THE PORTLAND ROMANCE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2662, 2 June 1908, Page 7

THE PORTLAND ROMANCE.

TRAITS OF THE ECCENTRIC DUKE. During his lifetime* (says the ' Globe "-) the fifth Puke of Portland was a mystery. and after his death he has become the source of the Pence case, which is an even greater ptozls than he was. The whole story of the owner of Welbeck is told by Mr. Charles .1. Archard. in

"The Political Peerage Romance" (Greening and Co.), which gives the main facts of the family history from the date of the landing of the first Bentincfe in England. He was Hans William Bentinck, and he ap{oared in the train of William of Orange. When the fifth Puke* came into the property, there was much distress round about Welbeck. owing to the failure of the stocking trade, and so he ditermined to gratify his hobbies and, at the sans? time, to benefit his pooirr neighbours. "He spent about- £IOO,OOO a jear in the development of his plans, and employed as many as 1300 workI cople in helping him to gratify his hobby. When it is remembered that his reign as Puke lasted a quarter of a century, from- 18.">-t to 1879. it will be seen that artisans of all descriptions found Welbeck a verfta' le geld mine. Even so late as Kbremter, 1878, a Nottingham newsraper correspondent, on visiting Welbeck. was impressed with its api>oarance as that of the promises of 'some g eat contractor who had an order for the building of a big village.' Their was the buzz of machinery, large areas were covered with brickInters', masons', and Joiners' sheds, wherein any new mechanical contrivance was put to the test. For more than eighteen years* the \icinity of the house resemLled a builder's yard, in the centre of which the Puke lived and moved and had his being, enjoying, in his way, the piles of bricks ai;d mortar surrounding him. After he had decided upon the erection of a new bni!cing he had a model of it made for his inspection, ami, if anI roved of. it was proceeded with."

The most wonderful of the underground apartments built by the Pule was the picture gallery, or. as it was intenek'd to be. the ball-room. Next to that came the riding school. 'The gigantic riding school is a 1 out 880 feet long, 112 feet wide, and ."in feet high, and from it is a subterranean passage leading to the tan gal'op, designed for the exercise of hor>es. The length of this gallop is 1270 feet, and it is all under a class roof. He had about 100 horres. and his stable extended over t*n area almost as large as a villa?o.

" Uf all his extraordinary hobbies, that of planning subterranean nas-t-ag?s has (excited the most wonder nnd satire. These tunnels, in which it was possible for three persons to walk abreast in some parts, were lighted with pas jets placed at intervals. One at least of the tunnels is large enough for a horse and cart to I c driven through."

• The Duke was known as 'The In<visib'c Prince." and it was his delight to take his workmen unawares, and though he was pcneraMy considered an ogre and a cynic, there are some of his employees still living who pave him a good word as a kind and considerate master. "What a life his was to lead : he was a veritaUe prisoner, having himself for a warder. "The special apartment used by him in the daytime was fitted with a trap-door in the floor, by which he conlrl descend to the regions below, and thus roan? about his underground tunnels without the servants knowing whether he was in the house or had left it. By means of this traitdoor, after walking to some distant part of his estate and astonishing his workmen there, he could re-appear in the Abbey as mysteriously as lie had left it.

"The apartment with the trap-door bad another door opening into an ante-room, and here his servants received their orders. "The "Prince of Silence ' rarely

spoke to his attendants ; he wrote down on paper what he required, and placed it in the letter-box of the door opening into the ante-room. Then hf rang a bell, when a servant -would come and read what he had written, and carry out the order accordingly. •The Ihike's bedstead was un immense square erection, constructed in an extraordinary manner. There wen* large doors to it. so arranged that when folded it was impossible to Know whether the bed was occupied bv its owner."

His London house was Harcourt House. Cavendish Square. "This: nolle mansion was gambled away at a card-party when tin- stakes were high and the players were the third Duke, grandfather of the eccentric peer, and Karl Harcourt. Thus it cane into possession of the Bcntincks.

"During the occupancy of the fifth Duke, the curious freaks of the building for which he was so famous at Uellieck were reflated at Harcourt House. He had the garden enclosed with a gigantic screen of ground-glass, extending for 200 feet on each side and 8Q feet high. His object in having this screen can-

structed was that the residents "J Henrietta. Street and'Wigmorc Street might be prevented from seeing int the garden, and possibly catching a glimpse of his Grace when taking a stroM."

As for the Duke himself, he was an extraordinary person to look at. Here is a description of Mm from one who saw him frequently : •What a quaint figure the Puke was. When away from home lie wore n «ig. but not indoors, his tall hat had a broad brim, he wore a white tie and hiirh collar, his trousers, tied round his legs, were of check, with a frock coat and dark waistcoat. 'His habits were fastidious, and he wo-.ld not handle bronze or silver coins I clote they had been washed. Then net forbade persons to touch their hats to him if they met him." But with all his eccentricities he did urich good to his neighbours, and at the time of the Crimean War gave generously to the troops at the front. ,

"It was estimated that between two and three millions sterling were s;ent by the Duke i" putting his ideas into execution, and the one beneficent effect of his expenditure was the employment of a large number of men in work that was not altogether of a useless nature, as witness his great improvements in agriculture, following up his father's ideas, adding to the national wealth by the crops this hitherto uncultivated area was made to produce. "After his long and chequered career the Duke passed away in December, 187!>. having n«*n'lv reached eighty years of age. Peace be to his ashes."