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virtue, which had hitherto been regarded as impregnable. As regarded her virtue he made little progress, but over her heart he was more successful.

With the exception of a duel which he fought with Thomas Howard,* on account of the infamous Lady Shrewsbury, (on which occasion he was left on the field with little hopes of life,) the career of this insignificant man of pleasure affords few important or entertaining particulars. On the 13th of May, 1685, soon after the accession of James the Second, he was created by letters patent, Baron Jermyn of Dover, and, on the 4th of January, 1687, was nominated a Commissioner of the Treasury with Sir Stephen Fox and others. About the same period, (with Lords Arundel and Bellasyse, Father Petre, and others,) he was nominated one of the secret committee for watching over the interests of the Roman Catholics. In 1688, we find him governor of Portsmouth, but he appears to have failed in obtaining the command of the Life-guards, which was the principal object of his ambition. The last years of his life were passed in retirement at Cheveley, in Cambridgeshire, where he died, without issue, 6th April, 1708. His remains were carried tó Bruges, in Flanders, and were interred in the monastery of the Carmelites in that city.

* Fourth son of Sir William Howard, and brother of Charles, first Earl of Carlisle. He was the husband of Mary Villiers, Duchess of Richmond died in 1678.

275

ELIZABETH BUTLER,

· COUNTESS OF CHESTERFIELD.

De Grammont's alluring Portrait of this Lady-Her Lineage-Her Marriage-Notice of the Earl of Chesterfield-His Jealousy-The Duke of York becomes the professed Admirer of Lady Chesterfield -Her Husband removes her to the Peak-Supposed to have been poisoned-Her Husband's Account of her Death.

We cannot but lament that a daughter of the highminded Ormond and of his virtuous Duchess should have been mixed up with the scandalous intrigues of the Court of Charles, and that one of a race so illustrious, if not exactly a wanton, should at least have been a very blameable coquette. In the alluring portrait of her by De Grammont; in the meretricious picture of her large blue eyes; of her expressive countenance and faultless symmetry, there is something which rather displeases than charms. The daughter of a race so virtuous should have figured otherwise than in wild frolics and voluptuous details.

Elizabeth, daughter of James Duke of Ormond, was born at Kilkenny, on the 29th of June, 1640, and consequently at the Restoration had not completed her twentieth year. Shortly before that event, she married Philip Earl of Chesterfield,* a young man of disagreeable

* Philip Stanhope, second Earl of Chesterfield, was born in 1633. He married, first, Lady Anne Percy, eldest daughter of Algernon Earl of Northumberland; secondly, Lady Elizabeth Butler, the subject of the present memoir; and, thirdly, Lady Elizabeth Dormer, eldest daughter of Charles Earl of Caernarvon. His lordship held the appoint

manners and immoral habits. He seems to have entertained the best opinion of himself with the worst conceivable one of women, and to have been principally remarkable for the jealousy of his disposition and the redundancy of his hair. Swift speaks of him as "the greatest knave in England." Whatever may have been the secret of their domestic differences, we discover, at a very early period of their marriage, aversion on her part, and cruelty on his.

It was natural, in a libertine Court, that a young, beautiful, and vivacious woman, willing enough to be admired, and openly neglected by her morose husband, should have been surrounded by lovers on every side. The admiration which she excited, if it failed in restoring the affection of her lord, had at least the effect of inflaming his jealousy to a very painful degree. He became, or affected to have become, the lover of his own wife, and disregarding the ridicule of the Court, was constantly observed to be either watching her or at her side. But it was now Lady Chesterfield's turn to retaliate. Either intoxicated by the adulation of a host of coxcombs, or rendered callous by his previous neglect, she returned his reviving attentions with unequivocal contempt. Lord Chesterfield only waited to be revenged. While he looked with an eye of jealousy upon all, his suspicions fell principally on the Duke of York, who had for some time been the professed admirer of his wife, and who was the most indiscreet lover of the Court.

About this period Francisco Corbeta, an Italian, was

ments of Chamberlain to Catherine of Braganza, Lord Warden of the King's forests and parks; was sworn of the Privy Council in 1680, and was Colonel of the 3rd regiment of foot. He died, aged eighty, 28th January, 1713.

charming the gay Court of Charles with his delightful performances on the guitar. The King expressed himself an ardent admirer of his talent; the Duke of York became his pupil; a guitar was seen on every table, and Francisco became the fashion of the day. He had lately composed a particular sarabande of great merit. The Duke of York wished to learn it of Lord Arran, whose skill was only surpassed by that of the Italian; and as his sister, Lady Chesterfield, possessed the best guitar in England, it was decided that they should adjourn to her apartments and take advantage of its admirable tones. On entering, they not only found the lady but Lord Chesterfield himself, who appeared evidently disconcerted and annoyed at the unexpected intrusion. Notwithstanding, however, that the sarabande was repeated twenty times, and that their stay consequently was of some length, Lord Chesterfield still continued in the room, as if determined to see the end of the visit. To his annoyance, however, he unexpectedly received a summons from the Queen, requiring his attendance, in the capacity of her chamberlain, at the introduction of the Muscovite Ambassadors. He was still more annoyed, on discovering shortly afterwards that Lord Arran had followed him to the Court, and consequently that the Duke was enjoying a tête-à-tête with his wife.

But a circumstance, even more distressing to his jealous feelings, was communicated by him in confidence to James Hamilton. Lady Chesterfield, it seems, was in the habit of wearing green stockings, the colour she conceived most becoming to her pretty ancles. "After the audience," said her husband, "of those confounded Muscovites, I went to Miss Stewart's apartments, whither the King had just entered before me; and as if the Duke had sworn to pursue me that day wherever I went,

he came in just after me." The conversation turned upon the extraordinary appearance of the ambassadors. "I know not," proceeded Lord Chesterfield," where that fool Crofts had heard that the Muscovites had all handsome wives; and that all their wives had handsome legs. Upon this the King maintained, that no woman ever had such handsome legs as Miss Stewart; and she, to prove the truth of his Majesty's assertion, immediately showed her leg above the knee. Some were ready to prostrate themselves in order to adore its beauty; for, indeed nothing can be handsomer; but the Duke alone began to criticise it. He contended that it was too slender, and that for his own part he would give nothing for a leg that was not thicker and shorter, and concluded by saying that no leg was worth anything without green stockings; now this, in my opinion, was a sufficient demonstration that he had just seen green stockings, and had them fresh in his remembrance."

Whether Lady Chesterfield's flirtation with the Duke of York amounted to positive criminality may perhaps be doubted. There were, however, subsequent circumstances in their intercourse sufficient to inflame a far less jealous disposition than that of her irritable husband. A scene, of which he was himself a witness, at length decided him. Enraged almost to madness, he suddenly hurried her from London. The seclusion of his own seat of Bretby in Derbyshire, appeared a fit retirement for the offending beauty, and there the young and unhappy creature continued during the remainder of her short life. According to Pepys, "to send a man's wife to the Peak when she vexes him," became a proverb at Court.

We have seen Lord Chesterfield unsuspiciously disclosing his griefs so James Hamilton, who was his wife's

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