History of King Charles the Second of EnglandAbbott, Jacob
History
History of King Charles the Second of England
Abbott, Jacob
Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685
The localities which were the scenes of these events have been made
very famous by them, and traditional tales of Queen Henrietta's
residence in Exeter, and of her romantic escape from it, have been
handed down there, from generation to generation, to the present day.
They caused her portrait to be painted too, and hung it up in the city
hall of Exeter as a memorial of their royal visitor. The palace where
the little infant was born has long since passed away, but the portrait
hangs in the Guildhall still.
CHAPTER IV.
ESCAPE OF THE CHILDREN.
We left the mother of Prince Charles, at the close of the last chapter,
in the palace of the Louvre in Paris. Though all her wants were now
supplied, and though she lived in royal state in a magnificent palace
on the banks of the Seine, still she was disconsolate and unhappy. She
had, indeed, succeeded in effecting her own escape from the terrible
dangers which had threatened her family in England, but she had left
her husband and children behind, and she could not really enjoy herself
the shelter which she had found from the storm, as long as those whom
she so ardently loved were still out, exposed to all its fury. She had
six children. Prince Charles, the oldest, was in the western part of
England, in camp, acting nominally as the commander of an army, and
fighting for his father's throne. He was now fourteen years of age.
Next to him was Mary, the wife of the Prince of Orange, who was safe
in Holland. She was one year younger than Charles. James, the third
child, whose title was now Duke of York, was about ten. He had been
left in Oxford when that city was surrendered, and had been taken
captive there by the Republican army. The general in command sent him
to London a prisoner. It was hard for such a child to be a captive,
but then there was one solace in his lot. By being sent to London he
rejoined his little sister Elizabeth and his brother Henry, who had
remained there all the time. Henry was three years old and Elizabeth
was six. These children, being too young, as was supposed, to attempt
an escape, were not very closely confined. They were entrusted to the
charge of some of the nobility, and lived in one of the London palaces.
James was a very thoughtful and considerate boy, and had been enough
with his father in his campaigns to understand something of the terrible
dangers with which the family were surrounded. The other children were
too young to know or care about them, and played blindman's buff and
hide and go seek in the great saloons of the palace with as much
infantile glee as if their father and mother were as safe and happy
as ever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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