Worcester, is supposed to have been born about, or soon after 1601, the records to establish his natal year being wanting. His father, Henry Somerset, created first Marquis of Worcester by Charles I., was married on the 16th June, 1600, at Blackfriars; Queen Elizabeth, attending in great state, graciously danced at the wedding ball; and the festivities of the occasion were continued for three days.

We obtain little information respecting the Marquis of Worcester until about the twenty-seventh year of his age, when he married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Dormer, eldest son of Lord Dormer of Weng, and sister of Robert, Earl of Carnarvon. It is not known where he was educated, but it was certainly neither at Oxford nor Cambridge. Mention is made of his preceptor, Mr. Adams, at Raglan Castle, the baronial seat of the lords of Raglan, in Monmouthshire. There is every probability, however, that he finished his education at some foreign university. His son and heir, Henry, born in 1629, was created by Charles II. the first Duke of Beaufort, and from him the present Duke of Beaufort is the eighth of that rank in lineal descent.

It was during the first or second year of his married life that he engaged the services of Caspar Kaltoff, whom he employed as a practical assistant, to work out his numerous mechanical experiments, and whom he extols as an "unparalleled workman, both for trust and skill."[1] There are still to be seen on one side of the Keep—or citadel of Raglan Castle, the remains of grooves in the wall, probably for the insertion of large metal pipes, in some way or other connected with the waterworks which are known to have been erected there, and which were most likely carried out by Kaltoff, under his master's directions.

Becoming a widower in 1635, his lordship married in 1639, his second wife, Margaret, second daughter and co-heir of Henry O'Brien, Earl of Thomond.

It must have been about this period of his life that the Marquis of Worcester made one of his most singular and perplexing mechanical experiments, which he exhibited at the Tower before Charles I., several of his Court, some foreign ambassadors, and the lieutenant of that fortress. As he names Sir William Balfour (who held the latter appointment from 1630 to 1641) we can arrive at an approximate date. The mechanical surprise which he states he thus presented to gratify his royal master, was no other than a gigantic wheel, 14 feet in diameter, weighted with 40 weights of 50 lbs. each, equal to 2000 lbs., by means of which we are left to infer that the wheel maintained a rotatory motion, without assistance from any external aid whatever; that it was in fact, a realization of that long sought for curiosity—perpetual motion. As he wrote deliberately a statement of this circumstance fifteen years later, or more, which he afterwards printed, we are left without any grounds to suppose otherwise than that he deceived himself, or was deceived, from interested motives, by persons in his employment. The circumstance is scarcely worth notice except as a singular proof that such a hallucination could exist in the mind of the same genius that perfected the first practical steam-engine. We can only say that if the mystery could be cleared up, although it would be of little or no value to mathematics or mechanics, it would go far to elevate the scientific character of the Marquis, though he was not the only celebrity of his time infatuated with a thorough belief in the possibility of solving the paradox.

The Marquis of Worcester, born at the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign, is not mentioned as appearing at the Court of James I; his courtier life most likely commenced later, in the reign of Charles I, who was about his own age, and with whose career, the fortunes of both the Marquis of Worcester, and his father, family, and friends, were unhappily but too intimately interwoven.

It requires a visit to Raglan Castle fully to realise the grandeur, nobleness, and strength of that romantically situated, and almost regal stronghold. It wears all the solemnity that antiquity can bestow, it is so gothic, so solid, and embowered, as it were, in a constant dubious shade. Then it is so extensive in its bounds, its apartments are so capacious, and its massy walls so lofty and so finely chiseled and proportioned, that when we consider there is no quarry within any reasonable distance, nor any river or stream for conveyance, the whole structure assumes the mystery of absolute romance. Its historic associations also rivet the attention of every beholder who is acquainted with the part it played in determining the fate of that great struggle between the Crown and the Parliament, which commenced in 1640, and ended with the establishment of a Commonwealth.

The county of Monmouth is eminently distinguished for its scenery, its green hills and dales presenting a beautifully wooded and highly picturesque landscape from every point of view. The village of Raglan is a small unpretending hamlet, principally remarkable for its parish church, which contains the chapel of the Beauforts, the resting place of several members of the Somerset family. Peering above lofty neighbouring trees, the Donjon, Keep, or Citadel of Raglan Castle is a conspicuous object; itself very lofty and standing on a considerable eminence, it commands a most delightful and extensive panoramic view of the surrounding country in that fertile district.

The Castle may be described as consisting of two portions, distinguished by two courts and two fortified arched entrances. The grand entrance, between two hexagonal towers, leads to the paved court, with the closet tower or library to the right, a withdrawing or ball-room overhead, and a banqueting or stately hall to the left, which last apartment attracts much notice from its great size and remarkable state of preservation. Externally situated is the Citadel or Tower of Gwent, surrounded with a broad moat over which there appears to have been a drawbridge on one side, and on the other, adjoining the castle a permanent stone bridge.

During his youth, the Marquis of Worcester, as Lord Herbert, resided at the Castle, and may have had his laboratory, workshop, and study conveniently situated in the Citadel; at all events, in connection with his early career, the ruined remains of the family mansion cannot be visited without intense interest. His father was a noble minded, hearty, generous man, living in princely state; an extensive and wealthy landed proprietor, and in case of need capable of defending his Citadel against any foe whatever. This last necessity made itself conspicuous between the years 1640 and 1641, when the civil war broke out. After the fatal battle of Naseby, 14th June, 1645, Charles I. three times rested at the Castle, staying there in all twenty-seven days. The strength of that fortress enabled it to resist the Parliamentary arms longer than any other stronghold—its surrender following very shortly after that of Pendennis Castle.

When civil war was raging in this country, when King and Parliament were in opposition, when Puritan, Protestant, and Papist sought for mastery, when cavaliers met roundheads in mortal conflict, and every man stood in fear of his neighbour, the Marquis of Worcester could no longer remain a mere student of mechanism and of mathematical problems: if like Archimedes in one sense, he was now seen, unlike him, buckling on his armour, raising troops, and doffing the student's gown to become the soldier. Alas! his military career forms no brilliant page in the annals of his