MR. DARIUS'S STORY OF CORFE CASTLE. * IN addressing the members
of a Corfe Castle Society for Mutual Improvement, Mr. Bankes, instead of remote subjects, selects for the theme of his lucubrations an object whose ruins are before their eyes, and tells the story of Corfe Castle to his " very good friends." There is something like " talking parish " in this; • but the castle is more worthy of a chronicler than many other baronial ruins. Its foundation goes back to the origin of the English monarchy; the genius of Alfred, it is said, having selected the site of the fortress as a means of checking the incursions of the Danes. Edward the Martyr was assassinated by his stepmother before its gates. At the Conquest it was retained by the Crown, and governed by some potent baron. In the civil wars of Stephen it baffled the attempts of the reigning monarch. The craven John made it a royal residence, and confined there some of the barons and knights of Guienne and Poitou whom he had got into his power, using them so cruelly that twenty-two are alleged to have been starved to death. It was for some time the prison of the unfortunate Edward the Second. Under Henry the Fourth the castle passed away from the Crown ; being granted to the Earl of Somerset, the head of the house of Beaufort. On the execution and forfeiture of the Duke of Somerset, in the wars of the Roses, the castle reverted to the Crown, and was granted by Edward the Fourth to his brother, " false, fleeting, mured Clarence." On his death it again reverted to the Crown ; and on the accession of Henry the Seventh, his able and prudent mother, the Countess of Richmond, resided there, having some as- sociations with the county of Dorset. Under Edward the Sixth, the Protector Somerset laid hands upon it ; but on his attainder it once again reverted to the Crown. Under Elizabeth it finally passed to subjects : that Sovereign conveyed it with the estate absolutely to her favourite Hatton, who furnished it right royally. On his death it passed to his brother; and then to his widow, who is known from her strange second marriage with Lord Coke, and the scandals and adventures thence ensuing. On Coke's death, his daughter and widow disposed of the property to Sir John Bankes, the founder of the family and its most eminent member, and Corfe Castle became the residence of a successful lawyer. Sir John was raised to the Chief Justiceship of the Common Pleas and attended Charles the First to Oxford, where he died. His wife resided at the castle, defending it for years from the desultory attempts of the Parliamentarians, and even against a regular siege. At last it was carried by treachery, and Corfe Castle was dismantled so far as gunpowder could effect it. The strength of the structure was so great as to resist total dilapidation ; but for practical pur- poses the buildings were destroyed, and the castle which arose with the English monarchy fell with its temporary downfall.
By means cf old chroniclers, family papers, rare collections, and sometimes by an author not more difficult of access than Clarendon, Mr. Bankes manages to trace the fortunes of Corfe Castle in an agreeable and interesting way ; judiciously preserving the style of his authorities, as fitted to the event and the age. He no doubt sometimes falls into the common practice of narrating circum- stances contemporary rather than actually connected with his theme; as in the narrative of the civil wars, and the biographies of some of the owners of the castle. This expansion, however, is of matter rather than of words; it has attraction from the manner of the writer, which is free and slightly quaint, with a little leaven of old Toryism. The great events of the book, and indeed of the castle, are the defence by Lady Bankes, and the subsequent plunder by the Par- liamentarians, who made a clean sweep of Sir Christopher Hat- ton's splendid furniture, as well as of stores and materials. On the Restoration, the son of Sir John Bankes was anxious to recover the plunder, and made inquiries as to the perpetrators and pos- sessors. A Mr. Edward Harvey writes as follows upon the matter.
" All that I can inform you is, after others, viz.—that some household goods and not a little was brought into the house of one Richard Smith of Code Castle, who had then three sons under the Parliament, but I suppose that is much divided ; what remains is in the hands of Nathaniel Smith at %The Story of Code Castle. and of Many who have Lived there. Collected from An lent Chronicles and Records : also from the Private Memoirs of a Family Resi- dent there in the time of the Civil Waro By11eht Hon Geo Bankes M.P. for the County of Dorset. Published by Murray,t g rge the Ship, and of Henry Smith a shopkeeper ; and I understand that Mr. Anthony Foreman has some ; I know not of any else in the island. But I am informed by one Matthew Masse, a tailor in Corfe, that one Captain Richard Gould at Holme had much of it ; and that he had seen a room furnished and hung round with the castle goods, besides many stones and much timber he had ; also some of the greatest timber was carried to Sut- ton, to Mr. Dennis Bond's farm, where it remains yet unused. And not a little timber and stone was used about the George Inn. And the leads were moat of them sold unto Gaylen, the plumber, of Poole, as I hale, been in. formed. What Colonel Bingham had of ymir's I know not ; but I am sure his soldiers had all my shop goods; and I did write to Mr. Culliford while[] in London to advise me whether I should not have any satisfaction. And hp ad- vised me in the negative, that the act [of Indemnity and Oblivion] would quit all men of all such actions, but I wish I could find it now ; but I must rest satisfied ; and, Sir, with my due respects tendered, do romaine, " Your Worship's servant, EDWARD 11A.RVEr." " Code Castle, 5th October 1660."
Sir Walter Erle, a Puritan, who had been conspicuous in order. ing attacks on the Castle, seems to have got a good share of the plunder: he was addressed on the subject by the newly-made knight Sir Ralph Bankes, notwithstanding the act of indemnity, and in a tone not likely to conciliate.
" Sir—It may perhaps seem strange to you after such an intermission, that I should now demand of you that which belongs to me. I'doubted not your own conscience and the justness of the thing would, before this, have invited you to make restitution or some recompense, which made me defer reminding you of it, because I was not willing to take from you the ad- vantage of so good an action. But I incline to believe want of memory oc- casions this failure in you, and that it is rather the defect of your age than of your will. The timber and other materials for building you had from Code Castle (which you have since employed in your own new fabrick) you must needs acknowledge are mine, and what in law as well as justice ought to be restored to me. For the Act of Indemnity gives away no man's pro- perty, but every one may (without any violation of it) take his goods when he finds them ; and though I never made it much my inquiry, I can, if you give me the occasion, bring those that will swear that one of the great pieces of limber (if not the greatest) in your house came from the Castle, besides stone and other materials you have made use of. I hope you will not put yourself or me to any further trouble in this business, which, if it should be brought upon the stage, will not anyways benefit your reputation. The Scrip- ture, which you profess (and we all ought) to make the rule of our actions, can- not justify you in such proceedings, nor can you bring any text from them which allows you to build with my timber. Good actions carry their own reward. If you did well to be instrumental in destroying the Castle, you should not have rewarded your good service out of the ruins of it. Many throughout England who made the like advantages of the times, and who thought that whilst they continued the illness of them would warrant their ill actions, have since this happy change clewed you good example, and have thrown from them that which, belonging to others, would have proved moth and a canker in their estates. The precedents are so public that you cannot be ig- norant of them. I hope your conscience will be as just to you as theirs have been, and that you will be ruled by it : and, by making me a just satisfac- tion, you will oblige me to be, " Sir, your friend and servant, R. B." " Chettle, ye 12th August 1661."
Sir Walter replied in a long epistle, which is about as good a specimen as we ever read of the art of using language to conceal meaning. Colonel Bingham was franker in promises. He had got but little ; what he had he should be happy to return when he had means and opportunity; but horses were so scarce in conse- quence of a plague amongst them, that he could not then send anything. In fine, " one large bed minus the feathers, and one red velvet chair, appear to constitute the amount of furniture and building-materials recovered by Sir Ralph Bankes."
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