207 CHAPTER XI. HOLLAND HOUSE. Henry Rich, first Earl of Holland-His executionSir John Chardin, the Oriental traveller-William Penn, the Quaker-Addison the poet-his death at Holland House. HOLLAND HOUSE is the chief glory of Kenna's kingdom; yet it possesses so marked an individuality of its own, that we might at first feel inclined to fancy we had over-strayed the boundaries of that kingdom altogether. It is like some lofty mountain height, standing so much apart from the main group as to seem more like a detached summit than what it really is the highest peak of the range. The only other building in Kenna's kingdom, which at all approaches Holland House in point of historical interest, is the Palace, and the palace falls short-very far short-of it, in the freshness and pleasantness of its memories. Holland House will lead us not into what is usually considered the historic main road, as the Palace did; yet we shall fare none the worse for having as companions, authors and statesmen, instead of kings and queens, for spending our time with the nation rather than with the court. The celebrities of Holland House demand more critical consideration than most of those whom we have as yet met in our rambles, and we shall not hesitate to adopt a somewhat graver style befitting better our new companions. Let us then, as privileged ramblers, pass through the iron gates which face Kensington High Road, along the avenue of lofty elms, and when arrived in front of the house, pause to take a mental survey of our forthcoming excursion. At first we may experience some little surprise and some confusion at the number of persons whom the enchanter's wand, Memory, calls before us. Moneylenders of the reign of James the First, gallants of the time of the two Charles', travellers, quakers, seventeenth century players, roundheads, and cavaliers, Puritans and Presbyterians, painters, wits, authors, men of science, men of letters, lawyers, poets, and statesmen. Take for instance the names of those who are intimately associated with one apartment alone, the library. Machiavelli, Addison, Lope de Vega, Madame de Sévigné, Locke, Franklin, the Empress Catherine, Robespierre. The various ages, opinions and anecdotes which such groups of names suggest, may at first sight appear incongruous, but if we throw these nominal masses into our minds, and allow a few days for the mental threshing machine to perform its duty, we shall be surprised to find how the whole jumble has classified and arranged itself, and now appears to represent a natural sequence of events. This sequence does not commence until the seventeeth century, for we do not believe Holland House has much association with the nameless traditionary mansion of the De Veres, of which some traces are said to be still extant in Holland Park. It owes it origin to one of the money-lenders of James the First's reign—Sir Walter Cope. The builder was one John Thorpe, as is mentioned in the docket of a plan of the house, preserved by Walpole, which runs, "Sir Walter Coape's, at Kensington, erected by I. T."; but the house was afterwards altered and added to by Inigo Jones and Stone. It was commenced in 1607. Sir Walter was, no doubt owing to certain pecuniary transactions, in good favour with the Court. He was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the King. The old money-lender's daughter Isabella, must have been considered a catch at the time, for we are told that the Earl of Carlisle, the all-powerful favourite of the king, "preferred " his greatest friend, the Earl of Holland, to her hand. "By this marriage," says Clarendon, "the Earl became possessed of a good fortune, and, amongst other things, the manor and seat of Kensington, of which he was shortly made baron." Henry Rich, first Baron Kensington, then, is the first well-defined figure which has Holland House for its background. His career is an interesting one. He was typical of a class of men not uncommon in the days of the Civil Wars, and by no means extinct. The earl was younger son of the noble house of Rich; In his youth he had served as a volunteer in the war in Holland. The favours, however, which his handsome mien, his winning ways, and fluent tongue, procured him from the king were, joined with his wife's portion, sufficiently substantial to enable him to abandon the life of a soldier for that of a courtier. His new occupation suited him well. He was rapidly advanced to the earldom of Holland, made Captain of the Guard, Knight of the Order, and of the Privy Council, while the fact of his having been the Ambas-. sador chosen to treat concerning the King's marriage, had procured him the good opinion of the Queen. So long as the nation remained quiet he was distinguished principally by his readiness to carry out the unconstitutional measures of Charles for his own profit; yet, when the volcano of rebellion burst forth, he gave but a half-hearted support to his royal master, intriguing with the Parliament so as to be ready for whatever might happen. When the Covenanters encamped at Dunse in 1639, it was Holland who commanded of the royal forces sent to disperse them, and it was Holland who fled without striking a blow. The king made him General of the Forces, and the first use he made of his position was to send words of warning to the House of Commons, the king's adversaries. When at length Charles' standard was raised at Nottingham, in August, 1642, Holland was not among its defenders. But a year later he deserted |