Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

Richard II., he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry IV. restored him to liberty and to his estate. It was this earl who built Guy's Tower. He died in 1401. Richard, his only son, raised still more highly the honour of the house of Warwick. He distinguished himself in foreign wars and tournaments, vanquishing the most renowned champions of Europe. His private character was as estimable and irreproachable as his public conduct was illustrious. The Emperor Sigismund styled him "the father of courtesy"; and Henry V. of England committed to him the tutelage of his son, afterwards Henry VI., till he should attain the age of 15. He held the high office of Regent of France at the time of his death, which took place at Rouen, in 1439. His body was brought to England, and according to his own directions, buried in the Lady Chapel of St. Mary's, under the magnificent tomb already described. His son, Henry, was the last of the Beauchamp line of Earls of Warwick. He was high in the favour of Henry VI., who created him Duke of Warwick, and afterward king of the Isle of Man. Dying without heirs at the age of twenty-two, the estate reverted to his father's sister, countess of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, upon whom the title of Earl of Warwick was conferred. The name of Richard Neville is one of the most prominent in the history of the fif teenth century. The splendid delineation of his character and actions by Shakspere in "King Henry VI.," from the time when, in the Temple garden, he says:

"I love no colours, and, without all colour

Of base insinuating flattery,

I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet; "

down to the battle of Barnet, where he died fighting for Henry, whom he had dethroned a few years before, is too well known to require more than a passing reference. The words which Shakspere puts into his mouth, as he dies on the field of Barnet, give an admirable picture of the character and power of the "king-maker :"

"Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,

Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,
Under whose shade the ramping lion slept,

Whose top branch overpeered Jove's spreading tree,

And kept low shrubs from winter's powerful wind.

These eyes, that now are dimmed with death's dark veil,

Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun,

To search the secret treasons of the world.

The wrinkles in my brow, now filled with blood,
Were likened oft to kingly sepulchres;

For who lived king, but I could dig his grave?

And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?

Lo, now my glory smeared in dust and blood!
My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,
Even now forsake me; and of all my lands
Is nothing left me, but my body's length!

Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust!
And, live we how we can, yet die we must."

Hume speaks of Richard Neville in the following terms:-"The undesigning frankness and openness of his character rendered his conquest over men's affections the more certain and infallible; his presents were regarded as sure testimonies of esteem and friendship, and his professions as the overflowings of his genuine sentiments. No less than 30,000 persons are said to have daily lived at his board, in the different manors and castles which he possessed in England; the military men, allured by his munificence and hospitality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his interests; the people in general bore him an unlimited affection; his numerous retainers were more devoted to his will than to the prince or to the laws, and he was the greatest, as well as the last of those mighty barons who formerly overawed the crown and rendered the people incapable of civil government.” He was succeeded in the earldom by George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and brother of Edward IV., who had married his daughter. Clarence was murdered in the tower of London, and his son Edward, who succeeded to the earldom, was beheaded, 1499, for being implicated with Perkin Warbeck in a plot for escaping from the tower. After a lapse of 48 years, the title was revived, and bestowed on John Dudley, Lord High Admiral of England, who rendered important services to the country under Henry VIII. and Edward VI., but was beheaded in the succeeding reign for espousing the cause of Lady Jane Grey. With his grandson Ambrose, "the good Earl of Warwick," and brother of Queen Elizabeth's favourite, the Earl of Leicester, the title once more became extinct, 1589. The title, without the estates, was bestowed by James I., in 1618, on Robert, Lord Rich, in whose family it remained through seven descents. The second Earl of this line was Lord High Admiral of England under the Long Parliament, and his grandson married the youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell. Immediately on the extinction of the title in this family, it was conferred on Francis Greville, Earl Brooke, the possessor of the castle and estate, with whose descendants it still remains. The Earls of Warwick of this line have not taken a conspicuous part in politics.

GUY'S CLIFF

Is about a mile distant from Warwick, and is deservedly celebrated for its natural and artificial beauties. To this place, according to the old legends, Guy of Warwick retired, after renouncing war and love, and scooped for himself a cave out of the rock, in which he lived, and died, and was buried. When he found himself dying he sent for his countess, the fair Phillis, who had long mourned for him as dead or captive in the Holy Land, and had often given him alms at the castle gate, as a poor palmer. She survived him but a short time, and was buried beside him. Whatever may be thought of this story, there can be no doubt that there was a hermitage here from a very early period. Richard Beauchamp founded a chantry for two priests, in 1422, and in pursuance of his will the chapel was rebuilt, and the statue of Guy erected in it. John Rous, the Warwick antiquary, was priest here in the reign of Edward IV. At the dissolution, the chapel and its possessions were bestowed upon Sir Edward Flammock. After various transmissions, it is now the property of the Hon. C. B. Percy.

Leland calls Guy's Cliff "the abode of pleasure, a place meet for the Muses; " Camden," the very seat of pleasantness," and Sir William Dugdale remarked that it is "a place this of so great delight, in respect to the river gliding below the rock, the dry and wholesome situation, and the fair grove of lofty elms overshadowing it, that to one who desireth a retired life either for his devotions or study, the like is hardly to be found." Exquisite views of the house may be had from various spots in its neighbourhood. The view from the Coventry road, through a long and magnificent avenue of fir trees, is universally admired. More comprehensive views are to be obtained from various parts of a footpath through the fields to Leamington, past the church and village of Milverton. The view in particular from the old mill where the foot-bridge crosses the Avon, opposite Guy's Cliff, is extremely picturesque. The house is only shewn to visitors when the family is not at home; but the views of scenery in the neighbourhood are so fine, that the tourist will scarcely think his time lost, even though he may not have the opportunity of inspecting it.

Proceeding first to an examination of the exterior, the singular excavations in the rock which rises in the courtyard will attract attention. These were probably the work of the hermits and chantry priests of former times, perhaps undertaken in imitation of the devout Sir Guy. They were formerly

used as stables, coach-houses, and for other domestic purposes. On the left hand is the Chapel of the Magdalen, built on the rock, containing a statue of Guy, eight feet high, much de

[graphic][merged small][subsumed]

faced. Guy's Cave will be viewed with interest. According to the old legend the cave was constructed by himself

"There with my hands I hewed a house

Out of a craggy rock of stone;
And lived like a palmer poor,

Within that cave myself alone."

On one side of the cave are some traces of an inscription in Saxon characters, but much too faint to be deciphered. Guy's Well is also shown, and a walk is named after the fair Phillis, who, as the legend runs, used often to give alms to the hermit, and to have resorted to him for his saintly counsel, never dreaming that the solitary man was her long-lost husband. Guy was induced to betake himself to this life of penance and mortification, from a deep feeling of remorse for having wrought so much mischief and bloodshed in the world for the sake of one woman, Phillis having, like the noble ladies of her time, required deeds of arms from her lover before she would yield to his affection. Guy made himself known to her when he was dying, and of course the story ends romantically with their

*The engraving given above represents this statue as it existed in the time of Pennant, when it was still uninjured.

being buried in the same grave. There are several very fine walks in different parts of the grounds.

The house itself is comparatively modern. The principal part of it was built early in the 18th century by Samuel Greatheed, Esq., who very much improved the grounds. Various additions have been made more recently. The different apartments shown to visitors contain many fine paintings and other objects of interest. Several of the pictures are by the late Mr. Greatheed, father of Mrs. B. Percy, and by his son, a youth of great talent and promise who died in 1804, at the early age of 22. This young gentleman attracted the favourable notice of Napoleon when upon the continent. His works display much power. The steps leading to the entrancehall are ornamented in plaster. In a recess is a cast of the Venus de Medici. The Small Drawing-Room contains some family portraits, among which may be noticed those of two of the Earls of Lindsey. There are also pictures by Van Eyck, Van Steen, Biltius, Vander, Myn, Wouvermans, etc. The Library contains, among others, a fine view in Venice, by Canaletti, a portrait by Lauder, of the Hon. C. B. Percy, the present possessor of Guy's Cliff; a Pot House, by Brouwer; a Pouting Child, by Sir Joshua Reynolds; Jonah cast on the Dry Land, by Salvator Rosa, and one or two fine copies from the old masters. The Drawing-Room, besides family portraits (Duchess of Ancaster, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; and Hon. Mrs. Percy and her daughter, by Cregan), contains several valuable pictures, the chief of which are:-A View on the River Maese, by Albert Cuyp; View of Dort, by Van Goyen; Cupid blowing Bubbles, by Castiglione; the Angels appearing to the Shepherds, by Bassano; and a copy of the Madonna and Child, by Raphael, in the Dresden Gallery. The view from the windows of this room is highly picturesque. In the Vestibule are, Venus and Adonis, by Ritscher; a Landscape, by Ruysdale; Christ and the Woman of Samaria, by Sebastian Ricci; and a painting by the younger Mr. Greatheed, already alluded to, having for its subject the Discovery, by Atabualpa, of Pizarro's Ignorance of Reading and Writing. In the arcade to which this room opens are some fine Italian vases. Dining-Room contains a large picture by the younger Greatheed, which attracts a great deal of notice with many visitors. Its subject is the Cave of Despair, as described in Spenser's "Faerie Queen"; a subject which, it must be allowed, the young artist has treated with considerable power. Besides some other paintings in this room, not calling for special mention, there is a bronze equestrian statue of the Duke of

The

« AnteriorContinua »