It is here seen that not Rupert's private affairs alone had taken him to Vienna, nor was his separation from Charles of long duration. France had now concluded a treaty with Cromwell, so that the exiled King was forced to quit that country. The money obtained through Rupert enabled him to leave France with ease, and he proceeded to Cologne. A rumour arose that he intended to throw himself upon the hospitality of the Emperor, and perhaps Rupert's visit to Vienna had been partly designed to ascertain the possibility of this move. But the idea did not commend itself to the Austrian Court, and the Elector Charles Louis wrote hastily to Rupert, October 1654: "I have ventured to send M. Bunckley to the King of Great Britain, to warn him that he would be unwelcome at Vienna. Doubtless you will be able to confirm this, concerning which I have received an express messenger from his Imperial Majesty."[45] Probably Rupert did confirm his brother's message, for Charles stayed at Cologne, awaiting his cousin's "much longed for" return. Rupert rejoined him there in January 1655, but did not stay long. Hyde was still all powerful, and Rupert was never a man who cared to take the second place. "I need not tell you," wrote one of the ubiquitous spies, "by whom Prince Rupert was turned from Court; yet perhaps you have not known that Hyde offered Charles Stuart that 50,000 men should be in arms in England, before a year went about, if he would quit the Queen's Court, and the Prince's party. By the last letters it doth seem as if Prince Rupert had an intention to see Cologne before Modena, and, if he can break Hyde's neck here, it may alter his design, and make him stay with the King, which he hath most mind of."[46]
The last sentence alludes to an engagement entered into by Rupert to raise men for the Duke of Modena. In May 1655 he was busy with his levies, and he had offered commands in his force to Craven, Gerard, and the once Puritan Massey.[47] The French Court patronised the Duke of Modena, and Mazarin promised Rupert the command of 2,000 men chosen from the best troops of France, 1,000 Swiss, and three other regiments. The arrears of pay due to the Prince for his services to France in 1648, were less readily conceded. Fortunately Rupert had a friend at court in the person of Edward's wife, Anne de Gonzague. This lady, being a very powerful person in France, obtained a promise of speedy payment, the more readily since Rupert declared that without the money he could not equip himself for the enterprise, and without himself his levies should not go.[48] Yet, in the very next month, he quietly renounced the whole scheme, sent his troops to Modena, and returned to Heidelberg. The reason for this sudden change of plan was the anxiety of Charles, who, fearing to lose his cousin altogether, had "abruptly begged him to quit all employments," and serve himself only. Rupert, loyal as ever, answered with equal abruptness that he would serve his cousin "with all his interest, either in men, money, arms, or friends," provided that he could effect "a handsome conjuncture," i.e. an honourable arrangement, with Modena.[49] This done, he joined the King at Frankfort, whence we find Ormonde writing to Hyde: "When to-morrow we have been to a Lutheran service, and on Monday have seen the fair, I know not how we shall contrive divertissements for a longer time, unless Prince Rupert, who is coming, find them."[50]
Whether Rupert found them or not is unrecorded, but he certainly made friends with the King, in whose company he remained until October. Charles had still some hopes of the Scots, and it was rumoured that Rupert endeavoured to win the Presbyterians by stating—with perfect truth—that he had been bred a Calvinist.[51] It was said also that he had countenanced the plot of 1654 for Cromwell's assassination, and had even introduced the author of it to the King. Whether the accusation be true or false it is hard to say.[52] The only allusion to the plot found in the Prince's own correspondence is in a letter written from Heidelberg, which narrates the fate of the conspirators; "the Diurnal says Jack Gerard is beheaded, and another hanged, and that the Portugal ambassador's brother was beheaded at the same time, and another English gentleman hanged about that business, but says little of any design. I have not yet received one line, so I cannot give your Highness any further account."[53] This letter may, or may not imply a previous acquaintance with the design. It certainly assumes that Rupert knew all about it, but the affair was then public property. Still there is nothing absolutely impossible in the Prince's complicity. Cromwell was regarded by the Royalists at that time, as a being almost beyond the pale of humanity. He was "the beast whom all the Kings of the earth do worship;"[54] and, though Rupert's known words and actions fit ill with assassination plots, it may be that the crime of murder looked less black to him when the intended victim happened to be the English Lord Protector.
In October 1655, the Prince was suddenly called away to Vienna, where he seems to have acted as Charles II's informal ambassador. The rumours as to his intended actions were many and various. At one time he was expected to command the Dutch fleet against the fleet of the Commonwealth, some said that he would take service with the Swedes, others that he would adhere to the Emperor.[55] But his real intention was, as we know, to serve his cousin, and Cromwell, evidently convinced of this, deputed the traitor Bampfylde to watch the Prince's movements. Concerning this same Bampfylde there is a rather amusing correspondence extant. Jermyn, on whom he had successfully imposed, recommended him to Rupert's patronage, as a man "suffering and persecuted" for his loyalty.[56] Rupert referred the matter to the King, who expressed himself "astonished" at Jermyn's letter, saying that he had already warned him of Bampfylde's treachery.[57] Bampfylde, in his turn, wrote to Cromwell, begging to be sent into Germany; "for I know the Duke of Brandenburg, the Prince Elector and Prince Rupert, and could give you no ill information. I would conceal my correspondence with you, and only pretend that I wished to see Germany and to seek employment in the wars there."[58] And when Cromwell had granted his desire, the spy found that he had walked into the clutches of Rupert, who was fully aware of his intended treachery. "I have obeyed to the utmost your commands about Colonel Bampfylde," wrote the Prince to the King. "You will receive particulars from your factor, Sir William Curtius, and from the Elector of Mayence. No impartial merchants being present, we could do no more, and could not have done so much, had not Bampfylde consented to a submission in this Imperial town. I will obey any further commands you may send me, in these parts."[59]
Rupert's loyalty was, in spite of everything, inextinguishable, and the tone which he now assumed towards his young cousin was singularly deferential. "Wyndham writes to my servant, Valentine Pyne, conjuring him to come with all possible speed to the King," he wrote, in 1658, to Nicholas. "I owe my person, and any of mine to his service; but represent to him that it would be a great obligation if Pyne could stay with me, till there be some great business in hand. Meantime he can study things in these parts, fit to use for some good design."[60] Even his advice was couched in an apologetic form. Thus he advised against attempting a Spanish alliance in 1656: "Sir, I received your Majesty's of the 16th of December, but at my arrival at this place. With great greefe I understand the continuation of the news that was whispered at Vienna, before my departure, of the Spaniards tampering for a peace with Cromwell. Yet I am so confident that they will come off it, that I wish the King of England would not be too hasty in offering himself to Spain. If the business between them and England break, they will be sure to take the King of England by the hand; if not, all will be vain. I humbly beseech Your Majesty to pardon this boldness, which proceeds from a very faithful heart to serve Your Majesty."[61]
This humble submission is indeed a contrast to the "insolence" described by Hyde. Possibly the increased deference corresponds to a decrease of friendship. What Rupert could do for Charles's service he would do; but, though they were reconciled and, to all appearance, on excellent terms, it is probable that the intimate friendship which had existed between them, previous to their quarrel in 1653-4, was never fully restored. Rupert was no longer the elder cousin, but the faithful servant, and he evidently meant to mark his change of position. In the early years of the Civil Wars, he had exercised a paramount influence over Charles, but his three years' absence had lost that for ever. With James he retained his influence longer. We find him expressing "astonishment" at the contents of a letter written by the younger of his royal cousins, and James meekly replying that he does not remember what he said, but is sure he did not mean it. "Je parlai à son Altesse (James) de l'étonnement qu'avait la votre de ce qu'elle avait reconnu en sa dernière lettre; qu'il me dit ne se point ressouvenir ni avoir fait à dessein; au contraire, qu'il fera toujours son possible pour la service et contentement de Votre Altesse, à laquelle il me dit vouloir en écrire pour s'en excuser."[62] In the differences between the Stuart brothers Rupert seems to have sympathised with James. "My godson (James) I am sure will take very well what you have answered for him," wrote his mother to the Prince; "I am extremely glad you did it."[63]
[1] Warburton, III. p. 418. Charles II to Rupert, Mar. 22, 1653.
[2] Ibid. p. 419. Hyde to Rupert. No date.
[3] Warburton, III. p. 390. Jermyn to R., Feb. 6, 1653.
[4] Rupert Transcripts. — to Rupert, 1653.
[5] Clar. State Papers, 1089. Hyde to Nicholas, Apr. 18, 1653.
[6] Cartwright. Madame: A Life of Henrietta of Orleans, p. 359.
[7] Warburton, III. p. 420.
[8] Ibid. p. 454.
[9] Memoir of Prince Rupert, ed. 1683, p. 35.
[10] Evelyn, IV. 282. He was supposed to have cured Jermyn of a fever, with a charm. "His Highness, it seems, has learnt some magic in the remote islands."
[11] Whitelocke, p. 556.
[12] Clar. State Papers. Hyde to Nicholas, 25 Apr. 1653. Printed Vol. II, p. 163.
[13] Cartwright. Madame: Duchess of Orleans, p. 50.
[14] Evelyn, IV. 282, note. Thurloe, I. 306.
[15] Thurloe State Papers, II. 186. 1 April, 1654.
[16] Rupert Transcripts. Holmes to Rupert, May 3, May 17, 1654.
[17] Ibid. May 24, 1654.
[18] Ibid. May 17, June 24, 1654.
[19] Thurloe State Papers, I. p. 344. 19 July, 1653.
[20] Rupert Transcripts. Charles II to Rupert. Nov. 1654.
[21] Clarendon, Bk. XIV. p. 71. Campbell's British Admirals. 1785. Vol. II. p. 243.
[22] Domestic State Papers. March 1662. Petition of Guibert Hessin.
[23] Nicholas Papers. Camd. Soc. New Series. Vol. II. p. 33. 9/19 Dec. 1653.
[24] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, Feb. 27, 1654.
[25] Ibid. March 13, 1654.
[26] Ibid. April 10, 1654.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, April 10, 1654.
[29] Nicholas Papers. Camden Society. Vol. II. p. 91, 25 Sept. 1654.
[30] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, June 13, 1653.
[31] Ibid. Apr. 24, 1654.
[32] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, Jan. 2, 1654.
[33] Evelyn, IV. 298, 27 Dec. 1653.
[34] Clarendon State Papers, Hyde to Nicholas, 16 Jan. 1654.
[35] Nicholas Papers, Vol. II. p. 50, 16 Jan. 1654.
[36] Clarendon State Papers. News from London, May 27, 1653.
[37] Thurloe State Papers, Vol. II. p. 179.
[38] Thurloe, II. 140-141, 14 May, 1654.
[39] Thurloe, II. 312.
[40] Clar. State Papers, 1 May, 1654. Printed, III. p. 236.
[41] Thurloe, II. p. 327.
[42] Clarendon State Papers. Charles II to Elizabeth of Bohemia, May 29, 1654.
[43] Thurloe, II. 327, 9 June, 1654.
[44] Thurloe, II. 580, 567, 644, 1 Sept., 8 Sept., 13 Oct. 1654.
[45] Bromley Letters, p. 315, Elector to Rupert; also Thurloe, II. p. 644.
[46] Thurloe, III. 459, 1 June, 1655.
[47] Thurloe, III. 414, 591, 8 May, 8 July, 1655.
[48] Bromley Letters, pp. 196-202. De Choqueux to Rupert, June 23, 1655.
[49] Thurloe, III. 659. 28 June, 1655.
[50] Clar. State Papers. Ormonde to Hyde, Sept. 25, 1655.
[51] Dom. State Papers. Commonwealth. Vol. XCIX. fol. 33. 10-20 July, 1655.
[52] Dom. State Papers. Gerard's Trial. Common. Vol. 72a. Clarendon State Papers. Aug. 1654. Henshaw's Vindication.
[53] Rupert Correspondence. Job Holder to Rupert, July 25, 1654. Add. MSS. 18982.
[54] Elizabeth of Bohemia, 4 Jan., 1655. Evelyn IV. p. 222.
[55] Thurloe, II. 327. III. 683. IV. 697.
[56] Domestic State Papers, Jermyn to Rupert, Aug. 30 1657.
[57] Ibid. Nicholas to Rupert, May 16, 1658.
[58] Ibid. Bampfylde, June 24, 1657.
[59] Clar. State Papers. Rupert to Charles, Nov. 21, 1657.
[60] Dom. State Papers. Common. 179 fol. 13, 20 Jan. 1658.
[61] Thurloe, I. 694, 6 Feb. 1656.
[62] Bromley Letters, p. 201. De Choqueux to Rupert, June 23, 1655.
[63] Ibid. p. 294, Elizabeth of Bohemia to Rupert.
CHAPTER XVI
RESTORATION OF CHARLES LOUIS TO THE PALATINATE.
FLIGHT OF THE PRINCESS LOUISE FROM THE HAGUE.
RUPERT'S DEMAND FOR AN APPANAGE. QUARREL
WITH THE ELECTOR
The Peace of Munster, concluded October 24th, 1648, between Austria, France and Sweden, had terminated the long exile of the Palatines. By it Charles Louis was recognised as Elector Palatine, ranking henceforth as last among the Electors, instead of first, as his ancestors had done; and he was also restored to the Lower Palatinate, though still excluded from the upper. He immediately took up his residence at Heidelberg, and his mother expected, not unreasonably, that his restoration would, at least, ameliorate her sufferings. But Charles Louis entered upon a country exhausted by war, and grievously in need of cherishing care. He had, of course, no money to spare, and he was far too selfish to forego any of his schemes, or to sacrifice himself for the sake of his unhappy mother. He went so far as to invite his two sisters, Elizabeth and Sophie, to Heidelberg, thereby relieving his mother of the burden of their support, but the coming of the Queen herself he carefully discouraged. Worse still, he refused to send her even a portion of her jointure. "The next week I shall have no food to eat, having no money nor credit for any; and this week, if there be none found, I shall neither have meat, nor bread, nor candles," she complained to Lord Craven.[1] That faithful friend was quite unable to assist her, having been himself ruined by his services rendered to the Stuarts; and how the hapless Queen existed it is hard to say, until, in 1657, the States generously granted her a pension of 10,000 livres per month.
Nor were her poverty and the callous indifference of of her favourite son her only troubles. Her third daughter, the fair Henriette, had died, after a three months' marriage with the Prince of Transylvania, and the eldest and youngest having departed to Heidelberg, she was left alone with the artist, Louise. Next to the Elector, Louise had been her mother's favourite child, and great was the shock to Elizabeth when this last remaining daughter suddenly professed herself a Roman Catholic, and fled secretly to France. For several days no one knew what had become of her; and the mother, sufficiently distracted by her daughter's abrupt desertion, found her grief enhanced by the circulation of scandalous rumours. The escapade was well calculated to produce them, for the Princess had fled from the Hague alone, and on foot, at seven o'clock on a December morning. Not till the day following, was the letter which she had pinned to her toilet table discovered; and its contents were not very consolatory to Elizabeth. From it she learnt that Louise, being convinced that the Roman was the one true Church, had acted thus strangely because she dared not attend the Anglican Celebration of the Holy Communion on Christmas Day.[2]
Rupert, who seems to have been much moved by his mother's distress, wrote to the States of Holland, begging their care and consideration for the Queen, and demanding "the satisfaction that is due to us in regard of the slanders that so greatly augment the injury;" and he added a passionate protest of gratitude for all that the States had done for his family.[3] They complied with his request by depriving the Princess of Hohenzollern, the supposed perverter of Louise, of all her privileges at Bergen. But though the Princess of Hohenzollern bore the blame, the responsibility probably belonged as much to Louise's brother Edward as to any one else. "Ned is so wilful!" complained his mother, in reference to his conduct in this affair.[4] He came to meet his sister at Antwerp, where she had taken refuge in a Carmelite convent, and conducted her thence to Paris. She was, of course, kindly received by the French Court, and the joy of Henrietta Maria over the repenting heretic was very great. The English Queen wrote to Elizabeth that she would care for Louise as her own daughter, and begged forgiveness for her. "But," said Elizabeth to Rupert, "I excused it, as handsomely as I could, and entreated her only to think what she would do, if she had had the same misfortune."[5] It was not long before Henrietta had a somewhat similar misfortune, in her failure to convert her youngest son, Henry of Gloucester. The boy took refuge in Holland, and Elizabeth had a pleasing revenge in receiving her young nephew. King Charles and his sister, Mary of Orange, both visited Louise, and reproached her for her "unhandsome" flight from her mother; but she only answered that, though sorry for Elizabeth's displeasure, she was "very well satisfied" with her change of faith.[6] Subsequently she entered a convent and became abbess of Maubuisson, where she lived long enough to see the second exile of the Stuarts, of whom she was ever a warm partisan.
Elizabeth, thus left alone in her poverty, seems to have turned to Rupert with more affection than she had ever before shown him. She wrote him long letters, full of Hague gossip, of complaints of the Elector, and professions of affection for himself. "I love you ever, my dear Rupert," or, "I pray God bless you, whatever you resolve to do."[7] Occasionally she relapsed into her old jesting manner. Thus, she told him of a present of oranges forwarded to him from Spain: "My Lord Fraser sent you a letter from Portugal from Robert Cortez. He sends you two cases of Portugal oranges, two for the King, and two for me.... I believe my Lord Craven will tell you how much ado he has had to save your part from me. I made him believe I would take your cases for my niece and the Prince of Orange. I did it to vex him."[8] She was still of her "humour to be merry," though she had more cause than ever for sadness.
Philip had fallen in 1650 at the siege of Rhetel, fighting for France against Spain, but no allusion to his death from the hand of his mother or brothers has been preserved. Edward, who lived nominally in France, but was generally to be found at the Hague and at Heidelberg, was on friendly terms with Rupert, though he could not be to him as Maurice had been. From time to time disquieting rumours of Maurice's reappearance were afloat, and in 1654 the story was very circumstantial. "Here is news of Prince Maurice, who was believed to be drowned and perished, that he is a slave in Africa. For, being constrained at that time that he parted from Prince Rupert to run as far as Hispaniola in the West Indies, he was coming back thence in a barque laden with a great quantity of silver, and was taken by a pirate of Algiers. The Queen, his mother, hath spoken to the Ambassador of France, to the end that he may write on his behalf, to the Great Turk."[9] Rupert, personally, was convinced that his brother had perished in the hurricane, but he would lose no chance of recovering him, however slight, and he urged the Elector to investigate the matter with all speed. "Concerning my brother Maurice," wrote Charles Louis to his mother, "my brother Rupert, who is now here, thinks the way by the Emperor's agent at Constantinople too far about for his liberty, if the news be true, and that from Marseilles we may best know the certainty, as also the way of his releasement."[10] But the news was not true, and Rupert's inquiries left him more hopeless than ever.
The Prince deprived at once of his chief companion and of his occupation, now bethought him of marrying and settling down. But in order to do this, it was necessary to have some visible means of subsistence, and therefore, in June 1654, he required a grant of land, as a younger brother's portion, from the Elector. He was, at that time, the guest of his brother at Heidelberg. The brothers had not met for eight years, and had parted last in England, when their relations, all things considered, cannot have been very cordial. Now they appeared to have buried the past, and were perfectly friendly. Even Rupert's modest claim to some few miles of land was not abruptly rejected by the Elector, and it was confidently reported in England, that Prince Rupert would "settle on his plantation, his brother having given him lands to the quantity of twenty English miles in compass."[11] But this grant was never finally completed. During Rupert's absence in Vienna the affair seemed to be progressing favourably, and his agent, Job Holder, wrote to him from Heidelberg: "This day Valentine Pyne made an end of measuring the Cloysture and Langessel. The circumference which is given to the Elector, is ten English miles,—reckoning 1,000 paces to the mile,—and go paces. This morning I waited upon Mr. Leslie from Langessel to Heidelberg, who gave H. H. the Elector an account of what was done, and desired H. H. to confirm those lands upon your Highness, with the full freedom and prerogatives thereof. But His Highness defers it until the draught thereof be finished; it will be, I believe, next Tuesday before a further account can be had from hence. Mr. Leslie says there is a necessity of having the house speedily repaired; after two months winter comes on, which will be unseasonable for the purpose. In the meantime he intends to go on with the Paddock, in observance of Your Highness's commands, and to make it as large as the highways will permit. Her Highness, the Princess Elizabeth, commanded me to write that my Lady Herbert was coming to the Hague with 30 English gentlemen."[12] But a couple of months later the Elector declared himself dissatisfied with the management of Leslie, and desired Rupert to have no more to do with him.[13]
The business remained unfinished, but the Elector's letters to his brother were still in a most friendly and affectionate strain; addressed always to his "très-cher Frère," and signed "très-cher frère, votre très affectionné, et fidèle frère et serviteur," they are full of good-will, and wishes for "une prompte et bonne expédition" in Rupert's affairs. Occasionally they assume the old tone of jesting familiarity; in one letter Charles laments that the poems—"nos poësies"—forwarded to his brother have miscarried; and in another, remarks, in the true polyglot style of the Palatines, "Le Duc de Simmeren nous a vu à Hort, en passant pour être au baptême d'un fils de Madame la Landgrave de Cassel, où je suis prié aussi; but I do not love to go a-gossipping."[14] In August he anticipated a petty war with the Bishop of Speyer, but he hastily declined Rupert's prompt offer of assistance. "I am deeply obliged for the offer you make me, but I should be desolated to think that you neglected your own more pressing business for a dispute of so little consequence."[15] In truth, the less his brother interfered in Palatine politics, the better pleased was the Elector. Rupert, he once wrote to his sister Sophie, might suit very well with those who cared "to propagate the gospel by the sword," but he, for his part, loved "peace and concord."[16]
His concord with Rupert was not of long duration, and this time the causa belli was a woman. The Elector had married, in 1650, Charlotte of Hesse Cassel, but the marriage was not a happy one. The Electress was of a violent temper, jealous and unreasonable to the last degree, and Charles Louis, wearying of his attempts to win her affections, permitted his wandering fancy to dwell on a certain Louise Von Degenfeldt, a girl not only beautiful, but clever enough to write her love-letters in Latin. Most unfortunately, the Baroness Louise also fascinated—quite unconsciously—the Elector's brother Rupert. At the same time the Electress conceived a violent admiration for her gallant brother-in-law, and the situation was, as may well be imagined, somewhat critical. The explosion was caused by a letter which Rupert wrote to Louise, complaining bitterly of her coldness towards him. The letter, which was without superscription, fell into the hands of the Electress, who, believing it intended for herself, received it with delight. It was her chief desire, just then, to appear to Rupert the most fascinating person in her court, and, encouraged by his letter, she assured him publicly that he had no cause to complain of lack of affection on her part. Rupert, who had evidently not learnt to command his countenance, was overcome with confusion, and blushed so furiously as to show the Electress her mistake. Thenceforth the Electress abused and persecuted Louise for having endeavoured to win the Prince's love, of which crime, at least, she was perfectly innocent.[17]
The affair came to the Elector's ears, and jealousy sprang up between the brothers. The Elector's manner changed; he refused the promised appanage, he treated Rupert with marked coldness, and finally retired to Alzei, where there was little accommodation for his court. Rupert followed him thither, and was denied a sufficiency of rooms for himself and his servants; then, as usual, he lost his temper.[18] There was a quarrel, and the younger brother departed in a rage, taking with him all his movables—which cannot have been many.[19] He went first to Heidelberg, but the Elector, either wishful to insult him, or really fearful of his violence, wrote, ordering that he should be refused admittance to the city. To his surprise and indignation, Rupert found the gates closed against him. He demanded to see the order by which this thing was done. The order was shown him, written in the Elector's own hand. It was too much! Then and there Rupert raised his hat from his head, and swore, with tears in his eyes, that he would never more set foot in the Palatinate.[20] Twenty years later, when it seemed to the Elector that his race was about to die out, he would have given much to recall his ill-used brother. But all the entreaties which he lavished on Rupert, produced but one answer: "Ich habe auf Euer Liebden Veranlassung ein feierliches Gelübde zu Gott gethan, die Pfalz nie wieder zu betreten; und will, bei dem wenn auch bedauerlich beschwornen Vorsatze beharren." "Your Belovedness,"—a curious Palatine substitute for Your Highness,—"has caused me to take a solemn oath to God that I will never more set foot in the Palatinate; and my sworn, if regretable, oath I will keep."[21] Rupert, like his father before him, was "a Prince religious of his word."
After his quarrel with his brother, Rupert wandered back to Vienna, and is said to have served in the wars in Pomerania and Hungary. In 1657 it was stated in England that "Prince Rupert hath command of 8,000 men, under the King of Hungary, who will owe his empirate to his sword."[22] And a German authority describes him as leading in the capture of the Swedish entrenchments at Warnemünde, 1660.[23] But the truth of these reports is very doubtful, and he seems to have resided between 1657 and 1660 chiefly with his friend the Elector of Mainz. At Mainz he lived in tranquillity, but in great poverty. "He looks exceedingly poverty-stricken," wrote Sophie of another Cavalier, "and I fear that Rupert will soon do the same, judging by his ménage."[24]
But to Rupert poverty was no new thing, and he now enjoyed, for the first time since his captivity in Austria, leisure to devote himself to art, philosophy and science. In these years he first studied the art of engraving, in which he was afterwards so famous. He is popularly supposed to have invented the process of engraving by Mezzotint, the idea of which he is said to have conceived from watching a soldier clean a rusty gun. But the process was, as a matter of fact, communicated to him by a German soldier, Ludwig von Siegen. In 1642 von Siegen had completed his invention, and had sent a portrait, produced by his new process, to the Landgrave of Hesse, with the announcement that he had discovered "a new and singular invention of a kind never hitherto beheld." In 1658 he met Rupert in Vienna, and, finding in him a kindred spirit, disclosed his secret. They agreed only to reveal the process to an appreciative few, and it is probable that, but for Rupert's interest in it, the invention would have died with the inventor.[25] To the Prince belongs the credit of introducing it into England. "This afternoon Prince Rupert shewed me, with his own hands, the new way of engraving," says Evelyn in his diary, March 16, 1661.[26] And in his "Sculptura" he says, after describing the process, "Nor may I without ingratitude conceal that illustrious name which did communicate it to me, nor the obligation which the curious have to that heroic person who was pleased to impart it to the world."[27] Rupert himself worked hard at his engravings, assisted by the artist, Le Vaillant; and Evelyn refers with enthusiasm to "what Prince Rupert's own hands have contributed to the dignity of that art, performing things in graving comparable to the greatest masters, such a spirit and address appears in all he touches, especially in the Mezzotinto."[28]
While at Mainz, Rupert developed other inventions, among them the curious glass bubbles known as "Rupert's Drops," which will withstand the hardest blows, but crumble into atoms if the taper end is broken off. He also prepared to write his biography. This he intended as a vindication against all the calumnies which had been associated with his name. But long before the vindication was compiled the need for it had vanished. The Restoration of 1660 changed Rupert's fortunes as it changed those of his Stuart cousins. He found himself "in great esteem"[29] with the whole English nation, and he therefore abandoned the idea of writing his history. All that remains of the projected biography are a few fragments relating to his childhood and early career.
[1] Strickland's Elizabeth Stuart, p. 218; also Green's Princesses, VI. 38-41.
[2] Green's Princesses, Vol. VI. 55-58.
[3] Thurloe, VI. p. 803, 24 Feb. 1658.
[4] Bromley Letters, pp. 285-288. Elizabeth to Rupert, March 4, 1658.
[5] Ibid. p. 289.
[6] Bromley, pp. 287-288.
[7] Bromley Letters, pp. 189, 295, Elizabeth to Rupert.
[8] Bromley Letters, p. 286, March 4, 1658.
[9] Thurloe, II. 362, 19 June, 1654.
[10] Bromley, p. 167. Elector to Elizabeth, June 27, 1654.
[11] Thurloe, II. 514, 12 Aug. 1654.
[12] Add. MSS. 18982. Job Holder to Rupert, Aug. 1, 1654.
[13] Ibid. Oct. 14, 1654.
[14] Bromley Letters, pp. 170, 173, 315, 25 Aug., 25 Sept., Oct. 1654.
[15] Bromley Letters, p. 171, 25 Sept. 1654.
[16] Briefwechsel der Herzogin Sophie mit ihrem Brüder Karl Ludwig, p. 309. 5 Jan. 1678. Publication aus der Preussischen Staats Archiven.
[17] Memorien der Herzogin Sophie, p. 57.
[18] Halisser's Reinische Pfalz, II. p. 643.
[19] Thurloe, V. p. 541.
[20] Reiger's Ausgelöschte Simmerischen Linie, ed. 1735. p. 182.
[21] Sprüner's Pfalzgraf Ruprecht, p. 134.
[22] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. V. App. I. p. 152, Sutherland MSS.
[23] Allgemeine Deutsche Biographic, XXIX, 745.
[24] Briefwechsel der Herzogin Sophie, p. 4, 21 Oct 1658.
[25] Challoner Smith. Mezzotint Engraving, Part IV. Div II. pp. xxvi-xxx.
[26] Evelyn's Diary, I. p. 346.
[27] Evelyn's Sculptura, 1662, Chap. VII. p. 145.
[28] Sculptura, p. 147.
[29] Campbell's Admirals, 1785, Vol. II. p. 245.
CHAPTER XVII
RUPERT'S RETURN TO ENGLAND, 1660. VISIT TO VIENNA.
LETTERS TO LEGGE
Charles II, so often accused of ingratitude, did not prove forgetful of the cousin who had endured so much in his service. No sooner had the Restoration established him in his kingdom, than he summoned Rupert to share in his prosperity, as he had formerly shared his ill-fortune. The summons found Rupert with the Emperor, and suffering from an attack of the fever, which had clung about him ever since his return from the West Indies.
"Your friend Rupert has not been well since he came into his quarters," wrote the Queen, his mother, to Sir Marmaduke Langdale. "He had like to have a fever, but he writes to me that it left him, onlie he was a little weak. As soon as he can he will be in England, where I wish myself, for this place is verie dull now, there is verie little company."[1] Her position at the Hague was, in truth, a sad and lonely one, but she was still able to write in her old merry style, rejoicing greatly in a mistake made by Sir Marmaduke, who had inadvertently sent to her a letter intended for his stewards, and to the stewards a letter intended for the Queen. "If I had you here, I would jeer you to some tune for it!" she said; and so, no doubt, she would have done. But in her next letter she confessed that she had herself "committed the like mistake manie times," and added more news of Rupert, who had gone away for change of air.[2] In a third letter she expressed satisfaction at the King's affection for Rupert, who was then at Brandenburg with his sister Elizabeth.[3] Before coming to England, the Prince also visited his youngest sister at Osnabrück, and it was late in September when he arrived in London.
His coming had been for some time anxiously expected, though he was evidently regarded as still in the Emperor's service. "For ambassadors," it was said, "we look for Don Luis de Haro's brother from Spain, with 300 followers; Prince Rupert, with a great train from the Emperor; and the Duc d'Epernon from France, with no less State."[4] Rupert came, however, in a strictly private capacity; and September 29th, 1660, Pepys recorded in his diary: "Prince Rupert is come to Court, welcome to nobody!"[5] How the Prince had, thus early, incurred the diarist's enmity is puzzling; later, the causes of it are perfectly understandable.
But though unwelcome to Pepys, Rupert was very welcome to many people, and not least so to the Royal family, who received him as one of themselves. In November the Royal party was augmented by the arrival of Queen Henrietta; her youngest daughter, Henrietta Anne; and the Palatine, Edward, from France. The young Princess Henrietta was already betrothed to the French King's brother, Philippe of Orleans; and Rupert, who had a just contempt for the character of the intended bridegroom, vehemently opposed the conclusion of the match. He could, he declared, arrange the marriage of his young cousin with the Emperor, who would be at once a greater match and a better husband.[6] But both the Queen mother and Charles were anxious for the French alliance, and the marriage took place notwithstanding Rupert's opposition. When, after ten years of unhappiness, the poor young Duchess died a tragic death, Rupert was in a position to say "I told you so," and he always maintained that her husband had poisoned her. "There are three persons at court say it is true," wrote the French Minister, Colbert: "Prince Rupert, because he has a natural inclination to believe evil; the Duke of Buckingham, because he courts popularity; and Sir John Trevor, because he is Dutch at heart, and consequently hates the French."[7]
On New Year's Day, 1661, Anne Hyde, the clandestine bride of James of York, was formally received at court. Rupert and Edward dined with the rest of the Royal family, in public; and on this occasion there was a most unseemly contest between the Roman chaplain of the Queen mother, and the Anglican chaplain of Charles II, for the honour of saying grace. In struggling through the crowd assembled to see the King dine, the Anglican priest fell down, and the Roman gained the table first and said grace. His victory was greeted by the disorderly courtiers with shouts of laughter. "The King's chaplain and the Queen's priest ran a race to say grace," they declared, "and the chaplain was floored, and the priest won."[8]
Rupert, soon after his arrival in England, had resigned his title of President of Wales and the Marches, granted him by Charles I, on the grounds that he would hold only of the reigning King.[9] He had, however, found himself so cordially received, and so generally popular, that he resolved to accept Charles's invitation to remain permanently in England. "Prince Rupert," says a letter in the Sutherland MSS., dated March 1661, "is the only favourite of the King, insomuch that he has given him £30,000 or £40,000 per annum, out of his own revenue, for his present maintenance; and is resolved to make him Lieutenant General of all Wales, and President of the Marches. Meantime he is preparing to go to Germany to take leave of that court and to resign his military charge there, and so return to England. I am told that the King went into the Palatinate with an intent to have procured some money of the Palsgrave, which was refused. Prince Rupert, being then there, seeing the unworthiness of his brother in this particular, made use of all the friends he had, and procured his Majesty a considerable sum of money, which was an act of so much love and civility as his Majesty was very sensible of then, and now he will requite him for it."[10] But Charles's intentions towards Rupert, though doubtless good, were far less magnificent than here represented. The claims on his justice and bounty were far too numerous, and his means far too small, to permit of his rewarding anyone so lavishly.
Rupert was still in high favour at the Austrian court, and the "temptations to belong to other nations" were real ones; but he preferred England and the Stuarts to any of the allurements held out to him by France or Germany, and therefore resolved to "remain an Englishman." In accordance with this decision, he set forth for Vienna in April 1661, partly to wind up his affairs there and to take leave of the Emperor, and partly to transact business on behalf of Charles II. His absence from England lasted nine months, and his doings and movements during that period are chronicled in letters addressed to his "Dear Will." The old friendship of the Prince and the honest Colonel had not cooled, though tried by time and long years of separation; and, on his departure, Rupert appointed Legge his "sufficient and lawful attorney, to act, manage, perform and do all, and all manner of things" in his behalf.[11]
The greater part of his letters to Legge are printed in Warburton, but with some omissions and inaccuracies. They are also to be found, in their original spelling, in the Report of the Historical MSS. Commission on Lord Dartmouth's Manuscripts; but they are, in their frank, familiar, somewhat sardonic style, so characteristic of the Prince as to merit quotation here.[12]
The first letters are dated from the Hague, whither he had gone to visit his solitary mother. "I found the poor woman very much dejected," he informed his friend. And after mentioning disquieting rumours of war, he concluded, with evident triumph:—
"I almost forgott to tell you a nother story which be plesed to acquainted (sic) the Duke of Albemarle with. You have doubtlesse scene a lame Polish Prince, some time at Whitehall with passe ports a beggin. This noble soule is tacken and in prisoned at Alikmare; hath bin butt twice burnt in the bake befor this misfortune befell him. The Duke I am sure will remember him, and what my jugement was of the fellow.
"I am your most faithful friend for ever,
"Rupert."
Europe was at that time swarming with impostors, who impersonated all imaginable persons of distinction. Only a few months earlier a "Serene Prince" had been visiting the Elector, who wrote of him much as Rupert might have done. "His Highness was graciously pleased to accept from me three ducats for his journey, besides the defraying. I doubt not but he and the counterfeit Ormonde and Ossory will come to one and the same end one day."[13]
In the beginning of May Rupert had reached Cleves, where he found the little Prince of Orange. Rumours of war met him on all sides; both Swedes and Turks were arming against the Emperor, and the Dutch declared loudly that they would defend their herring fisheries against England, with the sword. "I told some that butter and cheese would do better," wrote the Prince; little thinking what stout antagonists he was to find those despised Hollanders at sea. He was anxious to recommend to Charles' service an engineer, "the ablest man in his profession that ever I saw... If the fortification of Portchmouth go on, I wish his advice may be taken, for noen fortifies so well, and cheap, and fast as he. He has a way of working which noen has so good. Pray neglect not this man, and tell Sir Robert Murray of him, with my remembrances; also that I met with camphor wood, which smells of it, also with a distilled pure raine water which dissolved gold."
After a short visit to his friend, the Elector of Mainz, who, he said, "assured me to be assisting in all things," Rupert reached Vienna. There he was very cordially received by the Emperor, though the Spanish Ambassador, for political reasons, saw fit to ignore his arrival. The Austrians were still loth to let him leave them; and on June 22, he wrote to Legge: "A friend of mine, att my coming, assured me that there were but twoe difficulties whiche hindred my advancement to the Generallship of the Horse. The one was my being no Roman, the other that the Marquess of Baden and Generall Feldzeugmeister de Sanch might take ill if I was advanced before them. And he thought both these small impediments might easily be overcome, but especially the first, on whiche, he assured me, most ded depend." He had not yet forgotten his role of Protestant martyr! To this letter he added, as usual, a hurried and incoherent postcript.
"I almost forgott to tell you how that Comte Lesley's cousin, (I forgott his name, but I remember that his sister was married to St. Michel,) this man ded me the favor to send over a booke to Comte Lesley, entitled 'The Iron Age,' in whiche it speekes most base languiage of me and my actions in England. It is dedicated to Jake Russell, but I am confident if honest Jake had reade the booke, he would have broke the translator's head.... One Harris translated it; pray inquire after the booke, and juge if it were not a Scotch tricke to sende it... Moutray is the name I forgott."
By July the Spanish Ambassador had deigned to visit the Prince, and to reveal the true cause of his long delay—namely, the rumours of Charles II's approaching marriage with the Infanta of Portugal, which was likely to produce a war with Spain. For this same reason, joined with their resentment at Rupert's refusal of the Generalship of the horse, the Austrian Ministers also treated him with coldness, though the personal kindness of the Imperial family was never abated. "In the meantime be pleased to knowe that Rupert is but coldly used by the Ministers here," wrote the Prince; "they would have him demand the Generallship before there is an appearance of subsistence,—nay, before what is oweing in arreare, by the Peace of Munster, be made sure unto him; to whiche Rupert doth no waies incline, especialy since he had the intimation given him that his religion was an obstacle to his advancement in the warr. The Emperor, Emperatrice and Archduc are extreamly kind to Rupert; but noen of the Counsellors have done him the honor of a visit. The reason is, I believe, the marriage aforesaid... For God's sake, if there be any likelihood of a breach with Spaine, lett us knowe it by times; it concerns us, Ile assure you."
In August matters were much in the same condition, and Rupert was still struggling for the arrears of the debt due to him. "Monys is comodity in greate request in this court, and scarce enough!" he confessed. Notwithstanding his refusal to enter the Austrian service, he identified himself with the Empire sufficiently to write of "our commander," when referring to the war then waged by the Emperor against the Turks. In the next month the Elector had played him "a brotherly trick," and the letter which he wrote to Will was as full of fury, as any he had indited during the Civil War.
"Dear Will,
"I am not able to writt you of any subject but of one, which, I confesse, doth troble me in the highest degre, and dothe concerne our master as well as myself. The stori is this. The Elector Pallatin hath bin plesed to writt to a Prive Consellor of this Court, in these terms—what the King of England's ambassador doth negotiate with the Porte Elector Pallatin knowes not, nor what is intended by him against the house of Austria, but Prince Rupert, whoe is intimate with Kinge of England and his Prive Consellor, can tell, if he plese.—All this is a brotherly tricke you'l saye; but I thancke Gode they heere doe little beleeve what he saies... By Heven I am in suche a humour that I dare not writt to any; therefore excuse me to alle, for not writting this post... Faire well, deare Will!"
Five days later Rupert had recovered himself, and could write in his ordinary sarcastic fashion: "By the last I writt you the kinde usage of my brother the Elector to me, as alsoe the good office he ded the Kinge in this Court. I thanke Gode he hath not realised his barbaros intentions!" But the letter was broken off abruptly, because the Emperor was waiting for Rupert's hounds to hunt a stag. By the next post the Prince had to lament the loss of one of these hounds, and his keen regret shows plainly that his love for dogs was as strong as ever.
"I am glad that Holmes hath given the King satisfaction.... Pray give him thankes for remembering his ould master. Pray remember my service to the General (Monk); tell him I am glad to heere of his recouvrey, it was before I knew he had been sicke. If my Lord Lindsay be at court, the same to him, with the doleful news that poore Rayall att this instant is dying, after having ben the cause of the death of many a stagge. By Heven, I would rather loose the best horse in my stable."
Rupert was now preparing to return to England, and was very busy purchasing wines for the use of the English Court. A considerable quantity, presented to him by the Elector of Mainz, he had already forwarded to Legge, to dispose of as he pleased. By November 22 he had reached Cassel, whence he wrote to Legge, "I am making all the haste I can to you." But at Cassel he found his eldest sister, and he remained with her some weeks, not returning to England until the beginning of 1662.
His mother, in the meantime, had obtained her much desired summons to England, and had taken up her abode in a house placed at her disposal by the ever faithful Craven. For a brief period she enjoyed rest and peace, rejoicing in the return to her native land, and in the affection of her Stuart nephews, who, she said, showed her more kindness than any of her own sons had ever done. Eighteen months after her arrival in England, she died, in the arms of the King. Her pictures she bequeathed to Lord Craven, and her papers and jewels to Rupert, thereby establishing a new cause of contest between her two eldest sons.[14] For the Elector denied his mother's right to leave the jewels—which were, he declared, heirlooms—to a younger son. Rupert held tenaciously to his possessions, and the dispute raged long and bitterly.
[1] Strickland's Elizabeth Stuart, p. 268.
[2] Ibid. p. 268.
[3] Strickland's Elizabeth Stuart, p. 269.
[4] Hist. MSS. Com. Rept. V. App. I. p. 173. Sutherland MSS., 4 Aug. 1660.
[5] Pepys Diary, Sept. 29th, 1660.
[6] Cartwright. Madame: A Life of Henrietta of Orleans, pp. 70-71.