ce. Brian Fairfax, who loved this brilliant reprobate, has left the
only authentic account on record of his last hours.

The night previous to the duke's death Fairfax had received a message
from him desiring him to prepare a bed for him in his house, Bishop
Hill, in York. The next day, however, Fairfax was sent for to his
master, whom he found dying. He was speechless, but gave the afflicted
servant an earnest look of recognition.

The Earl of Arran, son of the Duke of Hamilton, and a gentleman of the
neighbourhood, stood by his bedside. He had then received the Holy
Communion from a neighbouring clergyman of the Established Church. When
the minister came it is said that he inquired of the duke what religion
he professed. 'It is,' replied the dying man, 'an insignificant
question, for I have been a shame and a disgrace to all religions: if
you can do me any good, pray do.' When a Popish priest had been
mentioned to him, he answered vehemently, 'No, no!'

He was in a very low state when Lord Arran had found him. But though
that nobleman saw death in his looks, the duke said he 'felt so well at
heart that he knew he could be in no danger.'

He appeared to have had inflammation in the bowels, which ended in
mortification. He begged of Lord Arran to stay with him. The house seems
to have been in a most miserable condition, for in a letter from Lord
Arran to Dr. Sprat, he says, 'I confess it made my heart bleed to see
the Duke of Buckingham in so pitiful a place, and so bad a condition,
and what made it worse, he was not at all sensible of it, for he thought
in a day or two he should be well; and when we reminded him of his
condition, he said it was not as we apprehended. So I sent for a worthy
gentleman, Mr. Gibson, to be assistant to me in this work; so we jointly
represented his condition to him, who I saw was at first very uneasy;
but I think we should not have discharged the duties of honest men if we
had suffered him to go out of this world without desiring him to prepare
for death.' The duke joined heartily in the beautiful prayers for the
dying, of our Church, and yet there was a sort of selfishness and
indifference to others manifest even at the last.

'Mr. Gibson,' writes Lord Arran, 'asked him if he had made a will, or if
he would declare who was to be his heir? but to the first, he answered
he had made none; and to the last, whoever was named he answered, "No."
First, my lady duchess was named, and then I th