For APRIL, 1819. A New and Improved Series. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ILLUSTRIOUS AND DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS. Number One Hundred and Twenty-two, BEAUTIES OF THE COURT OF CHARLES II. FRANCES DUCHESS OF RICHMOND. We often find those volatile and seemingly indiscreet characters the most vir tuous; it would else be surprising how such a trifler as Miss Stewart should have stood her ground against the King's re AMONGST those females who were conspicuous for personal endowments, no one was more highly celebrated in the English court, under the reign of Charles II. than the illustrious lady whose portrait embel-peated solicitations, even when he offered lishes our present Number. to legitimatize his affections by endeavour and to make Frances Stewart his lawful wife. Miss Frances Stewart was the daughtering to obtain a divorce from his Queen, of Walter Stewart, son of Walter, Baron of Blantyre. Her education was almost wholly French, she having been in France with Henrietta, the Queen dowager, widow of Charles I. from a child, and was brought to England when Henrietta paid a visit to her son. Miss Stewart was then in the early bloom of youth, and gave promise of soon becoming a resplendent beauty: it was not long, therefore, till a monarch, who gave himself up to every impulse of the softer passion, was particularly enamoured of a female so eminently gifted. The character of Miss Stewart was a most extraordinary one; she was wild and thoughtless, even to a degree of childish. ness; and we cannot forbear remarking in this place, the almost unrivalled art of Sir Peter Lely, in seizing character as well as likeness; for all the arch, mischievous, yet silly kind of giddiness she possessed, has been pourtrayed with most surprising skill by that renowned artist. || In the mean time Miss Stewart continued the chief ornament of the British court by her beauty, her skill in music, and her taste in singing; diverting herself with a thousand childish fancies, and with the jealousy she unceasingly gave to the Duchess of Cleveland, whom it was one of her chief pleasures to torment. Yet to shew the depravity of manners at that period, though the Duchess of Cleveland, then Countess of Castlemaine, was the King's acknowledged mistress, the grandaughter of the Baron of Blantyre, and first maid of honour to the young Queen, did not scruple to be on terms of the closest intimacy with the meretricious Countess; visiting her in that familiar way at all times, that after any late revels, this real, though thoughtless ornament of a court, would stay and partake of a share of the favourite's bed. It has been said by several writers of that period, that no woman had less wit Ta || or more beauty than Miss Stewart; all cal Duke, diverted them all, and completely her features were finely regular; she was fixed the attention, and became almost the slender, strait, and taller than the generality sole occupation of the fair and trifling of females; all her movements were ac Frances. companied with a peculiar and indescribable grace; she danced well, and spoke French better than her mother-tongue; with all her childish vivacity, she was, by far, the best bred woman of that period; and her taste in dress was most admirable. With these attractions, so powerfully united, it is no wonder that she gained a complete ascendancy over the mind of Charles II. a monarch so prone to change, and so professed an admirer of female beauty; and which, we cannot avoid remarking, must have been, no doubt, much more scarce at that time than at the present, when the happy discovery of inoculation and vaccination have destroyed the ravages of the small-pox; when the limbs of infants are now allowed their free and proper play, unswathed as in the days of our ancestors; and cleanliness, that powerful auxiliary to health and beauty, in the continual use of the cold and tepid bath, has at this period rendered the major part of our females truly fair and lovely. These will, we are well assured, pardon this digression, and we now return to the subject of our present sketch. Had Miss Stewart possessed with her beauty the least art or cunning, she might have become as absolute a mistress over the conduct of her sovereign as she was over his heart. Court intrigue was not backward in endeavouring to mould her to its purpose. George Villers, Duke of Buckingham, the handsomest, worst prineipled, most profligate and intriguing man of the age, formed the design of governing her, in order to ingratiate himself with the King, and, though he could never govern himself, he was the fittest man for such an undertaking: her taste for frivolous amusements, and what those amusements were, have been detailed in the Eleventh Volume, No. 67, of the New Series of LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE, amongst the Anecdotes of Illustrious Females. The Duke of Buckingham, however, who shone superior to every nobleman of his time by his accomplishments, had by these means made himself so requisite to Miss Stewart's amusement that she was not easy without he accompanied her wherever she went; and when he was not engaged in state affairs with the King, she would send all over the town to seek him. Yet the hearts of these giddy females are not capable of receiving easily any tender impression; she did not care one straw for Buckingham, only as he found out for her new subjects of ridicule, and new childish sports; but the Duke, captivated by her beauty, forgot his master, and all his own court favour, by falling in love with Miss Stewart himself, and very seriously declaring his passion to her. She properly and very severely repulsed him, forbidding him, at the same time, her presence. Lord Arlington then took up the part that the Duke had been compelled to abandon, This nobleman was a man of infinite merit and high descent; but he had a scar across his nose, which was covered with a long patch in the shape of a lozenge, which gave him rather a ludicrous appearance: added to this he had all the precise gravity of a Spaniard; yet, furnished with a number of fine maxims, and a stock of historical anecdotes, his ambition soared so high as to hope for the favour of Miss Stewart, of whom he obtained an audience. When, the moment she saw him, she recollected that he was one whom the Duke of Buckingham had often mimicked in his own presence, and she burst into such an immoderate fit of laughter, that the enraged minister abruptly took his leave, and never after would appear in her society if he could help it. The imprudent Miss Stewart now co quetted with her sovereign, till her virtue, as well as her reputation, became in immi. nent danger for, as may naturally be sup Every courtier was emulous of imitating posed, a crown danced in perpetual vision the Duke and hovering about the lady; before her fancy, and dreams of greatwhile card building, blindman's buff, and ness and glory floated over ber exalted old women's stories invented by the satiri-imagination. Charles had offered to make 2. her a Duchess, and to settle an handsome || the Duke of York contended that the leg estate on her, but she refused, saying he must either marry her or she must be injured in the opinion of the whole world. Coaches with glasses were then but just invented, but the ladies did not like them, preferring the calash, which discovered their whole persons to better advantage : the King had been presented with one of the latter, on a new construction, and most magnificently finished, from France; and the Queen first appeared in it, with the Duchess of York. Lady Castlemaiue finding how much it set off their persons, neither of them remarkable for beauty, thought what splendour her figure would acquire when seated in such a vehicle; and she desired the King to lend it her. Miss Stewart had precisely the same wish on the same day, which was a remarkably fine one, to take an airing in the French calash in Hyde Park. The King, though sadly perplexed, was gained over by the caresses and threats of Miss Stewart; whose reputation for virtue, after this fatal triumph over Lady Castlemaine, was for ever tarnished. There is little doubt but that this calumny was the work of her rival; for Miss Stewart, with a conscience free from reproach, continued the same innocent lively creature as before; such unceasing vivacity is always a sure sign of a mind unclouded by guilt: over habitual vice the clouds of awakened compunction will yet darken the scene of assumed gaiety; and over the first lapse of virtue the gloom of repentance hangs more sombre and frequent. Yet, in order to give some idea of the licentious and unbridled freedom,of the manners of the court at that period, we insert the following anecdote. The Countess of Chesterfield was a very handsome woman, who had captivated the King's brother, the Duke of York; she had the defect, however, of having very thick legs. In a large mixed company at Miss Stewart's, the King maintained that her legs were the handsomest in the world; and she immediately, to prove the truth of his Majesty's assertion, gave the whole company ocular demonstration, just above the knee. Some were for prostrating themselves in adoration of so much beauty, but was too slender; it ought to be thicker and shorter; and the handsomest leg he had seen was in a green silk stocking: this was the colour he knew Lady Chesterfield wore, and which was extremely fashionable, but which Miss Stewart condemned as inimical to good taste. The Duke of York, however, knew one was present who would detail his arbitration to his favourite Countess. Miss Stewart was seldom in waiting on the Queen, therefore she could scarce be regarded as one of her maids of honour, for, in short, she acted just as she pleased. Charles Stewart, Duke of Richmond and Lenox, fell deeply in love with her, and had frequent leisure and opportunity to declare his passion for her: he was of a handsome person, but the King respected him less than any nobleman about the court. If Miss Stewart really loved any one, it was, however, the Duke of Richmond. At this time the Queen endeavoured to promote the pleasures of the court by giving frequent entertainments, and dispensing with the etiquette due to her high estate ; confining to her own bosom all the rankling anguish she endured at seeing the King's affection increase daily for the beauteous Miss Stewart. Yet she was guilty of a little female revenge when that lady was in waiting, which, however, may easily be pardoned in one so deeply injured. She sent for the players, when she was with her at Tunbridge, requesting, in a particular manner, that Mrs. Eleanor Gwynn would not fail to come with them: she was famous for her dancing, and even eclipsed Miss Stewart in that accomplishment; and there was dancing every day in the Queen's apartment. This was, however, the period when the fair Stewart was in the meridian of her glory; she attracted every eye, and drew universal homage and admiration: no female could then stand in competition with her for gracefulness of manner or beauty of person; and at this time of her last cele brity, the King was more than ever desirous to bestow on her his throne as well as his heart. At the same time the Duke of Richmond was resolved to marry her, or die in the attempt: his greatest fault, in a young man especially, was his predilection for drinking; and Miss Stewart began to encourage very deep play in her apartments. It was whispered at these gaming parties that the Duke of Richmond was about to be banished the court; Miss Stewart affected indifference; and while she seemed pleased with stretching her mouth as wide as she could, to carry in it a lighted taper, her ears were yet more open to the rumours which reached them, and she began to grow very cold and distant in her behaviour to the King; who, eager to regain her good graces, solemnly declared he would have nothing more to say to the Duchess of Cleveland, and determined to dismiss Nell Gwynn, Mrs. Davis, and all the joyous train of mistresses in whose society he was accustomed to unbend his serious moments when overburthened with the cares of royalty. All would not do; Miss Stewart continued to reject and torment her regal admirer till she brought him to the brink of distrac tion. The Duchess of Cleveland, who was the avowed enemy of Miss Stewart, contrived to inform the King of the Duke of Richmond's pretensions. At this his Majesty was in a violent rage, and his threats against the Duke were increased. There is every reason to believe that Frances Stewart was more actuated by a return to those virtuous principles in which she had been brought up, which she had cherished, and which, in so thoughtless a disposition, had only slumbered for a moment, than for any particular regard at that time for the Duke. The Queen was attacked with a violent fever, which reduced her to extreme danger. Miss Stewart vanquished, by one great effort, all her golden views of royalty; she threw herself on her knees by her Majesty's bedside, and intreated her forgiveness for all the sorrow and uneasiness that she had occasioned her. She, moreover, told the Queen that a constant and sincere repentance had made her contrive all possible means of retiring from court, and for which reason she had encouraged the addresses of the Duke of Richmond, with whom, if a marriage should not take place, she begged her Majesty would obtain for her the King's permission for ending her days in a convent. All this was accompanied by a flood of tears, and the easy tempered Queen tenderly embraced her, and granted her free pardon. The Earl of Clarendon, who had, however, from regard to the honour of his royal master, been the chief instigator of this marriage, was not now backward in urging on the Duke of Richmond to conclude it. The King, when this came to his knowledge, resented it highly, and it is thought never thoroughly forgave the Chancellor; who, however, it was very natural to suppose, would wish his own grandchildren to sit, as they afterwards did, on the throue of England. There were no children born of this marriage, and after the death of the Duke of Richmond, Charles gave the dukedom to the son he had by the Duchess of Portsmouth, giving, at the same time, to him and to his heirs the sirname of Lenox. The marriage of Miss Stewart with the Duke took place privately at Whitehall, and was publicly declared in April, 1667. The Duchess became a widow in 1672, and died October 15, 1702. A figure in wax of her Grace is still to be seen in Westminster Abbey: it represents her tall and slender; but the nose is more acquiline than that drawn by Sir Peter Lely, which inclines rather to the Grecian. A puncheon was made by Rottiere, the King's engraver of the mint, by his Majesty's command, in order to strike a medal of her. The face is the most beautiful that can be conceived, and every feature formed like those in the original painting from whence our engraving is taken. The figure on this medal was reduced in size, and made the first Britannia on the copper coin, which has since been perpetuated through succeeding reigus to the present day. 151 ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC. PROGRESSIVE STATE OF MUSIC IN GER- GERMAN Princes had musical dramas, or operas, both in Italian and German, performed in the commencement of the seventeenth century. In 1627, Martin Opitz, called by the Germans the father of their drama, translated the opera of Daphne from the Italian, which was set to music by the chapel master Schütz, and performed at the court of Dresden on the marriage of the Elector's sister with the Landgrave of Hesse, George II.; and in 1653, an Italian opera, called L'Inganno d'Amore, was performed at Ratisbon. The Emperor Leopold was passionately fond of Italian music and poetry, and constantly patronized both. Early in his reign he retained in his service the Italian Jyric poet Minato; and in 1665, Alcindo and Claridia were performed at Vienna. in France to the Italians; and Renuccini, who followed Queen Mary of Medicis into France, first furnished the idea of dramatic music at Paris. During the minority of Louis XIV. Cardinal Mazarin had two operas, in Italian verse and Italian music, performed by Italian singers, whom he had sent for expressly to the court of France, to impress them with a favourable idea of the music of his country. The first of these operas seems, however, to have been little else than a burletta. The great Lulli was formerly under scullion of the King's Kitchen; yet this fortunate young man, who began by scraping on a wretched violin, to the great annoyance of his fellow-servants, was the first that introduced the regular opera in France. From the patronage of Mademoiselle de Guise, who discovered his genius, he soon arrived, from being one of the musicians in the King's band, to solid preferment; and, notwithstanding the coarseness of his man master, that Louis would listen to no other musician; he granted him lettres de noblesse, and made him secretary to himself. In the beginning of the century before last Riccobini asserted that the performers at that time at Hamburgh were all trades-ners, he was in such favour with his royal men or handicrafts; the shoemaker being often the first performer on the stage; and fruit and sweetmeats were sold by the same girls whom the night before were performing the character of Armida or Semiramis. The violin was in general use, and more cultivated in Germany during the century before last, than in any other part of Europe; and solos, sonatas, and concertos, were expressly composed for it: but few productions of the German composers of that century are now to be found. During the last century and the present the Germans have cultivated music till they have brought it to the highest pitch of refinement; and they have furnished every nation in Europe with professors. STATE OF MUSIC IN FRANCE DURING THE The recitative of Lulli is, however, very unpleasant to modern ears: yet his airs, chorusses, and dances, are all easy and true to nature: all his music was pleasing to the French, the taste of which nation, according to Voltaire, is not accordant with that of any other; the vocal music of France is particularly monotonous and languid; the French tunes for dances are, on the other hand, most admirable and delightfully animated. There were several organists in France in the seventeenth century, who are yet held in great reverence by their countrymen; and besides the composers for the church and theatre, there were several eminent lutenists, whose names are to be THOUGH the French have long wished found in the musical annals of France. to have a dramatic music of their own, yet || The father of the celebrated Ninon de they have been obliged to acknowledge || l'Enclos was a lutenist of considerable merit that they owe the establishment of operas and celebrity. |