242 ELIZABETH VILLIERS, COUNTESS OF ORKNEY. Daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, and the only Englishwoman selected by King William to be his mistress.-She is appointed at an early age Maid of Honour to Queen Mary.William settles on her the whole of James the Second's private estates in Ireland.-Grant revoked by Act of Parliament. Queen Mary's uneasiness at her husband's connexion with Miss Villiers.-The latter is married to the fifth son of the Duke of Hamilton.-Her husband created Earl of Orkney. The Countess's genius for political intrigue.-Swift's high opinion of her intellect.-Lady M. W. Montagu's description of her appearance.-The Countess entertains George the First at her seat at Clifden.-Specimen of her correspondence. Her death in 1733. THIS lady, who had the honour, if such it may be termed, of being the only Englishwoman selected by King William as his mistress, was the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, and sister of Edward Earl of Jersey. Her mother was Lady Frances Howard, daughter of Theophilus Earl of Suffolk. She obtained, at an early age, the appointment of Maid of Honour to Queen Mary, when Princess of Orange, in which capacity she seems to have lost no time in exciting the admiration of the Prince, and, as was the natural consequence, the jealousy and indignation of his consort. On the accession of William to the English throne, one of his first steps was to reward his mistress for the favours she had conferred on him; and accordingly he settled on her nearly the whole of King James's private estates in Ireland, valued at 25,000l. a year. To render this profligate grant the more remarkable, William entailed on it two rent-charges,-one of 2000l. a year, and the other of 1000l. a year,-which he conferred on two of King James's mistresses, Susan Lady Bellasyse and Arabella Churchill. whole affair, however, appeared so iniquitous, that the grants in question were subsequently revoked by an Act of Parliament, and the money was recovered for the use of the public. The The kindness which King William so publicly displayed towards his mistress appears to have been a considerable source of uneasiness to the Queen. We are assured in the "Account of the death of Queen Mary, by a Minister of State," that after her decease a letter was found in her strong box, addressed to the King, in which she affectionately urged him to discontinue the intercourse which she had so long bewailed. The appeal was rendered the more forcible, from its being enjoined, by the neglected wife, that the letter should on no account be delivered to the King till after her own death. In the month of November, 1695, about a year after the Queen's decease, the King united his mistress to Lord George, fifth son of the Duke of Hamilton, a man who had faithfully served under King William both in Ireland and Flanders, and who, after a long series of military services, had risen to be a Brigadier-General. Whether, in uniting himself to the discarded mistress of another man, Lord George was actuated by gratitude to his sovereign ;—whether he was hurried on by love, or influenced by the expectation of those honours which were afterwards conferred upon him,-it would now be useless to inquire. Certain it is, that on the 3rd of January, 1696, about five weeks after his marriage, he was created Earl of Orkney, with remainder to the heirs whatsoever of his body. Of the history of his married life we have no record. In the state intrigues of the period, Lady Orkney, on more than one occasion, performed a conspicuous part. We have already seen her forcing Keppel on the King's notice for the purpose of superseding the Earl of Portland in the royal affections; and in the "Shrewsbury Correspondence" will be found ample evidence of her disposition for political intrigue. King William seems to have entertained a favourable opinion of her abilities, since it was by his express desire, (when, in 1693, he was willing to reconcile himself with the Whigs,) that Lady Orkney opened. a negotiation with the Earl of Shrewsbury, with the object of inducing him to accept the office of Secretary of State.* That she was possessed of strong natural sense may be further argued from the compliment paid her by Harley, who frequently consulted her during the celebrated change of ministry in 1709. Swift also styles her "the wisest woman he ever knew," and when he bequeaths Lady Orkney's picture in his will, it is evident that he attached value to the original. Lord Lansdowne writes in his " Progress of Beauty," Villiers, for wisdom and deep judgment famed, The fact appears somewhat questionable whether Lady Orkney was ever possessed of the "victorious beauty" which Lord Lansdowne attributes to her: however, that her comeliness, if she was ever possessed of it, ceased at an early period of her life, there cannot be a doubt. Swift, while he pays the highest compliment to her mental qualities, admits that she was totally deficient in outward beauty, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in a letter describing the coronation of George the Second, draws a picture of her which is almost repulsive; the letter in question is too amusing to be omitted:-" I cannot deny," says the lively writer, "but that I was very well di * See the "Correspondence of the Duke of Shrewsbury with King William and the Whig party,” p. 19, et seq. verted on the coronation day. I saw the procession much at my ease, in a house which I filled with my own company, and then got into Westminster Hall without trouble, where it was very entertaining to observe the variety of airs that all meant the same thing. The business of every walker there was to conceal vanity and gain admiration. For these purposes some languished and others strutted; but a visible satisfaction was diffused over every countenance, as soon as the coronet was clapped on the head. But she that drew the greatest number of eyes was, indisputably, Lady Orkney. She exposed behind, a mixture of fat and wrinkles; and before, a very considerable protuberance which preceded her. Add to this, the inimitable roll of her eyes, and her grey hairs, which by good fortune stood directly upright, and 'tis impossible to imagine a more delightful spectacle. She had embellished all this with considerable magnificence, which made her look as big again as usual; and I should have thought her one of the largest things of God's making, if my Lady St. John had not displayed all her charms in honour of the day." The equivocal position of Lady Orkney at the court of King William, proved no bar to her being received at the courts of subsequent sovereigns. On the 6th of September, 1724, we find her entertaining George the First with great magnificence at her seat of Clifden, near Maidenhead; and |