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Although the portrait seems to have been taken when she was in the decline of life, her countenance nevertheless exhibits exceeding beauty. Her arms are meekly folded upon her breast, while penitence and'humility are strongly impressed upon her features.*

* Granger's Letters, p. 162.

395

MRS. MIDDLETON.

Summary of the remaining Beauties at the Court of Charles II.Lineage of Mrs. Middleton-Tributes to her Beauty-She is the Friend of Waller and St. Evremond-De Grammont becomes her Suitor-His Portrait of her-Epitaph on her by St. Evremond-Person and Character of Miss Boynton-Her Marriage with Richard Talbot-Miss Wells-Her Beauty and Frailty-Her singular Mishap at Whitehall-Notice of Miss Warmestré-Her agreeable Supper-parties - Supposed to have been seduced by Lord Taaffe Banished the Court-Her Marriage with Sir Thomas Vernon-Her Sister, the Countess of Oxford-Notice of Miss Price-She is lampooned by Lord Rochester-Her Portrait by Lely.

THE recapitulation of such ephemeral qualities, as mere beauty and questionable wit, is a task sufficiently wearisome to the author, and may not be very acceptable to his reader. There remain, however, more than one fair face and doubtful character, whose connection with the gay Court of Charles, and whose position in the lively pages of De Grammont, demand at least a passing record.

Of these, Jane Middleton, a silly and sentimental beauty, inasmuch as she was the first who attracted the attention of the gay chevalier, De Grammont, after his arrival in England, shall have the preference. She was a daughter of Sir Roger Needham, and was probably related to Robert Needham, Viscount Kilmurrey, whose daughter Eleanor, Lady Byron, has already been mentioned as having been a mistress of Charles. Respecting her husband, Mr. Middleton, whoever that person may have been, his contemporaries appear to have troubled

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themselves little, and consequently the world is left in the dark as to his identity. There can be little question but that her personal charms were of a high order. Granger speaks of Mrs. Middleton as a woman of small fortune, but of great beauty." Pepys styles her "a very beautiful woman ;" and even the philosopher Evelyn warms into something like enthusiasm, when he speaks of that "famous and indeed incomparable beauty, Mrs. Middleton." Simpleton, as she is generally described to have been by her contemporaries, there exist the contradictory facts that Evelyn admired her skill in painting, and that she was the companion of Waller and of St. Evremond.

There must have been a certain charm about Mrs. Middleton, to have fascinated the fastidious De Grammont. Not only was the selection flattering in itself, but his heart was evidently engaged in the pursuit, and we find him lavishing on her the most expensive presents. Notwithstanding, however, this evident partiality, his description of her character and person is anything but flattering. According to the Chevalier's own account, he was cured of his passion by the mere sight of her engaging rival Miss Hamilton. There is a passage, however, in his brother-in-law's Memoirs, which renders it more probable that a partiality on the part of Mrs. Middleton for Ralph Montagu, afterwards Duke of that title, was in reality the secret of his apostacy. The conjecture derives greater weight from the fact of Montagu being mentioned in the lampoons of the period as her accepted lover :

:

"Next Middleton appeared in view,

Who strait was told of Montagu," &c.

"Mrs. Middleton," says De Grammont,

was one of

the handsomest women in town; so much of a coquette

as to discourage no one; and so great was her desire of appearing magnificently, that she was ambitious to vie with those of the greatest fortunes, though unable to support the expense. She was well made, fair, and delicate; but had in her behaviour and discourse something precise and affected. The indolent airs she gave herself did not please everybody: people grew weary of those sentiments of delicacy, which she endeavoured to explain without understanding them herself; and, instead of entertaining, she became tiresome. In these attempts she gave herself so much trouble, that she made the company uneasy, and her ambition to pass for a wit, only established for her the reputation of being tiresome, which lasted much longer than her beauty." It would appear, by one of the pasquinades of the time, that Mrs. Middleton was the mistress of one of the Hydes, probably of Laurence, first Earl of Rochester of that name :—

"Not for the nation, but the fair,

Our Treasury provides;

Bulkeley's Godolphin's only care,

As Middleton is Hyde's."

The Duke of York; Richard Jones, afterwards Lord Ranelagh; and Colonel William Russell, a brother of the Earl of Bedford, also figure as her admirers.

In the first volume of the State Poems, there is a copy of verses, entitled "Cullen with his Flock of Misses," which contain some abusive lines on Mrs. Middleton, too. gross for repetition. They support the charge, however, of her having been too tender both to Hyde and Montagu. Later in life, we find Mrs. Middleton one of the most frequent attendants at the gay parties of the Duchess of Mazarin, and, if we may trust St. Evremond,-who has celebrated her in several of his small pieces,-one of

their chief ornaments. The admirable epitaph on her by the witty and courtly poet must not be omitted.

"Ici gît Middleton, illustre entre les belles,

Qui de notre commerce a fait les agrémens :
Elle avait des vertus pour les amis fidèles,
Et des charmes pour les amans.
Malade sans inquiétude,

Resolue à mourir sans peine, sans effort
Elle aurait pu faire l'étude

D'un philosophe sur la mort,

Le plus indifférent, le plus dur, le plus sage
Prennent part au malheur qui nous afflige tous
Passant, interromps ton voyage,

Et te fais un mérite à pleurer avec nous."

Mrs. Middleton was alive as late as 1685, if not considerably later. There is a portrait of her by Lely.

MISS BOYNTON, the "languishing Boynton" of De Grammont, and a maid of honour to Queen Catherine, was a daughter of Matthew, second son to Sir Matthew Boynton, Bart., of Barmston, Yorkshire. Her sister married the celebrated Earl of Roscommon, the poet. "Her person," says De Grammont, "was slender and delicate, to which a good complexion, and large motionless eyes, gave at a distance an appearance of beauty, that vanished upon nearer inspection. She affected to lisp, to languish, and to have two or three fainting fits a-day. The first time that Talbot fixed his eyes upon her, she was seized with one of these fits. He was told that she swooned away upon his account: he believed it, was eager to afford her assistance, and ever after that accident showed some kindness, more with the intention of saving her life, than to express any affection he felt for her. This appearance of tenderness was well received, and at first she was visibly affected by it. Talbot was one of

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