Tea at Trianon: Wise Without Pomp – Charles I’s Scottish Tutor

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, November 17, 2023

Wise Without Pomp – Charles I’s Scottish Tutor

Charles I as Prince of Wales

From author Mark Turnbull:

In the tumultuous year of 1605, the Gunpowder Plot unravelled, and a plan to blow up the Protestant establishment was foiled. It had involved killing Prince Charles, the 4-year-old second son of King James VI/I. The year was not all bad news for the young prince, however, because 41-year-old Thomas Murray was appointed as his tutor, a role the man would carry out with ‘diligence and energy’. Murray would go on to become the prince’s secretary, as well as a father-figure. Yet, despite shaping Charles’s character over the next 16 years, the devoted Murray barely gets a mention in history books. His influence hasn’t been fully recognised or appreciated and this is partly down to an unassuming nature and aversion to court politics. What was clear whilst researching ‘Charles I’s Private Life’ was that Murray had a profound effect upon his pupil, which led one contemporary to remark that he had ‘brought up’ the prince.

Murray, a Scotsman from a well-heeled family, was a highly intelligent poet and author. From the beginning he saw potential in Charles, telling the king that his son was capable of all things ‘which his art or industry may afford’. Murray sourced books for the prince, put him in contact with artists and diplomats and encouraged an awareness of foreign affairs. The tutor drafted all official correspondence, acted as Charles’s interpreter, and became a cornerstone of the influential Scottish network surrounding the Royal Family. Murray’s own family were woven into the various royal households; his wife, Jean, was a cousin to one of Queen Anna’s ladies, his daughter was married to Prince Henry’s tutor, and a nephew, William Murray, was young Charles’s playmate.

In 1612, Murray, like the rest of Britain, lamented the sudden death of Henry, Prince of Wales, describing it as a ‘great wound’. But he retained a confidence in the future – a confidence in Charles. At this moment, many looked to cultivate the new heir’s tutor, and Isaac Wake, an English Ambassador, judged that Murray’s ‘honesty’ made him ‘well-esteemed’. In the bawdy and cut-throat Jacobean court, this is indeed a meaningful observation. Charles, who shared Murray’s love of learning, was seen as equally above the ‘den of vice’ with his chaplain described his temperament as ‘sober, grave, swete’. His tutor’s character, therefore, was one that Charles must have easily related to, and perhaps emulated. They certainly shared a quiet diligence. As king, Charles would draw inspiration and strength from chivalric beliefs, even to the point of self-delusion, and this was instilled during his formative years with Murray.

The meteoric rise of George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham, incinerated many influential courtiers in his path. Murray recognised Buckingham’s power and counselled people not to ignore it. But his own place about Charles was not threatened by Buckingham; instead, it was religion that would lead to his downfall. This was the one big difference between Murray and Charles. The former was of Presbyterian (some also say Puritan) persuasion – described as pious without superstition and wise without pomp – while Charles was ‘high church’ and later a follower of Arminianism. King James had long desired a Catholic wife for his heir and when a Spanish bride was foisted upon Charles, opposition mounted from many quarters, even within Charles’s own household. The prince himself could also be reticent about the prospect. Charles’s Puritan chaplain, Dr Hakewill, wrote a book against the Spanish match, but went too far when he personally presented it to the prince. When it transpired that Murray had known about the book, and had not opposed the presentation – but not actively prevented it – Charles’s household imploded. (Read more.)