The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 2 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authorsBeattie, William
History
The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 2 of 2: from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authors
Beattie, William
Abbeys -- England; Castles -- England
At the funeral of <g>Charles</g> the Second, his Grace was one of the
supporters to <g>George</g>, Prince of Denmark, chief mourner. By <g>James</g> the
Second he was made Lord President of <g>Wales</g>, and Lord Lieutenant of
twelve different counties in the Principality; and at the Coronation, in
April following, he had the distinguished honour of carrying the Queen’s
crown. He was afterwards made Colonel of the 11th Regiment of foot, then
first raised. He next exerted himself against the Duke of Monmouth; and
endeavoured, though ineffectually, to secure Bristol against the
adherents of the Prince of Orange. Upon that Prince’s elevation to the
British throne, his Grace refused to take the oaths, and abjuring public
life, lived in retirement until his death, which took place in 1699, in
the seventieth year of his age.
<g>Charles</g>, the second but eldest surviving son of the first Duke, is
mentioned in the family history as a nobleman of great parts and
learning. He died in the lifetime of his <g>father</g>, in consequence of an
accident, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. His horses, we are told,
taking fright, and running down a steep hill, the danger became
imminent; when, to avoid the casualty which threatened him, he unhappily
leaped out, broke his thigh-bone, and only survived the accident three
days.
<g>Henry</g>, his eldest son, succeeded his grandfather as second Duke of
Beaufort. On <g>Queen Anne’s</g> visiting the University of Oxford in 1702, and
going thence in her progress to Bath, the Duke met her Majesty near
Cirencester, on the twenty-ninth of August; and, attended by great
numbers of the gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders of the county,
conducted her with great pomp to his seat at <g>Badminton</g>, where she was
received with regal splendour. This act of loyal hospitality--so
becoming in a descendant of Henry the first <g>Marquess</g> of Worcester--was
most graciously acknowledged by the Queen and her royal consort Prince
George of Denmark.
Three years after this event, the Duke took his seat in the House of
Lords; but did not appear at court until after the change of ministers
in 1710, when he frankly told her Majesty that he could “then, and only
then, call her Queen of England.”
After being installed in various high offices, and while promising a
long and distinguished career in the service of his country, he was
prematurely cut off in the thirty-first year of his age, and buried at
Badminton, where a monument records his titles, character, and public
services.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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