hose tutelage was the vulgarity of the London streets, and her
training a barroom where she entertained the patrons by the sweetness
of her voice, courtesan though she became in the court of Charles II.,
yet numbered among her descendants Lord James Beauclerk, Bishop of
Hereford, who died in 1782. Nor was she associated with religion
merely in this remote way, for she herself, as patroness of Chelsea
Hospital, and promoter of many charities and the dispenser of private
benefactions, may reasonably claim consideration. In her own behalf
as a woman instinct with all the virtues saving one only,--the one she
had never had an opportunity to possess. The effect of Nell Gwynn's
presence at court upon the minds of the populace was in some respects
more insidious than that of the professional courtesan Castlemaine,
for, by the pleasing philosophy of her winsome nature, the vices of
the court became transmuted into pure gold in the estimation of the
young women who were affected by her as their ideal.

When the irascible temper of the Duchess of Cleveland became too
intolerable to be borne, the king's excitable fancy was adroitly
directed by the Duke of Buckingham, English envoy to the court of
France, to Mademoiselle de Queroualle, whom he planned to set up as
a rival to her in the king's affections, and thus to further his own
ambitious ends, which were antagonized by the duchess. Thus to place
in control of the king's volatile sentiments the seductive French
woman, who would represent the duke's interests, seemed a veritable
stroke of masterful politics of a character not unworthy of
Machiavel himself. It was not difficult to persuade Louis that such a
sentimental alliance would cement Charles to the French interests; and
as the project would save her from a French convent, mademoiselle was
not found intractable. A decorous invitation, so worded as to spare
the blush of the lady's modesty, was sent from the English court, and
she was forthwith despatched to the court of Charles to fulfil the
double roles of courtesan and diplomat, which were so often combined
in the person of astute females. Her appearance at court was hailed by
Dryden, the court poet, in some complimentary stanzas of indifferent
worth. Evelyn recorded in his _Diary_ that he had seen "that famous
beauty, the new French Maid of Honor"; but adds: "In my opinion, she
is of a childish, simple, and baby face." After the birth of a son
to the king, who was created