THE FIRST DUKE 



made of "his Majestie's great wisdome in settling us 

 under your Grace's Lieutenancy, who to all the em- 

 bellishments of art and nature has the occasion of 

 that which is the best Ornament man is capable of — 

 I mean Loialty and Affection to the King." At one 

 place the chronicler notes that the streets through 

 which the Lord President and his retinue passed 

 "were strewed with Flowers and sweet herbs by the 

 loyall and well-minded people," and at each step of 

 his journey the inhabitants vied with each other 

 to do honour to their ruler, till at his own house 

 at Troy the progress came to an end, and the 

 Duke, before setting out for Badminton, once more 

 expressed himself as being " extreamly satisfyed " 

 with the good order and loyalty he had found to 

 be existing throughout the Principality. 



With all his love for state, however, the Duke 

 was at heart a frugal and economical person. This 

 is shown by the mode of life practised by himself 

 and his large household at Badminton. In the 

 Lives of the Norths is an account of a visit paid by 

 Lord Keeper Guilford to the master of Badminton, 

 who was his connection by marriage. In this we 

 have an interesting sketch of manners which even 

 then were rather old-fashioned, and savoured of a 

 simplicity and frugality that were rapidly passing 

 away. This picture of the life at Badminton is the 

 first of a series. Each of these gives an interesting 

 presentment of the manners and customs at different 

 stages of the Somerset family history. 



55 



