DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0097
THE DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND. 79
and do not fall within the province of these light Memoirs : one of
them was undoubtedly the personal character of that vain and
profligate woman who, in the commencement of his reign, ruled
the court and heart of Charles, and whose beauty and misconduct
have doomed her to an infamous celebrity.
Sir William Villiers, descended from the eldest branch of the
house of Villiers, (the younger branch becoming Dukes of Buck-
ingham,) succeeded his uncle, Oliver St. John, in the title of
Viscount Grandison, in the kingdom of Ireland. On the breaking
out of the civil wars, he, with all his family, adhered to the King’s
party, and distinguished himself by his devoted loyalty and chi-
valrous bravery. At the siege of Bristol, in 1643, he was des-
perately wounded; and being carried to Oxford, died there a few
days afterwards, at the age of thirty. Lord Clarendon, who
relates the manner of his death, adds this captivating and well-
drawn portrait:—“ Lord Grandison was a young man of so
virtuous a habit of mind, that no temptation or provocation could
corrupt him; so great a lover of justice and integrity, that no
example, necessity, or even the barbarities of this war, could make
him swerve from the most precise rules of it; and of that rare
piety and devotion, that the court, or camp, could not show a more
faultless person, or to whose example young men might more
reasonably conform themselves. His personal valour and courage
of all kinds (for he had sometimes indulged so much to the corrupt
opinion of honour as to venture himself in duels) were very emi-
nent, insomuch as he was accused of being too prodigal of his
person; his affection, zeal, and obedience to the King, was such as
became a branch of that family.” And he was wont to say, “ that
if he had not understanding enough to know the uprightness of the
cause, nor loyalty enough to inform him of the duty of a subject,
yet the very obligations of gratitude to the King, on the behalf of
his house, were such as his life was but a due sacrifice; and there-
fore, he no sooner saw the war unavoidable, than he engaged all
his brethren, as well as himself, in the service, and there were then
three more of them in command in the army, where he was so
and do not fall within the province of these light Memoirs : one of
them was undoubtedly the personal character of that vain and
profligate woman who, in the commencement of his reign, ruled
the court and heart of Charles, and whose beauty and misconduct
have doomed her to an infamous celebrity.
Sir William Villiers, descended from the eldest branch of the
house of Villiers, (the younger branch becoming Dukes of Buck-
ingham,) succeeded his uncle, Oliver St. John, in the title of
Viscount Grandison, in the kingdom of Ireland. On the breaking
out of the civil wars, he, with all his family, adhered to the King’s
party, and distinguished himself by his devoted loyalty and chi-
valrous bravery. At the siege of Bristol, in 1643, he was des-
perately wounded; and being carried to Oxford, died there a few
days afterwards, at the age of thirty. Lord Clarendon, who
relates the manner of his death, adds this captivating and well-
drawn portrait:—“ Lord Grandison was a young man of so
virtuous a habit of mind, that no temptation or provocation could
corrupt him; so great a lover of justice and integrity, that no
example, necessity, or even the barbarities of this war, could make
him swerve from the most precise rules of it; and of that rare
piety and devotion, that the court, or camp, could not show a more
faultless person, or to whose example young men might more
reasonably conform themselves. His personal valour and courage
of all kinds (for he had sometimes indulged so much to the corrupt
opinion of honour as to venture himself in duels) were very emi-
nent, insomuch as he was accused of being too prodigal of his
person; his affection, zeal, and obedience to the King, was such as
became a branch of that family.” And he was wont to say, “ that
if he had not understanding enough to know the uprightness of the
cause, nor loyalty enough to inform him of the duty of a subject,
yet the very obligations of gratitude to the King, on the behalf of
his house, were such as his life was but a due sacrifice; and there-
fore, he no sooner saw the war unavoidable, than he engaged all
his brethren, as well as himself, in the service, and there were then
three more of them in command in the army, where he was so