invited and prevailed on by the first duke of Ormond, to travel in the same capacity with the young earl of Ossory, his grace’s grandson and heir-apparent. These honourable
, a most ingenious and learned
writer, was born at Croft, in Yorkshire, about the year
1635. His first education was at the free-school of North-Alverton, in that county, from whence he was removed in
June 1651, to Clare-hall in Cambridge, where he had
Dr. Tillotson for his tutor. Dr. Cud worth was at that time
master of Clare-hall, but removed from it to the mastership
of Christ’s college, in 1654; and thither our author followed him. Under his patronage he was chosen fellow in
1657, commenced M. A. in 1658, and became senior
proctor of the university in 1661; but it is uncertain how
long after ward she continued his residence there. He was
afterwards governor to the young earl of Wiltshire, son of
the marquis of Winchester, with whom he travelled abroad ^
and gave such satisfaction, that, soon after his return to
England, he was invited and prevailed on by the first duke
of Ormond, to travel in the same capacity with the young
earl of Ossory, his grace’s grandson and heir-apparent.
These honourable connections introduced him into what
may properly be called the world: in which he afterwards
confirmed the reputation he already had for talents ad
learning, by the publication of his “Telluris theoria sacra,
orbis nostri originem & mutationes generales, quas olim
subiit et subiturus est, complectens.
” This Sacred Theory
of the Earth was originally published in Latin, in 2 vols.
4to, the two first books concerning the deluge, and paradise, 1681; the two last, concerning the burning of the
world, and the new heavens and new earth, in 1689. The
uncommon approbation this work met with, and the particular encouragement of Charles II. who relished its
beauties, induced the author to translate it into English.
Of this translation he published the two first books in 1684,
folio, with an elegant dedication to the king; and the two
last in 1689, with a no less elegant dedication to queen
Mary. “The English edition,
” he tells us, “is the same in
substance with the Latin, though, he confesses, not so
properly a translation, as a new composition upon the
same ground, there being several additional chapters in it,
and several new moulded.
”
, earl of Ossory, son of the former, was born in the castle of Kilkenny,
, earl of Ossory, son of the former,
was born in the castle of Kilkenny, July 9, 1634. He
distinguished himself by a noble bravery, united to the
greatest gentleness and modesty, which very early excited
the jealousy of Cromwell, who committed him to the
Tower; where, falling ill of a fever, after being confined
near eight months, he was discharged. He afterwards
went over to Flanders, and on the restoration attended the
king to England; and from being appointed colonel of foot
in Ireland, was raised to the rank of lieutenant-general of
the army in that kingdom. On the 14th of September
1666, he was summoned by writ to the English house of
lords, by the title of lord Butler, of Moore-park. The
same year, being at Euston in Suffolk, he happened to
hear the firing of guns at sea, in the famous battle with
the Dutch that began the 1st of June. He instantly prepared to go on board the fleet, where he arrived on the
3d of that month; and had the satisfaction of informing
the duke of ^Ibemarle, that prince Rupert was hastening
to join him. He had his share in the glorious actions of
that and the succeeding day. His reputation was much
increased by his behaviour in the engagement off Southwold Bay. In 1673 he was successively made rear-admiral
of the blue and the red squadrons; and on the 10th of
September, the same year, was appointed admiral of the
whole fleet, during the absence of prince Rupert. In
1677 he commanded the English troops in the service of
the prince of Orange; and at the battle ojf Mons contributed greatly to the retreat of marshal Luxemburg, to
whom Lewis XIV. was indebted for the greatest part of his
military glory. His speech, addressed to the earl of
Shaftesbury, in vindication of his father, was universally
admired: it even confounded that intrepid orator, who
was in the senate what the earl of Ossory was in the field.
He died July 30, 1680, aged forty-six. The duke of Ormond his father said, “he would not exchange his dead
son for any living son in Christendom.
”
e duke of Ormond. The first poem in this collection is, “On the Death of the right honourable Thomas earl of Ossory,” and had been published separately the year before.
, an English poet, was born in
Aldersgate-street, London, about 1633; and educated at
Winchester school. He went from thence to New college, in Oxford; but leaving the university without a degree, he removed to the Inner Temple, where in due time
he became a barrister. Jt does not appear that he ever
followed the profession of the law; but, having a turn for
the fine arts, he indulged his inclination, and made some
proficiency, both as a poet and a painter. He speaks of
himself as a painter, in a poem called “The Review,
” and
it appears from thence, that he drew in miniature. The
third edition of his poems, with additions and amendments, was published by himself, with his portrait before
them, in 1682, and dedicated to the duke of Ormond.
The first poem in this collection is, “On the Death of the
right honourable Thomas earl of Ossory,
” and had been
published separately the year before. Soon after, it was
read by the duke of Ormond his father, who was so extremely pleased with it, that he sent Flatman a mourning
ring, with a diamond in it worth 100l. He published also
in 1685, two Pindaric odes; one on the death of prince
Rupert, the other on the death of Charles II.
of Ormond,” of the public resentment and open menaces thrown out to the duke on the occasion, by the earl of Ossory, the duke of Onnond’s son, even in the presence of
, duke of Buckingham, and a very
distinguished personage in the reign of Charles II. was the
son of the preceding, by his wife lady Catherine Manners,
and was born at Wallingford-house, in the parish of St.
Martin in the Fields, January 30, 1627, which being but
the year before the fatal catastrophe of his father’s death,
the young duke was left a perfect infant, a circumstance
which is frequently prejudicial to the morals of men born
to high rank and affluence. The early parts of his education he received from various domestic tutors; after which
he was sent to the university of Cambridge, where having
completed a course of studies, he, with his brother lord
Francis, went abroad, under the care of one Mr. Aylesbury. Upon his return, which was not till after the breaking-out of the rebellion, the king being at Oxford, his
grace repaired thither, was presented to his majesty, and
entered of Christ-church college. Upon the decline of
the king’s cause, he attended prince Charles into Scotland,
and was with him at the battle of Worcester in 1651; after
which, making his escape beyond sea, he again joined
him, and was soon after, as a reward for his attachment,
made knight of the Garter. Desirous, however, of retrieving his affairs, he came privately to England, and in
1657 married Mary, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas lord Fairfax, through whose interest he recovered the
greatest part of the estate he had lost, and the assurance
of succeeding to an accumulation of wealth in the right of
his wife. We do not find, however, that this step lost him
the royal favour; for, after- the restoration, at which time
he is said to have possessed an estate of 20,000l. per annum,
he was made one of the lords of the bed-chamber, called
to the privy -council, and appointed lord-lieutenant of
Yorkshire, and master of the horse. All these high offices,
however, he lost again in 1666; for, having been refused
the post of president of the North, he became disaffected
to the king, and it was discovered that he had carried on a
secret correspondence by letters and other transactions
with one Dr. Heydon (a man of no kind of consequence, but a useful tool), tending to raise mutinies among his majesty’s forces, particularly in the navy, to stir up seditioa
among the people, and even to engage persons in a conspiracy for the seizing the Tower of London. Nay, to
sucii base lengths had he proceeded, as even to have given
money to villains to put on jackets, and, personating seamen, to go about the country begging, and exclaiming for
want of pay, while the people oppressed with taxes were
cheated of their money by the great officers of the crown.
Matters were ripe for execution, and an insurrection, at
the head of which the duke was openly to have appeared,
on the very eve of breaking-out, when it was discovered by
means of some agents whom Heydon had employed to
carry letters to the duke. The detection of this affair so
exasperated the king, who knew Buckingham to be capable f the blackest designs, that he immediately ordered
him to be seized; but the duke finding means, having defended his house for some time by force, to make his
escape, his majesty struck him out of all. his commissions,
and issued out a proclamation, requiring his surrender by
a certain day. This storm, however, did not long hang
over his head; for, on his making an humble submission,
king Charles, who was far from being of an implacable
temper, took him again into favour, and the very next
year restored him both to the privy-council and bed-chamber. But the duke’s disposition for intrigue and machination was not lessened; for, having conceived a resentment
against the duke of Ormond, because he had acted with
some severity against him in the last-mentioned affair, he,
in 1670, was supposed to be concerned in an attempt
made on that nobleman’s life, by the same Blood who afterwards endeavoured to steal the crown. Their design was
to have conveyed the duke to Tyburn, and there have
hanged him; and so far did they proceed towards the putting it in execution, that Blood and his son had actuallyforced the duke out of his coach in St. James’s-street, and
carried him away beyond Devonshire-house, Piccadilly,
before he was rescued from them. That there must hare
been the strongest reasons for suspecting the duke of Buckingham of having been a party in this villainous project, is
apparent from a story Mr. Carte relates from the best authority, in his “Life of the duke of Ormond,
” of the public
resentment and open menaces thrown out to the duke on
the occasion, by the earl of Ossory, the duke of Onnond’s
son, even in the presence of the king himself. But as
Charies II. was more sensible of injuries done to himself
than others, it does not appear that this transaction hurt
the duke’s interest at court; for in 1671 he was installed
chancellor of the university of Cambridge, and sent ambassador to France, where he was very nobly entertained
by Lewis XIV. and presented by that monarch at his departure with a sword and belt set with jewels, to the value
of forty thousand pistoles; and the next year he was employed in a second embassy to that king at Utrecht. However, in June 1674, he resigned the chancellorship of
Cambridge, and about the same time became a zealous
partizan and favourer of the nonconformists. On February
16, 1676, his grace, with the earls of- Salisbury and
Shaftesbury, and lord Wharton, were committed to the
Tower, by order of the House of Lords, for a contempt,
in refusing to retract the purport of a speech which the
duke had made concerning a dissolution of the parliament;
but upon a petition to the king, he was discharged thence
in May following. In 1680, having sold Wallingfordhouse in the Strand, he purchased a house at Dowgate,
and resided there, joining with the earl of Shaftesbury in
all the violences of opposition. About the time of king
Charles’s death, his health became affected, and he went
into the country to his own manor of Helmisley, in Yorkshire, where he generally passed his time in hunting and
entertaining his friends. This he continued until a fortnight before his death, an event which happened at a tenant’s house, at Kirkby Moorside, April 16, 1688, after
three days illness, of an ague and fever, arising from a
cold which he caught by sitting on the ground after foxhunting. The day before his death, he sent to his old servant Mr. Brian Fairfax, to provide him a bed at his own
house, at Bishophill, in Yorkshire; but the next morning
the same man returned with the news that his life was despaired of. Mr. Fairfax came; the duke knew him, looked
earnestly at him, but could not speak. Mr. Fairfax asked
a gentleman there present, a justice of peace, and a worthy discreet man in the neighbourhood, what he had said
or done before he became speechless: who told him, that
some questions had been asked him about his estate, to
which he gave no answer. This occasioned another
question to be proposed, if he would have a Popish priest;
but he replied with great vehemence, No, no! repeating the words, he would have nothing to do with them.
The same gentleman then askod him again, if he would
have the minister sent for; and he calmly said, “Yes, pray
seud for him.
” The minister accordingly came, and did
the office enjoined by the church, the duke devoutly attending it, and received the sacrament. In about an hour