France with all speed. To the great astonishment of the Marshal, these supposed evil tidings were received by his brother with every token of unfeigned joy, and De Grammont at once promised to obey his Majesty's command, provided he were allowed to delay his departure for a few days, that he might call in certain funds belonging to him which were invested in French securities. The King was pleased to grant this request for delay very readily, on condition that De Grammont did not actually remain in the city of Paris itself. The Count, accordingly, took up his temporary abode at Vaugirard. In that place De Grammont attracted great attention by making a solemn public distribution of bread to the poor, which attracted crowds of people from Paris, and made the Count's name famous in the city. Having at length obtained payment of the moneys for which he waited, and concluded all the other business which had caused him to visit France, De Grammont set out on his return to England and his lady-love. Arriving in London in three days' time, the Count was warmly welcomed by the King and Court. The Duke of Monmouth, who, as is well known, was a son of Charles II., made his first appearance at his father's Court about this time. De Grammont thus describes the ill-fated Duke: "The make and outward graces of his person are such that nature scarce ever formed anything more accomplished. His face, though extremely beautiful, was yet a manly face, without anything of softness or effeminacy in it. He had a marvellous disposition for all manner of exercises, an air of greatness, and yet an inviting, affable look. In short, he had all the advantages of the body, but wanted most of those of the mind. Everybody's eyes were at first dazzled by his bright form, which drowned all men at Court, and made all the beauties his conquests. He was the greatest delight of his Royal father." Before very long the Duke was married to an heiress of ten thousand pounds a year in Scotland, "whose person," says De Grammont, "was full of charms, while her wit had all that the handsome Monmouth wanted." The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and took place under the special patronage and with the full sanction of the King. Shortly after this event, however, the good-natured and easy-going Charles II. began to be somewhat peevish in temper, and the English Court consequently not so desirable a location for young gallants of the De Grammont type. An epidemic of marriage accordingly set in, and De Grammont, following the general example, entered happily into the bonds of matrimony with Mistress Hamilton. At this point the Memoirs of the Count de Grammont come to a somewhat abrupt conclusion. The volume concludes with a promise that "how love affairs were managed at the English Court after these matches shall be faithfully related in the second volume of these Memoirs"; but, as already indicated, the sale of the Memoirs was strictly prohibited, and all copies of the work known to be in existence were condemned to destruction. Fortunately such a faithful picture of the Court life of the period was not destined to complete destruction, and many of the copies which had got into circulation escaped the fate intended for them. A. J. GORDON. 389 F A ROYAL FORTRESS. EW boroughs in the provinces are so rich in historic associations as the ancient town of Pontefract. Historians have differed as much respecting the name as the origin of the place. That it was a burgh in the time of Edward the Confessor is certain from evidence the most decisive, but how long it enjoyed this privilege anterior to this period is uncertain. Hume conjectured that it derived its name from the fertility of its soil and the excellent produce of its orchards. From poma fero he would make Pomfrete. This etymon would not be improbable if this orthography was established, but it is wholly inadmissible when it is considered that in all the Latin charters it is written Pontfractus, and not Pomfrete. Thomas de Castleford, who was bred a Benedictine monk, and who wrote the history of this place, accounts for its name from the following miracle. William, Archbishop of York, and son of the sister of King Stephen, being on his return from Rome, was met by such crowds of people, who were desirous to see him and receive his blessing, that a wood bridge over the river Aire, three miles from this town, gave way and broke down, by which accident vast numbers fell into the river. The bishop, who had been invested with the pall, and who was deemed to have an interest equally as great in the court of heaven as in the Vatican, affected at the danger of so many persons, poured out his prayers with such fervour and success that not one perished. Whether this miracle consisted in dividing the stream or in rendering the gross bodies of those who fell in specifically lighter than the fluid we are not informed. However, to perpetuate so striking and so signal a miracle, the pious Normans, says Thomas, gave the name of Pontefract, or Broken-bridge, to this place. The metropolis of the county, York, contends with Pontefract for the honour of the miracle. Drake maintains that the bridge over the Ouse fell in, and that it was there the miracle was wrought. It must be acknowledged that there is stronger proof of its belonging to York than to Pontefract, as Gent describes a representation of it painted in a window of a church near to which it happened. VOL. CCLXXX. NO. 1984. DD What wholly destroys the credit of the legend is that this town of Pontefract was called such half a century before Sir William was made Archbishop of York. In the charters granted by Robert de Lacy, commonly called Robert de Pontefract, to the monks of St. John the Evangelist it is styled both Kirkby and Pontfract. The words are, "De dominio suo de Kirkby, et Deo et Sancto Johanni et Monachis meis de Pontfract." Other historians assert that the name is derived from the decay of an old bridge which had been formerly built over an aqueous and marshy place, near to which the old town principally stood. Camden says, "Saxonicis temporibus Kirkby vocabatur, sed Normanni, a fracto Ponte, Gallice Pontfract nominarunt." It was customary with the Normans to call their towns and villages after the names of bridges, and this might induce them to do so in England; but as there is not a river within two miles of this place, and before the drains were made the wash here was not only supplied from the high springs, but frequently heightened by excessive rains, it must consequently have been here that the said bridge was built and came to decay, which gave the present appellation to this ancient borough. The castle is supposed to be of Saxon origin, and the site of it is perfectly agreeable to their mode of fortification. While the Romans formed their camps on a plain, or on the level ground, and defended them by a foss and a vallum, the Saxons raised the area of their camps and castles, if the ground was level, or selected hills as places best adapted for defence and security. The elevated rock on which the castle is built stands wholly insulated; its sides, steep and craggy, form one of those appearances which indicate some great convulsion of nature by which rocks have been rent asunder and the various strata of earth washed away. A site like this without much trouble or expense might soon be converted into a keep, or castle, and it is not probable that the Saxons would neglect it during the period of their dominion. In support of this opinion, since the demolition of the castle it has been found that the keep of the great round tower stood upon a raised hill of stiff, hard clay, of which material the Saxons usually made their keeps. After the Conquest, Ilbert de Lacy having received a grant of the place, and in the tenth of William all his vast possessions being confirmed to him, he soon after began to erect the castle. This noble structure cost immense expense and labour, and no one, unless in possession of a princely revenue, could have completed it. This formidable fortress and magnificent palace was carried forward for the space of twelve years with unremitting attention, and in the year 1080 was finished. Ilbert de Lacy called the name of the town Pontfrete, because the situation of the place, as he conceived, resembled his native town in Normandy. The north-west prospect takes in the beautiful vale along which flows the Aire, skirted on each side with woods and plantations, and ornamented with several elegant and beautiful seats. It is bounded only by the hills of Craven. The north and north-east prospect is more extensive, and the scenery not equally striking and impressive. It presents little more than a view of farmhouses and villages, and any bolder features of a fine landscape are wanting. The twin towers of York Minster are distinctly seen, and the prospect is only bounded by the limits of vision. The east view is equally extensive and more pleasing, while the eye follows the course of the Aire towards the Humber, the fertility of the country, the spires of several old churches, and two considerable hills, Brayton Barf and Hambleton Haugh, where tradition says two witches raised both hills by pelting each other with sand till both were entombed. The south-east view, which takes in a part of the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham, though extensive, has nothing deserving of notice. The south and south-west prospect comprises a rich variety of grand and sublime objects. The towering hills of Derbyshire, stretching towards Lancashire, form the horizon, while the foreground is enlivened by a view of gentlemen's seats and a picturesque country. Henry de Lacy was the last and greatest man of his line. He married Margaret, daughter and sole heiress of William Longespe, son of the Earl of Salisbury. By her he had two sons, Edmund and John. It is said that Edmund was drowned in a well at Denbigh Castle, and that John, when young, running hastily upon a turret in Pontefract Castle, fell down and was killed. In the twentieth of Edward I., Henry, having been long married, and not having any male issue, rendered up his castle and barony of Pontefract, with all the manors, hamlets, and other rights thereunto belonging, into the King's hands; but conditionally, it seems, for that monarch, by his charter dated at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, December 28, in the twenty-first of Edward I., regranted the castle and honour of Pontefract unto the said Henry de Lacy and the heirs of his body, with remainder to his royal brother, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and the heirs of his body, and for the want of such issue to the King and his heirs. In the twenty-eighth of Edward I., Queen Margaret resided at the Castle of Pontefract while the King was engaged in an expedition,f to Scotland. Several of the nobility who attended her, fond of th to |