However, this disgrace was fully compensated soon after by another of the same kind, which happened to King Stephen; for whilst he and his brother of Winchester were fortifying a nunnery at Wilton, to bridle his enemies at Salisbury, who very much harassed those parts by their frequent excursions, the Earl of Gloucester, who watched all opportunities, came unaware with a strong body of men, and set fire on the nunnery while the King himself was in it. Stephen, upon the sudden surprise of the thing, wholly lost or forgot his usual courage, and fled shamefully away, leaving his soldiers to be cut in pieces by the Earl.
During the rest of the war, although it lasted nine years longer, there is little memorable recorded by any writer; whether the parties being pretty equal, and both sufficiently tired with so long a contention, wanted vigour and spirit to make a thorough conquest, and only endeavoured to keep what they had, or whether the multitude of strong castles, whose number daily increased, made it very difficult to end a war between two contending powers almost in balance; let the cause be what it will, the whole time passed in mutual sieges, surprises, revolts, surrenders of fortified places, without any decisive action, or other event of importance to be related. By which at length the very genius of the people became wholly bent upon a life of spoil, robbery, and plunder; many of the nobles, although pretending to hold their castles for the King or the Empress, lived like petty independent princes in a perpetual state of war against their neighbours; the fields lay uncultivated, all the arts of civil life were banished, no veneration left for sacred persons or things; in short, no law, truth, or religion among men, but a scene of universal misery, attended with all the consequences of an embroiled and distracted state.
About the eleventh year of the King's reign, young Henry, now growing towards a man, was sent for to France by a message from his father, who was desirous to see him; but left a considerable party in England, to adhere to his interests; and in a short time after (as some write[38]) the Empress herself grown weary of contending any longer in a cause where she had met with nothing but misfortunes of her own procuring, left the kingdom likewise, and retired to her husband. Nor was this the only good fortune that befell Stephen; for before the year ended, the main prop and pillar of his enemies was taken away by death; this was Robert Earl of Gloucester, than whom there have been few private persons known in the world that deserve a fairer place and character in the registers of time, for his inviolable faith, disinterested friendship, indefatigable zeal, and firm constancy to the cause he espoused, and unparalleled generosity in the conduct thereof: he adhered to his sister in all her fortunes, to the ruin of his own; he placed a crown on her head; and when she had lost it by her folly and perverseness refused the greatest offers from a victorious enemy, who had him in his power, and chose to continue a prisoner rather than recover his liberty by any hazard to her pretensions: he bore up her sinking title in spite of her own frequent miscarriages, and at last died in her cause by a fever contracted with perpetual toils for her service. An example fit to be shewn the world, although few perhaps are like to follow it; but however, a small tribute of praise, justly due to extraordinary virtue, may prove no ill expedient to encourage imitation.
[Footnote 38: Gervase. [D.S.]]
But the death of this lord, together with the absence of the Empress and her son in France, added very little to the quiet or security of the King. For the Earl of Gloucester, suspecting the fidelity of the lords, had, with great sagacity, delivered their sons to the Earl of Anjou, to be kept as pledges for their fathers' fidelity, as we have before related: by which means a powerful party was still kept up against Stephen, too strong to be suddenly broken. Besides, he had, by an unusual strain of his conduct, lately lost much good-will, as well as reputation, in committing an act of violence and fraud on the person of the Earl of Chester, a principal adherent of the Empress. This nobleman, of great power and possessions, had newly reconciled himself to Stephen, and came to his court at Northampton, where, against all laws of hospitality, as well as common faith and justice, he was committed to prison, and forced to buy his liberty with the surrender of Lincoln, and all his other places, into the King's hands.
Affairs continued in this turbulent posture about two years, the nobles neither trusting the King nor each other. The number of castles still increased, which every man who had any possessions was forced to build, or else become a prey to his powerful neighbours. This was thought a convenient juncture, by the Empress and her friends, for sending young Prince Henry to try his fortune in England, where he landed at the head of a considerable number of horse and foot, although he was then but sixteen years old. Immediately after his arrival he went to Carlisle, where he met his cousin David King of Scots, by whom he was made knight, after the usual custom of young princes and noblemen in that age. The King of England, who had soon intelligence of Henry's landing and motions, marched down to secure York, against which he expected the first attempt of his enemy was designed. But, whatever the cause might be (wherein the writers of those ages are either silent or unsatisfactory) both armies remained at that secure distance for three months, after which Henry returned back to Normandy, leaving the kingdom in the state of confusion he found it at his coming.
The fortunes of this young prince Henry Fitz-Empress now began to advance by great and sudden steps, whereof it will be no digression to inform the reader, as well upon the connection they have with the affairs at home about this time, as because they concern the immediate successor to the crown.
Prince Henry's voyage to France was soon followed by the death of his father Geoffrey Earl of Anjou, whereby the son became possessed of that earldom, together with the Duchy of Normandy; but in a short time after he very much enlarged his dominions by a marriage, in which he consulted his reputation less than his advantage. For Louis the Young, King of France, was lately divorced from his wife Eleanor, who, as the French writers relate, bore a great contempt and hatred to her husband, and had long desired such a separation. Other authors give her not so fair a character: but whatever might be the real cause, the pretext was consanguinity in the fourth degree.[39] Henry was content to accept this lady with all her faults, and in her right became Duke of Aquitaine, and Earl of Poitou, very considerable provinces, added to his other dominions.
[Footnote 39: Louis VII., after living fourteen years with his Queen, obtained a dissolution of the marriage on the plea of relationship within the prohibited degrees. See Bouchet, "Annalles d'Acquitaine." [W.S.J.]]
But the two Kings of France and England began to apprehend much danger from the sudden greatness of a young ambitious prince; and their interests were jointly concerned to check his growth. Duke Henry was now ready to sail for England, in a condition to assert his title upon more equal terms; when the King of France, in conjunction with Eustace, King Stephen's son, and Geoffrey, the Duke's own brother, suddenly entered into his dominions with a mighty army; took the Castle of Neufmarché by storm, and laid siege to that of Angers. The Duke, by this incident, was forced to lay aside his thoughts of England, and marching boldly towards the enemy, resolved to relieve the besieged; but finding they had already taken the castle, he thought it best to make a diversion, by carrying the war into the enemy's country, where he left all to the mercy of his soldiers, surprised and burnt several castles, and made great devastations wherever he came. This proceeding answered the end for which it was designed; the King of France thought he had already done enough for his honour, and began to grow weary of a ruinous war, which was likely to be protracted. The conditions of a peace, by the intervention of some religious men, were soon agreed. The Duke, after some time spent in settling his affairs, and preparing all things necessary for his intended expedition, set sail for England, where he landed[40] the same year in the depth of winter, with a hundred and forty knights, and three thousand foot.
[Footnote 40: The place where he landed is not mentioned by our historians. It was probably in the West of England, as the first garrisoned town he attacked was Malmesbury. [D.S.]]
Some time before Henry landed, the King had conceived a project to disappoint his designs, by confirming the crown upon himself and his own posterity.[41] He sent for the Archbishop of Canterbury, with several other prelates, and proposed that his son Eustace should be crowned King with all the usual solemnity: but the bishops absolutely refused to perform the office, by express orders from the Pope, who was an enemy to Stephen, partly upon account of his unjust or declining cause, but chiefly for his strict alliance with the King of France, who was then engaged in a quarrel against that See, upon a very tender point relating to the revenues of vacant churches. The King and his son were both enraged at the bishops' refusal, and kept them prisoners in the chamber where they assembled, with many threats to force them to a compliance, and some other circumstances of rigour; but all to no purpose, so that he was at length forced to desist. But the archbishop, to avoid further vexation, fled the realm.
[Footnote 41: Gervase, Hen. Huntingdon. [D.S.]]
This contrivance of crowning the son during the life and reign of the father, which appears so absurd in speculation, was actually performed in the succeeding reign, and seems to have been taken up by those two princes of French birth and extraction, in imitation of the like practice in their native country,[42] where it was usual for kings grown old and infirm, or swayed by paternal indulgence, to receive their eldest son into a share of the administration, with the title of King; a custom borrowed, no doubt, from the later emperors of Rome, who adopted their Caesars after the like manner.
[Footnote 42: Mezeray. [D.S.]]
The King was employed in his usual exercise of besieging castles when the news was brought of Henry's arrival. He left the work he was about, and marched directly against the Duke, who was then sat down before Malmesbury. But Stephen forced him to raise the siege, and immediately offered him battle. The Duke, although his army was much increased by continual revolts, thought it best to gain time, being still in number far inferior to the King, and therefore kept himself strongly entrenched. There is some difference among writers about the particulars of this war: however, it is generally agreed, that in a short time after, the two armies met, and were prepared for battle, when the nobles on both sides, either dreading the consequences, or weary of a tedious war, prevailed with the King and Duke to agree to a truce for some days in order to a peace; which was violently opposed by Eustace, the King's son, a youth of great spirit and courage, because he knew very well it could not be built but upon the ruin of his interests; and therefore finding he could not prevail, he left the army in a rage, and, attended by some followers, endeavoured to satiate his fury, by destroying the country in his march: But in a few days, as he sat at dinner in a castle of his own, he fell suddenly dead, either through grief, madness, or poison.
The truce was now expired, and the Duke began to renew the war with fresh vigour; but the King was wholly dispirited upon this fatal accident, and now first began to entertain real thoughts of a peace. He had lost a son whom he dearly loved, and with him he likewise lost the alliance of the French King, to whose sister the young prince was married. He had indeed another son left, but little esteemed by the nobles and people; nor, as it appears, much regarded by his father. He was now in the decline of his age, decayed in his health, forsaken by his friends, who, since the death of Eustace, fell daily from him; and having no further care at heart for his posterity, he thought it high time to seek repose for his person. The nobles soon observed this disposition in their King, which was so agreeable to their own; therefore, by general consent, Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed mediator between both princes. All matters were soon agreed; an assembly of lords was convened at Winchester, where the King received the Duke with great marks of courtesy and kindness. There the peace was confirmed by the King's charter, wherein are expressed the terms of agreement. But I shall relate only the principal.
The King, by this charter, acknowledged Henry for lawful successor to the crown; in which capacity all the nobles paid him homage: and Henry himself, with his party, paid homage to Stephen. There is likewise a reservation for William, the King's son, of all the honours possessed by his father before he came to the crown. The King likewise acknowledges the obedience of his subjects to be no longer due to him than he shall observe the conditions of this charter. And for the performance of these articles, the archbishops and bishops were appointed guarantees. There were some other articles agreed on, which are not mentioned in the charter; as, a general pardon; a restitution, to the right owners, of those lands and possessions, which had been usurped in the time of the troubles; that all castles built during the war should be razed to the ground, which are said to have been above eleven hundred; that the rights of the Church should be preserved; with other matters of less moment.
Thus, by the prudence of Archbishop Theobald, the moderation of the two princes engaged, and the universal inclination of the people, a happy period was put to this tedious and troublesome war: men began to have the prospect of a long peace; nor was it easy to foresee what could possibly arise to disturb it; when discovery was made, by accident, of a most horrible piece of treachery, which, if it had met with success, would have once more set the whole nation in a flame. The Duke, after the peace, attended the King to London, to be shewn to the people as the undoubted successor to the crown; and having made a progress together through some other parts of the kingdom, they came to Canterbury; where Henry received private notice of a design upon his life. It hath been already observed, that the King employed in his wars a body of Flemings, to the great discontent of his own subjects, with whom they were very ungracious. These foreigners were much discontented at the peace, whereby they were likely to become useless and burthensome to the present King, and hateful to the successor. To prevent which, the commanders among them began to practise upon the levity and ambition of William the King's son. They urged the indignity he had received in being deprived of his birthright; offered to support his title by their valour, as they had done that of his father; and, as an earnest of their intentions, to remove the chief impediment by dispatching his rival out of the world, The young prince was easily wrought upon to be at the head of this conspiracy; time and place were fixed; when, upon the day appointed, William broke his leg by a fall from his horse; and the conspirators wanting their leader immediately dispersed. This disappointment and delay, as it usually happens among conspirators, were soon followed by a discovery of the whole plot, whereof the Duke, with great discretion, made no other use than to consult his own safety; therefore, without any shew of suspicion or displeasure, he took leave of the King, and returned to Normandy.
Stephen lived not above a year to share the happiness of this peace with his people, in which time he made a progress through most parts of the kingdom, where he gained universal love and veneration, by a most affable and courteous behaviour to all men. A few months after his return he went to Dover, to have an interview with the Earl of Flanders;[43] where, after a short sickness, he died of the iliac passion, together with his old distemper the hemorrhoids, upon the twenty-fifth day of October, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the nineteenth of his reign.
[Footnote 43: The Earl of Flanders was a potent sovereign on the continent, and had landed at Dover, in order to meet and confer with the King. [D.S.]]
He was a prince of wonderful endowments, both in body and mind: in his person tall and graceful, of great strength as well as vigour: he had a large portion of most virtues that can be useful in a King towards the happiness of his subjects or himself; courtesy and valour, liberality and clemency, in an eminent degree; especially the last, which he carried to an extreme, though very pardonable, yet hardly consisting with prudence, or his own safety. If we except his usurpation of the crown, he must be allowed a prince of great justice, which most writers affirm to have been always unblemished, except in that single instance: for, as to his treatment of the bishops and the Earl of Chester, it seems very excusable by the necessity of the time; and it was the general opinion, if he had not used that proceeding with the latter, it would have cost him his crown. Perhaps his injustice to the Empress might likewise admit a little extenuation. Four kings successively had sat on the throne without any regard to lineal descent; a period beyond the memory of most men then alive; whereby the people had lost much of that devotion they were used to bear towards an established succession: besides, the government of a woman was then a thing unknown, and for that reason disliked by all who professed to hate innovations.
But the wisdom of this prince was by no means equal to the rest of his virtues. He came to the crown upon as fair a title as his predecessor, being elected by the general consent of the nobles, through the credit of his brother, and his own personal merit. He had no disturbance for some time, which he might easily have employed in settling the kingdom, and acquiring the love of his people. He had treasure enough to raise and pay armies, without burthening the subject. His competitor was a woman, whose sex was the least of her infirmities, and with whom he had already compounded for his quiet by a considerable pension: yet with all these advantages he seldom was master of above half the kingdom at once, and that by the force of perpetual struggling, and with frequent danger of losing the whole. The principal difficulties he had to encounter, appear to have been manifest consequences of several most imprudent steps in his conduct, whereof many instances have been produced in the history of his reign; such as, the unlimited permission of building castles; his raising the siege of a weak place where the Empress was shut up, and must, in a few days, have fallen into his hands; his employing the Flemings in his wars, and favouring them above his own subjects; and lastly, that abortive project of crowning his son, which procured him at once the hatred and contempt of the clergy, by discovering an inclination to violence and injustice that he durst not pursue: whereas, it was nothing else but an effect of that hasty and sudden disposition usually ascribed to those of his country, and in a peculiar manner charged to this prince: for authors give it as a part of his character, to be hot and violent in the beginning of an enterprise, but to slacken and grow cold in the prosecution.
He had a just sense of religion, and was frequent in attending the service of the Church, yet reported to be no great friend of the clergy; which, however, is a general imputation upon all the kings of this realm in that and some succeeding reigns, and by no means personal to this prince, who deserved it as little as any.
I do not find any alterations during this reign in the meetings of general assemblies, further than that the Commons do not seem to have been represented in any of them; for which I can assign no other reason than the will of the King, or the disturbance of the time.[44] I observed the word Parliament is used promiscuously among authors, for a general assembly of nobles, and for a council of bishops, or synod of the clergy; which renders this matter too perplexed to ascertain anything about it.
[Footnote 44: The rise and history of Parliaments had not been cleared up when the Doctor writ in the beginning of this current century. It is certain, that the Commons had as yet never been represented. [D.S.]]
As for affairs of the Church, that deserve particular mention, I have not met with any; unless it should be worth relating, that Henry Bishop of Winchester, the Pope's legate, who held frequent synods during this reign, was the first introducer of appeals to Rome, in this kingdom, for which he is blamed by all the monkish historians who give us the account.
The spirit of war and contention, which had for a long time possessed the nation, became so effectually laid during the last year of King Stephen's reign, that no alteration or disturbance ensued upon his death, although the new King,[45] after he had received intelligence of it, was detained six weeks[46] by contrary winds: besides, the opinion of this prince's power and virtues, had already begotten so great an awe and reverence for him among the people, that upon his arrival he found the whole kingdom in a profound peace. He landed at Hostreham,[47] about the beginning of December, was received at Winchester by a great number of the nobility, who came there to attend and swear fealty to him, and three weeks after was crowned at Westminster, about the twenty-third year of his age.
[Footnote 45: Henry was at that time besieging a castle on the frontiers of Normandy. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 46: Five weeks at the most; a month, saith Brompton. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 47: At Hostreham, saith Gervase. This place is not easy to be found; however, it must be on the Sussex or Hampshire coast, because the King went directly from the place of his landing to Winchester. Carte says he landed December 8th, near Hurst Castle in the New Forest. [D.S.]]
For the further settling of the kingdom, after the long distractions in the preceding reign, he seized on all the castles which remained undestroyed since the last peace between him and King Stephen; whereof some he demolished, and trusted others to the government of persons in whom he could confide.
But that which most contributed to the quiet of the realm, and the general satisfaction of his subjects, was a proclamation published, commanding all foreigners to leave England, enforced with a most effectual clause, whereby a day was fixed, after which it should be capital for any of them to appear; among these was William d'Ypres Earl of Kent, whose possessions the King seized into his own hands.
These foreigners, generally called Flemings by the writers of the English story, were a sort of vagabond soldiers of fortune, who in those ages, under several denominations, infested other parts of Europe as well as England: they were a mixed people, natives of Arragon, Navarre, Biscay, Brabant, and other parts of Spain and Flanders. They were ready to be hired to whatever prince thought fit to employ them, but always upon condition to have full liberty of plunder and spoil. Nor was it an easy matter to get rid of them, when there was no further need of their service. In England they were always hated by the people, and by this prince in particular, whose continual enemies they had been.
After the expulsion of these foreigners, and the forcing a few refractory lords to a surrender of their castles, King Henry, like a wise prince, began to consider that a time of settled peace was the fittest juncture to recover the rights of the crown, which had been lost by the war. He therefore resumed, by his royal authority, all crown lands that had been alienated by his predecessor; alleging that they were unalienable in themselves, and besides, that the grants were void, as coming from an usurper. Whether such proceedings are agreeable with justice, I shall not examine; but certainly a prince cannot better consult his own safety than by disabling those whom he renders discontent, which is effectually done no other way but by depriving them of their possessions.
While the King was thus employed at home, intelligence came that his brother Geoffrey was endeavouring by force to possess himself of the Earldom of Anjou, to which he had fair pretensions; for their father considering what vast dominions would fall to his eldest son, bequeathed that earldom to the second in his last sickness, and commanded his nobles then about him, to take an oath that they would not suffer his body to be buried until Henry (who was then absent) should swear to observe his will. The Duke of Normandy, when he came to assist at his father's obsequies, and found that without his compliance he must draw upon himself the scandal of keeping a father unburied, took the oath that was exacted for observance of his will, though very much against his own. But after he was in possession of England, whether it were that his ambition enlarged with his dominions, or that from the beginning he had never intended to observe what he had sworn, he prevailed with Pope Adrian (of English birth) to dispense with his oath, and in the second year of his reign went over into Normandy, drove his brother entirely out of Anjou, and forced him to accept a pension for his maintenance. But the young prince, through the resentment of this unnatural dealing, in a short time died of grief.
Nor was his treatment more favourable to the King of Scots, whom, upon a slight pretence, he took occasion to dispossess of Carlisle, Newcastle, and other places granted by the Empress to that prince's father, for his services and assistance in her quarrel against Stephen.
Having thus recovered whatever he had any title to demand, he began to look out for new acquisitions. Ireland was in that age a country little known in the world. The legates sent sometimes thither from the Court of Rome, for urging the payment of annats, or directing other Church affairs, represented the inhabitants as a savage people, overrun with barbarism and superstition: for indeed no nation of Europe, where the Christian religion received so early and universal admittance, was ever so late or slow in feeling its effects upon their manners and civility.[48] Instead of refining their manners by their faith, they had suffered their faith to be corrupted by their manners; true religion being almost defaced, both in doctrine and discipline, after a long course of time, among a people wholly sunk in ignorance and barbarity. There seem to have been two reasons why the inhabitants of that island continued so long uncultivated; first, their subjection or vassalage to so many petty kings, whereof a great number is mentioned by authors, besides those four or five usually assigned to the several provinces. These princes were engaged in perpetual quarrels, in doing or revenging injuries of violence, or lust, or treachery, or injustice, which kept them all in a continual state of war. And indeed there is hardly any country, how renowned soever in ancient or modern story, which may not be traced from the like original. Neither can a nation come out from this state of confusion, until it is either reduced under one head at home, or by force or conquest becomes subject to a foreign administration.
[Footnote 48: The Irish had been very learned in former ages, but had declined for several centuries before the reign of Henry II. Vide Bede. [D.S.]]
The other reason why civility made such late entrances into that island, may be imputed to its natural situation, lying more out of the road of commerce or conquest than any other part of the known world. All the intercourse the inhabitants had, was only with the western coasts of Wales and Scotland, from whence, at least in those ages, they were not like to learn very much politeness.
The King, about the second year of his reign, sent ambassadors to Pope Adrian, with injunctions to desire his licence for reducing the savage people of Ireland from their brutish way of living, and subjecting them to the crown of England. The King proceeded thus, in order to set up a title to the island, wherein the Pope himself pretended to be lord of the see; for in his letter, which is an answer and grant to the King's requests, he insists upon it, that all islands, upon their admitting the Christian faith, become subject to the See of Rome; and the Irish themselves avowed the same thing to some of the first conquerors. In that forementioned letter, the Pope highly praises the King's generous design,[49] and recommends to him the civilizing the natives, the protection of the Church, and the payment of Peter-pence. The ill success of all past endeavours to procure from a people so miserable and irreligious this revenue to the holy see was a main inducement with the Pope to be easy and liberal in his grant; for the King professed a design of securing its regular payment. However, this expedition was not undertaken until some years after, when there happened an incident to set it forward, as we shall relate in its place.
[Footnote 49: Radulphus de Diceto. [D.S.]]
Hard to gather his character from such bad authors.
A wise prince, to whom other princes referred their differences; and had ambassadors from both empires, east and west, as well as others, at once in his court.
Strong and brawny body, patient of cold and heat, big head, broad breast, broken voice, temperate in meat, using much exercise, just stature, forma elegantissima, colore sub-rufo, oculis glaucis, sharp wit, very great memory, constancy in adversity [and] in felicity, except at last he yielded, because almost forsaken of all; liberal, imposed few tributes, excellent soldier and fortunate, wise and not unlearned. His vices: mild and promising in adversity, fierce and hard, and a violator of faith in prosperity; covetous to his domestics and children, although liberal to soldiers and strangers, which turned the former from him; loved profit more than justice; very lustful, which likewise turned his sons and others from him. Rosamond and the labyrinth at Woodstock. Not very religious;[50] mortuos milites lugens plus quam vivos amans, largus in publico, parcus in privato. Constant in love and hatred, false to his word, morose, a lover of ease. Oppressor of nobles, sullen, and a delayer of justice; verbo varius et versutus—Used churchmen well after Becket's death; charitable to the poor, levied few taxes, hated slaughter and cruelty.[51] A great memory, and always knew those he once saw.
[Footnote 50: Brompton. [D.S.]]
[Footnote 51: Giraldus. [D.S.]]
Very indefatigable in his travels backwards and forwards to Normandy, &c. of most endless desires to increase his dominions.
Caetera desiderantur.
JOHN MACKY, the author of the "Characters," was, for many years, in the employ of the English government, as an agent for obtaining information as to the movements of the French. He published, in 1696, "A View of the Court of St. Germains from the Year 1690 to 1695." The information embodied in this work he obtained from personal observation while in Paris. About 1709, however, he aroused the government's suspicions, and was imprisoned. He was kept confined until the accession of George I. On his release he attempted to establish a packet-service between England and Ireland, to Dublin; but the venture failed. He died at Rotterdam in 1726. The "Characters" was first published in 1733, with the title:
"Memoirs of the Secret Services of John Macky, Esq., during the Reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I. Including also the true Secret History of the Rise, Promotions, etc., of the English and Scots Nobility; Officers, Civil, Military, Naval, and other Persons of distinction from the Revolution. In their respective Characters at large: drawn up by Mr. Macky pursuant to the direction of Her Royal Highness the Princess Sophia. Published from his original manuscript, as attested by his son, Spring Macky, Esq. London, 1733." The work was prepared for the press by a Mr. Davis, an officer in the Customs.
It has been questioned whether Swift did really make the "remarks" attributed to him by his various editors; but there can be little doubt about their authenticity. Thomas Birch seems to have transcribed the "remarks" in 1753, if we are to believe a note in a copy of Macky's book in the British Museum, which says: "The MS. notes on the Characters in this Book were written by Dr. Swift, and transcribed by Tho. Birch. Aug. 15, 1753." Isaac Reed's copy is also in the British Museum, but his notes were transcribed from another copy in the possession of J. Putland, and Putland's copy, Reed notes, was "formerly in the possession of Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., now [1770] of Thomas Astle, Esq." J. Ritson's copy, which is at the South Kensington Museum, had the "remarks" transcribed to it from Reed's copy, but Ritson notes that Reed copied the "remarks" from J. Putland's transcript of the Dean's own original. Ritson, however, does not say how he knew that Putland had the "Dean's own original." In "Notes and Queries" (3, ii. 430) the Rev. J. Jebb, Rector of Peterstow, states he had (in 1862) a copy of the "Characters" with transcript of Swift's "remarks" by Bishop Jebb. Mr. Edward Solly has an interesting paper on this matter in the "Bibliographer" for March, 1883. He suggests that Mr. Putland may have written them down himself from remarks made by Swift. "The Crypt" for December, 1829, published Swift's "remarks" from a copy in the possession of Mr. Pickering, the bookseller.
A careful collation of all the available copies has been made for this edition, and the text of Macky's work has been read with the first edition. Where neither Reed nor Birch give no remarks, they have been omitted from this reprint. "The Crypt" and Nichols in his quarto edition (vol. xiv.) often differ, but these differences have been adjusted.
It is almost needless to say that Sir Walter Scott's text and notes have been very much altered by this process.
Macky.
A tall, handsome man for his age, with a very obliging address; of a wonderful presence of mind, so as hardly ever to be discomposed; of a very clean head, and sound judgment; ... every way capable of being a great man, if the great success of his arms, and the heaps of favours thrown upon him by his sovereign, does not raise his thoughts above the rest of the nobility, and consequently draw upon him the envy of the people of England. He is turned of 50 years of age.—Swift. Detestably covetous.
Macky. He hath all the qualities of a great man, except that one of a statesman, hating business. ... He is about 40 years old.—Swift. Fairly enough writ.
Macky. Is of a middle stature, well shaped, a very black complexion, a lover of music and poetry; of good judgment.—Swift. Not a grain; hardly common sense.
Macky. He is a nobleman of learning, and good natural parts, but of no principles. Violent for the high-church, yet seldom goes to it. Very proud, insolent, and covetous, and takes all advantages. In paying his debts, unwilling; and is neither esteemed nor beloved.—Swift. This character is the truest of any.
Macky. He hath the exterior air of business, and application enough to make him very capable. In his habit and manners very formal; a tall, thin, very black man, like a Spaniard or Jew, about 50 years old.—Swift. He fell in with the Whigs, was an endless talker.
Macky. He was indeed the great wheel on which the Revolution rolled.—Swift. He had not a wheel to turn a mouse.
Macky. He is a gentleman that hath lived up [Swift, down] to the employments the King gave him; of great honour and honesty, with a moderate capacity.—Swift. None at all.
Macky. He hath one only daughter, who will be the richest heiress in Europe.—Swift. Now Countess of Oxford; cheated by her father.
Macky. He is a gentleman good-natured to a fault; very well bred, and hath many valuable things in him; is an enemy to business, very credulous, well shaped, black complexion, much like King Charles; not 30 years old.—Swift. A shallow coxcomb.
Macky. Does not now make any figure at court.—Swift. Nor anywhere else. A great booby.
Macky. He is a man of honour, nice in paying his debts, and living well with his neighbours in the country; does not much care for the conversation of men of quality, or business. Is a tall black man, like his father the King, about 40 years old.—Swift. He was a most worthy person, very good-natured, and had very good sense.
Macky. Grandson to King Charles II.; ... a very pretty gentleman, hath been abroad in the world; zealous for the constitution of his country. A tall black man, about 25 years old.—Swift. Almost a slobberer; without one good quality.
Macky. Is son of a clergyman,[1] a good common lawyer, a slow chancellor, and no civilian. Chance more than choice brought him the seals.—Swift. Very covetous.
[Footnote 1: His father had the living of Thurcaston, in Leicestershire. [S.]]
Macky. He is a great supporter of the French, and other Protestants ... an admirer of learning.—Swift. As arrant a knave as any in his time.
Macky. One of the best beloved gentlemen, by the country party, in England.—Swift. A very poor understanding.
Macky. Of a creditable family, in the city of Worcester.—Swift. Very mean; his father was a noted rogue.—Macky. He is believed to be the best chancellor that ever sat in the chair.—Swift. I allow him to have possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue. He had violent passions, and hardly subdued them by his great prudence.
Macky. He is a great encourager of learning and learned men, is the patron of the muses, of very agreeable conversation, a short fair man, not 40 years old.—Swift. His encouragements were only good words and dinners; I never heard him say one good thing, or seem to taste what was said by another.
Macky. One of the finest gentlemen, in England, in the reign of King Charles II.; of great learning [Swift. small, or none], extremely witty, and hath been the author of some of the finest poems in the English language, especially satire.... One of the pleasantest companions in the world [Swift. not of late years, but a very dull one], when he likes his company.
Macky. He was one of the greatest rakes in England in his younger days, but always a lover of the constitution of his country; is a gentleman of very good sense, and very cunning.—Swift. An arrant knave in common dealings, and very prostitute.
Macky. He was King William's constant companion in all his diversions and pleasures.—Swift. Very infamous pleasures.
Macky. Is son to that earl whose throat was cut in the Tower.—Swift. Cut his own throat.
Macky. He is supposed to be the richest subject in Europe, very profuse in gardening, birds, and household furniture, but mighty frugal and parsimonious in everything else; of a very lofty mien, and yet not proud; of no deep understanding.—Swift. As great a dunce as ever I knew.
Macky. On his brothers death he came to the House of Peers, where he never will make any great figure, the sword being more his profession; he is a fair-complexioned man, well shaped, taller than the ordinary size, and a man of honour.—Swift. As arrant a scoundrel as his brothers.
Macky. He affects popularity, and loves to preach in coffee-houses, and public places; is an open enemy to revealed religion; brave in his person; hath a good estate; does not seem expensive, yet always in debt, and very poor.—Swift. This character is for the most part true.
Macky. This gentleman is endued with a great deal of learning, virtue [Swift, no], and good sense.
Macky. Is one of the first branches of the Greys, a noble family in England.... He doth not want sense; but by reason of a defect in his speech, wants elocution.—Swift. He looked and talked like a very weak man; but it was said he spoke well at council.
Macky. He is a good country gentleman, a great assertor of the prerogatives of the monarchy and the Church.—Swift. Of great piety and charity.
Macky. Of very ordinary parts; married the witty Lord Rochester's daughter, who makes him very expensive.—Swift. As much a puppy as ever I saw; very ugly, and a fop.
Macky. He is every way a plain man, yet took a great deal of pains to seem knowing and wise; everybody pitied him when the Queen turned him out, for his seeming good nature, and real poverty.—Swift. A good plain humdrum.
Macky. He hath neither genius nor gusto for business,... and is zealous for the monarchy and Church to the highest degree. He loves jests and puns, [Swift. I never observed it,] and that sort of low wit.—Swift. Being very poor, he complied too much with the party he hated.
Macky. He is certainly one of the hopefullest gentlemen in England; is very learned, virtuous, and a man of honour; much esteemed in the country, for his generous way of living with the gentry, and his charity to the poorest sort.—Swift. This character is fair enough.
Macky. Is a gentleman of great learning, attended with a sweet disposition; a lover of the constitution of his country; is beloved by everybody that knows him.—Swift. I except one.
Macky. He sets up for a critic in conversation, makes jests, and loves to laugh at them; takes a great deal of pains in his office, and is in a fair way of rising at court.—Swift. This is right enough, but he has little sincerity.
Macky. One of the completest gentlemen in England, hath a very clear understanding, and manly expressions, with abundance of wit. He is brave in his person, much of a libertine, of a middle stature, fair complexion, and 50 years old.—Swift. The most universal villain I ever knew.
Macky. He is brave in his person, bold in his expressions, and rectifies, as fast as he can, the slips of his youth by acts of honesty; which he now glories in more, than he was formerly extravagant.—Swift. He was little better than a conceited talker in company.
[Footnote 2: Afterwards Duke of Kent.]
Macky. Is the first branch of the ancient family of Grey. The present gentleman was much esteemed, when Lord Ruthen; was always very moderate, has good sense, and a good estate; which, with his quality, must make him always bear a considerable figure in the nation.—Swift. He seems a good-natured man, but of very little consequence.
Macky. A fine gentleman, has both wit and learning.—Swift. I never observed a grain of either.
Macky. A gentleman of fine parts, makes a good figure in the counties of Oxford and Buckinghamshire:... is very high for the monarchy and Church.—Swift. Very covetous.
Macky. He is very subtle and cunning, never entered into the measures of King William, nor ever will, in all probability, make any great appearance in any other reign.—Swift. If it be old Chesterfield, I have heard he was the greatest knave in England.
Macky. A gentleman of learning, parts, and a lover of the constitution of his country; a short fat man.—Swift. Intolerably lazy and indolent, and somewhat covetous.
Macky. A third son of the family of Duras in France; he came over with one of the Duke of York's family;... is a middle-statured brown man, turned of 50 years old.—Swift. He was a very dull old fellow.
Macky. He is a very pretty gentleman, fair complexioned, and past 30 years old.—Swift. And good for nothing.
Macky. A free jolly gentleman, turned of 40 years old.—Swift. Of very little sense; but formal, and well stocked with the low kind of lowest politics.
Macky. He is of a good understanding, and very capable to be in the ministry; a well-bred gentleman, and an agreeable companion.—Swift. A very moderate degree of understanding.
Macky. A sweet disposed gentleman; he joined King William at the Revolution, and is a zealous assertor of the liberties of the people.—Swift. Had very little in him.
Macky. Was warm against King William's reign, and doth not make any great figure in this; but, his son, Mr. Brydges[3] does, being a member of the House of Commons, one of the counsellors to the prince, and a very worthy gentleman.—Swift. But a great compiler with every court.
[Footnote 3: Afterwards Duke of Chandos.]
Macky. Is son to the lord-keeper North, hath been abroad, does not want sense nor application to business, and his genius leads him that way.—Swift. A mighty silly fellow.
Macky. Having-followed King James's fortunes, is now in France. He was always a great sportsman, and brave; a good companion, turned of 60 years old.—Swift. His son was a plain drunken fellow.
Macky. This lord is a great lover of country sports; is handsome in his person, and turned of 40 years old.—Swift. Good for nothing, as far as ever I knew.
Macky. Earl of Arran in Ireland, and brother to the Duke of Ormonde;... of very good sense, though seldom shows it.—Swift. This is right; but he is the most negligent of his own affairs.
Macky. He is a gentleman of a great deal of wit and good nature, a lover of the ladies, and a pleasant companion.—Swift. Of very good nature, but a very moderate capacity.
ROBERT HARLEY, ESQ. [AFTERWARDS EARL OF OXFORD], SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
Macky. He is skilled in most things, and very eloquent, [Swift, a great lie;] was bred a Presbyterian, yet joins with the Church party in everything; and they do nothing without him.—Swift. He could not properly be called eloquent, but he knew how to prevail on the House with few words and strong reasons.
Macky. Is a good companion in conversation; agreeable amongst the ladies; serves the Queen very assiduously in council; makes a considerable figure in the House of Commons; by his prudent administration, obliges everybody in the exchequer; and in time may prove a great man.—Swift. He had some very scurvy qualities, particularly avarice.
Macky. He is a gentleman of a very sweet, easy, affable disposition; of good sense, extremely zealous for the constitution of his country, yet does not seem over forward; keeps an exact unity amongst the officers under him, and encourages them in their duty, through a peculiar familiarity, by which he obliges them, and keeps up the dignity of being master.—Swift. A fair character.
Macky. A gentleman of much honour, a lover of the constitution of his country; a very agreeable companion in conversation, a bold orator in the House of Commons,[4] when the interest of his country is at stake; of a good address.—Swift. I thought him a heavy man.
[Footnote 4: He was Speaker of the House of Commons, 1705-1708. [T.S.]]
Macky. He was very poor at the Revolution, had no business to support him all the reign of King William, yet made a good figure. He is a very cloudy-looked man, fat, of middle stature, about 50 years old.—Swift. He was used ill by most ministries; he ruined his own estate, which put him under a necessity to comply with the times.
Macky. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he was continued in his office, is very well at court with the ministry, and is an entire creature of my Lord Jersey's, whom he supports by his advice. Is one of the best poets in England, but very factious in conversation; a thin hollow-looked man, turned of 40 years old.—Swift. This is near the truth.
Macky. A plain, good, heavy man, now much in years, and wearing out; very tall, of a fair complexion, and 70 years old.—Swift. The most good-for-nothing prelate I ever knew.
Macky. Of a very good family in Scotland, of the name of Burnet, his father was Lord [Swift, laird] of Cremont.... He is one of the greatest [Swift, Scotch] orators of the age he lives in. His "History of the Reformation," and his "Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles," show him to be a man of great learning; but several of his other works show him to be a man neither of prudence nor temper; his sometimes opposing, and sometimes favouring, the Dissenters, hath much exposed him to the generality of the people of England; yet he is very useful in the House of Peers, and proves a great pillar, both of the civil and ecclesiastical constitution, against the encroachments of a party which would destroy both.—Swift. His true character would take up too much time for me (who knew him well) to describe it.
Macky. A gentleman of admirable natural parts, very learned, one of the best poets [Swift, scarce of a third rate] now in England.
Macky. A man of intrigue, but very muddy in his conceptions, and not quickly understood in anything. In his complexion and manners, much of a Spaniard.—Swift. A profligate rogue, without religion or morals; but cunning enough, yet without abilities of any kind.
Macky. He is a young gentleman, de bon naturel, handsome, of fine understanding, [Swift, very bad, and can't spell,] and, with application, may prove a man of business. He is of low stature [Swift, he is tall].
Macky. Is a gentleman of a good family in Shropshire. He was designed for the church, and took deacon's [Swift, priest's] orders; but having a genius for business, and falling into the acquaintance of my Lord Ranelagh, when tutor to my Lord Hyde, he was sent into Flanders as paymaster to the English troops there. ... He is a gentleman of very clear parts, and affects plainness and simplicity [Swift, au contraire] in his dress, and conversation especially. He is a favourite to both parties [Swift, to neither]; and is beloved for his easy access, and affable way by those he has business to do with. He is a thin, tall man, [Swift, short, if I remember right,] taller than the ordinary stature, near 50 years old.
Macky. He affects much the gentleman in his dress, and the minister in his conversation: Is very lofty, yet courteous, when he knows his people; much envied by his fellow merchants.—Swift. He seemed to be a very good-natured man.
Macky. He hath abundance of wit, and understands most of the modern languages well; knows how to tell a story to the best advantage; but has an affected manner of conversation; is thin, splenetic, and tawny complexioned, turned of 60 years old.—Swift. He had been a Papist.
Macky. A very giddy-headed young fellow, with some wit; about 25 years old.—Swift. He is not worth mentioning.
Macky. He hath abundance of wit, but too much seized with vanity and self-conceit; he is affable, familiar, and very brave; ... towards 50 years old.—Swift. The vainest old fool alive.
Macky. One of the finest gentlemen in the army, with a head fitted for the cabinet, as well as the camp; is very modest, vigilant, and sincere; a man of honour and honesty, [Swift, in all directly otherwise;] without pride or affectation; wears his own hair, is plain in his dress and manners, towards 60 years old.—Swift. A deceitful, hypocritical, factious knave; a damnable hypocrite, of no religion.
Macky. He is a very well-shaped black man; is brave; but, by reason of a hesitation in his speech wants expression.—Swift. An honest good-natured gentleman, and hath much distinguished himself as a soldier.
Macky. He is a man of honour,... and pleases the Dutch. His son, Colonel Stanhope, is one of the finest young gentlemen we have; is very learned, with a great deal of wit. ... A handsome [Swift, ugly] black man.
Macky. At the Revolution he had a company in the foot-guards; was afterwards lieutenant-colonel to that regiment; was made colonel to the fusileers, and gradually advanced to the post he now hath, which he well deserves, being of good understanding, and abundance of learning; fit to command, if not too covetous; he is a short, black man, 50 years old.—Swift. His father was a groom; he was a man of sense, without one grain of honesty.
Macky. He hath a very good head, indefatigable and designing; is very zealous for the liberties of the people, makes a good figure in the Parliament, as well as the fleet.—Swift. A virulent party man, born in Ireland.
Macky. On the Queen's accession to the throne, he made strong efforts to get into the administration, but hath not yet succeeded, though he is well received at court; he is brave in his person, with a rough air of boldness; of good sense, very forward and hot for what he undertakes; ambitious and haughty, a violent enemy; hath been very extravagant in his manner of living; but now grows covetous.—Swift. He was made master of the ordnance; a worthy good-natured person, very generous, but of a middle understanding; he was murdered by that villain Macartney, an Irish Scot.
Macky. Few of his years hath a better understanding, nor a more manly behaviour. He hath seen most of the courts of Europe, is very handsome in his person, fair complexioned; about 25 years old.—Swift. Ambitious, covetous, cunning Scot; has no principle, but his own interest and greatness. A true Scot in his whole conduct.
Macky. Representative of the ancient and noble family of Graham; great-grandson to that famous Montrose, who was hanged and quartered for Charles I.; and grandson, by the mother, to the Duke of Rothes. He inherits all the great qualities of those two families, with a sweetness of behaviour, which charms all those who know him; hath improved himself in most foreign courts; is very beautiful in his person, and about 25 years old.—Swift. Now very homely, and makes a sorry appearance.
Macky. A very honest man, a great assertor of the liberties of the people; hath a good, rough sense; is open and free; a great lover of his bottle and his friend; brave in his person, which he hath shown in several duels; too familiar for his quality, and often keeps company below it.—Swift. A blundering, rattle-pated, drunken sot.