the king sitting and toying with his concubines, Portsmouth, Cleveland, Mazarine, etc., a French boy singing love songs in that glorious gallery, whilst about twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute persons were at basset round a large table, a bank of at least 2000 l. in gold before them, upon which two gentlemen who were with me made reflections in astonishment. Six days after all was in the dust!" It was in a reign whose beginning and close were thus marked that Mrs. Godolphin lived, and at the court of such a monarch that she passed seven years of her life.

In 1665, when the great plague depopulated London, she accompanied her mother on a visit to her father's relations in Suffolk; and upon her return she entered the service of the Duchess of York, and, as we have before stated, was subsequently attached to the Queen's person. The following extracts from her Diary, written when she was still very young, will show how worthily she strove to live in the midst of the vices of the most profligate of courts.

"I must, till Lent, rise att halfe an houre after eight a clock; whilst putting on morning cloathes, say the prayer for Death and the Te Deum: then presently to my prayers, and soe either dress my selfe or goe to Church prayers. In dressing, I must consider how little it signifyes to the saveing of my soule, and how foolish 'tis to be angry about a thing so unnecessary. Consider what our Saviour suffered. - O Lord, assist me.

"When I goe into the withdrawing roome, lett me consider what my calling is to entertaine the Ladys, not to talke foolishly to Men, more especially the King; lett me consider, if a Traytor be hatefull, she that betrayes the soule of one is much worse; the danger, the sin of it. Then without pretending to witt, how quiet and pleasant a thing it is to be silent, or if I doe speake, that it be to the Glory of God. - Lord, assist me.

"Att Church lett me mind in what place I am; what about to ask, even the salvation of my soule; to whome I speak, to the God that made me, redeemed and sanctifyed me, and can yett cutt me off when he pleases. O Lord, assist me.".

-P. 10.

"Be sure still to read that for the drawing roome in the privy chamber, or presence, or other place before prayers, and soe againe into the drawing room for an hour or soe; and then slipp to my chamber and divert myself in reading some pretty booke, because the Queene does not require my waiteing; after this to supper, which must not be much if I have dyned well; and att neither meale to cate above two dishes, because temperance is

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best both for soule and body; then goe upp to the Queen, haveing before read, and well thought of what you have written. Amen.

"Sett not up above halfe an hour after eleaven att most; and as you undress, repeate that prayer againe; butt before, consider that you are perhapps goeing to sleepe your last; being in bedd repeate your hymne softly, ere you turne to sleepe.” p. 11.

"In the morning, wakeing, use a short devotion and then as soone as ever you awake, rise immediately to praise him. The Lord assist me.". p. 12.

"I have vowed, if it be possible, not to sett upp past ten o'clock; therefore, before you engage in company, goe downe and read this, and be as much alone as you can; and when you are abroad talke to men as little as may be carry your prayer booke in your pockett, or any thing that may decently keepe you from converseing with men. pp. 13, 14.

It should be borne in mind that these rules of her daily life were written at least four years after that noticeable walk which Mr. Pepys took with his wife in Whitehall garden in the spring of 1662. The morals of the court had in no wise improved since that worthy gentleman recorded what he saw and heard during his walk. "There was but little in those days to do any body good," says a sturdy thinker in our own time; and it was well that Mrs. Godolphin cherished such rules to govern her life in the midst of a court where she was, of necessity, brought into frequent communication with such men as Rochester and Buckingham, to say nothing of the royal brothers, -and such women as Castlemaine, Shrewsbury, and Miss Stewart. It was by her constant habit of prayer, joined with a deep conviction of the utter worthlessness of the courtiers, that she was enabled to preserve the purity and integrity of her character in those days of the grossest immorality. In this habit of prayer she persevered from her childhood until her death.

At length, but some time after Sir John Coventry's bold speech in Parliament, she became disgusted with the follies. and vices of the court, and sought to withdraw to scenes better suited to her tastes. Mr. Evelyn relates that

"She had frequently told me, that Seaven yeares was enough and too much, to trifle any longer there: and, accordingly, one day that I least dream't of it, she came expressly to my lodgeing

and acquainted me with her Intention to goe [and] live att Berkeley House, and that if she did alter her condition by Marriage, it should be when she was perfectly free, and had essayed how her detachment from Royall servitude would comport with her before she determin'd concerning another change. I happen'd to be with her in the Queens withdrawing roome, when a day or two after, finding her oppertunity, and that there was less company, she begg'd leave of their Majestyes to retire; never shall I forgett the humble and becomeing address she made, nor the Joy that discover'd its selfe in this Angells countenance, above any thing I had ever observed of transport in her, when she had ob tained her suite; for, I must tell you, Madam, she had made some attempts before without success, which gave her much anxietie. Their Majesties were both vnwilling to part with such a Jewell." - p. 31.

She remained in the society of her friends at Berkeley House and at Twickenham Park, the country-seat of Lord Berkeley, for a considerable length of time. In December, 1674, she made her last appearance at court, and sustained the part of Diana in "Calisto, or the Chaste Nymph," which was acted before the court in that month. Among the other principal performers were Lady Henrietta Wentworth, best known from her connection with the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, Miss Jennings, afterwards married to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the two daughters of the Duke of York, both of whom subsequently sat on the throne of England. She seems to have been quite unwilling to take a part in the performance, and to have been in great distress of mind during the whole time, so indisposed was she to return to those scenes of pompous vice.

In the following spring she was privately married to Sidney Godolphin, who was afterwards Lord High Treasurer under Queen Anne, after a reciprocal attachment which had lasted unimpaired for nine years. The marriage was not acknowledged until about a year after, upon her return from France, whither she accompanied Lady Berkeley, when that lady's husband was appointed ambassador to the court of Louis the Fourteenth. Mr. Godolphin remained in England. Mrs. Godolphin had been in France once before, previously to the Restoration, "though I remember not on what occasion," says Mr. Evelyn.* During this visit, she seems to have remained in great seclusion. Mr. Evelyn says: —

*This admission is worthy of notice, as it confirms a remark we have made on a previous page.

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"And tho' the Report of such a Beauty and Witt had soe forerun her arrivall, by some who had known her in the Circle att Court, that the French King was desireous to see her in that att Saint Germans; yett she soe order'd matters as to avoid all occasions of goeing thither, and came back to England without giveing that great Monarch the satisfaction of one Glaunce, or her selfe of the Splendor or Vanity of his Court; which is so singu lar a Note in her sex, and of one naturally soe curious and observeing, that I cannot pass it over without a just remarke, especially being a Lady soe infinitely compleasant, and of a nature soe obligeing, Mistress alsoe of the French Tongue to such perfection, as rendered her capable of entertaining Persons of the highest quality, nor was this reservdness out of humour or singu larity." p. 64.

The accuracy of Mr. Evelyn's last remark admits of some doubt, as we may show before we conclude this article. While in Paris, she wrote the following letter to Mr. Evelyn, whose son had been sent to France under her charge.

"My Friend, I promised you an Account of our Journey hither; there was nothing in it of exterordnary, no ill accident, nothing like Pintos Travells. Since I came to Paris, I have hardly been out of doores to visit any body, butt there has been a Preist to visitt me; butt without Vanity I think I said as much for my Opinion as he did for his. I am now reading Mounsieur Clauds Defence de la Reformation, and like it most exceedingly; soe as you need have noe fear of me on that side. God knows, the more one sees of their Church, the more one finds to dislike in itt; I did not imagine the tenth part of the Superstition I find in it, yett still could approve of their Orders. Their Nunneryes seem to be holy Institutions, if they are abused 'tis not their fault: what is not perverted? Marriage itt selfe is become a snare, and People seem to dispose of their Children young, lest the remedy increase the dissease: butt when I have commended that baile of theirs, I have said for them, I think, all that reasonably can be said. One thing I must tell you, Friend, People can have the Spleens here in Paris, lett them say what they will of the Aire; butt if Arithmetick will cure itt, I am goeing with my Charge, your Son, to be a very hard Student, and wee intend to be very wise."— p. 65.

She did not long remain where she found so little that interested her, and returned to England. Her marriage was soon after acknowledged, and she lived happily with her husband in the quiet practice of the Christian virtues until her

death, which happened a little more than two years after. About the time that the citizens of London were beginning to talk of the pretended discovery of the Popish Plot, — on the ninth of September, 1678, this excellent woman died, at the early age of twenty-six, leaving one son, Francis Godolphin, who married the eldest daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. Mrs. Godolphin was born at the period of England's highest glory; she died at the period of England's deepest shame; but through all those changes she preserved a character of remarkable purity. Thus far we have spoken only of her virtues; it is proper now to speak of her defects, and to endeavour to discover their causes, that others may draw a profitable lesson from her life.

Owing to the very imperfect manner in which both Mr. Evelyn and his editor have performed their duties, it is exceedingly difficult to form a clear idea of her character in all its parts. We believe, however, that a careful examination of the volume before us will enable us to form a pretty correct judgment of the principal features of her moral and intellectual constitution. Mr. Evelyn thus sums up his view of her character:

"Never was there a more unspotted virgin, a more loyall wife, a more sincere friend, a more consummate Christian; add to this, a florid youth, an exquisite and naturall beauty, and gracefullness the most becomeing. Nor was she to be disguised: there was nothing more quick and peircing than her apprehension, nothing more faithfull than her memory, more solid and mature than her Judgment, insomuch as I have heard her husband affirm to me (whose discernment all that have the honour to know him will allow to be exterordinary) that even in the greatest difficultyes and occasions, he has both asked and preferred her advice with continuall success, and with those solid parts she had all the advantages of a most sparkling witt, a naturall Eloquence, a gentle and agreeable tone of voice, and a charming accent when she spake, whilst the Charmes of her countenance were made up of the greatest Innocence, modesty, and goodness Imaginable, agreeable to the Composure of her thoughts, and the union of a thousand perfections: add to all this, she was Just, Invincible, secrett, ingeniously sinceere, faithfull in her promises, and to a Miracle, temperate, and mistress of her passions and resolutions, and soe well had she imployed her spann of tyme, that as oft as I consider how much she knew, and writt, and did, I am plainly astonished, and blush even for my selfe. O how delightfull entertaining was this Lady, how grave her discourse, how unlike the con-