Duke of Montpensier, whose epitaph on his tomb and the grounds, which are about forty acres in in Westminster Abbey was the joint composition of extent, come down to the water's edge. They are the Duke of Orleans and General Dumouriez. one of the prettiest sights on the river Thames The following anecdote concerning Louis Philippe during "the season." An ornamental wall has -when in after years, subsequent to his banish- been built as a kind of embankment, which is ment from his kingdom, he was living again in crowned with vases, wherein the duke used to England is still remembered by some of the in-plant the loveliest flowers. A writer in the Gentlehabitants of Twickenham. The ex-king was stay-man's Magazine, in 1802, thus describes the house. ing at the "Star and Garter" at Richmond, and walked one day by himself to Twickenham, for the purpose, as he said, of seeing some of the old tradesmen who had served him when he resided there. As he passed along that place, a man met him, pulled off his hat, and hoped his Royal Highness was well. "What's your name?" inquired the ex-king. He was told it. "I do not recollect it," said his Majesty. "What were you when I lived here?" "Please your Royal Highness," replied the man, "I kept the 'Crown'" (an alehouse close to the entrance of Orleans House). "Did you?" said Louis Philippe. "Why, my good fellow, you were lucky; you did what I was unable to do." Among other good stories told here about Louis Philippe is the following:-His Highness was walking many years ago in a nursery-ground in the neighbourhood, and was directing the attention of a companion to a luxuriantly-loaded apricot-tree, when the head gardener came up, and offered the duke some remarkably fine Orleans plums. "I thank you, sir," replied the duke; "I have already had a taste of that bitter fruit, and no longer relish it." In 1827 Orleans House was sold to Mr. Alexander Murray, of Broughton, M.P. for the county of Kirkcudbright; in 1846 it was purchased by Lord Kilmorey, from whom it was again bought by the Duc d'Aumale, who considerably altered and improved the building by the erection of a large picture-gallery and a commodious library. The Duc d'Aumale ceased to reside here when the fall of the French Empire rendered possible his return to France, and the house was subsequently for a short time occupied by another royal exile, Don Carlos. It was somewhat remarkable that the Orleanist should be succeeded by the Carlist. Don Carlos would, no doubt, have found more sympathy from the Comte de Chambord than he would receive from the Comte de Paris. In 1876-7 Orleans House was offered for sale, and having been purchased by a company, has been converted into a club, called the Orleans Club, and as such, combines in itself all the advantages of a country house with the ordinary social intercourse and facilities of a club. as it existed at the commencement of the present century :-"It is a handsome building of brick; but the front has been spoiled by removing the entrance, and throwing out a bow from the bottom to the upper storey. Before this alteration, there was a handsome door-case of Portland stone, with a window over it suitably ornamented. The present way into the house is in the centre of a wing added to it, or a passage to an elegant octagon room at the end, which was built on purpose for the reception and entertainment of her late Majesty Queen Caroline. These additional buildings make one very long wing, which has an awkward appearance, for want of somewhat to answer it on the other side for the sake of uniformity. This passage to the octagon is made use of as a music-room, in which is a handsome organ." A roadway intersects the lawn of the house from the river meadow, but there are tunnels, rustic bridges, and happily-contrived devices designed to obviate any objection which might be raised to this pretty place calling itself a river-side estate. The house was erected by a sensible architect, and the gardens laid out with a loving respect for nature. The deep shady recesses, the broad thick sashes dividing the panes, the deep wide fire-places, the marble halls, the conservatory corridors thickly planted with camellias, the cosy bed-rooms looking out over Richmond Hill, across the river, or back over the park to Twickenham, the libraries, the billiard - rooms, and the boudoirs, all are distinguished for their substantial comfort; whilst the gardens, lawns, and meadows, are so designed as to combine the ease of retirement with the sense of variety. The Orleans Club is not a man's club alone, a mere dining place, a dim solemnity, an excuse for extravagance and play, but a social rendezvous, where ladies can adorn the lawn, preside over the drawing-room, and repose under umbrella tents, whilst the men play lawn tennis, or devote themselves to whatever form of violent exercise may please them. With this object the Orleans Club was started. There is a "bachelor wing," and also a "married wing," with luxuriously-appointed bedrooms. There are card-rooms and billiard-rooms The house, a very fine one, overlooks the river, for the men; there are drawing-rooms, pianos, and boudoirs for the ladies; and, above all, there is that lovely garden, common to all. Here, under the beautiful trees or reclining on the indolent lawn, it will be possible to breathe the fresh air, and to forget the ball-room, the opera, and the perpetual park. It is not so much a question what to do at the Orleans Club as what cannot be done. There are lawn games in abundance; there are flower gardens and conservatories; there are boats. and steam launches, ready at a moment's notice for a row to Moulsey or a long day to Windsor; there are stalls enough, too, in the stables to accommodate the Four-in-Hand and Coaching Clubs whenever they drive down from town; and every arrangement has been made for giving as capital a dinner as can be eaten at the close of the summer holiday. Near Twickenham Church, and on the banks of the Thames, stands the building historically known as York House, the reputed residence of James II. when Duke of York, and for some time in the occupation of the Comte de Paris. The house was for many years the property of Sir Alexander Johnstone, and it is associated with the name of Lord Clarendon. The mansion, with other valuable presents, appears to have been given by Charles II. to Lord Clarendon, on the public announcement of the marriage of his daughter with James II., then Duke of York. The Chancellor was accustomed to pass here the summer months; and when he attended the king at Hampton Court he was in the habit of coming home every night "to his own house at Twickenham." From the reply of Lord Clarendon (as given by his biographer) to the courtiers commissioned by King Charles II. to inform him of the clandestine marriage of his daughter Anne with the Duke of York (afterwards James II.), it has been concluded that his lordship was either a very unnatural father or a very great hypocrite. From his well-known affection for his accomplished child, it is highly improbable that he ever did officially advise her committal to the Tower; and from the tradition that "he actually presented his Royal Highness with his favourite villa, York House, observing that it was already named after him," it is probable he was aware of the duke's affection for his daughter, but feared to discover any knowledge or participation in an act which he knew would be displeasing to the king. Here the royal duke and his much-loved bride passed some years in uninterrupted happiness; here several of their children were born, and amongst them the Princesses Mary and Anne, successively Queens of England. The state-chamber, 89 which still bears the name of Queen Anne's Room, presents the same appearance which it wore when that monarch first saw the light, in February, 1665, saving those changes which time-merciless time— has inflicted on the perishable materials with which it was adorned. Tradition also says that the great Chancellor wrote some of his essays in the garden walks. There is little diffic lty in retracing the descent of this interesting property from the date of its original demise to T., ermyn, in 1566, down to the present proprietor. In 1661, York Farm, a parcel of the manor, was granted to Lord Clarendon; at his lordship's death, in 1674, it passed to his second son, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester. In 1740 it was sold to J. Whitchurch, Esq., and by his representatives to Lieut.-Col. J. Webber, who disposed of the freehold to Prince Stahremberg, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of Vienna. His Excellency retained possession of York Villa during the whole term of his ambassadorial attendance at St. James's, and the cheerfulness and hospitality of his disposition rendered it the scene of continued gaiety. Having fitted up one of the wings as a private theatre, dramatic representations were frequently exhibited there, when the prince and princess, their daughters, and several foreigners of distinction, displayed their talents in the histrionic art. The plays most frequently performed were the little French pieces which were then so popular in this country; and the lists of the dramatis personæ, published at the time, establish this fact, and disclose the titles of the eminent foreigners, who by their talents and accomplishments excited so much interest, and afforded so much intellectual amusement to the many families of distinction then residing in the vicinity. York House subsequently became the residence of Dr. Cleaver, Archbishop of Dublin, who, from mental disease, was unable to discharge the duties of his see. In 1817 the house was purchased by the Hon. Mrs. Damer, of whom we shall have more to say when we reach Strawberry Hill. Mrs. Damer had acquired great reputation as a sculptress, and on taking up her residence here, she fitted up one wing of the house as a studio and gallery of art. It was here that many of those able performances which have conferred upon her an abiding celebrity were designed and executed. Mrs. Damer's attention was first called to this pursuit, so unusual amongst ladies, by that celebrated philosopher, David Hume, whilst he was private secretary to her father, Field-Marshal Conway. Having observed the precocious ability of the young sculptor, cousin, Lady Johnston, only daughter of Lord | pects which are now held out, by the discovery William Campbell, son of the fourth Duke of Argyle, on whose premature decease she had been placed under the guardianship of her uncle, the late Duke of Argyle. Afterwards, when she married, the estate became vested in her ladyship's husband, the Right Hon. Sir Alexander Johnston. A frequent visitor to York House during its occupancy by Sir Alexander Johnston was the celebrated Brahmin and Oriental philosopher, Ramohun Roy, who drew up a sketch of a work while here, which, had he lived, he meant to have published, upon the plan of the "Tusculan Questions" by Cicero, and the "Minute Philosopher" by Berkeley,* professing to be a dialogue between • See the collected works of Berkley, Bishop of Cloyne, 1843. of steam navigation, and the constant use of the route from England to India through Egypt, that the Hindoos (from being brought by these circumstances so much nearer to England than they were before) would soon become equal to the English in their knowledge of government, and in all the different arts and sciences which must raise their moral, intellectual, and political character. Among the subsequent occupiers of York House were the Dowager Duchess of Roxburgh and Lord Lonsdale, the latter of whom died here in 1844. A few years afterwards the mansion was sold to the Duc d'Aumale for his nephew, the Comte de Paris, eldest son of the late Duc d'Orleans, and grandson of Louis Philippe, late King of the Twickenham.] THE DUKE OF WHARTON. French. The Comte de Paris vacated the house about 1871, and some two years later the house and grounds were submitted for sale by public auction. The mansion, which occupies a pleasant position on an elevated plateau overlooking the river Thames, is built in what is now known as the "Queen Anne" style of architecture, and consists of a centre and wings, and the apartments are both numerous and spacious. A grand staircase of oak with carved "Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days, balustrade, &c., gives access from the hall to the principal chambers in the upper storeys. From the drawing-rooms and library windows open upon a broad terrace walk, which extends the whole length of the river front. The gardens and grounds, about nine acres in extent, are admirably laid out, and include a wilderness, fernery, flower-garden, lawns, &c. In a house, called The Grove, long since swept away, but which stood in or near what is now King Street, in the western part of the town, lived for some time the witty and clever, but disreputable, Duke of Wharton, whose character is summed up by Pope in one of his "Moral Essays" in the following often quoted lines : His passion still to covet general praise, "It is difficult," remarks Horace Walpole, in the "Royal and Noble Authors," "to give an account of the works of so mercurial a man, whose library was a tavern, and women of pleasure his muses. A duke; but in the second are some letters in prose, addressed to Lady Wharton, his father's first wife, and her poetical paraphrase of the "Lamentations of Jeremiah." The duke died at Tarragona, in Spain, in 1731, and a vindication of his character is to be found in a volume of scarce broadsides in the British Museum. It bears no printer's name, but only the date 1728; it was probably printed in thousand sallies of his imagination may have been lost, for he wrote for fame no more than he acted for it." Perhaps Horace Walpole on this occasion, as on many others, "hit the right nail on the head." The duke must have been indeed "mercurial." "Like Buckingham and Rochester, Philip Duke of Wharton comforted all the grave and dull," says Horace Walpole, "by throwing away the brightest profusion of parts on witty fooleries, debaucheries, and scrapes, which may mix graces with a great | Dublin. character, but can never make one." Mr. Seward During Pope's time the Grove was the residence observes that the character of Lovelace in "Clarissa" has always been supposed to be that of this nobleman; and the supposition is rendered the more probable as Richardson printed the True Briton, in which the duke wrote constantly. Well and wittily is it remarked by Bolton, in his "Extinct Peerage," that Philip, Duke of Wharton, "succeeded his father, Thomas, in all his titles and abilities, but in none of his virtues." And it is indeed strange that the man who could give £2,000 as a present to a poet, and administer a witty rebuff to an officious ambassador, could be guilty of such a silly and unmeaning trick as knocking up his guardian in the middle of the night, in order to borrow a pin; or at another time, in France, serenading respectable persons at their country châteaux, one of whom very nearly killed him by a stray shot, mistaking him for a robber. Some interesting facts about the Duke are to be found in a scarce work, entitled "Memoirs of the Life of his Grace Philip, late Duke of Wharton, by an Impartial Hand." It is prefixed to two octavo volumes, published in 1732, entitled "The Life and Writings of Philip, late Duke of Wharton," but which contain only the seventy-four numbers of the True Briton, and the speech on the bill of pains and penalties against Atterbury, the paging of which is a continuation of that of the True Briton, although it has a title-page of its own dated 1724. There is another publication, in two volumes octavo, without date, entitled "The Poetical Works of Philip, late Duke of Wharton, and others of the Wharton Family, and of the Duke's Intimate Acquaintance, particularly Lord Bolingbroke, Dean Swift, Lady Wharton, Doctor Delany, Lord Dorset, Major Pack, the Hon. Mrs. Wharton, &c." These two volumes, however, appear to have been all printed in 1727 (before the duke's death), with the exception only of this general title-page and a life of the duke, which is substantially the same with that noticed above, and is here stated to be "communicated by a person of quality, and one of his grace's intimate friends." The first volume ry little that is even attributed to the cont of his friend, the younger James Craggs, who succeeded Addison in the post of Secretary of State in 1718, and who, like his father, was ruined by the South Sea scheme. Craggs was the friend of Steele and Tickell, and the opponent of Sir Robert Walpole in Parliament. The Grove, which was pulled down many years ago, is said to have been originally built by Inigo Jones for the Earl of Rochester. Its site is marked by a solitary cedar, with a pond near it. At Twickenham the Duke of Wharton was the neighbour and acquaintance of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who wrote an epilogue for a tragedy which he began on "Mary Queen of Scots." This poem was never finished, and all of it that remains is a brace of couplets preserved in a "Miscellany," like "flies in amber." They run as follows:Sure were I free, and Norfolk were a pris'ner, 44 I'd fly with more impatience to his arms Than the poor Israelite on the serpent gaz'd, When life was the reward of every look." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu lived at Saville House, close by the Grove. She came to reside there mainly through the persuasion of Pope, with whom at one time she lived on terms of great intimacy and friendship; but they quarrelled, and hated each other cordially for the remainder of their lives. Lady Mary died in 1762, and her successor here was Lady Saville, from whom the house derived its name; she was the mother of Sir George Saville, who, among many others, is said to have been the original of Richardson's "Sir Charles Grandison." Twickenham House, a fine old building, standing on the south side of the main road, near the railway bridge, has a little history of its own, as having been the residence of Sir John Hawkins, who enjoyed the distinction, according to the poet, of being buried "in his shoes and stawkings," and who was described by the Earl of Rochford (then one of the Secretaries of State) as "the best magistrate in the kingdom." Sir John was a devoted fisherman-a pastime in which his residence on the banks of the Thames enabled him freely to indulge. |