Rupert, Prince Palatine - free ebook by Eva Scott

RUPERT PRINCE PALATINE

BY EVA SCOTT Late Scholar of Somerville College Oxford WESTMINSTER ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE &amp; Co. NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 1900 SECOND EDITION...

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PREFACE

It is curious that in these days of historical research so little has been written about Rupert of the Rhine, a man whose personality was striking, whose career was full of exciting adventure, and for whose biography an immense amount of material is available. His name is known to most people in connection with the English Civil War, many have met with him in the pages of fiction, some imagine him to have been the inventor of mezzotint engraving, and a few know that he was Admiral of England und

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CHAPTER I

"A man that hath had his hands very deep in the blood of many innocent people in England," was Cromwell's concise description of Rupert of the Rhine.[ 1 ] "That diabolical Cavalier" and "that ravenous vulture" were the flattering titles bestowed upon him by other soldiers of the Parliament.[ 2 ] "The Prince that was so gallant and so generous," wrote an Irish Royalist.[ 3 ] And said Cardinal Mazarin, "He is one of the best and most generous princes that I have ever known."[ 4 ] Rupert was not, i

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CHAPTER II

At the age of thirteen Rupert made his first campaign. Prince Henry of Orange had succeeded his brother Maurice as Stadtholder, and under his Generalship, the Protestant states of Holland still carried on the struggle against Spain and the Spanish Netherlands, which had raged since the days of William the Silent. The close alliance of Spain with the Empire, and of Holland with the Palatines, connected this war with the religious wars of Germany; young Rupert was full of eagerness to share in it,

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CHAPTER III

Immediately on his return from England in 1637, Rupert joined his brother Maurice in the army of the Stadtholder. Prince Henry was just then engaged in the siege of Breda, a town which was oftener lost and won than any other in the long wars of the Low Countries. Many Englishmen were fighting there, in the Dutch army: Astley, Goring, the Lords Northampton and Grandison, with whom the Palatines were already well acquainted, besides others whom they were to meet hereafter in the English war, eithe

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CHAPTER IV

Elizabeth had imagined that by sending her younger sons to school in Paris, she was keeping them out of harm's way; great was her surprise and annoyance when she found their position to be almost as dangerous as was that of Rupert. The cause of this new disaster was the imprudent conduct of the elder brother, Charles Louis. Undaunted by his recent defeat, the young Elector sought new means for recovering his country, and he now bethought him of Duke Bernhard of Saxe Weimar. The alliance of this

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CHAPTER V

During his last brief visit to England Rupert had promised to serve his uncle whensoever he should have need of him; and in August 1642, he received, through Queen Henrietta, his Commission, as General of the Horse. Immediately upon this he set out to join the King in England. He embarked in the "Lyon," the ship which had brought the Queen to Holland; but, after the Prince had come on board, the Commander, who was of Puritan sympathies, received a warning against bringing him over. Captain Fox's

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CHAPTER VI

The setting up of the Royal Standard was a depressing ceremony. The weather was so bad that the very elements seemed to fight against the Royalists; and the standard was blown down the same night, which was regarded as a very evil portent. Moreover, the Royal forces were still so lamentably small that Sir Jacob Astley openly expressed a fear that the King would be captured in his sleep.[ 1 ] The arms and ammunition were not yet come from York, and a general sadness pervaded the whole company. In

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CHAPTER VII

From Christmas Eve, 1642, till January 6th, 1643, Rupert remained quietly at Oxford. His attempt to concentrate his forces on London had failed, and he was now resolved on a new strategy. The King was to hold Essex in check from Oxford; Lord Newcastle, who had raised an army in the north, was to push through the midlands towards Essex; and Hopton, marching from Cornwall to Kent, was to seize on the banks of the Thames below London and so stop the city trade. Thus the enemy would be completely su

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CHAPTER VIII

Throughout the year 1643 the advantage in arms had lain decidedly with the King, and the Parliament now sought new strength in an alliance with the Scots. Such an alliance involved a strict adherence to Presbyterianism, which was naturally very distasteful to the Independents, who were growing steadily in strength and numbers. Therefore, though the entrance of the Scots into England in January 1644, brought a valuable accession of military force, it proportionately weakened the Puritan Party by

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CHAPTER IX

Terrible though the disaster in the North had been, the blow was softened to the King by successes in the West. During August, in company with Maurice, he pursued Essex into Cornwall and forced his whole army of foot to surrender without a struggle. But for the supineness of Goring, who had just succeeded Wilmot as General of the Horse, the Parliamentary cavalry might have been captured in like manner. But when Balfour led his troops through the Royalist lines, Goring happened to be carousing in

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CHAPTER X

After the battle of Naseby, misfortunes crowded thick upon the Royalists. Garrisons surrendered daily to the Parliament; Goring suffered a crushing defeat; and the King seemed in no way to raise another army. Rupert retired to his city of Bristol, and summoned Maurice to his side. But the younger Prince was at Worcester, which was threatened by the Scots, and could not quit the place with honour. "I hope when you have duly considered my engagement herein, you will be pleased to excuse me for not

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CHAPTER XI

Before their departure from England, Rupert and Maurice had received a visit from their brother, the Elector. The Thirty Years' War was drawing to a close, and the Peace of Munster which was to restore Charles Louis to the Palatinate, was already under consideration. But the Elector could not make terms with the Emperor without the consent of his brothers, and therefore June 30th, 1646, he wrote to the Parliament: "Having received information from Munster and Osnaburgh, that in whatsoever shall

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CHAPTER XII

Sometime before the end of the war the Queen of England had fled to France, and had set up her court at that home of Royal exiles,—St. Germains! There she had been joined by her son, the Prince of Wales, and by many English Cavaliers; and thither went Rupert in July 1646. "If thou see Prince Rupert," wrote King Charles anxiously to his wife, "tell him that I have recommend him unto thee. For, albeit his passions may sometimes make him mistake, yet I am confident of his honest constancy and coura

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CHAPTER XIII

By May 1648 a Royalist reaction was setting in in England. The King had been two years a prisoner, and the people, already weary of the Army and the Parliament, began to think with favour of their unfortunate sovereign. Royalist risings took place in Kent and some of the Eastern Counties, and a large portion of the fleet, encouraged by this, revolted from the Parliament and came over to Holland. Thither Rupert and the younger Charles hastened to meet it. The French, eager to detain Rupert in the

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CHAPTER XIV

On quitting Ireland in November 1649, the Royalist fleet sailed straight for the Spanish coast. Hyde was then at Madrid, as the Ambassador of Charles II, and he pressed the Spaniards to grant the Prince free ports. This they would not do, but they allowed him to clean and victual his vessels upon their shores, until the arrival of the Parliament fleet changed their attitude.[ 1 ] The Parliament had despatched their Admiral Blake in pursuit of the Royalists, and Blake's ships were better manned,

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CHAPTER XV

Rupert's return was eagerly hailed by all parties in the exiled Court of England. Wrote the King: "My Dearest Cousin, "I am so surprised with joy in the assurance of your safe arrival in these parts that I cannot tell you how great it is; nor can I consider any misfortunes or accidents which have happened, now I know that your person is in safety. If I could receive the like comfort in a reasonable hope of your brother's, I need not tell you how important it would be to my affairs. While my affe

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CHAPTER XVI

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 le

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CHAPTER XVII

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 qua

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CHAPTER XVIII

Rupert received a warm welcome on his return to England, and was at once sworn a member of the Privy Council. It was but natural that he should turn his attention to naval affairs. The growth of the sea power of England had received an impetus during the years of the Commonwealth, due indirectly to Rupert himself; for had not the Commonwealth been forced to protect itself against the pirate Princes, it would probably have cared less for its navy.[ 1 ] Charles II, like a true Stuart, cared for hi

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CHAPTER XIX

Of Rupert's later life in England, apart from his naval career, there is not much to tell. In the dissolute court of the Restoration there was no place for Rupert of the Rhine. He represented the older Cavaliers. He had stood side by side and fought on many a field with the fathers of the men who adorned the Court of Charles II; but with the sons, the children of the exiles, he could have no sympathy. Much has been said and written contrasting those fathers and sons, the men who died for Charles

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CHAPTER XX

The oath which Rupert had sworn in 1658, he faithfully kept; never again, in spite of changed circumstances, and the earnest entreaties of his family, did he set foot in the Palatinate. Yet he was not quite forgotten by his relatives. The lively and voluminous correspondence of Sophie and the Elector, from which we learn much of all family affairs, contains many allusions to "mon frère Rupert," in whose sayings and doings the brother and sister took a keen interest. Sophie had been married, Octo

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