some time lived in the western wing of the mansion, and here executed some of his best pictures.” In 1868 I found that one-half of this ancient fabric had been pulled down.
We find the Duke’s name honourably mixed up in a deplorable affair, namely, the dying scene of poor Conway Seymer, who had been mortally wounded in a duel. “20th June 1699, the Duke of Schomberg introduced Capt. Kirk to ask pardon of Conway Seymer, Esq., who told him he forgave him with all his heart, and died next morning.”
Through negotiations based upon the Peace of Ryswick, the French king restored to the family Marshal Schomberg’s French estate. But when Duke Mainhardt thought he had secured it, his eldest brother, Count Frederic, stepped in as a competitor. Our Ambassador, the Earl of Manchester, wrote officially to Secretary the Earl of Jersey, from Paris, August 29, 1699:
“I believe the Duke of Schomberg will apply to your Lordship in relation to his affairs. I have done what was proper, having recommended it to the minister. But now the dispute lies between the eldest brother in Germany and himself, who has obtained to have two-thirds, according to the custom of France. They do intend to appeal from this sentence; but as this is a matter between two brothers, I shall be glad to know whether the king does only concern himself for the Duke of Schomberg.”
The following is a letter which Schomberg addressed to the Ambassador:—
“My Lord, — I no sooner received the favour of your Lordship’s letter, but according to your desire I spoke to my Lord Jersey, who has since told me he had signified His Majesty’s pleasure to your Lordship thereupon. And that your Lordship may be thoroughly instructed in the matter, I must further acquaint you that the matter in debate is only between my brother and myself. For, by the treaty of Peace, the estate is to return to the family, and, as your Lordship has been already informed, the King of France has put me in possession, which being disputed by my brother, was the occasion of my suing for the King of France’s protection, that by His Majesty’s authority I might freely enjoy the possession thereof, without being put to the charge of so many lawsuits by my brother, who is now actually at law with me, and endeavours to dispossess me of my undeniable right. Wherefore, my request to your Lordship is, that you would recommend my particular interest to the King of France, and that His Majesty will please to give orders that I may be continued in quiet possession of the estate which is my undeniable right. But were that disputable, my services both here and in France ought to give me the preference. My Lord, I have given your Lordship as short an account as the subject would permit, and do not at all doubt of success therein, if your Lordship does heartily espouse my interest, which will lay a perpetual obligation upon, &c, &c.
Lord Manchester announced the Duke’s success in a letter dated from Paris, 23d June 1700:
“The Duke of Schomberg has carried his cause in the Parliament against his brother in Germany, who pretended to have a right to two thirds; but the whole is adjudged to the former.”[1]
At the funeral of King William, on the 12th of April 1702, Schomberg was one of the six dukes who supported the pall. In Queen Anne’s reign, he was still in favour at the palace. He presented her consort, the Prince of Denmark, Generalissimo of the Forces, with a war-horse valued at 300 guineas; this was in June 1702. He still pressed his claims as his father’s heir, on the English nation. A second grant in his favour, dated 6th May 1703, appears on the Patent Rolls. In it the Queen narrates how the Duke of Schomberg had represented to her that King William, by a warrant dated 14th October 1701, had again asserted that his affairs could not yet admit of the payment of £100,000, and that “our said late royall brother” did “therefore and for other good causes and considerations” grant another £1000 of annuity, making a total of £5000 per annum to commence from Midsummer, 1701. “The demise of our said royal brother happened before the said intended grant actually passed under the Great Seal of England;” therefore, we the Queen grant the additional £1000, to be paid annually, during pleasure.
In 1703, the Schomberg estates in France must have been forfeited again. This was the year of the Methuen Treaty with Portugal, which was signed on the 16th of May and ratified on the 14th of July. Great Britain and Portugal then joined the Emperor of Germany and the Duke of Savoy in the Grand Alliance against France,
- ↑ Cole’s State Papers.
