Part 8 (2/2)

I am etc. etc.[66]

[ILl.u.s.tRATION: BRAMs.h.i.+LL HOUSE, FROM THE NORTH.]

We now begin to learn something of the boy's tastes. So early as 1604 when he is but ten years old, he is looked upon as a patron of letters.

Lord Spencer sends him a present of Philippe de Comines' Memoirs from Althorpe, knowing his liking for solid reading. And he is given Pibrac's Quatrains in French to learn by heart. He is already corresponding in Latin with the Doge of Venice, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Duke of Brunswick, the Prince of Poland, and his grandfather, the King of Denmark. Then a year or so later we come upon a charming series of French letters between the prince and Henri Quatre, the famous King of France, who had a strong affection for the clever, high-minded boy, and foresaw how important his influence would be in Europe should he live.

Prince Henry and the little Dauphin of France, afterward Louis the Thirteenth, were also warm friends, although they never met. When Monsieur de la Boderie came over to England as amba.s.sador from France, he was charged with special messages to Prince Henry from Henri Quatre and the Dauphin. The latter begged the amba.s.sador to tell the prince

that he cherished his friends.h.i.+p and often spoke of him and of the pack of little dogs which his Highness had sent him, and which he was very sorry that his Governess and Physician would not permit him to make use of.[67]

Poor little Dauphin! To have a pack of little dogs, and not be allowed to use them, must indeed have been hard. But he was not quite six years old then, so that perhaps he was a little young for field sports.

Prince Henry and his sister were both devoted to horses, and were bold and accomplished riders. When the Prince was hardly ten years old he wished ”to mount a horse of prodigious mettle,” and refusing the help of his attendants, who were greatly alarmed and tried to dissuade him from the attempt,

he got up himself from the side of a bank, and spurred the animal to a full gallop, in spite of the remonstrance of those who stood by; and at last having thoroughly exercised the horse, brought him in a gentle pace back, and dismounting, said to them, ”How long shall I continue to be a child in your opinion?”[68]

King Henri Quatre sent over a French riding-master to the boy, a Monsieur St. Anthoine, for in those days France excelled in the ”_manege_”--the elaborate art of horsemans.h.i.+p--which was a part of every fine gentleman's education. When the French amba.s.sador came over to England he went to the Riding School to see how Prince Henry was profited by his French teaching, and wrote to the French Secretary of State:

The Dauphin may make a return for the dogs lately sent him by the Prince; for St. Anthoine tells me, that he cannot gratify the Prince more, than by sending him a suit of armour well gilt and enamelled, together with pistols and a sword of the same kind; and if he will add to these a couple of horses, one of which goes well, and the other a barb, it will be a singular favor done to the Prince.[69]

The Spanish amba.s.sador, hearing of this present, instantly tried to curry favor with the boy by telling him that a number of horses were coming to him from the court of Spain--for young as he was, this wily statesman saw the important part the Prince might play in the fortunes of Europe.

But Henry was loyal in his friends.h.i.+p to France, and waited with great eagerness for the Dauphin's horses and armour, which speedily arrived.

Monsieur de la Boderie writing again to France about the Prince, says:

None of his pleasures savour the least of a child. He is a particular lover of horses and what belongs to them; but is not fond of hunting; and when he goes to it, it is rather for the pleasure of galloping, than that which the dogs give him. He plays willingly enough at Tennis. . . . . but this always with persons elder than himself, as if he despised those of his own age. He studies two hours a day, and employs the rest of his time in tossing the pike, or leaping, or shooting with the bow, or throwing the bar, or vaulting, or some other exercise of that kind; and he is never idle. He shows himself likewise very good natured to his dependants, and supports their interests against any persons whatever; and he pushes what he undertakes for them or others with such zeal as gives success to it. For beside his exerting his whole strength to compa.s.s what he desires, he is already feared by those who have the management of affairs, and especially the Earl of Salisbury, who appears to be greatly apprehensive of the Prince's ascendant; as the Prince, on the other hand, shows little esteem for his Lords.h.i.+p.[70]

Here we have a fair picture of this twelve-year-old boy who had already seen how to choose the good, and reject the evil. And everything we learn of him as he grew older only serves to confirm the French amba.s.sador's estimate of his character.

He was a fine, brave child, regardless of pain and danger; liking an old suit of Welsh freize, better than velvet and satin; obedient and dutiful to his parents, although he often disagreed with their opinions. And this was all the more creditable to him; for his mother openly showed her preference for his younger brother Charles; while his father was jealous and afraid of the n.o.ble-minded, truthful boy who would not countenance the scandals and evils of James's corrupt court.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] Now in the possession of Maurice Kingsley, Esq.

[59] Life of Henry, Prince of Wales. By Dr. Thomas Birch. p. 11.

[60] Birch. p. 16.

[61] Birch. p. 20. The letter is in the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum.

[62] Birch. p. 22.

[63] Harleian MSS.

[64] Edward Howe's Chronicle. p. 826.

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