294 The History of Longleat. 
In 1670 Sir James Thynne died, leaving no children; and the 
house, then ninety years old, came with the estates to his nephew, 
Thomas Thynne, Esq., commonly called by his familiars, from the 
presumed estimate of his annual value, “ Tom of Ten Thousand.” 
This gentleman resided at Longleat, and laid out a new road to 
Frome, planting trees and making a hard way, an unusual benefit 
in those days. Amongst other apartments in the house described 
as having been finished in his time, was a new dining-room ; and 
the “hospitable treats’’ given here by him have found a place in 
history which they will only lose whenever Dryden’s poetry ceases 
to be read. 
How Mr. Thynne’s hospitality came to be alluded to in so con- 
spicuous a poem as the celebrated political satire, called ‘ Absalom 
and Achitophel,”’ must now be explained, as it is connected with a 
very important chapter in the annals of this house. Under the 
names of Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden, as is well known, in- 
tended the Duke of Monmouth and Lord Shaftesbury, the leaders 
of the Protestant party, which, towards the end of the reign of 
Charles II., raised the feeling of the country against the succession 
of the King’s brother, James, Duke of York. The reason why 
Dryden selected those names is obvious, because the two characters 
in Scriptural History form a singular parallel to those of Mon- 
mouth and Shaftesbury; the one a favourite but rebellious son, 
who stole the hearts of Israel and stirred up rebellion against his 
father; the other a deep designing veteran statesman, who em- 
ployed the younger man as an instrument for purposes of his own. 
I ought, perhaps, to apologize for referring to a story so familiar as 
that of the unfortunate James Stuart, Duke of Monmouth, but 
without doing so for a few moments I could not properly set before 
you the precise occasion of his last visits to Longleat. 
The Duke was a very handsome, accomplished, and high-spirited 
young man, exceedingly popular, and utterly spoiled by the fond- 
ness of his father. King Charles loaded him with every kind of 
lucrative and honourable office; the natural result of all which, 
was, that his head was turned, and he fell into the snare of covet- 
ing the succession to the throne, from which, by irregularity of 
