, a noted wit in the reign of Charles II. was the son of Henry earl
, a noted wit in
the reign of Charles II. was the son of Henry earl of Rochester; who bore a great part in the civil wars, and was
the chief manager of the king’s preservation after the
battle of Worcester. He was born April 10, 1647, at
Ditchley in Oxfordshire; and was educated in grammar
and classical literature in the free-school at Burford. Here
he acquired the Latin to such perfection, that to his 'dying
day he retained a quick relish for the beauties of that
tongue; and afterwards became exactly versed in the authors of the Augustan age, which he often read. In 1659,
when only twelve years old, he was admitted a nobleman
of Wadham college in Oxford, under the inspection of Dr.
Blandford, afterwards bishop of Oxford and Worcester;
and, in 1661, was with some other persons of rank created
master of arts in convocation: at which time, Wood says,
he and none else was admitted very affectionately into the
fraternity by a kiss from the chancellor of the university,
Clarendon, who then sate in the supreme chair. Afterwards he travelled into France and Italy; and at his return frequented the court, which, Wood observes, and
there is reason to believe very truly, not only corrupted
his morals, but made him a perfect Hobbist in principle.
In the mean time, he became one of the gentlemen of the
bed-chamber to the king, and comptroller of Woodstockpark. In 1665 he went to sea with the earl of Sandwich,
who was sent to lie in wait for the Dutch East-India fleet;
and was in the Revenge, commanded by sir Thomas Tiddiman, when the attack was made on the port of Bergen in
Norway, the Dutch ships having got into that port. It
was a desperate attempt; and, during the whole action,
the earl of Rochester shewed the greatest resolution, and
gained a high reputation for courage. He supported his
character for bravery in a second expedition, but afterwards lost it in an adventure with lord Mulgrave; of which
that noble author, in the memoirs of himself, gives a
particular account. It exhibits some traits of the earl of Rochester’s character; and therefore, though somewhat tedious and wordy, may not be unacceptable. “I was informed,
” says lord Mulgrave, “that the earl of Rochester
had said something of me, which, according to his custom,
was very malicious. I therefore sent colonel Aston, a very
mettled friend of mine, to call him to account for it. He
denied the words, and indeed I was soon convinced he had
never said them; but the mere report, though I found it
to. be false, obliged me, as I then foolishly thought, to go
on with the quarrel; and the next day was appointed for
us to fight on horseback, a way in England a little unusual,
but it was his part to chuse. Accordingly, I and my second lay the night before at Knightsbridge privately, to
avoid the being secured at London upon any suspicion;
and in the morning we met the lord Rochester at the place
appointed, who, instead of James Porter, whom he assured
Aston he would make his second, brought an errant lifeguard man, whom nobody knew. To this Mr. Aston took
exception, upon the account of his being no suitable adversary; especially considering how extremely well he was
mounted, whereas we had only a couple of pads: upon
which, tve all agreed to fight on foot. But, as my lord
Rochester and i were riding into the next field in order to
it, he told me, that he had at first chosen to fight on
horseback, because he was so much indisposed, that he
found himself unfit at all any way, much less on foot. I
was extremely surprised, because at that time no man had
a better reputation for courage; and I took the liberty of
representing what a ridiculous story it would make, if we
returned without fighting, and therefore advised him for
both our sakes, especially for his own, to consider better
of it, since I must be obliged in my own defence to lay
the fault on him, by telling the truth of the matter. His
answter was, that he submitted to it; and hoped, that I
would not desire the advantage of having to do with any
man in so weak a condition. I replied, that by such an
argument he had sufficiently tied my hands, upon condition that I might call our seconds to be witnesses of the
whole business; which he consented to, and so we parted.
When we returned to London, we found it full of this
quarrel, upon our being absent so long; and therefore
Mr. Aston thought himself obliged to write down every
word and circumstance of this whole matter, in order to
spread every where the true reason of our returning without having fought. This, being never in the least contradicted or resented by the lord Rochester, entirely ruined
his reputation as to courage, of which I was really sorry to
be the occasion, though nobody had still a greater as to
wit; which supported him pretty well in the world, notwithstanding some more accidents of the same kind, that
never fail to succeed one another, wten once people know
a man’s weakness.
”