parson, and
Vicar of Frodsham in Cheshire. Efforts were made in his youth to
obtain for him a summons to the House of Lords; but, in addition to
the doubtful character of his claims, he was no _persona grata_ to the
King, as he was known to be an ardent Jacobite. As Burke says:
"Republicans during the reign of the Stuarts--Jacobites during the
reign of the Guelphs--this unfortunate family seems always to have had
hold of the wrong end of the stick." As a rule, they appear to have
held that end of it, but certainly it is a rule to which George
Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, was a remarkable exception.

The Rev. George Villiers, who still owned property which had been
settled by Sir Edward Coke on his daughter, Lady Purbeck, died without
issue, in 1774, and his brother died a bachelor. The male line of
Villiers, alias Danvers, alias Wright, then expired. We hear no more
of any claims to the Purbeck peerage; henceforward the title which
stands at the head of this story was no longer to have any place in
living interests. At this point, let us also take leave of it; and the
author hopes that his readers, if ever reminded of this book by the
mention of Lady Purbeck, may not exclaim in the words of a character
in Macbeth:--"The devil himself could not pronounce a title more
hateful to mine ear."

FOOTNOTES:

[101] _Coles' MSS._, Vol. XXXIII., p. 17.

[102] He married a daughter of Sir William Slingsby of Kippax,
Yorkshire.

[103] Burke's _Extinct and Dormant Peerages_.

[104] The authorities for most of what follows are _The Historical
MSS. Commission_, Ninth Report, Part II., p. 58; _MSS. of the House of
Lords_, 30th April, 5th May, and 3rd June, 1675, 14th March, 16th
June, and 9th July, 1678, and Burke's _Extinct and Dormant Peerages_.

[105] _MSS. of the House of Lords_, 228, 30th April, 1675.

[106] _MSS. of the House of Lords_, 228, 30th April, 1675.

[107] _Absalom and Achitophel_, line 447, _seq._

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