them induced him to write a valuable book on horses and horsemanship, which probably brought in no inconsiderable amount of money, as editions were published in London, Paris, and Nuremberg in both English and French. This is the work he is chiefly known by, but he wrote four comedies and much else, the greater part of which was published in the volumes containing the numerous-, literary productions of the Duchess.

After the Restoration, except at the very beginning, the Duke and Duchess seldom went to Court ; their tastes were far removed from what was to be seen and heard there. Both loved rural life and were devoted to letters ; and, as has already been said, the Duchess was a prolific- author. It has long been the custom to treat her writings with contempt, an opinion which we hope will soon be much modified. We have read only a portion of her work, but from what has come before us, we believe the whole to be more important than some things that have taken high rank in recent times.

During the turbulent days of the earlier part of the great Civil W 7 ar, the Hothams, father and' son, attracted much notice. The author draws attention to a letter written by Sir John Hotham in October, 1642, to William Lenthall, which is both interesting and amusing :

" Upon Sunday night last, as the neighbours of Sherborne tell our men, they [the Cavaliers ]> drew certain forces out of York to have set upon my son's men at Cawood. When they came in Sherborne, a village three miles from Cawood, they espied a windmill, which they took for my son's colours marching to meet them, and certain stooks of beans for his men in order ; whereupon they returned in more haste than they came."

It has been usual in modern times to con- demn both the elder and the younger Hotham. We are sorry for this, as we believe that both desired to do well for their country, though on more than one occasion they may have trans- gressed military law. It seems, therefore, that the execution of the father and the son, if not a crime, was a serious error. The whole affair should be carefully examined. It is not impossible that, if this were done, it would be found that both of them were anxious to bring about peace on terms satisfactory alike to Cavaliers and Parliamen- tarians.