Kensington Palace, the birthplace of the Queen: being an historical guide to the state rooms, pictures and gardensLaw, Ernest
History
Kensington Palace, the birthplace of the Queen: being an historical guide to the state rooms, pictures and gardens
Law, Ernest
Kensington Palace (London, England) -- Guidebooks; Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
Two other servants of the court appear in this group, Mahomet and
Mustapha, who were taken prisoners by the Imperialists in Hungary. At
the raising of the siege of Vienna in 1685, George I., then elector of
Hanover, was wounded, and was attended by these two Turks, who had been
retained in his service, and who were said to have saved his life.
Mahomet apostatized from the faith of his fathers and became a
Christian; married a Hanoverian woman and had several children. King
George, on his accession to the British throne, brought these two
faithful servants with him to England in his suite. They were constantly
about his person, and were credited with obtaining large sums of money
from persons who purchased their influence to obtain places about the
court. Mahomet, however, in whatever way he may have obtained his
wealth, made a noble and benevolent use of it; for among many other
recorded acts of benevolence, he released from prison about three
hundred poor debtors by paying their harsh creditors.
Pope, at any rate, believed in Mahomet's integrity, for he mentions him
in his Epistle to Martha Blount in these lines:
"From peer or bishop 'tis no easy thing
To draw the man who loves his God or King.
Alas! I copy (or, my draught would fail,)
From honest Mahomet or plain Parson Hale."
Mahomet died of dropsy in 1726, just after these walls were painted.
Mustapha, after the death of George I., continued in the service of his
successor, and is supposed to have died in Hanover.
In the same group are also a Highlander, and a youth known as "Peter the
Wild Boy." He was found in the woods of Hamelin, near Hanover, in 1725,
and when first discovered was walking on his hands and feet, climbing
trees with the agility of a squirrel, and feeding upon grass and moss of
trees. He was supposed to be about thirteen years of age. He was
presented to George I., then in Hanover, when at dinner, and the King
made him taste of the different dishes at table. We get this information
from Pyne, who adds:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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