that he might strengthen his power, was desirous of wedding them
to scions of nobility; Buckingham being one of those whom he had
mentally selected to become a member of his family. His anger
was therefore at once directed against Fairfax and his grace.
The former he could not molest, but the latter he committed to
the Tower; and if the great Protector had not been soon after
seized by fatal illness, the duke would have made his last
journey from thence to Tower Hill. As it fell out he remained a
prisoner until within a year of the coming of Charles, whom he
welcomed with exceeding joy. Being bred with the merry monarch,
he had from boyhood been a favourite of his majesty, with whom he
shared a common love for diversion. He was, therefore, from the
first a prominent figure at Whitehall; his handsome person and
extravagant dress adorned the court; his brilliant wit and
poignant satire amused the royal circle.

His grace, however, had a rival, the vivacity of whose temper and
piquancy of whose humour went far to eclipse Buckingham's talent
in these directions. This was the young Earl of Rochester, son
of my Lord Wilmot, who had so successfully aided the king's
escape after the battle of Worcester, for which service he had
been created Earl of Rochester by Charles in Paris. That worthy
man dying just a year previous to the restoration, his son
succeeded to his titles, and likewise to an estate which had been
preserved for him by the prudence of his mother. Even in his
young days Lord Rochester gave evidence of possessing a lively
wit and remarkable genius, which were cultivated by his studies
at Oxford and his travels abroad. So that at the age of
eighteen, when he returned to England and presented himself at
Whitehall, his sprightly parts won him the admiration of