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ha brave Snap-short! A guinea on Tutty,-two to one on Tutty: done, quoth Monsieur; begar, begar, me have lost near tousand pound.

"Tutty it seems beat Snap-short, and the bell

Tutty bears home in victory: farewell!"

Nell Gwynn, to the last, was an especial favourite with the public. When Rochester says of her,—

"Look back and see the people mad with rage,

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he evidently says what is not the truth. The world regarded her with kindness; not only from the recollection of her playful manner and delightful performances on the stage; but, what is far more strange, they seemed to have looked upon her as the Court champion of the Protestant interests, in opposition to the Papist Duchess of Portsmouth,-a lady who was ever on the watch to advance Romish doctrines and French interests. That the two great divisions of the Christian Church should mutually have looked up to, and have courted the chamber-influence of, a couple of courtesans, is a fact as astonishing as it is true. Nell Gwynn was one day passing through the streets of Oxford in her coach, when the mob, mistaking her for her rival the Duchess of Portsmouth, commenced hooting and loading her with every opprobrious epithet. Putting her head out of the coach window, "Good people," she said, smiling, "you are mistaken; I am the Protestant mistress."

There is evidence indeed that the erring and low-born actress especially prided herself on her orthodoxy, and her regard for the Church of England. She was one day ascending Ludgate-hill in her coach, when, perceiving a large crowd, and enquiring the occasion of it, she was

told that some bailiffs were in the act of hurrying an unfortunate clergyman to prison. Having ordered her coachman to stop, she sent for some persons whom the poor debtor named as attestators to his character, and, finding the case a very distressing one, she not only defrayed the debt, but afterwards obtained preferment for the worthy clergyman. Her charities indeed were as just as they were frequent; neither was there a grain of avarice in her disposition.

It was to the credit of Nell Gwynn that, after her elevation, she never lost sight of her old theatrical friends. She was also ever the benefactor of genius in distress. The former kindnesses she had received from Dryden were generously remembered; and Otway, Lee, and Butler, are known to have shared the contents of her purse. The fact of her having instigated Charles to erect Chelsea Hospital as an asylum for disabled soldiers, and her having given the ground on which the building stands, as an encouragement to the undertaking, afford illustrious evidences of her generosity and kindness of heart. A tavern in the neighbourhood of the Hospital still exhibits her head as its sign; and one of the first toasts, which were formerly drunk by the veteran inmates of Chelsea on the anniversary of the birth-day of Charles, was to the memory of their benefactress, Nell Gwynn.

An agreeable anecdote, illustrative of the affection with which she was regarded by the public, is related by "She was an anonymous writer of the last century.* the most popular of the King's mistresses: an eminent goldsmith, who died about fifteen years ago, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, assured me that when he was a prentice, his master made a most expensive service

VOL. III.

* Gent. Mag. 1752, vol. xxii. p. 199.

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of plate (the King's present) for the Duchess of Portsmouth. He remembered well that an infinite number of people crowded to the shop out of mere curiosity; that they threw out a thousand ill-wishes against the Duchess, and wished the silver was melted, and poured down her throat; but said 'twas ten thousand pities his Majesty had not bestowed this bounty on Madam Ellen."

Nell Gwynn is believed to have quitted the stage about the year 1671. By Charles she was the mother of two children, Charles Beauclerk, born in Lincoln's Inn Fields on the 8th May, 1670, created Baron of Heddington and Earl of Burford in 1676, and Duke of St. Alban's in 1684: her remaining son, James Beauclerk, died in his childhood in France. Their mother was perhaps the only one of the mistresses of Charles whose fidelity to their royal master was never questioned. His affection for her continued to the last, and one of his latest injunctions was, "Do not let Nelly starve." She is believed to have remained virtuous after his decease.

The death of Nell Gwynn took place at her house in Pall Mall, in the month of November, 1687. "Her repentance in her last hours," writes Cibber, "I have been unquestionably informed appeared in all the contrite symptoms of a Christian sincerity." Her funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Tennison, Vicar of St. Martin's, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. In his discourse, he spoke warmly of her charities, her real goodness of heart, her sincere repentance, and pious end. The encomiums which he bestowed on the repentant actress were afterwards maliciously dwelt upon to the Queen of William the Third, in hopes that it would weaken his growing influence at court. The reply of Mary was creditable to her heart. "I have heard as much," she said: "it is a sign that the poor unfortunate

woman died penitent; for if I can read a man's heart through his looks, had she not made a pious and Christian end, the doctor could never have been induced to speak well of her."* Nell Gwynn, according to a wish expressed by her in her last will, was buried in the beautiful 'church of St. Martin's in the Fields.

The personal beauty of Nell Gwynn is placed beyond a doubt, both from the tributes of her contemporaries and the portraits that remain of her. On the other hand, she was somewhat low in stature and careless in dress. Granger says, "She continued to hang on her clothes with her usual negligence when she was the King's mistress, but whatever she did became her." It may be remarked, that Messrs. Child, the well-known bankers in Fleet Street, still retain in their possession the checks which she drew on their ancestors.

* Biog. Brit., vol. vi. p. 3926.

MARY DAVIS.

A beautiful Comedian-Captivates the Heart of Charles in the Character of Celania-Supposed to be the natural Daughter of the Earl of Berkshire-Jealousy of the Queen, the Duchess of Cleveland, and Nell Gwynn, on Mary Davis becoming the King's Mistress-Characteristic Manner in which each discovered her Spleen-Notices of two other Mistresses of Charles, Jane Roberts and Mary Knight; the former the Daughter of a Clergyman— Her contrite Repentance-Admonishes the King in her last Moments-Conduct of Bishop Burnet on the Occasion—Mary Knight -Her beautiful Face and charming Voice-Her Habit of Swearing-Believed to have died Penitent-Portrait of her by Kneller.

THIS beautiful comedian, whose fair face and exquisite voice captivated the susceptible heart of Charles, is said to have completed her conquest by singing before him, in the character of Celania, "The Mad Shepherdess," the song,

"My lodging is on the cold ground."

There is reason to believe that she was a natural daughter of the Earl of Berkshire. She first appeared at the Duke's Theatre at the commencement of the year 1667, where she speedily caught the King's eye, and almost as speedily became his mistress. According to Pepys, her noble father had complaisance enough to introduce her to the King. The fact, however, is not sufficiently clear. The Earl of Berkshire, in 1667, was Thomas Howard, the first Earl, celebrated for his loyalty during the civil troubles, and, moreover, a man of virtue and honour, who, at this period, must have been in his eighty-eighth year. The probability is, that she was a

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