was to be largely increased, and Somerset was to sign an undertaking to abandon his family name in favour of that of Percy. To the former proviso the Duke consented readily enough; he had understood that he must follow the example of Mr. Thynn and the relatives of Lord Ogle, in purchasing Lady Northumberland's acquiescence. But the change of name was another matter altogether; and it was only with the gravest reluctance (and a determination to evade the fulfilment of his promise if possible)1 that he finally surrendered upon this head. The Dowager then set herself to persuade Lady Ogle into a third marriage; and here, by dint of alternate threats and reasoning, this indomitable woman once more attained her object. The Duke was again invited to Petworth, where the wedding took place on August 30, 1682.

Characteristics, and

life of the

Duke and
Duchess.

Before proceeding with the story of their careers, a few words on the personal appearance and characters of the young couple may not be amiss. Elizabeth, Baroness Percy and Duchess of Somerset, had early married inherited a considerable share of the good looks which distinguished both her parents, but she was never regarded as a "beauty," as her mother had been. Her hair, as Swift with persistent venom took care to inform the world, was red-a trait inherited from the "Wizard Earl," her great-grandfather; and she was foolishly sensitive upon that score. In person she was of good height, inclining towards the end of her life to stoutness. The best picture of her, when young, is supposed to be the unfinished one by Sir Peter Lely, painted just after her marriage to Lord Ogle. 1 He did in the end compel his wife to free him from the agreement by a special deed.

2

2 One of Lely's earliest English portraits had been that of Josceline, eleventh Earl of Northumberland, as a little boy. His last effort was the picture, above alluded to, of Josceline's daughter. It is said that while engaged upon this work "the pencil dropped from his hand, and a fit of apoplexy closed the career of the great painter for ever. He died the same day.” Lady Ogle's enemies numbered Lely among the many victims of that "ill luck" which was supposed to fall upon all connected with her.

Her mental powers were admitted, by friends and foes alike, to be far above the average. Lord Dartmouth called her "the best bred, as well as the best born woman in England;"1 and Lady Strafford was of opinion that "if her Duke had thought her what all the world would think, capable of advising him, matters would not be as they are."?

As for Somerset, his amazing pride was as yet kept within limits, and had not attained (as it afterwards did) the proportions of a disease. Lord Stanhope, in his History of England, sums up the Duke's character at this period as that of "a well-meaning man, but of shy and proud habits, and slender understanding." Dartmouth goes much further, when he declares that Somerset "always acted more by humour than by reason. He was a man of vast pride, and, having a very low education, showed it in a very indecent manner. His high title came to him by one man's misfortune, and his great estate by another's; for he was born to neither, but elated both to a ridiculousness." Mackey's description, written in 1702, is more flattering: "The Duke of Somerset was of a middle stature, well shaped, a very black complexion; a lover of music and poetry; of good judgment" (to this Swift appended the sweeping comment not a grain!"), "but by reason of a great hesitation in his speech, wants expression." All these, with the exception of Swift's interpolation, are the opinions of the Duke's friends and associates. What his opponents, the followers of Bolingbroke and Ormonde, said of him need not be quoted here.

When, for the third time, Elizabeth Percy stripped the lacs d'amour from about her escutcheon, she had the good sense to remain for some time in the seclusion 1 Burnet; History of His Own Times.

Strafford Papers, 2nd series, June 1714.

3 Stanhope, vol. i. p. 84.

• The assassination of his brother by Botti.

The murder of Tom Thynn.

Lord Dartmouth, in Burnet's History, vol. iv. p. 13.

of Petworth, before taking her place at Court. Her first child, Algernon, was born in 1683, when she was little over sixteen, and only lived a few months. Next year she gave birth to twins, one of whom (a daughter) died in infancy, while the other was Algernon, Earl of Hertford, afterwards heir to the united honours of Percy and Seymour. It is curious to note, from the baptismal entries of these children in the Petworth registers, how Somerset endeavoured to evade the condition which bound him to use, on behalf of himself and his offspring, the name of Percy. His wife was not yet legally of age, and could not therefore absolve him from his pledge; while, if he allowed his sons and daughters to be christened under their paternal surname, the Dowager Countess had it in her power to set aside the marriage settlements. As he had a wholesome fear of Earl Algernon's widow, he adopted the expedient of entering no surname at all; so that the children born prior to 1688 were described in the register as "the Lord Algernon," "the Lady Catherine," and so forth. The Duchess attained her majority on January 26, 1688, and exactly four days afterwards she executed the deed which "released him from the obligation to assume her family name." Thereafter all his children were baptized as Seymours; and whereas the baptismal register of 1687 makes mention of "the Lord Edward" simply, we read that on May 27, 1689, "Lord Edward Seymour was "buried in linen."1

The Duke himself did not come of age until the year after his marriage; when he at once accepted the post of Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles II. As a reward for having taken no part in the Rye House Conspiracy (which caused the deaths of no less than three of his wife's kindred 2) he was, on April 8, 1684, installed

1 Registers of Petworth.

2 Algernon Sidney, first cousin of the Duchess, was beheaded; as was Lord William Russell, her uncle by marriage. Another uncle, the Earl of Essex, committed suicide in the Tower; and even the traitorous Lord Howard of Escrick,