A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game (57 page)

Frances Stuart remained with Catherine until 1688 then retired to her home, to spend her last years playing cards with her friends and looking after her cats. She died in 1702. Barbara Castlemaine lived abroad in France for a while to cut costs, but her life remained full of intrigue and scandals, including a bigamous marriage to a young rake, who treated her abominably. She died in Chiswick, of dropsy, in 1709. Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, survived into a grand old age, dying in Paris, rather broke and down on her luck, in 1734. By then Nell Gwyn, London’s Cinderella, had been dead for more than half a century. ‘Be well to Portsmouth,’ Charles asked James on his deathbed, and ‘Let not poor Nelly starve.’
¹⁶
But James only had to pay Nell her pension for two short years. She died in 1687, aged thirty-six. Her estate went to her surviving son by Charles, the Duke of St Albans, but she left money to her sister Rose and to the debtors of the parish, plus £20 to release debtors from prison on Christmas Day. Nell, at least, understood that there were deep rifts that must be healed. Her will also left £50 to poor Catholics ‘for showing my charity to those who differ from me in Religeon’.
¹⁷

All these deaths and departures are now part of history, a past that lies not in memory but in dusty documents. From these we learn that in May 1670, his treaty accomplished, Charles said goodbye to Minette as if he would never see her again. It was another fine day in the Channel, and Minette set sail while the forts on the coast saluted the royal yachts with their guns. Charles sailed with her part of the way. He could hardly bear to part from her, and came back three times to say goodbye, before sailing again for the Dover shore.

I have been working on this subject for several years, and have many people to thank, primarily the historians from whose books, articles and arguments I have learned so much, and the archivists and librarians who have guided me through complex material and have made the research so enjoyable. I hope that my debts to both these groups are fully acknowledged in my notes. I am particularly grateful to Professors John Barnard, Lisa Jardine and Neil Keeble, who generously read through drafts and made many invaluable comments, corrections, as well as giving me their warm support.

I would also like to thank Norma Clarke, Mary Evans, Deborah Rogers, Alison Samuel, Ruth Scurr, Francis Spufford and Stella Tillyard, for many lively conversations, Hannah Uglow for scenting out good archives, Pamela Clark for steering me through the Royal Archives, and Philip Winterbottom for showing me how to read early banking ledgers. The Faber team, as usual, have been wonderful, especially my editor Julian Loose, Kate Murray-Browne, Anna Pallai, my copy-editor Eleanor Rees, proofreader Peter McAdie, indexer Alison Worthington, and Kate Ward, painstaking production manager. My thanks also go to Melanie Jackson and Jonathan Galassi in New York. Thanks too to Kate Metcalfe of How Foot, the perfect writer’s escape. And finally, as always, my heartfelt thanks go to Hermione Lee, best of readers, and to my family, especially Steve.

Some archives and sources are abbreviated throughout, as listed below. For all other books and articles a full reference is given the first time a work is listed in each chapter; thereafter it is in a short form.

Ailesbury –
The Memoirs of Thomas, Earl of Ailesbury written by himself
, ed. W. Buckley, 2 vols (1890)

Aubrey –
Aubrey’s Brief Lives
, ed. Oliver Lawson Dick (1958); see also
Brief Lives
, ed. John Buchanan-Brown (2000)

Aylmer – Gerald Aylmer,
The Crown’s Servants: Government and Civil Service under Charles II, 1660–1685
(2002)

Barbour – Violet Barbour,
Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington
(1914)

Barnard and Fenlon – T. Barnard and J. Fenlon, eds,
The Dukes of Ormonde 1610–1745
(2000)

Baxter,
Autobiography
–
The Autobiography of Richard Baxter
(1974 edn)

Bell – Walter G. Bell,
The Great Fire of London in 1666
(1920)

Bernstein – William Bernstein,
The Birth of Plenty
(2004)

Birch – T. Birch, ed.,
The History of the Royal Society of London
, 4 vols (1756–7; 1968 facsimile)

Black and Gregory – Jeremy Black and James Gregory, eds,
Culture, Politics and Society in Britain 1660–1800
(1991)

Boyle,
Works
– Michael Hunter and Edward B. Davis, eds,
The Works of Robert Boyle
, 14 vols (1999–2000)

Browning,
Historical Documents
– Andrew Browning, ed.,
English Historical Documents
, vol. 6, 1660–1714 (1966, 1996)

Browning,
Osborne
– Andrew Browning,
Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby and Duke of Leeds, 1613–1712,
3 vols (1951)

Buccleugh MSS – HMC
15th Report
, Appendix VIII,
Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Duke of Buccleugh
, 3 vols (1899–1926)

Buckingham – Robert D. Hume and Harold Love, eds,
Plays, Poems and Miscellaneous Writings Associated with George Villiers, Second Duke of Buckingham
, 2 vols (2007)

Burnet – M. J. Routh, ed.,
Burnet’s History of His Own Time
, 2 vols (1833)

Burnet,
Some Passages
– Gilbert Burnet,
Some Passages in the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester
, in John Jebb, ed.,
Bishop Burnet’s Lives, Characters and an Address to Posterity
(1833)

Burnet,
Supplement
– H. J. Foxcroft, ed.,
Supplement to Burnet’s History of My Own Time
(1902)

Cal. Clar. SP
– W. D. Macray and H.O. Coxe et al., eds,
Calendar of the Clarendon State Papers Preserved in the Bodleian Library
, 5 vols (1869–1932)

Carte – Thomas Carte,
History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde
, 3 vols (1736)

Carte MSS – Carte manuscripts, Bodleian Library

Cavendish,
Life
– Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle,
The Life of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle
, ed. C. H. Firth (1886)

Chandaman – C. K. Chandaman,
The English Public Revenue, 1660–1688
(1975)

Cibber –
An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber
, ed. B. R. S. Fone (1968)

CJ – The Journals of the House of Commons
, vol. 7 (1651–9); vol. 8 (1660–7); vol. 9 (1667–87)

Clar.
Life
– Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon,
The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon…in which is included a Continuation of his History of the Grand Rebellion
, 3 vols (1827)

Clar.
Hist.
– Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon,
The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England
, ed. W. D. Macray, 6 vols (1888)

Clay,
Fox
– Christopher Clay,
Public Finance and Private Wealth: the Career of Stephen Fox 1627–1716
(1978)

CSPD – Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series

CSPV
– Allen B. Hinds, ed.,
Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts
(1916–35)

CTP
– Joseph Redington, ed.,
Calendar of Treasury Papers 1556/7–1696
(1868)

Downes – John Downes,
Roscius Anglicanus
, ed. Montague Summers (1929, 1968)

Dryden,
Poems – Poems of John Dryden
, ed. Paul Hammond (1995)

Dryden,
Works
–
The Works of John Dryden
, ed. E. N. Hooker, H. T. Swedenberg Jr. and Vincent A. Dearing, 20 vols (1956–2000)

EHR
–
English Historical Review

Evelyn –
The Diary of John Evelyn
, ed. E. S. de Beer, 6 vols (1955)

Fanshawe – J. Loftis, ed.,
Diaries of Anne, Lady Halkett and Ann, Lady Fanshawe
(1979)

Fox – Frank Fox,
Great Ships: the Battlefleet of Charles II
(1980)

Fraser – Antonia Fraser,
Charles II
(1979)

Gazette – The London Gazette

Glassey – L. K. J. Glassey, ed.,
The Reigns of Charles II and James VII and II
(1997)

Grammont
– [Anthony Hamilton],
Memoirs of the Count de Grammont
, trans. Horace Walpole, with notes by Sir Walter Scott and others (1876 edn)

Greaves – Richard L. Greaves,
Deliver Us from Evil: The Radical Underground in Britain, 1660–1663
(1986)

Green – I. M. Green,
The Re-Establishment of the Church of England 1660–1663
(1978)

Grey,
Debates – Debates of the House of Commons from the year 1667 to the year 1694
, collected by…Anchitell Grey, 10 vols (1763)

Grove – Richard H. Grove,
Green Imperialism: colonial expansion, tropical island Edens, and the origins of environmentalism, 1600–1860
(1996)

Halifax,
Works
–
The Works of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax
, ed. Mark N. Brown, 3 vols (1989)

Hamilton,
Castlemaine
– Elizabeth Hamilton,
The Illustrious Lady: a Life of Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland
(1980)

Harris,
London Crowds
– Tim Harris,
London Crowds in the Reign of Charles II
(1999)

Harris,
Politics
– Tim Harris,
Politics under the Later Stuarts: Party Conflict in a Divided Society 1660–1715
(1993)

Harris,
Restoration
– Tim Harris,
Restoration: Charles II and His Kingdoms, 1660–1685
(2005)

Harris,
Sandwich
– F. R. Harris,
The Life of Edward Montagu, K.G., First Earl of Sandwich (1675–1672)
, 2 vols (1912)

Harris, Seaward and Goldie – Tim Harris, Paul Seaward and Mark Goldie, eds,
The Politics of Religion in Restoration England
(1999)

Hartmann,
Madame
– C. H. Hartmann,
Charles II and Madame
(1934)

Hartmann,
King My Brother
– C. H. Hartmann,
The King My Brother
(1954)

Hastings MSS – HMC
Report on the Manuscripts of the late Reginald Rawdon Hastings Esq.
, 4 vols (1928–47)

Hatton Corr
. –
Correspondence of the Family of Hatton being Chiefly addressed to Christopher, Viscount Hatton AD 1601–1704
, ed. Edward Maunde Thompson, 2 vols CS NS 22, 23 (1878)

History of the Book
– John Barnard and D. F. Mackenzie, ed.,
The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain
, vol. 4 (2004)

HJ
–
The Historical Journal
HMC Ormonde –
HMC 14th Report, Appendix Part VII
, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Ormonde, 7 vols (1895–1920)

Hobbes,
Leviathan
– Thomas Hobbes,
Leviathan
(1651) ed. C. B. Macpherson (1968 edn)

Holmes – Geoffrey Holmes,
The Making of a Great Power, 1660–1722
(1993)

Houston and Pincus – Alan Houston and Steve Pincus, eds,
A Nation Transformed: England after the Restoration
(2001)

Howe – Elizabeth Howe,
The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660–1700
(1992)

Hunter,
New Science
– Michael Hunter,
Establishing the New Science
(1989)

Hutton,
CII
– Ronald Hutton,
Charles II: King of England, Ireland and Scotland
(1989)

Hutton,
Restoration
– Ronald Hutton,
The Restoration
(1985)

Intelligencer
–
The Kingdome’s Intelligencer

Jackson,
Scotland
– Clare Jackson,
Restoration Scotland, 1660–1689
(1997)

Jardine,
Going Dutch
– Lisa Jardine,
Going Dutch: How England plundered Holland’s Glory
(2008)

Jardine,
Hooke
– Lisa Jardine,
The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
(2003)

Jardine,
Wren
– Lisa Jardine,
On a Grander Scale: the Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren
(2002)

Jones,
CII
– J. R. Jones,
Charles II: Royal Politician
(1987)

Josselin –
The Diaries of Ralph Josselin 1616–83
, ed. Alan Macfarlane (1967)

Jusserand – J. J. Jusserand,
A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles the Second
(1892)

Keay – Anna Keay,
The Magnificent Monarch: Charles II and the Ceremonies of Power
(2008)

Keeble,
Restoration
– N. H. Keeble,
The Restoration: England in the 1660s
(2002)

Keeble,
Literary Culture
– N. H. Keeble,
The Literary Culture of Nonconformity in Later Seventeenth-Century England
(1987)

Kenyon – J. P. Kenyon,
The Stuart Constitution 1603–1688: documents and commentary
(1986)

King’s Works
– Howard Colvin, ed.,
The History of the King’s Works
, 6 vols (1963–82)

Kishlansky – Mark Kishlansky,
A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603–1714
(1996)

Lansdowne,
Works
–
The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose of the Right Honourable George Granville, Lord Lansdowne
, 2 vols (1736)

Lauderdale Papers
– Osmund Airey, ed.,
The Lauderdale Papers
, CS 34, 36, 38 (1884–5)

Le Fleming – HMC
12th Report
, Appendix VII,
The Manuscripts of S. H. Le Fleming Esq. of Rydal Hall
(1890)

Letters
– A. Bryant, ed.,
The Letters, Speeches and Declarations of King Charles II
(1935)

Leviathan and the Air-pump
– Stephen Shapin and Simon Schaffer,
Leviathan and the Air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle and the Experimental Life
(1985)

Lister – T. J. Lister,
Life and Administration of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon
, 3 vols (1888)

LJ – Journals of the House of Lords
, vol. 11 (1660–6); vol. 12 (1666–75)

Ludlow,
Voyce
– Edmund Ludlow,
A Voyce from the Watchtower
Part V,
1660–1662
, ed. A. B. Worden, CS 4th series, 21 (1978)

Maclean – Gerald Maclean,
Culture and Society in the Stuart Restoration
(1995)

Macray – W. D. Macray, ed.,
Notes Which Passed at Meetings of the Privy Council
(1896)

Magalotti – W. E. Knowles Middleton, trans. and ed.,
Lorenzo Magalotti at the Court of Charles II: his ‘Relazione d’Inghilterra’ of 1688
(1980)

Magalotti,
Travels
– Count Lorenzo Magalotti,
Travels of Cosmo the Third Grand Duke of Tuscany through England
(1669; 1821 edn)

Margoliouth – H. M. Margoliouth, ed.,
Poems and Letters of Andrew Marvell
, 2 vols (3rd edn. rev. 1971)

Marshall,
Faction
– Alan Marshall,
The Age of Faction: Court Politics 1660–1702
(1999)

Marshall,
Hamilton
– Rosalind K. Marshall,
The Days of Duchess Anne: Life in the Household of the Duchess of Hamilton, 1656–1716
(1973)

Marshall,
Intelligence
– Alan Marshall,
Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II
, 1660–85 (2003)

McClain,
Beaufort
– Molly McClain,
Beaufort: the Duke and His Duchess, 1657–1715
(2001)

McKeon,
Domesticity
– Michael McKeon,
The Secret History of Domesticity
(2007)