The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-10-29

grave doubts as to being by the master; GER
tainIy it is not portrait of William, who was
always a sickly child.
Connected with King William is large
group of portraits, comprising some Of the
most famous names in Europe. No. 81 gives
one of them as "John, Duke of Marl-
borough" painted when he was young man,
and probably more admired for his beauty
than his genius. He has a smooth, fair,
handsome face with dark eyes that lie softly
under large and broad lids, round and bold
forehead, small full mouth, and cheeks with
an oval outline; altogether more like a carpet
knight than great cOnqueror, if it were not
for the impress Of resolution and energy, self
command and decision of intellect, which
distinguishes the face. Many excuses have
been made for his regeneration and
duplicity; of these the best that can be
made is that his consistency was with himself
in self.seeking. OF this characteristic one
fancies signs even in this handsome face
but neither there nor in that other like
ness (S7), by Kneller, is any mark of that ex-
traordinary parsimOny which Cropped out"
in the strangest way. Conceive such man,
when in the career of victory and debating
peace to France, writing thus to his Duchess:-
since the Queen (Anne) came to the crown,
have not had either a canopy or a chair of
state, which now of necessity | must have; so
the wardrobe should have immediate orders,
and beg you will take care to have it made
so that it may serve for part of a bed when l
have done with it here"
''Brimstone Sarah" was no inapt name for
the termagant but straight-dealing wife of this
thrifty conqueror-a lady who is amply repre-
| sented here by four portraits, all taken at
| about one period of her life, and by Kneller.
| One would like to see a picture of her later
| appearance, when her grandson Charles,
second Duke Of Marlborough 1886, compelled
| her to appear in a public court of instice in
order to the restitution of property she kept
| from him.
| Among this property was a sword set with
diamonds, which the Emperor gave to the first
| Duke in course of her examination she
averred that she had retained the weapon
'lest he should pick out the diamonds and
| pawn them" She kept up this indomitabe
spirit nearly to the last Thus wrote Wal
| pole to Mason:-"Old Marlborough is dying
but who can tell Last year she had lain a
great while i'll, without speaking; the ply
sicians said, She must be blistered, or she
| will die She called out, 4 won't be blistered,
and won't die If she takes the same re-
| solution now, don't believe she will," adds
the letter-writer December 10, 174l). She
kept her word, and lived three years longer.
| Countless stories are told of her violence and
insOlence. Among these is one which we be-
lieve refers to No. 80, representing her in the
| fulness of womanhood dressed loosely in
| white wrapper, her immense mass of long and
very fair hair dishevelled and hanging down
on one shoulder, from which it falls to her
| right hand.
Her features are swollen, eyelds red and
| heavy, and their expression is such as follows
storm of rage and tears. We believe this
portrait was taken by order of the Duke to
| commemorate one of the most outrageous of
her explosions, which is thus described:-
"Her features and air announced nothing that
haR 1..AI L. II.
| her beauty and temper, enslaved her heroic
| lord. One of her principal charms was pro-
| digious abundance of fine fair hair. One day
at her toilet, in anger to him, she cut off those
commanding tresses, and flung them in his
| face I" Pendent to this picture and evidently
| intended to contrast with it, is another (No.
| S9), one of the best and most pleasing of
Kneller's works. This shows her beauty to
| comprise a piquante, slightly turned-up
nose, bright deep-blue eyes, we'll
defined, fair eyebrows, and an exuberant
bust. Closterman painted her in a family
| picture, and whilst this was going on the
| artist and she quarrelled so incessantly that
the Duke declared to him, 'It has given me
more trouble to reconcile my wife and you
| than to fight battler." Another warriors
wife and duchess termagant of this period was
| Anne (born Clarges), Duchess of Albemarle,
| Monks wife, of whom, when her temper was
up, that General was dreadfully afraid. Au-
| prey tells us ''Sle was not al all udnuSOLne,
nor very cleanly." Her mother was one
| 'Of the fine women n-barbers
That dwelt in Drury Lane"
| OF her infammable Grace of Marlborough it
was tartly said by the Duke of Montagu,
when Churchill praised his water-works at
| Boughton, ''They are by no means COM
| parable to your Grace's fireworks" There
was another imperious Duchess of Marl-
Borough, whom Reynolds painted in that
famous family group, "The Marlborough
| Family" This lady had great reverence for
her carpets, and, while the President was at
work, took such offense at his furious snuff
taking, the waste of which strewed the floor,
that, losing patience, she at last bade SER
| want bring a broom and shovel to remove it.
Reynolds, who could be conveniently deafer
than usual, noticed nothing until the utensils
were produced, and then cried, ''Let it be, let
| it be; the dust will do more harm to my pic
ture than the snuff to the carpet" The house
wifely lady sat on thOrns until the sitting was
over, and never forgave Sir Joshua. Ter
magant Duchess Sarahs sister was
the Miss Jennings who married, first,
| George Hamilton, famous in Gram.
mont's Memoirs" and secondly, Richard
| Talbot, James the Seconds Duke of TYR
connel. This lady is well known on account
of her freak with Miss Price, when, disguised
as orange girls, they visited the rake Jermyn,
| and by other adventures of a questionable
sort. She died in 1903, a nun of the order Of
| Poor Clares, having fallen out of bed in
| bitter night of cold in her eighty-fOurth wear.
while her sister was still busily building at