Unfortunately, however, the Council were in no condition to give orders. This worthy and sapient body had hitherto contrived to manage their affairs very comfortably, by referring in all cases of doubt and difficulty to decisions made in the reign of the late Queen; but this case was quite unprecedented, and the illustrious lawgivers were consequently completely at a loss as to what was best to be done. Meanwhile the enemy, who had no such scruples to contend with, entered the suburbs of London, and attacking the Queen’s palace in Hammersmith Street, upon the banks of the Thames, would inevitably have taken her Majesty prisoner, had not this fatal outrage been prevented by the courage and activity of Edmund Montagu, a captain in the Queen’s body guard, who had obtained his commission through the interest of the Queen’s great uncle, the old Duke of Cornwall, only a short time previously.
This youthful hero luckily had command of the guard at the time of the enemy’s attack, and by his decision and presence of mind, he succeeded in animating his soldiers to defend the post committed to their charge, till a body of regular troops under the Duke of Exeter, a veteran officer of the late Queen, came to their relief, and compelled the invaders to retreat.
The Duke of Exeter was a good soldier, and a sensible man. He saw the danger of his country, and like another Washington, left his beloved retirement to save it from destruction. The counsellors of the Queen gladly submitted to his dictation. They felt their own weakness, and cheerfully gave up the reins of government to hands better qualified to guide them. The Queen was equally glad to escape all responsibility; and the Duke of Exeter, appointing young Montagu, with whose conduct he had been much pleased, second in command, soon, by a succession of vigorous and consistent measures, drove the enemy from the kingdom: their retreat indeed being hastened by the news Roderick received of an insurrection having broken out in Dublin during his absence.
Whilst these intestine commotions were agitating England, the Emperors of Greece and Germany, who had long envied the prosperity of “the little seagirt isle,” took the opportunity of declaring war against it; and Claudia only found herself freed from domestic foes, to contend with foreign ones. Her army, however, encouraged by success, professed themselves ready to encounter any enemy, and they set off for Germany, in high spirits under the command of General Montagu; the Duke of Exeter’s age and infirmities making him decline leaving England.
The youthful general was the son of a baronet in the West of England, and rapid as his promotion had been at court, it was by no means greater than he deserved. His face and figure were such as the imagination delights to picture as a hero of antiquity; and his character accorded well with the majestic graces of his person. Haughty and commanding in his temper—ambition was his God, and the love of glory his strongest passion; yet his very pride had a nobleness in it, and his soldiers loved though they feared him.
Very different was the character of his younger brother Edric, whose romantic disposition and contemplative turn of mind often excited the ridicule of his friends. As usual, in similar cases, the persecution he endured only wedded him more firmly to his peculiar opinions, and determined him to sustain them with the constancy of a martyr, whilst he secluded himself from society, and despised the opinion of the world, because he found it was against him; supposing himself capable of resisting every species of temptation, simply because, as yet, he had met with nothing adequate to tempt him. Older and more experienced persons have made the same mistake.
Perhaps the striking difference perceptible in the character of these young men, might be occasioned more by education than nature. Until the period of Edmund’s obtaining his commission, they had both resided entirely at the country seat of their father, Sir Ambrose, where the care of their instruction was confided to Dr. Entwerfen, a German enthusiast, whom an unlucky propensity for trying experiments had banished from his native land. This philosopher, however, was unfortunately better skilled in the knowledge of the sciences, than in that of the human heart; and the lofty spirit of Edmund, despising his control, soon sought a more congenial companion in Father Morris, confessor to the Duke of Cornwall, who resided in the neighbourhood; and who, having been a warrior in his youth, was well calculated to sympathise with the feelings of a young aspirant for military glory.
The confessor was an intelligent, well informed man, and feeling flattered by the fondness Edmund showed for his society, he devoted all his leisure hours to the instruction of his young friend, leaving Dr. Entwerfen to occupy himself entirely with Edric, whose disposition accorded better with his own. Sir Ambrose was well satisfied with the change; Edmund was always his favourite son, and possessing the happy privilege of favourites, found no difficulty in persuading his father that whatever he preferred, was the best and most prudent plan that could possibly have been adopted. He thus easily contrived in due time to get permission to enter the army, and being naturally ardent and enterprising, success had hitherto attended all his efforts.
Country gentlemen have always been allowed to form a genus perfectly distinct from every other class of the community; there being something in the mere circumstance of a man’s living entirely upon his own estate, which never fails to produce a peculiar effect upon the mind. An English ’Squire is indeed almost a petty monarch: surrounded by his tenants and dependants, he rarely, except upon occasions of ceremony, meets with any superior, or even equal to himself; and he becomes the sun of his own system, around whom the doctor, the parson, and the lawyer of his village, roll as attendant planets.
Notwithstanding all the changes that had taken place in the political, moral,
