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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The life and times of George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, Volume 1 (of 3) - From original and authentic sources - -Author: Katherine Thomson - -Release Date: March 6, 2017 [EBook #54286] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE, TIMES OF GEORGE VILLIERS, VOL 1 *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as ‘_italic_’. - -The footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are -referenced. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - -[Illustration: - - I. H. BAKER, SC. - GEORGE VILLIERS, - _Duke of Buckingham_. - London: Hurst and Blackett. -] - - THE LIFE AND TIMES - OF - GEORGE VILLIERS - DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. - - FROM ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC SOURCES. - - BY MRS. THOMSON, - AUTHOR OF - “MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH,” - “LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEGH,” - “MEMOIRS OF SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH,” - &c., &c. - - - - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - LONDON: - HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, - SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, - 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. - - 1860. - - _The right of Translation is reserved._ - - - - - PREFACE. - - -No complete life of this favourite of James I. and Charles I. has -hitherto appeared, except the biographical sketch by Sir Henry Wotton. - -That interesting account deserves all credit, from the character of its -author; yet coming from one who owed Buckingham great obligations, it is -more of a eulogy than a memoir; and is evidently written with a view to -silence those slanderous attacks which not only pursued the Duke during -his life, but continued after his death. - -The “Disparity between the Earl of Essex and the Duke of Buckingham,” by -Clarendon, printed, as well as Sir Henry Wotton’s Memoir in the -“Reliquiæ Wottonianæ,” bears, likewise, the impress of enthusiastic -admiration. It is the tribute of a partisan rather than the memorial of -an historian. - -The opinions expressed, nevertheless, in both these works, have been -confirmed, in many points, by the letters in the State Paper Office, to -which historical writers have not only now free access, but which have -lately been arranged, whilst valuable Calendars have been published, so -as to facilitate investigations which were formerly most laborious. In -all that relates personally to George Villiers, the State Papers are -especially important. - -The great Rebellion, amongst mightier devastations, swept away most of -that domestic correspondence which might otherwise have been found in -the three noble families who are collaterally descended from Buckingham; -those of the Earls of Jersey and Clarendon, and of his Grace the Duke of -Rutland, none of whom possess any letters of their unfortunate ancestor. -Nor is this fact to be wondered at, when we consider not only the stormy -period that succeeded Buckingham’s death, but the extreme youth of his -children at the time of his assassination, the second marriage of his -widow, and the long years of exile which his heir, George, the second -Duke of Buckingham of the house of Villiers, passed in wandering and -indigence. - -The documents in the State Paper Office become, therefore, doubly -valuable, and every possible advantage has been taken of a mine so rich -in the present Memoir. It was, indeed, in 1849, some time before the -Calendars by Mrs. Everett Green, and Mr. Bruce, were published, that -this work was begun. The letters in the State Paper Office were then -merely arranged in chronological order, and divided into foreign and -domestic. But the valuable advice, the very great courtesy, and kind -assistance of Mr. Lechmere and Mr. Lemon, enabled the authoress still to -derive great benefit from her researches even at that time. Her work -having been laid aside, though nearly completed, during a residence of -several years on the Continent, the publication of the Calendars of -State Papers had, meantime, taken place, and they enabled her, in -resuming her task, to revise such parts of the memoir as had been -written, and to finish the whole with greater accuracy and fulness of -information than could otherwise have been done, and although the -revision has caused considerable delay and labour, it has been of -incalculable advantage to the work. - -Of the Calendar for 1628-1629, which recently appeared, edited by Mr. -Bruce, the authoress has not been able to avail herself to the same -extent as of the four former volumes, since her work was nearly printed -before it was published. She has, therefore, been obliged to insert in -her Appendix the examination of Ben Jonson, and one or two other papers -which could not be interwoven with the narrative, although of great -interest. It is satisfactory to her to find that the contents of this, -the latest volume of the State Paper Calendars, confirm, in some -important points, the views which she has taken of Buckingham’s motives -and intentions. They also exhibit distinctly the great difficulties of -his course; and more especially in regard to the fatal expedition to La -Rochelle. - -The authoress believes that she has discharged her task as a biographer -with impartiality: she confesses, nevertheless, to a strong interest in -the faulty but attractive character which she has attempted to -delineate. When stating, in her summary of the Duke’s qualities, that -time and trouble were rendering him a wiser and a better man, she was -ignorant of the following tribute to Buckingham, written, when all -patronage was closed by his death, by Dudley, Viscount Dorchester, to -the Queen of Bohemia, and printed in the last volume of the Calendar. - -“The Duke declared a purpose to Dorchester on his (the Viscount’s) last -return from the Queen of Bohemia, which he has since often reiterated, -of making him, by his favour with the King his master, an instrument of -better days than they have seen of late, he having a firm resolution -(which he manifested to some other persons) to walk new ways, but upon -old grounds and maxims, both of religion and policy, finding his own -judgment to have been misled by errors of truth and persuasions of -persons he began better to know; so as knowing otherwise the nobleness -of his nature, and great parts and vigour, Dorchester had full -satisfaction in him himself, and made no doubt but the world would have, -notwithstanding the public hatred to which he was exposed. This -testimony Dorchester owes him after his death.”[1] - -Footnote 1: - - Calendar, edited by Mr. Bruce, for 1628, 1629, p. 270. - -Of the restoration of the Navy by the strenuous efforts of the Duke the -State Papers present almost a chronicle. The authoress regrets that she -is not competent to do the subject justice; and hopes that some abler -hand may employ with more effect the copious materials which will be -found in those documents, of which she has touched merely on the leading -points. Her aim has been chiefly to shew the energy, the sometime lofty -purposes, of one who has been portrayed as a merely rapacious, vain, -remorseless oppressor. - -The state of the times, the Impeachment, the Remonstrance, the Petition -of Right, all bear so strongly on the circumstances of the Duke’s life, -that it would be impossible, in a Memoir of him, to escape the difficult -office of explaining to some extent the intricate politics of the day. -In this attempt she also has derived her chief materials from the State -Papers. Personal incidents, trusts, manners, character, literature, the -arts, are subjects in regard to which the annals of this period are -calculated to afford a great amount of instruction and interest. - -The authoress has already expressed her obligations to Mr. Lechmere and -Mr. Lemon; to Mr. Bruce she also begs to offer her thanks for a -suggestion by which she is enabled to insert an interesting account of -the murder of Buckingham, in a letter from Lord Dorchester. (See page -112, vol. iii.) - -She begs also to express her sense of the valuable aid afforded her by -her friend, Mr. Amos, Professor of Law, Downing College, Cambridge, to -whose kindness and great historical knowledge she is indebted for much -that has facilitated her efforts. - -March 1, 1860. - - - - - CONTENTS OF VOL. I. - - CHAPTER I. - - State of England on the Accession of James I. compared with - that when Elizabeth began to Reign—The Great Rebellion - Attributable to the Misrule of James—Allusion of Lord - Clarendon to this Subject—The Luxury of a Favourite - Essential to James since the Age of Fourteen—Birth and - Origin of George Villiers—His Family little known to Fame - until his Elevation—The Sneers thrown upon it by Sir - Symonds D’Ewes; and its Claims to Honourable Descent - Considered—Sir Henry Wotton’s Testimony—The Family of - Villiers long known in the County of Leicester—The - Different Spellings of the Name—The Fortunes of the Family - in France—Remark of Lord Clarendon upon the Condition of - the Villiers Family in England—Also of the Historian - Sanderson—Brookesby, the Native Place of George - Villiers—His Mother, Mary Beaumont—Her Menial Condition in - the Family of Sir George Villiers—His Marriage—The Family - by a Former Union—Sir William Villiers—John, Viscount - Purbeck—The Children of the Second Marriage: Mary, - Countess of Denbigh—Christopher, George—Lady Villiers - retires to Goadby—Her Efforts for her Son’s Benefit—His - Education, Disposition, and Acquirements—The Slender Means - of his Mother—Her Second Marriage to Sir Thomas - Compton—George Villiers sent to Paris to complete his - Education—State of that Capital in the 17th - Century—Villiers returns from Paris, improved, and repairs - to his Mother’s House at Goadby 1 - - CHAPTER II. - - James I., his Disapproval of the Gentry crowding into - London—Disgust Entertained by the Old Families to him and - his Court—The Clintons, Blounts, Veres, and Willoughby - D’Eresbys show it—Character of Sir Thomas Lake—William, - Earl of Pembroke, the Early Patron of Villiers—Account of - the First Introduction of Villiers to James—Ambitious - Views which it Suggested—His Attachment to the Daughter of - Sir Roger Ashton—Their Engagement Broken off—Account of - the King’s Visit to Cambridge in 1614-15—Some Description - of the Courtly Ladies who were present there—The Queen’s - Absence—Countess of Arundel—Countess of Somerset—Countess - of Salisbury—Lady Howard of Walden—Performance of the Play - of “Ignoramus” in Clare Hall—The Design of this Comedy to - Ridicule the Common Law—Admiration expressed by the King, - during the Performance, of the Personal Appearance of - Villiers, who was Present—The Subsequent Representations - referred to 33 - - - CHAPTER III. - - The Fascination of Villiers’s Character as opposed to the - Venality of Somerset—Lord Clarendon’s Opinion—The - Friendship of Archbishop Abbot—Character of the - Primate—His Affection for Villiers—Anecdote of Villiers - when Cup-Bearer. He is befriended by Anne of Denmark—By - her means Knighted—Singular Scene in the Queen’s - Chamber—Jealousy of Somerset—Ingratitude afterwards shewn - by Villiers to Abbot—Abbot commits Manslaughter—Is - pardoned by the King—The Incessant Pleasures of the - Court—Horse-Racing—Ben Jonson’s “Golden Age - Restored”—Allusion in it to Somerset, and to Overbury—An - Angry Interview between Villiers and Somerset—Villiers - supplants the Favourite—He uses no Unfair Means to do - so—Discovery of Somerset’s Guilt by Winwood, who finds - Proofs of it in an Old Trunk—Somerset’s Downfall—Bacon’s - Letter to Villiers—Villiers continues to Profit by the - Delinquencies and Disgrace of Somerset 71 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - The King’s Projects—A Journey to Scotland—Obstacles to that - Intention—Want of Money—£100,000 raised in the - City—Dislike of the People to this Journey, on Account of - Expense—James sets out, March 13th, 1616-1617—His - Attendant Courtiers, Sir John Zouch, Sir George Goring, - Sir John Finett—Characteristics of Each—Surpassing - Qualities of Buckingham—Objects of James’s Journey to - Edinburgh—Anecdote of Lord Howard of Walden—Disputations - at St. Andrews—The King knights many of the Young - Courtiers—Offence given at Edinburgh by Laud—A Project to - assassinate Buckingham Suspected—James’s Progress - Concluded—His Visit to Warwick—Affairs relating to Sir - Edward Coke and his Family—Base Conduct of all the Parties - Concerned—Meanness of Bacon—His Letters—Frances - Hatton—Contrast between her and the Earl of Oxford brought - forward by Lady Hatton—Coke restored to Favour—Marriage of - Frances Hatton to Lord Purbeck 139 - - CHAPTER V. - - Buckingham’s Favour Paramount—Change in the King’s - Temper—His Poetic Flights—His Reign a Course of - Dissipation—The Masques of Ben Jonson—Their Great - Beauty—Patronized by the Queen—How Performed—The Vision of - Delight—Composed to Celebrate Buckingham’s being made a - Marquis—His Appearance at this Era—The Banquet given for - this Occasion—Great Extravagance of the - Entertainment—Rivals to Buckingham in James’s Favour—Sir - Henry Mildmay—Brooke—Young Morrison—The Diversions of the - Court—The Meteor that appeared—Foot-Racing—Buckingham’s - Profusion—Jealousies between Prince Charles and him 189 - - CHAPTER VI. - - Review of the State of Political Affairs—Dissolution of - Parliament—Protest—James tears it out of the Journals of - the House of Commons—Acts of Oppression—Case of the Earl - of Oxford—of Lord Southampton—Persecution of Sir Edward - Coke—The Conduct and Impeachment of Lord Bacon—The Part - taken by Buckingham in this Affair—The Abuses of - Monopolies—Case of Sir Giles Mompesson—Of Sir Francis - Michell—Bacon’s Letters to Parliament—His Illness—The - Great Seal taken from Him—James’s Reluctance to act with - Vigour—Sheds Tears upon the Occasion—Bacon still protected - by Buckingham—Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, is made - Chancellor—His Character, by Bishop Goodman 275 - - CHAPTER VII. - - The Spanish Treaty—Negotiations between the Duke of Lerma - and Lord Digby—The Infanta described by Lord Digby—Her - Great Beauty, Piety, and Sweetness—The Description of her - by Toby Matthew—She is disposed to receive Charles’s - Addresses—Gondomar—Attentions shown to him in England—Ely - House allotted for his Reception—Jealousy of the - Protestants at the Favour shown him—First Notion of - Charles’s Journey to Spain suggested by Buckingham—His - Arguments in Favour of it—Obstacles to the Prince’s - Marriage with the Infanta—Buckingham’s Debts and - Difficulties—Interview between Gondomar and the Duke of - Lennox—Journey of Charles and Buckingham into Spain—They - stop in Paris—Louis XIII.—Anne of Austria—Henrietta - Maria—They proceed to Madrid—Reception there—Entrance in - State into that City—Countess of Philip IV.—Festivities in - Honour of the Prince—The King’s Letters to him 315 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER I. - -STATE OF ENGLAND ON THE ACCESSION OF JAMES I. COMPARED WITH THAT WHEN - ELIZABETH BEGAN TO REIGN—THE GREAT REBELLION ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE - MISRULE OF JAMES—ALLUSION OF LORD CLARENDON TO THIS SUBJECT—THE - LUXURY OF A FAVOURITE ESSENTIAL TO JAMES SINCE THE AGE OF - FOURTEEN—BIRTH AND ORIGIN OF GEORGE VILLIERS—HIS FAMILY LITTLE - KNOWN TO FAME UNTIL HIS ELEVATION—THE SNEERS THROWN UPON IT BY SIR - SYMONDS D’EWES; AND ITS CLAIMS TO HONOURABLE DESCENT - CONSIDERED—SIR HENRY WOTTON’S TESTIMONY—THE FAMILY OF VILLIERS - LONG KNOWN IN THE COUNTY OF LEICESTER—THE DIFFERENT SPELLINGS OF - THE NAME—THE FORTUNES OF THE FAMILY IN FRANCE—REMARK OF LORD - CLARENDON UPON THE CONDITION OF THE VILLIERS FAMILY IN - ENGLAND—ALSO OF THE HISTORIAN SANDERSON—BROOKESBY, THE NATIVE - PLACE OF GEORGE VILLIERS—HIS MOTHER, MARY BEAUMONT—HER MENIAL - CONDITION IN THE FAMILY OF SIR GEORGE VILLIERS—HIS MARRIAGE—THE - FAMILY BY A FORMER UNION—SIR WILLIAM VILLIERS—JOHN, VISCOUNT - PURBECK—THE CHILDREN OF THE SECOND MARRIAGE: MARY, COUNTESS OF - DENBIGH, CHRISTOPHER, GEORGE—LADY VILLIERS RETIRES TO GOADBY—HER - EFFORTS FOR HER SON’S BENEFIT—HIS EDUCATION, DISPOSITION, AND - ACQUIREMENTS—THE SLENDER MEANS OF HIS MOTHER—HER SECOND MARRIAGE, - TO SIR THOMAS COMPTON—GEORGE VILLIERS SENT TO PARIS TO COMPLETE - HIS EDUCATION—STATE OF THAT CAPITAL IN THE 17th CENTURY—VILLIERS - RETURNS FROM PARIS, IMPROVED, AND REPAIRS TO HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE AT - GOADBY. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - LIFE AND TIMES OF - - GEORGE VILLIERS. - - ---------- - - - - - =CHAPTER I.= - - -The historians who attribute the calamities of the Great Rebellion to -the misrule of James the First, under the pernicious influence of his -favourites, draw a lively parallel between the condition of England at -the accession of that monarch and the state of peril and embarrassment -with which his great predecessor had to contend. Elizabeth, whose -inauguration, long celebrated, after her death, as a day of jubilee, was -regarded as the commencement of national prosperity, came to the throne -under very adverse circumstances. The functions of Government were -clogged with debt. The miserable state of the navy required a constant -vigilance to repel the chance of invasion, and to drive away pirates by -whom the narrow seas were infested. The revenues of the Crown were -insufficient to maintain its power and dignity; the country, moreover, -was embroiled in religious dissensions; whilst the authority of the -Queen was lessened by a disputed succession, and her mind harassed and -embittered by the pretensions of the Dauphin of France to the Crown of -England, in right of his wife, Mary Stuart. - -James, on the contrary, began his reign with every exterior advantage. -His claim to the sovereignty was undoubted; and various causes had -concurred to give great influence to the Crown. The subservient tributes -of respect paid to its dignity were such as even to astonish the envoys -of despotic France. Elizabeth had been served and addressed by her -subjects on the knee; James, at all events for a time, continued that -abject custom, which was a type of the prevailing national sentiment -towards royalty. Commerce, in spite of monopolies, and of the -injudicious interference of the Legislature with wages, was advancing; -leases granted of large tracts of land had increased the opulence of the -country; the improved prospects of the landholders acted on the -prosperity of the manufacturing classes: whilst the general welfare was -increased by emigration; the religious persecutions on the Continent, -driving from foreign towns ingenious workmen, sent them into England, -where they introduced arts hitherto unknown in this country. The -Constitution, too, had been maintained; and, with the exception of the -court of the Star Chamber, over which James presided in person, the -principles of liberty had not been materially invaded. There was no -standing army; the tenets of Protestantism were established; and the -Presbyterian education of the King afforded a hope that certain traces -of the faith which had been renounced would die away, and that -ceremonials which were objectionable to many would be speedily -discontinued. Thus, the first of the Stuart Kings enjoyed blessings not -possessed by any of his predecessors; and, ascending the throne, opened -a new era in the history of the country.[2] - -Footnote 2: - - Brodie’s Constitutional History, vol. i., p. 337. - -James, nevertheless, was not long in showing how fallacious were all -expectations founded on his good sense, and on the supposed liberal -views which a people, now intelligent and prosperous, fondly anticipated -in their ruler. Educated by Buchanan as if he had been destined for the -Tutor of a College rather than for a King; his memory crammed; his -capacity clogged with ill-digested learning; prejudiced as a Scotchman, -yet prejudiced against the established church of his native country, -James well merited the sneering appellation of Henry IV. of France, who -called him “Captain of Wits and Clerk of Arms,”[3] and proved, too -lamentably, how easy it is by wrong-headedness to embroil and debase a -country. - -Footnote 3: - - Sully’s Memoirs, vol. i., p. 309. - -The blunders which James committed in his civil government began before -the subject of this memoir was introduced to royal notice; yet, since -George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, figured prominently in that -period which is supposed to have been the commencement of decay, the -origin of the Great Rebellion has been attributed to his -maladministration, nor has the grave responsibility been absolutely -disavowed, even by Lord Clarendon, the apologist and admirer of the Duke -of Buckingham. - -“I am not,” writes Lord Clarendon, “so sharp-sighted as those who have -discerned the Rebellion contriving from (if not before) the death of -Queen Elizabeth, and fomented by several Princes and great Ministers of -State in Christendom to the time it broke out; neither do I look back so -far, because I believe the design to have been so long since formed, but -that, by viewing the tempers, dispositions, and habits at that time of -the Court and country, we may discern the minds of men prepared, of some -to act, and of others to suffer all that has since happened.”[4] - -Footnote 4: - - History of the Rebellion. - -Whatsoever may have been the faults of James the First, it is probable -that they would not essentially have affected the well-being of his son, -had not the system of favouritism, which was one of James’s greatest -weaknesses, acted upon the character of the young Prince, whose earliest -associations were stamped with devotion to Buckingham. At once minister, -minion, and master, the power behind the throne, to whose dictation, -during the years of his brief and bright career, even the High Court of -Parliament submitted—the distinction of being the last royal favourite -in England is due to this ill-fated man. By him the “sluice of honour,” -as an old writer expresses it, “was opened and closed at pleasure.” He -was to King James a sort of “Parhelion,”[5] at whose course foreign -Courts wondered, whilst the sagacious and prophetic at home trembled as -they beheld at once its eccentricity and its splendour. At his death the -experiment, which had been tried once too often, was abandoned, never to -be renewed; and no acknowledged successor in the meteoric career of -Buckingham ever appeared before the dazzled gaze of our countrymen. The -minutest circumstances relative to his origin are interesting, not only -as they concern one whose noble bearing and powers of fascination almost -effaced, during his life, the remembrance of his errors, but as they -unfold the foundation of a great family which still influences our -national councils. - -Footnote 5: - - Bishop Hacket’s Life of the Lord Keeper Williams, p. 39. - -Until the elevation of George Villiers from low estate to an -unparalleled career of success, the race from which he sprang, though -ancient and honourable, was but partially known to fame, and his -ancestors, how valiant and loyal soever they had proved, had held the -tenor of their way with little variation, and with only an occasional -gleam of celebrity on one or other of its lineage; a course of moderate -prosperity maintaining, without altering, its condition—rather, as Sir -Henry Wotton has well expressed it, “without obscurity than with any -great lustre.”[6] “I will, however,” adds the same quaint writer, after -referring to the difficulty of making a proper estimate of all public -characters, “show, therefore, as evenly as I can, and deduce him from -his cradle through the deep and lubrick waves of State and Court till he -be swallowed in the Gulf of Fatality.”[7] - -Footnote 6: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Life of Geo. Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, p. - 208. - -Footnote 7: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -It was the fashion of those who were opposed to the Duke of Buckingham -in his political career to speak with contempt of his origin, and thus -attack one who was endowed with every possible advantage of natural -gifts—and upon whom honours were lavished—on what was erroneously -supposed to be his vulnerable point. Sir Symonds D’Ewes, as might be -expected, was not backward in his strictures against a courtier so -favoured and envied. He compares Villiers, indeed, to a man of the -highest rank, but draws the parallel in these offensive terms:—“He was -likest to Henry Loraine, Duke of Guise, in the most of the later -passages of his life and death, that possible could be, onelie in this -they differed, that Guise was a prince born, but Buckingham was but a -younger son of an ordinarie familie of gentrie, of which the coat -armoure was so meane as either in this age or of late years, without any -ground, right, or authoritie, that I could see, they deferred their owne -coate armoure, and bare the arms of Weyland, a Suffolke family, being -argent on a cross gules, five escalops, &c.”[8] And again, when speaking -of Felton, the assassin of the Duke, Sir Simond cannot forbear -remarking:—“His familie was, doubtless, more noble and ancient than the -Duke of Buckingham’s, and his ende much blesseder.”[9] To similar -strictures does Wotton probably refer, when he remarks that, in “a wilde -pamphlet” published about the Duke of Buckingham, the writers, “beside -other pityfule malignities, would scant allow him to be a gentleman.” - -Footnote 8: - - Quoted in Nichols’s History of Leicestershire, vol. iii., p. 189. - -Footnote 9: - - Nichol’s History of Leicestershire. - -It is far easier to make a charge of this nature than to maintain it, -for the family of Villiers had long been known in the County of -Leicester, where it removed from Kinalton, in Nottinghamshire, the first -place of migration from Normandy; where, writes Sir Henry Wotton, “it -had been long seated.” It does not appear that Leicestershire was the -only place of residence which the ancestors of George Villiers -possessed; as the same authority expresses it, they “_chiefly_ -continued” in that county for the space of four hundred years before the -birth of the first Duke of Buckingham;[10] a time long enough, one might -suppose, to satisfy a reasonable genealogist. - -Footnote 10: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 208. - -The name of Villiers, conformably to the arbitrary spelling of ancient -times, was written differently, sometimes Villiers, at others Villers, -Villeres, and Vyleres; nor did those who bore this famous surname -finally adopt the spelling “Villiers” until the reign of James I. - -The founder of the family, Philip de Villers, of Lisle Adam, was a -Norman Seigneur; he was also Grand Master of the Island of Rhodes, and -signalized himself in the defence of that island against the Turks. -After the conquest, certain lands in Leicestershire were granted by -William the Conqueror to a Norman Knight hearing the appellation De -Villers; but another branch of the same race remained in France, and its -various members have been distinguished in courts, in arms, and as -legislators. Argiver de Villers was sewer[11] to Philip the First; -Pierre de Villers held the office of Grand Master in his native country, -under Charles the Sixth.[12] - -Footnote 11: - - Fuller’s Worthies of Leicestershire. - -Footnote 12: - - Sanderson’s Lives of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Son, p. 467. - -Invention was therefore not requisite to dignify the long unbroken line -of respectable progenitors to whom George Villiers owed his origin. -“Heraldry,” remarks a certain writer, when referring to this celebrated -man, “might blazon as large fields of his pedigree as might concern any -subject to prove.”[13] Without bringing that assertion to the test, it -is sufficient to add that successive generations flourished and passed -away, sometimes emerging from their seclusion to follow the reigning -monarch to the wars, as in the instances of Sir Alexander de Villers, -and Sir Nicholas his son, the former assisting Edward the First in the -Crusades, and adding to his name the designation of “Brookesby;” and the -latter, after sundry exploits in the Holy Land, augmenting his armorial -bearings by the Cross of St. George and five escalop shells, ancient -badges of the Crusaders; so that the “coat armour,” esteemed so mean by -Sir Symonds D’Ewes, and said to have been borrowed, was not without its -distinctions, even at an early period. - -Footnote 13: - - An officer appointed to serve up a feast. - -But it is singular that from a personage of lowly fortunes, if not of -humble family, sprang the generation which was so noted in its time. - -At Brookesby, the manorial residence of the race, there had dwelt, for -several centuries, successive proprietors, little remarkable, since the -time of the valiant Crusaders, either for their career in arms, or for -their ambition to rise in the State. A stream, dignified by the name of -the River Wreke, flows near the house, which is said to have been the -residence of the Villiers family; a gentleman’s seat, a plain and -somewhat insignificant building, having a central division, and two -projecting wings, now owns the name of Brookesby.[14] - -Footnote 14: - - It is situated nine miles from Leicester, and six from Melton Mowbray. - -The town of Brookesby has, of late years, been returned as a decayed -town; but its church is worthy of note in a county which, as Fuller -remarks, “affordeth no cathedrals, and as for the parish churches, they -may take the eye, but not ravish the admiration of the beholder.” This -structure, dedicated to St. Michael, boasts a handsome tower, above -which rises a small spire, well crocheted; the battlements of the tower -are remarkably beautiful, being open worked, and embellished with a row -of shields, of which the most conspicuous is that of George Villiers, -first Duke of Buckingham, and of his Duchess, and on it there is an -honorary augmentation, showing the descent which he claimed from the -blood royal of Edward the Fourth.[15] It seems as if, amid the decay -which surrounds it, this church has remained as a witness of the former -greatness of that now extinct branch of the Villiers family, whose -glories emblazon its battlements and windows. The direct line of the -favourite of James the First ceased in two generations after his proud -and brief career. - -Footnote 15: - - Nichols’s History of Leicestershire, vol. iii., p. 189. - -From the retirement of Brookesby, one of its owners was summoned, during -a royal progress, to the presence of Queen Elizabeth. This was Sir -George Villiers, the father of the Duke of Buckingham, who was -consequently knighted, when High Sheriff for Leicestershire,[16] by the -Queen. Sir George married the daughter of William Sanders, of -Harrington, in the County of Northampton, and had by that marriage two -sons, William, who inherited Brokesby and became a baronet; and Edward, -afterwards President of Munster, and the ancestor of the present Earl of -Jersey. - -Footnote 16: - - In 1591. Nichols’s History of Leicestershire. - -Three daughters were also the issue of this marriage; Elizabeth, who -married Lord Butler, of Bramfield; Anne, who married William Washington, -of Pakington, County of Leicester; and Frances, unmarried.[17] Their -mother died, and Sir George, perhaps imprudently, for his estate was not -considerable, formed a second union. - -Footnote 17: - - Collins’s Peerage. Edited by Sir Egerton Brydges. Art., Jersey. - -Some circumstances rendered this step, indeed, peculiarly indiscreet; -and nothing could account for so rash an act in a man of grave years, -but an infatuation produced by extraordinary personal gifts, and -probably by some ability and management on the part of his second wife. - -It is evident that the Knight had never contemplated the probability of -such an event, for he settled the greater portion of his estates upon -his first wife and her children; and a mere pittance remained for the -issue of any second marriage. Yet, in spite of these considerations, Sir -George Villiers was captivated by a handsome person, the attractions of -which appear not to have been wholly lost upon him even during the -lifetime of the first Lady Villiers. - -It happened that among the inferior servants of his household, there -lived a young woman, named Mary Beaumont, the indigent member of an -ancient family,[18] by some asserted to have been that of the Beaumonts -of Cole-Orton, in Leicestershire, by others, to have been settled at -Glenfield, in the same county. - -Footnote 18: - - Roger Coke’s Detection of the Court of James I., vol. i., p. 81. See, - also, note in the Secret History of the Court of King James I., vol. - i., p. 444, edited by Sir Walter Scott. - -The occupation of Mary Beaumont is stated to have been that of a -“kitchen-maid” in the house of Sir George Villiers, but this assertion -may possibly be traced to the desire of a certain class of writers to -debase as much as possible the family of Villiers. - -That she was, however, in a menial capacity of some kind, appears from -common report to have been understood.[19] “Her ragged habit,” observes -a contemporary historian, “could not shade the beautiful and excellent -frame of her person, which Sir George, taking notice of, prevailed with -his lady to remove her out of the kitchen into her chamber, which, with -much importunity on Sir George’s part, and unwillingness of my lady, at -last was done.” - -Footnote 19: - - Sir Anthony Weldon, speaking of the Duke of Buckingham, observes, that - his “father was of an ancient family, his mother of a mean, and a - waiting gentlewoman, with whom the old man (Sir George Villiers) fell - in love.” Secret History, vol. i., p. 442, edited by Sir Walter Scott. - -After the death of his wife, the sentiments of the widower were -expressed without reserve. He was observed “to look very sweet upon my -lady’s woman;” he was known to bestow upon her twenty pounds, to -purchase as good a dress as that sum would procure; and when he saw her -attired in a manner suitable to her age and loveliness, he was -transported with admiration. The result may easily be conceived; the -knight married the serving-maid, and as ambitious a spirit as ever -stimulated the energies of woman thus received its first gratification. -Endowed by nature with such profuse outward gifts, Mary Beaumont -possessed, no less, the advantages of a shrewd sense; she was fond, as -her subsequent career showed, of state and profusion; she became, from -her influence and her attractions, the leader of the highest circles; -whilst she retained over the mind of her son that sway which she -deservedly acquired by her care of his infancy and childhood. - -In after times, it is curious to find Mary Beaumont, then Lady Villiers -Compton, inviting her country kindred to Court, and providing a place -for them to learn to carry themselves in a “Court-like manner.” It was -the lowly serving-maid who first introduced what were called Country -Dances instead of French dances, which her provincial relations could -not learn soon enough for their deportment to assimilate with the costly -garments with which their prodigal kinswoman supplied them, in order -that they might do her credit in the gay spheres to which they were -introduced.[20] - -Footnote 20: - - Secret History, vol. i., edited by Sir Walter Scott. - -Three sons and a daughter were the offspring of this marriage; the -eldest, John, afterwards created Baron Villiers, of Stoke, and Viscount -Purbeek, was singularly infelicitous in his domestic life, but is said, -by an historian adverse to the family, to have “exceeded them all in wit -and honesty, and, by his influence, to have kept his brother George in -some bounds of modesty, whilst he lived with him, by speaking plain -English to him.”[21] - -Footnote 21: - - Nichols’s Progresses of James I., vol. iv., p. 688. - -The next child of the second marriage was George Villiers, who was born -at Brookesby, on the 20th of August in the year 1592.[22] Another son, -Christopher, became eventually Baron Daventry, and Earl of Anglesea; a -daughter, Mary, afterwards Countess of Denbigh, was also born, to -encumber, as it seemed, the limited means with which the parents of this -younger race were scarcely able to endow them. - -Footnote 22: - - Fuller styles him the second son of his mother, and the fourth of his - father.—Fuller’s Worthies of Leicestershire. - -On the fourth of January, 1605-6, Sir George Villiers died. His landed -property consisted at that time of the Manors of Brookesby, Howby, Godby -Marward, and the Grange of Goadby. These were all settled on the -children of his first marriage. He was also lay improprietor of the -tithes of herbage and hay, in the parishes of Cadewell and Wikeham, and -these, he settled on the three sons of Mary Beaumont, John, George and -Christopher;[23] his daughter appears to have been left wholly -portionless. When it is remembered that this family were all raised to -rank and opulence, and that they were, in various instances, the sources -from which the ancestry of several great houses is derived, the early -privation and difficulties of their career form a strong contrast to -their subsequent elevation. - -Footnote 23: - - Nichols’s Hist. of Leicestershire, p. 189. - -It was not alone poverty that seemed likely to keep the younger children -of Sir George Villiers in obscurity; there were wanting in his father’s -heir those qualities which bring the humble forward, and enrich more -than even prudence and frugality. Sir William, who now took possession -of Brookesby, was contented with his country lot; and so much did he -despise honours and titles, that when he was created a Baronet in -1619,[24] the dignity was almost forced upon him. “He was,” says a -contemporary author, “so careless of honour in courting that compliment, -as that the King (James First) said, ‘Sir William would scarce give him -thanks for it, and doubted whether he would accept of it.’” Thus, little -assistance in the career of life could be expected from one who would -scarcely deem the prizes most sought for by men, worth the trouble of a -little personal exertion. - -Footnote 24: - - This title, the 109th baronetcy, ceased in 1711, when the elder branch - of the Villiers family became extinct by the death of the third - Baronet, Sir William, without issue. - -Upon the death of her husband, Lady Villiers retired to Godby Marward, -which was appropriated to her as a dower house. Her son, George, was -then ten years old; the loss which he had sustained in the death of his -father, great as it seemed, was fully compensated by the care of her -whom Sir Henry Wotton entitles “his beautiful and provident mother.” The -promising boy had already received some education at Billesdon, in -Leicestershire, where he was sent to school, and instructed in music and -in some “slight literature;” but to no common hands would Lady Villiers, -as the dawning personal charms of her son unfolded, entrust the culture -of this, her favourite child; she had him, henceforth, as his biographer -expresses it, “in her especial care.”[25] Possibly, in her widowed -seclusion, when she looked upon the face which afterwards captivated all -beholders, she anticipated the day when her son should appear at Court, -and attract some marks of that royal favour which had been shewn to -Leicester, to Raleigh, and to Essex for no better reason than that they -were handsomer and more graceful than their compeers, and that their -manly beauty was set off by the gallant bearing of well-trained “carpet -knights.” Queen Elizabeth had taught her subjects to value those -attributes which had sunk so low in fashion and estimation in the -troublous reign of Mary, or during the short and saintly career of -Edward. - -Footnote 25: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -Lady Villiers had the discernment to perceive the deficiencies of her -son’s mind and character, and resolved to avail herself of those -advantages with which he was endowed, without forcing his attention to -pursuits that were ungenial to him. She soon discovered that he was -neither inclined to reflection, nor disposed to study; nor did he ever -alter in those respects, but continued, through life, illiterate, a -defect which his readiness in some measure supplied, but which prevented -his becoming a great statesman, in spite of the fairest opportunities -that ever man enjoyed. In after life he learned, when at Court, “to sift -and question well,”[26] and to supply his own shallow stock of -information by “drawing or flowing unto him” the best sources of -experience and knowledge in others. His manner, says Sir Henry Wotton, -was so sweet and attractive, “in seeking what might be for the public or -his own proper use, that if the Muses favoured him not, the Graces were -his friends;” and Lord Clarendon remarks of Villiers, that “concerning -the traits and endowments of his mind, if the consideration of learning -extend itself not further than drudgery in books, the Duke’s employment -forbids us to suspect him of being any great scholar; but if a nimble -and fluent expression and delivery of his mind (and his discourse was of -all subjects) in a natural and proper dialect be considered, he was well -lettered.”[27] - -Footnote 26: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -Footnote 27: - - Disparity between Robert Davereux, Earl of Essex, and the Duke of - Buckingham, by Lord Clarendon. - -Lady Villiers seems both to have foreseen all these defects, and to have -prognosticated the atoning graces in her son. She acted as a needy and -ambitious woman was likely to act. Instead of supplying the deficiencies -of her son’s character and intellect by a sound education, she directed -his attention to dancing, fencing, and the other exercises, styled by -Lord Clarendon “the conservative qualities and ornaments of youth.”[28] -And in these pursuits so rapid a progress was made, that the tutors of -all the three brothers were obliged to restrain the progress of George -Villiers in order that their other pupils should not be disheartened by -his proficiency. Meantime, his expanding beauty of form and face seemed -to his proud mother to render her son worthy of a higher culture than -that which she could bestow upon him at Godby. Her jointure was very -small, and although Godby, where she resided, was a suitable abode for -the widow of Sir George Villiers, the Manor House being large enough to -receive James the First and his retinue during a royal progress, yet her -poverty obliged her to live in great retirement. A rigid economy must -have been necessary to regulate its household. Lady Villiers had only -two hundred a-year, both for herself and her family, and that income was -to cease at her death, when her orphan children would have but a -pittance besides their beauty and their talents.[29] Impelled, as it is -hinted by several historians, by a desire to benefit her children, the -widowed lady, still young and fair, resolved to marry again. Sir Thomas -Marquin was first the object of her choice, and after his death, she -bestowed her hand upon Sir Thomas Compton, Knight of the Bath, and -brother of Lord Compton, First Earl of Northampton, whose marriage with -the daughter of Sir John Spencer, Lord Mayor of London, and commonly -called “rich Spencer,” had brought an increase of honour and influence -to his family. This union was the more important to Lady Villiers and -her children, because their half-brothers and sisters looked upon them -with no good will, and were little disposed to further their interests. - -Footnote 28: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 29: - - Coke’s Detection, p. 81. - -It was at that time the custom to send our young nobility, and even -their inferiors, to France to complete their education. Lady Villiers -resolved to afford her son George this advantage. She selected him from -her other children partly from partiality, for it is expressly stated -that “he who was debarred from his father’s estate was happy in his -mother’s love;”[30] and partly on account of his singular beauty of -person. He is said, indeed, to have had, when he reached man’s estate, -“no blemish from head to foot,” save that his eyebrows are stated to -have been somewhat over pendulous, a defect which some of his admirers -thought to be redeemed by the uncommon brilliancy of the eyes which -flashed beneath them.[31] The Earl of Essex, to whom Villiers is -compared, was taller, and of an “abler body” than the favourite of James -I. But Villiers had the “neater limbs and freer delivery, he carried his -well-proportioned body well, and every movement was graceful.” Nor does -Lord Clarendon, who thus describes him, think it beneath the dignity of -his subject to remark that Villiers “exceeded in the daintiness of his -leg and foot,” whilst Essex was celebrated for his hands, which, says -his panegyrist, though it be but feminine praise, “he took from his -father.”[32] The complexion of George Villiers was singularly clear and -beautiful, his forehead high and smooth, his eyes dark and full of -intelligence and sweetness, whilst the perfect oval of his face, and -delicate turn of features, fine, yet noble, and the air of refinement -which characterised both his countenance and his bearing, rendered him -one of the most attractive of human beings. As he attained to maturity, -a peculiar courtesy of manner, a frankness and merriment which diverged -at times into a total forgetfulness of forms, a power of throwing off -the appearance of all oppressing business and secret cares, although of -these he had his share, and of assuming “a very pleasant and vacant -face,” a love of social life, and certain traits of character, half -folly, half romance, won upon everyone that approached him before -prosperity had changed courtesy into arrogance, or political intrigues -marred the open expression of a physiognomy on which none could look -without admiration. - -Footnote 30: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -Footnote 31: - - Fuller’s Worthies of Leicestershire. - -Footnote 32: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, 171. - -The youth, whose promise, even at a very early age, augured the results -which I have anticipated, reached Paris after the death of Henry IV.[33] - -It was probably in the autumn that Villiers repaired to the Continent, -since it is expressly stated that he was eighteen when he undertook that -journey, and he had not attained that age until August, 1610. It seems, -therefore, likely that Villiers beheld France under a strange aspect, -that of a universal state of despair. Protestants and Catholics were -alike overwhelmed by the recent calamity; the former might well dread a -fresh massacre, but the grief of their Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen -dispelled that apprehension. The excess of lamentation, expressed -somewhat theatrically—the cries of widows and orphans in the streets—the -sight of women rushing through the mourners at the funeral, -screaming—the orations, interrupted by sobs, in which the virtues of the -deceased monarch were panegyrized—these must have ceased before Villiers -visited Paris; but the Huguenots still sheltered themselves in the -Arsenal, where the great Sully mourned his royal master and friend.[34] - -Footnote 33: - - Henry IV. was stabbed by Ravaillac on the 14th of May, 1610. - -Footnote 34: - - The women, in some instances, refused to take food, by way of shewing - their grief for the murder of Henry, and even the men gave way to - despondency. “Plusieurs des meilleurs citoyens de la ville,” says - Lacretelle; “se sont sentis frappés du coup de la mort, en apprenant - cette nouvelle; d’autres, qui expirent plus lentement, se plaignent de - survivre trop long temps a ce bon roi.”—Lacretelle “Histoire de - France,” pendant les Guerres de Religion, tome iv., p. 385. - -In Paris, Villiers remained three years, prosecuting his studies, which -consisted of French, and the practice of polite and martial exercises. -His education tended, indeed, to increase his failings, to heighten his -taste for display and love of pleasure, and to weaken his reasoning -faculties. He had, according to the acknowledgment of his great -partisan, Sir Henry Wotton, “little grammatical foundation;” and French -appears to have been the only foreign language that he ever acquired; -nevertheless, it is remarkable what application to business he evinced -during the last few years of his life; his punctuality in -correspondence, and the clear and simple style of his letters, prove how -easily his mind might have been trained to higher pursuits than those on -which his mother, worldly, but not wise, based her expectations of his -future fortunes. - -Paris, which Villiers was destined twice to revisit under circumstances -very dissimilar to those of his first residence there, was then the -resort of foreigners. The youth, who had emerged from the quiet haunts -of Goadby Grange, took his first lessons in life in the city which -Howell, in his familiar letters, styles, the “huge magazine of men.” -“Its buildings,” says that writer, “were indifferently fair; its streets -as foul during all the four seasons of the year; a perpetual current of -coaches, carts, and horses encumbering them, narrow and dirty as they -were, and were sometimes so entangled that it was an hour or more before -they could proceed. In such a stop,” as Howell terms it, “was -Ravaillac‘s fatal opportunity afforded, and the great Henry slain.”[35] -The plague[36] settled perpetually in one corner or another of Paris, -but Villiers escaped that risk; he returned, apparently exempt from -foreign vices, unscathed by a more fearful contagion than the plague; at -least, thus may we infer from the assertion of Sir Henry Wotton. “He -came home,” says that writer, “in his natural plight, without affected -forms, the ordinary disease of travellers.”[37] It may reasonably be -presumed that the young man who retains his simplicity of deportment, -still possesses a corresponding integrity of character. - -Footnote 35: - - “Howell’s Familiar Letters,” p. 39. - -Footnote 36: - - It is as well to remind the reader that before the year 1752, the - civil or legal year began on the 25th of March (Lady Day), while the - historical year began on the 1st of January, for civilians called each - day within that period one year earlier than historians. The - alteration in the calendar took place by Act of Parliament, on the 2nd - day of September, 1752, when it was enacted that the day following - should be the 14th instead of the 3rd of September.—“Nicolas’s Notitia - Historica.” - -Footnote 37: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 209. - -Villiers was now twenty-one years old; his accomplishments may shortly -be summed up: he was an excellent fencer, an incomparable dancer, he -understood the arrangement of costume and the art of dressing well, but -those valuable acquirements lay dormant in one who possessed no -wardrobe, for he went to France poor, and his family had not been -enriched during his absence. Villiers was, in addition to these graces, -a perfectly well-bred man. Lord Clarendon describes him to have been “a -fair-spoken gentleman, of a sweet and accostable nature.” At present, -his constitution, which afterwards gave way beneath the pressure of -business, or in consequence of the excitements of his dazzling career, -was in full vigour. Such was the youth who now returned to gratify his -mother’s ambitious hopes, by that career to which the efforts of the -young aristocracy of England were then chiefly directed. It may be here -remarked as singular, that Villiers was trained to no specific -profession; he had not been initiated into those elements of learning -necessary to qualify him for the church or the bar; he had not served in -the army; but was, in fact, literally brought up to follow his fortunes -at the Court of James the First. It appears to those in modern times a -bold speculation, but the character of the monarch upon whose -peculiarities it was based accounts for the scheme, apparently so -chimerical, of qualifying a son for nothing better than to depend merely -upon the chances of an hour, for, had opportunity been wanting, the -graces and accomplishments of George Villiers might have been for ever -concealed, or disregarded. - -But it is not improbable that Lady Villiers, especially after her second -marriage, had certain dependence upon the exertions of personal friends, -through whose agency she trusted to advance her son’s interests at -Court. From them, too, she probably learned that the disgrace of -Somerset was at hand. - -When Villiers returned to England, he found no better prospect before -him than to pass some time at Goadby, under the “wing and counsel of his -mother.”[38] In this retreat, he had leisure to study the temper of the -times, and to view from afar the characteristics of that sphere for -which he was destined. - -Footnote 38: - - Sir Henry Wotton.—“Reliquiæ Wottonianæ,” p. 208. - -It appears to have been the fashion of the day to rush to London, and to -desert those country seats to which James the First and his son Charles -endeavoured by proclamations and harangues to restrain the gentry. The -innovation was severely reproved by James in the summer of 1616, when he -made that memorable speech in the Star Chamber, in which he censured the -custom, attributing it, of course, to the wives and daughters of the -offenders. “Thus,” remarked James, “do they neglect the country -hospitality, and cumber the city.” He next complained of the new and -sumptuous buildings in the metropolis, of the coaches, lacqueys, and -fine clothes in which the higher classes indulged, comparing them to -“Frenchmen,” or, as if that were not harsh enough, declaring that they -“lived miserably in their houses, like Italians, becoming apes to other -nations.” Finally, he proposed to remedy these evils by an edict of the -Star Chamber. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - -JAMES I., HIS DISAPPROVAL OF THE GENTRY CROWDING INTO LONDON—DISGUST - ENTERTAINED BY THE OLD FAMILIES TO HIM AND HIS COURT—THE CLINTONS, - BLOUNTS, VERES, AND WILLOUGHBY D’ERESBYS SHOW IT—CHARACTER OF SIR - THOMAS LAKE—WILLIAM, EARL OF PEMBROKE, THE EARLY PATRON OF - VILLIERS—ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF VILLIERS TO - JAMES—AMBITIOUS VIEWS WHICH IT SUGGESTED—HIS ATTACHMENT TO THE - DAUGHTER OF SIR ROGER ASHTON—THEIR ENGAGEMENT BROKEN OFF—ACCOUNT OF - THE KING’S VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE IN 1614-15—SOME DESCRIPTION OF THE - COURTLY LADIES WHO WERE PRESENT THERE—THE QUEEN’S ABSENCE—COUNTESS - OF ARUNDEL—COUNTESS OF SOMERSET—COUNTESS OF SALISBURY—LADY HOWARD OF - WALDEN—PERFORMANCE OF THE PLAY OF “IGNORAMUS” IN CLARE HALL—THE - DESIGN OF THIS COMEDY TO RIDICULE THE COMMON LAW—ADMIRATION - EXPRESSED BY THE KING, DURING THE PERFORMANCE, OF THE PERSONAL - APPEARANCE OF VILLIERS, WHO WAS PRESENT—THE SUBSEQUENT - REPRESENTATIONS REFERRED TO. - - - - - =CHAPTER II.= - - -It might be presumed, from this harangue, that never had the Court of -James been so magnificent, nor such a throng of the high-born and the -opulent clustered in the metropolis as at that time. But the fact was -that whilst obscure country gentlemen brought thither their families, -the old nobility fled from a court which cherished Somerset and -proscribed Raleigh, and where all the real business of the King’s life -consisted in expedients to raise money in order to support an -expenditure from which he derived no dignity. The great and gallant -representatives of the Houses of Clinton, Blount, and Willoughby -D’Eresby sought in continental countries the meed of honour which was -denied them in the service of their own country by the pacific temper of -the King.[39] The Tower entombed some of the noblest spirits. There -still languished the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Wilton; the -one beloved, nevertheless, by Henry Prince of Wales, though suspected of -being concerned with his kinsman Percy in the Gunpowder Plot; the other -a “very hopeful gentleman blasted in the bud,” who had been imprisoned -since the Raleigh plot. Others prosecuted schemes of discovery; West, -Earl of Delawarr, in Virginia, attempted to second Raleigh, and -contenting himself with that return and inward satisfaction which a good -mind feels in its own consciousness of virtue, died in the undertaking. -Others, such as the Earl of Arundel, could not tolerate the vulgar -revels, the tasteless prodigality of the Court of James; that nobleman -confined himself, therefore, to the splendours of his stately home, for -his soul was not that of a patriot, nor had he, says Lord Clarendon, -“any other affection for the nation or kingdom than as he has a home in -it, in which, like the great Leviathan, he might disport himself.”[40] - -Footnote 39: - - Quotation from Birch’s work on the Colonies. See Brydges’ Peers of - England in the Time of James I., p. 171. - -Footnote 40: - - Clarendon’s History of England, vol. i., p. 55. - -Room and opportunity there were, therefore, for fresh aspirants to -compete for royal favour; nevertheless the Earl of Somerset still -reigned pre-eminent, and had then been recently promoted to the highest -office about the King’s person, that of Lord Chamberlain. The reason -assigned for this new display of partiality was also such as to prove -that Somerset was firmly planted in his sovereign’s favour. He succeeded -in the high office the Earl of Salisbury, who, as James expressed it, -was wont to entertain his royal master with “epigrams, discourses, and -learned epistles, and other such nicks and devices.” These, the King -observed, would pay no debts, and he therefore selected in Somerset, he -said, a “plain and honest gentleman, who, if he committed a fault, had -not rhetoric enough to excuse it.”[41] It seemed therefore very -improbable that Villiers should ever hope to rival one who was so rooted -in the King’s regard as the Earl of Somerset, but events which no human -foresight could have anticipated worked for him in the dark secrecy of a -woman’s guilty career. - -Footnote 41: - - Nichols’s Progresses of James I., vol. iii., page 19, note. - -Mature years, precipitated into old age by disease and infirmities, had -brought no increase to James of that practical wisdom which regulates a -Court as well as a family. His imputed wisdom, which was so over -panegyrized in his own time, and which has been too much depreciated in -ours, consisted in shrewd and sensible general notions, which he never -seems to have applied to his private benefit. - -So that, though the favour of Somerset, when George Villiers returned -from France, was in its decline, the King could not be deterred from -seeking a new object for his partiality. He might indeed have learned a -lesson which should have taught him that he had disgusted the nation and -lowered himself by his system of favouritism, yet, after recovering from -the perils and vexations of the infamous business which ruined Carr, he -had not a notion that it would be wise to profit by experience, and was -ready to commence a new career of folly, and to sacrifice all the -slender portion of dignity that remained to him—a dignity which -consisted chiefly in the general confidence of his subjects towards -him—by adopting any new object that might chance to cross his path. - -It was during the year of inaction which Villiers passed at Goadby, that -he became acquainted with the family of Sir Roger Aston. This knight was -the father of four daughters, for one of whom Villiers, in the quiet -hours of his country life, conceived an attachment. One might, on a -first view of this incident, wonder at the want of caution in Lady -Villiers, in detaining her son at Goadby, there to shackle his future -course by an early, and, apparently, unprofitable engagement; but she -was not acting, it appears, inconsistently with her schemes of future -advancement, when she permitted the intimacy which produced this result. -Sir Roger Aston was, it is true, only the base-born son of John Aston, -of Aston, in Cheshire;[42] he could, therefore, derive no lustre from -that ancient family; he had held formerly the office of barber to King -James when in Scotland, where Sir Roger was chiefly educated.[43] He -was, in time, made a groom of the royal chamber, and further promoted to -be master of the wardrobe, and, however humble his birth and education -may have been, became a person of no inconsiderable influence at Court. -During the last twenty years of Elizabeth’s reign, he was the continual -correspondent of Cecil, whom he supplied with details of all that -transpired in Scotland. The powerful minister was not, it appears, -ashamed to owe much important information to the former barber, and, -fortunately for those who rested upon the good offices of Aston, he is -reported to have been a “very honest, plain-dealing man, no dissembler, -neither did he do any ill office to any man.”[44] - -Footnote 42: - - Court of James I., by Dr. Godfrey Goodman, edited by the Rev. T. S. - Brewer, vol. i., p. 16. - -Footnote 43: - - Carte’s History of England, vol. ii., p. 42. - -Footnote 44: - - Bishop Goodman, 1, p. 18. - -In addition to these acquired advantages, Sir Roger was enabled to -provide his daughters with portions. It may, therefore, be inferred that -Lady Villiers—who could never have foreseen that her son would have -claimed the hand of an heiress of ducal line, nor have anticipated that -those attractions, of which she could but partially calculate the value, -should captivate in after times even a royal mistress—approved of the -growing affection which sprang up amid the rural scenes of Goadby. It -was permitted, indeed, at first, by both the parents, whose interests -were concerned in it, and it seems, on the part of the lady, to have -been a fervent and disinterested sentiment. But the question of a -settlement intervened: Villiers, in consideration of a handsome dower, -to which the young damsel was entitled, was required to settle upon her -the moderate sum of eighty pounds a-year. The arrangement was -impracticable, for all his fortune at that time, and even after he had -appeared for some time at Court, amounted to only fifty or sixty pounds -annually.[45] - -Footnote 45: - - Carte, vol. ii., p. 43. - -Some opposition to the engagement originated, therefore, with the -friends of the young lady, though she, passionately enamoured, was at -first fixed in her choice, and firm to her professions of affection. -“The gentlewoman,” says Sir Anthony Weldon, “loved him so well as, could -all his friends have made for her great fortune but a hundred marks -jointure, she had married him presently, in despite of all her friends, -and, no question, would have had him without any fortune at all.” But -whilst the affair was under consideration, or probably when it was -partially concluded, but was still cherished in the minds of the parties -most concerned in it, a circumstance occurred which diverted the hopes -of Villiers into another direction; a new stimulus was given to the -energies of his nature, and ambition, as it is known to have done -before, proved mightier than love. - -It was at a horse-race in Cambridgeshire that Villiers first attracted -the attention of the King. The poverty of the young man was then such -that even on this notable occasion, when the sovereign, on his annual -progress, was expected, and at a time when the costliness, or, as it was -well styled, the “bravery” of dress was at its height, he could not -afford any new attire. An “old black suit, broken out in divers places,” -was, as Sir Symonds D’Ewes asserts,[46] the garment in which his narrow -means constrained him to appear amid the gay courtiers who composed the -royal train. - -Footnote 46: - - Life of Sir Symonds D’Ewes, edited by Halliwell, vol. i., p. 86. - -As if this were not a sufficient mortification, other inconveniences -arose. The race had taken place near Linton, and most of the company -slept at that town. There was no room in the lodgings of the inn for the -ill-dressed youth in the old black suit, “and he was obliged,” adds the -same writer, “and even glad, to lie on a truckle bed in a gentleman’s -chamber, of mean quality, also, at that time, from whose own mouth I -heard this relation, who was himself an eye-witness of it.”[47] - -According to another account, it was at Apthorpe, whither King James, in -the month of August, 1614, had sent his dogs, that the monarch was so -struck by the appearance and deportment of Villiers, that he resolved to -mould him, as it were “platonically, to his own idea.”[48] The -impression produced upon the King was publicly observed by attendants -and courtiers, and the success of Villiers was decided. About this time, -indeed, Villiers formed an acquaintance upon whose counsels he acted, so -as to take the tide of fortune at its height. - -Footnote 47: - - Life of Sir Symonds D’Ewes. - -Footnote 48: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 210; and Nichols’s Progresses - - Sir Thomas Lake is said to have ushered of James I., vol. iii, p. 19. - -Villiers into the English Court,[49] and there was, perhaps, not one of -the subordinate personages better calculated to guide, in that sphere, -the first steps of an inexperienced youth than Lake. Patronized -originally by Sir Francis Walsingham, and by him recommended to the -service of Queen Elizabeth, he had acted as Secretary for the French and -Latin tongue to his Royal mistress, and acquired, from his accurate and -rapid writing, the name of “Swiftsure.” In the Court of Elizabeth, where -none but men of ability flourished, he had received his political -education. He had enjoyed the Queen’s confidence, and was reading to her -in French and Latin at the very moment when the Countess of Warwick told -him that the Queen had expired. James made him a Privy Counsellor, and -afterwards appointed him one of his Secretaries of State.[50] Lake -eventually fell into disgrace, not from his own fault, but owing to the -unfortunate marriage of his eldest daughter to the Lord de Roos, son of -the Earl of Exeter, and to the subsequent enmity of the Cecils. But at -the time when Villiers owed his first introduction to him, Lake was in -the height of his influence, and James, even after his downfall, -accorded to him the praise that “he was a Minister of State fit to serve -any greater prince in Europe.”[51] - -Footnote 49: - - Kennet’s History of England, p. 706. - -Footnote 50: - - Fuller’s Worthies of Leicestershire. - -Footnote 51: - - Fuller’s Worthies of Hants. There is a curious account of the - mysterious affair of the Lakes, in Bishop Goodman’s Court and Times of - King James, vol. i., pp. 193-197; also some letters of Lady Lake’s, in - the second volume of that work. The State Paper Office contains more - upon the same subject, as yet, inedited. - -Under such auspices, Villiers secured the best introduction to the world -that can be obtained—that afforded by individuals whose high rank was -upheld in public estimation by their personal influence; and it augurs -well of the views which were at that time entertained of his character, -and of the terms on which it was desired to place him with the King, -that those who were real lovers of their country, and patrons of its -best interests, should have presented him to their sovereign. - -Lucy Harrington, Countess of Bedford, “led him,” says Fuller, “by the -one hand, and William, Earl of Pembroke, by the other.” - -Few women shone in the giddy revels of the Court with a purer lustre -than the Countess of Bedford; her virtues and accomplishments may have -been exaggerated by grateful poets and dependants, but they were such as -to confer a certain dignity on all whom she countenanced. Hence we must -admire the discrimination of Lake in obtaining for the youthful Villiers -the friendship of one whom society estimated so highly. The sister of -Sir John Harrington, the Countess of Bedford, resembled her brother in -his love of letters, and fortune favoured the full indulgence of her -inclinations. By the death of that accomplished brother, she succeeded -to two-thirds of his possessions. She had then been married six months -to Edward, Earl of Bedford; and, at his decease, which happened in 1627, -she was left in the uncontrolled possession of all that nobleman’s -estates. This proof of her husband’s confidence and attachment was not -misapplied. The widowed Countess, resembling somewhat the Mrs. Montagu -of later times, aimed to be the patroness of poets. Of course her -motives have been satirised, and her mode of dispensing her patronage -impugned, for there seems to be, in most biographers, a love of decrying -lettered women of rank. Grainger, for instance, declares that the -Countess of Bedford bought the praise of poets by money, and that they, -in return, were lavish of incense.[52] Her taste for gardening has, -however, met with more indulgence. Sir William Temple, in his “Gardens -of Epicurus,” praises her “most perfect picture of a garden” at Moor -Park, in Surrey, for she was, in truth, the first improver of the -English flower-garden—an honourable distinction. Her education was in -conformity with the practice of the day; she was well read in classics, -and had a knowledge of ancient medals. Such was the lady-patroness of -Villiers. To her Ben Jonson inscribed three of his epigrams:[53] to her -Dr. Donne addressed several poems, whilst Daniel celebrated her in -verse. - -Footnote 52: - - Grainger’s Biography. - -Footnote 53: - - He addresses her in one of these in the following terms:— - - “Lucy, you brightness of our sphere, who are - Life of the Muses’ day, their Morning Star; - If works [not authors] their own grace should look, - Whose poems would not wish to be your books?” - -It is singular that no relics have been discovered of this far-famed -lady’s writings, though numerous allusions are made to them in the works -of others. A marvellous degree of uncertainty even attends many points -of her career; the place of her death is unknown; and she left behind -her no will; the abode on which she spent large sums is long since -levelled to the ground; this was Burleigh-on-the-Hill, which she sold, -eventually, to Villiers, when in the height of his fortunes; he erected -a noble mansion upon it, but it was destroyed in the time of the -Rebellion. Thus, as Mr. Lodge observes, “she has left, by a singular -fatality, as it should seem, a splendid reputation, which can neither be -supported nor depreciated by the evidence of historical facts.”[54] - -Footnote 54: - - Lodge’s Historical Portraits, Art. Lucy Harrington. - -Less exclusive, more patriotic, and far more popular even than the great -Earl of Arundel, William, Earl of Pembroke, stood, on that day, on the -same vantage ground with that lofty nobleman, the pre-eminence of -character. Pembroke, however, was beloved as well as respected; he was -pious, liberal, honourable; a lover of literature and the arts: he -encouraged the ingenious and the learned, not only because he delighted -in their society, but from a higher motive, a sense of duty to the -community. He inherited, indeed, that generous spirit which ennobles the -noble, for he was the nephew of Sir Philip Sydney, and the son of that -Countess of Pembroke whom Ben Jonson has termed “the subject of all -verse.” He was brave and honourable; his abilities were excellent; his -character above all suspicion of the ordinary insincerity of courtiers. -His immense fortune was employed worthily, not lavished, for his -expenses were limited only by his “great mind,” and occasions, to use it -nobly. His personal qualities were such as to make even the Court itself -respectable, and “better esteemed in the country,” and he had the -happiness, in spite of envy, to have more friends than any public -character of his time No man dared to avow himself the enemy of one who -was beloved equally at the Court of James and in the retirement of a -home circle at Wilton; who sought for neither office nor honours, and -yet was lenient to the faults from which his noble nature was exempt. - -Such was the nobleman who took by the hand a poor youth, whose present -integrity and innocence might, he perhaps believed, vanquish the -degrading influence of Somerset and his wife, to whose fame report -already attached the darkest rumours. In the patron who was moved to -second by his well-earned influence the fortunes of an obscure country -youth, Villiers was thus no less fortunate than in the favour of Lucy -Harrington. Happy had it been for him had he modelled his own conduct -and rectified his notions by the standards now placed before his view; -for there was nothing in the bearing of Pembroke to lower the dignity of -virtue. That nobleman had been termed “the very picture and _viva -effigies_ of nobility.”[55] In person, majestic, in his manners, full of -stately gravity, which characterised him, whether in repose or when -animated, his easy wit, free from every taint of malice, his habitual, -unconscious good-breeding, might have assisted that young and unformed -mind in the formation of good taste, a property which rarely flourishes -without the aid of refined associates. Some defects there were, and -those of a vital nature, which, in looking closely into any character of -that time, cannot but be discovered. These were materially owing to the -bartering marriages of the middle and early modern times—the selling -one’s dearest hopes and interests in this life for an estate, or an -honour, or a reversion. The standard of morality was, of course, -lowered, as it still is in France, by the excuse that fidelity to a wife -could hardly be expected under the circumstances of enforced unions, -sometimes contracted while the parties were children. William, Earl of -Pembroke, was one of the many who exhibited this doctrine in his -practice. United to an heiress, for whose fortune even the grave Lord -Clarendon observes, he paid “too dear by taking her person into the -bargain,”[56] he devoted himself publicly to Christian, the daughter of -Lord Bruce, afterwards Countess of Devonshire. To her he addressed those -beautiful lines which were, with other poems, edited by Dr. Donne, -prefixed with a fulsome dedication to the Countess.[57] - -Footnote 55: - - Clarendon, vol. i., p. 85; also, Lodge’s Portraits. - -Footnote 56: - - Clarendon, vol. i., p. 85; also, Lodge’s Portraits. - -Footnote 57: - - Peck’s Desiderata Curiosa, xiv., p. 541; Grainger’s Biographical - History of England, Art. Pembroke. - -To Pembroke, Buckingham was, perhaps, indebted for that love of the arts -and taste for building and embellishments which afterwards distinguished -the lordly proprietor of York House and Burleigh. It is, however, -painful to reflect that not three years after the good offices performed -by Lord Pembroke to Villiers, a coolness took place upon some matters of -little moment compared with the debt of gratitude due to the Earl by the -favourite.[58] - -Footnote 58: - - The death of this nobleman was remarkable. It had been foretold by his - tutor and Lady Davis that he should not outlive his fiftieth birthday. - The fatal day arrived; it found his Lordship very “pleasant and - healthful,” and he supped that evening at the Countess of Bedford’s; - he was then heard to remark that he should never trust a lady - prophetess again. He went to bed in the same good spirits; but was - carried off by a fit of apoplexy in the night. Before his interment it - was resolved to embalm his body; when one of the surgeons plunged his - knife into it, the Earl is said by a tradition in the family to have - lifted up one of his hands. The Lady Davis, who had foretold the death - of this nobleman, was imprisoned for some time. The Earl died in 1630. - -Notwithstanding the countenance of the Countess of Bedford, and of the -Earl of Pembroke, those who detailed the smallest incidents of the Court -observed that the favour of Villiers appeared to be stationary; even his -appointment as a Groom of the Bedchamber was deferred in favour of one -Carr, a baseborn kinsman of the Earl of Somerset; and it began to be -thought that the King’s preference for Villiers was declining.[59] But -the game was begun—the hopes of future power, of wealth, perhaps of -rank, cherished by maternal counsels, were now working upon the mind of -the young adventurer, and he resolved upon one sacrifice to obtain the -objects at which he grasped—the sacrifice was, his youthful attachment -to old Sir Roger Aston’s daughter.[60] - -Footnote 59: - - Inedited letter in the State Paper Office, from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir - Dudley Carlton, September 22nd, 1619. - -Footnote 60: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carlton, November, 1614, - given in Nichols’s Progresses of James I., vol. iii., p. 26. - -As it often happens, the relinquishment of fondly-cherished hopes was -owing, in part, to the advice of a friend: the disposition of Villiers -was naturally so generous, that, to abandon all his pretensions to one -who was willing to forego the gifts of fortune for his sake, would, -probably, not otherwise have occurred to his mind. It happened, however, -that whilst he was lingering about the Court, a young companion, Sir -Robert Graham, one of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber, professed himself -to be greatly interested in his advancement. Villiers soon constituted -Graham his “familiar friend,” and, being brought into what Sir Henry -Wotton terms “intrinsical society” with him, was naturally led to speak -of his hopes and fears, and to unfold to the young courtier, who could -boast more experience than he might pretend to possess, his projected -marriage. That bond was disapproved of by Graham. “I know not,” remarks -Wotton, “what luminaries he spied in his face;” but they were, at all -events, sufficient to indicate success at Court. Impressed with this -conviction, Graham dissuaded Villiers from his love-match, and -encouraged him rather to “woo fortune,” by still further improving the -King’s favourable sentiments towards him. It is not improbable that -Graham was the tool of that party who earnestly desired Somerset’s -downfall, and who gladly availed themselves of the attractions of young -Villiers to accomplish their desires. The advice given by Graham “sank,” -it is said, into the young man’s “fancy.” He may have remembered the -auspicious meeting at Abthorpe, when, in his old black suit, he had -charmed even the regard of a Monarch who rarely dispensed with the -display of costly garments in others, how slovenly soever he might, in -his royal pleasure, be in his own attire. A love-suit to a country -damsel, richly endowed, even if fond and faithful, seemed but a poor -exchange for a courtly career. Villiers, therefore, wavered; and perhaps -the obstacles thrown in his way by the Aston family added to his -irresolution. It is probable, too, that the prospect of aiding hereafter -his many relations and connections may have had an influence over his -decision. How great the struggle may have been, must be left to the -imagination, for no documents are at hand to reveal it. The step was -momentous; for it threw upon the world, to buffet with all the turmoils -of a conspicuous station, a man who, otherwise, would probably have -lived and died in respectable obscurity, existing upon his wife’s -fortune. - -Villiers, however, in time, adopted the advice of Sir Robert Graham. He -abjured the thoughts of an early marriage, and devoted himself to -ambition.[61] - -Footnote 61: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 210. - -An opportunity was soon found of bringing him again before the King, -under a more advantageous aspect than in his black suit, and those who -sought his advancement henceforth supplied him with the means of -appearing conformably to the fashion of the day, by affording him a -present income far above his poor patrimonial inheritance.[62] Thus -assisted, the young man prepared to meet the King at Cambridge, where, -in the month of March, 1614-15, the honour of a royal visit was -conferred upon that University. - -Footnote 62: - - Fuller’s Worthies of Leicestershire. - -The influence of the Somerset family had, in a great measure, procured -this distinction to Cambridge, in preference to Oxford; for the Earl of -Suffolk, the father of the Countess of Somerset, had been chosen -Chancellor of Cambridge during the preceding year;[63] and to honour -this nobleman,—who had also been recently constituted Lord Treasurer, an -office from which he was eventually degraded—James announced that he -purposed to fulfil an intention which he had held for some years, but -had deferred, as the good fortune of Villiers decreed, until this -critical period. For a powerful cabal was now concentrated against the -hateful sway of this branch of the Howard family, and Villiers was the -anchor on which the hopes of the adverse party rested. - -Footnote 63: - - 1613. To the sagacity of the Earl of Suffolk, and not to that of James - I., was the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot ascribed. See Winwood’s - Memorials, vol. ii., p. 186. - -On the seventh day of the month, King James made his entry into -Cambridge with as much solemnity and as great a concourse of “gallants -and great men as the hard weather and extremely foul ways would permit.” -He was accompanied by Prince Charles, who had previously visited the -University; and these royal personages were met at the boundaries of the -town by the Corporation, and welcomed by the Recorder with an address -setting forth the loyalty of the Mayor and Burgesses of Cambridge, and -insisting upon the antiquity of the town, which “was builded ‘as -historians testifie, and as these worthy personages now certified,’ -before Christ’s Incarnation, with a castle, tower, and walls of defence, -by Duke Cantaber.” “The Muses,” pursued the Recorder, “did branch from -Athens to Cambridge, and were lovinglie lodged in the houses of citizens -until ostles and halls were erected for them without endowments.” Two -cups were then presented, one to the King, the other to Prince Charles, -who was addressed as “a peerless and most noble Prince, our morning -starre,” and the procession moved onwards.[64] Among the gallants who -followed through the “foul ways” of the outskirts of the town was George -Villiers, no longer in his black and worn suit, but decked out with all -the advantages which the pride and ambition of his mother could command. -It is worthy of remark that at that time a plan for forming a public -library at Cambridge, similar to that at Oxford, was entertained by the -Heads of the College. The scheme was abandoned until many years -afterwards, when it was adopted by the very youth who passed along amid -a throng of others far more wealthy and important than himself, when he -was himself Chancellor of the University.[65] - -Footnote 64: - - Winwood’s Memorials, vol. ii., p. 48. - -Footnote 65: - - It was checked by the death of the Duke of Buckingham, whose project - had been to erect a Library between the Regent’s Walk and Caius - College. See Nichols’s Progresses, p. 40, note. - -The whole body of the collegians was drawn out in their appropriate -costume, in order to receive the King. From some of the regulations for -this occasion, it appears that the habits of the University were not at -that time the most refined, nor their taste in attire the most modest. -It was found necessary not only to forbid the graduates, scholars, and -students of the University to frequent ale-houses and taverns during His -Majesty’s sojourn, but also not to presume to take tobacco in St. -Marie’s Church, or in Trinity College Hall “upon pain of expulsion.” -These young gentlemen, too, were prone to indulge themselves in strange -“pekadivelas, vast bands, huge cuffs, shoe-roses, tufts, locks, and -topps of hair,” unbecoming that modesty and carriage suitable to the -students of so renowned a University, and it was therefore determined to -enforce the dress fixed by Statute, upon a penalty of 6s. 8d. for every -default; and in case of contempt of this warning, of a month’s -imprisonment.[66] Thus restricted, the undergraduates and their -superiors appeared in all the advantage of academic attire, and the King -and his youthful son, passing through their well-disciplined ranks, -proceeded to Trinity College, where they were domiciled. - -Footnote 66: - - Nichols’s Progresses, p. 45. - -One or two circumstances were wanting, nevertheless, to complete the -magnificence of this reception:—the first was the presence of the Queen, -who was not invited—an omission for which the Chancellor, and not the -University, was blamed—another, the scarcity of ladies, there being only -seven present, and those entirely of the Howard family. Such was the -pride or policy of that haughty and rapacious faction. - -The Countess of Arundel, wife of Philip, Earl of Arundel, the -half-brother of the Chancellor, was one of the seven present on that -occasion. She was scarcely less exalted as the wife of the great Earl of -Arundel, than as the daughter of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl -Marshal of England, whose co-heiress she was. Not only were her -possessions large, but her virtues great; she was beloved for her -excellence of character and conjugal virtues. Upon this lady’s brow, as -she passed along, a cloud of sadness may perhaps have been traced for -the loss of her son, James, Lord Maltravers, a young nobleman of great -promise, whose death, happening a few years previously, she had -incessantly deplored. By her side came the Lady Elizabeth Grey, her -sister. - -The Countess of Suffolk was, of course, an object of considerable -attention. This lady was the second wife of the Chancellor, and was -equally celebrated for her beauty and her rapacity. At the time of her -marriage with the Earl of Suffolk she was a widow, having been united to -the eldest son of Lord Rich. Her birth was not noble, but she had -inherited a portion of the estate of her father, Sir Henry Knevit, a -Wiltshire Knight. The Countess acquired a great ascendancy over her -husband, and there is too much reason to suppose that he succumbed to -the influence of her talents and her beauty, and, although he did not -share in the fruits of her peculation, permitted her to indulge her -avarice. So notorious were the bribes of which this lady accepted, that -Lord Bacon compared her to an exchange woman who kept a shop, in which -Sir John Bingley exclaimed “What do ye lack?” At length the small-pox -destroyed the beauty which had been so fatal to the Countess’s peace and -honour, and which had wrought much misery and disgrace to all who -yielded to its influence. - -But if the career of this busy female courtier were reprehensible, that -of her young and beautiful daughter, the Countess of Somerset, who -accompanied her mother that day, was tinged with guilt of a far deeper -dye. It is difficult, in modern times, to realise to one’s mind two such -women—the one availing herself of her high station and her personal -attractions to enrich her family at the expense of every delicate -sentiment and lofty principle; the other infuriated by a mad passion, -until every womanly attribute departed, and the vengeance of a fiend -alone characterised her dark career. The Countess of Somerset was, at -this time, still in the bloom of her youth, being about twenty-four -years of age, and the crimes which afterwards brought infamy and -retribution on her, were then known only to her corrupt and remorseless -heart. The Court, to use the expression of a contemporary historian, -“was her nest, and she was hatched up by her mother, whom the sour -breath of the age had already tainted, from whom the young lady might -take such a tincture, that ease, greatness, and Court glories would more -disdain and impress on her, than any way wear out and diminish.” Such -was the loveliness of this guilty woman, that those who saw her face -might, it has been said, “challenge nature for harbouring so wicked a -heart under so sweet and bewitching a countenance:”[67] nor were the -arts fashionable at the time forgotten; they heightened the attractions -of the Countess of Somerset. “All outward adornments,” we are told, “to -present beauty in her full glory, were not wanting;” among the rest, -yellow starch, “the invention and foyl of jaundiced complexions, with -great cut-work bands and piccadillies,” were adopted by the unhappy Lady -Somerset, and were, doubtless, produced on this, as upon other festive -occasions. - -Footnote 67: - - Wilson’s Reign of James I., p. 63. - -The Countess of Suffolk and her retinue proceeded to Magdalen College, -which had been founded by Lord Chancellor Audley, the grandfather of the -Earl of Suffolk.[68] - -Footnote 68: - - Lord Audley is said to have given this College the name of Magdalen, - or rather Maudleyn, in allusion to his own name, adding one letter at - the beginning and at the end. M AUDLEY N. See Nichols’s Progresses, p. - 45, note. - -The youngest daughter of the Earl of Suffolk accompanied her sister and -mother. This was Catherine, married to William Cecil, second Earl of -Salisbury. By this union long enmities between the two families of -Howard and of Percy were partially reconciled; a daughter of the house -of Cecil marrying eventually Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland, -“whose blood,” it had been said by the Earl of Salisbury, “would not -mingle in a basin,” so inborn was the hereditary hatred between the two -races. This union had been one of policy alone; for the Earl of -Salisbury inherited no traits of his ancestry but their titles; and his -weak and abject nature revived the remembrance of only the worst parts -of his father’s character; “a man,” adds Clarendon, who sums up the -whole, “of no words, except in hunting and hawking.” - -Lady Howard of Walden, the daughter of George Hume, Earl of Dunbar, and -wife of the eldest son of the Earl of Suffolk, and Lady Howard, the wife -of Thomas, Lord Howard of Charlton, his second son, completed the family -array. The latter of these two ladies was a Cecil, but her claims to -celebrity rest chiefly upon her being the mother of Lady Elisabeth -Howard, who married the great Dryden; her two sons, Sir Robert and -Edward Howard, enjoyed some portion of literary fame in their day.[69] - -Footnote 69: - - Brydge’s Peers of England, p. 260. - -The first night’s entertainment at Cambridge was a comedy, acted by the -gownsmen of St. John’s College. This was a sort of burlesque, ridiculing -Sir Edward Radcliffe, the King’s physician; it proved, according to -public opinion, but “a lean argument, and though it was larded with -pretty shows at the beginning and end, and with somewhat too broad -speech for such a presence, still it was dry.” - -On the following evening there was performed in Clare Hall the famous -play of “Ignoramus” a burlesque. This production was attributed to -George Buggle, a Fellow of Clare Hall. It was written and spoken in -Latin, nor was it even printed at the time when it agitated the polite -and learned society by which its points and satire were so keenly -enjoyed. The manuscript was, it appears, destroyed; and it was not until -ten years after the death of its reputed author that it was thought -prudent to print it, having been taken down from the mouth of the -author. The design of this popular comedy was to ridicule the Common -Law, and no one enjoyed the satire more than the august individual whose -office it was to uphold the laws. Never, it has been said, did anything -fascinate the King’s attention or suit his taste so much as this -representation, and he commanded several repetitions by the same -performers. “Ignoramus” was not, however, readily forgiven or forgotten -by that body whom it attacked; and, whilst the King and his Court -derived the most lively pleasure from its mingled invective and -burlesque, the lawyers were greatly offended by its pungent satire. -Successive publications afterwards appeared, taxing the justice of this -attack upon the legal profession, and written with much bitterness. - -During the performance of this play, the King’s attention was not, -however, wholly riveted upon “Ignoramus” and his associates; among the -audience in Clare Hall, George Villiers, decorated with all the care -that his mother’s pride and affection could suggest, appeared, -resplendent in beauty. “The King,” to use the expression of a -contemporary writer, “fell into admiration of him,” so that he became -confounded between his delight at the appearance of Villiers and the -pleasure of the play. To both of these contending emotions, James, with -his usual absence of dignity, gave a free expression. “This,” says Roger -Coke, “set the heads of the courtiers at work how to get Somerset out of -favour, and to bring Villiers in.”[70] - -Footnote 70: - - Coke’s Detention, p. 82. - -Ample time was permitted during the tedious performance for the King to -observe the young adventurer who sought his favour, and for busy -politicians to build upon the absurd partiality of the weak old King. -The representation of “Ignoramus,” with its dull pedantic jests, and its -personalities, long since passed away and forgotten, lasted eight hours; -the second time it commenced at eight in the evening, and was not -concluded until one in the morning. - -The performers were chiefly Fellows of Clare Hall and of Queen’s -College, and their efforts met with the greatest applause. Thus, in -Bishop Corbet’s “Grave Poem,” written in 1614, to celebrate the -occasion, it is said:— - - Nothing did win more praise of mine, - Than did these actors, most divine. - -And, alluding to the clerical character of these much-approved -individuals, he adds:— - - Their play had sundry wise factors, - A perfect diocess of actors - Upon the stage, for I am sure that - There was both bishop, pastor, curate, - Nor was their labour light and small, - The charge of some was pastoral.[71] - -Footnote 71: - - Nichols’s Progress of James I., vol. iii., p. 70. - -Several of the younger men who figured on the stage of Clare Hall were -associated in their subsequent career with some of the most important -events of the period in which they lived. At the last hour, a boy of -thirteen was called upon to act the part of Surda, in which it was -necessary to assume female attire. This youth was, even at that early -age, an undergraduate; and he was thus summoned hastily to learn a new -part in addition to that of Venica, which had been allotted to him, from -the scruples of his tutor, the Rev. Mr. Fairclough, who had been -selected to undertake the character of Surda on account of his low -stature; but Mr. Fairclough was a Puritan, and, deeming it a species of -deception to wear women’s clothes, abjured the degrading task. The boy -who now supplied his place was Spencer Compton, afterwards Lord Compton, -an early favourite and attendant of Charles I., whom he accompanied into -Spain. His loyal exertions in the cause of his unfortunate master shed, -in after life, honour upon his name. Mr. Fairclough was not the only -person who objected to lower the dignity of man’s estate by the -assumption of a woman’s gown. The Head of Emmanuel College, then -esteemed a Puritanical house, objected also to one of its undergraduates -accepting the part of a girl; but these scruples were overruled by the -guardian of the youth.[72] - -Footnote 72: - - Sir Walter Mildmay, the founder of Emmanuel College, being at the - Court of Queen Elizabeth, she said to him:—“Sir Walter, I hear you - have erected a Puritan Foundation.” “No, madam,” he replied; “far be - it from me to countenance anything contrary to your established laws; - but I have set an acorn, and when it becomes an oak, God alone knows - what will be the fruit thereof.”—Fuller’s History of Cambridge, p. - 147. - -In the “Grave Poem” of Bishop Corbet, Emmanuel College is thus -satirised:— - - But th’ poor house of Emmanuel - Would not be like proud Jesabel, - Nor shew herself before the King, - An hypocrite, or painted thing; - [And images she would have none, - For fear of superstition, or] - But that the ways might seem more fair, - Conceived a tedious mile of prayer.[73] - -Footnote 73: - - Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 67. - -The plot of “Ignoramus” was borrowed from the Trappolaria of -Giamballista Porta, an Italian dramatist, but the characters were taken -from life. “Ignoramus” was designed to personify Mr. Francis Brakyn, the -Recorder of Cambridge, who had rendered himself obnoxious to the -University in a dispute about precedence between the Mayor of the town -and the Vice-Chancellor. Mr. Brakyn was a barrister, and the ridicule -cast upon him was as much enjoyed by the dignified heads of houses as by -noisy undergraduates.[74] - -Footnote 74: - - A list of the _dramatis personæ_ in the play of “Ignoramus” is - preserved in Emmanuel College; it was once in the possession of - Archbishop Sancroft; and an elaborate edition of the play, with - valuable notes, has been printed by T.S. Hawkins. - -Amongst the performers was John Cole, afterwards Earl of Clare, -distinguished for his moderation in the Civil Wars. The youth who was -nearly being precluded from acting by the tutors of Emmanuel College, -was the Rev. John Towers, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, one of the -twelve loyal Prelates imprisoned by Parliament. Fuller says of him, “He -was a great actor when young, and a great sufferer when old, dying rich -only in children and patience.” “Ignoramus” was translated into English -in the year 1678, and a mutilated version of it was produced at the -Royal Theatre in the same year, called the “English Lawyer.” This was -written by Edward Ravenscroft.[75] - -Footnote 75: - - Nichols’s Progresses of James I., vol iii., p. 50. - -Another play, entitled “Albumazar,” followed the successful -representation of “Ignoramus;” this, and a Latin pastoral, were the -“action or invention of Trinity College, and met with a gracious -approval from the King, who, even at his repasts, was now heard loudly -to extol Cambridge above Oxford; and yet an awkward incident occurred -during the royal visit. During the acts and disputations, in which James -delighted, the University orator addressed Prince Charles, who stood -beside his father, as Prince Jacobissime Carole;” it was also said that -he called him Jacobule, too, which, observed an eye-witness, “neither -pleased the King nor anybody else.”[76] Buckingham, who possibly -understood no Latin, must have found the dramas, the pastoral, the acts -and disputations insufferably tedious; but he was now the tool of a -party, and therefore, doubtless, remained to witness all these various -exhibitions, little dreaming that one day he was to be installed -Chancellor of that very University. Dark and contemptuous looks were -discerned on the faces of sundry jealous Oxonians, who had gone to see -and to ridicule their rivals, the Cambridge men, who were continually, -as a contemporary relates, “applauding themselves, and the Oxford men as -fast condemning and detracting all that was done.”[77] The best comment -upon the exploits of the boastful collegians was that returned by Mr. -Corbet, afterwards Bishop Corbet, who, “being seriously dealt withal by -some friends to say what he thought, answered that he had left his -malice and judgment at home, and came thither only to commend.”[78] - -Footnote 76: - - Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 59. - -Footnote 77: - - Nichols’s Progresses. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Mr. D. Carleton, - State Papers, Domestic, James I. - -Footnote 78: - - Ibid. - -King James, however, expressed such unqualified admiration of what he -saw, that fears were entertained by those who had had to entertain him -that he would have repeated his visit privately; apprehensions were felt -also lest he should order the performers of the “Ignoramus,” a band -chiefly composed of ghostly preachers and learned bachelors of divinity, -to repair to London; but the panic was groundless, and neither of these -dreaded events took place. Great, indeed, was the expense of the -reception and provision considered suitable to the grandeur of the -occasion. Nor was it long before events still more ruinous to the Earl -of Suffolk and his family than their enormous expenditure to grace the -King’s visit at Cambridge scandalized the public mind. The jealousy of -the Earl of Somerset was now aroused by the favour shown at Court to his -young rival. Slight occurrences warned the sinking favourite of his own -unpopularity. An entertainment was given at Baynard’s Castle by three -great families—those of Herbert, Hertford, and Bedford; as the company -were repairing to the appointed place, they discerned Somerset’s -portrait hanging out of a limner’s shop. Sanderson, the historian, who -happened to be a bystander, took occasion to inquire “on what score that -was done?” The reply was, “that this meeting at Baynard’s Castle was to -discover;” for there it appears the scheme to elevate Villiers was -concocted by those who viewed with disgust the ascendancy of Somerset. - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE FASCINATION OF VILLIER’S CHARACTER AS OPPOSED TO THE VENALITY - OF SOMERSET—LORD CLARENDON’S OPINION—THE FRIENDSHIP OF - ARCHBISHOP ABBOT—CHARACTER OF THE PRIMATE—HIS AFFECTION FOR - VILLIERS—ANECDOTE OF VILLIERS WHEN CUP-BEARER—HE IS BEFRIENDED - BY ANNE OF DENMARK—BY HER MEANS KNIGHTED—SINGULAR SCENE IN THE - QUEEN’S CHAMBER—JEALOUSY OF SOMERSET—INGRATITUDE AFTERWARDS - SHEWN BY VILLIERS TO ABBOT—ABBOT COMMITS MANSLAUGHTER—IS - PARDONED BY THE KING—THE INCESSANT PLEASURES OF THE - COURT—HORSE-RACING—BEN JONSON’S “GOLDEN AGE RESTORED”—ALLUSION - IN IT TO SOMERSET, AND TO OVERBURY—AN ANGRY INTERVIEW BETWEEN - VILLIERS AND SOMERSET—VILLIERS SUPPLANTS THE FAVOURITE—HE USES - NO UNFAIR MEANS TO DO SO—DISCOVERY OF SOMERSET’S GUILT BY - WINWOOD, WHO FINDS PROOFS OF IT IN AN OLD TRUNK—SOMERSET’S - DOWNFALL—BACON’S LETTER TO VILLIERS—VILLIERS CONTINUES TO - PROFIT BY THE DELINQUENCIES AND DISGRACE OF SOMERSET. - - - - - =CHAPTER III.= - - -Introduced, as he now found himself, into the atmosphere of a Court, -Buckingham retained the free and joyous spirit, the boyish impetuosity, -the incapability of dissimulation which characterised him during the -whole of his life. The combination of “English familiarity and French -vivacity” have in his deportment been happily expressed by Hume. The -carelessness of consequences, which was a part of his variable and -fascinating character, was soon perceived by his friends, soon made the -theme of comment on the part of his enemies. - -To those who had long deplored the rapacity of Somerset, and who viewed, -in the depravity of the Court, the degradation of the nation, the very -imprudence of Villiers, coupled, as it was, with great courage, quick -perceptions, energy, and a capability of being aroused to high designs -and “lofty aspirations,”[79] must have been refreshing. “As yet,” says -Lord Clarendon, “he was the most rarely accomplished the Court had ever -beheld; while some that found inconvenience in his nearness, intending -by some affront to discountenance him, perceived he had masked under the -gentleness of a terrible courage as could safely protect all his -sweetness.” The rise of this gifted and fascinating adventurer, rapid as -it undoubtedly was, was obstructed by various obstacles, the details of -which are not to be found in the ordinary narratives of his career. - -Footnote 79: - - See the Character of Buckingham in Disraeli’s Commentaries on Charles - I., vol. ii., p, 163. - -Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, held at this time a supreme influence -both in Church and in State affairs. His great learning, his eloquence, -his moderation, and his indefatigable exertions for the public welfare -procured him at once the confidence of the country and the goodwill of -his sovereign. By his conciliatory deportment, Abbot, when he held the -appointment of chaplain to the Earl of Dunbar, Treasurer of Scotland, -effected such an understanding, as to ensure the establishment of the -Episcopal order in that country. He was also one of the eight divines at -Oxford to whom the charge of translating the New Testament, with the -exception of the Epistles, was entrusted.[80] Thus qualified for the -highest station in his sacred profession, Abbot had attained the rare -art of satisfying all parties. His zeal for the Protestant faith secured -the esteem of the Calvinist, and his devotion to the order to which he -belonged satisfied even the disciples of Laud. - -Footnote 80: - - Biographia Britannica. - -This prelate now became the patron of George Villiers. Perhaps the -fearless, open disposition of the youth interested the Archbishop, who -was by no means an austere churchman, but who mingled to a great extent -in secular affairs, and united a love of popular diversions with his -saintly zeal and real piety of character;—enjoyed a day’s hunting, and -regulated alternately the concerns of foreign nations and the disputes -of controversialists. Archbishop Abbot appears to have fostered Villiers -as a son. A circumstance shortly occurred which showed how necessary to -the well-being of the rash youth such a protector and counsellor must -have proved. - -Villiers now held the office of cup-bearer, and, since it was purchased, -as most offices in that reign were, it is probable that those who -promoted his rise, from a hatred of the Earl of Somerset, supplied him -with the means of thus drawing near to his sovereign at the social -board; nor was the office in those days, when James was frequently in a -state of inebriation, a sinecure. - -One day, Villiers happened to take by mistake the upper end of the board -instead of another attendant. The person whom he had thus superseded was -a creature of Somerset’s; Villiers was told of his error in an offensive -manner, and removed from his post. Incensed afterwards by a second -instance of incivility, he lost his self-control, and gave his brother -cup-bearer a blow. By the custom of the Court, Villiers thus made -himself liable to have his hand cut off; and Somerset, who was Lord -Chamberlain, was bound by his office to see that penalty inflicted. It -may readily be conceived with what alacrity Somerset would have -fulfilled this part of his duty, but the King interposed, and pardoned -Villiers, “who henceforth,” remarks an historian, “was regarded as a -budding favourite, and appeared like a proper palm beside the discerning -spirit of the King, who first cherished him, through his innate virtue, -that surprised all men.”[81] - -Footnote 81: - - Sanderson’s Life of James I., pp. 45 and 457. - -It was however necessary that the merits of Villiers should be unfolded -to the Queen. Anne of Denmark, although apparently slighted by her royal -husband, exercised so considerable a control over his actions that he -never, according to the testimony of Archbishop Abbot, “would admit -anyone to nearness about himself but such a one as the Queen should -commend unto him, and had made some suit on his behalf.” Nor did this -wholly proceed from a reverence for Her Majesty’s judgment. It was the -result of the mingled weakness of conduct and duplicity which -characterised James, forming a strong contrast with his real ability and -acquirements; the absence of good sense and good taste were equally -conspicuous in all he did in private life; but he was cunning enough to -desire that if he made a false step the blame should rest upon his -Queen. His motive in desiring her approval was that, if she were ill -treated by the favourite, he might have the power of saying to her, “You -were the party that commended him to me.” “Our old master,” remarks -Archbishop Abbot, “took delight in things of this nature.”[82] - -Footnote 82: - - Rushworth’s Collections, vol. i., pp. 460 and 461. - -Queen Anne had previously been solicited in behalf of Villiers, but in -vain; Abbot was, however, successful in his application. For some time, -indeed, the Queen answered him in these terms: “My lord, you and your -friends know not what you ask, for if this young man be brought in, the -first persons that he will plague will be you that labour for him. Yea, -I shall have my part also; the King,” added the wary Queen, “will teach -him to despise and hardly entreat us, that he may seem to be beholden to -no one but himself.” - -“Noble Queen,” exclaimed Abbot, when, after experiencing the hollowness -of Court favour and the ingratitude of Buckingham, he wrote the -narrative of these incidents, “how like a prophetess did you speak!” -Upon the compliance of the Queen, it was resolved to introduce Villiers -to the King, for the double honour of being appointed one of His -Majesty’s Gentlemen of the Bedchamber, and of receiving knighthood. The -day was approaching, when Villiers fell ill, not without suspicion of -having taken the small-pox. This happened when all his friends were -“casting about” how to make him a great man. On the twenty-third of -April[83] he was, however, sufficiently recovered for the good offices -of his party to take effect. - -Footnote 83: - - 1615. - -The event was accomplished in the following manner:—The Queen and Prince -being in the King’s bedchamber, it was contrived that Villiers,[84] who -was near, should be summoned on some pretext, and when the “Queen saw -her own time, he was asked in.” “Then,” says an historian, “did the -Queen speak to the Prince to draw out the sword and to give it her; and -immediately, with the sword drawn, she kneeled to the King, and humbly -beseeched His Majesty to do her that especial favour as to knight this -noble gentleman, whose name was George, for the honour of St. George, -whose feast was now kept. The King at first seemed to be afraid that the -Queen should come too near him with a naked sword, but then he did it -very joyfully, and it might very well be that it was his own contriving, -for he did much please himself with such inventions.”[85] - -Footnote 84: - - State Paper, Domestic, 1616. Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley - Carleton. - -Footnote 85: - - See Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 80. By a page in that work, it - appears that Villiers’ appointment to the Royal Chambers, and his - being knighted, took place on successive days, the ceremony of - knighthood being performed at Somerset House. - -It must have been a strange scene, for Somerset, who was at hand, -entreated of the King that his rival might only be made a Groom of the -Chamber; but Abbot, and others whom the Archbishop does not name, stood -at the door and plied the Queen with messages that she would “perfect -her work, and cause him to be made a gentleman,” and Her Majesty, as we -have seen, prevailed. Nor were these honours, in the case of Villiers, -attended with the expense which usually lessened their value; on the -contrary, a pension of a thousand pounds was added to maintain the -dignity of knighthood.[86] - -Footnote 86: - - Life of Bishop Goodman, vol. i., p. 223. - -The termination of this incident, so important in the life of Villiers, -is related by Archbishop Abbot; Villiers at this time called him -“father.” The professions which he made to his reverend patron were then -doubtless sincere; but gratitude was not the only good seed which -political feuds and evil counsels stifled in the breast of Villiers. - -“George,” relates the prelate, “went in with the King, but no sooner he -got loose but he came forth unto me into the Privy Gallery, and there -embraced me. He professed that he was so infinitely bound unto me, that -all his life long he must honour me as his father; and now he did -beseech me, that I would give him some lessons how he should carry -himself.” These lessons were three in number:—first, to pray daily to -God to bless the King his master, and to give him grace studiously to -serve and please him. The second was, that he should do all good offices -between the King and the Queen, the King and the Prince. The third, that -he should fill his master’s ears with nothing but the truth. These -excellent instructions were afterwards repeated to James, who observed -that they were “instructions worthy of an archbishop to give to a young -man.” - -For some time, an affection, on the one hand expressed in parental -terms, and gratitude on the other, continued. “And now, my George,” -wrote the Archbishop, “because, out of your kind affection to me, you -style me your father, I will from this day forward repute and esteem you -for my son, and so hereafter you know yourself to be; and in token -thereof I do now give you my blessing again, and charge you, as my son, -daily to serve God, to be diligent and pleasing to your master, and to -be wary that at no man’s instance you press him with many suits, because -they are not your friends who urge those things upon you, but have -private ends of their own, which are not fit for you. So praying God to -bless you, - - “I rest, your very loving father, - - “G. CANT.”[87] - -Footnote 87: - - Extract from a letter quoted in Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol ii., p. - 160. This epistle is endorsed “To my very loving son, Sir George - Villiers, Knight,” and dated Lambeth, December 10th, 1615. - -The conduct of Villiers on a subsequent occasion made a deep impression -on the mind of the excellent prelate who thus befriended the youth. “The -Roman historian, Tacitus,” he bitterly remarks, “hath somewhere a note, -that benefits while they may be requited, seem courtesies, but when they -are so high that they cannot be repaid, they prove matters of -hatred.”[88] This was a severe reflection on one who ought never to have -forgotten the greatest of all obligations, those bestowed on the -unfriended by one in the height of favour. Villiers may henceforth be -regarded as fairly launched in his career; it was perhaps his misfortune -that so few important obstacles occurred in his progress, and that it -was achieved by an apparent concurrence of lucky events, and not by -patient merit, nor by any of the legitimate sources of success. “The -genius of the man,” observes a modern writer, “was daring and -magnificent, and his elocution was graceful as his manners; but these -were natural talents; he possessed no acquired ones.”[89] - -Footnote 88: - - Rushworth’s Collections, vol. i., p. 460. - -Footnote 89: - - See the Character of Buckingham, Disraeli’s Charles I., ii., p. 167. - -A true, free-spoken, conscientious friend might have guarded his youth -from peril, and given to his aspiring mind a laudable bias. Abbot would -have been that friend, but Abbot was soon discarded, and an incident -occurred some years afterwards which clouded this excellent prelate’s -days, and produced a temporary, though unmerited, disgrace. - -The archbishop, like many churchmen of his time, was an ardent lover of -the chace. In this respect he resembled Cranmer, who was so great a -horseman as to be called the “rough rider,” since no steed came amiss to -his fearless and practised guidance. - -Abbot was hunting, in the summer of 1621, in Lord Zouch’s park of -Bramsell, in Hampshire. He aimed at a deer, which, leaping up, evaded -the shot, but a gamekeeper who had hidden himself behind the herd, was -killed by the discharge from the lively primate’s gun. An inquest was -held, and a verdict of death by “misfortune and the keeper’s own fault” -was returned. It appeared that the man had been that very morning warned -not to go in that direction. King James, on first hearing of this -occurrence, declared that none “but a fool or knave would think the -worse of Abbot for that accident, the like of which had once nearly -happened to himself.” - -Abbot, it seemed, had gone into Hampshire with the intention of -consecrating a chapel as Lord Zouch’s, and not merely for the purposes -of amusement.[90] On considering the matter, nevertheless, his legal -advisers did not consider the verdict to have been legally drawn up. -Abbot therefore wrote to Lord Zouch, requesting him to have the coroner -and jury re-summoned, and the verdict re-considered, the credit of his -profession being involved, and his enemies ready to slander him.[91] In -a subsequent letter he recalled this request, declaring that it was -unnecessary; that he had a clear conscience, and was anxious to do -everything to give his enemies no advantages over him. In a few days, -nevertheless, he went again to Lord Zouch, declaring that his unhappy -accident had been a bitter potion to him, on account of the conflict -with his conscience, complaining that he was the talk of men, the cause -of rejoicing to the Papist and insult to the Puritan.[92] The King was -still gracious to him, but the primate remained in seclusion, and -misfortune seemed at hand.[93] These letters were written in August. In -the October of the same year, the King appointed an inquiry into the -accidental killing of the keeper in Bramsell Park, and desired three -bishops and others to examine whether there had been scandal brought -upon the Church or not.[94] The commissioners were divided, strange to -say, upon the question of the archbishop’s guilt or innocence, but their -decision, influenced by the strong advocacy of the Bishop of Winchester, -was ultimately in his favour. The King, as the head of the Church, then -absolved him, but all the new bishops were so unwilling to receive -consecration at his hand, that Abbot was obliged to appoint three -prelates to consecrate for him. All forfeitures and penalties for this -offence were remitted, and the archbishop restored to the King’s -presence. There is, however, no proof of what one looks for with -solicitude, the mediation of Buckingham in favour of his friend and -patron, although there is no reason, from the result, to suppose that it -may not have been exerted. - -Footnote 90: - - State Papers, Domestic, cxxii., No. 28. - -Footnote 91: - - State Papers, Ibid, No. 61. - -Footnote 92: - - Ibid, No. 97, vol. ii., 112. - -Footnote 93: - - Ibid, vol. cxxiii. - -Footnote 94: - - Ibid, cxxiii. No. 1000. - -This attempt to make the archbishop’s mishap a “culpable homicide,” -originated in the Lord Keeper Williams, who had formed a plot for -_depriving_ Abbot. The accusation was based upon the ground that the -primate had been employed in an unlawful act when the accident occurred, -but Coke decreed that “by the laws of the realm, a bishop may lawfully -hunt in a park; hunt he may, because a bishop, when dying, is to leave -his pack of hounds to the King’s free will and disposal.”[95] - -Footnote 95: - - Lord Campbell’s Life of Coke, p. 314. - -Such were the incidents which deprived Villiers, for a time, of the -valuable counsels of Abbot. It must, however, be also remembered, when -the real ignorance of Villiers is considered, and when his deficiencies -and his errors are lamented as constituting in his case a national -misfortune, that in his career as a courtier he wanted the needful -element in all improvement, leisure. The daily existence of James was -made up of toilsome pleasures,—the chase, the drama, the mask,—at which -Villiers, weary, doubtless, at times, of the incessant pageant, -sometimes assisted. He soon imbibed a still greater taste for display -than even his crafty mother had implanted in him for ambitious purposes, -and became, like most persons suddenly raised from poverty and -obscurity, inordinately ostentatious and prodigal. - -It is amusing, however, to find him, in the early days of his greatness, -learning horsemanship. James was passionately fond of seeing others -exhibit on horseback. One of his favourite places of resort was -Newmarket. The King generally joined in all country amusements, drawn in -a litter, a mortal inward disease even then making that gentle movement -necessary; whilst the young and noble thronged around him on their -steeds, set off in all the bravery of costly caparisons. Prince Henry -had, during his brief career, set the fashion of a fondness for -horse-racing, and James, who suffered so many of his accomplished son’s -higher objects to become extinct in his grave, maintained in all its -prosperity that diversion. Newmarket, henceforth, was a favourite place -of resort. Amongst the late Prince’s equerries was a Frenchman named St. -Antoine, whose feats are frequently the subject of comment in the -newsletters of the day. - -It was in the depth of the winter when James, attended by twenty earls -and barons, repaired to Newmarket. There was little accommodation for -them in that place, and the gay company were obliged to bestow -themselves in the poor villages around. Every morning, whilst at this -resort, Villiers was mounted on horseback, and taught to ride;[96] and -his progress in the King’s favour seemed to be commensurate with his -prowess. This was in the December of the year 1615. On the fourth of -January, 1615-16, Villiers was appointed Master of the Horse, instead of -the Earl of Worcester, who resigned all his posts into the King’s hands, -and was made Lord Privy Seal.[97] - -Footnote 96: - - Probably by Mons. St. Antoine, the equerry to M. Henry. He was engaged - as a riding-master, as we find by Endymion Porter’s letters, (State - Paper Office, Domestic) to many persons of condition. - -Footnote 97: - - Nichols’s Progresses, 7, 1, iii., 131. - -This mark of royal preference gave a fresh impetus to the decline of -Somerset’s fortunes. In a masque written by Ben Johnson, and performed -at court, a bold allusion was made to the sinking prosperity of the -Earl, and a hint thrown out of his suspected crime. The play was -entitled, “The Golden Age Restored,” and these lines excited -considerable attention and speculation— - - “Jove can endure no longer - Your great ones should your less invade: - Or that your weak, _though bad_, be made, - A prey unto the stronger.” - -The “weak” was conjectured to be Overbury, and the delicacy of the -allusion has been pronounced by a modern critic[98] “to be above all -praise.” The masque was followed by a banquet, at which the new Master -of the Horse doubtless assisted, attired in all the splendours which his -now adequate means enabled him to assume. - -Footnote 98: - - Gifford. Ben Jonson’s Works. - -Those who viewed, merely as spectators, these various incidents, were -curious to know on what terms Somerset and his young rival stood -together. It was impossible, they knew, for James, always involved, as -he was, in the labyrinths of some crooked policy, not to temporise with -one whose influence over him was fast waning away, not to unite, if -possible, amity to Somerset with partiality to Villiers. Accordingly, -whilst honours were thus showered upon the new favourite, “like main -showers, then sprinkling drops on dews,”[99] it was still thought -necessary to conciliate Somerset, and to make it appear, at all events -to the public, that Villiers owed his elevation to the goodwill of that -offended and resentful nobleman. - -Footnote 99: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 210. - -It was deemed, therefore, expedient to take the very first opportunity -that could be available for propitiating Somerset, and, accordingly, -after the completion of the ceremonial of knighting, Sir Humphrey May -was despatched to inform Somerset that “Sir George Villiers, newly -knighted, would desire his protection.” Half an hour afterwards, Sir -George visited the Lord Chamberlain, and paid him this compliment:— - -“My lord, I desire to be your servant and creature, and to take my court -preferment under your favour, assuring your lordship that you shall find -me as faithful a servant as ever did serve you.” - -He spoke, however, to the inflamed mind of a jealous foe. The Earl is -said to have turned fiercely upon him, and answered impetuously in these -words:—[100] - -“I will have none of your service, and you shall have none of my favour. -I will, if I can, break your neck, and of that be confident.” This rash -conduct is declared to have hastened the fall of Somerset, by proving to -the friends of Villiers that one of the two rivals in the royal favour -must retire, and that Somerset would brook no equal in the court. - -Footnote 100: - - Birch’s MS., British Museum, 4176. - -But there were other circumstances palpably concurring to close the -shameless career of Somerset, and abundantly accounting for his fall, -without attributing much importance to the adventitious appearance of -George Villiers at Court. The discovery of his guilt by Secretary -Winwood[101] was preceded by such a long course of public and private -profligacy, that it is no wonder that Somerset should see, in the -prosperity of a young man whose reputation was unstained by a single -crime, an earnest of his own downfall, and that he should employ the -greater precaution to avert the coming storm. His efforts were, however, -unavailing. His sending away the apothecary who administered the poison -to Overbury to France; his disgracing all who spoke of the death of that -unfortunate man, hoping by such arbitrary acts to smother the -remembrance of that crime; his tyrannical investigation, by his warrant -as a privy counsellor, of all trunks, chests, and libraries in which he -suspected that any letters relative to that dark business might be -concealed; all were proofs confirmatory of that dark and foul plot the -recollection of which permitted to the terror-stricken Somerset not one -moment of comfort. He now began to act as a friendless and desperate -man, who, feeling that the ground is slipping from beneath his feet, -tries to hoard up wealth as a resource. He undertook no intercession -with the King without large bribes; and every new occurrence brought him -what is termed by the authors of the tract entitled “The First Fourteen -Years of King James’s Reign,” a fleece of money.[102] Offices about the -Court were all for the highest bidder, and even the King’s letters were -bought and sold; no plunder was obtained without purchase, so that -Somerset was soon known to be as notorious a bribe-taker as his -mother-in-law, the Countess of Suffolk. The high-born and the -highly-principled saw with disgust, now ill-concealed, the minion -leaning on the King’s cushion even in public, and treating their haughty -and influential class with rash scorn, disdaining even that respect -which was imperatively due to the Primate, Abbot, whose popularity was -at that time in its zenith. Many suspected that beneath this arrogant -bearing, stimulating an impolitic cupidity of gain, there lurked secret -fears and a stricken heart, a horror of the past and a dread of the -future; and conjectured, as well they might, that Somerset was never -more to know repose of mind—nor, perhaps, long to enjoy personal -security.[103] - -Footnote 101: - - Of the mode of this discovery, differing accounts are given. According - to Carte, Winwood derived the information of Somerset’s guilt, from - Archbishop Abbot, who detected it in some papers found in a trunk, - which was brought to the Archbishop by a servant of Overbury’s. See - Carte’s Hist. Eng. vol. ii. p. 43. Sir Symonds D’Ewes declares that - the foul deed was disclosed by Sir Thomas Elwis, Lieutenant of the - Tower, to Secretary Winwood, acknowledging and excusing his own - connivance in the affair, and laying the instigation of it to the - account of Somerset and his wretched wife.—D’Ewes’s MS. Journal in - Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol. iv., p. 144. - -Footnote 102: - - Published in Somers’s Tracts, vol. ii. - -Footnote 103: - - Somerset was even accused of having poisoned Prince Henry; but - Coppinger, a former servant of his, who accused him of that crime, was - said to be “cracked in his wits.” State Papers, vol. cxxxvii., p. 27. - -By all these circumstances Villiers wisely profited during his early -days of favour; and happy had it been for him had he never forgotten the -lesson thus afforded him in the awful tragedy of Somerset’s career; more -awful, perhaps, than if the secret sins of the wretched Earl had been -visited with a signal retribution from the hand of power. There is -something in this miscreant’s forlorn and protracted existence, after -all that in life is valuable—honour, peace of mind, influence—were gone, -that is more desolate and appalling to the fancy than if the Tower had -for ever enclosed him, or the executioner claimed his life as a penalty -for his sins. The unpunished murderer walking abroad, shunned by all, is -a sort of moral leper; desolate in his freedom, and chastised even by -the silence and avoidance of his fellow men. - -That Villiers took any active part in the measures which ensued, his -bitterest foes have not ventured to allege. Young, devoted to pleasure, -indifferent, at this time, to gain, ambitious, but not grasping, he -enjoyed at this period that general esteem, the absence of which he -bitterly felt in after life. Those who hated Somerset turned to -Villiers, and found him full of courtesy and of generous impulses. Those -who were on the point of offering bribes to Somerset discovering that -Villiers had the ear of the King, applied to him, and obtained -gratuitously what they sought. The country, as well as the Court, was -ringing with complaints of the Lord Chamberlain’s extortions, when the -accidental illness and remorse of an apothecary’s boy decided his fate. -That individual, employed by his master to administer the dose to -Overbury, fell ill at Flushing, and the whole mystery, with all its -concomitants, was revealed. “A small breach thus being made, Somerset’s -enemies, like the rush of many waters, rise up against him, following -the stream.” Thus does Arthur Wilson well express the ruin of one who, -for two years, had succeeded in defying curiosity and keeping the secret -of his crime unrevealed. - -With the inconsistent conduct of the King during the proceedings against -his rival, Villiers appears to have had no concern, except such as his -situation of private secretary to King James, an office which appears to -have devolved upon him upon the disgrace of Somerset, necessarily -entailed. The alienation of James’s regard from Somerset, and the rising -influence of Villiers, are nevertheless, according to a high authority, -“very necessary to be borne in mind” through the legal proceedings -against the fallen favourite.[104] That Villiers desired the entire -exclusion of Somerset from royal favour is more than probable; that he -took any undue or direct means to ensure it is doubtful, unless we take -as evidence of an under-current of intrigue, the secret negociations -which went on between him and Sir Francis Bacon, to whom the conduct of -the prosecution was consigned before the 15th of February, 1615. Whilst - -Footnote 104: - - Amos’s Great Oyer of Poisoning, vol i., pp. 31 and 33. - -Somerset was awaiting his trial, Bacon addressed to Villiers the -following letter. It is commonly remarked that a postscript is the most -important portion of a letter; but, in this case, the endorsement gives -the greatest insight into the motives of the writer. On the back of the -epistle are these words: “A letter to Sir G. Villiers, touching a -message brought to me by Mr. Shute, of a promise of the chancellor’s -place.” To this the following letter is the reply:— - -“In the message I received from you by Mr. Shute, hath bred in me such -belief and confidence, as I will now wholly rely on your excellent and -happy self. When persons of greatness and quality begin speech with me -of the matter, and offer me their good offices, I can but answer them -civilly. But these things are but toys. I am yours, surer to you than my -own life. For, as they speak of a torquoise-stone in a ring, I will -break into twenty pieces before you fall. God keep you for ever. - - “Your truest servant, - - “FRANCIS BACON.” - -“P. S.—My Lord Chancellor is prettily amended. I was with him yesterday -for half an hour; we both wept, which I do not do very often.”[105] - -Footnote 105: - - Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p. 183. - -That the fortunes of Villiers were ensured by the awful disclosures of -guilt which ensued, there can be no doubt. It is worthy of remark, how -vitiated must have been the state of that society, the highest in rank, -the foremost in fashion, in which crimes so fearful, compassed and aided -by associates of the lowest and most infamous description, could be -ascribed to individuals, and yet those individuals continue to hold -their position in society. It is true that, during that interval which -must have been to the guilty Earl and Countess of Somerset a season of -incessant fear and anguish, reports had been “buzzing about Somerset’s -ears, like a rising storm upon a well-spread oak;” but he had considered -himself to be too firmly planted in the King’s regard ever to be -up-rooted. And perhaps, had Villiers not come forward opportunely to -redeem the national credit, and to save a remnant of the King’s -character from utter reprobation and contempt, England might have been -still enslaved, until the close of James’s reign, by the extortionate -Earl and his haughty and murderous Countess. - -Meantime, Villiers continued to profit by the delinquencies of his -rival. He profited in the way most gratifying to an honourable mind. No -intrigues to supplant, no efforts to hasten the ruin of the Earl, are -recorded to his discredit. He set, at this period of his career, a -bright, though unhappily a transient, example of what a royal favorite -might prove. He repudiated, not only the avarice, but the over-bearing -of Somerset. - -He was courteous and affable to all, and seemed to “court men as they -courted him.” Free from all assumption, he still delighted to associate -with the gentlemen in waiting, and to join in their amusements, which -consisted, after supper, in leaping and exercises, in which none was so -active as the young favorite.[106] He thus preserved in health and -agility that noble form which excited the admiration of his country. -Such was his popularity, even with the old and haughty nobility, that -they were proud if they might aid in decking the “handsomest bodied man -of England.”[107] His taste for gorgeous apparel now displaying itself, -he was complimented by the nobles of James’s Court in the following -manner:—one of them would send to “his tailor and his mercer to put good -clothes upon the newly-made knight; another to his sempstress for -curious linen; others took upon them to be his bravos, and all hands -helped to piece up the new minion.”[108] So winning was the deportment -of Villiers, that even his enemies were propitiated to acknowledge “that -he was as inwardly beautiful, as he was outwardly, and that the world -had not a more ingenious gentleman.”[109] He incurred, however, some -risk in his ardour for amusement; and on one occasion over-strained -himself in running, which greatly distressed the King.[110] So rapid was -the rise of Villiers, that Lord Clarendon describes it by the term -“germination.” “Surely had he been a plant,” says that great historian, -“he would have been reckoned among the stoute nascentes, for he sprang -without any help, by a sort of ingenious composure (as we may term it) -to the likeness of our late sovereign and master, of blessed memory, -who, taking him into his regard, taught him more and more to please -himself, and moulded him, as it were, platonically, to his own idea, -delighting first in the choice of his materials, because he found him -susceptible of good form, and afterwards by degrees, as great architects -used to do, in the workmanship of his regal hand.”[111] This flattering -tribute to King James might have been spared, for the monarch, whose -blind and almost wicked partiality emboldened, and perhaps corrupted, -Somerset, can hardly be conceived to have formed the character of -Villiers. - -Footnote 106: - - I have passed over the dreadful story of Overbury’s murder, and its - concomitant circumstances, because Villiers had no participation in - public affairs until shortly before the arraignment of the two - culprits. A letter written by Lord Bacon immediately previous to that - event is evidently in reply to one addressed to his Lordship by - Villiers, by order of the King. This fixes the date of his acting as - private secretary to James. See Lord Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p. 173. - -Footnote 107: - - Carte. - -Footnote 108: - - Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol i., p. 225. - -Footnote 109: - - Carte, vol. ii., p. 43, from Weldon’s Court and Character of King - James I. - -Footnote 110: - - Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol. i., p. 226. - -Footnote 111: - - Parallel between the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Essex. - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 163. - -The testimony of Lord Clarendon that Villiers, like his supposed -prototype, the Earl of Essex, was a “fair-spoken gentleman,” not prone -and eager to detract openly from any man, “is a greater eulogy,” and to -this, the noble historian adds another, which, he affirms, “the -malignant eye could not refuse to Villiers;” “that certainly never man -in his place or power did entertain _greatness more familiarly_,” an -expression singularly felicitous, as conveying a sense of that innate -greatness which exalts its possessor above conventional distinctions. -His looks were “untainted by his felicity.”[112] No conscious -importance, no haughty contempt, none of the littleness of pride, -disgusted his equals or depressed his inferiors. “This, in my judgment,” -remarks Clarendon, “was one of his greatest virtues and victories of -himself.” - -Footnote 112: - - Ibid. - -The elevation of Villiers appears, however, not to have been so -spontaneous as Lord Clarendon supposes. “Once commenced, it ran,” says -Sir Henry Wotton, “as smoothly as numerous verses, till it met with -certain rubs in Parliament.” - -Thus, to borrow still from the same author, “the course of royal favour -being uninterrupted, the Duke’s thoughts were free.”[113] - -Footnote 113: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 166. - -Meanwhile, the most fearful disclosures were shocking the public ear, -and rendering more secure than ever the prosperity of Villiers. - -In the month of March, 1616, Lady Somerset was committed to the Tower. -So promptly were the measures now resolved upon executed, that she had -“scant leisure,” as a contemporary relates, “to shed a few tears over -her little daughter at the parting.”[114] This was the single touch of -natural affection which is latent in every heart, and was not wholly -extinguished even in the heart of the unhappy woman. Having given way to -that burst of emotion, she bore herself, as the same report states, -“constantly enough,” until she was carried into the enclosure of the -Tower. Then, affrighted and conscience-stricken, she did, according to -the same account, “passionately deprecate, and entreat the Lieutenant, -that she might not be lodged in Sir Thomas Overbury’s lodging, so that -he was fain to remove himself out of his own chamber for two or three -nights, till Sir Walter Raleigh’s lodging might be furnished and made -fit for her.” - -Footnote 114: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir O. Carleton; March 6, 1616. State - Papers. Also given in the “Grand Oyer of Poisoning,” by Andrew Amos, - Esq. - -To this gloomy apartment, the wretched countess was consigned; her trial -was fixed for the fifteenth of May. But when that day drew near, when -the stage in the middle of Westminster Hall was completed, the -scaffolding around it finished, and when seats had been purchased at the -rate of four or five pieces each—that being an ordinary price—and when -even a lawyer and his wife, as Mr. Chamberlain, the writer of the letter -from whom these details are collected, states, agreed to give two pounds -for himself and his wife for ten days, and fifty pounds was given for a -corner that “would scarcely contain a dozen,” the eager public was -disappointed. The trial was put off till the twenty-second of the same -month.[115] - -Footnote 115: - - See State Paper Office. Domestic, 1616. This letter is printed in - Nichols’s Progresses. - -Lady Somerset’s sudden illness was assigned as the cause of this delay. -Upon warning being given her that her trial was to come on on Wednesday, -“she fell to casting and scouring, and so continued the next day very -sick,” her illness being ascribed partly to trepidation, partly to the -suspicion of her having taken poison. But she recovered to make, as the -same eye-witness remarks, shorter work of it, by confessing the -indictment; and “to win pity by her sober demeanour,” “more curious and -confident than was fit for a lady in such distress; and yet she shed, or -made shew of, some tears divers times.” Contrary to the usual practice -in criminal trials, no invectives were urged against her, it being the -King’s pleasure that no “odious nor uncivil speeches” should be given. -The general opinion was, that in spite of her manifest guilt, this -miserable culprit would not suffer the penalty of the law. It must have -been a singular sight to have beheld the Earl of Essex, her former -husband, a spectator among the titled crowd at the arraignment; the -first day, privately—the second “full in Somerset’s face.” - -Lady Somerset was sentenced “to be hanged by the neck till she was stark -dead.” When the fatal cap was assumed, and the decree uttered, she bore -herself with more calmness than her husband; who, upon sentence of death -being passed upon him, was so appalled that, when asked what he should -say to avert that decree, he would “stand still upon his own innocence,” -and could hardly be brought to refer himself to the King’s mercy. He was -afterwards induced to rest upon that point; to write to the King, -entreating that the judgment of “hanging should be changed to that of -heading;” “and that his daughter might have such lands as the King did -not resume.”[116] - -Footnote 116: - - Ibid; printed in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 169. - -Villiers, no doubt, witnessed this memorable trial, and beheld the utter -degradation of his rival. The contrast which his own brilliant fortunes -presented to the disgrace and ruin of others, is shewn by the rapid -succession of honours which were conferred upon him. - -The spectacle, which must have harrowed a mind not corrupted by the -ambition of a court, was diversified by a grand ceremonial, and a new -honour. This was the election of Villiers into the order of the Garter, -which took place on the 24th of April, on St. George’s day, whilst -Somerset and his wife lay trembling in the Tower. - -Francis, Earl of Rutland, was admitted to a similar honour on the same -day. The world cavilled at this nobleman’s good fortune; for his wife -was an open and known recusant, and the Earl himself was thought to have -many disaffected persons about him. It was soon, however, discovered -that there was a design to improve the fortunes of Villiers by marrying -him to the young heiress of the house of Rutland. Meantime, to enable -his favourite to maintain the honours thus lavished upon him, and more -especially to support the dignities required by the express articles of -the Order in which he was installed, James bestowed upon Villiers “lands -and means;” and it was reported that estates, then belonging to the Earl -of Somerset, were to be added to those gifts, should that delinquent -“sink under his present trial.”[117] - -Footnote 117: - - Biographia Britannica, Art. Villiers. - -Hitherto, Sir George Villiers appears to have figured alone amid the gay -and envying crowds of Whitehall, or among the equestrians at Newmarket. -But one of the greater proofs of his extending influence was the favour -shewn at this time to his mother. - -The condition of Lady Villiers was wholly changed since her son had left -her a widow in the seclusion of Goadby. Having allied herself, by a -second marriage, to a rich and potent family—the Comptons—she had shared -in their prosperity. Compton had married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir -John Spencer, Mayor of London, who had died some years previously,[118] -first leaving a fortune of three hundred thousand pounds, according to -some authors; to others, of eight hundred thousand pounds. The bequest -of this money to his wife completely upset Lord Compton’s reason; and it -seems to have benefited his family more than himself. For though he -appears to have recovered his intellect, he did not live long to enjoy -his great wealth, which went to enrich his brother. - -Footnote 118: - - The celebrated letter written by Lady Compton on this occasion, is - inserted in the Life of Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 127, and affords - a fair specimen of the expectations of ladies of rank and fortune in - those days. - -Lady Villiers, or as she was henceforth called, Lady Villiers Compton, -was now admitted into the circles of the exclusive and lordly inmates of -one of the King’s favourite resorts, Hatfield, and in June, 1616, she -met His Majesty there. - -Some awkwardness attended this visit to the Earl and Countess of -Salisbury. The Countess of Suffolk, the mother of Lady Somerset, was -there; and fears might be entertained in what manner King James would -meet the mother of so great a culprit; but the imperturbable -insensibility of the monarch, or perhaps his lingering regard for -Somerset, obviated all difficulties. He kissed the Countess of Suffolk -twice; and performed the office of sponsor conjointly with her husband, -with whom, relates an eye witness, “the King is grown as great and as -far in grace as ever he was, which sudden invitations, without any -intermedience, made the Spanish Ambassador cry out, ‘Volo a dios que la -Corte d’Inglatiérra es com uno libró di Cavalleros andantes.’“ Upon this -stately occasion, the Countess of Suffolk “kept a table alone, save that -the Lady Villiers Compton only was admitted, and all the entertainment -was chiefly intended and directed to her and her children and -followers.” Nor was it only empty civility that marked the royal favour: -shortly afterwards the elder brother of George Villiers, John, was -knighted at Oatlands, in Surrey, that ceremonial being a prelude to the -titles of Baron Villiers of Stoke and Viscount Purbeck, which were -conferred upon him three years afterwards. On the sixth of July, the -instalment of the new Knights of the Garter, the Earl of Rutland and Sir -George Villiers, and of Robert Sydney, Viscount Lisle, took place; the -ceremonial was performed on a Sunday, and on the same afternoon, a -chapter was held to consider the point whether the Earl of Somerset’s -arms were to be taken away or left as they were. So closely did the -elevation of Villiers follow on the downfall of his rival.[119] - -Footnote 119: - - Nichols, iii., p. 175. His arms were, after a long dispute, removed - higher, in the same manner as when new arms and banners were - introduced. According to Camden, “the King ordered that felony should - not be reckoned amongst the disgraces of those who were to be excluded - from the Order of St. George,” “_which, was without precedent_.” - Nichols, iii., p. 177. - -Somerset, however, still displayed, even in his prison in the Tower, his -Garter and his George; whilst the public were scandalized by repeated -messages carried by Lord Hay, between the King and the condemned Earl; -and the result of these was soon perceived. Somerset had the liberty of -the Tower granted to him; he was seen walking about, and talking to the -Earl of Northumberland, who was still in prison on account of the -Gunpowder Plot; and at other times saluting his lady at the window. “It -is much spoken of,” writes Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, “how -Princes of that Order, to let our own pass, can digest to be coupled -with a man civilly dead, and corrupt in blood, and so no gentleman, -should continue a Knight of the Garter.” Lady Somerset’s pardon had been -signed the foregoing week, and, as matters now stood, Villiers might -still tremble lest his advancement should be delayed, and the noble -miscreants be restored to favour. - -His success, nevertheless, continued, for Anne of Denmark was in the -interests of the young favourite. During the month of August the Queen -addressed a letter to Villiers, who was then attending on the King, -couched in these familiar terms:— - -“MY KIND DOG, - -“Your letter hath been acceptable to me. I rest allreadie assured of -your carefulnesse. You may tell your maister that the King of Dennemark -hath sent me twelf faire mares, and, as the drivers of them assures, all -great with foles, which I intend to put into Byefield[120] Parke, where -being the other day a-hunting, I could finde but vere few deare, but -great store of other cattle, as I shall tell your maister myself when I -see him. I hope to meet you all at Woodstock at the time appointed, till -when I wish you all happiness and contentment, - - “ANNA R. - -Footnote 120: - - Byfleet, in Surrey. - -“I thank you for your paines taken In remembering the King for the -pailing of me parke. I will doe you any service I can.” - -This characteristic letter was the prelude to the elevation of Villiers -to the peerage. At first, it was determined that he should be created -Viscount Beaumont, in compliment to his mother’s family; and the coronet -and robes were sent down to Woodstock; but that decision was changed for -an obvious reason, and the title of Baron Whaddon was conferred upon -Villiers, Whaddon being the estate of the unfortunate Lord Grey, who had -expired in the Tower in 1614, being implicated in the supposed attempt -to place Arabella Stuart on the throne. - -On the twenty-seventh of August, 1616, the ceremony of this double -creation took place. - -On this occasion, the preface to the patent was composed by Lord Bacon, -who, on sending it to the King, observed that he had not used in it -“glaring terms,” but drawn it according to His Majesty’s instructions. -It was determined that the two creations, those of Baron Whaddon and -Viscount Villiers, should take place at the same time, the former being -intended to secure the estates of Whaddon, the latter, to preserve the -name of Villiers in the appellation of the favourite. This appears to -have been the especial will of James. “For the name,” writes Bacon to -Villiers, on sending him his patent for the title of Viscount, “His -Majesty’s will is law in these things; and to speak truth, it is a -well-sounding name both here and abroad, and being even a proper name, I -will take it for a good sign that you shall give honour to your dignity, -and not your dignity to you. Therefore, I have made it ‘Viscount -Villiers;’ and as for your Barony, I will keep it for an Earldom, for -though the latter had been more orderly, yet that is as usual, and both -alike good in law.” - -The patent, however, was again altered. It is possible that Bacon may -have imagined that the associations connected with Whaddon, and relating -to a nobleman generally compassionated,[121] might have rendered -Villiers unpopular: at all events he changed it to Blechly; and Villiers -received the patent of Lord Blechly, of Blechly.[122] - -Footnote 121: - - According to Carte, Villiers was obliged to pay 11,000_l._ to Sir - Rowland Egerton, who had married Lord Grey’s sister, and also to - procure Sir Rowland the patent of Baronetcy. But this is discredited - by Sir Egerton Brydges. See Men of Fame, vol. i., p. 79. - -Footnote 122: - - Bacon’s letters, vol. ii., p. 35. - -“I have sent you,” Bacon thus wrote, “now, your patent of creation of -Lord Blechly of Blechly, and of Viscount Villiers. Blechly is your own, -and I like the sound of the name better than Whaddon; but the name will -be laid aside, for you wish to be called Viscount Villiers. I have put -them both in a patent, after the manner of the patent of arms where -baronies are joined; but the chief reason was, because I would avoid -double prefaces, which had not been fit; nevertheless, the ceremony of -robing, and otherwise, must be double.”[123] - -Footnote 123: - - Bacon’s Letters. - -Sir George Villiers was introduced to the royal presence, on this -occasion, by his relative, Lord Compton, and by Lord Norris, the Lord -Carew carrying the robe of state before him, when his new honour of -Baron Blechly of Blechly was conferred. He was afterwards created -Viscount Villiers, when he appeared in a surcoat of scarlet velvet, and -was brought in by the Earl of Suffolk and Viscount Lisle, Lord Norris -carrying the robe of state of the same coloured velvet, and Lord Compton -the crown. The King was seated on his throne, and the Queen, and -Charles, Prince of Wales, were present, and all the company “seemed -jolly, and well afraid.” - -The advice which Bacon proffered to Villiers, upon his elevation to the -peerage, is couched in noble terms, and wants nothing but the -indefinable charm of supposed sincerity to perfect it:— - -“And after that the King shall have watered your new dignities with his -bounty of the lands which he intends you, and that some other things -concerning your means, which are now likewise in intention, shall be -settled upon you, I do not see but you may think your private fortunes -established; and, therefore, it is now time that you should refer your -actions chiefly to the good of your sovereign and your country. It is -the life of an ox or a beast, always to eat and never to exercise; but -men are born, especially Christian men, not to cram in their fortunes, -but to exercise their virtues; and yet the others have been the -unworthy, and sometimes the humour of great persons in our time; neither -will your further fortune be the farther off; for assure yourself that -fortune is of a woman’s nature, that will sooner follow you by slighting -than by too much moving.”[124] - -Footnote 124: - - Bacon’s Letters, vol. ii., p. 85. - -He recommends the young peer, in this “dedication of himself to the -public, to countenance, encourage, and advance able and virtuous men, in -all degrees, kinds, and professions.” And in places of moment, “rather,” -he says, “make able and honest men yours, than advance those that are -otherwise because they are yours.” - -“The time is,” he adds, in conclusion, “that you think goodness the best -part of greatness: and that you remember whence your rising comes, and -make return accordingly, God ever keep you.” - -Some time afterwards, another characteristic epistle from the Queen -denoted the secret terms upon which Anne of Denmark stood with the young -favourite:— - -“MY KIND DOG, - -“I have received your letter, which is verie welcom to me; you doe verie -well in lugging the sowes (the King’s) ears, and I thank you for it, and -whould have you do so still, upon condition that you continue a watchful -dog to him, and be alwayes true to him. So wishing you all happines. - - “ANNA R.”[125] - -Footnote 125: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 187. - -It is not a matter of surprise that, thus caressed by both the King and -Queen, marks of favour should have followed in continual succession. -According to Lord Clarendon, the rapid rise of Villiers might be imputed -to a certain innate “wisdom and virtue that was in him, with which he -surprised, and even fascinated, all the faculties of his incomparable -master.” - -And this was no matter of surprise, if we may believe in the truth of -the following remarks:—“That Villiers was no sooner admitted to stand -there in his own right, but the eyes of all such as look’d out of -judgement, or gazed out of curiosity, were quickly directed towards him; -as a man, in the delicacy and beauty of his colour, decency and grace of -his motion, the most rarely accomplished they had ever beheld.” - -The emotions experienced by Villiers, as he gradually ascended higher -and higher towards the eminence of worldly grandeur, are well described -by Lord Clarendon, in the following words:— - -“His swiftness and nimbleness in rising, may be with less injury -ascribed to a vivacity than any ambition in his nature; since, it is -certain the King’s eagerness to advance him, so surprised his youth, -that he seemed only to be held up by the violent inclinations of the -King, than to climb up by any art or industry of his own.”[126] It is -not to be marvelled at, that the character of Villiers should suffer in -this ordeal, fiercer than that of the most depressing vicissitude and -adversity; and soon, therefore, indications are to be found, in the -annals of the day, of a dawning selfishness and imperiousness, foreign -to the simple and courteous nature of Villiers.[127] Still there were -noble traits of a lingering greatness of spirit, which justify the -partiality which every one who analyses his character must necessarily -entertain for it; sometimes at variance with his better judgment. Whilst -by watchful bystanders it was remarked that Villiers, the new made -Viscount, “will hardly suffer any one to leap over his head,” nor would -he allow the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere to be made an Earl; by others, a -sacrifice of interest, proceeding from a generous scruple, is recorded. - -Footnote 126: - - Disparity, p. 194. - -Footnote 127: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 191. - -It will be remembered by historical readers, that Sherborne Castle, the -forfeited estate of Sir Walter Ralegh, had been bestowed by James upon -the Earl of Somerset. When supplicated by Lady Ralegh to restore that -property to her children, the monarch’s answer was, “I mean to have it -for Carr;” a reply, which, as Mr. Amos justly observes, “cannot be read -in the present day without indignation;” “what impressions,” he adds, -“must it have produced on the contemporaries of Ralegh and Carr?”[128] -At the trial of Somerset, this luckless possession, upon which a curse -has been supposed to rest, was highly prejudicial to him; and many there -were, who regarded his calamities as a judgment for this detested -acquisition. - -Footnote 128: - - Great Oyer of Poisoning, p. 29, by Andrew Amos, Esq. - -When the Earl of Somerset’s lands were given away, after his forfeiture, -the estate of Sherborne was offered to Villiers; he might, perhaps, have -accepted it without odium, for upon Prince Charles had been bestowed all -Somerset’s estates in the north. But he refused the offer of Sherborne, -according to a passage in Birch’s MSS., “in a most noble fashion; -praying the King that the building of his fortunes might not be founded -on the ruin of another.”[129] Sherborne, the value of which was at this -time about eight hundred pounds yearly, but was expected to be shortly -double that sum, was given to Sir John Digby, upon the payment of ten -thousand pounds, and has remained ever since in the same family. The -respect of Villiers towards the memory of an unfortunate man was much -appreciated; already had public opinion visited with its bitterest -curse, the traitor, Sir Lewis Stukeley, who was afterwards a prisoner in -that very “chamber in the Tower, in which Ralegh, whom he had betrayed, -had spent twelve years of misery.”[130] - -Footnote 129: - - Birch’s MSS. 4176. This anecdote, so creditable to Buckingham, is - confirmed by a grant in the State Paper Office. S. P. O. vol. cv., No. - 20, see Calendar, 1616-17, March 12, the grant to the Earl of - Buckingham, fee-simple of the manors of Beaumont, Oldhall and Newhall - de Beaumont, Mose, Okeley Magna, Okeley Parva, Sligghawe, Okeley Park, - Mose Park, Essex, together with all timbers and advowsons belonging to - them, which the Lord Darcie of Chiche holdeth for terme of his life. - Manor of Fleete, marshes of Trewdales, Fleetehouse Hall Hills, in - Lincolne, in lieu of the manor of Teynton Magna, Gloucester, _part of - value for Sherborne_, escheated to the Crown by Somerset’s attainder. - Inedited MSS. Domestic, 1616-17. - -Footnote 130: - - Hutchins’s History of Dorsetshire, vol. iv., p. 83. - -Sir Henry Wotton compares the repetition of benefits conferred upon -Villiers, to a kind of embroidering, or listing of one favour upon -another. But all these preferments were, he adds, but the “faceings or -fringeings of his greatness,” compared with that trust which the King -shortly reposed in his favourite, when he made him “the chief -concomitant of his heir apparent.”[131] - -Footnote 131: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -This important mark of respect and confidence had never been extended to -the ill-fated predecessor in James’s favour, the Earl of Somerset. If -Villiers were at that period of his life unworthy of the trust, James, -endowed as he was with all the experience which his own vicious Court -could bestow, was criminal beyond measure to place his only son, on whom -the hopes of the nation rested, in contaminated society. James must, in -that case, have been either grossly deceived, or immeasurably culpable. -The friendship, thus commenced between the prince and the favourite, in -youth, was fraught with consequences so important to this country, that -few points of historical biography can offer greater domestic interest -than the early intimacy between Charles and Villiers. - -Charles, Prince of Wales, was eight years younger than the man whom he -afterwards admitted to an intimacy such as has been rarely permitted -between a monarch and a subject, and which ceased only when Villiers -expired. The superstitious, when they remembered, in aftertimes, the -perils of the young prince’s infancy, saw in them a type of his fate. -“He was born,” says the historian Kennet, “and baptized, in somewhat of -surprise and confusion, as it were beginning the world in a sort of -presage how he was to end it.”[132] So feeble was he, that even -afterwards, although in process of time there were many great ladies -suitors for the keeping of the infant Prince, yet when they saw how -sickly and fragile he was, their hearts failed, and none of them -consented to undertake so important a charge.[133] Little, indeed, could -it have been anticipated that the delicate boy was fated, not only to -outlive his energetic and robust brother, Henry, but even to become, in -times of danger, one of the hardiest and healthiest of those who fought -on Edgehill, and at Naseby. The constitution of Charles was invigorated -in his vicissitudes, and perfected by the toils of a soldier’s life. - -Footnote 132: - - Kennet’s Hist. England, p. 1. - -Footnote 133: - - Sir Robert Carey’s Memoirs, p. 201. - -That he should reign over this country was foretold by second sight. -When James the First was preparing to remove from Scotland, there came -to the Court an aged Highland chief, to take a solemn leave of his -sovereign. The Queen and her children were present. The old man, after -addressing a great deal of affectionate and sage advice to the King, -turned to the children, and passing by Henry, he kissed with great -ardour and deep respect the hands of his younger brother, the Duke -Charles, as then he was called. - -The King strove to correct what he fancied was a mistake on the part of -the chief, and to direct his attention to the heir apparent, the fit -object of such homage. But the Highlander heeded not those hints; he -continued to gaze upon and to address the infant Charles; saying that he -knew to whom he addressed himself. “This child,” he exclaimed, “will be -greater than his elder brother, and will convey his father’s name and -title to succeeding generations.” “This,” said Dr. Pernichief, Charles’s -tutor, “was conceived to be dotage; but the event gave it the credit of -a prophecy, and confirmed that some long experienced souls in the world, -before their dislodging, arrive to the height of prophetical -spirits.”[134] A long period of fragility seemed to throw doubt upon the -gratuitous prophecy of the aged chief. Fortunately, Sir Robert Carey, to -whom the charge of the drooping child was entrusted, was an estimable -person, incapable of anything deceitful, or unjust—a “plain, honest -gentleman.”[135] Those who wished ill to him and to his wife rejoiced at -this selection, for they were certain that the prince would never be -reared. - -Footnote 134: - - Kennet’s Hist. England. - -Footnote 135: - - Goodman’s Life, vol. i., p. 7. - -The weakly Charles was four years of age when consigned to the care of -Sir Robert Carey. He could not, at this age even, stand alone; his -ancles appeared to be out of joint. The King, with his characteristic -conceit and want of gentle feeling, was disposed to use the most violent -remedies and measures to cure the defects at which his pride was -offended. The nostrums which he recommended were worthy of Martinus -Scriblerus. But he found a champion of the helpless child in Lady Carey. -“Many a battle my wife had with the King, but she still prevailed,” -writes Sir Robert Carey.[136] The King, nevertheless, wished that the -string under the young prince’s tongue might be cut; for the child, it -was thought, would never speak. Then he proposed wire boots for his -sinews and feet, but Lady Carey stood firm, and the Monarch was obliged -to yield to a woman’s arguments. - -Footnote 136: - - Carey’s Memoirs, p. 200. - -The boy grew daily stronger, and repaying Lady Carey’s good care, gained -health under her mild auspices, “both in body and mind.”[137] Still the -impediment in his voice continued; his countenance exhibited that -mournful expression which was doubtless the natural consequence of a -weakly childhood, and of the consciousness of bodily defects, which is -the most likely of any circumstances to depress the buoyancy of the -young. - -Footnote 137: - - Carey’s Memoirs. - -To the inevitable solitude of ill-health, Charles probably owed his -prudence, his early piety, and his taste for elegant pursuits. Villiers, -in after life, found his love of pictures and medals one road to -Charles’s affections, by producing a sympathy between himself and the -young prince. Charles was also, for his age, an accomplished theologian, -and notwithstanding the impediment in his utterance, he could discourse -to the admiration of all who heard him, on topics of general interest. -With the traveller, the mechanic, and the scholar, he was equally -fluent, meeting them on their own subjects, and imparting knowledge to -the learned. He improved, too, in those diversions, and exercises which -were then considered indispensable to the character of a gentleman. “He -rid,” says his tutor, Dr. Pernichief, “the great horse very well; and on -the little saddle he was not only adroit, but a laborious hunter or -fieldman.”[138] - -Footnote 138: - - Inedited MS. in the State Paper Office. Domestic, Nov. 1616. - -The temper of Charles is said to have been tinctured with obstinacy; and -his old Scottish nurse reported him to have been of a very evil nature, -even in his infancy; whilst another attendant taxes him with being, -“beyond measure, wilful and unthankful.”[139] How far, in these uncured -qualities, “springing like rank weeds in the heart,” we may trace some -of the fatal errors in Charles’s career—his pertinacious adherence, -especially when King, to Villiers, whether his favourite was right or -wrong, is a matter of curious speculation. - -Footnote 139: - - Miss Aikins’ Life of Charles I., vol. i., p. 55, 56., from Sir Philip - Warwick’s; also Lilly’s Observations, p. 60. - -But Dr. Pernichief, who knew Charles well, only allows that his -“childhood was blemished with supposed obstinacy, for the weakness of -his body inclining him to retirement, and the imperfections of his -speech rendering discourse tedious and unpleasant, he was suspected to -be somewhat perverse,” a construction often put upon the deportment of a -bashful, sad child. Such were his defects; and, as far as his royal -father was concerned, they were more offensive to the pride of the king, -than painful to the tenderness of a parent. All, however, acknowledged -that the youth of the accomplished Charles had hitherto been -irreproachable, and that, if he manifested not the powerful intellect -and extended views of his late brother, he resembled him in his love of -virtue, his sense of honour, and in the difficult task of being dutiful -and respectful to parents who were frequently at variance. - -He now came, at the age of sixteen, before his future subjects, with -this singular disadvantage, that the death of his elder brother was -still a subject of lamentation. The clergy, especially, could not forget -one whose staunch Protestantism gave them the assurance of a steady -friend. - -“Henry, Prince of Wales, was still,” says a contemporary writer, “so -much in men’s minds, that Andrews, Bishop of Ely, preaching at court, -prayed solemnly for him, without recalling himself.”[140] The Queen, -too, refused to be comforted, and upon the first public occasion on -which Charles appeared, declined being present, lest the ceremonial -should revive her grief. - -Footnote 140: - - Inedited MS. in the State Paper Office. Domestic, Nov. 1616. - -Many could remember that at his installation into the Order of the Bath, -at four years of age, Charles, unable to walk, was carried in the arms -of the Lord High Admiral to the rites which, referring to chivalric -observances and martial deeds, seemed a sort of mockery to the infant -Prince. Those who recalled that hour, now beheld in the royal youth, who -at his creation as Prince of Wales appeared before them, a graceful and -manly figure set off to advantage by dress, and other circumstances. - -In an old print, engraved by Renold Estraake, he is represented, as -Prince of Wales, in a slouched hat with a long falling feather; his -juvenile, and very slender form clad in a tight vest; a sash over the -right shoulder is tied with a large bow under the left arm, and the ends -are fringed with jewels. Around his waist is a scarf, also edged with a -fringe of pearls and jewels. A stuffed skirt, richly embroidered and -adorned, descends almost to the knee. His boots are apparently of some -soft material, being creased; the tops richly decorated with jewels. -Thus attired, and mounted on a superb horse, the head of which was -adorned with a Phœnix in flames, emblematically complimentary, -Charles presented himself to the people. Such was his costume before he -visited Spain, and imbibed a love of the graceful cloak, the Spanish -hat, and Vandyke collar. - -His manners, serious though courteous, were highly acceptable to the -majority of those who gazed upon him, when, on the eve of All Saints’ -day, October 31st, 1616, Charles was created Prince of Wales. His very -stammering began to be approved as a mark of wisdom; and “obloquy, it -was said, never played the fool so much as in imputing folly to the heir -apparent.” - -Buckingham, although twenty-four years of age, seems by the earliest -portrait that there is of him—the engraving by Simon Pass, in 1617—to -have had a most youthful appearance. In that picture, taken when he was -made an Earl, and therefore during the ensuing year, he is depicted in a -tight doublet, with a small white collar edged with Vandyke lace, and -closed with one row of rich pearls down the centre. A cloak hangs over -one shoulder, but the other displays a short sleeve, or epaulet, opening -above the elbow, and having underneath a richly-worked sleeve, confined -at the wrist by a deep cuff, fringed, and turned back; his doublet is -richly guarded with lace. At this period, a very slight moustache is -seen upon his upper lip, and the pointed beard, which is afterwards to -be found in all his portraits, is not observable. - -The ceremonials performed on this occasion were such as the people of -this country have ever dearly loved; and, without considering that they -emptied the royal coffers, and compelled James to resort to expedients -for raising money which rendered him a continual debtor to the bounty -and loyalty of his subjects, eventually taxing too far their liberality, -they loudly extolled them on this occasion. It must, however, have been -a cheering sight when the young Prince came in state from Barn Elms to -Whitehall, accompanied by a retinue of lords and gentlemen of honourable -rank. At Chelsea he was met by the Lord Mayor and citizens, in separate -barges; and the sounds of martial music, or, as the chronicler of the -day terms it, “the royal sound of drum and trumpet,” the sight of a -crowd of people on the shore and in boats, the rich banners and -streamers, with many trophies and ingenious devices which met him on the -water, must have presented as festive a scene as ever was enacted on the -bosom of the river Thames. - -The speeches addressed were, of course, in verse. They were proffered by -a female figure, representing London, seated upon a sea unicorn, with -six Tritons supporting her, accompanied by Neptune and the two rivers, -Thames and Dee. This personage addressed the young prince in the -following terms:— - - Treasures of hope and jewel of mankind, - Richer no kingdome’s head did ever see; - Adorn’d in titles, but much more in mind, - The love of many thousands speake in thee; - -The ode went on to enumerate the blessings to be anticipated from the -promising virtues of Charles, and concluded:— - - Welcome, oh, welcome—all faire joyes attend thee, - Glorie of life, to safety we commend thee. - -After this address, the young Prince was wafted down to Whitehall -Stairs, where he landed. Passing on to the palace, he saluted the King, -who stood on the palace stairs. The ceremony of creation, which took -place on the following Monday, was performed in the hall of Whitehall -Palace; and at night, “to crown it with more heroical honour, fortie -worthy gentlemen of the ten noble societies of Innes of Court, and every -way qualified by birth to break three staves, three swords, and exchange -ten blows a-piece,” encountered each other. The delicate health of the -Prince, and the late season of the year, prevented any great procession -at the creation, but it was commemorated by tilting at the ring, to give -great lustre and honour to the occasion, and among fourteen names of -high degree, is found, among the challengers, that of Viscount Villiers, -his first appearance in the tilt yard. Among the gallants who flaunted -it out with the greatest bravery, are to be found many famous in -successive times.[141] - -Footnote 141: - - The Lord Seymour, who had married the Lady Arabella Stuart, was among - a set of newly-created Knights of the Bath; and Tom Carew and Phil - Lytton, third son of Sir Rowland Lytton, of Knebworth, Herts., “were - squires of high degree, for cast and bravery;” the one being esquire - to Lord Beauchamp, the other to his cousin, Rowland St. John.—Letter - from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. State Paper Office, - November 4th. - -Notwithstanding the sanction which James gave to a growing intimacy -between the heir apparent and his favourite, there had been various -early disagreements between them, which delayed the reciprocal affection -which the King strove to promote between Charles and Buckingham. Their -confidence was, in truth, the growth of years, and was impeded by -several incidents, which those who were adverse to Villiers were eager -to notice and to record. It was generally expected that a jealousy -between them would defeat the King’s wishes, and divide the court into -two parties; and the following letter imparts one of those incidents -upon which such anticipations were founded:— - - _Letter of Edward Sherburn to Lord Holland._ - - “_March 14, 1615._ - -“There is a speech in court of the distaste Sir George Villiers hath -given the Prince about a ring. The manner, as I have heard it, is thus: -The Prince coming one afternoon into the Presence at Newmarket, with Sir -George Villiers, and discoursing with him, fixed his eyes upon a ring -which Sir George Villiers had upon his finger, which, taking from him, -put it upon one of his own; and having occasion to pull out his -pocket-handkerchief, the ring, being too large for the Prince’s finger, -fell into his pocket. The Prince parting from him, not thinking of the -ring, the next morning, Sir George Villiers, meeting the Prince in His -Majesty’s presence again, and finding the Prince to take no notice of -his ring, asked His Highness for it; to which he answered, that in good -faith he knew not what he had done with it; whereat Sir George Villiers -flew into such a passion, whether it was in regard of the value, or of -the piece, as he left the Prince, and went immediately to the King, -exceedingly disconcerted. The King, observing some distemper in him, -demanded the occasion. Expressing the same with some earnestness, Sir -George told the King that the Prince had lost a ring of his, which did -much trouble him. The King, moved thereat, sent for the Prince, and used -such bitter language to him, as forced His Highness to shed tears, -telling him also not to return to His Majesty until he had found it, and -restored the ring to Sir George Villiers. The Prince, after he came from -the King, gave commandment to Sir Robert Carey to search in the pockets -of his breeches which he wore that day, when by good fortune the ring -was found, and by Sir Robert Carey delivered to Sir George Villiers. By -this a man may see the force of the King’s affection, which is -boundless, and so likewise may be seen how far beyond reason presumption -may transport a man. What the consequence of this and the like will be, -time must produce. Only this much is conceived, that the favour of the -King on this particular cannot continue, because there wants a sound -foundation to uphold so great a building. Thus much I adventure to write -unto your lordship, whom I beseech to keep this in your own custody, or -else to commit it to the fire.”[142] - -Footnote 142: - - Inedited State Papers. Domestic, 1616, 1617. - -Another occurrence, trivial under other circumstances, seemed to -indicate that no harmony was likely to exist between Charles and -Villiers. One day, as they were walking in the gardens of Greenwich -Palace, they approached a fountain, near which was a statue of Bacchus: -this figure was so constructed, after the fashion of ancient waterworks, -that, by touching a spring, the water was emitted. The Prince, grave as -he usually appeared, was that day in high spirits. He touched the -spring, the water spouted forth, and suffused the face of the favourite. -Villiers was greatly offended. The King took his part, not only -reproving severely his son, but adding the father’s correction of two -boxes on the ears. Those who stood by were certain that this boyish -frolic and its termination would ruin Villiers with the Prince. That it -did not, is a proof of the good disposition of Charles, who, perhaps, -did not the less admire Villiers because he had resented an act of -impertinence even from an heir apparent.[143] - -Footnote 143: - - Inedited letter in the State Paper Office, March 8, 1616, addressed to - Sir Dudley Carleton. - -The partiality which James now openly manifested for Villiers drew down -upon him the animadversions of the world; and when he trusted him as the -associate of his son, invectives were loud and frequent. Although it was -the fashion of the day to impute to the sovereign the wisdom of Solomon, -lamentations were poured forth upon the unworthiness of those in whom he -confided. “Is it not prodigious,” writes one historian, “that a Prince, -who was as wise as the beloved son of David, should commit the reins of -government to a callow youth, of no more capacity than is enough to -qualify a modern beau?”[144] “For an old king,” observes Roger Coke, “he -having reigned in England and Scotland fifty-one years, to doat upon a -young favourite scarce of age, yet younger in understanding, though old -in vice as any of his time, and to commit the whole ship of the -commonwealth by sea and land to such a Phaeton, is a precedent without -any example.”[145] Not only Villiers, it is added, but even his mother, -began now to influence all matters of public concern; no places were -disposed of without her consent, and as much court was paid to her as to -her son.[146] - -Footnote 144: - - Oldmixon’s History of England, p. 31. - -Footnote 145: - - Roger Coke’s Delection. - -Footnote 146: - - Oldmixon. - -Many of the animadversions thus thrown upon Villiers proceeded from the -laxity of his moral code. On this point, the accusations brought forward -are vague, and therefore difficult to be repelled. They were, in some -instances, the effect of a general impression that Villiers was a friend -of Laud and a favourer of Armenianism; and originated with the Puritans. - -No instance of great dereliction from propriety being recorded, it may -be safely inferred that at this time public decorum was, at all events, -not outraged by Villiers, whatever the private course of his existence -may have been; and however humiliating it is to reflect that a character -so noble, so incapable of baseness, of such fair promise, may yet have -been tinged with vices that infallibly brush away much of the finest -attributes of virtuous youth, it must, at the same time, be allowed, -that to remain incorrupt in the reign of James, would have argued almost -super-human strength of character. - -“Nothing,” relates Arthur Wilson, “but bravery and feasting, the parents -of debauchery and rioting, flourished among us. There is no theme for -history where men spill more drink than blood.” And he justly remarks -that the boasted Halcyon days of peace cease to be a blessing when they -“bring a curse” with them; the curse of licentious pleasures and -disgraceful idleness; and that thus war is more happy in its effects -than peace, “if it takes the distemper that grows by long surfeit -without destroying the body.”[147] - -Footnote 147: - - Wilson’s History of the Reign of James I. - -In spite, however, of the animadversions of foes, and the still more -injurious temptations proffered by unworthy friends, the public -character of Buckingham maintained for some time its integrity. His -errors, real or imputed, were not at first such as to lower him in the -eyes of society. He appeared, as Lord Clarendon observes, “the most -glorious star that ever shined in any court; insomuch that all nations -persecuted him with love and wonder, as fast as the King with fancy; and -to his last he never lost any of his lustre.”[148] - -Footnote 148: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 194. - -His mother assisted in the aggrandizement of her favourite son. It was -her office to teach his kindred, as fast as they came up to the -metropolis, “to put on a court dress and air.” The King, who had -hitherto hated women, soon began to have his palace crowded with the -female relations of Villiers; “little children did run up and down the -royal apartments like rabbit-starters about their burrows.” And the -monarch, who could never endure his queen or his own family near him, -made no remonstrance at this inconvenience, whilst the censorious, who -decided that the favourite had no merit except that “he looked well, -dressed well, and danced well,” were outrageous in their wrath. So well, -indeed, did he “look,” that James, more and more enchanted with that -open and beaming countenance, gave him the name of “Steenie,” in -allusion to one of the pictures in Whitehall, by an Italian master, -representing the first martyr, Stephen. - -Villiers now enjoyed the different dignities and offices of Viscount -Villiers, Baron of Whaddon, Justice in Oire of all the forests and parks -beyond Trent, Master of the Horse, and Knight of the Garter. But these -were not sufficient in the sight of James. On the seventh of January, -the favourite was created Earl of Buckingham, upon such short notice, -that the drums and trumpets which should have been in the Chamber of -Presence, at Whitehall (but not have sounded), were not in attendance. -Villiers, in his surcote and hood, in an ordinary hat, and with his -rapier, passed from the Council Chamber, over the terrace, through the -great gateway, into the Chamber of Presence. He was assisted by the Earl -of Suffolk, Lord Treasurer, and the Earl of Worcester, afterwards the -gallant defender of Raglan Castle, all in robes and coronets. The Lord -Chamberlain met them at the door of the Presence Chamber, where Villiers -was duly presented to the King and Queen. The ceremonial, at which he -figured alone, no other peer being created, was not followed by a -supper, and therefore, adds Camden, “no style with largess -proclaimed.”[149] - -Footnote 149: - - From an autograph MS.—Camden, quoted by Nichols, vol. iii., p. 233. - -This new honour enabled its object to appear - -with still greater splendour and importance, at the performance of the -new masque of Christmas, by Ben Jonson; it was represented on Twelfth -night, and amongst the performers were Richard Barbadge, an original -performer in several of Shakespeare’s plays, and John Heminge, who -signed the “address to the reader” of Shakespeare’s folio works. In the -course of the masque, the Earl of Buckingham danced with the Queen; and -soon afterwards the society of the Middle Temple strove to conciliate -him by entertaining him with a supper and a masque.[150] At the end of -the month Buckingham was made a Privy Councillor, the youngest man that -had ever received that honour. He also contrived to get his brother -Christopher made either one of the Grooms or one of the Gentlemen of the -Bedchamber, upon which creation the following rhyme was circulated:— - - “Above the skies shall Gemini rise, - And twins the Court shall pester; - George shall back his brother Jack, - And Jack his brother Kester.”[151] - -Footnote 150: - - It was suggested that Villiers might have been entered at the Middle - Temple, but of that circumstance there is no evidence. “Not knowing - the sacred antiquitie of anie of their houses, the chronicler set - downe their names in the same order as that in which they were - presented to his Majestie.” See Nichols, iii. 213, from Howe’s - Chronicle. It is well known that in former times only men of gentle - birth were entitled to be entered as students of law in the Temple—a - relic of the statutes maintained in strict force by the Knights’ - Templars. - -Footnote 151: - - Nichols, 244. - -It was about this time, probably, that Buckingham was first beheld drawn -about in that coach with six horses, which was not only wondered at as a -novelty, but “imputed to him as a mastering pride.” He had already -excited the indignation of the English public by his appearance in a -sedan chair; and when seen carried upon men’s shoulders, the populace -raised an outcry against him in the streets, “loathing,” says Arthur -Wilson, “that men should be brought to as servile a condition as -horses.” The chair was, however, forgiven, and soon sedans came into -general use. But the coach was the theme of every tongue; it was not -that the vehicle was strange to the people, for it had been introduced -in the late reign, but then only two horses were used; and when -Buckingham, in all his bravery of attire, was beheld drawn by six -prancing steeds, acclamations were general. The old Earl of -Northumberland heard those murmurs in his prison in the Tower, and -resolved that, should he ever recover his liberty, he would outvie the -favourite. Accordingly, when in 1621 he was set at liberty, he appeared -in the city of London, and at Bath, with eight horses; as much to the -amusement, probably, of him whom he strove to outvie, as to the -amazement of the admiring public.[152] It required, indeed, no ordinary -fortune to keep up this state; and the King so much disapproved of -expensive equipages in any but the great, that he subsequently -entertained a notion of imposing a tax of 40_l._ per annum, on all who, -below a certain degree, kept a coach, and of bestowing the proceeds of -the tax on decayed captains.[153] - -Footnote 152: - - Brydges’s Peers of James I. - -Footnote 153: - - State Papers, vol. cix., 26. See Calendars of State Papers, edited by - Mrs. Everett Green. - -No clamours affected Buckingham long during this period of his life; -for, although there were occasionally some boisterous demonstrations of -disapproval, the affections of the majority of the people returned to -him shortly after a temporary unpopularity. And here, observes Lord -Clarendon, in his parallel between the Earl of Essex and Buckingham, -“the fortunes of our great personages met when they were both the -favourites of the princes, and of the people. But their affections to -the Duke of Buckingham were very short lived.”[154] - -Footnote 154: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, 195. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - -THE KING’S PROJECTS—A JOURNEY TO SCOTLAND—OBSTACLES TO THAT - INTENTION—WANT OF MONEY—£100,000 RAISED IN THE CITY—DISLIKE OF THE - PEOPLE TO THIS JOURNEY, ON ACCOUNT OF EXPENSE—JAMES SETS OUT, MARCH - 13TH, 1616-1617—HIS ATTENDANT COURTIERS, SIR JOHN ZOUCH, SIR GEORGE - GORING, SIR JOHN FINETT—CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH—SURPASSING QUALITIES - OF BUCKINGHAM—OBJECTS OF JAMES’S JOURNEY TO EDINBURGH—ANECDOTE OF - LORD HOWARD OF WALDEN—DISPUTATIONS AT ST. ANDREWS—THE KING KNIGHTS - MANY OF THE YOUNG COURTIERS—OFFENCE GIVEN AT EDINBURGH BY LAUD—A - PROJECT TO ASSASSINATE BUCKINGHAM SUSPECTED—JAMES’S PROGRESS - CONCLUDED—HIS VISIT TO WARWICK—AFFAIRS RELATING TO SIR EDWARD COKE - AND HIS FAMILY—BASE CONDUCT OF ALL THE PARTIES CONCERNED—MEANNESS OF - BACON—HIS LETTERS—FRANCES HATTON—CONTRAST BETWEEN HER AND THE EARL - OF OXFORD BROUGHT FORWARD BY LADY HATTON—COKE RESTORED TO - FAVOUR—MARRIAGE OF FRANCES HATTON TO LORD PURBECK. - - =CHAPTER IV.= - - -Early in the year 1616-17, James determined to visit Scotland—a -resolution which was opposed, somewhat to the displeasure of the King, -by Buckingham. But the King was soon pacified, and the journey was -decided upon. Some obstacles existed; for instance, the want of money, -which was to be borrowed from rich citizens before the monarch’s project -could take place; then it was expected to prove a “hard journey,” for it -was thought the Court would reach the North before there would be grass -for their horses; and even the Scots expressed a wish that the -visitation might be deferred.[155] - -Footnote 155: - - Nichols, iii., p. 245. - -The entertainment given to Monsieur de la Tour, the Ambassador -Extraordinary from the French King, delayed somewhat this freezing -expedition. At length, it was decided that James should set out on the -twenty-second of February; though money came in slowly; and it was found -extremely difficult to raise the sum of 100,000_l._ in the metropolis. -“Yet,” observes a contemporary, “there is much urging, and in the end it -must be done, though men be never so much discouraged.” To propitiate -the presiding Lord Mayor, he was knighted, and received, with his -companions, the King’s thanks for the 100,000_l._ in prospect, which -was, however, to be raised, _nolens volens_, whilst men of low condition -were called in to bear the burden. - -It was not until the thirteenth of March that the King and Queen, with -Prince Charles, removed to Theobalds, preparatory to the progress of -James northwards. Never was undertaking so much disliked by the -generality of the people, chiefly on account of the immense expense -which it involved. It was now fourteen years since his Majesty had -visited his Scottish dominions. “He began the journey,” says Wilson, -“with the spring, warming the country, as he went, with the glories of -the Court;” and carrying with him those boon companions who best could -shorten the way, and consume the nights by their pranks and buffoonery. -These were Sir George Goring, Sir Edward Zouch, and Sir John Finett—men -“who could fit and obtemperate the King’s humour;” and it may, -therefore, be readily supposed what description of gentlemen they were. -Sir George Goring was a native of Hurst-per-point, in Sussex, in which -county his descendants still flourish. He had been brought up in the -Court of Queen Elizabeth, his father being one of the gentlemen -pensioners; and had been gentleman in ordinary to Prince Henry. He now -went as lieutenant of the gentlemen pensioners, and accordingly was -despatched with others of that hand by sea.[156] Goring had attracted -the regard of James by his sound sense and vein of jocular humour; like -Sir Edward Zouch and Sir John Finett, he was the “chief and master fool” -of the Court—sometimes “presenting David Dromore and Archie Armstrong, -the King’s fools, on the back of other fools, till they fell together by -the ears, and fell one over another.” Goring, like his colleagues in his -respectable employment, is said to have got more by his fooling than -other people did by their wisdom; he was, indeed, regarded as a sort of -minor favourite, yet Buckingham evinced no jealousy of him, and procured -him, in 1629, the title of Baron Goring, of Hurst-pierre-point.[157] -Finett and Zouch were equally expert with Goring in “antick” dances, -disguises in masqueradoes, and extemporary foolery; but in this last -accomplishment Sir John Millicent, whose name is not among the King’s -retinue in Scotland, excelled them all; and was the “most commended for -notable fooling.”[158] It was found, however, impossible to surpass -Buckingham in the accomplishment of dancing. His grace, and the fondness -he showed for the pastime, brought it into fashion. “No man,” writes an -historian, “dances better; no man runs or jumps better; and, indeed, he -jumps higher than ever Englishman did in so short a time—from a private -gentleman to a dukedom.”[159] He now reigned sole monarch in the King’s -favour; and everything he did was admired “for the doer’s sake.” The -king was never contented, except when near him; nor could the Court -grandees be well out of his presence; all petitions, therefore, “whether -for place or office, for Court or Commonwealth, were addressed to him.” - -Footnote 156: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 243. - -Footnote 157: - - In 1645, he was advanced to the Earldom of Norwich. He died in 1662, - leaving his title to George Goring, the celebrated loyalist, of whom - so masterly a portrait has been drawn by Clarendon. - -Footnote 158: - - Nichols, ii. p. 38, note; apud Sir Anthony Weldon. - -Footnote 159: - - Kennet’s England, vol. ii. p. 708. - -The King proceeded by easy journeys of ten, twelve, and seventeen miles -a day northwards. It is curious to find him resting a day and a night at -the home of Sir Oliver Cromwell of Hinchinbrook, near Huntingdon.[160] -At Lincoln, he healed fifty persons of the Evil, a gracious act which -was succeeded by an attendance upon a cock-fighting, at which His -Majesty was very merry. This diversion was varied by horse-racing. - -Footnote 160: - - Nichols, iii., p. 258. - -On his arrival near Edinburgh, the King took up his arrival at Seton -House, the seat of the Earl of Wintoun, whose family continued to be -faithful to the descendants of James during the calamitous contest -between the modern Stuarts and the Hanoverians. James remained in -Scotland until the fifth of July, when he returned by the west coast of -Scotland to Carlisle. - -The three great objects of his Majesty’s journey to Scotland, were the -extension of episcopal authority; the establishment of some ceremonials -in religion; and the elevation of the civil above the ecclesiastic -authority.[161] It does not, however, appear that Buckingham took any -active part in these designs, or that he was at this period regarded in -any other light than as one of the ministering agents to the amusement -of James’s vacant hours. It is possible that he may have viewed Scotland -with that prejudice with which the English at that time regarded that -nation. The revenues of that country being then insufficient to maintain -the Government, Buckingham probably deemed it, as others did, nothing -but a drain upon the resources of England—a barren ground from which “a -beggarly rabble (like a fluent spring),” to use the words of Osborne, -“was for ever to be found crossing the River Tweed.”[162] The national -prejudice was likewise considerably strengthened by the King’s -favourite, but abortive scheme of union between the two crowns; thus -dividing the kingdom into halves, so that he, “a Christian king under -the gospel, should no longer be a polygamist to two wives, under which -discreditable imputation he conceived that the partition of the kingdom -placed him.”[163] Whether Buckingham may have been propitiated by the -hospitality of the Scots or not, or whether he thought with Sir Anthony -Weldon that “the country was too good for them that possess it, and too -bad for others to be at the charge to conquer it,” does not appear. In -some passages of the Royal Progress it is most likely that the young -courtier found but little delight. At St. Andrews, disputations in -divinity, and at Stirling in philosophy, were honoured by the King’s -presence. They were delivered by some members of the University of -Edinburgh, and were to have been held in the college there, had not -public business interfered.”[164] - -Footnote 161: - - Hume’s Hist. of England, iii., 83. - -Footnote 162: - - Osborne’s Tradit., Memorials of King James, p. 422. - -Footnote 163: - - Somers’s Tracts, 83 - -Footnote 164: - - The subjects were these:—First, That sheriffs and other inferior - magistrates should not be hereditary. With this, James was so well - pleased that he turned to the Marquis of Hamilton, Hereditary Sheriff - of Clydesdale, and said, “James, you see your cause is lost.” - Secondly, On the rate of locomotion. The respondent in this - disputation quoting Aristotle, the King remarked, “These men know the - mind of Aristotle as well as he did himself when alive.” Thirdly, On - the origin of fountains or springs. - -For a time the presence of James in Scotland produced all the good -effects which the aspect of royalty generally ensures. The English -became extremely popular in the northern capital, then rarely visited by -the great and fashionable. “We hear little out of Scotland,” writes Mr. -Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, “but that the Parliament is now -beginning, and that our English are extraordinarily respected, and -friendly to the nobles, to whom the King makes much caresses, and -receives them as his guests. The Earl of Buckingham is made one of the -council there, and takes his place above the rest as Master of the -Horse. They speak that he shall be made Marquis of Scotland, and the -Lord Compton an Earl, to counterpoise the Scotch that have been ennobled -here.”[165] James was indeed profuse beyond measure in his titles during -this progress. - -Footnote 165: - - Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., 367. - -“All our peers’ sons that went with the King,” adds the same writer, -“were knighted there that were undubbed before, and all the gentlemen of -Yorkshire, so that there is scarce left an esquire to uphold the race, -and the order is descended somewhat lower, even to Adam Hill, that was -the Earl of Montgomery’s barber, and to one Jeane, husband to the -Queen’s laundress, our host of Doncaster; and to another that lately -kept an inn at Rumford; and a youth, one Conir, is come into -consideration as to become a prince of favourites, brought in by the -Earl of Buckingham, and the wags talk as if he were in possibility to -become Viscount Conir. All the mean officers of the household are also -said to be knighted, so that ladies are like to be in little -request.”[166] - -Footnote 166: - - State Paper Office, Domestic, 1616-1617. - -But it was not in the nature of things that affairs should go on without -some inconveniences and apprehensions, and great offence was given in -Scotland, when, at the funeral of one of the guard, who was buried after -the English ritual, Laud, then Dean of St. Paul’s, desired those -assembled to join him in recommending the soul of his deceased brother -to Almighty God. He was afterwards obliged to retract, and to say that -he had done this in a sort of civility rather than according to rule. -Another exception was taken at his putting on a white surplice just at -that part of the funeral service when the body was going to be put into -the ground. The Dean of the royal chapel in Edinburgh also refused to -receive the communion whilst Dr. Laud was kneeling.[167] - -Footnote 167: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. Domestic, June 21, - 1621. State Paper Office. - -During his residence in Edinburgh, the life of Buckingham was said to be -endangered by a plot to assassinate him, a prelude, as it seemed, to the -tragic doom which he afterwards encountered. In a letter from Sir Thomas -Lake to Sir Ralph Winwood, dated from Brougham Castle, and written on -the seventh of August, 1617, he thus refers to the peril which -threatened the favourite:— - -“All the news which is here, is that many lords have been busied about a -fellow who, in his drink, spake some words as though he had an intention -to kill my Lord of Buckingham. He is one of the guard of Scotland, his -name is Carre, and said his intention was for that his lordship was the -cause of Somerset’s dismission. He has, since his being sober, confessed -his words to my Lord of Lennox. I came out from the last house before -some of the old lords of Scotland had done with him, and therefore can -yet say no more to you. The words were spoken in Scotland. Some of my -Lord of Buckingham’s friends do doubt Carre was but set on.” - -On the twenty-seventh of the same month, the culprit had, it appears, -proceeded far on his journey southward, as a prisoner, to take his trial -in London for his meditated crime. “On Saturday last,” writes Mr. -Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, “here past, by Ware, one Carre, a -Scottish gentleman, being suspected and charged (together with four -others of that family and name) to have conspired the death of the Earl -of Buckingham, at his coming out of Scotland, and so was apprehended -near Carlisle.”[168] - -Footnote 168: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, August 27, 1617, - dated, Ware Park. No mention is made of this attempt in any of the - biographies of Buckingham. State Paper Office, Domestic. - -No further notice of this affair occurs in the correspondence from which -it is derived; and it is possible that the plot was inferred from the -hasty expressions of offended clansmen, and was found, on investigation, -to be without sufficient proof to bring it into a court of law. - -Among the English peers who visited Scotland, the least popular was Lord -Howard of Walden, eldest son of the Earl of Suffolk. This nobleman -enjoyed the especial favour of King James; his name occurs in most of -the courtly festivities of the day, as one appointed to appear foremost -in all stately revels, and he received a more substantial proof of royal -preference in being called to the House of Lords in the lifetime of his -father. In the north, however, he was detested, chiefly on account of -his ill usage of his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of George, Lord Harris, -Earl of Dunbar, and likewise from his accustomed boasting of his -influence with Buckingham, for it was a favourite saying of Lord -Howard’s, “that he, and none other, had an especial interest in the -favourite.” - -Lord Howard seems to have been a mark at which the courtiers aimed their -shafts of wit and ridicule; it was during the journey into Scotland that -he came into collision with a nobleman of a very different character, -James, second Marquis of Hamilton. This nobleman enjoyed, in a very -uncommon degree, the confidence and esteem of his royal master, who was -accustomed to call him familiarly by his Christian name. He held the -office of Lord Steward of the Household, and Privy Councillor; and, in -that capacity, was doubtless often surprised, if not irritated, by the -precedence and latitude given to Buckingham. By his countrymen, the -Marquis was considered “to be the gallantest gentleman in all Scotland.” - -The following account is characteristic of the mingled idleness and -dissension of a courtier’s life:—[169] - -“Riding one day with the king, a-hunting, he, Lord Howard of Walden, -asked the Marquis of Hamilton whether he were ever in love. He answered, -Yes. What effects wrought it? saith he. His answer was, It made him fat, -saucy, and ignorant. Other speeches passed just like this, but I proceed -to the quarrels he had with him. The Marquis of Hamilton hath a page, -whom my Lord Hay did liken, for his fairness of face, to the second -daughter of the Lord Burghley, Mrs. Diana Cecil, admired so much by the -Lord Walden, except he were unmarried. After my Lord Hay’s departure -thence, the Marquis, the Favourite, and Lord Walden being at dinner -together, and the boy waiting at the table, the Marquis and my Lord -Buckingham whispered and laughed, to which my Lord Walden said he knew -what they laughed at, and that he, that said that, was but a fool. To -which the Marquis replied that, ‘were he a roaring boy, he would have -flung a glass of wine in his face.’ It was my Lord Hay had said it. He -was his friend, and a noble gentleman, whom, in his absence, he would -not have wronged, and, therefore, bid him, before he should answer it, -draw his sword. But my Lord of Buckingham so talked with these lords -that after dinner he did reconcile this business, the Lord Walden -acknowledging him now, upon better consideration, to be a noble -gentleman, and that he knew no other of my Lord Hay. This business fell -out nigh a month before the king’s coming from Scotland, though it came -not to my knowledge since a week before the king’s departure there, at -what time the Marquis Hamilton was on the point to be sworn a -councillor. The Lord Walden, remembering some of these former passages, -and thinking to stop the conferring of this honour upon him, as is said, -did acquaint Sir Edward Villiers, that the Marquis should say that if my -Lord of Buckingham did not dispatch that business for him, of conferring -the councillorship, that he would cut his throat, wishing him to tell it -his brother, which he did; so that, when he met the Marquis, the Lord of -Buckingham questioned him of that, who presently demanded the author, -which he told him. Then the Marquis departed, and presently sent the -Lord Buckhurst to seek out the Lord Walden, with a challenge as was -thought, but he could not be found. In the end he came to my Lord of -Buckingham’s chamber, where, it is said, he lamented by ill fortune to -have these words spoken again, and from thence did not depart until by -acknowledgments the quarrel was reconciled.” - -Footnote 169: - - Letter from George Garrard to Sir Dudley Carleton, London, August - 18th, 1617, from inedited State Papers. See also Brydges’s Peers of - James I., p. 160. - -Buckingham appears, on this occasion, to have acted a kind and sensible -part. His utmost discretion was soon called upon in an affair upon which -the annals of the time ring changes, and the details of which present -the most curious combat of worldly passions, and the most fatal results -of misdirected influence, that can be conceived. - -In spite of a “fearful dream” of Queen Anne’s, reported to James as a -warning, his progress was not shortened. He spent several days at -Brougham Castle, the residence of Francis Clifford, fourth Earl of -Cumberland, whose daughter, the celebrated Anne Clifford, afterwards -repaired the castle, which suffered during the civil wars; but which, so -vain were her exertions, has since been permitted to fall into ruins. -The expenses entailed by the king’s visit, including the music performed -in his presence, were considerable, and helped to ruin the lord of the -castle, an easy, improvident man, whose allusion to the tax imposed by -this royal visitation is almost touching. “I fynde plainly,” he thus -wrote to his son, “upon better consideration, that the charge for that -entertainment will grow very great, besyde the musick, and that instead -of lessening, my charge in general encreaseth, and new paiments come on -which without better providence hereafter cannot be performed.”[170] In -his progress from one mansion or manor-house to another, James visited -several of those families whose names became afterwards distinguished -among the adherents of his unfortunate son. At Hoghton Tower, in -Lancashire, at that time the principal seat of the Hoghton family, but -now unhappily a ruin, still containing an apartment called King James’s -room; where the monarch is said to have conferred the honour of -knighthood, which he had dispensed very freely during his progress upon -his subjects, on the loin of beef, that act being also one of the last -achievements of his journey. He visited also Lathom House, the seat of -the Stanleys; and was received with great demonstrations of respect and -joy at Stafford, where the Earl of Essex, who lived in an honoured -retirement at Chartley Castle, rode before him into the town. At -Warwick, he was entertained by Sir Fulke Grevill, who was then the -master of Warwick Castle, which he had found, on taking possession of -it, in a ruinous state, and used as a county jail.[171] In the hall of -Leicester Hospital, that charitable foundation, endowed by Robert -Dudley, Earl of Leicester, for twelve Brethren, James was entertained -with a supper; an event of which a tradition still remains attached to -the half-monastic institution in which it occurred. Sir Fulke Grevill -had his own private motives to induce him to extend his marks of respect -to Buckingham, as well as to the king; for, shortly afterwards, we find -him a suitor to the niece of Buckingham, Lady Anderson, for her -hand.[172] There can be no doubt, but that James and Buckingham visited -Warwick Castle, but were not entertained there on account of its ruinous -condition. - -Footnote 170: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 392, from Whitaker’s Hist. of Craven. - -Footnote 171: - - Nichols, iii., p. 434. In the harangue addressed to the king on his - entrance into Warwick, there is this passage:—“This castle, alsoe - moste desirous to receive you, the greatest guest that ever she - entertained, would speake in noe lower key, but that her late disgrace - abateth her courage. After shee became the jaylor’s lodge, - interchanging the goulden chaines of her noble erle’s with the iron - fetters of wretched prisoners, given over to be inhabited by battes - and owles, she is ashamed to speake before you.” Nichols’s, vol. iii., - p. 431. - - This speech was transcribed for Nichols’s Progresses, by the late - William Hamper, Esq., F.S.A., from the Black Book of Warwick, a book - preserved by the corporation. - - Sir Fulke Grevill spent 20,000_l._ in restoring the Castle with its - pleasaunce and gardens. To his care the preservation of that - interesting structure is due. - -Footnote 172: - - Birch’s MSS., 4173. - -Whilst Buckingham was in Scotland, overtures were made to reconcile -certain differences between him and Sir Edward Coke, then Lord Chief -Justice in England. In order to comprehend the conduct which the -favourite pursued in relation to that celebrated man, it becomes -necessary to review a series of occurrences which had happened -previously to the Scottish journey; to enter, likewise, into the topics -of the day; and, above all, to refer to the prejudices of the king, and -the resistance made to them by an honest, though a harsh, individual. -These considerations are mixed up with matters of apparently private -interest; yet are necessary to be unfolded, when the conduct of -Villiers, and the history of his family, are the subject of narrative. - -It will be remembered that the chief interest which James derived from -the representation of the play of “Ignoramus” had arisen from the -ridicule cast upon the practice of the common law. In several passages -of that drama, Sir Edward Coke was supposed to be particularly alluded -to.[173] This great lawyer had, in various ways, given offence; he had -termed the royal prerogative, in one of his speeches in Parliament, “a -great overgrown monster;” and he had displayed a courage which redeemed -his character from many of its demerits, by insinuating that the common -law of England was in charge of being perverted. On two other notable -points Coke had also offended the king; the one being the famous dispute -respecting the Court of Chancery; the other, the still more celebrated -case of the Commendams.[174] In the former matter, the conduct of Coke -is allowed to have been highly discreditable to him and his associates; -in the latter, to have merited the warmest admiration. - -Footnote 173: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 90. - -Footnote 174: - - “The Court of Chancery,” says the author of the Life of Sir Edward - Coke (published for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful - Knowledge), “had long exercised a jurisdiction, which had formed one - of the articles against Wolsey, of revising and correcting judgments - which had been obtained in the courts of common law.” It was not until - the reign of James, that this privilege had been called into question. - Sir Edward Coke, who was tenacious of the authority of the Common Law - Courts, and the twelve judges, gave it as their opinion, that Chancery - had no such power; and that an appeal from a judgment at law could not - be made except to Parliament. To this decision proceedings were - instituted against the judges in the Star Chamber. The conduct of the - judges and of the chief-justice in this matter, has been generally - condemned. - -Whatever view the public may have taken of these transactions, they -formed the first plea for that ruin of Coke to which Buckingham is said -to have given an impetus, by the intrusion of his own interests upon the -royal ear,[175] at this crisis of Coke’s destiny. The King, summoning -the Lord Chief Justice and the twelve judges to the council at -Whitehall, delivered his opinions concerning their conduct in an -harangue, in which he declared “that ever since his coming to the crown, -the popular sort of lawyers had been the men that most effrontedly had -trodden upon his prerogative;”[176] and, having expatiated upon their -offences with his usual pedantry and prolixity, he dismissed them, -declaring “that in his protection of them, and expediting of justice, he -would walk in the steps of the ancient and best of kings.” The firmness -with which Coke conducted himself during the whole of this affair, -whilst it won him a popularity which he would never otherwise have -acquired, prepared the way for those who, from interested motives, -sought his ruin, and, combined with his zeal and acuteness in the trial -of Lord and Lady Somerset—an acuteness which the King, it is rumoured, -had secret reasons to dread—completely undermined his credit at court. - -Footnote 175: - - See an able Life of Sir Edward Coke, published by the Society for the - Diffusion of Knowledge, p. 8. Also, Lord Campbell’s Lives of the Chief - Justices, Art. Coke, vol. i., p. 287. - -Footnote 176: - - Ibid. - -In the intrigues which tended to ruin Coke, Buckingham certainly -participated.[177] The first instance of rapacity in the young favourite -is discernible at this period. Sir Henry Roper had for many years -enjoyed the place of Chief Clerk for enrolling the pleas of the King’s -Bench; it was supposed to be worth 4000_l._ per annum. Being advanced in -age, Sir Henry was disposed to relinquish the appointment, on condition -of being made Lord Teynham, receiving the salary during his life. -Buckingham seized this opportunity of improving his fortunes. He applied -for the reversion of this office to be granted to two of his trustees -during their lives—an application which had been successfully made by -the Earl of Somerset formerly.[178] But the Lord Chief Justice stood in -the way of this surrender on the part of Roper, and also of the proposed -arrangement. He answered, upon first being solicited, “that he was old, -and could not struggle”—a reply which was regarded as a compliance.[179] -But when Sir Henry Roper actually surrendered the situation, and was -created Lord Teynham, Coke changed his tone, and stated that, since the -salaries of the judges in his court were very low, it would be desirable -to increase them by the revenues of this office, which was at his -disposal. Upon this, it was resolved by the King and his favourite to -remove him, and to substitute on the Bench a more compliant judge. The -avowed plea of this iniquitous proceeding was the conduct of Coke in the -affair of the Commendams; but its real cause was his non-compliance with -the views of Buckingham. Bacon, with his usual subserviency, augmented -by his hatred of Coke, wrote to Villiers: “For Roper’s place, I would -have it by all means despatched, and therefore I marvel it lingereth.” -The “thing,” he declared, was so reasonable, “that it ought to be done -as soon as said.” Unhappily for Coke, he thought otherwise. - -Footnote 177: - - Bacon’s Letters, vol. ii., p. 85; taken from the Introduction to - Bacon’s Works by Stephens, p. 47. - -Footnote 178: - - Biographia, Art. Coke. - -Footnote 179: - - Biographia, Art. Coke, from Bacon’s Works. - -It is hardly possible to conceive a line of conduct more degrading than -that which Buckingham pursued in the whole of this affair. He forfeited -by it all the credit due to him for the rejection of Sherborne, and the -principle of which he had boasted, that he would not rise upon the ruins -of others, was already effaced from his memory. Upon the third of -October, 1616, Coke was desired to desist from the service of his -place.[180] This intimation of a disgraceful act had come suddenly, for, -on the week before, the King had been at a great entertainment, given by -Lord Exeter at Wimbledon, and the Lady Hatton, the wife of the Lord -Chief Justice, was there, and “well-graced, for the King had kissed her -twice:” but this, it seems, was “but a lightening.” On the following -Sunday, Sir Edward Coke was sequestered from the council table, and -prohibited from riding his circuit, his place being supplied by Sir -Randolph Crew. “Some that wish him well,” adds a contemporary, “fear the -matter will not end here, for he is wilful and will take no counsel, and -not seeking to make good his first errors, runs in worse, and entangles -himself more and more, and gives his enemies such advantage to work upon -the King’s indignation towards him, that he is in great danger.” Others -scrupled not to say that he had been too busy in the late business (of -Somerset), and had dived into secrets further than there was need. “It -happens, also, that he had not carried himself advisedly and dutifully -to His Majesty.”[181] All these assigned causes are points which tend -somewhat to mitigate the censures which must be cast on Buckingham in -this affair. Lady Hatton, too, a Cecil, but not endowed with the -prudence of that sagacious family, and one of the fiercest of her sex, -contributed to the downfall of her husband, by carrying herself very -indiscreetly to the Queen, who forbade her the court. “The story,” adds -the same chronicler, “were long to tell; but it was about braving and -uncivil words to the Lady Compton, George Villiers’ mother, and vouching -the Queen for her author.” As usual,[182] to women was attributed all -the far-spreading evil which comes out of contention. - -Footnote 180: - - Note to Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p. 85. - -Footnote 181: - - Nichols, vol. ii., p. 178; from Birch’s MSS., vol. iv., p. 173. - -Footnote 182: - - Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 166. - -A letter addressed by Coke to Buckingham, before his final removal from -his pre-eminent station, must, one would imagine, have touched a harder -heart than that of Villiers. Coke’s words are described as “now being -humble enough.” His letter, though supplicatory, was not abject. He -thanked Buckingham for having, by his honourable means, obtained a -hearing for him. He entered manfully into the defence of his book of -reports, to which objections had been made, which were the plea of his -suspension from his usual judicial duties, “assuring his Lordship that -never any book was written of any human learning that was not in some -part or other subject to exception.”[183] - -Footnote 183: - - Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 166. - -This remonstrance was dispatched to Buckingham at a time when the heart -of the favourite might have been softened by his own elevation, and by -the general joy. It reached him just before the creation of Charles, -Prince of Wales, and contained a request that the deeply-humbled Coke -might be permitted to attend that ceremonial.[184] There is no record -that the entreaty was acceded to. - -Footnote 184: - - Ibid. - -Until the end of November (1616) the fate of the Lord Chief Justice was -undecided. The Queen, to her credit, and the Prince Charles, were urgent -in his behalf. And a rumour now first began to prevail that the younger -brother of the favourite, Sir John Villiers, who had an appointment in -the Prince’s household, was to marry Sir Edward Coke’s daughter, with a -dowry of 900l. in land from her father, and 2,100_l._ in land from Lady -Hatton, together with Lord Teynham’s office; but, in the meantime, the -Lord Chief Justice was, in his fortunes, affected as it were with an -“ague,” which has an alternate bad and good day.[185] The next report -was that Coke was “quite off the hooks,” and that orders had been sent -to give him a _supersedeas_. The jest of the day was that four P’s had -lost him his place—Pride, Prohibitions, Præmunire, and Prerogative.[186] -Shortly afterwards he was superseded, and had the mortification of -knowing that Sir Henry Montagu, who was appointed in his stead, went -with great pomp to Westminster Hall, accompanied by many noblemen, to -the number of “fifty horse, the whole fry of the Middle Temple, and -swarms of lawyers and officers.”[187] That was a day of triumph for -Buckingham. - -Footnote 185: - - Nichols, from Birch’s MS., p. 4172. - -Footnote 186: - - Ibid. - -Footnote 187: - - Ibid, p. 227. - -The character of the most famous of English lawyers rose under this -unmerited injury.[188] He bore his misfortune with calm dignity. It is -related of him that when the new Chief Justice sent to buy from him his -collar of S.S., he answered that he would not part with it, but would -leave it to his descendants, that they might know that one day they had -a Chief Justice to their ancestor. A remarkable popularity followed his -degradation. Sir Edward Coke was the first judge that had set the -example of independence on the bench; and his refusing to be tampered -with in the disposal of a lucrative office caused him to be regarded as -a martyr. Even the King, when he intimated at the Privy Council his -intention to supersede Coke, did it with a sort of half shame, declaring -that he thought him “in no way corrupt, but a good justice,” and adding -“as many compliments as if he had meant to hang him with a silken -halter.”[189] Such was the corruption of the times, such the utter want -of all honourable principle, that it was well known that, had Coke been -wise enough to take advantage of the proposed match between his daughter -and Sir John Villiers, “he would have been that day Lord Chancellor.” -His avarice had been the impediment to that marriage. A dowry of -10,000_l._ had been asked with his daughter—he had offered 10,000 marks, -and “he had stuck at 1,000_l._ a year during his life,” letting fall -certain idle words, that he would not buy the King’s favour too dear, -“being so uncertain and variable.”[190] - -Footnote 188: - - Amos’s Great Oyer of Poisoning, p. 418. - -Footnote 189: - - Nichols, p. 227. - -Footnote 190: - - Ibid, p. 225. - -The public were at no loss, as Lord Campbell remarks, to account for the -disgrace of Coke, when they knew that his successor, before accepting -his office, was obliged to bind himself to dispose of the chief -clerkship for the benefit of Buckingham, and when they saw two trustees -for Buckingham admitted to the place as soon as the new Chief Justice -was sworn in. - -Such had been the state of affairs before James and Villiers set out for -Scotland; during their absence, the world was alternately amused and -disgusted by the proceedings of Sir Edward Coke and his lady, regarding -the match proposed between Sir John Villiers and their daughter. - -This celebrated judge was peculiarly unhappy in his domestic life. Lady -Elizabeth Hatton, his second wife, the sister of Thomas Burleigh, Earl -of Exeter, and the widow of Sir Thomas Hatton, had brought him, along -with a large fortune, the unpleasant acquisition of a partner violent, -litigious, and unscrupulous. The very commencement of the inauspicious -nuptials had been attended with trouble, the parties subjecting -themselves to many inconveniencies from the irregularity of their -marriage, which took place in a private house, without bans or licence. -From the moment that the knot was tied, Coke found in this new -connection nothing but misery. Neither in private nor in public could -his wife and he abstain from the sharpest contentions. - -Their daughter—that object which should most surely have cemented a -union—soon proved a new source of the bitterest feuds. - -When Buckingham was in Scotland, an overture was made to him on the part -of Sir Edward Coke, relating to the marriage of his youngest daughter to -Sir John Villiers, the elder brother of the favourite. The proposal was -made through Secretary Winwood, the friend of Coke, and was, at first, -eagerly accepted by Buckingham; but, although it had these good -auspices, there were obstacles which prevented its favourable course. - -One of these was the dislike of the young lady to her appointed suitor, -who was diseased, and troubled with a humour in his legs, and accounted -not a long-lived man; so that, as was observed by Mr. Chamberlain, -“there needed so much ado to get him a wife.” Another was the jealousy -of Lady Hatton. Incensed that her husband should dare to dispose of her -daughter without her consent, she carried her off, and secreted her in -the house of Sir Edmund Withipole, near Oatlands, in Surrey. From that -retreat, the young lady was removed to the residence of Archibald, -seventh Earl of Argyle, near Hampton Court. - -Lady Hatton immediately hired a lodging in the town of Kingston; whence -she was permitted to visit her daughter, but not to sleep under the same -roof with her. “She kept her, however,” observes a contemporary writer, -“such company, that none else could have access to her.”[191] This -access was moderated, and her creatures, whom she had employed to take -her daughter away, were questioned and committed. Finding herself -forsaken by her friends, “who dared not show themselves too far in the -business, and seeing,” adds the same authority, “that she struggled in -vain, Lady Hatton began to come about.” At this juncture, Buckingham -interfered. He wrote a letter which calmed the fury: she returned him an -answer, “that if this way had been taken with her at first, they might -have proceeded better.”[192] Her husband was, however, now incensed -beyond control. He procured a warrant from Secretary Winwood, and -fetched away his daughter from Hampton Court, exceeding, indeed, the -terms of his warrant, for he is said to have broken open the doors of -the house to obtain her. Lady Hatton was quickly engaged in pursuit of -him; and “had not her coach tired,” as it is related, “there would soon -have been strange tragedies.”[193] - -Footnote 191: - - Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. State Paper Office. London, - August 9th, 1617. Inedited. - -Footnote 192: - - Nichols, iii., p. 371. - -Footnote 193: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain, before quoted. - -Coke then conveyed his daughter to the care of Lady Compton Villiers, -but the next day the clerk of the council was sent to take the custody -of her, in his own house. The affair was heard before the Privy Council, -when a violent contention amused the indifferent spectators, and -aggravated the hatred of the parties concerned. Lady Hatton, in her -vehemence, is said to have declaimed with a force worthy of Burbage, -then the most popular actor of the day. At last, after much wrangling, a -reconciliation was effected. Lady Hatton was induced, upon some -conditions, to double the portion which her husband had offered, “and to -make up the match and give it her blessing.” Lady Compton Villiers and -her sons repaired to Kingston, where they remained two or three days, -“which,” adds the writer, “makes the world think they grow to -conclusion.” The fact was, that finding she had no power to resist, Lady -Hatton thought proper to give in with a good grace; thus commanding -better terms with Coke than a further resistance would have procured, -“and so,” adds Mr. Chamberlain, “defeat her husband’s purposes, towards -whom, of late, she had carried herself very strangely, neither like a -wife nor a wise woman.”[194] - -Footnote 194: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain, before quoted. - -Thus, Coke’s “curst heart,” as his wife termed it, was forced to yield -to terms which he had never contemplated. The matter ended with the -young lady’s being sent to Hatton House, with orders that “Lady Compton -and her son should have access to win and wear her.” Meanwhile, all the -world expected that King James, whose minute interference in the affairs -of his courtiers equalled that of Henry the Eighth, would have mediated -a peace between Sir Edward Coke and his wife; but James forbore, -declaring that it “was a thing of more time and more care than he could -afford to give the matter.” - -In this transaction, there is not a single individual who does not -appear to have harboured some unworthy motive. Coke, notwithstanding the -failure of his own matrimonial schemes, was ready to wed his daughter to -Sir John Villiers, without the slightest regard to her wishes and -affections.[195] Buckingham, his mother, and his brother were actuated -by the most mercenary considerations. Lady Hatton and her daughter were -aiming at a younger son of the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert Howard, who -was subsequently prosecuted for a criminal intrigue with Frances Hatton, -after she had become the wife of Sir John Villiers. - -Footnote 195: - - Stephens’s Introduction to Bacon’s letters, p. 42. Also Inedited - Letters in the State Paper Offices, Domestic, 1616, 17. - -During the height of her opposition, the friends of Lady Hatton -published a contract, said to have been signed, in the presence of her -mother, by Frances Coke; and whether real, or merely contrived for the -purpose of preventing the marriage with Sir John Villiers (a precontract -being in those days as great an obstacle as a previous marriage), it is -highly characteristic of the parties concerned in it. This curious -document, from a young lady of the seventeenth century, is as follows:— - -“I vow before God, and take the Almighty to witness, that I, Frances -Coke, younger daughter of Sir Edward Coke, late Lord Cheife Justice of -England, doe give myselfe absolutely to wife, to Henry Vere, Viscount -Balboke, Earl of Oxenford, to whom I plight my fayth, and inviolate -vows, to keepe myselfe till death us do part; and if ever I break off -the least of these, I pray God damme me body and soule in hell fyre in -the world to come. And in thys worlde, I humbly beseech God the earth -may open and swallowe me up quicke to the terror of all fayth breakers -that remayne alive. In witness thereof, I have written all thys with my -owne hand, and sealed yt with my own seale (a hart crowned), which I -will ware till you returne to make it good that I have sent you; and for -further assurance, I here underneath sett to my name, - - “FRANCES COKE, - “in the presence of my deare mother, - “Elizabeth Hatton. - -“July 10th, 1617.”[196] - -Footnote 196: - - Now first published from the State Paper Office. Domestic, July 10, - 1617. - - -But the meanest actor in this whole affair was Francis Bacon. His -jealousy and hatred of Coke impelled him to oppose the marriage; but he -made the greatest profession of forwarding it. He wrote on the subject -to Buckingham, in these terms:— - -“MY VERY GOOD LORD, - -Since my last to your lordship I did first send to Mr. Attorney General, -and made him know that since I heard from court, I was resolved to -further the match and conditions thereof, for your Lordship’s brother’s -advancement, the best I could.” - -He then details his further exertions in the matter; his apprising Lady -Hatton and some other special friends that he would in anything declare -for the match; his sending Sir John Bulter[197] to Lady Compton Villiers -to tender his good offices; but even whilst he made these overtures and -promises his courage flinched from abetting an event which would give -such influence to his old enemy, Coke. - -Footnote 197: - - A kinsman of Buckingham’s. - -“I did ever foresee,” he writes, “that this alliance would go near to -lose me your lordship, that I hold so dear, and that was the only -respect particular to myself that moved me to be as I was, till I heard -from you. But I will rely on your constancy and nature, and my own -deserving, and the firm tie we have in respect of the King’s -service.”[198] - -Footnote 198: - - Nichols, 272. - -Well might the writer of this letter complain that Lady Compton Villiers -and her son, Sir John, who saw through all his professions, spoke of him -with some bitterness and neglect. They were, it appeared, under the -influence of Sir Edward Coke, and of Secretary Winwood, the latter of -whom Bacon “took to be the worst of his enemies.” But he resolved “to -bear both with Lady Compton Villiers and her son—with her, as a lady; -with her son, as a lover”—and ended by the exclamation:—“God keep us -from these long journeys and absences, which make misunderstanding, and -give advantage to untruth; and ever prosper and preserve your lordship!” - -Nevertheless, Bacon is supposed to have been the instigator of certain -proceedings in the Star Chamber, which were commenced against Sir Edward -Coke, for what was called an outrage; although the carrying his daughter -away were an action justifiable by law; and he quickly showed how -earnest was his determination to prevent the match, by another letter to -Buckingham. In this he complained of the officious busying himself of -Secretary Winwood, and asserted that it was done rather to make a -faction than out of any great affection for Buckingham. “It is true,” he -adds, “he hath the consent of Sir Edward Coke (as we hear) upon -reasonable conditions for your brother, and yet not better than, without -question, may be found in some other matches.” He next states the -objections to the match. - -“First, that Sir John Villiers would marry into a disgraced house, which -in reason of state is never held good. - -“Next, he shall marry into a troubled home of man and wife, which in -religion and Christian discretion is disliked. - -“Thirdly, that he should incur the almost certain loss of friends, -myself only excepted, who, out of a pure love and thankfulness, shall be -ever firm to you. - -“And lastly and chiefly, the danger that would be incurred of lessening -Buckingham’s influence with the King.” He therefore recommended -Buckingham to signify unto his mother, who seems to have been the -main-spring in the affair, that his desire was that the marriage should -not be proceeded in without the consent of both parties, thus making use -of a plea in order to sound a retreat from the alliance; but all was in -vain. - -Bacon next addressed himself to the King. He touched him in his weak -part. “Your Majesty’s prerogative and authority have risen in some just -degrees above the horizon more than heretofore, which has distilled -vapours; your judges are in good temper; your justices of peace (which -is the great body of the gentlemen of England) grow to be loving and -obsequious, and to be weary of this humour of ruffling; all mutinous -spirits grow to be a little poor, and to draw in their horns, and not -the less for your Majesty’s disauthorising the man I speak of;[199] now, -then, I reasonably doubt that if there be but an opinion of his coming -in with the strength of such an alliance, it will give a downward -relapse in men’s minds unto the former state of things, hardly to be -helped, to the great weakening of your Majesty’s service. He is by -nature unsociable, and by habit unpopular, and too old to take a new -place. And men begin already to collect, yea, and to conclude that he -that raiseth such a smoke to get in, will set all on fire when he is -in.”[200] - -Footnote 199: - - Coke. - -Footnote 200: - - These letters are taken from Mr. Montague’s edition of Bacon’s works, - vol. vii., Bacon’s Life, p. 16. - -Not content with these remonstrances, Bacon threatened Winwood with a -Præmunire for granting the warrant; but he was speedily checked by the -indignation of Buckingham, and consequently by that of the King. Coke -was reinstated in the favour of the Monarch, and restored to his place -in the Privy Council, September 15, 1617. He joined the Court on its -journey from Scotland at Woodstock, and “as if he were already on his -wings,” to use the expression of Sir Henry Yelverton, in his letter to -Bacon, “triumphed exceedingly.” - -The poor puppet, Frances Hatton, whose inclinations, as Lord Campbell -remarks, were as little considered “as if she had been a Queen of Spain -under the influence of a Louis Philippe,” was now commanded by her -mother to write a second letter, consenting to marry one who, in thus -espousing her, proved to be most unhappy. - -“MADAM, - -“I must now humbly desire your patience in giving me leave to declare -myself to you, which is, that without your allowance and liking, all the -world shall never make me entangle or tie myself. But now, by my -father’s especial commandment, I obey him in presenting to you my humble -duty, in a tedious letter which is to know your ladyship’s pleasure, not -as a thing I desire, but I resolve to be wholly ruled by my father and -yourself, knowing your judgment to be such that I may well rely upon, -and hoping that conscience and the natural affection parents bear to -children, will let you do nothing but for my good, and that you may -receive comfort, I being a mere child, and not understanding the world, -nor what is good for myself. That which makes me a little give way to -it, is that I hope it will be a means to procure a reconciliation -between my father and your ladyship. Also, I think it will be a means of -the King’s favour to my father. Himself[201] is not to be misliked, his -fortune is very good, a gentleman well born * * * * So I humbly take my -leave, praying that all things may be to every one’s contentment, - - “Your ladyship’s most obedient, - “and humble daughter, for ever, - ”FRANCES COKE. - -“Dear Mother,—Believe, there has no violent means been used to me by -words or deeds.”[202] - -Footnote 201: - - Lord Purbeck. - -Footnote 202: - - Life of Sir E. Coke, by Lord Campbell. - -There now remained nothing but to unite the two young persons whose -affairs had become a matter of public interest. Accordingly, they were -married on Michaelmas day in the royal chapel at Hampton Court, by the -Bishop of Winchester, having been thrice publicly asked in church, the -King giving away “Mrs. Frances Coke the bride:” the Queen was present, -and Sir Edward Coke brought the bride and bridegroom from his son’s -house at Kingston, with eight or nine coaches. The consent of Lady -Hatton was gained; her daughter protesting that, “although she liked Sir -John Villiers better than any one else, she was resolved to keep a -solemn promise made by her to her mother, not to marry without her -consent.”[203] - -Footnote 203: - - Bacon’s Relics, ii., 29. - -This marriage, however, did not pacify Lady Hatton’s haughty and -vindictive spirit. On the wedding-day, she honoured the event, it is -true, by a magnificent entertainment; her husband was not, however, -invited, but was seen dining at the public table in the Temple. Their -enmity endured for four years without mitigation; at the end of that -time, it was subdued by the interference of the King; but was never -wholly subdued. - -By the alliance with Frances Coke, the Villiers family received -considerable accession of wealth; for besides the sum of 10,000_l._ paid -in money, Sir Edward and his son, Robert, did, upon the second of -November, _pursuant to directions of the Lords of Council_, assure to -Sir John Villiers an annuity of 2,000 marks per annum during Sir Edward -Coke’s life, and of 900_l._ a year during that of Lady Hatton; besides -the manor of Stoke Pogis, in Buckinghamshire, after their deaths: being -the moiety of those lands which Sir Edward Coke intended to bequeath to -his two daughters. These sums and this estate were settled by good -conveyances, which were certified to his Majesty by Sir Randolph Crewe, -Sir Robert Hitcham, and Sir Henry Yelverton, the King’s sergeants and -attorney; and eventually other possessions, and certain worldly honours, -were added to these acquisitions. But the marriage, notwithstanding the -success of these arrangements, was attended by misery. The young bride, -in spite of her profession at the time of her nuptials, had always -secretly hated the husband thus forced upon her choice. She had long -given a preference to Sir Robert Howard; and the result was such as to -embitter her own existence, and to degrade her into the lowest condition -to which a woman can descend; her husband incurring a heavy penalty for -his own compliance with the ambitious and mercenary views of -Buckingham—that of being wedded to a loathing and, eventually, a -faithless wife. - -For some years, indeed, a hollow prosperity deceived superficial judges -of the affairs of life as to the happiness of this ill-fated pair. A -series of magnificent entertainments exalted the favour of Lady Hatton, -one of the most odious female characters of that period, and humiliated -her husband, who partook not of these festivities. All the great, the -gay, the courtly, attended the banquets of this imperious woman: but her -husband was never invited. Hatton House was graced repeatedly by the -King, who knighted there several among the guests who were favoured by -the lady of the mansion. In the words of an eye-witness, he made “four -of her creatures knights,”[204] so resolved was he to mollify this -virago. This shower of favours was the result entirely of the new -connection with the Villiers family; and a marked condescension was -shown on that day to the Lady Compton Villiers and her children, whom -the King “praised and kissed, and blessed all those that wished them -well.”[205] - -Footnote 204: - - Sir Peter Chapman, that belongs to the Earl of Exeter; Sir Francis - Nedham, an old solicitor betwixt her and Sir Christopher Hatton; Sir - Nathaniel Neil, a kinsman of Sir Robert; and one Withipole, a kinsman - of her own. - -Footnote 205: - - Nichols, iii. 448. - -Amid all this carousing, some mistakes—intentional ones, it may be -suspected—were committed. The Earl of Pembroke, lord chamberlain, was -not invited to the dinner; but, as well as the Earl of Arundel, went -home to dine, and returned to wait upon the King—a trait of Lady -Hatton’s meanness and haughtiness which must have contributed to the -disgust felt for her conduct to her husband, “who was neither invited -nor spoken of, but dined that day in the Temple as usual.” - -It is but justice to James to state that he now began to entertain a -serious intention of endeavouring to reconcile Sir Edward Coke to his -lady; but he truly observed that it was a matter of time and difficulty. -A cordial reconciliation had, however, taken place between Lady Hatton -and her daughter. - -Beneath all these forced reconciliations and specious protestations, a -deep-seated disease—unsoundness of principle—was latent, only waiting -for time and occasion to give it effect. All, indeed, seemed prosperous; -in June, 1619, two years afterwards, Sir John Villiers was raised to the -dignity of Baron Stoke, in the county of Buckingham, and created -Viscount Purbeck,[206] in the county of Dorset, in spite of much -reluctance on the part of Lady Hatton to give him up Purbeck; in case of -her refusal, he was to have been styled Viscount Beaumont. It was long, -also, before Lady Hatton consented to put Lord Purbeck in possession of -Purbeck.[207] And the honour of being Viscountess of Westmorland was at -the same time offered to Lady Hatton, but was refused, “because she -would not come up to the price.”[208] This bait was held out in order to -induce her to assure to her son-in-law 7,000_l._, in land, a year, so -completely were the King’s interests those of the Villiers family. Had -she been obstinate, it was determined to make her husband a baron to -“spite her.” - -Footnote 206: - - The Isle of Purbeck belonged to Lady Hatton. - -Footnote 207: - - Calendar of State Papers for 1619, cix., p. 26. - -Footnote 208: - - Biog. Brit. Art. Coke. - -The termination, however, of this ill-assorted union, thus formed, -proves how impossible it is for the most successful match-makers to -negotiate for happiness. The affection of Lady Purbeck for Sir Robert -Howard had never died away, and it soon showed itself in acts of -indiscretion, which gave occasion to much animadversion. In May, 1620, -Lord Purbeck went abroad, upon pretext of drinking the waters at Spa, -but, according to the account of Camden, to conceal his having “run mad -with pride.” By another writer, his loss of reason is imputed to the -improper support given to his wife in her outrage of public decorum, and -consequent insult to his honour. Whatever may have been the cause of his -infirmity, it is evident that the manœuvres of his family to increase -their wealth and dignity, were by no means conducive to his -felicity.[209] - -Footnote 209: - - Nichols, iii., 548. - -During the whole of this discreditable transaction, and for a -considerable time after it had ceased to amuse the court circles, the -extraordinary influence of an imperious woman shows at once the weakness -of James and the incipient degradation of Buckingham. Whether Lady -Hatton’s influence proceeded from the expectations of further prosperity -to the Villiers family, she having 3000_l._ a year in her own power to -bequeath, or whether there existed in her any peculiar power to charm, -is uncertain. In the inedited State Papers, there are to be found many -scattered notices of the great court paid to this arrogant lady. - -On the first of November, 1617, writes Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. -Carleton, “the streets being full of people, on account of the Lord -Mayor’s passage to St. Paul’s,” the Earl of Buckingham, accompanied by -the Marquis of Hamilton, Lord Compton, and the Lord Hay, “Sir Edward -Cecil, and I know not whom, many more, to the number of twelve coaches, -went to fetch the Lady Hatton from Sir William Craven’s, and brought her -to her father’s, at Cecil House.” Here she remained some time, and went -in “like state to the Court, and there was much graced by the King, who -likewise reconciled her to the Queen, and made, at the same time, an -atonement ’twixt her and the Lady Compton, and a perfect peace ’twixt -her and her daughter, who would not be persuaded that she could forgive -and forget, till, at parting, the King made her swear that she loved her -as dearly as ever.” - -During the course of the same month, another mark of favour was -exhibited.[210] - -Footnote 210: - - Nov. 14, 1617, Sir Nathaniel Brent to Sir Dudley Carleton. Domestic. - -“On Saturday last, Lady Hatton entertained the King at dinner. Sir -Edward Coke gave it out it was for the reconciliation of him and his -wife; but it seems he mistook the case, for she gave orders that neither -he nor any of his sons or servants should enter her doors.” Then follows -the contrast, and the poor insulted husband appears on the scene. “His -ordinary residence is at the Temple, where very few come unto him, and -he sendeth for his diet to Goodman Gibbes, a slovenly cook, in Ram -Alley. I believe not that which some confidently report, that he sendeth -his shoes to be cobbled, and that on fasting night, when he meant not to -feast his men, he sent to his neighbour Gibbes for a breast of mutton.” - -Upon the death of Secretary Winwood, Lady Hatton, it was supposed, would -have had the nomination of his successor, but the King seized this -opportunity of again marking his regard for the favourite. - -“They do all apprehend,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “how much the Lady -Hatton might prevail if she would set her whole mind and strength to it; -and I think they have and will find means to put her in remembrance; but -the voice goes that the place is not like to be disposed of in haste, -for the King says he was never so well served as when he was his own -secretary, and to that end hath delivered the seals, that were belonging -to Sir Ralph Winwood, to the custody of the Earl of Buckingham, and -there, perhaps, they shall remain till they both grow weary of -them.”[211] - -Footnote 211: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, Nov. 8, 1617. Inedited - State Papers. - -Sir Thomas Lake, according to the same correspondent, got possession of -the lodging at Court usually assigned to the secretary; and it was said -that he had the seals also, and a warrant for an allowance of 4,100_l._ -a year for “intelligence;” but, adds Mr. Chamberlain, it falls not out -so. - -Lady Hatton was, it appears, extremely anxious to advance the interests -of Sir Thomas Edmondes,[212] a desire which was doubtless favoured by -Buckingham, to whose interests Edmondes was, at this time, devoted. It -is satisfactory to find, in a subsequent letter, that Lady Hatton’s -ascendancy did not last long. “That first heat being over,” writes a -contemporary, “she may blow her nails twice before it kindle again.” Her -aim, as was acknowledged on all hands, “was rather to pull down her -husband” than to use her power and favour either for her own good, or -her friends.[213] A singular combination of everything that was violent, -and yet intriguing, rapacious, and yet lavish, seems to have been -exhibited in the character of this leader of fashion in the Court of -James the First. - -Footnote 212: - - See Letter from Nathaniel Brent to Sir D. Carleton. - -Footnote 213: - - Inedited Letter in the State Paper Office. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - -BUCKINGHAM’S FAVOUR PARAMOUNT—CHANGE IN THE KING’S TEMPER—HIS POETIC - FLIGHTS—HIS REIGN A COURSE OF DISSIPATION—THE MASQUES OF BEN - JONSON—THEIR GREAT BEAUTY—PATRONIZED BY THE QUEEN—HOW PERFORMED—THE - VISION OF DELIGHT—COMPOSED TO CELEBRATE BUCKINGHAM’S BEING MADE A - MARQUIS—HIS APPEARANCE AT THIS ERA—THE BANQUET GIVEN FOR THIS - OCCASION—GREAT EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT—RIVALS TO - BUCKINGHAM IN JAMES’S FAVOUR—SIR HENRY MILDMAY—BROOKE—YOUNG - MORISON—THE DIVERSIONS OF THE COURT—THE METEOR THAT - APPEARED—FOOT-RACING—BUCKINGHAM’S PROFUSION—JEALOUSIES BETWEEN - PRINCE CHARLES AND HIM, 1617-1618-1619. - - - - - =CHAPTER V.= - - 1617–1618–1619. - - -Buckingham may now be said, in the words of Lord Clarendon, “to sleep in -the arms of fortune.” The King, notwithstanding his failing health, -continued his patient sittings in the Star-Chamber, where, groaning -under his mortal disease, he found fault with “lawyers’ repetitions,” -and sometimes indulged in petulant eloquence, comparing, when he -presided at the trial of Sir Thomas Lake, that disgraced courtier to -Adam, Lady Lake to Eve, and their daughter, Lady Roos, to the serpent. -Whilst encouraging, on the one hand, a treaty of marriage for his son -with a daughter of Spain, and ordering, on the other, musters of troops -to be ready to keep down the Papists, who might otherwise be emboldened -by that project; he still, throughout the whole of these troublesome and -often urgent affairs, had one object in view—the gratification and -aggrandizement of George Villiers. Sometimes we find the King indulging -in poetic flights. After a week or two of hard work in the Star-Chamber, -James, in a serious mood, wrote a meditation on the Lord’s Prayer, and -dedicated it to Buckingham.[214] On a festive occasion, in which the -favourite entertained him to his heart’s content, the Monarch thought it -not beneath him to write a poem and address it also to his young -host.[215] - -Footnote 214: - - State Paper, vol. cv., No. 103. - -Footnote 215: - - State Paper. - -The latter part of King James’s reign was one perpetual course of what -may safely be termed dissipation, but which was then styled “good cheer -and jollity.” Amongst the most refined of his pleasures were the Masques -of Ben Jonson;[216] and the monarch showed his appreciation of the -merits of those beautiful productions by a pension of a hundred marks to -their author. Hitherto, Daniel had been the Laureate of the Court, -having been an especial favourite with Queen Elizabeth and her ladies. -Though the appointment had hitherto been unpaid, the slight thus passed -on Daniel embittered his declining years, and drove him from the Court, -where his talents and virtues were, as he fancied, no longer -appreciated. - -Footnote 216: - - Life of Ben Jonson, by Gifford, p. 33. - -Shakespeare was now in the tomb; and Jonson, who “had hated and feared -him through life,” was left without a rival to interfere with his -triumph, or to commemorate the actions of the great. The death of Prince -Henry had saddened the nation and obscured the gaiety of the Court for a -season; but now, especially before the marriage of Villiers, whose -settling in life was an event cordially desired by James, no revels were -carried on without that most popular feature, a Masque; and no masque -could gain applause unless Ben Jonson were the writer. A frequent -visitor at Belvoir, at Burleigh on the Hill, and at Windsor, when the -Court was at either of these places, Jonson never wrote a masque without -exhibiting, in strong colours, qualities that astonished his -acquaintance. He delighted in the composition of those productions, -which, it has been truly said, were unrivalled except by Comus; of the -masque, he was, as he himself remarked, “an artificer;” it began with -him, and with him it ended. Pageants and masquerades had long been -familiar to the English; and masques, improperly so called, had been -carried to a great degree of splendour in the reign of Henry VIII., but -neither then, as Gifford observes, nor in that of Elizabeth, did the -masque acquire “that unity of design, that exclusive character, which it -assumed on the reign of James.” - -That monarch had, in the opinion of the same admirable critic, more -literature than taste or elegance. What was deficient in him was, -however, apparent in the character of his Queen, Anne of Denmark, who -delighted in show and gaiety, loved pomp, and understood it; as Sully -expresses it, she “aspired to convert Whitehall into a temple of -delight.” She assembled around her the most brilliant leaders of fashion -among the nobility; and, not well comprehending our language, she -delighted in masques and shows which addressed themselves to the senses. -She had, however, sufficient discrimination to applaud the poetical -talents of Ben Jonson, whose compositions had delighted her at Althorpe; -and she called him to her Court, and engaged him “to embody her -conceptions,” soon after her arrival in London.[217] - -Footnote 217: - - Gifford, p. 65. - -The masque of Ben Jonson consisted of dialogue, singing, and dancing; -worked up into one harmonious whole by the introduction of some striking -fable, generally borrowed from the Greek or Roman Mythology. The sister -arts were employed to bestow the splendours of moveable scenery, -hitherto unknown to the stage; for pomp and expense were essential to -the masque; “it could only breathe,” as Gifford observes, “in the -atmosphere of a Court;” it was composed for princes, and by princes was -it performed. The flower of all that was gay and gallant was collected -to constitute a band of royal and noble performers; and perhaps there -was never such a display of elegance and beauty as that which graced the -masques of Ben Jonson. The songs devolved probably on professional -performers, but the dialogues required great care and study to learn -them, and skill and practice in their delivery before a courtly and -critical audience. The dances were also executed by the Court; so -admirably, that Jonson paid to the exquisite performance of the -Measures, as he beheld them, in these lines:— - - “In curious knots and mazes, so - The Spring at first was taught to go; - And Zephyr, when he came to woo - His Flora, had these notions too; - And thus did Venus learn to head - Th’ Indian brawls, and so to tread, - As if the wind, not she, did walk, - Nor pressed a flower, nor bow’d a stalk.” - -The dialogue in the masques of Ben Jonson is marked by strength and -boldness, and the songs are replete with all the luxuriance of the -richest fancy. In his dramatic works, and also in his longer poems, -there is a compression which produces hardness and severity, but, as -Gifford beautifully expresses it, “no sooner has he taken down his lyre, -no sooner touched his lighter pieces, than all is changed, as if by -magic, and he becomes a new person. His genius awakes at once, his -imagination becomes fertile, ardent, versatile, and excursive; his taste -pure and elegant; and all his faculties attuned to liveliness and -pleasure.”[218] - -Footnote 218: - - Gifford, p. 67. - -The masque was therefore one of the highest intellectual delights of an -intellectual age. Whilst Jonson composed the dialogues, in which “the -soundest moral lessons came recommended by the charm of numbers,” the -chief artists of the realm were employed in decorative scenery, the -construction of which was at its climax in the time of James. Lawes, and -other noted composers, set the songs to music; the masque was the -courtly recreation of gallant gentlemen, and ladies of honour, striving -to exceed one another in their measures and changes, and in their -repasts of wit. Notwithstanding the efforts of Inigo Jones, under whose -guidance many of the accompaniments were framed to preserve it, and -those of Aurelius Townshend, the masque fell again into the pageant and -masquerade after the death of James, and, in spite of an effort made by -Charles II. to revive it, ceased to exist. - -The “Vision of Delight,” one of the most fanciful and beautiful of -Jonson’s masques, was performed on Twelfth Night, and the expenses of -the representation were defrayed by Buckingham. It was to celebrate his -new dignity as a Marquis, to which James had resolved to elevate him, -that the following lines, spoken by Delight, seen afar off, with his -attendants, Grace, Love, Harmony, Revel, Sport, Laughter, and followed -by Wonder, were composed, and sung in a recitative solo:— - - “Let us play, and dance, and sing, - Let us now turn every sort - Of the pleasures of the Spring - To the graces of a court. - From air, from cloud, from dreams, from toys, - To sounds, to sense, to love, to joys; - Let your shows be new, as strange, - Let them oft and sweetly vary, - Let them haste to their change, - As the seers may not tarry; - Too long to expect the pleasing’st sight, - Doth take away from the delight.” - -The “Vision” concluded with a dance of ladies, in which Aurora appeared, -and this epilogue followed:— - - _Aurora._ “I was not wearier when I lay - By frozen Tithon’s side to-night, - Than I am willing now to stay, - And be a part of your delight; - But I am urged by the day, - Against my will, to bid you come away.”[219] - -Footnote 219: - - Ben Jonson’s Works. - -At this masque Buckingham acted, and assumed his place as a Marquis, -taking, it appears, a precedence to which he was not entitled. “It is -thought strange,” Levingston wrote to Carleton, “amongst the old lords -that he should take precedence of them.”[220] - -Footnote 220: - - Calendar of State Papers, vol. cv., 4. - -James had never, since his accession, conferred the dignity of Marquis -on any of his subjects. He now very hastily gave it to his favourite, -ascribing as the reason for this act that he bestowed that “title for -the affection he bore him, more than he did to any man,” and “for the -affection, faith, and modesty that he had found in Buckingham.” - -A few of the nobility about the Court were hastily summoned to witness -the creation, which was by patent, and in private. In the evening great -festivities followed, Buckingham presiding as the master of the feast -which preceded the masque. His appearance at this era has been -delineated by Simon Pass, whose portrait is to be found among the -historical collection of prints in the British Museum. He now assumed a -deep falling ruff; his doublet was closed with a row of rich pearls, and -over it he wore the ribbon of the Garter and the George. A large cloak -of rich satin was suspended over one shoulder;—his hands are adorned by -a cuff of Vandyck lace. His portrait after this time exhibits two long, -very thin wavy curls, suspended from the left ear; his hair, otherwise, -is almost always worn rather short, and turned back from the forehead. -The slight moustache of his earlier portraits becomes augmented into one -of greater consequence, carefully turned up at each corner; and a peaked -beard environs the chin, which had before a youthful smoothness. He was -now matured in form and perfect in deportment. - -In unwonted magnificence Buckingham received his royal guest at a -banquet long celebrated in the annals of the Court for its exuberance. -As yet, the Marquis owned no house sufficiently spacious for this -entertainment, and it appears to have been held in Whitehall. How -attractive must have been his deportment at this era, before care sat -upon his brow, and ill health, vexation of spirit, a consciousness of -deserved unpopularity, and a heart sated with unsatisfactory pleasures, -had changed into anxiety the eager enjoyment of his dazzling fortunes! -“Carrying his loves and his hatreds in his open forehead,” he presided, -careless of the future, full of health and hope, at that noisy and -festive board. - -The repast on this occasion was served up in the French fashion, under -the auspices of Sir Thomas Edmondes, who had recently returned from -France. “You may judge,” writes an eye-witness, “of the feast, by this -scantling, that there were said to be seventeen dozens of pheasants and -twelve partridges in a dish, throughout which, methinks, were more spoil -than largesse.”[221] The entertainment, “in spite of many presents,” -cost six hundred pounds. - -Footnote 221: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton. Inedited State Papers, - Jan. 10, 1617-18. - -There were some obstacles, even on this day, to Buckingham’s perfect -enjoyment. One of these was the uncertain temper of the King. He had -now, in the words of those who watched his varying humour, “become so -forward and morose, that few things seemed to please him.” The sight of -Buckingham alone appeared to appease him; he was, however, greatly -delighted with the banquet, and praised “both the meat and the master.” -Yet, in spite of this marked preference, and of these abundant honours, -there were rumours that Buckingham’s place in the King’s regard was not -secure; Sir Henry Mildmay, young Brooke, the son of Lord Cobham, and a -son of Sir William Monson’s, began, it was thought, to come into -consideration with the King. - -The “Vision of Delight” became the chief theme of public discourse. In -this masque, Prince Charles was a principal performer; and the other -parts were filled up by Buckingham, the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of -Montgomery, and some other lords. Among the dancers, Isabel,[222] the -eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Edmondes, “bore away the bell.” She was, -as it were, “hanged all over with jewels;” but, notwithstanding the -beauty of the piece, and the rank of the actors, the plot of the “Vision -of Delight” is said “to have proved dull.” The representation was -attended by the Spanish and Venetian ambassadors, to the great affront -of the French ambassador; for Buckingham had now planned a deep game, -and the apparent frivolity of his pleasures was becoming merely the -surface of those political schemes which he had at heart. Soon after -these festivities, the King took occasion to affront young Monson, who -had been set up by the envious to be an idol in place of Buckingham, by -intimating that he did not like his forwardness in presenting himself -continually before him. The young man not only took the hint himself, -but imparted it to others; so “that all the young Court gallants -vanished like mushrooms;” and those who had taken great pains “to set -out young Monson to the best advantage, pricking and pranking him up, -besides washing his face every day with posset curd, in order that he -might rival the handsome Buckingham, received a severe rebuff.”[223] - -Footnote 222: - - Afterwards the wife of Henry, Lord de la Warr. - -Footnote 223: - - Inedited State Papers. Domestic. Mr. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, - 10 Jan., 1617-18. - -Among the favourite diversions of King James was horse-racing. Early in -the spring, the Court was aroused by the racing of two footmen from St. -Albans to Clerkenwell; “and many came to pass the time,” writes Mr. -Chamberlain, merrily, “at Newmarket, and the running match ranges all -over the country, where they be fit subjects to entertain it, as lately -they have been at Sir John Croft’s, near Bury, and in requital, those -ladies have invited them to a mask of their own invention (all those -fair sisters being summoned for the purpose), so that on Thursday the -King, Prince, and Court go thither a shroving.”[224] - -Footnote 224: - - Inedited State Papers. It is dated, London, March 11, 1619-20. - -The following extract from one of Mr. Chamberlain’s letters represents -another kind of diversion:—“The King came hither the Saturday before -Shrovetide, and the two days following there was much feasting and -jollity; and the Christmas mask repeated on Shrove Tuesday night. On -Saturday last, the Prince made a ball and a banquet at Denmark House, -which he had lost at Tennis to the Marquis of Buckingham,[225] who -invited thither a number of ladies, mistresses, and valentines, a -ceremony come lately in request, and grown so costly that it is said he -hath cast away this year 2000_l._ that way, among whom a daughter of Sir -John Croft’s that is unmarried, had a carcanet of 800_l._ for her share; -and the King is so pleased with the whole society of those sisters,[226] -that he extols them before all others, and hath bespoken them for the -Court against next Christmas. The banquet at Denmark House was so -plentiful that it cost 400_l._, and all the women came away, as it were, -laden with sweetmeats; but supper there was none, save what the Lord of -Purbeck made to his private friends.”[227] - -Footnote 225: - - Inedited State Papers, Feb. 26, 1619-20. - -Footnote 226: - - Sir J. Croft’s Daughters. - -Footnote 227: - - N. Brent to Sir D. Carleton, March 30, 1618. State Paper Office, - inedited. - -Another of those aspirants to royal favour, to whom we have referred, -and whom the career of Buckingham drew forth from obscurity, was Sir -Henry Mildmay, and a son of George Brooke’s, who had been executed at -Winchester, on the supposed Raleigh plot. But James soon discovered that -both these young courtiers were the tools of factions directed against -Buckingham; and they were banished the Court. Some time afterwards, it -was thought that the return of young Monson might be effected through -the influence of his friends; but, observes a bystander of this game, -these Court resolutions do strangely alter, and for the most part, “the -day following gives the lie to that which preceded.” - -The King, meantime, continued to amuse himself vastly at Newmarket. The -following description of one of his days of pleasure presents a singular -picture of the homely diversions of the first of the Stuart monarchs -that reigned in this country:— - -“We hear nothing from Newmarket, but that they devise all the means they -can to make themselves merry, as of late there was a feast appointed at -a farm-house not far off, where every man should bring his dish. The -King brought a great chine of beef; the Marquis of Hamilton four pigs, -garnished with sausages; the Earl of Southampton two turkies; another, -some partridges; and one, a whole tray full of buttered eggs: and so all -passed very pleasantly.”[228] - -Footnote 228: - - Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, Nov. 28, 1618. State Paper - Office, inedited. - -During these diversions, James’s good humour, often interrupted by -disease and self-indulgence, was maintained by his partiality for -Buckingham. “The King,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “is never out of tune, -but that the sight of the Earl of Buckingham doth settle and quiet all.” - -Meantime, one of those meteoric appearances to which the superstition of -the day attached some portentous meaning, excited popular alarm, and -suspended even the course of public business. “On Wednesday,” writes one -of the functionaries of government, “we had no Star Chamber, by reason -of the Lord Chancellor’s indisposition; that was the first day we took -notice here of the great blazing star, though it was observed at Oxford -a full week before. It is now the only subject of discourse, and not so -much as little children, but as they go to school, talk in the streets -that it foreshows the death of a king or a queen, or some great war -towards.”[229] - -Footnote 229: - - T. Locke to Sir Dudley Carleton, Nov. 17, 1618, State Paper Office, - inedited. - -At another time a race of two footmen from St. Albans to Clerkenwell -diverted the Court. Many money bets were laid upon the result, and -Buckingham won three thousand pounds upon that day. “The story,” as the -narrator of it well observes, “were not worth telling, but that you may -see we have little to do when we are so far affected with these trifles, -that all the Court in a manner, lords and ladies, and some further off, -and some nearer, went to see this race, and the King himself almost as -far as Barnet; and though the weather was sour and foul, yet he was -scant _fils de bonne mère_ that went not out to see, insomuch that it is -verily thought there was as many people as at the King’s first coming to -London; and for the courtiers on horseback, they were so pitifully -bewrayed and bedaubed all over, that they could scant be known one from -another, besides divers of them came to have falls and other mishaps, by -reason of the multitude of horses.” - -On some of these occasions, the lavish disposition of Buckingham was -exhibited. On St. George’s Day, a festival observed with much solemnity, -he presented forty of his gentlemen with fifty pounds a piece “to -provide themselves,” and twenty to ten of his yeomen, besides a hundred -pounds to treat them with a supper and a play on the following night at -the Mitre in Fleet Street. A retinue of fifty persons appears, in modern -days, a tolerable attendance for a nobleman even of high rank; but it -had recently been found necessary to limit them to that number, owing to -the unbounded ostentation and extravagance of many of the nobility.[230] - -Footnote 230: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 477. - -Whilst this continued round of pleasures was carried on, some adverse -events checked the merriment of those who played a part in the revels. -Prince Charles, who was his mother’s favourite, was sometimes the object -of his father’s jealousy, although, by the gentleness and prudence of -his deportment, he had avoided the almost open state of variance with -the King, which, in his brother’s days, had divided the Court into two -parties. Still there were occasions on which the conduct of the young -Prince was misrepresented. - -The difference was soon reconciled; and “my Lord of Buckingham,” as he -was called by several annalists of the day, gave a dinner to the King -and Queen for the express purpose of reconciling his Highness to his -royal father. The King and Queen dined at a separate table, but in the -same room as that in which the lords and ladies were feasted: among -these, Lady Hatton, Lady Villiers Compton, and Lady Fielding, and -several others of the same family, were placed; the King drank to all -these separately, and sent them secret messages. At the close of the -banquet, he rose, and drank a common health to all the noble family, and -declared that he desired them to advance them before all others. “And -because,” adds the writer of the letter in which this account is given -of himself, “there was no doubt—for, said he, ‘I live to that end;’ be -assured we live in their posterity’s name, that they would so far regard -their father’s commandments and instructions as to advance that house -above all others whatsoever.”[231] - -Footnote 231: - - Nichols, 484, from Birch’s MSS. British Museum. - -The King shortly afterwards verified his assertion by creating Lady -Villiers Compton, by patent, Countess of Buckingham in her own right for -life. The Heralds, it is said, were “posed” to explain how Sir Thomas -Compton, himself of a noble and loyal family, should have no part in -this patent; but the public could easily comprehend that it was the aim -and intention of James to elevate the Villiers family by every mark of -especial favour. The newly-made Countess of Buckingham, thus raised by -fortune from a low estate, did not escape calumny; rumours, both -scandalous and unjust, being set afloat regarding her imputed intimacy -with Lord Keeper Williams, who succeeded Bacon on the woolsack.[232] - -Footnote 232: - - Life of B. Goodman, p. 286. - -Another melancholy event saddened all hearts, and excited a deep and -generous resentment. This was the death of Sir Walter Ralegh. In this -event, “the sacrifice,” as Hume expresses it, “of the only man in the -nation who had a high reputation for valour and military experience,” -Buckingham had no doubt some indirect participation. He promoted it, -because he promoted the projected alliance with Spain, which had now, -for some years, lain the closest at the King’s heart. He was responsible -for it, because no intercession that he might have chosen to make for -the “gallantest worthie that England ever bred,” would have been -proffered in vain. During the early part of his career, Buckingham had, -indeed, befriended Ralegh; but little credit is to be assigned for the -mediation which, in 1615, had procured the release of the illustrious -prisoner, after twelve years of durance, since it was purchased, through -the agency of Lady Villiers, for fifteen hundred pounds. On that -occasion, Ralegh had addressed a letter of thanks to the all-powerful -favourite; but now affairs had undergone a marvellous change. Even money -could not avail, and Buckingham, in all the sunshine of his fortunes, -stood at all events indifferent, if not accessory, to the infamous -sentence, by the revival of which Ralegh was doomed to death. - -The fashion of the day, as well as the wishes of the King, all tended at -this time to increase the ascendancy of Spanish counsels in England. -James entertained an opinion, peculiar to himself, that any marriage, -except with a daughter of France or Spain, would be unworthy of the -Prince of Wales, and he would never suffer a princess of any other royal -house to be mentioned in his presence as a suitable consort for the heir -apparent.[233] Upon the death of Prince Henry, a negotiation for a -marriage between the Prince Charles and the second daughter of France, -the Princess Christine, was set on foot, but failed, owing to the death -of the Count de Soissons, its chief promoter.[234] The efforts of the -Spanish ambassador, the famous Gondomar, and the long course of -intrigues which attended his visitation to England, afterwards -effectually set aside for a time all thoughts of prosecuting the scheme -of a marriage treaty with either of the French princesses, on the one -hand; whilst, on the other, the affairs of Germany were such as to -discourage, to all appearance, the exertions which were made by the -Spanish party in England to produce a union between the royal families -of Great Britain and Spain. Frederic, the Elector, and son-in-law of -James, had accepted the tender of the crown of Bohemia, and become, -consequently, involved in hostilities with Austria, and these were -regarded as a religious war; for Austria, which, throughout her -dominions, had always made religion a pretext for her usurpations, now -upheld the Catholic faith as her object, whilst the Elector Palatine, a -Protestant, ranged himself on the side of liberty. The whole of the -English nation were eager to espouse the cause, and to aid the brave -exertions of that prince. Sincerely attached to the Princess Palatine, -the ill-fated Elizabeth of Bohemia, they considered her interests, and -those of her husband, as constituting a sort of crusade, and they were -ready to risk plunging the country into all “the chaos of German -politics,” considering the contest as between Protestantism and -liberty—and Popery and despotism. - -Footnote 233: - - Hume. Life of James I. - -Footnote 234: - - Birch’s Negotiations between England, France, and Brussels, p. 372. - -On the first introduction of Gondomar to the King, an accident had -occurred which was regarded by many as a presage.[235] As the ambassador -was passing from the Council Chamber, along the terrace towards the -Great Chamber in Whitehall, a piece of the floor sank, and several -persons fell down. The Earl of Arundel hurt his face; the Lord Gerrard -and Lord Gray also received some injury from the fall; the ambassador -alone escaped, being held up by two of the household guards. This -accident seemed ominous of the ultimate rupture between England and -Spain; James regarded it in that light, and could never bear to hear it -mentioned! - -Footnote 235: - - Inedited State Papers, March 20, 1619-20. - -Unwonted honours were indeed shown to Gondomar. He was received with -marks of great distinction, and lodged at Ely House, which had been -prepared for his use with considerable expense. But the most important -deviation from established custom was the appropriation of a cloth of -state to this ambassador, an appendage never permitted to any such -personage before. That mark of favour, however, which gave the greatest -offence to the Puritan party, was the order that the chapel should be -renewed and embellished, and an altar placed in it. All the ambassador’s -expenses of living were defrayed by the King; although, on being offered -some of the royal attendants, Gondomar declined their services. Whilst -these things were going on at Court, the populace, cherishing the cause -of the distant and deserted daughter of James, Elizabeth of Bohemia, -were parading the streets with drums beating, to muster recruits for the -Palatinate.[236] - -Footnote 236: - - Inedited State Papers for 1619-20. - -But James was under the influence of Gondomar, and Spain was connected -by the closest ties of blood, and by the still dearer bonds of political -interest, with the Emperor of Austria. Gondomar well understood the -King, and divined his wishes. He offered, at this juncture, the second -daughter of the King of Spain to Prince Charles, and backed his proposal -by the promise of an immense sum of money, which he well knew would be -acceptable in the present needy circumstances of the British King. The -proposal, though entertained by James, was distrusted by the public, and -deemed wholly insincere, for it was thought that Spain had no intention -of forming any union with a princess of heretical principles. - -The fate of Sir Walter Ralegh was therefore sealed. Twenty-three years -before, he had acquired for the crown of England a claim to the -continent of Guiana; and, in his second expedition, had planned, and -executed through his son Walter, the sacking of St. Thomas, a small town -which the Spaniards, not acknowledging the British claim to the -territory of Guiana, had built on the river Oronooko. The young Walter -Ralegh was killed in that attempt. He was a young man more desirous of -honour than safety; “with whom,” said the agonized father, on hearing of -his loss, “to say truth, all the respects of this world have taken end -in me.”[237] - -Footnote 237: - - Letter to Winwood. - -Ralegh was now to suffer for the results of an enterprise which he had -undertaken with the express consent of the King.[238] Whilst proceedings -were carried on against him, Gondomar was entertained, as it will be -remembered, with a marked distinction by Buckingham. The extreme youth -of the favourite had indeed attracted the witticisms of the artful -Spaniard, who had converted that circumstance into a compliment to the -King’s penetration, telling his Majesty “that he was the wisest and -happiest prince in Christendom, to make privy-counsellors sage at the -age of twenty-one, when his master, the King of Spain, could not do it -when they were sixty.”[239] The wily Spaniard dealt out his phrases in -points and conceits, a sort of discourse then well received in society, -and peculiarly agreeable to the King. He affected, also, to speak false -Latin. The King laughed at him, on which the Ambassador rejoined, “Your -Majesty speaks like a pedant, but I speak like a gentleman,” and James -gloried in his acknowledged superiority in the classics. By these small -contrivances had Gondomar insinuated himself into royal favour, so that -no boon that he could ask—not even the life of the venerated -Ralegh—could be refused. - -Footnote 238: - - Hume. Reign of James I. - -Footnote 239: - - Oldmixon. History of the House of Stuart, p. 52. - -There was another wheel within this closely-contrived political machine. -The Countess of Buckingham was inclined to Popery; and became, -eventually, a convert to that faith. This circumstance naturally -influenced greatly the son, over whose counsels the Countess continued -to hold a sway, and to dispose them to the marriage of the heir apparent -to a Catholic. - -Some time previously, when the affair of the marriage was first -broached, the sentiments of the Marquis and his mother were, therefore, -generally understood to be favourable, and the Lord Treasurer Cranfield, -at that time, under their influence, was zealous in a cause so -acceptable to the favourite. - -In February, 1617, Nathaniel Brent wrote to Sir Dudley Carleton: “By the -Marquis of Buckingham and his mother the Spanish match is much -apprehended, though methinks there needs no such haste, the lady being -yet scant eleven years old. In the meantime every man hopes or fears as -he is affected, and they say the Lord Treasurer is so far possessed, -that, like another Cato, that began to learn Greek at threescore years -old, he hath got him a Spanish reader, and applies it hard.” The -influence of the Countess of Buckingham doubtless, therefore, turned the -scale against Ralegh, to the vexation of her son’s best friends. “She -was,” writes Bishop Hacket, who knew her well, “mother to the great -favourite, but, in religion, became a step-mother. She doated upon him -extremely, as the glory of her womb, yet, by turning her coat so -wantonly when the eyes of all the kingdom were upon her, she could not -have wrought him a worse turn if she had studied a mischief against -him.” “Many,” adds the same writer, “marvelled what rumbled in her -conscience all that time; for, from a maid to a maiden, she had not -every one’s good words for practice of piety.”[240] “Arthur Wilson -complains also that the Countess of Buckingham was the cynosure that all -the Papists steered by; but that it was above her ability to bear the -weight of that metaphor.” - -Footnote 240: - - Hacket’s Life of Archbishop Williams, vol. i., p. 171. - -“The Countess was,” he adds, “a protectress of the Jesuits and -Jesuitesses, the females of that order, of whom there were no fewer in -England than two hundred English ladies of good families.” Her opinions -were well known to affect her son, who now began to be accused by the -Puritans of Armenianism, and became the friend and patron of Archbishop -Laud. Gondomar saw well to what point to direct his insidious game. The -Countess had a share in the management of State affairs; she, with her -son, guided the helm, and as much court was paid to her as to -Buckingham, whilst both received far more adulation than was thought -necessary to bestow on the King himself. Wittily, though somewhat -impiously, Gondomar wrote to the Spanish Court that “there never was -more hope of the conversion of England than now; for there are more -prayers and oblations offered here to the mother than to the son.”[241] - -Footnote 241: - - Oldmixon, p. 52. - -Under this complication of interests, Ralegh, on the 24th of October, -1618, was given to understand that it was the King’s intent that he -should be put to death, and that he should therefore prepare himself for -the same.[242] Between that intimation and the fulfilment of his doom, -the courage of the broken-spirited and diseased prisoner, prematurely -old with sorrow and disappointment, gave way. He sought to anticipate -his fate, and attempted suicide, but the wound which he gave himself by -stabbing—a cut, rather than a stab—was not fatal, and he recovered to -address to his disconsolate wife one of the most eloquent and -heart-rending letters that ever emanated from that tomb of the living in -which he passed the close of his days.[243] How Buckingham could hear of -this last act of a mind almost frenzied with misery, of a being, to use -Ralegh’s own words, “not tempted with Satan,” but only “tempted with -sorrow, whose sharp teeth devour my heart,” and not plead for this -ornament of his age, it is scarcely possible to conceive. He would have -culled golden opinions for such an interference; he would have -established a source of proud and consolatory recollections for his own -heart; but he lost that glorious opportunity, and left the illustrious -prisoner, to use his own words, to be a “wonder and a spectacle,” and -went on in his own perilous career, until the hour of retribution, even -to him, arrived. - -Footnote 242: - - Nichols, iii., p. 493. - -Footnote 243: - - It begins thus:—“Receive from thy unfortunate husband these, his last - lines; these, the last words that ever thou shalt receive from him. - That I can live, and think never to see you and my child more, I - cannot. I have desired God, and disputed with my reason, but nature - and compassion hath the victory. That I can live to think how you are - both left a spoil to my enemies, and that my name shall be a dishonour - to my child, I cannot—I cannot endure the memory thereof. Unfortunate - woman! unfortunate child! comfort yourselves, trust God, and be - contented with your poor estate; I would have bettered it, if I had - enjoyed it a few years.”—Bishop Goodman, ii., p. 93. Mr. Brewer has, - by the discovery of this letter, in the College of All Souls, Oxford, - definitively settled the question whether Ralegh did or did not - attempt his life in the Tower. Ralegh’s list of his debts, and his - beseeching his wife “to take care of them,” are not among the least - affecting parts of his letter. - -Ralegh’s execution was fixed to take place—so conscious was Government -of the odium which it would incur—on the Lord Mayor’s Day, “that the -pageants and fine shows might,” as Aubrey expresses it, “avocate and -draw away the people from beholding the tragedie of the gallantest -worthie that England ever bred.”[244] - -Footnote 244: - - Nichols, p. 493. - -On the twenty-third of October, a discussion took place in the Privy -Council as to the mode in which prisoners who had been condemned for -treason, and set at liberty, could be executed. The subject was one of -much perplexity, but everything that was subservient and expedient could -be accomplished in those days. It was, however, determined to send a -Privy Seal to the judges on the King’s Bench, desiring them to try Sir -Walter Ralegh “according to law.” The death to which he was doomed, by -the hand of the executioner, was already impending over the illustrious -prisoner in the form of disease. He had sent to the merciless Cecil his -mournful manifesto of privation and sickness; his left side was numbed, -his fingers on the same side were beginning to be contracted, his tongue -and speech affected; he spoke feebly, and feared he might altogether -lose the power of utterance. An application had therefore been made for -his removal from his damp, cold lodging in the Tower, to a little room -in the garden, which he had himself built, close to his laboratory, or, -as it was styled, his stilhouse.[245] - -Footnote 245: - - Letter in the State Paper Office, no date. See Life of Sir Walter - Ralegh, by the author. Appendix, p. 395. - -But the time was at hand when his spirit should breathe in a freer -atmosphere; and all that man could do to him should cease to be of a -source of dread. “The world,” he calmly observed, “was but a large -prison, out of which some were daily selected for execution.” - -On the twenty-eighth of October, he was tried, and of course, condemned, -in the King’s Bench. Henry Yelverton, then attorney-general, could not -help again, in his address for the Crown, describing the prisoner as one -who, for his parts and quality, was to be pitied; “one who had been a -star, yea, and of such nature, that shineth far; but out of the -necessity of state, like stars when they trouble the sphere, must indeed -fall.” It is remarkable that Yelverton, who had been patronised by -Somerset, did himself, in after days, fall, having incurred the enmity -of Villiers. - -The King, and of course Buckingham, were at this time in Hertfordshire, -on the Royal progress, which was always a scene of festivity and -amusement. The warrant for Ralegh’s execution was, however, produced -directly after the sentence had been passed, dated the same day, signed, -and addressed to Lord Bacon. The sentence was commuted from hanging to -beheading: but no other favour was granted. James and his courtiers -feared the effect of public indignation; no time, therefore, was -allowed; on the day after his sentence, Ralegh met his death with -simple, decorous tranquillity; as one who was going to take a long -journey, for which he was well prepared. The streets were then thronged -with the gay followers of the annual pageantry; and, amid the din of -trumpets, and shouts of the people, the noble spirit of Ralegh passed to -a better world. Perhaps, had he sued for life to Gondomar, as his friend -Lord Clare recommended, the boon might have been granted. But those who -loved his memory had not this act of humiliation to recall, as casting -one shadow over the brightness of his departure from among them. “I am -neither so old, nor so infirm,” was his reply, when urged to make this -appeal to the Spaniard, “but that I should be content to live; and, -therefore, this would I do, were I sure it would do my business; but if -it fail, then I shall lose both my life and my honour; and both those I -will not part with.”[246] - -Footnote 246: - - Oldys’s Life of Ralegh, folio viii., p. 729. - -Since it was understood that Ralegh’s death was a sacrifice to Spanish -councils, owing to a disputed territory, there can be no doubt but that -this event embittered the minds of the public against the cherished -schemes which James and Villiers had for some time conceived with regard -to the Spanish alliance. Whilst all bore a smiling aspect, various -sources of discontent were ready to break forth; and it was generally -reported that James had, to his infinite disgrace, somewhat insisted on -the sentence of hanging being put into execution, and that he could with -difficulty be brought to consent to its being commuted.[247] - -Footnote 247: - - State Papers. Domestic. 1618-19. - -One circumstance which somewhat disturbed the minds of the Court -revellers, yet seemed not to lessen the number of the revels, was the -fatal illness of the Queen. At the Christmas of 1618-19, the physicians -began to speak doubtfully, and the courtiers to plot for leases for her -lands, for the keeping of Somerset House, and for a division of the -spoil of her furniture and personalities, whenever her death should take -place, so confidantly was it expected. Meantime, the festivities of the -season went on as usual, Hatton House being the centre of all that was -gay and great, and the lady of the mansion the deepest of domestic -politicians. During the Christmas she gave a grand supper, with a play, -and invited all the gallants and great ladies about the Court to grace -it; but the Howards, especially, were solicited and caressed, for it was -Lady Hatton’s aim to “solder and link them fast again” with the Marquis -of Buckingham; and to see if he would cast an eye towards Diana -Cecil,[248] the second daughter of William, second Earl of Salisbury. -This young lady was made, in order to attract the greater notice, -Mistress of the Feast; but the bait proved unsuccessful. Many, -doubtless, were the parents who were not unwilling to match even the -fairest of their daughters with the young Marquis, “for it is like,” -writes Mr. Chamberlain, “there will be much angling after it, now it is -decided the King wishes him to take a wife, which of divers is diversely -constructed.”[249] - -Footnote 248: - - Her mother was a Howard—the sister of the infamous Lady Somerset. - -Footnote 249: - - Nichols, iii., 521. - -Twelfth Night was celebrated with a masque, in which Prince Charles, -Buckingham, and several young noblemen and gentlemen, to the number of -twelve—amongst whom young Maynard “bore away the bell” for -dancing—enacted. This masque was one of Ben Jonson’s compositions; but -whether it was the “Vision of Delight” repeated, or “Pleasure Reconciled -to Virtue,” is not determined.[250] Six days afterwards, the Banqueting -House at Whitehall, in which these revels had taken place, was burned -down, owing, it was supposed, to the neglect of women who were appointed -to sweep the room, and who held their candles too near to some of the -oiled cloths and devices for the masque, which had been left by the -King’s orders to be ready for Shrove Tuesday.[251] - -Footnote 250: - - Bishop Goodman’s Letters, ii., 188 - -Footnote 251: - - The fire happened in the day time, at eleven, and lasted only an hour. - Lord Chancellor Bacon was among those high personages who by his - presence attempted to ensure order; but there was much spoliation even - in the face of day. The hall was re-erected three years afterwards. - This ancient building might, it is thought, have been saved; but two - men, who saw the flames break out, went away for fear of being blamed. - -The Queen had been some time ill, but hopes were entertained of her -recovery until within a very short period of her death. When the danger -increased, Dr. Mayerne, according to a promise he had given her, told -her, twenty-four hours before her decease, that she could not recover. -It was then too late for the Queen to make a will; but she wished to -leave all that she possessed, with the exception of a jewel to the King -of Denmark, and a casket to the Princess Elizabeth, to her son Charles, -adding an assurance that her faith was free from Popery. Although, when -asked if she wished to leave all she had to her son, she answered, and -had again, “Yes,” her possessions were so valuable, that the people -about the Court did not expect that her wishes would be followed out -without the usual formalities. Meantime, whilst her body lay at Denmark -House, her funeral was delayed, because the Master of the Wardrobe would -not pay double prices, usually then charged when ready money could not -be produced. Crowds thronged round Denmark House; and far more curiosity -was expressed to see her after her death than had ever been testified -during her life. The ladies were weary of waiting till the money could -be raised to carry to the grave one who had left 400,000_l._ in jewels, -90,000_l._ in plate, 80,000 Jacobuses in ready money, besides a costly -wardrobe.[252] “The will,” says the precise Mr. Chamberlain, in a letter -to Sir Dudley Carleton, “proves to be nothing.”[253] The King, meantime, -was dangerously ill, of an agonising disease, and obliged to be carried -part of the way to Theobalds in a Neapolitan portative chair, given him -by Lady Hatton; weak as he was, and even whilst the Queen was unburied, -he would have his deer brought before him, that he might enjoy his -wonted pleasures. The lady mourners were, meantime, quarrelling by the -funeral bier for precedency at the approaching ceremonial; and, amongst -the foremost of the combatants was the Countess of Nottingham, who -claimed, as one of the two conditions of Nottingham’s giving up the post -of Lord High Admiral, that he should be the first Earl of England, and -that she, as first Countess, should step out before all others on this -occasion. The expenses of the funeral were to exceed those of Queen -Elizabeth’s, although money was so scarce, that some of Queen Anne’s -plate would have to be coined three times to pay them. There was not -even money to put the King’s and Prince’s servants in mourning; and, -though Anne died on the twenty-first of March, the twenty-seventh of -March found her still in ghastly state at Denmark House.[254] At length, -on the fourteenth of May, the corpse, with Prince Charles riding before -it, was carried to its resting place. The chariot and six horses, on -which the Queen’s effigy was placed, and the hearse itself, were very -stately, yet the funeral was pronounced to be a “poor, drawling sight.” -Two hundred and fifty indigent women followed the hearse. The Countess -of Arundel claimed and obtained her privilege to follow as first -Countess; whilst Buckingham’s place, as pall-bearer, was supplied by the -Earl of Rutland. - -Footnote 252: - - State Papers. Calendar, vol. cvii., No. 7. - -Footnote 253: - - Ibid, 52. - -Footnote 254: - - State Papers, vol. cviii., No. 85. Calendar. - -The Queen’s death took away all chance of that counter-influence which -it is possible that Anne might have sought to exercise when the conduct -of Buckingham became, as it eventually did, oppressive and overbearing. -It left, also, her son, whose affectionate nature had found a return in -his mother’s partiality for him, dependent wholly upon Buckingham as a -mediator with his father. Shortly afterwards, one of the effects of this -state of affairs was exhibited. The King, upon the Prince’s suit, -granted the Marquis of Buckingham an estate of twelve hundred a year, -that had belonged to the Queen; and to requite this service, Buckingham -sued the King for an addition of 5,000_l._ a year to the Prince’s former -allowance, which was also granted. It appears, however, that the estate -assigned to Buckingham was given, ostensibly, for the care which the -favourite had bestowed on His Majesty during a severe illness which had -followed closely upon the death of Queen Anne.[255] - -Footnote 255: - - Nichols, iii., 546. - -Hitherto, the young favourite had proved himself possessed of no higher -qualities than those which a courtier’s life requires. He was now placed -in a situation which drew forth abilities of which his enemies and his -friends were alike ignorant. On the thirtieth day of January, 1618-19, -Buckingham was created Lord High Admiral; a post which he at first -refused to accept on account of his youth and inexperience. James would, -however, admit of no excuse, and the aged Earl of Nottingham resigned -that pre-eminent place, alleging as a reason, his advanced years, but, -actually, for a “consideration.” According to one authority, the -compensation was a pension of six hundred a year to his lady, of five -hundred to his son, Charles Howard, and of two hundred and fifty to his -daughter, to commence from the death of the Earl; or, as another -statement gives it, the compact was made for certain benefits; namely, -“a good round sum of ready money, and 3,000_l._ yearly pension during -the Earl’s life; and after his decease, 1,000_l._ pension to his lady, -and 500_l._ a year to his eldest son by her, which was to be doubled to -him at his mother’s death.”[256] - -Footnote 256: - - Letter from Sir Edward Harwood to Sir Dudley Carleton. State Paper - Office. Domestic, 1618-19. - -The office of High Admiral was enjoyed by Buckingham to the close of his -short life; and was maintained by energy such as had not been witnessed -in the administration of naval affairs since the days of Queen -Elizabeth. Little credit has been assigned to him hitherto by historians -for his unwearied endeavours, not only to restore, but actually to -create a navy; but the recent discoveries in the State Paper Office -place his merits in this important sphere beyond dispute, as will -hereafter be shown.[257] - -Footnote 257: - - Birch’s MSS., British Museum, 4173. Letter of Oct. 3, 1618. - -He served, indeed, a master, whose confidence in him, based, perhaps, on -more solid grounds than have been allowed, it was no easy task to -disturb. - -Buckingham would have acted wisely, had he, at this most critical period -of his life, remembered the counsels given by Bacon in his famous -“Letter to Sir George Villiers.” “You are as a new risen star, and the -eyes of all men are upon you; let not your own negligence make you fall -like a meteor.” But his youth, his sudden rise to fortune, his mother’s -influence, and his own desire to elevate his family—an aim which -militated against disinterested conduct—all contributed to smother the -naturally generous impulses of his heart. - -The King’s partiality was manifested both publicly and privately. -Buckingham had been his attendant in illness; he was now his consoler in -affliction; for the King was not insensible to the loss of a wife to -whom, in spite of “some matrimonial wrangling,”[258] he had been an -indulgent husband. Accordingly, when the funeral made for the Queen took -place, Buckingham remained at Theobalds with his royal master.[259] His -great object appears, at this period of his career, to have been the -aggrandisement of his family. He had secured the prosperity of his elder -brother, Sir John Villiers, by his marriage with the daughter of Sir -Edward Coke; he now determined to effect that of his youngest brother, -Sir Christopher Villiers, not by marrying him to the niece of a rich -alderman, but by other methods. Already had he availed himself of his -empire over the actions of Bacon,[260] to procure for his relatives one -of those profitable sinecures which abounded in that reign. This was a -monopoly for the licensing of ale houses, which Buckingham desired to -engross, conjointly with Mr. Patrick Maule, for his brother. But there -was an impediment—the monopoly had been deemed a grievance, and in 1617, -Bacon had replied to Buckingham’s application for it in the following -terms:— - -“I have conferred with my Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Solicitor -thereupon, and there is a scruple in it that it should be one of the -grievances put down in Parliament; which, if it be, I may not, in my -duty and love to you, advise you to deal in it; if it be not, I will -mould in the best manner and help it forward.”[261] In a subsequent -letter, three years afterwards, Bacon again discourages the continued -solicitude expressed by Buckingham for the patent; for, in alluding to -the patents “as like to be stirred in the lower house of parliament,” he -mentions among them that of the ale houses; and recommending, through -the “singular love and affection he bore to Buckingham,” that his -Lordship, “whom God hath made in all things so fit to be beloved, would -put off the envy of these things,” which, according to Bacon’s judgment, -“would bear no great fruit, and rather take the means for ceasing them, -than the note for maintaining them.”[262] - -Footnote 258: - - Miss Strickland’s Life of Anne of Denmark. - -Footnote 259: - - Nichols, iii. 539. - -Footnote 260: - - Made Chancellor on the 4th of January, 1617. - -Footnote 261: - - Bacon’s Works, vol. ii., p 201, note. - -Footnote 262: - - Bacon’s Works, p. 225. - -It was probably, on finding his first application, though assisted by -his mother, useless, that Buckingham contrived a match between Sir -Sebastian Harvey’s[263] only daughter and Sir Christopher Villiers. “The -match,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “being not to the joy of the poor -father, so much against the old man’s stomach, as the conceit thereof -hath brought him near his grave already, if at least the world mistake -not the true cause of his sickness.”[264] - -Footnote 263: - - The Lord Mayor. - -Footnote 264: - - Nichols, 548. - -The marriage was urged on, nevertheless, by the Countess of Buckingham, -who found, however, that Sir Sebastian, then the Lord Mayor, a wilful -and dogged man, could not by any means, either foul or fair, be brought -to yield; in the agony of his spirit, the old man wished himself and his -daughter dead, rather than be compelled to comply. The truth is, the -young lady was only in her fourteenth year, and very small in stature, -and her father did not wish her to be married until four or five years -afterwards. He was, nevertheless, incessantly annoyed with messages from -the King; and these he took so much to heart that he was brought to -death’s door, although Buckingham and others were sent to comfort him. -The Lord Mayor and aldermen had not been present at the Queen’s funeral; -and the King, wishing to please Harvey, and to atone for this apparent -insult, ordered that St. Paul’s Cross should mourn on Trinity Sunday, -and that the Mayor and Corporation should go there as mourners; but -Harvey, “sick and surfeited”, declined attendance; nor, when his -Majesty, on the fifth of June, made his triumphant entry into London, -was he well enough to receive him. In truth, the honest pride of -Englishmen began to revolt against having the relatives of the favourite -forced upon them as sons-in-law. The King, however, entered in state, -attended by Prince Charles and all the nobility—Buckingham, of course, a -conspicuous object amid the throng. James, on this melancholy occasion, -looked “more like a wooer than a mourner.” He had already laid aside his -weeds for Queen Anne. A fresh suit of “watchet satin, laid with a blue -and white feather,” rejoiced the eyes of the company, who were glad to -see him so gallant; and ill accorded with the expected appearance of an -embassy of condolence from the Duc de Lorraine, with two or three -thousand persons all in deep mourning.[265] And when it was remembered -that the King had, not long ago, formally recommended, as on his -death-bed, his son, his favourite, and Lord Digby—who had suffered, he -said, in popularity, for the Spanish match—to his council, and had -expected his decease shortly, there was something almost ludicrous in -the contrast. - -Footnote 265: - - State Papers, vol. cix; No. 76. Calendars. - -The desired match did not, however, prosper, not withstanding a visit -from James to the Lord Mayor’s own residence, soon afterwards, to -expostulate with the old man. He also sent for Sir Sebastian, his wife, -and daughter, from their dinner, in Merchant Taylor’s Hall, in order to -recommend Sir Christopher as a suitor; but all was in vain, Buckingham -was defeated, and the young lady was eventually united to the eldest son -of Sir Francis Popham.[266] - -Footnote 266: - - Nichols, vol., iii. p. 556. - -Disappointed in this matter, Buckingham now manifested his intentions of -improving his own fortunes by a successful marriage; various objects of -attraction had been offered to his gaze, but they wanted, probably, that -which his extravagance rendered essential—fortune. On one occasion, we -find him, with the King, visiting a house in order to admire the beauty -of one of his god-daughters, but no result followed. The world, too, now -talked loudly of the marriage of Lady Diana Cecil with the Earl of -Oxford, whilst a richer bride was given, by common report, to -Buckingham. This was the Lady Katherine Manners, the only daughter of -Francis, sixth Earl of Rutland, a nobleman of great wealth; the lady was -also endowed with other attractions besides fortune, proving a woman of -many attainments and great spirit. - -This marriage was, in every respect, desirable. It produced, amongst one -of its advantages, an alliance in blood with the illustrious Sydneys. -Roger, fifth Earl of Rutland, the brother of Earl Francis, having -married Sir Philip Sydney’s daughter and heiress.[267] It cemented a -union with a house already favoured by King James, who visited Belvoir -Castle repeatedly, and who had constituted its two last lords -successively Chief Justices in Eyre of all his forests and chases north -of the Trent, beside conferring other distinctions; lastly, it offered -to Buckingham a prospect of domestic happiness with a lady of -considerable wit and spirit, and one whose affectionate attachment to -her husband was amply testified by her letters and conduct during their -union. - -Footnote 267: - - Brydges’s Peers of James I. - -One drawback, however, existed. The Lady Katherine was a Roman Catholic; -and, although passionately attached to Buckingham, she, for some time, -refused to go to church. Through the exertions, however, of the -celebrated Williams, then Dean of Salisbury, and afterwards Lord -Chancellor, she was ultimately converted. It was for her benefit that he -composed his work, entitled, “A Manual of the Elements of the Orthodox -Religion, by an old Prebend;” only twenty copies of which were printed, -and these were all presented to the Marquis of Buckingham.[268] Such was -the success of Williams’s arguments, or the influence of the young -lady’s affection for her suitor, that, shortly before her marriage, a -public profession of the reformed faith was made by Lady Katherine, on -her partaking of the Holy Communion at the altar of a Protestant -church.[269] - -Footnote 268: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 589. - -Footnote 269: - - Ibid, vol. iv., p. 606. - -Various were the rumours at Court concerning the progress of the -engagement, which went on “untowardly;” amongst others, that the -Countess of Buckingham, having taken the young lady away from her home, -the Countess of Rutland, Lady Katherine’s step-mother, had refused to -receive her back: the King was said to be in the plot.[270] - -Footnote 270: - - State Papers, vol. cxiii., No. 38. - -The future Duchess of Buckingham was the only child of the Earl of -Rutland, by his first wife, Frances, the widow of Sir William Bevile, of -Kilkhampton, Cornwall;[271] and, during the lifetime of her mother, she -was regarded as the sole heiress of all the wealth of her father. Upon -the death of the first Countess of Rutland, the Earl married again, his -second lady being the daughter of the Earl of Thanet, and the widow of -Sir Henry Hungerford. Two sons were the offspring of this union, but -before the courtship of Buckingham, death removed them from being -obstacles to Lady Katherine’s prosperity. They died in their infancy, -from the effects, as it was believed in those credulous days, of wicked -practices and sorcery.[272] It was this celebrated case which is said to -have convinced King James, before sceptical on the subject, of the -existence of witchcraft, of the real agency of the power of -darkness.[273] The instruments of the foul fiend were three women in the -service of the Earl of Rutland, Joan Flower, and her two daughters, who -were stated to have entered into a formal contract with the devil, and -to have become “devils incarnate themselves.” Being dismissed from -Belvoir Castle, on account of bad conduct, they made use of all the -enchantments, spells, and charms that the black art comprised. - -Footnote 271: - - Which afterwards came to the Granvilles, hence the name of Bevile - Granville. - -Footnote 272: - - This lady is said to have died in consequence of some medicine given - her by Sir W. Ralegh;—a slanderous accusation. - -Footnote 273: - - Granger, from Howell. Art. Rutland. - -Henry Lord Roos, the eldest born of the house of Rutland, sank under the -effects of these demoniacal influences, or rather, probably, from -childish terrors, in 1613.[274] - -Footnote 274: - - State Papers, vol. cxii., No. 104. - -The Lady Katherine did not escape their machinations, having, with her -brother Francis, been tortured by Flower and her accomplices.[275] Five -years after the supposed exercise of their witchcraft, these wretched -women were apprehended, and upon being rigidly examined by Lord -Willoughby d’Eresby, Sir George Manners, and others, were committed to -Lincoln gaol. Joan died on her way to prison, whilst wishing the bread -and butter which she was eating, might choke her if she were guilty. The -two daughters were tried, confessed their guilt, and were executed at -Lincoln. - -Footnote 275: - - Even King James, it is said, was not exempt from the designs of the - wicked. In the State Paper Office is the following entry:—“A man named - Peacock, a schoolmaster, to be committed to the Tower and tortured, - ‘for practising sorcery on the King, to infatuate him in Sir Thomas - Lake’s business.’” - -By the death of her brother, Lady Katherine, whose more advanced years, -and probably, whose courage and sense enabled her to master the dark -terrors of the wicked Joan and her daughters, became a personage of no -little importance in those venal times, when even a show of affection -was scarcely thought necessary for the preliminary arrangements of the -nuptial tie. Belvoir, her father’s proud possession, stands upon the -eminence, the fine prospect from which gave it the name it bears, in all -its stately antiquity.[276] It was built in the time of the Conqueror, -by Robert de Belvedeir, standard-bearer to the monarch. The edifice is -seated on the confines of the counties of Lincoln and Leicester, -Nottingham and Rutland, and it commanded, in the time of Francis -Manners, until the present day, fourteen lordships.[277] Of this domain, -Lady Katherine was now sole heiress. Repeated visits had been made by -King James to it, and, indeed, a sojourn at Belvoir was always a -principal feature in a royal progress. A singular custom was formerly -observed on the occasion of a royal visit to this castle. A family in -Nottinghamshire, who held the Manor of Staunton, by the office of castle -guard of the strong hold of Belvoir Castle, called the Staunton Tower, -were required to present the keys of that tower to the monarch, in the -same manner as the keys of a town are offered. The tenure required, in -feudal times, that— - - “Unto this forte with force and flagge, - The Staunton’s stock should sticke, - For to defende against the foe, - Which at the same might kicke.”[278] - -Footnote 276: - - The interior was destroyed by fire, in 1816; it has been rebuilt in a - style of great magnificence. - -Footnote 277: - - The present Duke of Rutland traces his descent in direct line from the - founder of the castle, Robert de Belvedeir. - -Footnote 278: - - In January, 1814, when George IV., then Prince Regent, was received at - Belvoir Castle, the key of Staunton Tower, of gold, and beautifully - wrought, was presented to him in the drawing-room, on a gold cushion, - by the Rev. Dr. Staunton, with a suitable address. Nichols’s Progress, - vol. ii., p. 458. - -The office of castle guard has long become a sinecure, but the -importance of maintaining all those forms was such, that in 1618 a writ -of inquiry was issued to show why the Castle of Belvoir should not fall -into the king’s hands, on account of some alienation. “This,” says a -modern writer, “might appear an ungrateful return to the earl for his -hospitality; but it was - -the customary process when property held under the crown became, on any -occasion, alienated.”[279] - -Footnote 279: - - The whole of the castle stands in Leicestershire. - -At Belvoir, James made, on one occasion, a considerable number of -knights, and, notwithstanding his writ of inquiry, he visited the -hospitable palace every second or third year, from 1612 to 1621. In -1612, Henry, Prince of Wales, met his father at Belvoir Castle, riding -thither from Richmond in two days, and received “very honourable -entertainment” from Francis, Earl of Rutland, who, but a fortnight -before, had attended the funeral of his brother at Bottesford.[280] - -Footnote 280: - - Note in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. i., p. 490. - -In August, 1619, the king again visited Belvoir, but it does not appear -certain that Buckingham accompanied his royal master. Probably, the -preliminaries to the union which subsequently took place, may have been -entered into on that occasion. Early in the following year, the marriage -contract was signed, a ceremonial which generally preceded the completed -marriage by a period of forty days. In this instance, that event did not -take place until the sixteenth of May. - -In the interim, Buckingham, either through the impatience of a lover, -or, what is more likely, fearful of losing, from objections, the heiress -of Belvoir, took a step which cannot be condemned without a full -knowledge of every circumstance connected with it; but which seemed, on -the first view, alike discreditable to the lover and to his mistress. He -induced the Lady Katherine to leave her father’s house, and conveyed her -to his own apartments at Whitehall. Of this transaction, an account is -given by Arthur Wilson, whose puritanical principles caused him to -regard Buckingham with dislike, and perhaps to misrepresent his conduct, -and Buckingham is stated to have kept the lady there for several days, -and then to have returned her to her father. “The stout old earl,” -pursues the same writer, “sent him this threatening message, ’That he -was too much of a gentleman to suffer such an indignity, and if he did -not marry his daughter, to repair her honour, no greatness should -protect him from his justice.’” It is conjectured that this elopement -may have been contrived by Buckingham, in order to extort from the Earl -of Rutland an unwilling consent. He quickly, therefore, says Wilson, -“salved the wound before it grew to a quarrel; and if this marriage -stopped the current of his sins, he had the less to answer for.”[281] - -Footnote 281: - - Wilson’s Life of James I., p. 149. - -Such is one account of the obstacles which impeded that good -understanding which afterwards existed between the Earl of Rutland and -his son-in-law. It appears, however, from an unpublished document in the -State Paper Office, that Buckingham’s exorbitant demands had disgusted -the Earl; these were, 20,000_l._ in ready money, 4,000_l._ in land a -year, and, in case of Lord Roos’s death, 8,000_l._ in land. On this -account, at first, had the match been broken off, but renewed upon the -death of the son and heir, an event which some ascribed to witchcraft, -others to the falling sickness, to which the poor youth was subject. -Rumour also attributed the interruption of the marriage-treaty to the -religious scruples of Buckingham.[282] - -Footnote 282: - - Letter from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. Inedited State - Papers, March 11th, 1619-20. - -After his daughter had left his house, the Earl wrote a letter, half -indignant, half relenting, to Buckingham. In this epistle, the feelings -of a father’s struggle with the offended honour of the man. “I confess,” -he writes to Buckingham, “I took no great council in this business, for -nature taught me that I was to advise my daughter to avoid the occasion -of ill, as confidently as I assure myself she _is of ill_.” The -aggrieved and unhappy parent had perhaps, afterwards, reason to retract -that bitter expression. “I confess,” he adds, “I had noble offers from -you, but I expect real performance, which I hope in the end will bring -comfort to us both.” “His daughter,” he touchingly remarks, “deserves no -so great a care from a father whom she little esteems,” as he had shown -her; “yet,” adds the Earl, “I must preserve her honour, if it were with -the hazard of my life. And for calling our honours in question,” he -proceeds, “pardon me, my lord, that cannot be any fault of mine; for you -would have me think that a contract, which, if you will make it so, be -it as secret as you will, this matter is only at an end; therefore, the -fault is only your lordship’s if the world talk of us both.” - -All that the father demanded was, to use his own words, addressing -Buckingham, as follows, “proof that she is yours, and then you shall -find me tractable, like a loving father; although she is not worthy in -respect of her neglect to me; yet, it being once done, her love and due -respects to your lordship shall make me forget that which I confess I -now am too sensible of.” “To conclude, my lord, this is my resolution, -if my conscience may not be fully satisfied she is yours, take your own -courses; I must take mine, and I hope I may arm myself with patience, -and not with rage. Your lordship shall even find I will be as careful of -your honour as I shall be tender of mine own; and this is my -resolution.”[283] - -Footnote 283: - - From Court and Times of King James. Bishop Goodman, vol. ii., p. 189. - -To this searching letter, wrung from a father, uncertain how far his -daughter had for ever exposed herself to shame, hoping, yet fearing, -lest it might not prove so, and that she had fallen into honourable -hands, Buckingham thus replied:— - -“MY LORD, - -“Your mistaking in your fashion of dealing with a free and honest heart, -together with your froward carriage towards your own daughter, enforced -me the other day to post to Hampton Court, and there cast myself at His -Majesty’s feet, confessing freely unto him all that hath ever passed in -privacy between your lordship and me concerning your daughter’s -marriage, lest otherwise, by this, your public miscarriage of the -business, it might by other means, to my disadvantage, have come to his -knowledge. And now that I have obtained my master’s pardon for this, my -first fault, for concealing, and going further in anything than His -Majesty was acquainted with, I can delay no longer of declaring unto you -how unkindly I take your harsh usage of me and your own daughter, which -hath wrought this effect in me; that, since you esteem so little of my -friendship and her honour, I must now, contrary to my former resolution, -leave off the pursuit of that alliance any more, putting it in your free -choice to bestow her elsewhere, to your best comfort; for, whose fortune -it shall ever be to have her, I will constantly profess that she never -received any blemish in her honour but which came by your own tongue. It -is true I never thought before to have seen the time that I should need -to come within the compass of the law, by stealing of a wife against the -consent of the parents, considering of the favours that it pleaseth His -Majesty, though undeservedly, to bestow upon me. So leaving this to you -and your wife’s censure, - - “I rest, - “Your lordship’s servant, - “BUCKINGHAM.”[284] - -These protestations on the part of Buckingham, that the honour of Lady -Katharine was untouched, are confirmed by the following extracts from -certain letters relative to the affair, by which it is evident, first, -that James himself promoted the abduction of the young heiress, and, -secondly, that the Countess of Buckingham, whilst she favoured her son’s -schemes, never suffered the reputation of her daughter-in-law to be -injured, since she did not, for an instant, permit her to leave her -presence during the temporary absence from her father’s house. - -Footnote 284: - - From Harleian, 1581, p. 134. - -“There is an accident happened which breeds great stir in town, which is -concerning the taking away of the Earl of Rutland’s daughter, by my Lady -Buckingham. Nobody knows what to think of it, but, in my opinion, the -King is in the plot, for, with all his arts, he could not persuade her -to go to church, to which it may be, they think, she refuses to come by -reason of her mother and father. Now, you may remember what my lord said -to your lordship, that he would not marry one who did not come to -church. She loveth him, and I think now he makes trial of her, whether -she will forsake all the world for his sake.”[285] - -“But the Lady Buckingham sayeth her father desired her to take her -abroad with her, which she did, having his fatherly love imposed on her -that she should not go out of her sight. She fell ill towards night, and -rather than send her home with waiting gentlewomen, kept her that night -to lie with herself, and brought her home the next day; her mother -refusing to take her, so she went back, and there abided.”[286] - -Footnote 285: - - Buckingham. - -Footnote 286: - - Inedited State Papers. Letter from Sir Edward Zouch to Lord Zouch, - February 5th, 1619-20. Domestic. Sir Edward Zouch was a much esteemed - wit and courtier. His family is now nearly, if not wholly - extinct.—Brydges’s Peers of King James, p. 71. - -Another account states that the “Lady of Buckingham” fetched the young -lady away one Sunday, without her father’s either leave or liking, “so -that the next day he refused to receive her back, and Lady Katherine was -obliged to take refuge with her uncle, being her nearest relation.” -Neither party, it was observed, gained by this mode of dealing, which -was “subject to much construction.”[287] - -It is touching to find the Earl of Rutland, some years afterwards, -excusing himself from visiting the Court, that he might bear his -daughter company in her solitude at Burleigh, during the long interval -in which Buckingham, attending on the King at Windsor, left her in that -then remote country seat, in retirement.[288] - -Footnote 287: - - Inedited State Papers. Letter dated March. 20th, 1619-20. - -Footnote 288: - - State Papers. Letter from the Earl of Rutland. Domestic. 1625. - -A coolness, however, continued for some time between these two noblemen; -for on St. George’s day, which was observed with much solemnity at -Greenwich, the now haughty Buckingham showed his resentment against the -Earl of Rutland by refusing to be consorted with him in one mess; and, -coupling himself with the Earl of Leicester, left his future -father-in-law alone, “and yet,” as a contemporary relates, “the opinion -is, the match must go on with his daughter, or else do her great wrong -as well in other respects; so, for his sake and his mother’s, she is to -be converted and receive the communion this Easter.”[289] - -Footnote 289: - - Nichols, iv., 606. - -The marriage took place eventually, at Lumley House, a mansion built in -the time of Henry the Eighth, by Sir Thomas Wyatt, on the site of the -ancient Monastery of Crutched Friars, near Tower Hill.[290] The -ceremonial was conducted with great privacy, probably on account of the -vexatious and awkward circumstances which had previously occurred.[291] - -Footnote 290: - - This house was afterwards inhabited by the Lumley family. The navy - office was once here, until removed to Somerset House. The immense - warehouses belonging to the East India Company, now cover the spot - where Buckingham’s nuptials took place.—See Pennant’s London, p. 237. - -Footnote 291: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 607. - -It does not appear to which of his magnificent mansions the Marquis of -Buckingham took his bride, after he had at last obtained possession of -her hand. The man who only four years previously had appeared before a -host of scoffing courtiers, in a thread-bare black suit, and whose -slender allowance scarcely kept him from absolute penury, was now the -owner of several stately residences. His apartments at Whitehall were -held by virtue of his various offices near the King’s person. That -palace was the constant residence of James the First when in London. It -was, at this time, in a very ruinous state, and the Banqueting House had -been recently burned down. Inigo Jones[292] was, indeed, employed in -rebuilding it upon an extensive plan, only a portion of which was -completed. It is, therefore, very unlikely that the honeymoon would be -passed in the midst of noise and dust, although Whitehall, partially -surrounded, as it was, by beautiful gardens, was not, by any means, -devoid of that rural beauty for which the denizens of a royal -metropolitan palace may now look in vain. Wanstead House, in Essex, -which had escheated to the crown in 1606, upon the death of Charles -Blount, Earl of Devonshire, was the first residence that Buckingham -could properly call his own. He obtained it by a royal grant, and the -King seems to have been well repaid for that act of generosity, by the -pleasure which he took in visiting his favourite there. -Burleigh-on-the-Hill, or Burleigh Harrington, so called to distinguish -it from Burleigh Stamford, had been bought by Buckingham from the -heir-general of the Harrington family, into whose possession it had come -by purchase in the time of Queen Elizabeth. It was seated upon a hill, -rising abruptly from the vale of Catmore, commanding a view of the -country around, and protecting the village of Burleigh. At -Burleigh-on-the-Hill, King James was entertained during his first -journey into England; there he was received by Sir John Harrington, who -was then its owner. - -Footnote 292: - - He was called by the Earl of Pembroke, “Iniquity Jones.” It is said, - in that nobleman’s MS., that he had 16,000_l._ a year for keeping the - King’s houses in repair.—Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting, vol. ii., p. - 271. - -After Burleigh had become the possession of the Marquis of Buckingham, -he made it one of the most splendid seats in the island, until it not -only rivalled, but, in some respects, excelled, Belvoir.[293] Both the -Marchioness of Buckingham and the Countess took a great interest in the -place. In one of her letters to her husband, the Marchioness writes -thus: “For Burly Shaw the wall is not very forward yett, and my lady” -(her mother-in-law, the Countess of Buckingham) “bid me send you word -that shee is gon done to look how things ar ther. Shee ses shee is about -making a litell river to rune through the parke. It will be about xvi. -foote broode. But shee ses shee wants money.”[294] - -Footnote 293: - - Wright’s History of Rutland, 1684, p. 30. - -Footnote 294: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 778. - -This magnificent structure, in which many a revel took place, and -beneath whose roof many a masque was enacted, was not destined to remain -a monument of Buckingham’s splendour. Its very strength proved its -destruction; for it was, on that account, selected, during the -Rebellion, as a garrison for the Parliamentarian troops, in order that -they might, from that commanding station, at once harass the surrounding -country, and protect their county committee. But they were unable to -maintain the long line of defence which the extensive buildings -presented, and therefore set them on fire, and thus, destroying the -house and furniture, they deserted Burleigh. - -The stables alone remained; and these alone perpetuated the magnificence -of their first owner, being the finest in England. The ruins of Burleigh -long served as a memento of the devastations of civil war, for the son -and successor of George Villiers was unable to restore them. The estate -was sold eventually to Daniel, Earl of Nottingham, who rebuilt the -house, but of the structure which the princely taste of Buckingham -planned, and which his lady mother embellished with her taste, little or -no trace remains.[295] - -Footnote 295: - - York House was not at present in his possession. - -Newhall, in Essex, was another residence of the Marquis of Buckingham’s. -This property was purchased after Burleigh, in 1622, and was considered -a great bargain, the money paid for it being twenty thousand pounds, for -which there was a return of 1,200_l._a year in land, whilst the wood was -valued at about 4,000_l._ or 5,000_l._ The house, which cost originally -14,000_l._ in building, was immediately put under the hands of Inigo -Jones, the King’s surveyor, “to alter and translate” according to the -modern fashion.[296] It is described by Evelyn, who visited it in 1656, -in the following terms:—“I saw New Hall, built in a park, by Henry VII. -and VIII., and given by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Sussex, who sold -it to the late great Duke of Buckingham; and since seiz’d on by O. -Cromwell (pretended Protector). It is a faire old house, built with -brick, low, being only of two stories, as the manner then was; ye -gatehouse better; the court large and pretty, the staircase of -extraordinary wideness, with a piece representing Sir F. Drake’s action -in the year 1580, an excellent sea-piece; ye galleries are trifling; the -hall is noble; the garden a faire plot, and the whole seate well -accommodated with water; but, above all, I admir’d the fine avenue, -planted with stately lime trees, in foure rowes, for neere a mile in -length. It has three descents, which is the only fault, and may be -reform’d. There is another faire walk of ye same at the mall and -wildernesse, with a tennis-court, and a pleasant terrace towards the -park, which was well stor’d with deere and ponds.”[297] - -Footnote 296: - - Nichols, p. 881, from Harleian MSS., 6987. - -Footnote 297: - - For a fuller history of Newhall, see Nichols’s Progresses of Queen - Elizabeth, vol. i., p. 94-6. - -Our ancestors understood well the adaptation of what may be called -landscape gardening, to the style of their stately edifices; and -Buckingham appears to have displayed in his improvements the magnificent -and refined taste of a man whose nature was noble, and who was intended -for a holier career than that of a royal favourite. - -Buckingham’s delight in improving his estates soon found scope here. “I -have not beene yet att New Hall,” wrote his lady to him, in 1623, when -he was in Spain, “but I do intend to go shortly to see how things ar -ther. The walk to the house is done, and the tenis-court is all most -done, but the garden is not done, nor nothing to the bouling greene, and -yett I told Totherby, and he tould me he would sett men a worke -presently; but I warant you they will all be redey before you come.” In -a letter from the Countess of Denbigh, she informs her brother that -there is one of the finest approaches to the house made that she ever -saw. Buckingham, on his return from Spain, seems to have enjoyed -thoroughly the sight of Newhall, in all its freshness, and to have -gloried in its sylvan beauties. “I have found this morning,” he writes -to the King, “another fine wood that must go in with the rest, and two -hundred acres of meadows, broomes, closes, and plentiful springs running -through them, so that I hope Newhall shall be nothing inferior to -Burleigh. My stags are all lusty, my calf bold, and others are so too. -My Spanish colts are fat, and so is my jovial filley.”[298] How gladly -must he have returned to those more innocent pursuits of a country life, -that formed so strong a contrast to the harassing existence of a -courtier.[299] - -Footnote 298: - - Harleian MSS., 6987., quoted in Nichols’s Progresses of King James. - -Footnote 299: - - Newhall is now a nunnery. - -Another place much coveted by Buckingham was stoutly refused, even to -the all-powerful favourite. This was Beddington Hall, in Surrey, then -possessed, and still inhabited, by the ancient family of Carew, on whom -it was bestowed, having been before a royal manor, by Queen Elizabeth. -It was, probably, its vicinity to London which increased Buckingham’s -desire to possess this fine old house, with its stately precincts. - -“The Marquis,” as we learn from a private letter of the day, from -London, “would settle himself hereabout, and is much in love with -Beddington, near Croydon, having won over the King, Prince, and others, -to move Sir Nicholas Carew about it; but it seems he will not be -removed, by reason his uncle bestowed it so frankly on him, with purpose -to continue his memory there, and to that end caused him to change his -name. If his lordship would have patience, he would soon find out many -places convenient enough, or, at farthest, stay for Gorhambury, whereof -(they say) he hath the reversion after my Lord Chancellor’s life, but -upon what terms and conditions is only between themselves.”[300] - -Footnote 300: - - Inedited Letters in the State Paper Office, Mr. Chamberlain to Sir - Dudley Carleton, July 31, 1619. - -Wanstead House was another seat of Buckingham’s. The village which bears -that name is situated on the borders of Waltham Forest; it commands a -view of London and of Kent; the prospect stretching over a fertile and -beautiful country. The manor of Wanstead had passed through various -possessors to Sir John Heron, whose son, Sir Giles, being attainted, it -was seized by the Crown. It was then granted to Robert, Lord Rich, who -built the Manor House, then called Naked Hall House. The son of Lord -Rich sold it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; and it thus became -eventually the residence of two royal favourites. The unscrupulous -Dudley owned it for some years. He enlarged and improved the house; and -here his marriage with the Countess of Essex was solemnised in 1578. - -At his death, Wanstead passed into the hands of his widow, Lady Essex; -and the Earl being much involved in debt, an inventory was made of his -property, real and personal. The furniture at Wanstead was valued at one -hundred and nineteen pounds, six shillings, and sixpence; the pictures -at eleven pounds, thirteen shillings, and fourpence. Such is the small -amount of that which was reckoned costly in those days; yet there were -in this collection original portraits of Henry the Eighth, of his -daughters, and Lady Cartmills, Lady Rich, and thirty-six others not -particularized. The library, consisting of an old Bible, of the Acts and -Monuments, old and torn, of seven Psalters and a Service book, was -valued at thirteen shillings and eightpence. The horses, however, were -rated at three hundred and sixteen pounds and threepence. - -The Countess of Essex married Sir Christopher Blount, and by some family -arrangements the house was conveyed to his son, Charles Blount, Earl of -Devonshire. At his death it was escheated to the Crown, and became the -property of Buckingham. In 1619, he sold it to Sir William Mildmay;[301] -and in our days this once noble possession, which has fallen, like its -possessors, to ruin and destruction, came into the family of the present -Earl of Mornington.[302] - -Footnote 301: - - Wright’s Hist. of Essex, vol. ii., p. 502-3. - -Footnote 302: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 364. - -A mineral spring was about this time discovered at Wanstead, and there -was such “running there” by lords and ladies, that the spring was almost -“drawn dry,” “and if it should hold on,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “it -would put down the waters at Tunbridge, which, for these three or four -years, have been much frequented, specially in summer, by many great -persons, insomuch that they who have seen both, say it is not inferior -to the Spa for good company, numbers of people, and other -appearances.”[303] - -Footnote 303: - - Sir William Mildmay’s descendants conveyed it to Sir Joseph Child, - whose son Richard, afterwards created Earl of Tilney, built Wanstead - House, well known in modern days, on the site of the mansion which had - been the home of Leicester and of Buckingham. The new house was - erected in 1715. It descended, in due time, to Miss Tilney Long, who - married the Hon. Wellesley Pole, now Earl of Mornington. In 1825 she - died, and Wanstead House was sold in lots under the hammer. The park - is now let out for grazing cattle. The ancient church of Wanstead has - also been pulled down, and a new one erected; so that those who look - for any traces of Leicester and Buckingham will not find them at - Wanstead.—_Note in Wright’s “Essex,”_ p. 1150. - -To one or other of these stately abodes Buckingham perhaps conveyed his -bride; although the custom of travelling immediately after marriage is -one of more recent, date. Such, however, were the future homes of the -young Marchioness. - -The year succeeding the nuptials of the Marquis was passed by him and -his bride in a constant round of courtly revels. During these -festivities, various incidents, of little import in themselves, marked -the determination of James to accomplish the marriage which he now had -at heart between his son and the Infanta of Spain. The slightest -objection to that desired event was dangerous to the meanest of his -subjects. A man named Almed, who held a subordinate situation, having -presented the Marquis of Buckingham with a treatise against the match, -was cast into prison by the King’s express commands.[304] Secretary -Naunton was suspended from his situation for treating with the French -ambassador concerning a union between the Prince and Henrietta Maria, -and was obliged to write an humble acknowledgment of his errors to -Buckingham, and to address to James an epistle penned, as he expressed -it, “in grief and anguish of spirit.”[305] Buckingham interposed in his -behalf, and prevented the secretary’s being turned out of his lodgings -at Whitehall, by which many, looking upon Naunton as a ruined man, for -having lent an ear to the proposal of France, were already -intriguing.[306] The infatuation of James, promoted, it was believed, by -the counsels of Buckingham, brought infinite disgrace upon the English -court, and was repaid by the haughty Spaniards, acting through the -crafty Gondomar, with contempt. - -Footnote 304: - - Nichols, v. 699. - -Footnote 305: - - Bishop Goodman, ii., 228. - -Footnote 306: - - Bishop Goodman, 243. - -Even the pulpits were _tuned_, as Queen Elizabeth would have said, to -one key. “The King,” Mr. Chamberlain wrote to Sr Dudley Carleton, -“ordered the Bishop of London to warn his clergy not to preach against -the Spanish match, but they do not obey.”[307] - -Footnote 307: - - State Papers, Calendar, vol. cxviii., No. 29. - -The resolution taken by James to withhold assistance to the Bohemians in -their revolt against the power of Austria, and his determined refusal to -give to his son-in-law, who had been made King of Bohemia, any higher -title than that of Prince Palatine, were resented by the jealous people -whom James was so incapable even of comprehending, and his English -subjects regarded his neutrality with disgust. “The happiness and -tranquillity of their own country,” remarks Hume, “became distasteful to -the English when they reflected on the grievances and distresses of -their Protestant brethren in Germany.” Prince Charles besought his -father on his knees, and with tears, to take pity upon his sister -Elizabeth and her family, and to suffer himself no longer to be abused -with treaties. The young and generous Prince entreated the King, since -His Majesty was himself old, to allow him to raise a royal army, and to -permit him to be the leader of it, being assured that his subjects would -be ready to follow him. To this James replied, “that he would hear once -more from Spain, and that if he had not satisfaction, he would give his -son and the state leave to do what they would.”[308] - -Footnote 308: - - Letter in Bishop Goodman’s Life, vol. ii., p. 215, from Mr. Mead to - Sir M. Stuteville. - -Still James was deaf alike to arguments and to parental affection, and -defended his pacific measures upon the notion that Austria, swayed by -his justice and moderation, would restore the Palatinate, which had been -wrested from Frederic, his son-in-law, by Spinola, especially if his -son’s marriage with the Infanta were effected. He was blind to the fact -that his powers of negotiation would be wholly unable to achieve this -end, nor when it was achieved, would the result be such as his hopes -anticipated. His reluctance to engage in war, his want of courage in -avowing to his subjects the measures which he meant to pursue, were -alike indicative of that pusillanimous spirit which exposed him to the -contempt of foreign courts, and rendered him unpopular at home. - -Not having called a parliament for seven years, he now sent forth a writ -of summons in the beginning of the year 1621; an event from which all -men “who had any religion,” as Sir Symonds D’Ewes expressed it, “hoped -much good, and daily prayed for a happy issue; for both France and -Germany needed support and help from England, or the true professions of -the Gospel were likely to perish in each nation under the power and -tyranny of the anti-Christian tyranny.” - -The opening of Parliament was graced by a splendid procession from -Whitehall to Westminster; but although the progress was short, it was -varied by several significant circumstances. Prince Charles appeared, on -this occasion, riding on horseback between the Sergeants-at-arms and the -Gentlemen Pensioners, with a rich coronet on his head. Next before his -Majesty rode Henry Vere, Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of -England, with Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, Earl Marshal. These -noblemen were bare-headed. Then appeared James, with a crown on his -head, “and most royally caparisoned.” But the personage who excited the -most general interest was Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, a man only -sixty-three years of age, but accounted in those days—such is the -increased value of life in ours—“decrepit with age.” This nobleman, the -son of the Protector Somerset, was dear to the people as the relative of -Lady Jane Grey, whose sister, the Lady Catherine, he had married; an act -for which he had incurred a long and unmerited imprisonment in the time -of Elizabeth. He died shortly after the opening of parliament. - -The King was now manifestly broken and infirm; the disease, then deemed -incurable, which caused him intense agony, softened his petulance, and -produced a courtesy that touched the bystanders with pity. As he rode -along, he spoke often and lovingly to the crowd three-fold thick; -calling out, with more good-will than kingly dignity, “God bless ye, God -bless ye”—a striking contrast to his usual practice, or, to use the -words of D’Ewes, to his “hasty and passionate custom, which often, in -his sudden distemper,” would bid a plague upon those who flocked to see -him. - -Such was one of the remarks made on this day. Another was, that whilst -the windows of Whitehall were crowded by the great and fair, James -saluted none of them as he passed along, except the Marchioness of -Buckingham and her mother-in-law. - -He was observed to speak often and particularly to Gondomar, and his -whole demeanour was, for some time, kindly and cheerful. - -On a sudden, however, his gracious countenance became overcast. On -gazing up at one window, he observed it to be full of gentlewomen and -ladies, all in yellow bands: this fashion had been discountenanced at -Court ever since the trial of the Countess of Somerset; her accomplice, -Mrs. Turner, having been hanged, by sentence, “in her yellow tiffany -ruffs and cuffs,” she being the first inventor of the yellow -starch.[309] But certain “high-handed women,” as King James termed them, -chose, it seems, perhaps out of despite to Buckingham, to retain what -was conceived to be a memento of the Somerset faction. No sooner did the -King perceive them than he cried out “a plague take ye—are ye there?” -and immediately the ladies, in alarm, vanished from the window. James -was so much exhausted by his exertions this day, and by a speech of an -hour long, in which nevertheless he commended brevity, that he was -obliged to be carried in a chair from the Abbey, where he attended -service, to the Parliament House. - -Footnote 309: - - Nichols, iv., 630; and iii., 120. - -By these and other symptoms, the people saw too plainly that the -interests of Spain were adopted by the Favourite. Parliament, opened -with so much state and promise, was opposed to the King’s wishes, and -deprecated the Spanish alliance. Declamations against the growth of -Popery were continually heard in that assembly, and formed a constant -feature in its discussions during the reign of the Stuarts; these -invectives were now exasperated by the treaty with Spain, and the -indifference of James to the sufferings of the Protestant cause on the -Continent. In the House of Lords, the presence of Prince Charles, around -whom all the bishops, and most of the courtiers, flocked, was supposed -to overawe the debates. All this time, James had “engaged his crown, -blood, and soul,” such were his expressions, for the recovery of the -Palatinate. Nevertheless, he dissolved Parliament early in the ensuing -year; and the fruitless treaties and debasing intrigues went on as -usual.[310] - -Footnote 310: - - Wilson, Hume, Oldmixon. - -An embassy extraordinary from the French King, who had visited Calais, -proved the touchstone of much latent jealousy. An attendance of fifty or -sixty persons of rank, and a retinue of three hundred, gave to the -Marquis de Cadenat, brother to the Duc de Luisues, the favourite of the -King of France, all the dignity that so numerous a company of the flower -of their country could ensure. The ambassador and his suite were met at -Gravesend by the Earl of Arundel, and conducted to Denmark House, where -the Earl, merely accompanying the Marquis to the foot of the first stair -which led to his lodgings, took his leave, saying that there were -gentlemen there who would show him to his apartments. This was a decided -slight. Shortly afterwards, an affront was given by the Countess of -Buckingham, owing to her having placed the Marquise de Cadenat and her -niece, Mademoiselle de Luc, at a ball at Whitehall, beneath her own -daughter-in-law, the Marchioness of Buckingham. - -On the eighth of January, a tilting match was performed, to entertain -the French Marquis, wherein Prince Charles broke a lance with great -success. Amongst the tilters was the “beloved Marquis of Buckingham,” so -called by Sir Symonds D’Ewes, who thus describes the appearance of the -Favourite on the occasion:— - -“Seeing the Marquis of Buckingham discoursing with two or three French -monsieurs, I joined to them, and most earnestly viewed him for about -half-an-hour’s space at the least, which I had the opportunitie the more -easilie to accomplish, because he stood all that time he talked, -bareheaded. I saw everything in him full of delicacie and handsome -features; yea, his hands and face seemed to me especiallie effeminate -and curious.” The contrast with the homely-featured foreigners who -surrounded him seems to have struck this not very good-natured observer. -“It is possible,” he adds, “he seemed more accomplist, because the -French monsieurs that invested him weere verie swarthie, hard-featured -men.” - -All irritation seems to have subsided by this time, and the natural -hospitality of well-bred Englishmen to have reappeared. In the midst of -the business and pleasure which occupied the English Court, the -unpopularity of the Spanish match was, however, so apparent that -Gondomar begged to retire to Nonsuch Palace, to avoid the “fear and -fury” of Shrove Tuesday. - -In the summer of this year,[311] James visited his Favourite at -Burleigh, when he was so much pleased with his entertainment, that he -could not forbear expressing his contentment in certain verses, in which -he said “that the air, the weather, and everything else, even the stags -and bucks in their fall, did seem to smile.” The chief diversion -prepared for His Majesty was a masque by Ben Jonson, entitled “The -Metamorphosed Gipsies;” it was acted first at Burleigh, then at Belvoir, -and lastly at Windsor, within the course of a few months. - -Footnote 311: - - 1620. - -Buckingham employed the poet’s pen at his own expense, and himself -enacted the Captain of the gipsies; and, in his disguise, marching up to -the King, he thus addressed him, with the freedom of his lawless tribe:— - - With you, lucky bird, I begin: - I aim at the best, and I trow you are he, - Here’s some luck already, if I understand - The grounds of mine art; here’s a gentleman’s hand, - I’ll kiss it for luck sake; you should, by this line,[312] - Love a horse and a hound, but no part of a swine;[313] - To hunt the brave stag, not so much for the food - As the weal of your body and wealth of your blood. - -Footnote 312: - - The line of life in Palmistry is the line encompassing the ball of the - thumb.—See, for this masque, Gifford’s edition of Ben Jonson. - -Footnote 313: - - James’s known dislike of pork was one trait of his Scottish descent. - -In this fashion did Buckingham flatter the tastes of James, who, priding -himself on his prowess in the chase, which he followed in a ruff and -trowsers,[314] was charmed with any allusion to his favourite diversion. - -Footnote 314: - - Grainger. - -As the Captain of the Gipsies further pursued the telling of the King’s -fortune, his verse changed its metre, and touched on more serious -themes:— - - Could any doubt that saw this hand, - Or who you are, or what command - You have upon the state of things? - Or would not say you were let down - From Heaven, on Earth, to be the Crown - And top of all your neighbour Kings? - -In another verse, he gracefully referred to the royal bounty to -himself:— - - Myself a gipsy here do shine, - Yet are you maker, sir, of mine. - Oh! that confession should content - So high a bounty, that doth know - No part of motion but to flow, - And giving, never to repent. - -These poetical addresses were interspersed with dances and songs. After -the second dance, a gipsy, supposed to be Viscount Purbeck, the brother -of the Marquis, paid a tribute to Prince Charles:— - - As my Captain hath begun - With the sire, I take the son! - Your hand, sir! - - Of your fortune be secure, - Love and she are both at your - Command, sir! - - See what states are here at strife, - Who shall tender you a wife, - A brave one? - - And a fitter for a man - Than is offered here, you can - Not have one. - - She is sister of a Star, - One, the noblest that now are, - Bright Hesper; - - Whom the Indians in the East, - Phosphor call, and in West, - Hight Vesper. - - Courses even with the sun - Doth her mighty brother run - For splendour. - -—alluding to the boast of the Spaniards that the sun never sets on their -King’s dominions. - -The Marchioness of Buckingham was next addressed, in these terms:— - - But, lady, either I am tipsy, - Or you are in love with a gipsy; - Blush not, Dame Kate, - For early or late, - I do assure you it will be your fate, - Nor need you once be ashamed of it, madam, - He’s as handsome a man as e’er was Adam. - -The fortunes of Cecily, Countess of Rutland, the stepmother of the -Marchioness, of the Countess of Exeter, and of the Countess of -Buckingham, were then told. In the verses addressed to the last -mentioned, the beauty and attractions of the lady were thus alluded to:— - - Your pardon, lady, here you stand, - If some should judge you by your hand, - The greatest felon in the land, - Detected. - I cannot tell you by what arts, - But you have stol’n so many hearts, - As they would make you at all parts - Suspected. - -The Lady Purbeck was the next theme:— - - Help me, woman, here’s a book, - Where I would for ever look; - Never yet did Gipsy trace - Such true lines in hands or face. - Venus here doth Saturn move, - That you should be Queen of Love, - Only Cupid’s not content; - For, though you do the theft disguise, - You have robb’d him of his eyes. - -The fair, frail being, whose loveliness was thus panegyrized, fled from -her husband’s house three years afterwards, never to return. “She was,” -says the historian Wilson, “a lady of transcending beauty.” Ben Jonson’s -lines on her face:— - - Though your either cheek discloses - Mingled baths of milk and roses; - Though your lips be banks of blisses, - Where he plants and gathers kisses— - -were not, therefore, greatly exaggerated. - -Her mother—the mother who had bartered her at the altar—was next -flattered:— - - Mistress of a fairer table, - Hath no history or fable; - Others’ fortunes may be shewn, - You are builder of your own, - And whatever Heaven hath gi’n you, - You preserve the state still in you. - -Here ended the fortune-telling. And now, a dance of clowns, “Cockrel, -Clod, Town’head, and Puffy,” each personated by knights, delighted the -company with a colloquy in prose, and in their hands the conduct of the -piece remained until the Gipsies, metamorphosed, “appeared in rich -habits, to close the whole with a eulogy upon King James.” - -A song was introduced just before the conclusion:— - - Oh, that we understood - Our good! - There’s happiness indeed in blood, - And store— - But how much more When virtue’s flood - In the same stream doth hit! - As that grows high with years, so happiness - With it! - -Thus ended this masque, which furnishes, in the estimation of a great -critic, “specimens of poetic excellence, injurious flattery, and adroit -satire.” - -James was delighted with his cheer at Burleigh.[315] Before departing -for Belvoir, he noticed, with much satisfaction, that there was a -prospect of there soon being an heir to the house of Villiers; and, -after uttering a fervent wish that all might prosper, he called upon the -Bishop of London, by way of amen, to give the young couple a blessing in -his presence on the interesting expectation.[316] - -Footnote 315: - - Gifford. - -Footnote 316: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 710. - -This gay scene was followed by some mischances. James, riding out after -dinner, from Theobalds, early in the next year,[317] was thrown into the -New River;[318] the ice broke, and he fell in, nothing appearing above -the water except his boots. Buckingham, who was not with him, was sent -for from Hertfordshire, and posted away to attend his royal master. The -King recovered from this accident, but his infirmities increased daily; -he was confined for some time at Theobalds, “by reason of a defluxion,” -which, setting in his leg, assumed the form of gout; and he was obliged -to be carried out in a litter when he went to see the deer. - -Footnote 317: - - 1622. - -Footnote 318: - - Or, as it was called, Middleton’s Water, from the great contriver of - that inestimable improvement, the introduction of water into the - metropolis, Sir Hugh Middleton. - -Preparations were now made for that event to which James had referred -when he had called the Bishop of London to bless the parents of the babe -yet unborn. Yet, contrary to His Majesty’s expectations, it did not -prove to be a “fine boy.” Early in the year 1622, a daughter, afterwards -christened Mary, gladdened the hearts of the young and happy parents. On -the twenty-seventh of March, the Marchioness was sufficiently recovered -to be churched in the King’s chamber, where she dined, notwithstanding -that the King was in bed. The Duchess of Lennox accompanied her on this -occasion. This lady, was recently married, for the third time, to the -Duke of Lennox, her first husband having been Henry Purnell, Esq.; her -second, Edward Seymour, first Earl of Hertford. Ludowick, Duke of -Richmond and Lennox, her husband, was a cousin of the King’s,[319] being -grandson to John D’Aubignie, who was brother to Mathew, Earl of Lennox, -grandfather of His Majesty. The Duke of Lennox deservedly enjoyed a -great share of the King’s confidence; and it was a proof of the highest -consideration for the young Marchioness of Buckingham, that his duchess -should be her companion at the ceremony of churching. The Duchess -attended her also in her sickness, and was rewarded for “her great pains -and care in making broths and caudles” for the invalid, by a present -from the King of a fair chain of diamonds, with his picture suspended to -it, Prince Charles and the Marquis of Buckingham being charged to convey -it to the Duchess, who, henceforth, came to be “in great request, and to -be much courted and respected by the Prince.”[320] - -Footnote 319: - - Granger’s Biography, Reign of King James, vol. i., p. 237. - -Footnote 320: - - Nichols’ Progresses, vol. iv., p. 756. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - -REVIEW OF THE STATE OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS—DISSOLUTION OF - PARLIAMENT—PROTEST—JAMES TEARS IT OUT OF THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE - OF COMMONS—ACTS OF OPPRESSION—CASE OF THE EARL OF OXFORD—OF LORD - SOUTHAMPTON—PERSECUTION OF SIR EDWARD COKE—THE CONDUCT AND - IMPEACHMENT OF LORD BACON—THE PART TAKEN BY BUCKINGHAM IN THIS - AFFAIR—THE ABUSES OF MONOPOLIES—CASE OF SIR GILES MOMPESSON—OF SIR - FRANCIS MICHELL—BACON’S LETTERS TO PARLIAMENT—HIS ILLNESS—THE - GREAT SEAL TAKEN FROM HIM—JAMES’S RELUCTANCE TO ACT WITH - VIGOUR—SHEDS TEARS UPON THE OCCASION—BACON STILL PROTECTED BY - BUCKINGHAM—WILLIAMS, BISHOP OF LINCOLN, IS MADE CHANCELLOR—HIS - CHARACTER, BY BISHOP GOODMAN. - - =CHAPTER VI.= - - -It is now necessary to make a short review of the state of political -affairs coëval with these successive manifestations of a blind -partiality shown by James to Buckingham. - -The autumn of 1621 had witnessed the dissolution of the Parliament. This -step, which was imputed to the advice of Buckingham, was hastened by a -protest from the two houses of commons, declaring “that the liberties, -franchises, and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and -undoubted birthright of the subjects of England;” asserting the point -that the arduous affairs of state, the making of laws and redress of -grievances, are the proper subjects of debate in Parliament; and -maintaining the privilege of each member to enjoy entire freedom of -speech. - -This protest, which James and his son would have done well to have for -ever remembered, was drawn forth by the King’s resentment at the -interference in the Spanish marriage.[321] “He considered it,” he said, -“presumptuous in the Parliament humbly to beseech him to permit his son -to marry a Protestant Princess; and he intimated that if they had fixed -upon any person or place, he should have thought it high treason.” - -Footnote 321: - - Oldmixon. - -The proclamation which announced the dissolution was ascribed to the pen -of Archbishop Laud, who now exercised an ascendancy over Buckingham; and -the King, hastening to London, called a Privy Council, and, sending for -the journal of the House of Commons, declared the protest void, and tore -it from the book with his own hands.[322] - -Footnote 322: - - Ibid. - -These rash and blamable measures were resented by the whole kingdom. -They were followed by acts of oppression and injustice. The first object -of the King’s wrath was Henry Vere, Earl of Oxford. This young nobleman, -who was endowed with great ability, courage, and high reputation, was -one of those young and daring aspirants whose honours were not only -inherited from a long series of noble progenitors, but by merit made -their own.[323] He had already distinguished himself in the cause that -was dearest to the hearts of the English—that of the Palatinate, and had -extorted from the King one regiment to employ in the service of his -son-in-law, Frederic. The body of men whom he led to the unequal -contest, was, says a contemporary, “the gallantest for the persons and -outward presence of men,” that, “in many ages, ever appeared at home or -abroad.” It consisted almost entirely of gentlemen, the flower of the -commoners of England, who went to improve themselves in the art of war, -to which the English had for years been strangers. Oxford, with his -noble associates and brave soldiers, did all that was possible for man -to do; and then, finding that there was no support from England, -returned, hopeless, but not disgraced. - -Footnote 323: - - Brydges’s Peers of James I. - -Here was one of those “gallant spirits who aimed at the public liberty -more than at their own interest; and who yet, when the Government which -they served, or the prerogative which they held sacred, was attacked, -were fierce in defence of the King and his authority; supporting,” says -Arthur Wilson, “the old English honour, they would not let it fall to -the ground.”[324] - -Footnote 324: - - Wilson, p. 162. - -In spite of this acknowledged loyalty, the Earl of Oxford was accused by -a man named White, henceforth called Oxford-White, of having spoken -against the King; and was committed to the Tower, where he was long -imprisoned, until, on account of his known bravery, he was made one of -Buckingham’s Vice-Admirals on the English coast. A letter, addressed to -Buckingham, whilst the Earl was under this disgrace, appealing to the -King, to the favourite’s own conscience, whether he had ever harboured -any treasonable thoughts, obtained for him, perhaps, this tardy -justice:—“If it shall please the King,” wrote the gallant Vere, “to line -me out my path to death (the period we must all travel to) by -imprisonment, I shall be far from repining at the sentence, but with all -humbleness will undergo it, and employ my heartiest prayers for the long -continuance of his health and happiness.”[325] - -Footnote 325: - - Cabala. - -The persecution of Vere reflects infinite dishonour upon Buckingham—but -that bright star was fast losing the purity of its lustre. Buckingham -was an altered man. Unbounded prosperity was changing the once generous -foe into an avenger. - -Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, was the next subject of the -Marquis’s wrath. Upon this brave peer the King’s favours had hitherto -been showered down, and he had been endeared to the people by his -friendship for the unfortunate Earl of Essex, on whose account he had -suffered confinement in the reign of Elizabeth. On the accession of -James, Lord Southampton was brought from “the prison to the -palace.”[326] His lands had been forfeited to the crown: they were -immediately restored. On the meeting of the first Parliament called by -James, the Earl was restored by a bill, read after the recognition of -the King, to his titles.[327] The rest of this nobleman’s life was spent -in promoting worthy objects, to some of which even the lettered attached -ridicule. For instance, his patronage of colonization, his sending ships -to America for the purpose of discovery and traffic, excited the -ridicule of some of the caustic geniuses of the day. Yet Lord -Southampton received many tributes from the learned; and such was his -protection of letters, that he was called “learning’s best -favourite.”[328] It was, however, his highest praise that he was the -patron and friend of Shakspeare. - -Footnote 326: - - Brydges’s Peers of James I., p. 324. - -Footnote 327: - - Ibid, 326. - -Footnote 328: - - By Richard Braithwayte in the dedication of his Scholar’s Medley.—See - Brydges’s Peers, p. 325. - -It was upon this popular nobleman that the ire of Buckingham next fell. -It must, however, be acknowledged, that Lord Southampton’s credit at -Court had been on the decline previous to the altercation which took -place between him and Buckingham in the House of Lords; the Earl having -incurred the royal displeasure on several occasions, especially in -opposing illegal patents, a tender subject which had lately been under -the consideration of Parliament. Under these circumstances, when he -called the Favourite to order in a debate of the House of Lords, he only -rekindled the embers of former animosities. Prince Charles attempted, -indeed, successfully, to check the dispute; nevertheless, Southampton -sustained an imprisonment of twelve days upon the adjournment of -Parliament. He was allowed, on the eighteenth of July, to go to his own -house at Titchfield, where he was, however, a prisoner.[329] The famous -Selden, Pym, and Sir Robert Philips, were imprisoned in the Tower of -London for freedom of speech;[330] in short, during this Parliament, -were the seeds of that arbitrary disposition, which afterwards -manifested itself so calamitously, first ripened. It was not among the -least sources of public regret, that the heir-apparent should have -witnessed, and in some measure participated in, these flagrant -oppressions. - -Footnote 329: - - Oldmixon, p. 56. - -Footnote 330: - - Lord Southampton died in a foreign service, that of the - States-general, in the defensive alliance at Bergen-op-Zoom in 1624. - His family fell into the deepest pecuniary distress, and afterwards - solicited the aid of Buckingham.—_See_ “_Cabala_,” p. 299. - -Buckingham either perceived that these infringements upon the liberty of -the subject had been permitted to go far enough, or his native good -nature prevailed over the virulence of party and the love of power; for -on the nineteenth of July he came to London, visited the Earl of -Northumberland in the Tower, passed two hours with the Earl of -Southampton at Westminster, and with the Earl of Oxford at Sir Thomas -Cockaine’s. “This was taken,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “for a good -presage, like the coming of St. Elmo after a tempest.”[331] Two days -afterwards, the Lord Keeper Williams took the Earl of Southampton to -Theobald’s where the king was. A long conference ensued; the Lord -Keeper, the Marquis of Buckingham, and Southampton being the only -persons admitted to the royal presence. On the following day, -Southampton, was set at liberty.[332] - -Footnote 331: - - Nichols, iv., 670. - -Footnote 332: - - Oldmixon says not until the 1st of September (see p. 56); but Mr. - Chamberlain’s information is more precise and impartial. - -Sir Edward Coke was likewise among those who incurred the displeasure of -James for freedom of speech. Imprisonment in the Tower followed his -offence. The locks and doors of his chambers in the Temple were sealed -up, and several securities for money taken away. Immured in prison, his -family not being suffered to approach him, he had yet another trial to -encounter. James, whose meanness equalled his improvidence, took this -base occasion to sue Coke for an old pretended debt due from Sir -Christopher Hatton to Queen Elizabeth. The reply of the -Solicitor-general, Sir John Walter, when the brief of this iniquitous -case was sent to him, is worthy of a nobler character of mind than that -usually imputed to the English lawyer of that period. “Let my tongue,” -he answered, “cleave to the roof of my mouth whenever I ope it against -Sir Edward Coke;” yet the suit was rigorously prosecuted. “That spirit -of fiery exhalation”[333] was not daunted even by this petty and -malignant persecution. It was observed of him that he lost his -advancement in the same way that he got it[334]—by his tongue. To the -last, he steadily resisted the oppressions of the crown, and his -character, odious as it was to his contemporaries, odious when we -reflect upon him as the vituperative judge of Ralegh, and too justly -censured by Bacon “for insulting misery,”[335] has received the respect -and gratitude of posterity for its general political independence. - -Footnote 333: - - Wilson. - -Footnote 334: - - Life of Sir Edward Coke, published by the Society for the Diffusion of - Knowledge, p. 22. - -Footnote 335: - - “Perhaps,” says Mr. Amos, “Sir Edward Coke never descended lower in - point of wit and insult of misery, than when he told Cuffe, when under - trial for high treason, ‘that he would give him a cuff that should let - him down by-and-by.’”—Grand Oyer of Poisoning, p. 460. - -The fate of Bacon himself excited a still more mournful interest in good -minds, than the injuries inflicted upon Coke. - -It becomes necessary for the biographer of Villiers, to examine into the -circumstances of an affair with which, as with every public event of the -day, he was intimately connected. Bacon, in afterwards addressing James, -alludes to Buckingham when he imputes his degradation to the personal -views of some secret foe. “I wish that, as I am the first, so I may be -the last of sacrifices in your times; and when, from private appetite, -it is resolved that a creature shall be sacrificed, it is easy to pick -up sticks enough from any thicket, whither he has strayed, to make a -fire to offer it with.”[336] - -Footnote 336: - - Life of Bacon, by Basil Montague. Preface, p. 9. - -In the early period of his career, Buckingham had owed much to the -countenance, and more to the advice, of Bacon. The author of the _Novum -Organum_ seems to have been among the first to discern that remarkable -association of personal and mental qualities in Villiers, which promised -to secure him an ascendancy over James. Bacon lent the lustre of his -name to shine upon the young courtier, and expected in return that aid -which Buckingham, he soon perceived, would have it in his power to -bestow. A mutual dependence was established; Buckingham existed on the -capital of Bacon’s intellect; Bacon throve on the inferiority of the -youth, conscious of his defects, and wise enough to remedy his own -weakness by the strength of another. - -No greater proof of confidence in a friend can be given than to seek his -advice, and Villiers paid Bacon that tribute. He requested him “to -instruct him how to fulfil his high station, how to serve the King, how -to conciliate the people.” In consequence of this, Bacon had addressed -to the Favourite a letter of advice,[337] “such,” observes the -biographer of Bacon, “as is not usually given in courts, but of a strain -equally free and friendly, calculated to make the person to whom it was -addressed good and great, and equally honourable to the giver and the -receiver; advice which contributed not a little to his prosperity in -after life.”[338] - -Footnote 337: - - The essay or letter treated of the following subjects:—1. Matters that - concern religion, and the Church, and Churchmen. 2. Matters concerning - justice, and the laws, and the professions thereof. 3. Councillors, - and the council-table, and the great offices and officers of the - kingdom. 4. Foreign negotiations and embassies. 5. Peace and war, both - foreign and civil, and in that the navy and forts, and what belongs to - them. 6. Trade at home and abroad. 7. Colonies, or foreign - plantations. 8. The court and curialty. - -Footnote 338: - - Life of Lord Bacon, by Basil Montague, p. 181. - -This manual of a courtier’s duty, it must be owned, was sadly at -variance with the practice that followed these nobly conceived -instructions on the part of him who gave them. - -“You are,”—Bacon thus addressed Villiers—“as a new risen star, and the -eyes of all are upon you; let not your own negligence make you fall like -a meteor.” “Next to religion,” he adds elsewhere, “let your care be to -promote justice. By justice and mercy is the King’s throne established.” -“And as far as it may rest in you, let no arbitrary power be intended. -The people of this kingdom love the laws thereof, and nothing will -oblige them more than a confidence of the free enjoying of them.” “Your -greatest care must be,” he adds, towards the conclusion, “that the great -men of the court—for you must give me leave to be plain with you, for so -is your injunction laid upon me—yourself in the first place, who are -first in the eye of all men, give no just cause of scandal either by -light, vain, or by oppressive carriage.”[339] - -Footnote 339: - - Lord Bacon’s Works, i., p. 518-19. - -Notwithstanding these admirable precepts, the years during which Lord -Bacon held the Great Seal, and during which Villiers ruled predominant, -were, as it has been justly observed, “the darkest and most shameful in -English history.”[340] The domestic government of James and his -favourite, in weakness and want of high principle, corresponded but too -mournfully with their foreign policy; with their indifference to the -great struggle for the interests of liberty and of Protestantism in -Germany; with their vacillating and cowardly counsels. Whilst the -continental nations were venting their surprise and indignation in -sallies of ridicule directed against England, the King, who had nothing -to bestow in the aid of a loyal cause in which the welfare of his own -child was bound up, resorted at home to the most disgraceful expedients -in order to exalt his favourite. During this period, Buckingham held an -absolute empire over the actions of Bacon. A system of persecution -against Coke had followed the disgraceful affair of Sir John Villiers’ -marriage. In an unlucky hour, Bacon interfered between Lady Hatton and -her injured husband; he even descended to lend himself to the low -affairs of these vulgar great, and to take part against his enemy, Coke, -and with his arrogant wife. This was during the King’s absence in -Scotland: as matters then stood, this proceeding on the part of the Lord -Keeper militated against the marriage which Buckingham had at heart. -Bacon was soon taught, therefore, to see his error. The Favourite -resented his interference, and refused to be pacified. In vain did the -Lord Keeper stay certain proceedings against Coke which had been -instituted in the Star Chamber; in vain did he hasten to testify his -submission to Buckingham. Two successive days he went to the stately -apartments of the Favourite; waited meekly in an ante-chamber, seated on -an old box, with the Great Seal of England at his side. At length, when -he was admitted, he threw himself at the feet of Buckingham, and swore -never to rise thence till he had received the pardon of the lofty -personage whom he had once instructed in the art of conducting himself -with dignity.[341] - -Footnote 340: - - Macaulay’s Essay on Bacon in the _Edinburgh Review_. - -Footnote 341: - - Sir Anthony Weldon’s Court and Character of King James. - -This was not such conduct as would entitle a man to respect even from -him on whom he cringed. Yet Bacon, in one of his letters addressed to -Buckingham, declares him to have been the “truest and perfectest mirror -of friendship that ever was in a court;” and protests that “he should -count every day lost in which he should not study his well-doing in -thought, or do his name honour in speech, or perform service for him -indeed.”[342] Nor is the statement given by Weldon, of the manner in -which the seals were offered to Bacon by Buckingham, credible. According -to that writer, the Favourite, when he sent to proffer them to Bacon, -accompanied them with an insulting message, saying, that whilst he knew -him to be a man of excellent parts, he was also aware “that he was an -errant knave, apt, in his prosperity, to ruin any that had raised him in -his adversity;” yet from regard to his master’s service, he had obtained -the seals for him; but with this assurance, that if he ever should act -to him as he had done to others, he would be cast down as much below as -he was now above any honour that he had expected,[343] alluding to the -flagrant ingratitude and perfidy of Bacon to Essex. But this story, -supported by no evidence, is at variance with probability; and since it -rests upon the authority of one who is always inveterate against -Buckingham, it may be discarded as wholly unworthy of belief. - -Footnote 342: - - Biog. Brit. Art. Bacon, note. - -Footnote 343: - - Bacon’s Works, ii., p. 201. - -That Buckingham knew well the character of the Lord Keeper before he -promoted him to the Chancellorship—that he calculated on his -subservience to himself, expressed in his letters, so that posterity may -judge of Bacon’s professions—that he had discovered that the doctrine of -expediency influenced the practice of Bacon, is almost certain; for he -did not hesitate to sway him to the most disgraceful countenance of -abuses for which the whole country was crying out for redress. - -Amongst the grievances most disliked were those of monopolies; and -amongst the most detested of detestable patents was that for the -exclusive manufacture of gold and silver lace. It had been conjointly -granted to Sir Giles Mompesson, who is supposed to have been the -original of Sir Giles Overreach, and to Sir Frances Michell, who is said -to have suggested the character of Justice Greedy. Sir Giles was a -Wiltshire knight, patronised by Buckingham; or, as it was the fashion of -the day to speak, “a creature of the Favourite’s;” and was concerned, -not only in the patent of gold and silver lace, but in forming the -monopolies styled the patents of “Inns and Osteries.” In this affair -Michell assisted him.[344] - -Footnote 344: - - Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 297. - -To render Bacon justice, he had formerly, when applied to with regard to -these patents on behalf of Sir Christopher Villiers, advised Buckingham -not to have anything to do with them.[345] He declared them to be one of -the grievances which Parliament ought to put down; but avowed his -readiness, should it not be done away with, “to mould it in the best -manner, and help it forward.”[346] - -Footnote 345: - - Biographia Britannica, Art. Bacon, note. - -Footnote 346: - - Bacon’s Works, ii., p. 20. - -The latter course was preferred by Buckingham, and was therefore -adopted. The result was not only that the manufacture of gold and silver -thread was adulterated, for that would have been a matter of -comparatively little consequence, but that an inquisitorial jurisdiction -was exercised by the patentees of the Inns and Osteries, who were armed -with as great powers as had ever been granted to the farmers of the -revenue. The abuses which resulted cried for redress; and, during the -session of 1620, Parliament took the matter up. It became the province -of the Lord Keeper to interpose, and he decided that it should be -settled with all convenient speed. “The meaning of this was,” writes -Lord Macaulay, “that certain of the house of Villiers were to go halves -with certain of the house of Overreach and Greedy in the plunder of the -public.” - -Petitions were sent up to Parliament by persons who had suffered under -these exactions, and the whole affair was thoroughly “ripped up.”[347] - -Footnote 347: - - Oldmixon, p. 52. - -The odium of these abuses fell upon Buckingham; the blame upon the Lord -Keeper, who had not restrained these patents. Sir Edward Villiers, who -was thought to be as “deep in the mire” as Mompesson and Michell, was -sent on an embassy for safety. Mompesson was, on the third of March, -1621, summoned to appear before Parliament: he had fled, assisted, -according to common report, by Buckingham, who dreaded further exposure, -for Mompesson’s neck was in danger. On the twenty-seventh of the same -month, the King went to Parliament, and pronounced sentence on Sir -Giles, the dignity of his wife remaining untainted.[348] Michell, a -newly-made knight, was brought to his trial on the third of May, and -suffered the singular sentence of degradation, with all “the ceremonies -of abasement,” “but that,” observes Arthur Wilson, “being most proper to -his nature, he was but eased of a burthen, his mind suffered not.”[349] -He was made incapable of holding office, fined 1,000_l._, and ordered to -be imprisoned in Finsbury Prison during the King’s pleasure. The -ceremonial was rendered sufficiently effective, and Buckingham, with the -highest persons of the realm, witnessed the process. The “old justice,” -as Michell was called, was brought by the Sheriffs of London to -Westminster Hall, on the last day of Term, when the sentence of -Parliament was read before him by a pursuivant, in an audible voice. His -spurs were then broken in pieces by the servants of the Earl Marshal, -and thrown away; the silver sword was taken from his side, broken over -his head, and thrown away. Last of all, he was pronounced no longer a -knight, but a knave; Garter, Clarencieux, Norroy sitting at the feet of -the Commissioners.[350] - -Footnote 348: - - Nichols, iv., 660. - -Footnote 349: - - Ibid, note. - -Footnote 350: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 660. - -Sir Giles Mompesson, meantime, having contrived to elude the sergeants -who had him in charge, was safe abroad; but a proclamation was out -against him. The Prince and Lords promised to do all they could to -ensure his being apprehended: the ports were guarded. Buckingham, -meantime, declared in the House that he had no hand in the matter, but -that the blame rested with the referees who had tested the lawfulness of -these patents.[351] Sir Giles was heavily fined; an annuity of 200_l._ -on the new waterworks being all that was reserved for Lady Mompesson and -her child. - -Footnote 351: - - State Papers, vol. cxx., No. 13. - -Two years afterwards he was, however, allowed to return to England for -three months, though under some risk; for the people did not forget that -the two words, “no Empsons,” formed his anagram, and he was only -permitted to land in England on the petition of his wife.[352] - -Footnote 352: - - State Papers, cxxii., No. 8. - -With what sensations Buckingham, who had certainly regarded the -peculation permitted by these patents as a family perquisite, must have -witnessed these proceedings, it is not easy to say. His once generous -character was gaining in hardness, and losing the traces of its delicacy -and scrupulousness every day. - -But evils of a more stupendous character were soon to be detected and -avenged by a people who, Bacon truly said, “loved the law of their -land.” The Lord Keeper had reckoned for a long time that the protecting -hand of the Favourite could cover his venial proceedings. On the -twenty-seventh of January, 1620, he was created Viscount St. Albans, -with plenary investiture. The Lord Carew carried his robe before him; -the Marquis of Buckingham held it up. The prosperous Lord Keeper gave -the King most hearty thanks for each successive step of his preferment. -1st, for making him his solicitor; 2nd, his attorney; 3rd, a privy -councillor; 4th, Keeper of the Great Seal; 5th, chancellor; 6th, Baron -Verulam; 7th, Viscount St. Albans;—honours and emoluments which had been -procured for him entirely through the influence of Buckingham. The -envious world wondered, according to Sir Symonds D’Ewes, at the -gratification of Bacon’s pride and ambition. His estates in land were -thought, at that time, not to be more in value than four or five hundred -pounds yearly; his debts were supposed to amount to 30,000_l._ He was -then known to receive bribes in all cases of moment that came before -him.[353] The hour of reckoning, however, eventually arrived. - -Footnote 353: - - Harl. MSS. 646—See Nichols, vol. iv., p. 649, note. - -The disgraceful transactions which brought this tardy justice on the man -so pre-eminent in letters, so debased in honourable principle, had been -a frequent source of complaint in parliament. Thus, as a modern writer -observes, “was signally brought to the test the value of those objects -for which Bacon had sullied his integrity, had resigned his -independence, had violated the most sacred objects of friendship and -gratitude, had flattered the worthless, had persecuted the innocent, had -tampered with judges, had tortured prisoners, had plundered suitors, had -wasted on paltry intrigues the power of the most exquisitely constructed -intellect that had ever been bestowed on any of the children of -men.”[354] It is of no avail to say that the custom of the day -authorized the receiving of bribes and presents; or to justify the mean -subservience of the Lord Chancellor by blaming the interference of -Buckingham. That interference may be justly censured; but it forms no -ground of acquittal to Bacon. - -Footnote 354: - - Macaulay. - -In the letter of advice addressed by this most inconsistent man to -Buckingham, when Sir George Villiers, he counsels him by no means ever -to be persuaded to interpose himself, “either by word or letter, in any -cause depending, or likely to be depending, in any court of justice, nor -suffer any other great man to do it where he could hinder it, and by all -means to dissuade the King from it.” “If it prevail,” he adds, “it -prevents justice; but if the judge be so just, and of such courage, as -he ought to be, as not to be inclined thereby, yet it always leaves a -taint of suspicion behind it. Judges must be chaste as Cæsar’s -wife—neither to be, nor to be suspected to be, unjust; and, sir, the -honour of the judges in their judicature is the King’s honour, whose -person they represent.”[355] - -Footnote 355: - - Advice to Sir George Villiers. - -Shortly after Bacon had become Lord Keeper, a series of letters was, -nevertheless, commenced on the part of Buckingham in favour of persons -who were likely to come into chancery.[356] And it is related in -Hacket’s Life of the Lord Keeper Williams, the successor of Bacon, that -there was not a cause of moment, but that, as soon as it came to -publication, one of the parties concerned in it brought letters from -this mighty peer and the Lord Keeper’s patron.[357] A committee was -appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into the proceedings of the -courts of justice. Two charges of corruption were brought against the -Lord Chancellor; the one in the case of a man named Aubrey, who had been -advised to quicken a suit in chancery by the bribe of a hundred pounds. -The money was presented, through the medium of Sir George Hastings, -directly to the Lord Chancellor at his lodgings in Gray’s Inn, and when -Sir George came out from the chambers, he told Aubrey that his “Lordship -was thankful, and assured him of good success in his business, which, -however, he had not.”[358] The other case was that of Mr. Egerton, who -mortgaged his estate for four hundred pounds; a sum which Bacon at first -refused, saying it was too much, but accepted at last. These charges -were eventually preferred before the House of Lords, and when the -complaint was made in that assembly, it devolved on Buckingham, in the -absence of the Chancellor, who was sick, to present a letter praying for -time for the privilege of cross-examining witnesses; and requesting that -if there came up any more petitions of the same nature, their Lordships -would not take any prejudice at their numbers, considering that they -were against a judge that made two hundred and forty decrees in a -year.[359] During this interval, Bacon was assured of the sympathy of -James and the intercession of Buckingham. The King shed tears on hearing -of his dilemma, and procured a recess of parliament, in order to give -him time for defence. It was, however, judged best by the Chancellor, -notwithstanding all this powerful patronage, not to attempt a defence, -but to throw himself upon the mercy of the House. That, in spite of this -confession, Bacon still continued to enjoy the protection of Buckingham, -is evident, for the heir to the crown presented Bacon’s memorable -letter, full of eloquence, and expressed with the inimitable address -which he knew so well how to employ. This submission was not deemed -enough; a full confession was required. It was given by one sunk in -character and broken in spirit, and was received by the House. Prince -Charles was then requested to intercede with His Majesty that he would -sequester the Great Seal, to which James assented, declaring it was his -resolution to fill up the place of Chancellor forthwith. Bacon was -summoned before the House; he excused himself on the plea of sickness, -and sentence was passed upon him in his absence. He was decreed to pay a -fine of 40,000_l._, to be imprisoned in the Tower during the King’s -pleasure, and declared incapable of ever either sitting in Parliament -again, or of holding any office or employment; he was even forbidden to -come within “the verge”—that is, within twelve miles of the Court.[360] - -Footnote 356: - - Mr. Montagu’s Life of Bacon, note. - -Footnote 357: - - Bishop Hacket’s Life of Williams. - -Footnote 358: - - Biog. Brit. Art. Bacon. - -Footnote 359: - - Biog. Brit. Art. Bacon. - -Footnote 360: - - Biog. Brit. Art. Bacon. - -The condition of Bacon’s mind and body under this severe disgrace seems -to have been truly melancholy. One moment he was merry, and declared -that he believed he should be able to ride safely through the tempest. -When passing through the hall of his stately abode at York House, on his -servants rising at his presence, he said, “Sit down, my friends; your -rise has been my fall.” Upon one of his friends observing, “You must -look around you,” he answered, “I look above me.” At other times his -despair broke out in words that, although somewhat abject, were touching -in the extreme. As he lay in his bed, his frame swoln with disease, he -bade none of his gentlemen come near him, nor take any notice of him, -but altogether to forget him, not hereafter to speak of him, nor -remember that there was such a being in the world. - -In this extremity of sorrow, Buckingham visited the fallen one. Already -had Bacon written to him in the following terms:—“Your Lordship spoke of -purgatory; I am now in it; but my mind is in a calm, for my fortune is -not my felicity. I know I have clean hands, and a clean heart, and I -hope a clean house for friends or servants. But Job himself, or whoever -was the justest judge, by such hunting for matters against him as hath -been used against me, may, for a time, seem foul, especially in a time -when greatness is the mark, and accusation is the game. And if this be -to be a Chancellor, I think, if the Great Seal lay upon Hounslow Heath, -nobody would stoop to take it up.” What marvellous self-deception, or -consummate duplicity! Owing to Buckingham’s mediation, a letter was -given to the King, from Bacon; in this he again asserted that innocence -to which he had solemnly renounced all claim before, in his submission -to Parliament. - -“And now for the briberies and gifts wherewith I am charged; when the -book of hearts shall be opened, I hope I shall not be found to have the -troubled fountain of a corrupt heart, in a depraved habit of taking -rewards to pervert justice, however I may be frail, and partake of the -abuses of the times.”[361] - -Footnote 361: - - Montagu’s Life, p. 332. - -On the nineteenth of March, Bacon addressed a letter to the House of -Lords, contending, he said, that charges of bribery were brought against -him; he prayed that they would not prejudge him for absence, having been -ill, and preparing for a higher tribunal; that they would give him -leisure to make his defence, which would be plain and ingenuous; also, -that they would not be prejudiced against him by the number of petitions -brought against a man who gives two hundred decrees and orders a year, -exclusive of causes. He did not, he said, desire to make greatness a -subterfuge for guiltiness.[362] - -Footnote 362: - - State Papers, vol. cxx., No. 28. - -Notwithstanding a message from James to Parliament, saying that he had -refused the tender of the Great Seal from the Lord Chancellor, and hoped -that they would give him a patient hearing, “but to judge him as they -thought fit, if matters prove foul,”[363] Bacon was suspended. He wrote -a pitiful, specious letter to the House of Lords, in which he “rejoiced -that in the midst of his profound afflictions the greatness of a -magistrate was no shelter for crime.” His only justification, he said, -was his non-concealment of his offences. He did not mean to reply to -particular questions, nor cavil at witnesses, nor urge extenuations. He -submitted to their judgment and mercy, but hoped that the loss of his -soul might be sufficient expiation for his faults. He pleaded for -compassion, by the example of the King’s clemency, and their own fellow -feeling for him.[364] - -Footnote 363: - - State Papers, vol. cxx., No. 97. - -Footnote 364: - - Ibid, No. 104. - -Until the first of May, 1621, Bacon remained Lord Chancellor of England. -On the afternoon of that day, the Lord Treasurer, Viscount Mandeville, -the Duke of Lennox, Lord Steward of the King’s Household, the Earl of -Arundel, Earl Marshal of England, the Earl of Pembroke, and the Lord -Chamberlain of the Household, repaired to York House. They were -introduced into the presence of Bacon, and then told him “that they were -sorry to visit him on such an occasion, and wished it had been better.” -“No, my lords,” he replied, “the occasion is good.” He then delivered to -them the Great Seal, saying, as he gave it up, “It was the King’s favour -that gave me this, and it is my fault that he hath taken it away.” The -seal was conveyed to Whitehall, and restored to the King, who exclaimed, -on receiving it, “Now, by my soul, I am pained at my heart where to -bestow this; for, as for my lawyers, they are all knaves.”[365] But -Buckingham had provided against this difficulty, and the high office -which Bacon had so greatly abused was bestowed upon Williams, Bishop of -Lincoln, who was now the chief adviser of the Marquis, and to whose -counsels much that had been done was attributed. - -Footnote 365: - - Nichols, from Sir Symonds D’Ewes’s Diary. - -The choice of Williams, for this high office, reflected no discredit -upon Buckingham. Bishop Goodman terms this prelate “a man of as great -wit and understanding as ever I knew any man.” “And truly,” he adds, -endeavouring to rebut Weldon’s charge of a mean birth, “he was as -well-descended and had as good kindred as any man in North Wales, none -beyond him. He had a very quick apprehension, and for the discharge of -the Lord Keeper’s Office, he was never taxed with any insufficiency. I -have heard him make his reports in the Lord’s House of Parliament, and -answer such petitions, that in truth we did wonderfully commend -him.”[366] To these essentials Williams added the popular qualities of -hospitality and liberality; in this respect he resembled Laud. “There -was not a man in England,” says Bishop Goodman, “that kept a more -orderly house than Laud did, or bred up his servants better. But I will -join these two celebrities together for the great hospitality which they -kept, inviting and entertaining strangers.” With regard to liberality, -the erection of St. John’s College, Cambridge, the foundation there of -several scholarships and fellowships, the library at Westminster, the -library at Lincoln, the repairs of Westminster Abbey, and the care which -Williams took, even when he was Lord Keeper, of the young scholars at -Westminster, sufficiently attest his great and salutary views. - -Footnote 366: - - Goodman’s Life, i., p. 285. - -Whilst he was Proctor at Cambridge, he conducted a magnificent -entertainment, given to the Lord Chancellor Egerton, and to the Spanish -ambassadors, on which occasion Egerton told him that he “was fit to -serve a king,” and afterwards introduced him at court.[367] - -Footnote 367: - - Grainger, chap, iv., t. 1. - -The chief circumstance that brought Williams into notice was his -figuring at Cambridge in a disputation, before Prince Charles, in -1612-13,[368] when he was made a Bachelor of Divinity by special grace, -in order that he might become a disputant in the Theological -Controversy.[369] - -Footnote 368: - - Nichols, vol. iii., p. 589. - -Footnote 369: - - Ibid, vol. ii., Appendix. - -Still, great subserviency was expected even from the Lord Keeper in -those days of despotic rule. The industrious letter writer, John -Chamberlain, who supplies us with all the gossip and news which, in -those days, had no outlet in the public press, writes of this new -appointment in these terms:— - -“The King has made the Dean of Westminster Lord Keeper for a year and a -half; if he behave well, he is to retain office for a year and a half -longer, and then to surrender it: he is to consult one of the Chief -Justices in all cases of importance.”[370] - -Footnote 370: - - Chamberlain to Carleton.—State Papers, vol. cxxiii., No. 23. - -He quietly adds, immediately afterwards, that the Bishop of Bangor had -been sent to the Fleet for disputing “malapertly” with the King on the -Sabbath; and that Dr. Price had shared the same punishment for his -sermon at Oatlands. The “Prevaricator” of Cambridge was expelled the -University for saying, at a banquet that he gave, that he would have all -sorts of instruments except Gondomar’s pipe.[371] The Lord Keeper’s -“good behaviour,” therefore, meant an absolute subjection of reason and -understanding; and, more especially, an entire adherence to that line of -politics which might happen to be agreeable at the time to the King. - -Footnote 371: - - Chamberlain to Carleton, State Papers, vol. cxxii.,No. 23. - -The Great Seal, when it had been fetched from the miserable Bacon, was -delivered by the King, in presence of the Prince and the Privy Council, -to Williams, and was received with a short speech, “marvelling at His -Majesty’s benignity,” and promising to be pastor of the sheep. In his -first speech in the Court of Chancery, the Lord Keeper vindicated the -principle on which the King had determined to fill up the post with one -who was not a lawyer.[372] - -Footnote 372: - - State Papers, vol. cxiii., No. 18. - -A few months before Buckingham, who, as “Steward of the City and College -of Westminster,” was patron of the Deanery, had made the young disputant -Dean of Westminster. Williams, nevertheless, abstained from paying any -court to the Favourite; his pride and honesty kept him aloof. “For he -had observed,” says Bishop Hacket, “that the Marquis was very apt -suddenly to look cloudy upon his creatures, as if he had raised them up -on purpose to cast them down.” One day, however, whilst the Dean was -attending upon King James, in the absence of the Marquis, the Monarch -suddenly inquired, without any relation to the previous discourse, “when -he was at Buckingham?” “Sir,” replied Williams, “I have had no business -to go to his lordship.” “But,” rejoined the King, “you must go to him -about my business,” and Williams accordingly sought an interview with -the Marquis. The Favourite and the Dean were thus brought into contact, -and the result was favourable to both. To Buckingham it procured an able -and, for the time, a zealous friend, to whom he owed the great service -which Williams afterwards performed in converting Lady Katherine Manners -from Popery; and Williams obtained, for his part, a munificent and -deserving patron. A different version of the causes of Williams’s -elevation was given by a scandalous historian. According to Sir Anthony -Weldon, it was owing to the hopes which the Countess of Buckingham -entertained of becoming, in her third nuptials, the wife of Williams, -who is said to have “thought otherwise of that marriage when he was Lord -Keeper Williams, than he had done as Dean of Westminster,”[373] “which,” -he adds, “was the cause of his downfall.” But this report was wholly -without foundation. “Williams was generally beloved by his neighbours,” -says Bishop Goodman, “and for that report, that he should be great with -Buckingham’s mother, it is an idle, foolish report, without any colour -of truth.”[374] His appointment as Lord Keeper gave, however, great -offence to the members of the bar. It was loudly resented that the -highest post in the law should be bestowed upon a doctor of divinity; -and this step was, it was supposed, preparatory to filling all the -courts of judicature with churchmen. Williams, nevertheless, proved -himself to be admirably adapted for the office. He had already gained -general confidence by persuading the King to suffer Parliament to sit, -and to go on, in opposition to those who, being afraid of exposure, had -endeavoured to prejudice Buckingham and his royal master against that -assembly.[375] As a chancellor, he was acknowledged, even by the most -distrustful, to be a faithful counsellor; and by the friendship and -instruction of the Lord Chancellor, Egerton, to whom he had been -domestic chaplain, he had been prepared for the great duties of his -legal office. Egerton, on his death, had addressed to Williams these -words:—“If you want money, I will leave you such a legacy as shall -furnish you to begin the world like a gentleman. I know,” he added, “you -are an expert workmen. Take these tools to broach with: they are the -best I have.” He then gave him some books and papers, which he had -written with his own hand, being directions concerning the regulation of -the High Court of Parliament, the Court of Chancery, and the Star -Chamber, for the dying Chancellor foresaw that his chaplain might, in -the course of his career, require such materials.[376] - -Footnote 373: - - Oldmixon, 53. - -Footnote 374: - - Goodman, vol. i., p. 286. - -Footnote 375: - - Note to Biog. Brit. Art. Bacon. - -Footnote 376: - - Oldmixon, p. 53. - -The promotion of Williams involved very important consequences to the -English Church. It was by his instrumentality that Bishop Laud was first -brought forward at the Court of James. - -Williams foresaw the rise of that eminent and unfortunate man, but few -persons could have predicted his fall. - -An accidental circumstance drew upon Laud the attention which his -learning, his zeal, and his ardent piety, tainted as it was by bigotry, -might not have procured him. Bishops, and even archbishops, in those -days, were, as we have seen, by no means restricted from the diversions -of the hunting-field, nor even, if occasion occurred, from martial -exploits. Archbishop Abbot, among the rest, had been a jovial huntsman. -The practice was, it is true, forbidden by the canons of the church, but -those had not been admitted by the law of the land. There was a high and -violent party in the church, who were eager that Abbot should be -deprived of his ecclesiastical dignities, on account of the accident in -which he shot a keeper, a mishap which the worst construction could only -render into justifiable homicide. Laud was amongst the most vehement of -these, and his views of the case were so rigid, that he did not consider -the orders which Archbishop Abbot conferred afterwards to be valid. -There were others who judged differently, and amongst the rest, the -justly celebrated Lancelot Andrews, who maintained that since Bishop -Juxon was famous for breeding the best dogs in England, and was yet -worthy to be promoted to a see, Abbot was excusable. - -But the resistance of Laud was agreeable to Buckingham, who already had -constituted himself his patron. By his influence, Williams was induced -to get Laud made Bishop of St. David’s, and Laud afterwards acknowledged -that and other obligations by exclaiming, “My life will be too short to -repay his Lordship’s goodness.” Yet he lived to change his opinion. - -The rise of Laud at Court may be traced by distinct, steps. In 1621-2, -we find him preaching at Court, on the day of the King’s accession,[377] -and “commanded to print.”[378] Shortly afterwards the King sent to Laud, -to converse with him about the Countess of Buckingham, who was wavering -on the subject of her faith. Several interviews succeeded, and in -consequence, it may be presumed, of Laud’s exertions in that cause, he -became chaplain to the Marquis of Buckingham. For a time, his efforts at -conversion appear to have been crowned with success. The Countess -consented to receive the sacrament in the King’s chapel, and received a -present, according to common report, of 2,000_l._ for her -conformity.[379] Sometimes religious discussions took place before His -Majesty, and on one occasion, the answer of Laud to the nine articles, -delivered in a book from Fisher, the Jesuit, was read and argued upon at -Windsor, in the presence of James, his son, Buckingham, his mother, and -his lady. These endeavours proved futile; the Countess became eventually -confirmed in the Church of Rome, and retreated to her house at Goadby, -to enjoy the exercise of her persuasion, undisturbed by the observations -of the world. Hitherto, she had been one of the most brilliant leaders -of fashion; her retirement from the Court was therefore the theme of -much remark. Her compliance with the King’s wishes in receiving the Holy -Communion was said to have been prompted by her dread of banishment from -that sphere in which she had figured.[380] It was during the following -year that she relapsed to Popery, and after she was, as Mr. Chamberlain -declared, _sent_ from Court, either on that account, or perhaps on -account of a quarrel with her daughter-in-law.[381] - -Footnote 377: - - March 24th. - -Footnote 378: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 754. - -Footnote 379: - - Ibid, p. 769. - -Footnote 380: - - State Papers, vol. cxxxi., No. 24. - -Footnote 381: - - Ibid, vol. cxxxiii., No. 24. - -Whatsoever may have been the reason for the retirement of this ambitious -woman, one may easily imagine with what mingled emotions of chagrin and -triumph she returned to the scene of her early married life; her sons, -already great, were ennobled, and influential; her title and fortune -formed a striking contrast between the all-powerful mother of a royal -favourite, and the lowly serving maid in the household of an obscure -Leicestershire country gentleman; yet there were, as it so appears, -clouds overshadowing even the brightness of her destiny, and darkening, -eventually, the close of her singularly prosperous career. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - -THE SPANISH TREATY—NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE DUKE OF LERMA AND LORD - DIGBY—THE INFANTA DESCRIBED BY LORD DIGBY—HER GREAT BEAUTY, PIETY, - AND SWEETNESS—THE DESCRIPTION OF HER BY TOBY MATHEW—SHE IS DISPOSED - TO RECEIVE CHARLES’S ADDRESSES—GONDOMAR—ATTENTIONS SHOWN TO HIM IN - ENGLAND—ELY HOUSE ALLOTTED FOR HIS RECEPTION—JEALOUSY OF THE - PROTESTANTS AT THE FAVOUR SHOWN HIM—FIRST NOTION OF CHARLES’S - JOURNEY TO SPAIN SUGGESTED BY BUCKINGHAM—HIS ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF - IT—OBSTACLES TO THE PRINCE’S MARRIAGE WITH THE INFANTA—BUCKINGHAM’S - DEBTS AND DIFFICULTIES—INTERVIEW BETWEEN GONDOMAR AND THE DUKE OF - LENNOX—JOURNEY OF CHARLES AND BUCKINGHAM INTO SPAIN—THEY STOP IN - PARIS—LOUIS XIII.—ANNE OF AUSTRIA—HENRIETTA MARIA—THEY PROCEED TO - MADRID—RECEPTION THERE—ENTRANCE IN STATE INTO THAT CITY—COUNTESS OF - PHILIP IV.—FESTIVITIES IN HONOUR OF THE PRINCE—THE KING’S LETTERS TO - HIM. - - =CHAPTER VII.= - - 1622. - - -In the midst of all the difficulties and differences of opinion which -embarrassed the question of assisting the Palatinate, or of leaving the -darling of her country, Elizabeth of Bohemia, to her fate, that -cherished project, known at the time as the Spanish treaty, was brought -under consideration. - -Little more than two years had elapsed after the death of James’s -first-born, Prince Henry,[382] when the Duke of Lerma, the minister of -Philip the Third of Spain, opened a negotiation with Digby, then -ambassador at Madrid, the object of which was to arrange a marriage -between Prince Charles and Donna Maria. This princess was the sister of -Philip the Fourth of Spain, and her elder sister being married, was -styled the Infanta. - -Footnote 382: - - Hacket’s Life of Williams, p. 114. - -In June, 1622, Charles wrote to Lord Digby, desiring to hear speedily -upon the subject which the young prince had nearest his heart—whether -the King of Spain were really affected to the marriage or not, and -intended to proceed in it; in which case, Digby’s instructions were to -perfect all the capitulations, and to agree that the journey of the -Infanta to England should take place during the ensuing spring.[383] - -Footnote 383: - - Letter from Lord Digby to Charles, dated Madrid, 30th June, - 1622.—Inedited State Papers. - -Lord Digby, as he now informed Charles, had first availed himself of all -the secret means he could devise, of discovering the wishes of his -Spanish Majesty; and on conversing with his ministers afterwards, had -received from them every possible encouragement. In the long and -interesting letter in which he replied to the young Prince’s inquiries, -Digby described an interview with the Infanta, to whom he begged to -address himself in the name of her young and royal suitor, and to -deliver to her a message. The King gave him permission to see the -Infanta, and with his own lips to enter on the subject; Digby having -represented to that Monarch, that Charles, being now twenty-one years of -age, was desirous of bringing matters to a conclusion, and that His -Majesty, King James, having but one son, was anxious “not to delay -longer the bestowing of him.” The King of Spain, in return, assured his -British Majesty that there was no less affection to the match in him, -than there had been in his father. “I can frame,” writes Digby to the -Prince, “no opinion but upon these exterior things, and men that do -negotiate with great princes must rely upon the honour and truth of -their words and propositions, especially in a case of this nature.”[384] -Much was expected from the return of Count Gondomar from England to -Spain; his coming was, as Digby declared, to be of great use, “for he -holds,” adds that nobleman, “great credit here, and will be able to -clear away all difficulties, being extremely affectionate to the -business.” Gondomar, it appears, had then already landed at Bayonne. - -Footnote 384: - - Letter from Lord Digby to Charles, dated Madrid, 30th June, - 1622.—Inedited State Papers. - -Digby next expatiated at length upon the perfection of the Infanta. This -princess appears to have presented a rare instance of great personal -attraction, combined with sweetness of disposition, sensibility, and -piety. That she was not eventually united to Charles must, in spite of -the calculations of politicians, ever be a subject of regret. Her good -sense might have acted beneficially upon the well-intentioned but -mistaken Monarch, who was fatally swayed by the counsels of Henrietta -Maria. - -Lord Digby, experienced in courts, thus expressed himself with regard to -Donna Maria. - -“For the person of the Infanta, this much:—I will presume to say unto -your highness, that I have seen many ladies attending when I had my -audience with the Queen and Infanta, but she is by much the handsomest -young lady I saw since I came into Spain; and for her goodness and -sweetness of her disposition, she is by the whole Court generally -commended.” - -In subsequent letters, Lord Digby was still more explicit, although he -knew, he said, that expectations generally exceed reality; yet should -the Prince, on seeing the Infanta, not “judge her to be a beautiful and -dainty lady, he shall be single in his opinions and from all who have -ever seen her.[385]” - -Footnote 385: - - Dated Madrid, February 22, 1622-23.—Inedited State Papers. - -These praises of Lord Digby’s are borne out by other testimonies; that, -more especially, of Toby Mathew, who followed the Prince into Spain, and -who calls the Infanta, then in her eighteenth year, as “fair in all -perfection;” her face without one “ill feature,” presenting that contour -which “shews her to be highly born.” The expression of her countenance -peculiarly sweet; and her figure, concealed as it was by the close ruffs -and cuffs then worn by the Spanish ladies, was declared to be perfect; -her head was well set upon her neck; “and so,” adds the minute observer, -“are her hands to her arms; and they say that before she is dressed, she -is incomparably better than after.”[386] - -Footnote 386: - - Description of the Infanta of Spain, by Toby Mathew. Dated June, 28, - 1623.—Inedited State Papers. - -Lord Digby protested also to Charles that his future bride, as she was -then esteemed, had “the fairest hand that he had ever seen, that she was -very straight and well-bodied, and a likely lady to make the Prince -happy.” - -This portraiture was calculated to increase the ardour of the thoughtful -and enthusiastic Charles; whilst the character drawn of the Infanta -tended to raise the sentiment of admiration into one of respect. Brought -up, as Lord Digby relates, with great care, and in retirement, there -might be more gravity and reserve than were usual in English ladies, in -her deportment; but this was a “fault easy mended.” Having asked every -possible question of her childhood and youth, the ambassador protested -that “never heard he so much good of any one as of the Infanta.” To this -testimony may be again added that of Toby Mathew, who portrays her so -free from pride and worldliness, “that she seemed to shine from her soul -through her body;” the beauty of her mind very far exceeding that of her -person. Everyday this young Princess passed in prayer three or four -hours, and then occupied herself in making something which might be sold -for the benefit of the sick and wounded in the hospitals, or busied -herself in drawing lint out of linen for their use. She spent, in her -charities, a hundred pounds a month, appropriating what was allowed her -for recreation to these good deeds. Each returning Wednesday and -Saturday found her in the confessional, or communicating, “for she -carrieth,” relates Toby Mathew, “in particular, a most tender devotion -to the Blessed Sacrament, and the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed -Lady.” This deep sense of her responsibilities, this earnest piety, -alarmed the English Puritans, who forgot that whilst no one was more -steadfast to her faith than Katharine of Arragon, there existed not a -more tolerant being, as far as we have the means of judging, nor sat -upon the throne of the Queen’s-Consort of England, one more beloved by -all sects and classes of the people than that ill-used and ill-fated -foreigner. They remembered, perhaps, that whilst the Romish persuasion -acted benignantly on her mind, on that of her daughter it engendered -bigotry, and caused persecution. - -Professing this earnest piety, Donna Maria appears also to have been -free from the imprudence of giddy coquetry, to which her sister, Anne of -Austria, was prone. “She was of few words, but free and affable with her -ladies,” and though at first sight she gave no indications of quickness -of mind, those who knew her well respected her judgment, while they -admired that freedom from personal vanity, so rare in the young and -flattered. “Of her person, and beauty, and dressing,” writes Toby -Mathew, “she is careless, and takes what they bring her without much -ado.” Her courage and calmness under trying circumstances were also -commended—the annalist thought it worth while to specify that “thunder -and lightning affrighted her not,” “and when, at Aranjuez, the Queen had -made a public entertainment for the King, and the scaffolding fell, and -boughs fell in and caught fire, and all the company fled, Donna Maria -remained calm and collected, only calling for the Condé di Olivarez to -keep her from the crushing of the people: retiring at her usual pace, -without any sign of agitation.” This happened when she was only sixteen -years of age. - -Between the Infanta and her royal brother, Philip IV., the greatest -affection subsisted. Not a morning passed that he did not visit her in -her apartments, and wait whilst she prepared to go abroad. Yet, in spite -of this partiality, she made a point of never interfering in public -business. In one respect she resembled Katharine of Arragon; although -deeply sensible of any unkindness, she was one who would never -expostulate with the unkind, but grieved in secret. Here was true -heroism: the power to suffer, the wisdom to forbear: the greatness of -mind, not, in family disputes, to challenge sympathy, is a quality of -inestimable importance, both in private and public life. - -A portion only of the careful eulogium passed on the Infanta reached -Charles, whilst he was as yet contemplating a journey to see the rare -being upon whom his hopes of felicity were placed: but a description was -sent by Digby of the interview which took place between him and the -Infanta. “After I had secluded her from His Majesty,” wrote the -ambassador, “I told her that I had likewise a message to deliver her, -with her permission, from another cavalier, the Prince of Wales. She -blushed, and told me, ‘I might;’ whereupon” Digby said, “that in regard -to the desire which King James had to unite these kingdoms in nearer -friendship, by way of marriage, there was nothing the Prince had so much -at heart.” “So you hoped,” he added, addressing Charles, “it was -agreeable unto her, and that she likewise wished well, and would aid in -the effecting of it.” - -At this interrogation the Infanta “blushed extremely, and asked -particularly of the Prince’s health, and how,” adds Digby, “I had left -you; and told me she gave me great thanks for the favour you did her. I -will set down the very words in Spanish, for I think your Highness -should be angry with me for the omission of any word in this -particular:—‘Agradesco mucho al Principe de Inglatierra, la merced que -me hazo.’” - -Lord Digby inclosed also letters in Spanish, addressed to Charles. The -Infanta having heard that her suitor was studying her native language -spoke to Digby on the subject. “He doth it,” was the reply, “whereby to -use with you a style of more familiarity.”[387] - -Footnote 387: - - Letter of Lord Digby, before quoted. - -These particulars are interesting, as proving that it was not without -some inquiry and deliberation that Charles undertook to procure, in -person, a knowledge of the young Princess to whom his hand was destined. - -The Condé de Gondomar, one of the most astute diplomatists of his time, -had now been accredited to England for the last three years. His object -in coming was to give satisfaction to the King and Court on the subject -of the marriage, but the feeling of the people was against him. It was -his arrival that had precipitated the fall of Ralegh. It was from his -influence that any toleration to the oppressed Catholics would be dated. - -Ely House, once the residence of the Bishop of Ely, but given by Queen -Elizabeth to her favourite, Hatton, was the tenement destined to receive -the ambassadors of Spain; although the envoys from the Palatinate were -then in England, and “no one knew,” as it was said, “how two buckets -could go down into the well at once.”[388] But it was soon seen which -“bucket was to go down;” for, whilst he was waiting in expectation of -Gondomar’s arrival, James had coldly dismissed Baron Dona, the Prince -Palatine’s envoy, saying that he disapproved of his son-in-law’s -election to the throne of Bohemia as factious; and refusing to embark -his subjects, “who were as dear to him as his children,” in a war. This -indifference to his daughter’s condition, and the outrage offered to -public opinion in allowing mass to be celebrated in what had once been -the private chapel of the Bishop of Ely, scandalized all staunch -Protestants, and Gondomar was constrained to open a back door in Ely -House to let in Catholics to worship. Nevertheless, the virago, Lady -Hatton, who lived almost next door to the Spaniard, threw every -hindrance in her power in the way of that arrangement; yet, in the very -face of honest Protestant scruples, the Ladies of the Court were invited -to witness the ceremonies at Ely House; and, doubtless, found it not -inconsistent with their conscience to comply.[389] - -Footnote 388: - - Letter from Dr. Joseph Hall to Carleton. - -Footnote 389: - - State Papers, vol. cxxviii., p. 96. - -It was at this juncture that Buckingham is said first to have proposed -to Charles to evade open censure by making a journey, incognito, to -Spain. Nor were such expeditions unknown in those times. Buckingham well -knew, in this instance, the tone of argument most appropriate to address -to a prince whose blameless career, untainted by dissipation, had not -seared one of the best safeguards of youth—romance. The Prince was -accessible to the influence of that which Mackenzie calls “a higher -sense of virtue.” A lover of the refined and beautiful, he shrank from -the notion of a mere political union; the suggestions which were thrown -out from motives of Statecraft were received in a spirit of trust and -hope, and sank instantly into a mind of delicacy and feeling. - -Buckingham drew a picture, it is stated, of a marriage contracted on -public grounds alone. He pointed out the miseries of such an alliance; -he referred to the indifference, if not loathing, with which a bride so -selected would view the object, not of her own choice, but of that of -the State, for reasons with which she had no sympathy. - -He portrayed the misery of one who could deem herself nothing but a -victim, and who could not fail to view with disgust a bond which brought -her from a beloved home to a foreign court, where every early enjoyment -of her youth must be forgotten, every cherished association and -remembrance abandoned. - -Buckingham found an attentive auditor. He represented to Charles that by -accomplishing a journey to Madrid, and seeking an interview with his -promised bride, he might create an interest in her affections, and, by -the attentions of a lover, gain even the coldest heart. The delicacy of -the compliment would be felt also in the Court of Madrid; it would -resemble the fictions in which the Spaniards delighted; it would present -him to the young Princess under the aspect of a devoted suitor; it would -expedite the conclusion of those negotiations concerning the Palatinate -which had languished so long. These representations were heightened by -Murray, the Prince’s tutor, who, some insinuated, was instigated by the -cunning Gondomar.[390] Murray reminded his royal pupil that his father -had gone to Denmark to fetch his wife; that his grandfather, “living in -the heart of England,” went into Scotland to marry: especially that his -great grandfather, James V., went into France several times—first, to -woo the daughter of the French King, the Lady Mary of Lorraine: that -interviews between kings and princes were customary; and that no -occasion could be so suitable as a negotiation of marriage. “God,” added -Murray, “had blessed the Prince with an able body, fit for any exercise -and recreation: with great intellectuals, fit to enter into any treaty -himself; God had blessed him with a civil carriage, mild and -temperate—no way passionate, as some princes were;” and thus, being -fitted for the enterprise, the sagacious Scot thought that a journey -would improve the Prince’s abilities, and exhibit them to the -world.[391] - -Footnote 390: - - This affair, as Mr. Brewer observes, “was something of a counterpart - to his son’s knight-errantry.”—Bishop Goodman’s Life, note, vol. i., - p. 363. - -Footnote 391: - - Bishop Goodman, vol. i., p. 364. - -The Court, watchful of what was passing, could only guess by certain -indications of the probability of the projected journey into Spain -taking effect. About nine weeks previous to the commencement of the -Spanish journey, Charles was observed to hold a long conference in his -royal father’s bedchamber. The door was closed; but the Prince opened -and closed it at times; as if he were looking into the adjoining -ante-chamber to see if there was anybody there who could listen to what -was going on. James, in the course of that interview, broke into loud -cries of passion. About a month afterwards, a report ran through the -Court that Buckingham was to go to Spain on a solemn embassy. This -rumour, however, was set afloat merely that it might be discovered how -the people stood affected to the Spanish marriage. A dispensation from -the Pope was necessary as a preparatory step; and James was heard to -lament that he could not match his heir without a dispensation from his -enemy, which would be acknowledging the Papal power. Yet he took every -means to compass the marriage treaty; and even Dr. Hakluyt, one of -Prince Charles’s chaplains, who had circulated a pamphlet against the -Spanish marriage, was sent away from Court. Still there were innumerable -difficulties in the way of negotiation. It appears, indeed, from various -petitions, that, though Popery was considered to be on the increase in -England, the recusants founded their strongest hopes on the Spanish -match. In December, 1621, a petition had been presented to the King, -complaining of the printing of Papistical books, the “swarming in of -Jesuits,” and purposing to obviate the impending evils—first, by helping -the King of Bohemia, then by marrying the Prince to one of his own -religion.[392] The King replied, saying that he had heard that his -detention from Parliament, from ill health, “had led some fiery spirits -to meddle with matters far beyond their capacity, and intrenching on the -prerogative.” He forbade any further meddling with state mysteries: such -as the Prince’s match, or attacks on the King of Spain; he resolved to -punish all insolence in Parliament; and would not deign to hear or to -answer the proposed petition, if it touched on the points forbidden. “He -would,” he graciously added, “make this a session, if good laws be -devised.” To this extraordinary answer, which was not published in the -journals,[393] the commons returned a firm but respectful rejoinder; but -were shortly advised that the King was pledged to the Spanish match, and -blamed their interfering with it at all.[394] - -Footnote 392: - - State Papers, vol. cxxiv., No. 3. - -Footnote 393: - - Ibid, No. 8. - -Footnote 394: - - Ibid, No. 27. - -So great were the impediments to the Spanish treaty, that, since it -seemed difficult to brave opinion, a means was resorted to of evading -any outbreak of the growing national discontent. - -Meantime, about this juncture, the first intimation appears of the -difficulties into which the extravagance of Buckingham had plunged him. -Facts stated by the Court Chronicle speak for themselves. Lord -Mandeville, then Lord President, had, it appears, lent him ten thousand -pounds. In compliance with the venal spirit of the day, the promise of a -payment was made contingent on Lord Mandeville’s consent to the marriage -of his eldest son with Mistress Susan Hill, a relation of Buckingham’s, -and probably an humble relation, since he gave the bride not only -10,000_l._, which was to be considered as discharging his debt, but also -promised to promote the Lord President, and to give him ten dishes at -court. It was rumoured that Buckingham even promised an additional sum -of 5,000_l._ to Mandeville. The marriage seems to have been hastened, in -order that it might take place before the Prince’s secret journey into -Spain, for it was performed in the presence of the King, who was ill, -and in bed, but who showed his delight at the nuptials by blessing the -bride with one of his shoes. The match was said to have been an -indifferent one for the bridegroom, who could have had 25,000_l._ with -Lord Craven’s daughter.[395] - -Footnote 395: - - State Papers, vol. cxxxviii., No. 23. - -The next affair which produced many days of wonder was the Prince’s -journey, a project which had been broached, early in the course of his -diplomatic negotiations, by Gondomar. - -He had already sought an interview with the most esteemed personal -friend of the King’s, Ludowick, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, a kinsman -of the Monarch’s.[396] - -Footnote 396: - - This nobleman died suddenly in 1623, universally respected.—Grainger’s - Peers of James I., chap. ii. - -On this occasion, after many compliments on both sides had been -exchanged, the Duke said very earnestly to the ambassador, “My lord, I -pray deal plainly with me, shall we have a match or no?” To this -inquiry, Gondomar replied that the King did his master great wrong if he -doubted his intention, since he had already gone so far in the business; -“and where,” adds the crafty Spaniard, “would my master in all -Christendom match his daughter to greater advantage, either to a greater -prince, or one who may be more helpful or needful to him, or with whom -he should hold more correspondency than with the heir to the English -crown?” He stated, nevertheless, certain objections: the danger there -would be to the Infanta of incurring the penalties of recusancy, for it -was then death for a priest to say mass in England.[397] Toleration -must, therefore, be one stipulation of the treaty. A million of money -was to be bestowed upon the young princess for her dowry; but before -this was given, a certainty must be obtained that the marriage would -prove a source of amity, instead of disunion. These points being -decided, the treaty would be concluded. The Duke of Lennox, on hearing -these proposals, decided in his own mind that the marriage ought never -to take place, for that it could not stand with the laws and safety of -this kingdom to permit a toleration of religion.[398] - -Footnote 397: - - Life of Bishop Goodman, vol. i., p. 36. - -Footnote 398: - - Life of Bishop Goodman, vol. i., p. 36. - -The journey of the young prince was, meantime, retarded by the -reluctance of the King. James justly considered that continental nations -might impugn his natural affection, as well as his judgment, in -permitting the heir-apparent to quit the kingdom, and to leave his royal -father childless, for Elizabeth of Bohemia had taken refuge in the Dutch -states, and had not then looked to England as her exile. He considered -the danger, writes a contemporary historian, “himself being now aged, if -he should die, what then might befall his children.”[399] How little -could he foresee the extremities to which his princely son, then the -idol of the nation, would be hereafter reduced, owing partly to the -false system and erroneous notions implanted within his mind at this all -important season of his youth. The greatest peril that James feared, was -the journey through France, at that time full of straggling soldiers, -several armies having been recently disbanded. But it was argued by the -eager advocates of the Spanish journey, that in France, although highway -robberies were frequent, banditti in multitudes were rare. The Prince -was to travel with a numerous retinue, he was to keep to the main roads, -and there would be no fear of robbery or violence. Persuaded at length -by these arguments, the King gave way upon a Monday, the seventeenth of -February, 1622-23. He went to Newmarket; “there,” writes Sir Robert -Carey, the Prince’s chamberlain, “the Prince appointed myself and the -rest of his servants to meet him two days after. But the first news we -heard was that the Prince and my Lord Duke were gone to Spain. This made -a great hubbub in our Court, and in all England besides.” - -Footnote 399: - - Goodman. - -It was at first hoped that the Prince had gone anywhere but to Spain, -“but those who so believed,” had, it was said, no ground but -desire.[400] The truth was soon circulated. - -Footnote 400: - - Letter from Mr. Meade to Sir Martin Stuteville.—Ellis’s Letters - Illustrative of English History, vol. iii., 1st series, p. 216. - -There had, it appears, been a formal leave-taking between the Prince and -his father, and this scene was witnessed by the able shipwright, Phineas -Pette. - -Phineas had been in the service of Prince Henry, and had constructed a -small vessel for the amusement of that royal youth, and he was now -permitted to be present at the leave-taking between Charles, or, as his -father styled him, “Babie,” and the King. “At their taking horse,” he -related, “I kissed both their hands, and they only gave me an item to -that I should shortly go to sea in the _Prince_.”[401] - -Footnote 401: - - Nichols, vol. i., p. 807. - -The King, after making some stipulations as to the day of the return of -his precious travellers, parted from them composedly; “he did then,” -says Goodman, “express no passion at all, for he was an excellent master -of his own affections, if you would give him a little respite, and not -take him suddenly. He carried himself as though there were no such thing -intended, and so he took his journey through Kingston and Newmarket.” - -“For want of better matter,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “I send you here -certain verses made upon Jack and Tom’s journey (for the Prince and Lord -Marquis went through Kent under the names of Jack and Tom Smith). They -were fathered at first upon the Prince, but, I hear, were only corrected -and amended by him.”[402] - -Footnote 402: - - Inedited State Papers, Domestic. March 8. 1623. - -“They wore fair riding coats,” he continues, “and false beards, one of -which fell off before they arrived at Gravesend, and caused suspicion.” -Messengers were therefore sent after the fugitives; and they were -overtaken near Sittingbourne, where one of their horses failed; they -were detained at Canterbury, but got away; but were again stopped at -Dover by order of the Privy Council, where they gave some “secret -satisfaction” to the authorities of that port. - -This enterprise, so consistent with Charles’s character, so agreeable to -Buckingham’s high spirits, had not been made known to the Privy Council. - -The King sent a message to them to say it was the Prince’s doing, and -not that of Buckingham; and that the Council was not told of the scheme -because “secrecy was the soul of the business.” The Council was ordered -to “stay,” by a proclamation, the “amazement of the people,” who began -to conclude that the Prince would be married “at a mass.” It appears, -however, without any doubt, that the whole was a plot of James’s; for -the Treasurer of the Household, Lord Brooke, the Chancellor of the -Exchequer, Heriot the jeweller, and others, had been commanded by His -Majesty, when he was at Newmarket, to go to the Tower and select some -fine jewels, suitable to wear in hats, and “the best rope of pearls,” -and some fine jewels, fit for a woman, for His Majesty to choose, which -he will send abroad. They were not all for presents, but some to be lent -to the Prince, and restored on his return home.[403] Buckingham, we hear -from the same authority, took Sir Paul Pindar’s great diamonds, -promising “to talk with him about paying for them.” - -Footnote 403: - - State Papers, vol. cxxxix., No. 16. - -A more detailed account of the commencement of this singular journey -than the preceding may, however, be collected from other services. - -The travellers slept one night at Newhall; on the following day[404] -they were accompanied by Sir Richard Graham, Master of the Marquis’s -Horse, and his own earliest friend, adviser, and confidant.[405] They -set off with a very small retinue, some of which they dismissed at -various places, upon some idle pretence or another, but only to get rid -of them. Thus they proceeded towards Gravesend; but, on crossing the -river, a difficulty occurred. They had no small pieces of silver about -them; and for want of them, were obliged to give the boatman, who rowed -them across, a piece of twenty-two shillings; which, as Sir Henry Wotton -relates, “struck the poor fellow into such melting tenderness, that so -good gentlemen should be going (for so he suspected) about some quarrel -beyond seas,” that he thought it right to acquaint the officers of the -town with his suspicions. A message was instantly despatched to detain -the travellers at Rochester; but they had passed through the city before -it arrived. - -Footnote 404: - - Feb. 18th. - -Footnote 405: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -The peril of discovery had not yet passed. As the Prince and his -companion ascended the hill above Rochester, they beheld, to their great -consternation, the equipage of the French ambassador, attended by one of -the royal carriages, approaching them in state. “This,” says Wotton, -“made them baulk the beaten road, and teach post hackneys to leap -hedges.” “It seemed, however,” says the same writer, “as if a voice had -run before them; for at Canterbury, as they were preparing to take fresh -horses, the Mayor of the town came up, and declared, with very little -ceremony, first, that he had an order from the Privy Council to arrest -them; next, on finding them incredulous, from Sir Lewis Lewkners, Master -of the Ceremonies; and, thirdly, from Sir Richard Mainwaring, then -Lieutenant of Dover Castle.” Buckingham had no leisure “to laugh” at -this occurrence; but, taking off his disguise, he told the Mayor that he -was going “covertly with such slight company,” to take a survey of the -fleet of the narrow seas, which was then in preparation. Thus, this -obstacle was with some difficulty overcome; but the disguise still -puzzled the worthy man in office. The travellers journeyed onwards, but -met with a fresh recognition from the boy who carried their baggage, and -who had been at Court, and had a suspicion who the party were; but it -was not difficult to ensure his silence. Owing to bad horses, and these -hindrances, it was six in the evening before the party reached Dover. - -Here they met the two gentlemen who were alone in their confidence. One -of them was Sir Francis Cottington, who was selected not only for his -intimate knowledge of Prince Charles’s affairs, but from his -acquaintance with the Spanish Court, “where he had,” says Sir Henry -Wotton, “gotten singular credit, even with that cautious nation, by the -temper of his carriage.” He was, indeed, a prudent man, well acquainted -with business, and conversant with Spanish and French. He had been -created a baronet only two days before this journey, his family holding -a respectable rank at Godmanstown, Somersetshire. - -At his first entrance into the world, Cottington had only fulfilled the -post of Gentleman of the Horse to Sir Philip Stafford, Vice-Chamberlain -to Queen Elizabeth; but he was afterwards attached to the embassy in -Spain, and in 1621, was made secretary to Prince Charles. He was -considered to know the politics of the Spanish Court “to a hair.” -Charles, in spite of the jealousy afterwards manifested by Buckingham -towards this gentleman, who had protested strongly against the Spanish -journey, never forgot his early companionship in an undertaking of some -risk. He promoted him in various ways, and, in 1631, created him Baron -Cottington, of Hanworth, and Lord Cottington enjoyed several high -offices, from which he was driven when the troubles began in 1640. -Charles, however, trusted him to the last, and, when his failing cause -detained him at Oxford, made Cottington High Treasurer of his diminished -resources. - -It was the fate of this loyal man to follow the fortunes of Charles -the Second into exile: thus performing, faithfully, two high, but -different functions—the one to attend a youth in the height of power -and prosperity on his chivalric enterprise; the other to solace -privation, and to console the young and wandering exile under his -difficulties.[406] - -Footnote 406: - - Nichols, iv., p. 806. - -The other chosen attendant was Endymion Porter, who had been bred up in -Spain from a boy, and was familiar with the language. From Spain he was -taken into the service of Edward Villiers, was brought to England, and -introduced before the time when Buckingham or his family was acceptable -at Whitehall. - -These five persons composed, in the first instance, the whole of the -party, Porter fulfilling the office of Bedchamber-man to the -Prince.[407] - -Footnote 407: - - Porter, as it appears by a letter in the State Paper Office, addressed - by him to his wife, was at this time a married man, and his wife, - Olivia Porter, was a relation of the Marchioness of Buckingham. - -For some time after the departure of the Prince, no precise news of his -movement was received at Court. - -“We have little certainty of the Prince’s journey since his going -hence,” writes Mr. Chamberlain, “but only that they landed at Boulogne -the Wednesday, and rode three posts that night. On Friday they came to -Paris, very weary, and, resting there on Saturday, went away early on -Sunday morning. Some gave out that during their abode there, they saw -the King[408] at supper, and the Queen[409] practising a ball, with -divers other ladies. Which, though it be somewhat confidentially -affirmed, yet I think it not probable, by reason it was their first -Saturday in Lent. We have had since many rumours that they were stayed, -but now they say a post should come yesternight, with news that they are -past Bayonne, and that my Lords Digby and Gondomar, with I know not how -many litters and coaches, were ready at the frontiers to receive them, -which sounds as unlikely as most of the rest. Sir Edward Herbert, our -ambassador, knew nothing of their being at Paris till the Lord of -Carlisle’s coming. All in a manner agree that either the French King had -notice of it before their arrival, or time enough to have detained him, -had he been so disposed. Divers of their servants and followers are gone -after them by land, and more preparing to go by sea.” - -Footnote 408: - - Louis XIII. - -Footnote 409: - - Anne of Austria. - -It appeared afterwards that the passage to Boulogne was stormy, -nevertheless, the Prince and his followers landed there two hours after, -in the afternoon of the nineteenth of February. They reached Montreuil -on the same night, “like men of dispatch,” and Paris on the second day -afterwards. - -Up to this time they escaped detection; although, three posts before -they entered Paris, they encountered some German gentlemen, whom they -had met at Newmarket, who suspected that the disguised and hurried -travellers were no less important personages than the Prince and the -Favourite; but these Germans were “outfaced by Sir Richard Graham, who -would needs persuade them that they were mistaken.”[410] - -Footnote 410: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -At Paris the travellers passed one day only; but that day was the -forerunner of signal events, and pregnant with important consequence, -both to Buckingham and to his royal charge. - -Meantime, King James, in spite of his fears at home, was madly jealous -of any surmise respecting Spain, or the Catholic religion. - -On the Sunday after the Prince’s departure, we are told by Mr. -Chamberlain, “that all the Council about the town came to Paul’s Cross, -when it was expected somewhat would have been said; but the preacher had -his lesson in _hæc verba_, only to pray for the Prince’s prosperous -journey and safe return, and the next day the Bishop, convening all his -clergy, gave them the same charge; but some of them had anticipated the -commandment and proceeded further, whereof one desired God to be -merciful unto him now that he was going to the House of Rimmon.” But all -were not so careful; old Dr White, Prebend of St. Paul’s, was dismissed -for praying that the King and Prince might be preserved from any that -should “go about to withdraw them from their first love, and natural -religion.” This was interpreted as a sort of libel.[411] - -Footnote 411: - - Inedited Letter in the State Paper Office, from Mr. Chamberlain to Sir - D. Carleton, 1623. - -And now Buckingham was, for the second time, in the great centre of all -civilization. Paris was probably unchanged; but few persons who had -known the Court of France in the days of the great Henry could have -recognized it during the weak rule of his successor. Henry IV., adding -another instance in corroboration of the remark, that during five -hundred years not one of the French monarchs had attained the age of -sixty, had now been dead twelve years.[412] To that manly and powerful -monarch, bred up in the house of a peasant, his iron nerves braced by -hazards almost incredible; his courage proved in battles a hundred and -twenty-five in number; his hardihood so great that for two years he was -never seen unbooted; being perpetually in the exercise of war and -hunting—to this hero, as prudent and sagacious as he was brave, had -succeeded a dull and heavy boy, slow in speech, yet quick to avenge, on -any of his young companions, petty or imagined slights. Timid and even -dastardly by nature, the early pusillanimity of Louis the Thirteenth had -attracted the notice of his father. “Faut-il donc que je sois père d’un -poltron!” was the involuntary exclamation of Henry of Navarre. Such was, -however, his successor, who had, in truth, far more of his mother’s -disposition than of his father’s frank and princely nature. He had the -Medicean fierceness and imperiousness of character, coupled with an -abject spirit, which was fostered, whilst cramped, by the potent -dominion of his mother over his mind.[413] - -Footnote 412: - - He was killed on May 10th, 1610.—See Sir George Carew’s Relation of - the State of France under Henry IV., in Birch’s Negotiations, p. 481. - -Footnote 413: - - Birch’s Negotiations, p. 492. - -Marie de Medici, the queen-mother, had obtained the highest reputation -for sanctity, charity, and prudence. Of her beauty, those charms which -could rival the attractions of the famed Gabrielle d’Estrées, the -chroniclers of the day speak loudly. In the affections of her royal -husband she had, however, suffered, not so much from the influence of -her rival’s comeliness, as from the wit and vivacity of Gabrielle’s -conversation. Like her son, Marie de Medici was slow in speech, and the -French accounted her dull and uninteresting; but, for the “main grounds -of attending to her profit or her power,” she was, writes an eye-witness -of her career for four years,[414] “provident enough, and her commanding -and high spirit, caused her to be obeyed in all in which she was -permitted to meddle.”[415] And the event justified this opinion. Her -daughter-in-law, Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip the Third of Spain, -had been several years the wife of Louis the Thirteenth, when Charles -and Buckingham saw her in all the perfection of her youthful loveliness -at Paris. Born in the year 1602, Anne must have been at this time in her -twenty-second year. She is described as having been, at the age of -fifteen, when (having been married the year previously by proxy) she was -first introduced to her royal consort, singularly attractive. An ancient -lady of the court drew a lively picture of her appearance to Madame de -Motteville. “The first time that she saw the Queen,” said that -chronicler of other days, “she was seated upon cushions, after the -Spanish fashion, surrounded by a number of ladies; she was dressed in -green satin, embroidered with gold and silver; her sleeves hanging, but -caught up on the arm with immense diamonds, serving as buttons. She had -on a close ruff; and on her head a small hat, of the same colour as her -gown, from which hung a plume of Heron’s feathers, adding, by their dark -hue, to the beauty of her hair, which was extremely light, and frizzed -in large curls.”[416] Such, in early youth, was the appearance of that -Princess whose attractions proved eventually a source of peril and -discredit to Buckingham. Her portraits give us no idea of a beauty so -commanding as that which is implied by the extraordinary influence of -her attractions; but it is probable that, like that of most Spanish -women, it faded prematurely, and that her great charm consisted in the -gaiety of her temper; in her sweetness and generosity of character; and -in a certain sentimental turn of gallantry, which she conceived not to -be incompatible with female virtue. At the period of Charles’s first -visit to Paris, Marie de Medici still ruled paramount over the weak -character of her son. It had been her aim, even before the death of -Henry the Fourth, to win the cold affections of her only offspring, as -well as those of the son of her rival, the Marquis de Verneuil, to -herself. At the time when Anne of Austria, a child, gave her hand to -Louis, a child also—for their ages tallied—there was an evident -disposition on the part of the former to attach herself to the partner -to whom the decree of state policy had joined her compulsorily. She felt -no disgust at his appearance, for, though greatly inferior to the Duc de -Vendome and the Marquis de Verneuil in manly beauty, the young King was -tall and well-formed; and the darkness of his countenance was no -disparagement in the eyes of a Princess who had been accustomed to the -rich tint of Moorish and Spanish complexions.[417] Upon the death of the -Duc de Luisnes, the favourite of Louis, in 1621, Marie de Medici was -left with no other rival in her maternal influence over her son, than -his young wife. By a fatality such as too often attends royal marriages, -it was henceforth decreed that the young couple were not to love each -other. Anne, it appears plainly from her own confession, might have done -so, had she been left to herself;[418] and the young King, it was also -alleged, admired the beauty of his wife and respected her amiable -qualities; but it was not the policy of Marie de Medici, nor afterwards -that of Cardinal de Richelieu, that these natural affections should have -their course. The King was known to avow to a confidant, that whilst he -was attracted to his wife, he dared not avow it either to his mother or -to Richelieu, whose counsels and services, he added, were of far more -importance to him than the affection of his wife.[419] - -Footnote 414: - - Sir George Carew. - -Footnote 415: - - Birch’s Negotiations. - -Footnote 416: - - Memoirs of Madame de Motteville, vol. i., p. 8. - -Footnote 417: - - Madame de Motteville. - -Footnote 418: - - Ibid, p. 8. - -Footnote 419: - - Madame de Motteville, p. 32. - -Such was the state of domestic affairs at the court of Louis, when the -Prince and Buckingham beheld, for the first time, those who were -destined to awaken in the one an honourable and enduring attachment, in -the other a mad and criminal passion. - -They still maintained their disguise, nor was it difficult, for, as Sir -Henry Wotton observes, “the impossibility to conceive so great a Prince -and favourite suddenly metamorphosed into travellers, with no greater -train, was enough to make any man living unbelieve his five senses.” In -order to add to their disguise, Buckingham bought periwigs, to -overshadow their foreheads; and thus provided, they spent a day in -viewing the city and the court, which Buckingham had visited before, -when in training for his courtier destiny, but which to Charles was an -object of novel and peculiar interest, France being “neighbour to his -future estates.”[420] - -Footnote 420: - - Madame de Motteville, p. 32. - -Fortune favoured their curiosity. From a gallery in the royal palace, -they were so favoured as to see the King, solacing himself with familiar -pleasures; the queen-mother, at her own table; nor were they discovered -even by Monsieur de Cadenat, who had so lately visited England as -ambassador, and who must well have known their features. Towards the -evening, by an apparent chance, though, as Sir Henry Wotton observes, -“underlined with a Providence,” the travellers had a full view of the -young queen, and of Henrietta Maria, the future queen of England. These -princesses were, with the ladies of the Court, practising a dance and -masque, but the diversion appears to have been held in private. The -travellers, however, hearing two gentlemen talk of going to witness it, -pressed in after them, and were admitted by the Duc de Montbazon, the -Queen’s Chamberlain, from courtesy to strangers, when, at the same time, -many of the French, who wished to be spectators, were rejected. “Note -here,” observes Wotton, “even with the point of a diamond, by what -oblique steps and imaginable preparatives the High Disposer of princes’ -affections doth sometimes conceive the secrets of his will.” It was -afterwards found that the young face which Vandyck has so often depicted -on his canvas, surrounded as it was by maturer beauties, made an -impression upon the imagination of Charles which only required certain -circumstances to be heightened into love.[421] - -Footnote 421: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -Anne of Austria, nevertheless, bore away the palm in the eyes of -Buckingham, and even of his princely charge. Whilst they remained at -Paris, the King wrote to them to the following effect:— - -“Sweett boyes: the newes of youre going is allreaddie so blowin abroade -as I am forced for youre safetie to poste this bearare after you who -will give you his best advyce and attendance in youre journey. God -blesse youe both, my sweete babes, and sende you a safe and happye -returne. - - “JAMES.”[422] - -Footnote 422: - - Harleian MSS., 6987. - -On their part, the travellers thus wrote:— - -“SIR, - -“Since the closing of our last, we have been at Court againe (and, that -we might not nowe hold you in paine, we assure you that we have not been -knowen), where we saw the young queene, littell Monsieure and Madame, at -her practising of a maske that is intended by the Queene to be presented -to the Kinge, and in it there danced the Queene and Madame, with as -mannie as made up nineteen faire dancing ladies, amongst which the -Queene is the handsomest, which hath wrought in me a great desire to see -her sister. So, in haste, going to bed, we humblie take our leaves, and -rest - - “Your Majestie’s most humble and obedient - “sone and servant, - “CHARLES; - “and your humble slave and doge, - “STEENIE.” - -On the following day, February the twenty-third, the Prince and -Buckingham left Paris at the early hour of three, and proceeded -towards Bayonne. Their journey, meantime, had become the theme of -conversation in England, and even on the day on which the Prince set -sail, it was the theme of general discussion;[423] yet, abroad, so -slowly did tidings travel in those days, they were still able to -preserve their incognito. - -Footnote 423: - - Nichols, vol. iv., p. 809, note. - -At Bordeaux, however, they nearly revealed their secret. Tired, -probably, of their peasant suits, they bought fine riding coats, -“all of one colour and of a noble simplicity,” and the proud -demeanour of Buckingham, and the high-bred grace of the Prince, -could no longer be concealed. - -They were invited by the Duc d’Epernon to be his guests, and -Cottington was employed to refuse the invitation, so as to avoid -exciting suspicion. He was therefore obliged to tell the Duke that -he and his party were “gentlemen of mean degree, and formed to -little courtship,” and the excuse was received; otherwise, the Duke, -being, as Sir Henry Wotton observes, “no superficial man in the -practices of the world, might have pierced somewhat deeper than -their outsides.”[424] - -Footnote 424: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 216. - -The season of Lent was now advanced, and the travellers could obtain -no meat in the inns. Sir Henry Wotton relates an anecdote, which, as -he remarks, is characteristic of the Prince, who is the chief hero -of the little incident. - -“There was, near Bayonne, a herd of goats with their young ones, -upon which sight, Sir Robert Graham tells the Marquis he would snap -up one of the kids, and make some shift to carry him close to their -lodging; which, the Prince overhearing, ‘Why, Richard,’ says he, ‘do -you think you may practise here your old tricks again upon the -border?’ Upon which words, they first give the goatherd good -contentment, and then, while the Marquis and his servant (being set -on foot) were chasing the kid about the stack, the Prince, from -horseback, killed him in the head with a Scottish pistol.”[425] - -Footnote 425: - - Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. - -The lofty bearing of Buckingham, and courteous demeanour of Charles, -were not unnoticed by the Count de Grammont, the Governor of -Bayonne, that “jealous key,” as Sir Henry Wotton terms it, of -France. He perceived that they were gentlemen of much more -consequence and higher station than their dress implied; -nevertheless, he permitted them, courteously, to pass forward. - -Philip IV., at whose court they were soon to present themselves, was -now only in his nineteenth year. Like his weak father, he had thrown -the reins of government, soon after his accession,[426] into the -hands of an unworthy favourite. The Condé de Olivares, who had been -a gentleman of the bed-chamber to Philip, when the Prince of -Asturias was the haughty ruler over the destinies of the Spanish -nation. Corrupt, yet able, he is stated to have increased the -revenues of the crown, and, so far, to have served his sovereign by -several severe but salutary measures. Having, however, acquired some -credit for these reforms, he gave loose to his own rapacity, whilst -he checked that of others. He even surpassed his predecessors in -acts of corruption; his heart was depraved; his selfish ambition -boundless; and his private character was suspected, not without just -cause, to have been stained with the darkest crimes.[427] Such was -the minister to whom Charles and Buckingham were now to bend, as -suppliants and suitors; for Philip,[428] imbecile and indifferent, -and plunged into degrading vices, was wholly a cipher in the profuse -and stately Court over which he was the nominal ruler. - -Footnote 426: - - In 1621. - -Footnote 427: - - History of Spain and Portugal.—Cabinet Cyclopædia, vol. i., pp. - 91, 92. - -Footnote 428: - - Of his illegitimate children, the most famous was the celebrated - Don Juan, surnamed of Austria, believed to be the son of an - actress of Madrid. “On this son the choicest favours of the crown - were conferred.”—Ibid, 99. - -Throughout the rest of the journey, the travellers did not pass -entirely unknown; but were, as a writer of the day informs us, -“offered great honour, would they have yielded to have been -publickly known,” or in case of their return by the same route. - -The Lords Andover and Kensington had gone twelve days previously in -the same direction; and, in short, about two hundred nobles and -gentlemen had set sail at Portsmouth, intending to land at St. -Sebastian’s, and to ride overland to Madrid.[429] Meantime, the King -desired his clergy not to “prejudicate the Prince’s journey, either -in their sermons or prayers; but yet to pray to God to preserve him -in his journey, and grant him a safe return to us”—not in more, he -ordered, “nor in any other words than those.”[430] - -Footnote 429: - - Ellis’s Letters, vol. iii., p. 132, 1st series. - -Footnote 430: - - Ibid, 124. - -The appearance of these two adventurous travellers at Madrid was far -from agreeable to Lord Digby, who would have prevented it if he had -had the power. One consideration in the mind of that ambassador was -a fear lest the arrival of the lavish favourite should increase the -pecuniary difficulties in which he was himself involved. Twenty -thousand pounds had been allowed for his embassage, but that sum was -already exceeded by some thousands.[431] James chose to say that -much expense would be saved by the Lord Admiral’s dexterous -management, but Bristol answered, “Not one penny.” All, the -ambassador declared, should be done for his royal master’s honour, -but everything was to go on privately until the Papal dispensation -should arrive. Even at this early period, the journey of the Infanta -to England was discussed. By land it would, it was thought, be “very -chargeable,” and extraordinary inconvenient. The Spaniards, too,” as -the Earl stated, “thought the portion demanded by the English very -exorbitant, and only to be expected had the Infanta been either -deformed or of mean birth.”[432] - -Footnote 431: - - Letter from the Earl of Bristol to King James. Madrid, Feb. 22, - 1623-4.—State Papers, Foreign. - -Footnote 432: - - Letters from the Earl of Bristol to King James. Madrid, Feb. 22, - 1623-4. Inedited State Papers. - -In the midst of these negotiations, the ill-timed arrival of the -Prince and Buckingham came, not to obviate obstacles, but to -multiply them. Digby, now Earl of Bristol, whose jealousy of -Buckingham may be detected throughout all his correspondence, was -greatly discomposed by their appearance at Madrid. Nor was this a -sentiment confined to Digby. Howell, who perfectly understood -Spanish affairs, observes in his letters:— - -“And others were of the same opinion as the ambassador, namely, that -the journey was ill-advised, hazardous, undisguised, and unpopular.” - -The King, however, was still delighted with the momentous frolic. On -the twenty-sixth of February he wrote from Newmarket, telling the -Prince and Marquis what lords were to follow them to Spain. “Their -poor old dade,” he added, “was lamer than ever he was, both of his -right hand and foot and wryttes all this out of his naked -bedde.”[433] The King having, in fact, encountered a very serious -accident during the previous year, his health was daily becoming -more feeble. It is, therefore, almost touching to find the -kind-hearted, weak Monarch, prematurely aged as he was, entering -most heartily into all that concerned his two absent treasures, of -whose enjoyment he thought, it is obvious, far more than the welfare -of his subjects. The Prince had left instructions that sixteen of -his suite should follow him, with his jewels and other articles. The -King, however, complains in his letter that the “imperfect note my -babie had left” put him into a great deal of pain, “for ye left,” he -says, “some necessary servants out, in the opinion of all your -principal officers, and ye ken, as I was forced to add those, then -everie man ranne upon me for his freende, so I was torn in peecis -amongst thamme. I have no more to saye,” he thus concludes, “but -that I weare Steenie’s picture in a blew ribben under my wastcoate, -next my hearte.”[434] - -Footnote 433: - - Nichols, 811. - -Footnote 434: - - Harl. MSS., 389. Quoted in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. - 808. - -The following letter gives a characteristic account of the Prince -and Steenie:— - -“DEAR DAD AND GOSSOPE, - - “On Friday last (March seventh) wee arrived here at five -o’clock at night, both in perfect helth. The caus whie wee -advertised you of it no soner, was that wee knew you would be glad -to hear as well of the maner of oure reception as of oure arrivall. -First, wee resolved to discover the woer,[435] becaus upon the -speedie opening of the ports we fond (found) posts making such hast -after us, that we knew it would be discovered within twelve hours -after, and better wee had the thanke of it then a postillion. The -next morning wee sent for Gondamar, who went presentlie to the Condé -of Olivares, and as speedilie gott me your (Doge Steenie) a private -audience of the Kinge. - -Footnote 435: - - To throw off Charles’s disguise. - -“When I was to returne backe to my lodging, the Condé of Olivares, -himself alone, would needs accompanie me backe againe to salute the -Prince in the King’s name. - -“The next day (March 9, Sunday, O.S.) wee had a private visit of the -Kinge, the Queene, the Infanta, Don Carolus, and the Cardinal, in -sight of all the world; and I may caule it a private obligation, -hidden from nobodie, for there was the Pope’s Nuntio, the Emperor’s -Imbassador, the French, and alle the streets fild with gards and -other people. Before the King’s coch went the best of his -nobilities; after followed all the Ladies of the Court. Wee sate in -an invisible coch, becaus nobodie was suffered to take notice of it, -though seen by all the world. In this forme they passed three times -by us, but before wee could get away, the Condé of Olivares came -into our coch, and convaied us home, where he tould us the King -longd and died for want of a nere sight of our woer. First he took -me in his coch to goe to the Kinge. We found him walking in the -streets with his cloke throne over his face, and a sword and buckler -by his side. He leped into the coch, and away he came to find the -woer in another place appoynted, where there past much kindnes and -compliment one to another. You may judge by this how sensible the -Kinge is of your sone’s journie, and if wee can eyther judge by -outward shoes (shows) or generall speeches, we have reason to -condeme your Imbassadors for righting tow (writing too) sparinglie -then tow much. - -“To conclude, we finde the Condé of Olivares so overvaluing of our -journie, that he is so full of reall courtesie that we can doe no -less than beseech your Majestie to right the kindest letter of -thanks and acknowledgement you can unto him. - -“He said no later unto us than this morning, that if the Pope would -not give a dispensation for a wife, they would give the Infanta to -the (thy) son’s Babie as his wench, and has this day righten -(written) to the Cardinall Ludovicio, then Pope’s nephew, that the -Kinge of England hath put such an obligation upon this Kinge in -sending his Sone hether that he intreats him to make hast of the -dispensation, for he can denie him nothing that is in his kingdome. -We must hould you thus much longer to tell you the Pope’s Nuntio -works as maliciouslie and as activelie as he can against us, but -reseves such rude answers that we hoep he will soon werie on’t. - -“Wee make this collection of it, that the Pope will be verie loth to -grant a dispensation, which if he will not doe, then wee would -gladlie have your directions how fare wee may ingage you in the -acknowledgement of the Pope’s spirituall power, for we allmost find, -if you will be contented to acknowledge the Pope’s cheefe Hed under -Christ, that the mach will be made without him. So craving your -blessing, wee rest - -“Your Ma’ties humble, obedient sone and servant, - - ”CHARLES. - -“Madrill, the 10th of March, 1623. - - “Your humble slave and doge, - - “STEENIE. - -“For the best of Fathers and Masters.” - -On another sheet, written at the same time, but signed by “Steenie” -alone, and perhaps written without the Prince’s knowledge, he -says:—“The cheefest advertisment of all wee omitted in oure other -letter, which was to let you know how we like your daughter, his -wife, and my ladie mistris. Without flatterie, I think there is not -a sweeter creature in the world. Babie Charles himself is so touched -at the hart, that he confesses all he ever yett saw is nothinge to -her.” - -The King, in his answer to this letter, dated March twenty-fifth, -says:—“I have written a letre to the Condé d’Olivares, as both of -you desired me, as full of thankes and kyndnes as can be desyred, as -indeed he well deserves.“ - -“I know not,” says the King, in reply, “quhat ye meane by my -acknowledging the Pope’s spirituall supremacie. I am sure ye wolde -not have me to renounce my religion for all the world; but all I can -guess at your meaning is, that it may be ye have an allusion to a -passage in my booke against Bellarmine, quhaire I offer, if the Pope -wold guyte his godheade, and usurping over Kings, to acknowledge him -for the Cheefe Bishoppe, to whom all appeals of churchmen ought to -lye _en dernier ressort_; the verie wordes I sende you heere -inclosed, and that is the furthest my conscience will permit me to -goe upon this pointe, for I am not a Monsieur, quho can shifte his -religion as easilie as he can shifte his shirte quhen he commeth -from tennice.” - -The passage in his hook, which the King fancied Buckingham might -allude to (though he more probably had never read it), is thus -written, in the King’s own hand, on a separate slip of paper: “And -for myselfe, if that were yett the question, I wolde with all my -hairte give my consent that the Bishoppe of Rome showlde have the -first seate. I, being a Western king, wolde go with the Patriarche -of the West. And for his temporall principalities over the -seignorie of Rome, I do not quenell it nether, lett him in God’s -name be primus Episcopus inter omnes Episcopos et Princeps -Episcoporum, so it be no other wayes but as St. Peter was -_Princeps Apostolorum_.”[436] - -Footnote 436: - - Harleian MSS., 6987.—Printed at length in Nichols. - -To these letters, Endymion Porter added an account in a letter to -his wife, that the Prince and Duke were “most handsomely received. -The King, Queen, and Infanta,” he adds, “drove out yesterday[437] in -a coach, when the Prince, in another coach, saw his mistress, and -was much stricken with her beauty.”[438] - -Footnote 437: - - March 10, 1622-23. - -Footnote 438: - - State Papers. - -It was soon found necessary to retrench the numbers that were to go -to Spain, that the ships “might not be pestered;” no lord was to -have had more than four men, no gentleman more than two. Even this -seems to us rather a full complement in the present day; but, when -it is remembered what an extraordinary number of jewels were worn in -the dresses of that day, it will not appear too many to take care of -the valuables conveyed by each peer, or to maintain the dignity and -state so much insisted on at that period. - -Amongst other personages who followed Charles, or, as he was called -in Spain, “the wooer to the Spanish Court,” was Archy, King James’s -fool, who must needs also have his attendant, which was at first -refused, but afterwards allowed. By April, the Prince’s household, -jewels, apparel, and the robes for St. George’s Day, were gone; -tilting armour, caparisons, and horses, asked for by Charles and -Buckingham, were also to follow. “The dispensation,” Conway wrote, -from Spain, to Sir Thomas Wentworth, “will soon be there, and -nothing but either the desperately envious, or vile almanack-makers, -arguing from conjunction of planets, now talk of delay.” - -It is curious to remark how eager those about the Court, and above -all, those dependant on Buckingham, were for the marriage, and how -little it was wished for by the majority of the people. - -Ten ships were to set out in April, to bring back by the end of May -their rich charge; such were the expectations cherished in England. -Digby, a sceptical looker on, did not think that the match would be -advanced by the Prince’s arrival; whilst at home, difficulties arose -as to the condition of the ten ships intended to be sent with the -horses; the _Prince Royal_, built for Prince Henry, was found to be -in so damaged a state that she was not sea-worthy; this vessel was -repaired, in order to bring back Buckingham, who was expected home -before the Prince, and was victualled for the voyage to Spain; but -the King, with characteristic calculation, expected that the “King -of Spain, who so magnificently feasted the Prince, would surely give -the ships fresh victuals for their homeward journey,” which action, -however, seems never to have occurred to his Spanish Majesty.[439] -Lord Carey, chamberlain to the Prince, received a commission to -execute martial law, during the voyage to Spain, over the Prince’s -household, but his powers were not to extend to the captains or to -the crew, nor to be exercised till the vessel was out at sea. No sad -apprehensions were, however, to be allowed during Charles’s absence; -“where philosophy fails,” wrote Sir Thomas Edmondes,[440] “faith -must begin.” All things had been prepared for the Infanta’s -departure from her native country, and June was the latest month -stated for her arrival in this, but still the Earl of Bristol, -whilst protesting that the Spaniards would be the most perfidious -wretches alive if they did not restore the Palatinate, for “they say -that they would rather throw the Infanta into the sea, than marry -her to our Prince, when his sister and her children are deprived of -their patrimony,” still, he feared there was “mischief brewing” -about the Electorship. - -Footnote 439: - - State Paper Office, vol. cxliii., No. 41. - -Footnote 440: - - From London. March 18. - -Meantime, all was gay, all was gracious, at Madrid. According to a -more detailed account than their own, the Prince and Buckingham rode -into that city about eight o’clock in the evening of the seventh of -March, attended by a postilion only, having previously ridden post -three days; they alighted at the house of the Earl of Bristol, -Buckingham entering first, with a portmanteau under his arm, -announcing himself as “Mr. Thomas Smith;” then “Mr. John Smith” (the -Prince), was sent for; he had remained standing on the other side of -the street. Lord Bristol, in amazement, took the prince to his -bedroom, where Charles called for pen and ink, and despatched a -letter to England, to inform His Majesty how, after a journey of -sixteen days, he had reached Madrid in safety. The next day, -Endymion Porter and Sir Francis Cottington, who had been purposely -left half a day’s journey behind, came also; and it was soon -rumoured that some great man was come from England, and reports were -even circulated that it was the King.[441] The Condé de Gondomar -was, however, soon apprised of the truth. He hastened to present -himself to the Prince, and, falling flat on his face, the artful -Spaniard exclaimed “_Nunc dimittis!_” as if the climax of human -felicity had come to pass. The next day was Sunday, and, since the -forms of the Spanish Court did not admit of an immediate -presentation, it was agreed that the first meeting should take place -by a kind of premeditated chance, so to speak—the Prince retaining -his disguise. Charles, with the ardour of a young and romantic man, -had entreated Gondomar to procure him an immediate “sight of the -Infanta,” which the Condé promised to do; reminding the Prince that -it was Lent, which was, of course, an obstacle to a public -reception. The King afterwards promised Charles that though it were -Lent, it should not be “Lent to him;” and that he should have all he -would, and all that the country should afford.”[442] In the evening -of Saturday, Buckingham went in a close coach to Court, where he had -a private audience of King Philip, and also of the Condé Olivares, -who accompanied him back to the Prince, whose hand he kissed, -kneeling, clasping his arms also round Charles’s legs. Endymion -Porter was the interpreter, on this occasion, between the Prince and -Olivares.[443] - -Footnote 441: - - Howell’s Letters, p. 116. - -Footnote 442: - - The account of the Prince’s reception in Spain is chiefly taken - from “A True Relation and Journal of the Arrival and Entertainment - given to the High and Mighty Prince Charles, by the King of - Spain.”—Printed in Nichols’s Progresses, vol. iii., p. 818. - -Footnote 443: - - Howell. - -On Sunday afternoon, Charles, for the first time, saw the young -Princess towards whom he afterwards played so unworthy a part. It -was in the park of Madrid. The Infanta was seated in the boot of the -carriage, with a blue ribbon round her arm, in order that the Prince -might distinguish her. A grand _cortége_, composed of the chief -nobility of that proud Court, followed the royal carriages. Charles, -disguised, with Buckingham by his side, Gondomar and Sir Walter -Aston being in the same carriage, went in the Duke de Cea’s coach. -It had been settled that no recognition should take place. The -Infanta, as her royal suitor passed her, could not conceal her -agitation; the colour came into her face; neither could her brother -and Charles help exchanging salutations, as they drove repeatedly -past each other, both in the town and Prado. Evening drew on, and -the King and the royal party returned home by torch-light, the -effect of which was magnificent. - -Still, it was thought due to the observance of Lent, as well as -agreeable to etiquette, that private interviews only should take -place, especially before Charles had made his public entrance. That -same evening, therefore, the King, after many punctilios, in which -the soul of Spanish honour and politeness was displayed, met the -Prince again in the park, taking him into his own coach, and placing -him at his right hand. On parting, there was an embarrassing -ceremonial—the King insisting on conducting Charles back to his -carriage, Charles not suffering it. So they parted midway on the -road. - -Charles’s days passed, indeed, in a manner peculiarly agreeable to -one of his disposition. On one occasion, having first seen the King -ride through the streets on horseback to a monastery called La -Merced, where the King had rooms furnished for occasional residence, -he went afterwards to take the air by the fields on the river’s -side; another day, he repaired to the palace, and was conducted by -Olivares through the back way. “Your babie,” Buckingham wrote to the -King, “desired to kiss his (the King’s) hands privatelie in the -pallace, which was granted him, and thus performed. First, the King -would not suffer him to come to his chamber, but met him at the -stare-foote; then entered in the coch, and walked into the parke. -The greatest matter that passed between us at that time was -complements and particular questions of all our journaie; then, by -force, he would needs convaie him half way home; in doing which they -were almost overthrone in brick pits.”[444] - -Footnote 444: - - Note from Harl. MSS., 6987.—Nichols, p. 823. - -Many were the resources to which Charles turned for relaxation -during this interval of expectation. His mornings were spent in his -private affairs, among which we may reckon the cultivation of his -taste for pictures; in the afternoon, accompanied by his beloved -Steenie, he went forth into the fields, where Bristol attended on -him with his hawks; or he visited a country house of the King’s, -called Caso del Campo, where, meeting Philip and his brothers, Don -Carlos and Don Fernando the Cardinal, they diverted themselves by -watching “men placed there to shoot at such kinds of game as were -found in the place;” hares were started, partridges sprang up, and -other fowl, all of which were killed, after the custom of that day, -as they went running or flying by the marksmen. Sometimes the King, -with the old Spanish courtesy, sent the Prince two horses, desiring -him to choose the best for himself, and to leave him the worst to -ride out on; then Charles would order the steeds to be exercised in -a garden near the Earl of Bristol’s house, and, not to be outdone in -politeness, he would himself try them both, and send the best back -for the King’s use. - -At length the day arrived when Charles made his solemn entry into -Madrid, under circumstances of interest which almost superseded even -the imposing magnificence of the ceremonial. On the sixteenth of -March, he received the Inquisitor General, and all the different -Councils of the kingdom—the Corregidores and the Regidores of -Madrid—at the Monastery of San Geronimo, whence the Kings of Spain -always make their public entrance. These public functionaries -endeavoured, on being presented to the Prince, to kiss his hand, but -Charles resisted this demonstration, considering that it was due -only to the lawful sovereign of the realm. - -The magnificence of the procession that ensued owed much of its -picturesque beauty to its being on horseback. As they approached the -immediate precincts of Madrid—Charles riding on the right of -Philip—they were met by four and twenty Legidores of the town—whose -office it was to carry over the King’s head a canopy of tissue, -lined with crimson cloth of gold. The King then took the Prince -under the canopy, still keeping him on his right hand; before them -rode the Ministers of Justice, next the grandees, sumptuously clad, -for it is an old saying, that no one dresses so plainly every day, -nor so gorgeously on occasions, as the Spaniards.[445] Their -picturesque costumes, their grave and stately bearing, their gallant -steeds—so famed throughout Europe—must have made this band of nobles -one of the fairest spectacles of the time. - -Footnote 445: - - Howell’s Letters. - -They were apparelled, as the chronicler expresses it, “in colours -and great bravery,” their servants, in rich liveries, attending. - -After the King and Prince came Buckingham and Olivares, in their -respective offices of Master of the Horse, each of them with a horse -of state, as the ensign of the place he enjoyed. The canopy held -over these two favourites and ministers was afterwards presented to -Buckingham, as well as all other fees belonging to the Master of the -Horse—because he served that day the Prince in whose honour the -procession took place. Then came Lord Bristol, Sir Walter Aston, and -the Council of State, with the gentlemen of the King’s bedchamber; -and a part of that “goodly guard,” called “de los archeros, bravely -clad and arrayed.” - -This unrivalled procession passed along through streets hung here -and there with rich draperies, or adorned with curious pictures, and -“sprinkled” with scaffoldings, on which stood the chief magistrates -of Madrid; in some streets, also, there were dancers, comedians, and -musicians, to amuse the royal pair as they rode gracefully onwards. -At length, the King and Charles reached the palace, where some time -was consumed by ancient ceremonials, each contending for the -hindmost place; but, “in fine,” writes the chronicler, “they went -hand-in-hand, or rather, with their arms round each other, until -they came into the presence of the Queen.” - -Her Majesty was seated under a cloth of state, at the extremity of a -large room, where the chairs were placed. This apartment was -superbly furnished; but the chief riches, it is said, consisted in -that “living tapestry of ladies, and of the children of noblemen who -stood near the walls.” The Queen, not awaiting the approach of -Charles, went forward to welcome him; he was then conducted to the -apartments destined for him, the Queen herself, with the King, -seeing him to the very doors, where her royal brothers-in-law stood -to receive him. There was then a courteous dispute, the Prince -wishing to attend His Majesty back to his own part of the palace; -Philip insisting that Charles should only make one step in that -direction. Scarcely an hour had elapsed, before a great basin of -massive gold, carried by two men, and containing an embroidered -nightgown, laid double in it, was brought—a present from the Queen -to Charles; besides which, she sent him two large trunks, bound in -hands of pure gold, and thickly stuck with gold nails—with a gold -lock and key; the coverings of the trunks were of amber leather, -whilst their contents consisted of curious linens and perfumes. In -addition to these, there was also presented a rich desk, every -drawer of which was full of rarities; Buckingham, at the same time, -receiving a “noble present” from the Condessa Olivares. That night -the old town was illuminated both with torches and fireworks, which -were kept up for eight days. - -Such was the commencement of Charles’s residence in Spain. It was -decreed that he should be attended only by nobles, and served and -addressed as a King; The Condé de Gondomar and the Condé de Plueba -were to act as Majordomos; the Condé de Monterey, brother-in-law of -Olivares, was to be his chief Majordomo. The most delicate attention -of all was, however, the King’s giving two gilt keys to the Prince, -requesting him to present one of them to those of his attendants -whom he most preferred, in order that the whole of the palace might -be open to him or his retinue. The keys were, of course, given to -Buckingham and Bristol. - -Whilst such delicate hospitality was being manifested in Spain, -James, at home, was collecting all the jewels he could with any -propriety send, and some which he had no right to give away, to add -to the grandeur of Babie and Steenie. His letter, on this occasion, -is most characteristic of his infatuation for the Spanish match, and -of his easy conscience on matters connected with religion.[446] - -Footnote 446: - - Nichols, 832, note. - -He writes thus:— - -“MY SWEETE BOYES, - -“I wrytte nou this sevint (seventh) letre unto you upon the -sevinteent of March,[447] sent in my ship called the Adventure, to -my tuo boyes, adventurers, quhom God ever blesse! And now to -beguinne with Him:—A Jove principium—I have sent you, my babie, two -of youre Chaplains, fitted for this purpose, Mawe and Wrenne, -together with all ornaments and stuffe fit for the service of God. I -have fullie instructed them in all theyre behavioure, and theyre -service shall, I hoape, prove decent and agreeable to the puritie of -the Primitive Churche, and yett as near the Romane forme as can -lawfullie be done, for it hath ever been my way to goe with the -Church of Rome, _usque et aras_. All the particulars hereof I -remitte to the relation of youre before-named chaplens.” - -Footnote 447: - - 17th March, 1622-23. - -The King then mentions that he sent the robes of the Order of the -Garter. “Quhache,” he says, “you must not forgette to wear on St. -George’s Day, and dine together in thaime,” if they arrived in time, -which he hoped to God would be the case, for it would be “a goodlie -sight for the Spaniards to see my two boyes dine in thaime.” - -The King next enumerates the jewels he despatched:— - -“For my babies’ presenting his mistresse, I sende an olde double -crosse of Lorraine, not so rich as anciente, yet not contemtible for -the valewe: a goodly looking-glasse, with my picture in it, to be -hung at her girdle, quhiche ye must tell her ye have caused it so to -be enchawnted by a vile magike, as, quhensoever she shall be pleased -to look into it, she shall see the fairest ladie that ather her -brother’s or youre father’s dominions can afforde.[448] Ye shall -present her also,” James continues, “two faire long dyamonts, sett -lyke an anker, and a faire pendant dyamont hanging at thaime; a -goodlie roape of pearles,” a collar, or carcanet, of thirteen great -ballas rubies, and thirteen knots or cinques of pearls; together -with a “head-dressing, and two-and-twentie great pear pearls;” also, -three pear-shaped diamonds, the largest of which was to be worn “at -a needle,” in the middle of her forehead, and one in each ear. - -Footnote 448: - - Thus described in the list:—“A looking-glasse set in goulde, the - backside richly garnished with faire dyamondes, and six peeces of - chayne to hange it, garnished with dyamondes on both sydes.” - -His “babie,” the King decreed, was to have his own round brooch of -diamonds, and he sent also a famous jewel called the “Three -Brethren,” consisting of a great pointed diamond, with three great -pearls attached to it, and a large pendent pearl; also, the “Mirror -of France,” “the fellowe of the Portugal Dyamont,” which, says the -King, “I would wishe you to weare alone in your hatte, with a little -blakke feather. Ye have also,” he adds, “goode dyamont buttons, of -your own, to be sett to a doublett or jerkin. As for your =Ｔ=, it -maye serve for a present to a Don.”[449] - -Footnote 449: - - A jewel in the form of a =Ｔ=. - -Steenie was furnished with a fair table diamond, which the King -wanted to have given him before, but Buckingham had refused it; to -this a “faire pewre pearl” was now suspended, “for wearing,” said -the thoughtful monarch, more occupied with these details than with -the good of England, “in thy hatte, or quhaire thow plessis; and if -my babie will spaire thee the two long dyamonts in form of an anker, -with the pendant dyamont, it were fitt for an admirall to weare, and -he hath enough better jewels for his mistresse.” - -Then follows a trait of the gentle Marchioness, quite in keeping -with the whole of her character: - -“Thow hes of thyne owne thy goode olde jewell, thy three pindars -dyamonts, the picture-cace I gave Kate, and the greate dyamont -chaine I gave her, quho wolde have sent thee the best paire she -hadde, if I hadde not stayed her.” - -Divers other jewels were to be sent with the fleet for presents, -“for saving of chairges quhair have too much nede.” These were to be -presents to Spanish grandees. - -The King then concludes:— - -“Thus ye see how, as long as I want the sweete comfort of my boyes’ -conversation, I ame forced, yea, and delytes, to converse with -thaime by long letres. God bless you both, my sweete boyes; and -sende you, after a successful journey, a joyful and happie returne -in the armes of your dear dad, - - “JAMES R. - -“Dated from Newmarket, on Saint Patrick’s Day, quho of olde was too -well patronized in the cuntrey ye are in.” - -A few kind and amiable expressions from the Marchioness of -Buckingham to her husband reached him too at this time.[450] “I -thanke you for sending me so good nuse of our younge mistres. I am -very glad she is so delicat a creaturr, and of so sweett a -disposicion. Indeed, my Lady Bristol sent me word she was a very -fine lady, and as good as fine. I am very glad of it, and that the -Prince liks her so well, for the King ses (says) he is wonderfully -taken with her. It is a wonderfull good hairing, for it were great -pettye but the Prince should have on (one) he can love; because I -thinke he’ll make a very honest husband, which is the greatest -comfort in this world, to have man and wife love truly. I tould the -King of the private message the Infanta sent to the Prince, to wear -a great rouffe (ruff). He laft heartely, and seed (said) it was a -very good sign.” - -Footnote 450: - - Nichols, 817, note. - -The Prince and Buckingham adopted a practice of writing joint -letters; for which Charles, in the next dispatch, apologized. “I -hope in writing jointly as we doe,” the Prince wrote, “we plase you -best, for I assure your Majesty it is not for saving paines.”[451] -To which James answers:—“I wonder quhy ye shoulde aske me the -question if ye should send me any more jointe letters or not. Alace! -sweet hairts, it is all my comforte in your absence that ye wrytte -jointe unto me, besides the great ease it is both to me, and ye -neede not doubte but I will be wairie enough in not acquainting my -counsel with any secrete in your letres. But I have been troubled -with Hamilton,[452] quho, being presente by chawnce at my ressaving -both of your firste and seconde paquette out of Madrid, wold needs -peere over my shoulder quhen I was reading them, ofring ever to help -me to reade any harde words, and, in good faith, he is in this -busynesse, as in all things else, as variable and uncertaine as the -Moone.” - -Footnote 451: - - Nichols, 835. Note from Harleian MSS., 6987. - -Footnote 452: - - James Hamilton, second Marquis of Hamilton, in Scotland, upon whom - James had conferred, in 1619, the Earldom of Cambridge, a title - formerly borne by King Edward IV., before his accession to the - Throne. The Marquis was Steward of the Royal Household.—Burke’s - Extinct Peerage. - -A hint from Charles showed that he both feared his father’s -indiscretion, and also apprehended opposition from the Council. “I -beseech your Majesty,” he now wrote, “advyse as little with your -counsel in these busineses as you can.” - -James, indeed, had the unthankful task of extorting, from unwilling -hands at home, money for those abroad.[453] - -Footnote 453: - - Nichols, p. 840. - -“But, in earniste, my babie,” he afterwards wrote, “ye must be as -spairing as ye can in your spending thaires, for youres.” - -Amongst the jewels transmitted to Spain was a collar of gold, -weighing thirteen great ballaces, and thirteen pieces of gold, with -thirteen links of pearl between them. This valuable was, in 1606, -annexed to the crown of England, or, as it was stated in the deed, -“to the kingdoms of this realm.” It is evident that James had -incurred some censure for sending what was not his own property -away, for he seems to have exercised greater caution afterwards. The -demands from Spain were, indeed, insatiable. Charles modestly wrote -to his father thus:—[454] - -“Sir,—I confess that ye have sent more jewels than at my departure I -thought to have had use of; but, since my coming, seeing manie -jewels worne heere, and that my braverie can consist of nothing else -besydes;—that sume of them which ye have appointed me to give the -Infanta, in Steenie’s oppinion and myne, ar nott fitt to be given to -her; therefore I have taken this bouldness to intreate your Majesty -to send more for my owen wearing and for giving to my mistress; in -which I thinke your Majestie shall not doe amiss to take -Carlile’s[455] advyce.” - -Footnote 454: - - Ibid, p. 845. - -Footnote 455: - - The Earl of Carlisle. - -This letter was in the Prince’s hand-writing. - -Buckingham’s less humble spirit was shown in the following -postscript, which was in his own hand, and forms a singular contrast -with the respectful tone of that of the Prince on the same topic:— - -“I, doge; ye sayes you have manie jewels neyther fit for your one -(own), your sone’s, nor your daughter’s[456] wearing; but verie fitt -to bestow of those here, who must necessarilie have presents, and -this way will be least chargeable to your Majestie in my poore -opinione.”[457] - -Footnote 456: - - Referring not to Elizabeth of Bohemia, but to the Infanta. - -Footnote 457: - - Nichols, p. 846. - -Three days after, the Duke wrote again in a still more insolent -tone; and gave His Majesty his “poore and sausie opinion of what -would be fittest to send.” - -Hitherto, the Marquis said, the King had been so sparing, that when -he thought to have sent the Prince sufficient for his own use, and -for presents to the Infanta, and to lend to himself, he, on the -contrary, had been forced to lend jewels to the Prince.[458] - -Footnote 458: - - Nichols, vol. ii., p. 847, dated March 25, 1623. - -“You neede not aske,” Buckingham continued, “who made me able to do -it. Sir, he hath neither chaine nor hat-band, and I beseech you -consider how rich they are in jewells here. Then what a poore -equipage he came in, how he hath no other meanes to appear as a -King’s sonne, how they are usefullest at such a tyme as this, when -they may doe yourselfe, your sonne, and the nation’s honor: and -lastlie, how it will neyther caust nor hasard you anie thinge. These -resons, I hope, since you have ventured allreadie your chiefest -jewel, your sonne, will serve to persuade you to let louse theese -more after him: first, your best hat-band; the Portingall diamond; -the rest of the pendant diamonds to make up a necklace to give his -mistress; and the best roape of pearls, with a rich chaine or tow, -for himselfe to waire, or else your doge must want a collar,[459] -which is the readie way to put him into it. There are manie other -jewells which are of no mean qualitie, as they deserve not that -name, but will save much in your purs, and serve very well for -presents. They had never so good and great an occasion to take the -aire out of their boxes as at this time. God knowes when they shall -have such another, and they had need sometimes to get near the -sonne, to continue them in there perfection. - -“Madrid, 25th of Aprill, 1623.” - -Footnote 459: - - Alluding to having lent the Prince his own jewels. - -In a postscript, Buckingham announced that he had sent the King four -asses, five camels, and one elephant, “which,” he adds, “is worth -your seeing, and a Barbarie horse from Walter Aston.” The animals -Buckingham sent he had “imprudentlie begged for:” and he promised -“to lay waitte for all the rare color birds” that could be heard of. -“But if you doe not send your Babie jewells eneugh,” thus his letter -concludes, “ile stope all other presents; therefore, looke to it.” - -The King, taking this impertinence as a joke, thanked his “sweet -Steenie gossip” for his “kind, drolling letter,” and suggested that -should Babie not think it fit to present all the jewels to the -Infanta, they should be brought home again; and ventured to propose -also that with regard to a present to the Condé Olivares, horses, -dogs and hawks, and such like stuff sent out of England, “by the -sweete boyes, would be a far more acceptable present than a jewel.” -He began, perhaps, to feel some remorse at his lavish folly. Prince -Henry’s sword—which another father would have valued, independently -of the costly diamonds with which the handle was set—had been given -to the King of Spain. It was considered next in value to the -Prince’s crown, and bestowed on Prince Henry by his royal mother at -his creation as Prince of Wales; and had been sent in a masque, in -the fanciful fashion of the day, as from Tethys to one of the -Meliades.[460] All these jewels were, however, honourably returned -during the year the Spanish match was broken off.[461] - -Footnote 460: - - Nichols, 848. Note from Archæologia, vol. xv. p. 18. - -Footnote 461: - - Ibid, 249. - -After the important matter of the jewels had been discussed, Charles -received from his father a few lines, protesting, on the word of a -King, that whatsoever his son should promise in his name should be -punctually performed. Charles had asked for something explicit under -His Majesty’s own hand,[462] to show that he had full powers; the -request was presumptuous, but Charles, who wrote it, and Buckingham, -who advised it, knew to whom they applied. “It were a strange -trust,” the King answered, “that I wold refuse to putte upon my owne -son, and upon my best servante.” - -Footnote 462: - - Ibid, 857. - -This servant he was now resolved to honour above all other great -ones of the land, by creating him a Duke. Buckingham had probably -been desirous of obtaining this honour ever since his being created -Marquis, and had been employing every means of compassing his ends, -by the aid of his dependents and partisans at home. Through the -exertions of Secretary Conway, he had been addressed as “your -Excellency.” Since that distinction is only applied to ambassadors, -it is possible that Bristol may have considered it an infringement -on his province to give it to Buckingham. - -It was, however, one of Buckingham’s most cherished objects of -ambition to assert a pre-eminence over Bristol at the Court of -Spain. - -There was, at this time, no English dukedom; that of York having -merged into the title of Prince of Wales. The Duke of Lennox, the -King’s near relation, was the only Scottish nobleman who bore the -title; and he had, for forty years, held this distinction. In order -to avoid placing the new duke above this nobleman, Lennox was -created Earl of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Duke of Richmond, on the -seventeenth of May, and Buckingham was raised to the dukedom on the -eighteenth. It was at the same time in contemplation to create two -more Dukes; the Marquis of Hamilton was to be Duke of Cambridge; the -Earl of Arundel, Duke of Norfolk, that nobleman refusing anything -less than the restitution of that title. These creations did not -take place, partly owing to the pride of the Duchess of Lennox, who -wished to stand alone, and partly to that of Buckingham, whose -letter to the King, on this occasion, shows his great ambition, and -proves his audacity and influence. - -It had been at first proposed to make him Duke of Buckingham and -Clarence, thus reviving in his person a title used hitherto only by -the Princes of the blood. - -“DEAR DAD AND GOSSOPE,[463] - -“It cannot but have bine an infinite trouble to have written so -longe a letter, and so sone, especiallie at this painfull time of -your armes; yet wish I not a word omitted, though the reading forsed -blouses (blushes), deserving them no better; neyther is it fitt I -should dissemble with my master, wherefore I confess I am not a gott -(jot) sorie for the paines you have taken. This might argue I love -myselfe better than my master: but my disobedience in all my future -actions shall witnes the contrarie; and I can trulie say it is not -in the power of your large bountiful hand and hart, ever hereafter, -eyther to increase my dutie and love to you, or to overvalue myselfe -as you doe by thinking it fitt I should be set so farre above my -fellows. There is this difference betwixt that noble hand and hart: -one may surfitt by the one, but not by the other, and soner by yours -than his one (own). Therefore give me leave to stope with mine that -hand which hath bine but too redie to execute the motions and -affections of that kind obliging hart to me. As for that argument, -that this can be no leading case to others, give me leave to say -it’s trew onele in one (but that’s a greate and the maine) poynt, -for I grant that I am more than confident you will never love moree -of your servants (I will pausie here) better than Steenie. - -Footnote 463: - - Harl. MSS., 6987. In Buckingham’s own Autograph, quoted by - Nichols, note, p. 854. - -“Thus it will be no leadeing, but you can not denie but it may be a -president of emulation hereafter to those that shall succeed you, to -expres as much love as you have done to me, and I am sure they may -easelie find better subjects. So, if it be unfit in respect of the -number (of Dukes that may be created), this way it will be -increased; but I mayntaine it’s unfitt in respect there is not here -(in Spain), as in other places, a distinction between Duckes’ and -Kings’ children, and before I make a gape or a stepe to that paritie -between them, I’le disobey you—which is the most I can say or doe. I -have not so much unthankfulness to denie what your Majesty sayeth, -that my former excus of the disproportion of my estate is taken -away, for you have filled a consuming purse, given me faire howses, -more land than I am worthie, and to maintain both me and them, -filled my coffers as full with patents of honer that my shoulders -cannot bare more. This, I say, is a still great argument for me to -refuse; but have not bine contented to rest here, when I thought you -had done more than enough, and as much as you could; but hath found -out a way which, to my heart’s satisfaction, is far above all, for -with this letter you have furnished and enriched my cabinett with so -precious a witnes of your valuation of me, as in future tymes it -cannot be sayde that I rise, as most courtiers doe, through -importunitie, for which caracter of me, and incomparable favor from, -I will sine (sign) with as contented, nay, as proud a hart, from -your poare Steenie, as Duke of Buckingham.” - -Meantime, festivities were carried on in Spain which rivalled the -most brilliant spectacles witnessed in that age of pageantry, during -which chivalric manners and chivalric sports were for the last time -seen in England, since they were never revived after the Rebellion. - -On Easter Sunday a masque was performed in honour of the strangers. -The Queen, clad in white, in remembrance of the Resurrection, and -decked in jewels, dined in public, first having duly observed the -solemn religious services of the festival. - -Prince Charles also dined in public; the gentlemen-tasters, it is -especially noted, attended, and the Earl of Bristol gave them the -towel. - -After vespers, the Court assembled, and the palace was thronged with -strangers from the various provinces, all eager to see the “wooer.” -Charles was then in the full vigour of his youth; he is depicted by -Velasquez, at or about this period, as possessing that bloom which -care so early destroys; his face was ever rather interesting and -picturesque than handsome; but it may easily be imagined how, set -off by the charm of manner, the graces of his person may have been -exaggerated by those who now welcomed him as a suitor to the young -princess. He had, on this occasion, adopted, for the first time, the -Spanish national costume, and was in a black dress, “richly garded,” -after the Spanish fashion, with the George about his neck, hanging -by a watchet ribbon. “The enamelled garter,” so states the Spanish -chroniclers, “exceeded that colour” (the watchet) “in brightness, -and his Majesty might as clearly be discerned as a sun amid the -stars. This being not the meanest action and demonstration of his -prudence, that being a travelling guest, who came by the post, not -being able to shine with equal lustre, he came to participate of the -Spanish sun.”[464] - -Footnote 464: - - Narrative of Andres of Mendoza. This tract was entered at - Stationer’s Hall, July 5, 1623. There is a copy in the British - Museum, and also in the Bodleian Library. Only two others are - known.—Nichols, 856. - -From this observation it appears that the jewels promised by James -had not then arrived. The Prince must, therefore, have acted as a -contrast, though not a foil, to King Philip, who was resplendent in -a dress of ash colour, with an immense Golden Fleece, and a huge -chain, baudrick-wise, around his neck, “robbing,” as the annalist -declared, in his girdle, and other jewels, the “glory of Phœbus’ -beams;” in his hat he displayed a large waving plume. Then came -Buckingham, whom the chroniclers of the day style the Admiral, and -Olivares, and they repaired to the Queen’s apartments, where the -Infanta, with her Majesty, came out to receive them. At the -interview which then took place, Sir Walter Aston acted as -interpreter; in that capacity he wished the Queen a happy Easter; -the young and blushing Infanta, standing by, received these -compliments, which were presumed to come direct from Charles, with a -modesty and gravity far beyond her years. Then their Majesties went -to the window of the south gallery to see the trial of arms in the -Court of the Palace. - -The whole beauty, rank, and splendour of Spain were assembled in -this gallery, but none were more remarkable for grace, and for the -knowledge of the Court, than the Condessa Olivares—whose name was -afterwards coupled with Buckingham’s in scandalous terms. She is -expressively said to have given “a life to all actions of greatness -and courtship.” She was only exceeded in address by her husband, -between whom and Buckingham a coolness soon afterwards commenced. A -trial of arms, the champions and their attendants being masked, then -took place, beginning from the house occupied by Buckingham, near -the Royal Hospital of Misericordia, and extending to the palace, -upon which were set the cartels of challenge, to which the Marquis -de Alcanizas, on the part of the Spaniards, and Buckingham, on that -of the English, were respondents. - -Buckinghams’s “livery,” on this occasion, was very costly. It -consisted of hoods of orange, tawny, and silver cloth, set with -flowers and Romaine devices of black cloth, edged with silver in -circles, with turbans in Moorish fashion, and white plumes. Two -courses were run in the palace-court, the chief masker being the -flattered favourite of King James. Amid the gallant throng, four -maskers, in Turkish costume, attracted especial notice. One of them -was discovered, by the brightness of his hair, and his stateliness -in running at the ring, to be the King, who thus testified the -honour he wished to pay to Buckingham by joining in the same -sport.[465] - -Footnote 465: - - Nichols, p. 864. - -The Bull-fight, or Panaderia, followed the trial of arms, and took -place during Pentecost. This cruel diversion had been repeatedly -prohibited by Papal bulls, but to no purpose. So common was it to -have several men killed during a bull-fight, that priests were -always on the spot, ready to confess the dying; and according to -Howell, who was present on this occasion, it was not unusual to see -a man dangling on each horn of the bull, with his entrails hanging -from him.[466] - -Footnote 466: - - Howell’s Letters. - -The bull-fight at which Charles and Buckingham were present, was -held on the first of June; and scarcely had the day dawned, when a -concourse of nobility rushed to the Panaderia or Bullangerie, as it -is called in the old chronicle; where, in the centre of a space -encircled by twelve arches of unpolished stone, a gilded scaffolding -was erected, the lower part of which was covered with cloth of gold -and silver, mingled with crimson. On either side were smaller -scaffoldings, divided from the principal one by partitions of -crimson cloth, spotted with gold. This erection had only been once -used, when the Duc de Maine had visited Madrid for the espousals, by -proxy, with Anne of Austria. On the left hand there was a portal by -which persons seated on the scaffolding might go in and out of the -scaffolding; and on the summit of all were two canopies of Florence -cloth, of carnation-colour, interspersed with gold rays, with chairs -of cloth of gold and silver underneath them, and hung with rich -tapestry. On these various stages stood the nobility of Spain and -the Council; whilst, beneath the canopy, their Majesties were -seated, the Pope’s Nuncio standing on the right hand, and the -several ambassadors on the left. The Corregidores of Madrid, with -their eight servants and four lacqueys, in “glorious liveries” of -plain black velvet, with embroidered skirts, cloaks of black cloth, -and doublets of black lace, and feathers of a colour “which all the -place admired and wondered at,” received the Council,—“that high -senate,” so writes the chronicler, entering with a wonderful -majesty, and so taking their places. - -All the ladies of the Court, the nobility and Council and -Corregidores, being placed according to degree, the Queen and the -Infanta made their appearance, driving to the Panaderia in their -coaches. These two Princesses were dressed in dark grey, embroidered -with _lentils_ of gold, and wore plumes and jewels in their hair. -The Queen’s _carroche_, as it was called in the old language of the -day, was followed by numerous other coaches, in which sat the flower -of the Court, all ladies of the highest rank, who, how sombre soever -the fashion of their dresses, displayed in their equipages the -gayest colours, according well with the rich hues which nature, at -that season, produced. This procession was escorted by the Alcaldes -on horseback, whose troop was augmented by a number of English and -Spanish knights, officers, and grandees. As the Queen and Infanta -alighted, they were conducted by the captain of the guard, clad “in -a brave livery of dark yellow,” and wearing a plume, to their seats. - -Amid the escort who did honour to the Queen that day, appeared most -conspicuously the then gay and sanguine Charles the First, in the -brief may-day of his life. He rode on a parti-coloured horse, curbed -with no bit, which seemed, beneath its royal burden, to have laid -aside its high spirit, and to submit to the skilful management of -the young equestrian. The Prince, it is specified, looked “relucent -in black and white plumes;” he accompanied the King, mounted on a -dapple grey, also without the bit. Philip wore the dark-coloured -suit of his country. Then came Buckingham, with the Condé Olivares, -the Master of the Horse, preceding the band of English gentry, and -riding with the Council of State and Chamber of Spain. - -Having taken their appointed seats, Charles and his countrymen -beheld, first, fifty lacqueys in high-Dutch costume of cloth of -silver, with caps of wrought silver, follow the Duke de Cea, into -the enclosure. Behind the Duke rode the combatants, distinguished by -great tawny plumes, and hose of tawny cloth, laced with silver. They -were scrupulously alike. Scarcely had this gallant Spanish noble -paid his homage to the royal personages present than the Duke de -Maqueda, looking, says the enthusiastic chronicler, “like one of the -Roman Cæsars,” and followed by many noblemen, attended by a hundred -lacqueys in dark-coloured serge, banded with lace, and relieved with -silver belts and white garters, rode gallantly into the palace. - -Next appeared the Condé de Villamor, with his fifty lacqueys in -white printed satin, with doublets of azure, silk, and gold, set out -with tufts of gold and silver lace, with white plumes on their hats; -and amid this gorgeous throng, on a chestnut horse, rode the Condé, -his horse’s main and tail being drawn out with silver twist, -“surpassing even the horses of Phœbus’ chariot.” Such was the -waving of feathers, that it was, says the beholder, like “a moving -garden, or an army of Indians.” - -And now came the two combatants—Gaviria and Bonifaz; or, as they -were called, Kill-bulls. They, too, had their lacqueys—Bonifaz in -white plumes, whilst those of Gaviria were distinguished by dark -green suits. Lastly, appeared the Cavalier de la Morzilla, who came -to “try his fortune with lance and target.” - -Although by right the office of Marshal, on this occasion, belonged -to the Condé Olivares, it was surrendered to Buckingham, Charles -giving precedence to his favourite; so that it was the proud office -of the once lowly Villiers to appear chief in the court of Spain, as -he had often done in that of England. He stood, therefore, behind -the Infanta, Don Carlos, and by the side of Olivares, who acted not -only as an adviser, but also as interpreter—the Duke, it seems, -having never acquired Spanish. The part thus allotted to Olivares, -though a subordinate one, was performed with due punctilio and -courtesy; and as one sensible of the honour which James had done him -in the “letters, full of wisdom and gravity,” with which he had -honoured him. - -Then the lacqueys drew back, and looking in their blue and red -colours like a harvest in June blown about by the breeze, left their -lords to the perilous encounter. The bull-fight witnessed by Charles -and Buckingham differed little from that still unhappily the chief -delight of the Spaniards in our own times, except that, to pay the -more refined tribute to the Prince and his favourite, the combatants -were of high rank. As the Condé de Villamor, to whom the first -encounter was allotted, rode to the assault, his retainers showered -darts on the bull; whose hide resembled, according to the flowery -narrative of Mendoza, a quiver, or recalled “the thorny hedges of -Helvetia;” but the bystanders, seeing the poor animal’s agonies, -took out the arrows with great velocity, although, in so doing, they -were in imminent danger of their lives. De Magueda signalised -himself by many brave attempts; but it was the glory of a combatant -named Cantillana that he killed a bull. Bonifaz and Gaviria made -such desperate attacks on the poor animals, that their assaults -could not be counted; but the greatest praise was due to De Velada; -who overthrew two or three hulls by “dint of sword and gore of -lance,” but having wounded one of these infuriated creatures between -the eyes, ran so great a risk that the King; would not suffer him to -enter a second time into the lists. Numerous, indeed, were the feats -that might incite to poetry, or to song, had not the conflict been -of so cruel and so debasing a nature; so that the valour which was -so largely displayed might even be said to verge upon brutality. -Mendoza enumerates them with a savage enthusiasm. Amid the most -successful of the bull-killers appeared the famous Montezuma, who -did credit to his royal blood and established bravery by putting a -bull to flight, the animal having unaccountably showed signs of -fear; he was pursued by Montezuma, and, struck by a cleaving blow of -the sword, was left for dead. As the fight drew near its close, -Antonio Gamio, the Duke de Cea’s second, made one of the bravest -assaults of the day upon a furious bull, upon which he rushed, -leaving half of his lance within him, whilst cries of delight and -shouts of exultation rang through the air, and the bull fell down -dead by the side of the fearless combatant; the horse stood -perfectly still, showing to what a degree of perfection management -had brought the courser; so intrepid when urged onward, so docile -when occasion required. - -The bull-fight being ended, the Queen and Infanta returned, beneath -a shower of rain, which surprised them in that season, to the -palace, where they sought repose after the exciting scenes, in which -even the young and gentle Infanta took a delight apparently -inconsistent with her character. Nothing, indeed, can exceed the -raptures of Andres de Mendoza, from whose animated pages this -narrative is drawn. “Since the report is Festival,” he says, -referring to his own exaggerated descriptions, “it is but like to -that which was to be seen with the eye. You would have said as much -if you had but seen them fight with those furious beasts, showing -themselves the more valiant, in that they were undaunted and -resolved Spaniards.”[467] - -Footnote 467: - - Narrative of Andres de Mendoza, Nichols, p. 869. - - END OF VOL I. - - - R. BORN, PRINTER, GLOUCESTER STREET, REGENT’S PARK. - - - - - ERRATA. - - ---------- - - VOL. I. - - Page 12, lines 5 and 16—_for_ Brokesby _read_ Brookesby. - ” 13, ” 1—_for_ Brokesby, _read_ Brookesby. - ” 43, ” 21—_for_ Lord de Ross, _read_ Lord de Roos. - ” 87, —_note_.—_for_ Endysmoir Porter, _read_ Endymion - Porter. - ” 92, line 6—_for_ Abbo, _read_ Abbot. - ” 97, _delete_ first line. - ” 108, line 6—_for_ favours _read_ favour. - ” 155, ” 17—_for_ King James’s room; though, _read_ - King James’s room, where. - ” 163, ” 13—_for_ pours out of contention, _read_ comes - out of contention. - ” 172, ” 18—_for_ a young lady of the seven, _read_ a - young lady of the seventeenth - century. - ” 186, ” 27—_for_ of his succession, _read_ of his successor. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -There are several anomolies in the footnoting. In the original, -there is a single footnote 1 in the Preface, and the numbering -begins again at the opening of the first chapter. The sequence -continues to 99, and then restarts with 1. This is repeated several -times. There are also several notes which are denoted only with a -traditional asterisk. On occasion, footnotes appear out of order. -There is no apparent reason for the dual system, and it seems most -likely that the non-numeric references were added later, after the -numbering had been completed, and were used to avoid the need to -re-sequence work already done. - -For this text, all footnotes have been re-sequenced numerically -across the whole volume, to assure uniqueness. They will appear in -the correct order. - - p. 99 Footnote 112 (‘_Ibid._’) had no anchor in the text, but, - based on the passages in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ referred to in - the prior note, the quoted text would seem to end near the - bottom of the page, and has been added there. - p. 105 There is a anchor to a footnote 119 at ‘benefited his family - more than himself.[119]’ which does not appear on the page. - The same anchor appears on p. 107 along with a footnote - using the same number. The dubious anchor has been removed. - p. 152 Footnote 169 had no anchor in the text, but refers to the - quoted passage. An anchor (169)has been added at that point. - -The two spellings of the modern Hurstpierpoint, ‘Hurst-pierre-point’ -and ‘Hurst-per-point’, are retained, though the second hyphen in the -latter occurs on a line break. - -The text ends with a list of _errata_ which covers many of the -issues listed at the end of this note. The intent of this list has -been honored, and the indicated changes made. Links are provided to -the corresponding item in that list. - -The first items of the _errata_ would seem to correct the spelling -of the home of the Villiers from ‘Brokesby’ to ‘Brookesby’. There -are two more instances that were not mentioned, which have been -corrected as well. - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, -and are noted here. Given the frequent quotations, it was inevitable -that opening and closing quotation marks would sometimes be lost. -They are placed here where the context or voice makes their position -obvious, or where an inspection of the original sources was possible -and allowed for the proper punctuation. - -The paragraph beginning on p. 147 ends with a closing quotation -mark. There is no obvious point at which that quotation might begin. -The mark is retained, in any case. - -On p. 338, the sentence ending with a reference to note 403 includes -a closing quotation mark, which has no corresponding open. The note -references _State Papers, vol. cxxxix, No. 16_, which seems to be an -error. The topic can be found discussed in _State Papers, vol. -cxliv, No. 16,_, but only the phrases quoted earlier can be found -there. The closing quotation marks seems an error. - -On p. 339, continuing on p. 340 there is an long paraphrased passage -from _Reliquiæ Wottonianæ._, p. 213, which would seem to end at -‘Lieutenant of Dover Castle’. The closing quotation mark has been -added there. - -The references are to the page and line in the original. Where three -numbers are referenced, the second refers to a note on that page, -and the third to the line therein. - - 1.17 BRO[O]KESBY, THE NATIVE PLACE OF GEORGE Added. - VILLIERS - - 12.5 adding to his name the designation of Added. - “Bro[o]kesby;” - - 12.16 At Bro[o]kesby, the manorial residence Added. - - 12.26 now owns the name of Bro[o]kesby. Added. - - 13.1 The town of Bro[o]kesby has, of late years Added. - - 13.23 From the retirement of Bro[o]kesby Added. - - 18.10 On the fourth of January, 1[5/6]05-6, Sir Replaced. - George Villiers died. - - 22.15 “the conservative qualities and ornaments Added. - of youth.[”] - - 26.34.7 de survivre trop long tem[p]s a ce bon Added. - roi. - - 28.3 was Ravaillac[s]’s fatal opportunity Removed. - - 43.21 to the Lord de Ro[s/o]s Replaced. - - 46.18 this was Burleigh-on-the[ /-]Hill which Replaced. - she sold - - 47.54.1 Art[.] Lucy Harrington. Added. - - 63.21 and to bring Villiers in.[’/”] Replaced. - - 87.93.3 Endy[smoir/mion] Porter’s letters. Replaced. - - 90.101.11 D’Ewe[s]’s MS. Journal in Bishop Added. - Goodman’s Life - - 92.6 which was imperatively due to the Primate, Added. - Abbo[t] - - 97.1 [way most gratifying to an honourable Removed. - mind.] - - 107.119.6 who were to be excluded from the Order of Added. - St. George,[”] - - 108.6 and the noble miscreants be restored to Removed. - favour[s]. - - 126.21 the rich banners and streamers,[”] Removed. No - opening. - - 128.141.5 “were squires of high degree, for cast and Added. No - bravery;[”] closing. - - 144.7 the “most commended for notable Replaced. - fooling[,/.]” - - 146.18 he conceived that the partition of the Added. Probable. - kingdom placed him.[”] - - 147.6 had not public business interfered.[”] _sic_: opening - quote? - - 150.18 and so was apprehended near Carlisle.[”] Added. - - 154.15 the most curious combat of world[l]y Added. - passions - - 155.17 called King James’s room; [though/where] Replaced. - the monarch is said - - 163.13 [pours/comes] out of contention Replaced. - - 166.11 to hang him with a silken halter.[”] Added. - - 167.20 a partner violent, litigious, and Added. - un[s]crupulous. - - 167.5 without [bans] or licence _sic_: banns - - 172.18 a young lady of the seven[teenth century] Added. - - 175.3 Bacon “took to be the worst of his Added. - enemies.[”] - - 177.12 will set all on fire when he is in.[”] Added. - - 186.27 would have had the nomination of his Replaced. - success[ion/or] - - 188.2 for her own good, or her friends.[”] Removed. - - 202.4 writes Mr. Chamberlain, merrily, [“]at Added. - Newmarket - - 232.15 but Harvey, “sick and surfeited[”], Added. Probable. - declined attendance - - 238.275.6 to infatuate him in Sir Thomas Lake’s Replaced. - business[,/.] - - 248.9 on the site of the ancient Monast[e]ry of Added. - Crutched Friars - - 279.22 more than at their own interest;[”] Removed. - - 286.337.6 [5/6]. Peace and war, both foreign and Replaced. - civil - - 308.26 than he had done as Dean of Added. - Westminster,[”] “which,” he adds, - - 321.3 [“]and so,” adds the minute observer Added. - - 323.23 without any sign of agitation.[”] Added. - - 333.16 [“]and where,” adds the crafty Spaniard Added. - - 338.13 restored on his return home.[”] Removed. - - 339.27 [“]It seemed, however,” says the same Added. - writer - - 340.6 then Lieutenant of Dover Castle.[”] Added. - - 340.27 says Sir Henry Wotton, [‘/“]singular Replaced. - credit - - 357.15 the pecuniary difficult[i]es Added. - - 358.4 [“]The Spaniards, too,” as the Earl stated Added. - - 359.14 “imperfect note my babie had[’/”] Replaced. - - 368.23 The King afterwards promised Charles that Added. - [“]though it were Lent - - 369.1 In the eve[n]ing of Saturday Added. - - 369.442.4 by the King of Spain.[”] Added. - - 372.21 at the Monastery of San Gero[min/nim]o Transposed. - - 381.8 [“]To which James answers:—“I wonder quhy Removed - ye shoulde - - 393.17 “a life to all actions of greatness and Added. - courtship.[”] - - 398.6 his horse’s [main] and tail _sic_: mane - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The life and times of George Villiers, -duke of Buckingham, Volume 1 (of 3), by Katherine Thomson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE, TIMES OF GEORGE VILLIERS, VOL 1 *** - -***** This file should be named 54286-0.txt or 54286-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/2/8/54286/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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