Mr/m^d c^wnds

LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

LIFE OF
THE LADY
ARABELLA STUART.

IN TWO PARTS : CONTAINING A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR,
AND A COLLECTION OF HER LETTERS, WITH NOTES AND
DOCUMENTS FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES, RELATING
TO HER HISTORY.

E. T. BRADLEY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON,
Publishers in ffiriinarg to HJer ffflajestg tfje ®ueen.
1889.
(All rights reserved^)

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

PART I.— MEMOIR.
{Continued.)
CHAPTER XII.
HALCYON DAYS.
l6ll. PAGE
The Bishop of Durham fetches Arabella from Lambeth —
They stay a few days at Highgate — Thence move to
Barnet— Arabella is, or feigns to be, very ill — The royal
physician sent to her — She is obliged to move to East
Barnet — She petitions the King and Council for a respite
to recover her health — A month is granted — She thanks
the King for these halcyon days — In charge of Sir James
Croft — Who pleads for further delay — The King ob
durate that she must go to the North — But grants an
extra month on account of an eloquent petition she
sends him — Lady Shrewsbury is plotting an escape —
And raising money for it — Crompton, Arabella's steward,
is her trusty instrument — Seymour's friend Rodney helps
in their preparations, also Arabella's woman Mrs.
Bradshaw .. .. .. ..  1-29

vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE.
l6ll. PAGE
Arabella and Markham escape from East Barnet — She is
disguised as a man — They meet Crompton with
horses — Ride to Blackwall — Where they take boat —
After many delays go on board a French vessel —
Seymour also tricks his servant and escapes — Joins
Rodney — Too late to overtake Arabella — They charter
a collier to take them to Calais — Francis Seymour
betrays them— The consternation at court — Even
Prince Henry deserts Arabella — Lord Hertford also
in disgrace — Admiral Monson takes active measures —
Arabella and her friends are captured — She is taken to
the Tower — Seymour safely reaches Calais — All the
rest of the conspirators imprisoned — And examined —
Arabella behaves with dignity — Lady Shrewsbury with
out reason — Both incarcerated in the Tower — Seymour
remains abroad till after his wife's death — His conduct
discussed — His second marriage — And succession to his
grandfather's title .. .. .. .. .. 3°-S2

CHAPTER XIV.
DESPAIR AND DEATH.
16U-1615.
No more hope for Arabella — Arrangements and memorials
about her servants and money — Her letter to Lord
Fenton — To the Queen — Trial of Lady Shrewsbury —
Bacon's speech — She is fined and condemned to prison
— Arabella is reported mad — The question discussed —

CONTENTS. vii
PAGE
Marriage of Princess Elizabeth — Arabella still keeps her
love for dress and jewels — Raleigh buys some of her
jewels — The Governor of the Tower is dismissed —
Lord Grey and Arabella — The Prince Palatine makes
a vain petition to James — Arabella's last petition —
Crompton is released — His attempt to rescue his
mistress discovered — He is again imprisoned — Arabella
takes to her bed — Never rises again — She dies by her
own neglect of her health — Lady Shrewsbury's grief —
A rumour of poison — A post-mortem is held — The body
embalmed and buried in the Abbey — A secret funeral
— Goodman discusses Arabella's case — An unfounded
story — Lady Shrewsbury at last released — The Earl's
death — An indictment of James .. .. 53-8 1

PART IL— LIST OF LETTERS AND DOCU
MENTS RELATING TO LADY ARABELLA
STUART.
Genealogy of Arabella Stuart and William
Seymour .. .. .. .. .. ..85
A.
List of Portraits and Miniatures .. .. 86-92
B.
The Mystery of 1602-3 •• •• ¦¦ ¦¦ 92—175
No. I. Starkey's Confession, pp. 92-97. No. 2. Arabella's
Directions to Dodderidge, p. 98. No. 3. Arabella to the
Queen, p. 99. No. 4. Same to the same, pp. 100-103.
No. 5. Arabella to her Grandmother, Feb. 2, 1603, pp, 103-
113. No. 6. To Stanhope and Cecil, Feb. 6, pp. 113-118.
No. 7. To Edward Talbot, Feb. 16, p. 119. No. 8. The

Vlll

CONTENTS.

Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury to Cecil, Feb. 21, p. 120.
No. 9. Stanhope and Cecil to the Countess, Feb. 21, p.
122. No. 10. Arabella's Examination, March 2, pp. 124-
130. No. II. Her Declaration, March 2, pp. 131-135.
No. 12. The Dowager Countess to Stanhope, and Cecil,
March 3, pp. 135-137. No. 13. Arabella to Brounker,
March 4, pp. 137-143. No. 14. To the same, p. 144. No.
.15. To the same, March 6, p. 145. No. 16. To the same,
March 7, p. 146. No. 17. To the same, March 9, pp. 147-
169. No. 18. Cecil and Stanhope to the Dowager Coun
tess, March 14, pp. 170-172. No. 19. Examination of the
Vicar of Hucknall, March 18, p. 172; of John and Matthew
Stark, p. 173; of Henry Dove, p. 175.

C.
No. I. Letters from Arabella to Lord Cecil, from Sheen : —
June 14, 1603, p. 176 ; June 22, p. 177 ; June 23, p. 178 ;
June 26, p. 179 ; June 30, p. 179.
No. 2. Letters from Arabella to her Uncle Gilbert, and her
Aunt Mary Talbot, the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury : —

(a) Aug. 14, 1603.
{/>) Aug. 23, 1603.
(c) Sept. 16, 1603.
(d) Oct. 6, 1603.
(e) Oct. 27, 1603.
(f) Nov. 6, 1603.
(g) Nov. 4, 1603.
(h) Nov. 28, 1603.
(h) Nov. 28, 1603.
(i) Dec. 8, 1603.
(i) Dec. 8, 1603.
(J) Dec. 18, 1603.
(k) Dec. 22, 1603.
(/) Undated.

To the Earl, from, Farnham . .
To the Countess, from Basing
To the same, from Oxford ..
To the same, from Winchester
To the Earl, from Fulston
To the Countess, from Fulston
To the same, from Fulston . .
To the Earl, from Fulston . .
To the Countess, from Fulston
To the Earl, from Fulston . .
To the Countess, from Fulston
To the Earl, from Hampton Court
To the Countess, from Hampton'Court
To the same, from Hampton Court . .

PAGE 1801S1182183184185 185
186186187 191193 196
197

CONTENTS. ix

D.

Arabella's Letters (continued).
DATES. PAGE
(a) Jan. 2, 1604. To the Earl, from Hampton Court .. 198
(Ji) Jan. 10, 1604. To the same, from Hampton Court .. 199
(c) Jan. 11, 1604. To the same, from HamDton ourt .. 200
(d) Feb. 3, 1604. To the same, from Hampton Court .. 201
[e) Dated 1604. To the same, from Whitehall . . 203
Oct. 3, 1604. To the Countess, from Whitehall .. 206
(J) Oct. 18, 1604. To the Earl, from Whitehall .. 206
(g) Dec. 24, 1604. To the same, from Whitehall .. 207
(h) Oct. 18, 1605. To Prince Henry  208

1606. Arabella to Sir Andrew Sinclair .. 209
Aug. 26, 1606. Sinclair to Arabella, from Copenhagen 210
1606. Arabella to Sinclair .. .. .. 212
1606. Arabella to the Queen of Denmark .. 213
Oct. 24, 1606. A Latin letter from Arabella to
Sinclair .. .. .. .. 214
F.
Letters about Cutting, Arabella's Lute-player.
(a) March 9, 1607. Queen Anne to Arabella, from
Whitehall  215
{b) March, 1607. Prince Henry to Arabella .. .. 215
(c) March 15, 1607. Arabella to Queen Anne, from
Sheffield  216
(d) March 15, 1607. Arabella to Prince Henry, from
Sheffield  217
(e) 1607. Latin letter from Arabella to the
King of Denmark .. .. .. 218
\f) Translation of above .. .. .. 220

X

CONTENTS.

G.

Letters from Arabella.

NO. DATES.
I. May 2, 1606.
2. Dec. 2, 1607.
3. Undated.
4. March 28, 1609
5. Aug., 1609.
6. Dec. 17, 1609.
7. Dec, 1609.
8. 1609.

PAGE 221

To the Earl of Salisbury
To the Earl of Shrewsbury, from
Whitehall  222
To the Countess, from Hardwick . . 223
To Charles Gosling  224
To the Earl of Salisbury . . . . 225
To the same, from Puddle Wharfe . . 225
To the same .. .. .. .. 226
Arabella's Progress in the North 227-237

1. Feb. 20, 1609.
2. 1610.
3. July 9, 1610.
4. July 16, 1610.
5. July 19, 1610.
6. Aug., 1610.
7. July, 1610.
8. 1610.
9. Oct., 1610.
10. Undated.
11. Undated.
12. Undated.
13. Undated.
14. Undated.
15. Undated.
16. 1611.

H.

W. Seymour to the Lords of the
Privy Council .. .. .. 237
Arabella to the Lords of the Council 240
Warrant to Sir Thomas Parry .. 241
Arabella to the Earl of Shrewsbury,
from Lambeth .. .. .. 242
Same to the same, from Lambeth . . 243
Her petition to the Lords for her
servants .. .. .. .. 243
Her petition to the Lords to intercede
for her with the King . . . . 244
Draft of another petition . . . . 245
Arabella to the Queen . . . . 246
Same to the King .. .. .. 248
Same to the same . . . . . . 249
Same to Lady Drummond .. .. 250
Lady Drummond to Arabella .. 251
Arabella to Lady Drummond .. 252
Same to the same .. .. .. 253
Arabella to the Lords Chief Justices . . 254

CONTENTS.

XI

NO. DATES.
17. March 13, 1611.
18. March 15, 161 1.
19. March 15, 1611.
20. March 7, 161 1.
21. March, 161 1.
22. Undated.
23. Undated.
24. Undated.
25. Undated.
26. Undated, prob
ably 1611-12.

PAGE
James to the Bishop of Durham .. 255
Warrant to Sir Thomas Parry .. 257
Warrant to Sir William Bond at
Highgate .. .. .. .. 258
Mrs. Collingwood to Arabella at
Lambeth .. .. .. .. 259
Lady Chandos to Dr. Moundford
at Barnet .. .. .. .. 260
Arabella to the Earl of Salisbury .. 261
Arabella to  . . . . . . 262
Arabella to one of her cousins . . 263
Arabella to Viscount Fenton . . 263
Arabella to the Queen .. .. 266

1. June 4, 1611.

June 4, 5, 1611.
June 30, 161 1.
Sept. 21, 1611.
June 27, 161 1.
1611.

I.
Proclamation for the arrest of
Seymour and Arabella . . . . 267
Persons committed by the Lords . . 268
Warrant to the Lords of the Council 270
Warrant to the Privy Council about
Arabella's jewels, etc. .. .. 270
Minute to Sir William Bowyer .. 271
A note of such jewels as are missing 271

J-
I. Note of a book, " Salve Deus," dedicated to Arabella
(and other ladies) in 161 1, containing verses in
praise of her virtue and learning
2. Epitaph on Arabella by Bishop Corbet
3. Order for the Embalmment of Arabella's Body
4. Ballad: " The True Lover's Knot Untied " ..

272274
274274

XII CONTENTS.
ADDENDA. A.
PAGE
Extracts from Sir John Harington's Tract on the Succes
sion to the Crown — Arabella's claims set aside —
Essex, Cecil, and Shrewsbury wrongly suspected of
favouring them — An account of Arabella herself . . 279
B.
William Seymour's Confession, 161 1 .. .. .. 281
C.
News from Court in 1611 .. .. .. .. .. 282
Notes on Sir Griffin Markham .. .. .. .. 283
D.
Extracts from manuscript notes made by Canon Jackson
at Longleat of various matters connected with Arabella 283

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Miniature of Arabella Stuart
From a contemporary miniature (originally in the
Harmond Collection) now in possession of Mrs. Hog"e Frontispiece
Seal used by Arabella : A Wolf Rampant
Opposite title-page
Facsimile of Arabella's Handwriting . . . . 263

PART I.
MEMOIR.
(Continued.")
CHAPTER XII.
HALCYON DAYS.
l6ll.
On March 15, at eight o'clock in the morning,*
the Bishop of Durham received the prisoner
into his change at Lambeth Ferry, and they
started on their dismal journey northwards.
Since only four days had been given for the
preparations and packing necessary, all the
arrangements had not been completed, and the
Council had been obliged to take a night's
lodging at Highgate, in the house of one Sir
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. Ixii. p. 30, MS.
VOL. II. 19

2 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
William Bond,* for the party. Thither the
Bishop of Durham and Dr. Moundford,f Ara
bella's private physician, conveyed their protest
ing charge, but on the way she turned very
faint, and the doctor was obliged to administer
cordials to keep up her strength. All Arabella's
courage seems to have failed when she found
herself actually starting for her northern prison.
It was in vain that the bishop exhorted her
to patience, and related the lives of saints and
martyrs less fortunate than herself. She was
taken out of her litter at Highgate more dead
than alive, bathed in a cold sweat ; and worn
out by the agitations of the day, it was not till
midnight that she fell asleep, and her keepers
left her, hoping, no doubt, to find her more re
signed by the morning. But the next day, to the
bishop's horror, the prisoner protested that she
was physically incapable of proceeding another
step on her journey, and, in spite of the good
man's gentle words and persuasions, his praises

* See warrant, Part II. H, No. 19, p. 258.
t A certain Dr. Moundford attended Essex in prison just
before his execution, and was on the scaffold with him.

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. 3
of " the sweet day and air, and the duty of her
journey," she clung firmly to her resolution. Dr.
Moundford was seriously alarmed by her weak
ness, and both he and the prelate despatched
letters* to the Council, describing the lady's
condition, and asking for further instructions. A
few days' delay was accordingly granted, but on
March 21, in spite of Arabella's "extreme reluc
tance to proceed," she was moved on to Barnet.
She seems to have been taken thither not
only against her will, but by main force, being
probably carried, protesting and weeping, to her
litter, since the bishop writes that he was obliged
to have " recourse to the means proscribed,
which were employed with all decency and
respect." Even on that short journey of six
miles she was very ill, and only kept alive by
her good doctor's \ care.
Shrewsbury writes % the next day, March 22,
* See the bishop's letter, State Papers, James I., Dom.,
vol. lxii. p. 39, MS.
t See also a letter of sympathy for Arabella addressed by
one Lady Chandos to the doctor, on Good Friday, while they
were at Barnet (Part II. H, No. 21, p. 260).
J Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 114. Copies of this and the
following letter are in the Sloane MSS., 4161, fois. 55, 56.

4 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
to thank Moundford for his attention to his
niece, and also for the good counsel he had
given her, " both to patience and to encourage
ment in her journey," which had been re
ported to him, as also how "very hardly the
few miles you travelled yesterday were over
come." " For my part I can do her very small
service more than by my prayers," he adds, with
truth ; for the king's only reply to his pleadings
on Arabella's behalf had been that "it was
enough to make any sound man sick to be
carried in a bed in that manner she is, much
more for her whose impatient and unquiet spirits
heapeth upon herself far greater indisposition
of body."
By the earl's request, Moundford wrote an
account of Arabella's state to his wife3 her aunt
Mary, of whom we shall hear more in connection
with her niece later on.
. James, who had all along suspected the lady's
illness to be feigned, and was obstinate as usual
in his preconceived opinion, refused to be con
vinced of the reality of her unfitness to proceed
further until he had sent (March 26) the princes'

i6u.] HALCYON DAYS. 5
physician, Dr. Hammond, to Barnet, to report
on the case. His disgust must have been great
when Dr. Hammond confirmed the previous
accounts of Arabella's condition.
Lord Shrewsbury writes to Moundford (March
29) * that he was present " yesterday morning
when Dr. Hammond made report to the Lords
in what state he found my Lady Arbella, being
this in substance, that she is assuredly very weak,
her pulse dull and melancholy for the most part,
yet sometimes uncertain ; . . . her countenance
very pale and wan ; nevertheless, she was free (he
said) from any fever or any other actual sick
ness, but of his conscience he protested that she
was in no case to travel until God restored her
to some better strength, both of body and mind.
. . . He attendeth on the princes (as always he
doth) to Royston on Monday next, and then
he is himself to relate the same to his Majesty,
as he did to us ; for at that time his Majesty
was so extremely pestered with despatches upon
his going away, as there could be no full report
made unto him of any particulars, only he was
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 116; andinSloane MSS., 4161, fol. 56.

6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
told of her weakness. All her ladyship's friends
in general are glad of the bishop's departing,
and her stay for a time where she is to be, verily
hoping that she will likewise receive great
comfort therein ; and how far soever her own
melancholy thoughts (which have gotten the
upper hand of her) have prevailed to lay nothing
but despair before her eyes, yet the greatest,
nearest, and wisest about his Majesty that do
speak with me, do persuade themselves her
imprisonment (wheresoever it be) and his
Majesty's disfavour to her is not like to con
tinue long; and therein I am bound to believe
them, or else I must conceive they have neither
honour nor conscience, for such is their protes
tations to me. God grant her ladyship may be
of the same mind ; as then I should not much
doubt of her speedy recovery, which heartily
praying for, I will here take my hearty leave.
" Your very assured, loving friend,
"Gilb. Shrewsbury."
The earl's letter is in reply to one * from
* Sloane MSS., 4121, fol. 57.

i6n.] HALCYON DAYS. 7
Moundford he had received the day before
(March 28), in which an account of the inter
view between his niece and the court physician
is given.Dr. Hammond "had access to her," Mound
ford writes, "before he spake with the lord
bishop or did confer with me. She entertained
him in respect of the persons from whom he said
he was sent " — the king and Privy Council —
" most respectfully ; and in regard that he was
not a stranger unto her, kindly. He felt her
pulse, and entered into some discourse of her
weakness and infirmities."
The great man stayed three days (March 26
to 28), feeling the lady's pulse and prescribing
treatment at intervals, hoping, perhaps, to be
able to take back a report that would please
the king.
"I am sure that by neither of these," Moundford
shrewdly adds, " he can warrant either amend
ment of her grief or continuance of life if some
contentment of mind be not joined with physic,
which I, with all due respect, will cause to be
administered when time and opportunity of

8 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [i6n.
place shall be afforded us. In the mean time,
I am forced to instil in cordials, though with
some fear" of the consequences in the lady's
weak, excitable state, preferring to cherish " her
to live, rather than by expecting [waiting] all
circumstances incident to the perfect recovery
of such an imperfect body, do nothing."
Poor Dr. Moundford was in an awkward
plight, since, in spite of his patient's unfitness
to travel, and the advice of the royal physician,
he was obliged, by cordials and nursing, to
prepare her for another short journey from
Barnet to East Barnet.
This third removal was not, however, con
sidered as a further stage on the northward
journey ; for James, in consequence of Dr. Ham
mond's report of the lady's extreme weakness,
and also through the representations of her
friends and the Lords of th'e Council, to whom
she had addressed an eloquent petition (which
her faithful servant Smith carried) soon after
her journey from Highgate to Barnet, had
granted a month's respite in which to recover
her strength, dating from Lady Day (March 25).

l6nj HALCYON DAYS. 0.
The petition,* as well as the letter f of thanks
Arabella wrote to the king, probably after she
reached East Barnet, are given entire, since no
extracts can do justice to her own pathetic
account of her misery, and the relief which the
promised month brought to her spirits. Un
fortunately, the petition is endorsed in the State
Papers with an impossible date (March 14),
which would have been before she took her " dis-
comfortable journey," or left Lambeth, and the
letter to the king is undated ; but they are placed
here, rather than later on, from the evidence
contained in the State Papers. J that the month
was granted before, not after, she left Barnet.
" May it please your Lordships :.
" I protest I am in so weak case as
I verily think it would be the cause of my death
to be removed any whither at this time, though
it were to a place to my liking. My late dis-
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 58. State Papers, James I., Dom.,
vol. lxii. p. 37.
t Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 89.
J See Croft's letter to Privy Council, James I., Dom., vol.
xiii. p. 38, MS.

IO LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
comfortable journey, which I have not yet re
covered, had almost ended my days, and I have
never since gone out of a few little and hot
rooms, and am in many ways unfit to take the
air. I trust your Lordships will not look I
should be so un-Christian as to be the cause of
my own death, and I leave it to your Lord
ships' wisdom to consider what the world would
conceive if I should be violently enforced to
do it. Therefore I beseech your Lordships to
be humble suitors in my behalf, that I may
have some time given me to recover my
strength, which I should the sooner do if I
were not continually molested. And I will
hope and pray that God will incline his
Majesty's heart every way to more compassion
towards me, who rest
"Very humbly at your Lordships' command,
" A. S."
Lady Arbella to the King (Draft).
" May it please your most excellent Majesty :
" Graciously to accept my most humble
thanks for these halcyon days it hath pleased

i6n.] HALCYON DAYS. II
your Majesty to grant me. And since it hath
pleased your Majesty to give this testimony
of willingness to have me live awhile, in all
humility I beg the restitution of those com
forts without which every hour of my life is
discomfortable to me, the principal whereof is
your Majesty's favour, which hone that breathes
can more highly esteem than I, who, whilst I
live, will not cease to pray to the Almighty for
your Majesty's prosperity, and rest
"Your Majesty's most humble and faithful,
almost ruined subject and servant,
" Arbella S."
In this letter we see her, as physical strength
comes back, venturing once more, though in
veiled language, to remind the king of the real
cause of her misery.
Some time had been spent in finding a suit
able house for the reception of the prisoner and
her company ; but, by the end of March, one
belonging to a Mr. Thomas Conyers had been
taken at East Barnet, at a rent of twenty
shillings a week. Although Arabella had had

12 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611
a severe attack in the head, the first ominous
symptom of danger to her brain from excess of
grief, and was very weak in consequence, she
was conveyed to East Barnet on April 1, and
was extremely ill on the journey.
The Bishop of Durham having seen her safe
arrival at Mr. Conyers's house, immediately de
parted for the north, leaving her in the charge of
Sir James Croft,* and his cousin, Sergeant Minors.
On his way northwards he had an audience with
the king at Royston, on April 2 or 3, and wrote f
full particulars to Croft and Moundford.
" I was no sooner come into the court," he
says, "but I was presently brought to his
Majesty, who asked me of the Lady Arbella,
and where I left her. I told his Majesty of her
estate in her three removes ; of the grief which
she conceived of his Majesty's indignation ; of
her hearty and zealous prayers for him and his ;
of her willingness, if it might so please him,
even to sweep his chamber. Whereunto it
* Arabella must have been previously acquainted with Croft,
since on her progress in 1609 his footman accompanied her from
Toddington to Northampton (see Part II., p. 229).
t State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. Ixii. p. 30, MS.

i6n.] HALCYON DAYS. 13
pleased his Majesty to call the prince, who was
then in the same room. I do not see but that
his Majesty is well pleased with the time she
hath to recover strength, and that he hath an
especial care that she should be used and
respected as a noble lady of her birth and
nearness to him ; and time may work that
which in this shortness cannot be effected. I
pray you present my duty and service unto
her, to pray her to remember what I oftentimes
out of a true heart (as yourselves in my hearing
have done) have said unto her. So shall she
best please God by her obedience, satisfy his
Majesty, comfort her own conscience, enable
her good friends to speak for her, and stop the
mouths (if any there be) who envy her restitu
tion into his Majesty's favour. My poor opinion
is that, if she wrong not herself, God in time
will move his Majesty's heart to have com
passion upon her."
Thus far we have followed the bishop's own
words, and, indeed, the worthy man only re
peated the sermons on the duty of passive
obedience he had once at least (see p. 2), and

14 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
doubtless often enough, forced into Arabella's
unwilling ears. All those round about her,
except, probably, her immediate attendants,
who afterwards helped her to escape, preached
the same doctrine ; but it was in vain they
spoke to her of time and patience, when already
nine months had passed, and brought her no
nearer to her husband, rather taken her further
away. Indeed, the bishop * spoilt the whole
point of his argument by winding it up with
a reminder (he wrote from Cambridge on April
17) that the month of respite was nearly over ;
and a prayer that the noble lady and he might
meet in the north, adding that a rumour had
reached him that, unless he " made better
speed," the lady and her company would be
in the north before him.
Indeed, as the month drew to its close, Arabella
still appeared very weak and ill, and on April
17 Croft writes,t begging for further instruc-
* The bishop was so upset by his short experience as Arabella's
keeper, that he had afterwards to go to Bath to recruit his health.
State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxviii. p. 27, MS.
t State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiii. p. 38, MS. (see
p. 9 in text).

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. 1 5
tions, and suggesting that, although the month
had begun on March 25, her ladyship had been
at East Barnet barely eighteen days on account
of the delay there had been in finding her a
house. As to her actual condition, he says that
the rest and the " physic " have done her good,
"that she is somewhat better and lightsomer
than heretofore, but that not otherwise than
that she hath not walked as yet the length of
her bedchamber, to my knowledge ; neither do
I find her at any time otherwise than in her
naked bed, or in her clothes upon her bed.
Concerning her ladyship's mind, it is so much
dejected, as she apprehendeth nothing but fear
and danger in their ugliest forms, conceiting
always the worst, and much worse than any
way can happen unto her, of danger. As for
her going this journey, or that his Majesty
should dispose of her at his pleasure, she doth
not gainsay, but the horrors of her utter ruin
and end which hourly present themselves to
her phantasy, occasioned (as she discovereth
herself unto me) by the remoteness of the place
whereunto she must go, driveth her to utter

l6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
despair to return, or to be able to live out one
only year ; where otherwise, if she were left, as
her ladyship saith, in some convenient place,
not so clean out of the world as she termeth
Durham to be, she would gather to herself
some weak hopes of more gentle fortune in
time to come. These and the like are the best
and pleasingest discourses that any time I can
have with her ladyship, whereunto whatsoever
I can reply to the contrary giveth her no
manner of satisfaction at all."
Croft was most desirous to spare his charge
any unnecessary suffering, and about ten days
after writing this, he despatched Sergeant
Minors, his kinsman, to the Council, to intercede
for fresh delays, since the lady still appeared
too weak to travel. Meanwhile, probably
through his representations in the above letter,
she had been allowed to overstay the original
time allotted for her residence at East Barnet.
On April 28 Minors writes* to Croft, that
he had been called before the Lords the night
before. "I told," he says, "my lady's weak
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 118.

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. IJ
estate, and afterwards they told me the king's
absolute resolution, which is directly for Dur
ham, for which she must prepare, although the
journeys be never so little, to go on Monday
next, which was the longest day I could get.
I pray you let her know that some of the
greatest of them did in solemn oaths protest
that they find, by his Majesty's resolution, that
there shall be no long abode for her there, but
his Majesty intended her good in short time
after, but that his Majesty kept that in his
breast till he saw conformity ; but if his Majesty
be king, he says, he will not alter this resolu
tion. Therefore I pray you use your best
means to prepare her ladyship for the journey
at that day ; for there is no doubt it will follow
for her honour's good, etc."
Sir James Croft again found his arguments
of no avail. Perhaps Arabella herself, after
her years at court, had too shrewd a knowledge
of the king's character to believe the vague
promises he held out ; his interpretation of what
was best for her good would most assuredly
differ from hers, and if the price of her pardon
vol. n. 20

1 8 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
was to be her renunciation of her husband, she
must have felt that that pardon would be too
dearly bought. In any case, to Durham she
determined she would not go, and, whether by
feigning to be worse than she really was, or by
prayers and tears, she so wrought upon the
kind knight, her guardian, that he_ and Dr.
Moundford now appeared together before the
king and Privy Council, in order to report her
continued weakness.
All this took time, and it was therefore nearly
a fortnight before James, " in the hearing of
the prince, and the Lords of his Majesty's
Council, did yield that one other month should
be employed in her perfect cure, which new
month began the nth of this present May.
During our attendance on his Majesty he used
not one unkind or wrathful word of her, but
mildly taxed her obstinacy, the conceit whereof
I find did spring from such accidents as befell
upon our first removes, reported unto him very
untruly, with terms of violence offered by my
lady to such as were used in that service. His
Majesty's resolution was that to Durham she

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. 19
should come, if he were king. We answered
that we made no doubt of her obedience. Then
he said, ' Obedience is that required ; which, being
performed, I will do more for her than she
expecteth.' " The above is from a letter * of Dr.
Moundford's to the Bishop of Durham, who was
anxiously awaiting their arrival in the north.
It seems that Arabella, hearing of the king's
words, determined to make one more effort to
gain time, and also to defend herself from his
accusation. " The premier reason," says Moundford,
"which moved his Majesty to the grant of this
second month was her submission in a letter
to his Highness, with all due acknowledg
ments of her recovery from the grave by time
most graciously granted her by him. This
letter was penned by her in the best terms (as
she can do right well), and accompanied with
matter best befitting his Highness and her. It
was often read without offence, nay, I may
truly say even commended, by himself, with the
applause of the prince and Council."
* Birch, Sloane MSS., 4161, fol. 61.

20 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
Arabella herself well understood how impor
tant this petition of hers might be, and she
evidently spent much time and labour in com
posing it. Whole paragraphs are crossed over
and over again ; there are several copies of the
letter, some only half written, some finished, but
all blotched and erased till they are almost
illegible, except one fair copy written by a
secretary. The following is the entire letter * : —
" May it please your excellent Majesty :
"Though it hath pleased God to lay
so many crosses upon me as I account myself
the most miserable creature living, yet none is
so grievous to me as the loss of your Majesty's
favour, which appeareth, not so much to my un
speakable grief in any other effect of it (though
the least of many it hath already brought forth
is sufficient for my utter ruin), as in that your
Majesty giveth credence (as I hear) to those
sinister reports which impute that to my obsti
nacy which proceedeth merely out of necessity ;
not willing that I might be thought guilty of
* Hari. MSS., 1003, fois. 79, 80, 83.

l6n.] 'HALCYON DAYS. 21
hastening my own death by any voluntary
action of mine, having first endeavoured, by all
good means, to make my extreme weakness
known to your Majesty [by my Lord Fenton,*
and by the Lords of your Majesty's most honour
able Privy Council by writing, and many other
ways before my remove. But my misfortune
being such as not only any protestation of mine
own, but the reiterated testimony of such grave
persons as advertised the like, seemed of less
weight than the traducements of some whisperers].
But nothing availing me, certainly I had sud
denly perished if your Majesty had not speedily
had compassion of me in granting me this time
of stay for my recovery ; to which, if it may
please your Majesty of your gracious goodness
to add three weeks more, Mr. Dr. Moundford
hopes I may recover so much strength as may
enable me to travel. And I shall ever be
willing, whilst I breathe, to yield your Majesty
most humble and dutiful obedience as to my
* The only extant letter to Lord Fenton has been placed
later, but as it is undated, it is quite impossible to determine
accurately whether it was written from Barnet or the Tower.

22 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
sovereign, for whose felicity for ever in all
things I cease not to pray, and in all fortunes
rest "Your Majesty's most humble and faithful
subject and servant,
"A. S."
Following this copy in the Sloane MSS.* is
a short paper, written in another hand, and
signed " J.," wherein, in words probably taken
down from Arabella's lips, she promises, as a
proof of her obedience, " to undergo the journey
after this time expired without any resistance
or refusal, to do such things as are fit for me
to do to make my journey the less painful or
perilous ; being now assured that your Majesty
hath no purpose to make my correction my ruin
in any sort, as I will hope confidently when I
have herein satisfied the duty." This promise
seems, however, to have been given on the
assurance that the king merely required a
formal promise of obedience to save his honour,
according to words added in the margin, in
* Vol. 4161, fois. 32, 33.

i6iiJ HALCYON DAYS.

23

which Arabella says that " this " (i.e. the words
in italics) "without the journey is enough if the
king desire but his honour saved, as though
I [illegible] resistance [illegible], and so the
journey made perilous by myself, whereby I
must confess I bely myself extremely in this."
It is worth noting, from the scanty but im
portant evidence remaining, that as yet Prince
Henry had not broken with his cousin, and still
interested himself on her behalf. The evidence
for this statement rests on the fact that James
had sent for his son to hear the bishop's report
of Arabella's condition at Royston, and that his
name is twice mentioned in Moundford's letter,
given above, as hearing — by which his approval
may be taken for granted — in Council the king's
resolution to grant a further respite to the
prisoner, and also listening with applause to the
reading of her eloquent petition. Besides that,
amongst the accounts * of Arabella's expenses
during her imprisonment, a sum of £5 is
mentioned as owing to " Matthias Melward, one
* See Miss Cooper's "Life of Arabella Stuart," vol. ii. pp.
158-167.

24 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
of the prince's chaplains, for his pains in attend
ing the Lady Arbella Seymour, to preach 'and
read prayers during her abode at East Barnet ; "
and Henry would not have sent one of his
private chaplains had he not taken some interest
in his old friend's spiritual wants. But little
did either king or prince guess what plots were
to be hatched during this additional month, and
if it be true, as James's apologists have asserted,
that he really intended to extend mercy, after
he had tortured his cousin to his heart's con
tent, most fatal to her own interests was the
next step the despairing captive took.
Although Lady Shrewsbury had at first taken
little apparent interest in her niece's fate, she
was now working secretly and energetically for
her deliverance, not without ambitious hopes of
making an important position for herself among
the Roman Catholics by thus playing into their
hands. She plotted Arabella's escape to the
Continent, where, though the burning interest
such a coup would have excited in Elizabeth's
time was no longer to be looked for, yet the
Catholic powers would no doubt hail one

i6n.] HALCYON DAYS. 25
whose presence among them could be used
as a continual weapon against the King of
England. As a matter of fact, James very much over
rated the dangers of his cousin's marriage and
escape, and eight years' peaceable occupation
of the English throne might have taught him
better. Lady Shrewsbury determined not to
tell any one of her plan till the " bird had been
freed from its cage," and Arabella herself after
wards swore that "no foreign prince or state"
had knowledge of it — everything was to depend
on her reception abroad.
Later on, when these schemes had been dis
covered and defeated, the Earl of Northampton,
in a letter* to the king (June 9, 161 1), affirmed
that the countess had been " the only worker
and contriver of the lady's bedlam opposition
against your Majesty's directions," and her purse
the chief instrument of her escape. Out of the
£2800 which Arabella now scraped together, her
aunt sent her at least ^1400, £850 of which
was ostensibly to purchase some needlework of
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 23, MS.

26 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
Mary Queen of Scots, which was in Arabella's
possession, and which, Northampton remarks,
was not worth the eighth part of the money;
the rest to pay her debts before she left for
Durham. Though Northampton wrote after the dis
covery of the plot, the details were still shrouded
in mystery, the knowledge of it having been
confined to them "that will rather die than
discover one another ; " and to this day we do
not know how Lady Shrewsbury contrived to
elude the surveillance of Arabella's keepers, nor
are any letters of hers or of her niece's extant
which might throw light upon their secret
arrangements during that last month of captivity
at East Barnet.
All except needful preparations appear to
have been left till it was seen how the escaped
captives would be received by foreign powers.
Before proceeding to extremities, Lady Shrews
bury made an appeal, upon her niece's behalf,
to Lord Rochester, the reigning favourite at
that time, but he refused even to address the
king on the subject. Arabella afterwards con-

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. 2.7
fessed that this " uncomfortable answer " from
Lord Rochester " moved her to think all labour
lost in those ends which she affected for the
satisfaction of her mind ; " i.e. she then gave up
all hope of obtaining the king's pardon, and
resolved to resort to extremities. Crompton,
" that trusty rogue," was the medium through
whom Lady Shrewsbury communicated with
the prisoner. Later on he declared that "the
only part " of his employment was no more than
" the preparation of means, and the receipt of
monies, which in appearance were the pieces
of such employments," but in reality were to
be used for his lady's wants. He took her
also the man's disguise in which we shall
shortly see her appear. Seymour, meanwhile,
was helped by his bosom friend Rodney,
and, by what means we do not know, but in
some secret way, Seymour and his wife were
kept precisely informed of each other's arrange
ments. The month of rest at East Barnet was to end
on June 8, and on Sunday, June 2, Rodney
went to a house " by St. Mary Overy's, a part

28 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.] [1611.
of the Lord Montagne's house," * and engaged
some rooms, on the pretext that he was ill, and
wanted rest. Thither the same night he sent
his man and a French clockmaker with " four
cloak-bags, a cabinet, and a fardel lapped in
a white sheet, to be laid in his chamber ; " and
the landlady particularly noticed the extra
ordinary weight of these goods, and suspected
they contained articles of value. Early the
next morning (June 3) Rodney's servant added
"a buckram bag full of stuff " to the rest of the
things ; and about 1 1 a.m. a flaxen-haired
gentleman with no beard (later on we shall
find him wearing a beard) came to inquire if
Rodney had taken lodgings there. The land
lady first denied that he had been there, but
the stranger, without attending to her denial,
told her that the rooms had been engaged for
a lady of fashion, " by whom Mr. Rodney might
receive much good." He then went away, but
soon returned with a gentlewoman (an attendant
of Arabella's, probably the Mrs. Bradshaw who
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 126; copy in Sloane MSS., 4161,
fol. 72. John, Lord Harington, to the Earl of Salisbury.

i6ii.] HALCYON DAYS. 29
had witnessed her marriage, and who was found
with her on board the French ship), "tall of
person, not richly apparelled, and very pale ;
•having a wart ... on her face upon the cheek,
under the eye." The two stayed in the house
till two o'clock, superintending a waterman, who
conveyed the goods to St. Tooley's Stairs ; then
they went away themselves, the gentleman first
reconnoitring in the street, to see if any one was
about. The landlady, whose curiosity was
thoroughly aroused by these strange proceedings,
sent her maid after them, and thus ascertained
that they took a boat at Pickle Herring, over
against the Tower.

1 7 f

30 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE.
l6ll.
All the preparations for the prisoners' escape
were now completed, and, as her last month of
respite drew to an end, Arabella lulled her
keepers and attendants " into security by a fair
show of conformity and willingness to go on
her journey towards Durham."
The date of her departure to the north was
fixed for June 5, but while the king imagined
that he had at last compelled his cousin to obey
his will, she had secretly completed her arrange
ments for defying it, and on Monday, June 3,
between three and four in the afternoon, she
quietly walked out of Mr. Conyers's house,
dressed in man's clothes, and accompanied by
Markham, one of her attendants.

i6n.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 3 1
The explanation of the extreme ease with
which the, prisoner effected her escape in broad
daylight may be found in the confession of
Arabella's female attendant, a " minister's wife,"
who connived at the lady's departure, believing
with great simplicity her assurance that she
would return early the next morning. Arabella
had worked on the tender-hearted woman's feelings
by begging her to let her go and have a farewell
interview with her husband before her departure
for the north, and the maid had even helped
her mistress to disguise herself by " drawing
a pair of great French-fashioned hose over her
petticoats, putting on a man's doublet, and man
like peruke, with long locks, over her hair ; a
black hat, a black cloak, russet " — or, according
to another account, white — " boots with red tops,
and a rapier by her side." *
After a walk of a mile and a half, Arabella
and Markham reached a " sorry inn," where her
faithful steward Crompton waited with saddle-
horses. The poor lady, who had hardly been
out of her room for weeks, and was worn out
* Winwood, vol. iii. p. 280, etc.

32 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611,
with anxiety and illness, here turned " very sick
and faint, so as the ostler that held their stirrups
said, ' That gentleman would hardly hold out
to London A yet, being set on a good gelding,
astride in unwonted fashion, the stirring of the
horse brought blood enough into her face, and
so she rode on towards Blackwall." *
Here Sir John More's account differs from
the watermen, who were afterwards examined.
More says that two men and two women were
waiting for them when they arrived at Black-
wall, at six o'clock, and that they started imme
diately. According to one of the watermen,t
they tarried at the Blackwall tavern an hour
and a half for their company, who came in
scattered one after the other ; but, as the at
tendants who had charge of the luggage were
already there, having left the Tower as early
as two o'clock, it is more probable that they
delayed in the hopes of Seymour joining them.
They finally started in two boats, one a good
* See above, Winwood, vol. iii. p. 280, etc.
t State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 5, MS. Waad
to Salisbury.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 33
pair of oars, the other carrying the luggage
brought from Rodney's lodgings. In one boat
were three men ; into the other, after they had
put off from shore * — probably because the pair-
oar was overweighted — they shipped Arabella
and her waiting-woman, Mrs. Bradshaw. One
other man and a maid remained, according
to More, at the tavern ; and certainly Ara
bella had only one woman and three men
with her when they went aboard the ship at
Lee. The men who accompanied her were
Markham, Crompton, and Edward Reeves.
Arabella sat, close covered, with a hood or veil
over her face, in a long black cloak. The party
loitered down the river, still in the hopes that
Seymour would overtake them. Woolwich was
their first stage; then they went on to Gravesend,
where, as it was now dark, and the distance to
Lee, where they expected to find the French
bark they had chartered waiting, was long, the
boatmen refused to row any further. However,
for a double fare they at last consented to con
tinue, and, after a further delay at Tilbury,
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 5, MS.
VOL. II. 21

34 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
where the rowers insisted on going ashore to
refresh themselves, they reached Lee at early
dawn. But they had not yet reached their goal — the
French ship lay eight miles beyond Lee. At
first the fugitives could not see it, and imagining
that the captain had played them false, they
hailed the first vessel they came to. This proved
to be a brig * bound for Berwick, and Crompton
vainly besought John Bright, the master, with
offers of a large bribe to alter his course, and
take them to Calais. Bright refused to oblige
them, but he was able to point out a ship, riding
about a mile and a half beyond, which proved
to be the French vessel they were in search of.
The English captain's suspicions had been
roused by their importunity, and perhaps by
the muffled-up person with a "marvellous fair
white hand" showing beneath her cloak when
she pulled off her glove. He therefore care
fully took note of the whole party, and watched
them as they went on board the bark ahead,
* See Bright's Examination, State Papers, James I., Dom.,
vol. lxiv. p. 30, MS.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 35
which had meanwhile displayed the promised
signal, a flag. He took Mrs. Bradshaw, who
"was barefaced, in a black riding safeguard, with
a black hat, having nothing on her head but a
black hat and her hair," for "Moll Cutpurse."
" One of the men," he said, " was about forty,
with a long flaxen beard, something corpulent,"
and in spite of the beard, which may well have
been a false one, this seems to answer to our
flaxen-haired friend Edward Reeves, to whom
the care of the luggage from the tavern had
been entrusted. In the younger man, with a
little black beard, who was the most eager for
him to take them to Calais, and "proffered
large sums of money for the passage," we cannot
fail to identify the zealous Crompton.
It was now four o'clock in the morning, and
every minute was precious ; yet Arabella still
lingered, waiting for her husband, who, for some
inexplicable reason, had reached Blackwall after
she had left. At last, " through the importunity
of her followers," and too late, as it proved, to
secure her own safety, she was obliged to yield,
and allow the French captain to put off to sea ;

36 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
but two hours were wasted on account of the
tide. In the mean time, Seymour had successfully
completed his preparations for his escape, and
giving the same reason for his absence with
which his wife had tricked poor simple Mrs.
Adams, he persuaded his servant to assist him
to dress. The valet, seriously believing, or
pretending to believe, that his master would
return in a few hours, agreed to tell any one
who inquired for Mr. Seymour during his
absence that he had "newly betaken himself
to rest, being troubled with the tooth-ache," and
must not be disturbed.*
It is evident that some mistake had arisen
about the hour of meeting, since by the time,
eight o'clock at night, that Seymour left his
prison, Arabella was already some miles on her
way down the Thames, and he did not reach
Blackwall for more than an hour after she had
started.f

* More's Letter continued, vol. iii. p. 280, etc.
t William Waad to Salisbury, State Papers, James I., Dom.,
vol. lxiv. p. 5, MS.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 37
The other arrangements went off without a
hitch. Seymour, disguised with " a peruke and
beard of black hair, and in a tawny suit " — the
whole furnished by Rodney — slipped out of the
great west gate of the Tower in the wake of a
cart piled with faggots, and, passing along the
wharf under the very nose of the warders at the
south entrance, reached the iron gate, where
Rodney was waiting with a boat, without having
been challenged. At Lee, of course, they were
too late for the French ship, and so, after search
ing in vain for that vessel, they finally induced
a Newcastle collier,* for the sum of £40, to take
them to Calais, expecting there to meet the rest
of the party.
Before leaving Rodney had written to Francis
Seymour, with whom he lodged, and who was,
as we have seen before, on affectionate terms
with William and his wife. His letter was to
be delivered on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., by
which time Rodney had calculated that the
fugitives would be safe from all pursuit. Thanks,
however, to Seymour's dilatoriness — his indolent
* Letter of Sparrow and Cage, Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 132.

38 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [i6ii.
character is noticed by his biographers — and
Arabella's love for him, this letter proved the
ruin of the poor wife's hopes.
Rodney did not explain his sudden desertion
of his fellow-lodger, excusing his apparent want
of confidence in him by his fears of the old
earl ; but Francis took alarm at the ambiguous
tone of the letter. More careful of his own
reputation than mindful of the claims of kin
ship, he went straight off to the Tower, and, dis
regarding the servant's expostulations, pushed
into his brother's empty bedchamber. Then he
and the Governor of the Tower, Sir William
Waad, lost no time in communicating the
escape to the king and Salisbury, who were at
Greenwich.* Francis was, after an examination before the
Privy Council, confined to his lodgings upon
suspicion, although, as he truly asserts, he was
as innocent of "their practises as is the child
that was but yesterday born." f
* For details, see letter from F. S. to the Earl of Hertford,
Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 122.
t Letter from F. S. to his grandmother, State Papers, James I.,
Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 8, MS.

i6nj THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 39
The king and his Lords worked themselves
up into a state of almost ludicrous terror at the
news. True, should the couple escape abroad,
the foreign Catholic Powers might use their
claims as an excuse for interfering in English
affairs ; but, as one of Winwood's correspond
ents — who, as a contemporary, might have been
expected to join the general panic — sensibly
remarks* "the danger was not like to have been
very great, in regard that their pretensions are
so many degrees removed " (by the direct claims
of James's own sons), "and they ungraceful^
both in their persons and their houses ; so as a
hot alarm taken at the matter will make them
more illustrious in the world's eye than now
they are, or, being let alone, ever would have
been." It is sad to see, by the end of this same letter,

* Winwood, vol. iii. p. 281.
+ The word "ungraceful," which has misled some writers
into an unflattering account of Arabella's looks, certainly has
not the literal significance, but probably means "out of favour,"
i.e. objectionable to the king. This sense would fit both
persons and houses, since the individuals themselves and the
families to which they belonged were not in high favour at court.
— Explanation by Canon Jackson.

40 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
that Prince Henry had now quite deserted his
unfortunate friend, and joined with the rest of
the world against her, one of the rare occasions
on which he sided with his father. " It '' — the
escape — "is said to fill his Majesty with fearful
imaginations, and with him the prince, who
cannot be removed from any settled opinion."
It is impossible to express the wild and
unreasoning consternation that reigned at court
on that eventful day, June 4. Lord Nottingham,
the lord high admiral, took, however, a more
common-sense view of the matter. He is sorry
they have escaped, as it will trouble his Majesty,
but " England will find no loss by their absence.
. . . The best that I do think, as it falleth out,
is that it do not appear to the world that there
is here any account made of them. The wind
is bad, and they cannot have gone far " *
(June 4).
This was very sensible advice, but even
Salisbury, to whom it was addressed, could not
have appeased the king's terror. Despatches
were sent to Calais to arrest the fugitives ; letters
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 4, MS.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 4 1
were immediately written to the King and
Queen Regent of France, and the Archdukes,
requesting them not to protect the offenders,
but to send them back without delay. The
king's messengers were galloping from Lord
Nottingham and his admiral (Sir William
Monson) to Salisbury and back, with " Haste,
haste ! post haste ! haste for your life ! your
life ! " upon their despatches. In this passionate
hurry there was a proclamation,* "first conceived
in very bitter terms, but by my lord treasurer's
(Salisbury's) moderation, seasoned at the print "
(Winwood, see above).
The wildest rumours were afloat — one that
old Lord Hertford had died of the shock ; f
while, as a matter of fact, the old man had been
sent for J to court, and was in abject terror lest
he should be accused of having abetted his
grandson's evasion. The dutiful Francis had
written § at once to inform him of the news, and
his grandfather immediately posted back his
* Part II. I, No. I, p. 267.
t State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 6, MS. Letter
of Lord Fenton.
% Ibid., p. 7, MS. § Page 38, note.

42 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
letter to Salisbury, with an enclosure of his own
protesting his innocence of all knowledge of the
plot. The infirm old man's hands trembled so
much, either with terror on his own account or
from the agitating memories William's escapade
called up, that, while reading Francis's letter by
the light of his " size " — a wax taper — he set fire
to part of it, and adds a postscript of excuse
for his negligence to his own letter to the lord
treasurer. The ill-omened epistle which brought
the news of the young couple's rash attempt
is still to be seen among the Harleian MSS.
(7003, fol. 124), but the bit which was actually
burnt away only contained the one word
" Tower." Meantime Admiral Monson, by the directions
of the lord admiral and the lord treasurer, was ¦
taking active measures. What with contrary
winds and tides, he felt sure they would not
reach Calais that night (June 4), and a light
pinnace, called the Adventure, which with other
boats he had sent, after judicious inquiries
among the fishermen, in pursuit, soon returned in
triumph, with Arabella and her party on board.

i6n.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 43
The captain writes * to the lord high admiral
that "under the South Sundhead we saw a
small sail, which we chased, and proving little
wind, we sent our boat with shot and pikes, and
half channel over our boat did overtake them,
and making some few shot, they yielded, where
we found divers passengers, among the rest my
Lady Arbella, her three men, and one gentle
woman. We cannot yet find Mr. Seymour
here. My lady saith that she saw him not, but
hopeth that he is got over."
Monson writes,t enclosing the above letter, to
Salisbury, to request "his Majesty's directions
how to dispose of my lady, for that I am un
willing she should go ashore until I have further
authority ; but in the mean time, she shall not
want anything the shore can afford, or any
other honourable usage."
More also describes % the capture : " This
pinnace," he says, " spying the aforesaid bark,
which lay lingering for Mr. Seymour, made to
* Letter of Griffin Cocket, Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 128, for
these and above details.
t Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 130.
% Winwood, vol. iii. p. 281.

44 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
her, which endured thirteen shots of the pinnace
before she would strike. In this bark is the
lady taken, with her followers, and brought back
towards the Tower, not so sorry for her own
restraint as she should be glad if Mr. S. might
escape, whose welfare she protesteth to affect
more than her own."
We see here and in the captain's letter another
proof, if one were wanted, of Arabella's tender,
unselfish love for her husband. He at the very
time of her capture had reached Ostend, and
gone at once on to Bruges, sending "a mes
senger along the coasts to hearken after the
arrival of his lady."
But he was not destined to meet his wife
again. She was by James's command brought
back, a strictly guarded prisoner, to the Tower,
and entered that dreary prison, never to taste
of liberty again, never to see, probably never to
hear more from, her husband.
One or two ballads, amongst them a quaint
one called " The True Lover's Knot Untied," *
written in James I.'s reign after the old Earl
* See Part II. J, No. 4, p. 275.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 45
of Hertford's death, have attempted to describe
the tragedy of Arabella's situation ; but neither
prose nor poetry can express the utter despair
this final separation from her adored husband
caused her.
James is said to have been utterly without
the quality of mercy, and Arabella's fate seems
fully to bear out this accusation. Not only the
chief offender, but also her aunt, Lady Shrews
bury, her lenient keeper, Sir James Croft, her
physician, Dr. Moundford, her attendants, and
all * who were suspected of having had a hand
in the conspiracy, were committed to the Tower.
Her uncle, the Earl of Shrewsbury, was put
under strict guard at his own house ; and the
old Earl of Hertford was summoned peremptorily
to court, in spite of his protestations. An
examination was held before the Lords of the
Council of all concerned in the escape, and
the details we have already given came to light,
although no more was ever learnt of the actual
workings of the conspiracy.
Arabella " answered the Lords at her exami-
* See lists of prisoners in Part II. I, No. 2, pp. 268, 269.

46 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
nation with great discretion, but the other
[Lady Shrewsbury] is said to be utterly with
out reason, crying out that all is but tricks
and giggs ; that she will answer nothing in
private, and if she have offended the law, she
will answer it in public. She is said to have
amassed a great sum of money to some ill
use ; twenty thousand pounds are known to
be in her cash, and that she made provision
for more bills of exchange to her niece's use
than she had knowledge of; and though the
Lady Arbella hath not as yet been found
inclinable to popery, her aunt made account
belike that, being beyond the seas in the hands
of Jesuits and priests, either the stroke of their
arguments or the pinch of poverty might force
her to the other side." *
What we read here may well bear out the
supposition that Seymour's unflattering remarks
about " my lady " (see vol. i. p. 267) referred to
Mary's machinations, which, indeed, undertaken
partly from ambitious motives, worked more
harm than good to her niece. All that is told
* Winwood, vol. iii. p. 281.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 47
of her elsewhere shows that she was a clever
woman of a bold and unscrupulous character,
very different to her gentle sister Elizabeth,
Arabella's mother.
But she was destined to pay dearly for her
fault by years of dreary expiation in prison.
Although it was found impossible to make the
prisoners' offence high treason, yet it was
enough for the obsequious Lords that the king
wished his troublesome cousin and her still
more dangerous aunt safely disposed of; and
so, after a mock-trial, the two were remanded
to the Tower for an indefinite period. The
rest of those actually implicated in the plot
were also sentenced to various terms of imprison
ment. Among the State Papers is a letter * from
poor Sir James Croft, soliciting his enlarge
ment, being, as he indeed was, wholly innocent
of the lady's escape, and he dwells pathetically
upon his thirty-six years' faithful service to the
king. There is no doubt that his prayer was
granted, and that he was soon set at liberty.
* Calendar of State Papers, James I., Dom. (l6n-i8),p. 43.

48 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
Meanwhile Seymour tarried in Holland, and
induced the Archdukes * to send an ambassador
over to intercede with the king in his favour,
"begging his Majesty to pardon so small a
fault as a clandestine marriage, and to suffer
him and his wife to live together."
But James proved obdurate ; the " small
fault" was to him a mountain of iniquity, and
the only reply Seymour received was a message f
from Salisbury, telling him that he would never
find favour with the king " while he liveth
under any of the territories of Spain, Rome,
or of the Archdukes."
Moved by this warning, Seymour shortly
afterwards went on to Paris (September 3, 161 1),
where he remained in exile until his wife's death,
without, as far as we know, making any further
efforts either to communicate with or help her.
It should hot, however, be too hastily con
cluded that Seymour's inaction meant indiffer
ence. On the contrary, we know, from con-
* The Archdukes Albert and Isabella, so called because
Albert governed the Netherlands in right of his wife.
t June 20, Salisbury to Trumbull. Winwood, vol. iii. p. 282.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 49
temporary authority, that the young man chafed
much during his enforced exile, and was ready
to join in seditious talk — though he never got
so far as an actual plot — with other malcontents
abroad. A letter* dated May 26, 1613, which has
been discovered by Mr. Inderwick, in his
researches on this very subject, from an un
named person in Paris, gives an interesting
account of Arabella's banished husband. Un
fortunately, the letter was burnt in the fire
among the Cotton. MSS. some years ago,
and only the middle is legible. In it we find
that Seymour is much vexed that the king
had not bestowed any grace upon him, nor
allowed his lady and he to come together again,
so that she has become distracted in mind,
whereby he hears she cannot live long, and he
has therefore determined to take some other
course. This was, however, an empty threat, as
without powerful friends or influence at court
Seymour could do nothing, and he was therefore
obliged to let his lady languish in the Tower.
* Cotton. MSS., Cal. E. xi. 306.
VOL. II. 22

50 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
Satisfied that he had Arabella safely in his
clutches, James troubled himself little with her
husband, and the Earl of Hertford was the
only person who agitated himself about the
young man during his exile. The grandfather's
letters to William are almost comical in their
intense anxiety. At one time, hearing a rumour
that his grandson was about to become a papist,
he despatches his chaplain, and a former tutor
of William's, one Pelling, to keep him in the
right way. At another he agitates about the
young man's constant companionship with
Rodney, whom Hertford seems always to have
disliked and distrusted. Seymour, having com
plained that it was impossible to live on his
allowance (see letter quoted above in the
Cotton. MSS.), Hertford writes (October, 1613)
in querulous tones to ask whether ^400 a year
from an aged grandfather, whose estate was
crippled by debts, was not an " exceeding great
allowance." *
* See, for above extracts, Longleat Papers, given by Canon
Jackson, in Wilts. Archceological Magazine, vol. xv. pp. 159-202 ;
also State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxvi. pp. 21, 27; and
vol. lxvii. p. 3.

i6ii.] THE ESCAPE AND CAPTURE. 5 1
The young man was not yet satisfied, for in
September, 161 5, he writes * a complaining letter
to Francis, asking the old earl again to release
him from his debts. In future, he says, he " must
cut his coat according to his cloth." On the back
of this letter is a note endorsed, "September 28,"
and probably in Francis's hand, "The Lady
Arbella died Tuesday night, being the 25th of
September, 161 5."
A few months after his wife's death, Seymour,
following the advice his grandfather had con
stantly urged upon him, wrote a letter of
penitence for his transgressions to James, and
now all danger was over, he was permitted to
return to England (February, 1616).
His father had died in July, 1612 ; his elder
brother, whose name had once been coupled
with Arabella's, in 1618, when William became
Lord Beauchamp, and three years later he
succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Hertford
(162 1). His later history does not belong to
our present scope. Enough to say that he
played a great part on the Royalist side through-
* Unpublished MSS., furnished by Canon Jackson.

52 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
out Charles I.'s reign, and was rewarded at the
Restoration by a special Act of Parliament, which
at last righted the wrongs of Katharine Grey,
by recognizing her grandson as her legitimate
descendant, and restoring to him the title and
estates of his great-grandfather, the Protector
Somerset. In 1617 he had married a second wife, a
daughter of the Earl of Essex, and by the
name, "Arbella," of his eldest daughter (who
died unmarried), we see that he wished to keep
up the memory of his unfortunate first wife, and
that, in spite of years of separation and silence,
he had not altogether forgotten her.

( 53 )

CHAPTER XIV.
DESPAIR AND DEATH.
16H-1615.
WE must return to the history of Arabella, and
gather up the scanty records of her last years.
Black despair overwhelmed the wretched captive
as the Tower gates closed irrevocably upon her
hopes of happiness. At first she writes heart
rending letters* to her friends at court, humbling
herself to the very dust. Her appeals were dis
regarded. James had too successfully impressed
his principle of absolute obedience upon his
servile courtiers, but the whirlwind he had sown
was to be reaped by his darling, his " Baby
Charles," years after both the obstacles to his
present peace, Prince Henry and Arabella, had
been laid in their graves.
* See three undated letters, Part II. H, Nos. 22, 23, .24,
pp. 261-263.

54 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611.
The Earl of Shrewsbury had the will, but not
the power, to help his favourite niece. He was
watched as closely as if he had been a prisoner
himself, and his wife, who had shown only too
well her ability to be of use to the unfortunate
prisoner, was now in the same plight herself.
A " Memorial concerning the Lady Arbella " *
was sent in to the Council, desiring that her
servants, especially one Peter, who had attended
her husband, "an ancient servant of hers,"
Fretwell, an embroiderer, and Smith, the same
who had once carried her letters to Seymour
from Lambeth, might be allowed to attend her
in the Tower. " For a woman she desireth Lady
Chaworth.f Her desire is that Mr. Yelverton"{
— the Yelverton whose name is associated with
hers in her licence for appointing persons to
keep taverns and sell spirits in Ireland — "may
receive her money and jewels. There must of
necessity be linen bought both for her wearing,
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 72.
t Probably wife of the young Chaworth who was her messenger
in 1603.
% She evidently owed Yelverton a debt, which was paid by
some money found on her person. Part II. I, No. 4, p. 270.

i6ii.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 55
for sheets, and table linen, whereof there is not
any amongst her stuff. She hath thirty-two
servants, for which some order would be taken."
This memorial is undated, but it must have
been sent in during the first days of her im
prisonment ; for Sir William Waad, the Governor
of the Tower, writes to Salisbury on June 1 1,
to say that Lady Arabella awaits his directions,
and wishes for the Lady Chaworth to be with
her.* By the letter to Lord Fenton, it seems
that Arabella's request to have her servants
about her was not granted.
Some of the money found upon her person
was confiscated to pay the expenses of her
capture.f A parcel of gold, amounting to £388,
besides jewels, was given over into the hands of
Sir William Bowyer, one of the tellers in his
Majesty's receipts, by a warrant % from the
Lords of the Council.
He was bidden first to take them to the Tower,
and ask the lady if the whole belonged to her,

* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 26, MS.
t Part II. I, No. 3, p. 270.
\ Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 138.

56 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1611-12.
and whatever belonged to her servants was to
be returned to them. The rest, after some of
the jewels had been sold to pay her debts,* was
to remain in Bowyer's custody, and no part of
it was henceforth to be delivered to Arabella
without a warrant from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. From the time of her capture, and as the
dreary months went on in the Tower, Arabella
lost all her bright spirits, and relapsed into an
hysterical state, not unlike the phase she passed
through during her trouble of 1603. This time,
however, there was no hope to bear her up, and
gradually the clouds of melancholy settled upon
her mind, and the report went abroad that she
was mad. We shall come to the question of
her madness later on ; but as yet her sanity was
unquestioned, and one of her undated letters
should be read at this period, as, if it is from
the Tower,f it cannot have been written many
months after her second arrest. She would
* Part II. I, No. 4, p. 270.
t The fact that she refers to her rejected petition to have her
servants with her seems to fix it as from the Tower ; hitherto
she had had Smith and Mrs. Bradshaw, besides others.

I6II-I2.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 57
not have been so full of the rejection of her
prayer to have her own servants about her,
and the weakness to which she refers was no
doubt a return of her illness at East Barnet,
caused by the agitation and excitement of her
attempted escape.
The letter* referred to, which is addressed
to Lord Fenton, and given entire in Part
1 1., contains a graphic account of her state.
Some passages in it are especially tragic,
marking her fears that, under this terrible
trial, her already weak body, and perhaps her
mind too, must give way. " I shall be sus
pected and restrained," she says, "till help
comes too late ; " and again, " If you re
member, I dare die so I be not guilty of my
own death."
This letter is one of the few written after her
second arrest and final incarceration, and to
which a probable date can be affixed. As a rule,
the petitions and letters contain no dates, and
no internal evidence to fix the date.
Amongst these undated documents there is a
* Part II. H, No. 25, pp. 263-266.

58 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1612.
moving letter* to the queen, who is implored
" to consider how long I have lived a spectacle
of his Majesty's displeasure, to my unspeakable
grief," which may well have been written from
the Tower this year, before all communication
between the prisoner and the outer world
ceased. With it she enclosed a petition " to the
King, against this time " f (Christmas, no doubt,
by the context), "when the rather, I am sure,
his Majesty forgiveth greater offences as freely
as he desires to be forgiven by Him, whose
sacrament he is to receive." The petition may
have been one of those we have placed earlier,
but it is again impossible to fix upon any one
as written at this time.
On June 30, 1612, the Countess of Shrewsbury
was had up for trial before the Council and
judges at the lord chancellor's, to answer to the
charges made against her of having known of
and abetted Arabella's escape, directly proved
by Crompton, and not denied by her niece.
* Part II. H, No. 26, p. 266.
t Mr. Inderwick also dates this Christmas, 1611, but Lady
Theresa Lewis places it as late as the Princess Elizabeth's
marriage.

1 6 12.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 59
It was even admitted that Arabella had per
sonally "had no evil intent against the king,
who had always a great and special care of
her, and was very bountiful unto her until
her marriage with the said Seymour, who was
the pomum vetitum" (the forbidden fruit to
which James had referred, see vol. i. p. 261).
" Yet when she fled, and when she should be en
vironed with evil spirits, cum perversis perverti
possit " — i.e. " Evil communications corrupt good
manners " — " and when she shall be in another
sphere, she will not move within the same orb." *
Arabella had answered the questions at her
first examination with so much propriety that
she was not had up again ; but Lady Shrews
bury was now indicted for " high and great con
tempt," since she had refused to reply to any
of the accusations, and had altogether behaved
very indecorously in the first outbreak of her
rage at the failure of her plan. The following
had been, and still were, her reasons for not
replying : " 1. Because she had made a rash
vow that she would not declare anything in
* StateTrials, Cobbett ; see Sir F. Bacon's speech, p. 60.

60 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1612.
particular touching the said points, and it was
better to obey God than man. 2. She stood
upon her privilege of nobility to answer only
before her peers."
The solicitor-general, Sir Francis Bacon,* who
presided at the trial, addressed her in a lengthy
speech. He dwelt first upon Arabella's ex
tremely ill-advised course in "transacting the
most weighty and binding part and action of her
life, which is her marriage, without acquainting
his Majesty, which had been a neglect even to
a mean parent ; but being to our sovereign, and
standing so near his Majesty as she doth, and
she then choosing such a condition as it pleased
her to choose, all parties laid together, how
dangerous it was my lady might have read it
in the fortune of that house whereunto she is
matched ; for it was not unlike the case of
Mr. Seymour's grandmother. The king never
theless so remembered he was a king, as he
forgot not he was a kinsman, and placed her

* Mr. Spedding says that there is little doubt that this speech
is by Bacon (see his "Life of Bacon," vol. iv. p. 297; also
"Cabala," p. 369).

I6i2j DESPAIR AND DEATH. 6l
only sub libera custodia. But now did my lady
accumulate and heap up the offence with a
far greater than the former, by seeking to
withdraw herself out of the king's power into
foreign parts. That this flight or escape into
foreign parts might have been seed of trouble
to this state, is a matter whereof the conceit
of a vulgar person is not incapable. For
although my lady should have put on a mind
to continue her loyalty, as nature and duty
did bind her, yet, when she was in another
sphere, she must have moved in the motion of
that orb, and not of the planet itself, and God
forbid the king's felicity should be so little as
he should not have envy and enviers enough in
foreign parts."
Bacon continued for a while in the same
courtier-like strain, and it was this very year
(1612) that he succeeded in gaining James's
good graces, after Salisbury's death rising
rapidly into favour and receiving promotion.
He now addressed himself directly to the
haughty countess : " This fact of conspiring
in the flight of this lady may bear a hard and

62 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1612.
gentler construction — if upon overmuch affection
to your kinswoman, gentler ; if upon practice
or other end, harder. . . . Nay, you must
learn duty of the Lady Arbella herself, a lady
of the blood, of a higher rank than yourself,
who declining, and that by request neither, to
declare of your fact, yieldeth ingenuously to
be examined of her own."
The result of the trial was that Lady Shrews
bury was condemned by the Star Chamber to
pay a fine of ^"20,000, and to be confined during
his Majesty's pleasure. It is extremely doubt
ful that her impoverished husband, who was,
like the rest of his family, loaded with debts,
could raise such a large sum ; and the anxiety
consequent on his money difficulties and the
imprisonment of his wife and niece quite broke
down his health. During the latter part of
this year Lady Shrewsbury's imprisonment had
been gradually relaxed ; she was allowed the
"liberty of the Tower," and went home to
nurse poor Gilbert through an illness.
But her restless mind was not one to bear
imprisonment without seeking an escape, and

1613.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 63
early in 161 3 she fell into mysterious disgrace.
Chamberlayne (see below) repeats a vague
rumour that her niece was the cause of her
aunt's fresh misfortunes, but there is no other
evidence to connect Arabella with the matter,
and we only know that the countess was had
up twice before the Lords that year, each time
refusing to answer questions.
Chamberlayne writes * to Winwood on Janu
ary 29, 161 3, that Lady Shrewsbury "is now of
late restrained and kept more close upon some
what discovered against her (as they say) by
her niece, the Lady Arbella." And he saysf
on March 10, " The Lady Arbella hath been
dangerously sick of convulsions, and is now said
to be distracted, which, if it be so, comes well
to pass for somebody [the countess], whom they
say she hath nearly touched."
The question of Arabella's madness is now
before us, but Chamberlayne's on dits are
very unsatisfactory, and certainly do not furnish
sufficient evidence to justify the usual descrip
tion of the lady as a hopeless lunatic. Lady
* Winwood, vol. iii. p. 429. t Ibid., p. 442.

64 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1613.
Theresa Lewis has discussed the matter with
much judgment in her "Clarendon Gallery"
(vol. ii.), and from a careful sifting of the
scanty evidence and the few passages referring
to the subject in contemporary letters, we prefer
to believe, with her, that the fits of madness
were only temporary alienations, and that
between them Arabella was as sane as a person
distracted by grief and imprisonment can be.
For ourselves, we believe also that these fits of
so-called madness resembled the hysterical at
tacks to which she had been subject before, and
were brought on by any extra worry, as in
1603, when her letters are often those of a
person who is worked up into a state of great
nervous irritability. By our arrangement of the
undated letters, as well as by passages from con
temporary ones, it is certain that her attacks
always followed some disappointment.
Early in February we hear for the last time
of the poor lady's dresses. Even in her cap
tivity she seems to have kept her extravagant
tastes. On the occasion of Princess Eliza
beth's marriage to the Prince Palatine, Arabella

1613.I DESPAIR AND DEATH. 65
showed her desire to take part in the bridal
festivities by " buying four new gowns, whereof
one cost £1500."* One of these dresses was
probably the "riche gowne embroidered with
pearles," mentioned by the Lieutenant of the
Tower as amongst the prisoner's apparel at her
death. The pearls for this costume were valued
at .£400 ; but the bill had never been paid, so
the dress was laid aside in order to return the
jewels to the seller. Sir William Bowyer had
no doubt refused to allow the spendthrift lady
as much for her clothes as she liked to spend,
and so she ran, as usual, into debt.
She must still have had a fair number of jewels
of her own, since four months after her death a
warrant from the Privy Council, which ordered
those of her fellow-prisoners who possessed any
of her goods to give them up to the Crown,
names Sir Walter Raleigh,f whose love for
precious stones was renowned, as the possessor
of some of Arabella's jewels. He had been

* Calendar of State Papers, James I., Dom. (1611-18), p.
1 70, 'MS.
t Edwardes, "Life of Sir Walter Raleigh," vol. i. p. 558.
VOL. II. 23

66 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1613.
imprisoned in the Tower since 161 2, and pro
bably purchased the things on the lady's
death. In May of this very year 161 3, the Lieutenant
of the Tower, Sir William Waad, who was a
very grasping man, and had seized upon Sey
mour's goods after his escape,* was dismissed \
from his post on the charge of having embezzled
some of the Lady Arabella's jewels, and also
because he was thought to have been too severe
against his unfortunate charge.
Before we give the last petition, let us notice
another reason why Arabella should have been
reduced to a worse state than ever of grief and
despondency. Just before he left England, Elizabeth's young
bridegroom made a suit to the king for the
enlargement of Lord Grey, who was still in
the Tower ; perhaps intending to indirectly aid
the other prisoners, and especially Arabella, to
whom in her childhood at least, Miss Strickland

* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxvii. p. 94, MS.
t Ibid., vol. lxxii. p. 129; and Somer's "Tracts," vol. ii.
p. 283.

1613.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 67
tells us, the princess had been attached. The
attempt to rescue Grey failed, as we see below ;
but it is evident that there was some connection
between the affair and both Arabella and her
aunt — what, we cannot tell.
James's answer to his son-in-law was a
characteristic one.* "The king told him he
marvelled how he should become suitor for a
man whom he neither knew nor ever saw. He
answered that he was recommended to him by
his uncles, the Duke of Bouillon, the Prince
Maurice (one of Arabella's former suitors), and
the Count Henry, who had better knowledge of
him. Then the king said, ' Son, when I come
into Germany, I will promise you not to
importune you for any of your prisoners.'
Since that time the Lord Grey hath been
restrained and kept more strait, for having had
conference with one of Lady Arbella's women,.
who, being strictly examined, was fain, to
confess that it was only matter of love and
dalliance. The Lady Arbella is likewise re-
* Winwood, vol. iii. p. 454. State Papers, James I., Dom.,
vol. Ixxii. p. 120 (April 29, 1613).

68 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1613.
strained of late, though they say her brain
continues still crackt, and the Countess of
Shrewsbury more close than at any time before,
and not without cause, as the voice goes."
The last specimen,* as far as we can tell, from
Arabella's hand is now before us. It is torn in
half, blotted with her tears, and the wildness
and misery of her tone show too clearly the
condition to which confinement and separation
from all she loved best had reduced that once
bright and courted lady.
" In all humility, in most humble wise, the
most wretched and unfortunate creature that
ever lived prostrates itself at the feet of the
most merciful " (the irony of this must have
made even James blush) " king that ever was,
desiring nothing but mercy and favour, not
being more afflicted for anything than for the
loss of that which hath been this long time the
only comfort it had in the world, and which, if it
were to do again, I would not adventure the loss
of any for any other worldly comfort. Mercy it
is I desire, and that for God's sake. Let either
* Hari. MSS., 7003, fol. 146.

1613] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 69
Freake or  " Here the paper is torn. Thus
at last Arabella's spirit was quite broken, and
she even, for the first time, seems to regret her
rash marriage.
The ever-faithful Crompton was now (1613)
at liberty, and as soon as he was free he began
to plan the rescue of his mistress. Little is
known .of the plot beyond a mention of it in
one or two contemporary letters, and the history
of the attempt must be left among the many
obscure passages in Arabella's life.
As early as November 20, 16 13, the authori
ties had received warning of the conspiracy, for
on that day Northampton * writes -f to Somerset,
that the place intended for the escape was to
be under Mr. Ruthven's study, but that the
whole affair had been organized with so much
mystery and art that nothing more was discover
able. He begs Somerset to take no one but the
king into his confidence till the plot had been
sounded to the bottom. The return of the
" prisoner " had been commanded, and Lord
* The Lord Privy Seal.
t State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. Ixxv. p. 27, MS.

70 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1614.
Shrewsbury, though about to petition for longer
leave, had, " upon better advertisement," resolved
to send her back the next day. A petition was
afterwards to be made for more liberty for her.
On November 23 * the Lieutenant was sent to
fetch her back. The " prisoner " was doubtless
the countess, whose complicity in the plot was
probably suspected.
It was not till the following year that we
hear anything more of the matter, and then
only the mere fact, written on July 7 from
Chamberlayne f to Carleton, that a certain " Dr.
Palmer, a divine, and Crompton, a gentleman
usher, were committed to the Tower last week
for some business about the Lady Arbella, who,
they say, is far out of frame this midsummer
moon." Again, in another contemporary letter,!
written in August of the same year, Reeves,
Seymour's old servant, is mentioned as having
been concerned with the other two in "some
new complot for her escape and delivery."
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxxv. p. 23, MS. North
ampton to Sir Thomas Lake.
t Ibid., vol. lxxvii. p. 58.
J Miss Cooper's " Life of Arabella Stuart," vol. ii. p. 241.

1614.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 71
Thus once more, and for the last time, we see
the working of the powerful charm which Ara
bella had always exercised over so many of
those who were brought into personal contact
with her, even now, when age, misfortune,
and her so-called -madness must have quite
destroyed her good looks. Long ago it was
suspected that a chaplain committed suicide on
her account (see vol. i. p. 102) ; now her two
former dependents, who had been with her in
the worst of her troubles, and an unknown divine,
risked their lives to do her service.
About this time, and probably from the effects
of the disappointment, Arabella took to her bed,
never to leave it again, refusing all remedies, and
not allowing the doctors even to feel her pulse,
till she became bedridden and ill only from her
neglect of her health. There seems, indeed, to
have been more method in her madness than
later writers have imagined. Now she had played
her last card, she determined to die, and without
actually committing suicide she accomplished
her desire. Vainly had "some person of gravity
and learning" been sent (September, 1614) by

72 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1615.
the Privy Council — hearing that " the Lady
Arbella, prisoner in the Tower, is of late fallen
into some indisposition of body and mind " —
to give her " that comfort as is expedient for a
Christian in cases of weakness and infirmity."
Vainly must the poor man have tried to carry
out the directions of the Council, that he was
" to give her such spiritual comfort and advice
as " the Governor of the Tower should think
expedient, and to visit her from time to time.
It was too late to offer comfort ; Arabella pre
ferred to die, and, after a year of great bodily
suffering, chiefly caused by her own obstinate
refusal to get well, that " ill-fated and perse
cuted lady'' passed away, September 25, 161 5,
at the age of forty years.
It is interesting to see, by a letter from
Arabella's aunt Mary, that, in spite of their
separation, and a captivity due partly to her
own ambition, partly to over-zeal on her niece's
behalf, for which she might have borne malice
against her fellow-prisoner, the countess still
cherished her early affection for her poor
relative.

I6J5J DESPAIR AND DEATH. 7 '3
On December 8, 161 5, she writes to the
Countess of Cumberland, thanking her for her
sympathy with her hard fortune in the heavy
loss of the Lady Arabella. She hopes she
" died a saint " — an expression which would not
bear out the usual idea of Arabella's death-bed
as that of a raving lunatic. Her danger was
not known to her aunt till she was, in the
opinion of all about her, to have died that night,
but this was two days before her death, and
the Countess of Shrewsbury says she was made
to believe the next morning that her niece was
much better, when in reality she must have been
sinking fast. With much feeling Mary Talbot
adds that her heart is so full of her loss that
she can think of nothing else.*
Thomas Overbury had lately been murdered,
and a cry of " Poison ! " was raised when the
news of Arabella's death reached the court, by
the very friends who had allowed her to languish
four years in her gloomy prison.
The day after her death, Sir Ralph Winwood,
* Report of Hist. MSS. Commission II. Append, -vii. p.
83. From the MSS. of Lord Hothfield.

74 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1615.
Secretary of State, directed * the President of
the College of Physicians, and five members of
the college, to go and see Arabella's corpse ;
" according to former custom upon like occasions,
when prisoners of great quality die in that place,
her body should be viewed by persons of skill
and trust, and thereupon certificate be made of
what disease she died, as their judgment might
appear." The president was then required to appoint
three physicians to meet Arabella's private
doctor, Dr. Moundford, at 8 a.m. on September
28,f and hold a post-mortem. This was done,
and the doctors reported that the cause of her
death was a chronic and long sickness, increased
by her own negligence and refusal of remedies,
accelerated by lying in bed, and an " extreme
leanness." The body was embalmed,! and carried at dead

* Hist. MSS. Commission, 8th ¦ Report, and Appendix
Part I. p. 228*.
t Evidently a mistake for September 27.
\ By a certain Dr. Primrose, one of the king's surgeons,
who received £6 ly. $d. for the charges of the same (Part II.
J, No. 3, p. 274).

1615.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 7$
of night to Westminster Abbey, where, without
any ceremony save the hurried reading of the
Burial Service, it was laid (September 27, 161 5)
to rest near the tomb of Arabella's Scotch
grandmother, and in the vault of Mary Queen
of Scots (south aisle, Chapel of Henry VII.).
The Abbey registers tell us that the coffin was
placed near that of her faithless friend and
cousin, Henry, Prince of Wales, who had died
in 1 61 2, also amidst suspicions, which seem to
have been equally unfounded, that his death had
been hastened by poison, by his father's secret
orders. Strangely enough, two of William
Seymour's daughters by his second wife also
lie in the Abbey.
In 171 1 Crull, the author of a guide* to the
Abbey, says he saw Arabella's coffin, " much
shattered and broken, so that her skull and body
may be seen," lying under the leaden coffin that
contains Mary Stuart's remains. This is a mis
take, the coffin being really, where it would
naturally have been placed, upon Mary's.
It is evident that the funeral was purposely
* Edit. 1722, vol. i. p. 128.

76 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1615-16.
conducted with secrecy, lest any inconvenient
comments might be made on James's harsh
treatment of his cousin. Charles the Fair, quoted
by Camden, puts the affair in a nutshell :
" Those who die in the king's prison," he says,
" are not buried with pomp, lest it should be said
that they had been unjustly thrown into prison."
Bishop Goodman, in his " History of his Own
Times," * treats Arabella's case in a very courtier
like way, defending the king much as Bacon
had done, and entirely ignoring that the worst
part of his conduct was the despair and misery
which he inflicted on the poor lady by her
forcible separation from her husband, and by
his want of honour in breaking his plighted
word. " What punishment did he [the king]
inflict ? " exclaims the bishop, in righteous
indignation. " Surely a little imprisonment, no
strict restraint, but with great freedom and
liberty [he refers to the first imprisonment];
and hereunto you may add the king's great
favour unto her before her marriage : a large
allowance ; she lived in the greatest respect
* Vol. i. p. 209.

1616.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 77
and esteem at court ; the king preferred her
followers ; her chaplain, Dr. Oates, was made
Canon of Windsor upon her recommendations,
with many other such like favours. Being in
this libera custodis, which the king thought was
fit for his honour, lest he should be slighted by
others, she brake prison, and certainly it was
her own voluntary act, without any trick of
state ; she fled towards France, and it was a
thousand to one but she had escaped, for it was
only the turning of the wind which hindered it.
Here, then, was a great offence against the law,
and, be the crime what it will, yet the breaking
of prison is punishable. If the king should
hereupon intend to send her a prisoner to
Scotland [Durham], yet this was only an intent,
nothing was acted ; or if it had been put in
execution, all the world knows the king was
mutable, and soon pacified. But she dying
before, the King would have her buried among
her royal ancestors. It is true that to have a
great funeral for one dying out of the king's
favour would have reflected upon the king's
honour, and therefore it was omitted."

78 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART. [1616.
With all his anxiety to whitewash his royal
patron, the bishop does not make out a very
good case, and he also confuses the details of
Arabella's captivity. All he can do is to dwell
on the supposition that James's intentions were
more merciful than his deeds; but unfortunately,
each man is judged according to his acts, and
whatever excuses * may be made for the king
after the unfortunate pair's attempt to escape,
he had none before.
His fears, however, were not quite set at rest
by his cousin's death. A rumour was now
afloat that Arabella had borne a child to
Seymour during her imprisonment at Barnet ;
but her faithful servant, Mrs. Bradshaw, who
had been with her mistress before and ever
since her marriage, and nursed her to the last,
proved conclusively that the rumour had no
foundation (January, 15 16).
James was not yet quite satisfied ; for Lady
Shrewsbury was examined on the same subject,
* Mr. Spedding discusses the question in his life of Bacon,
and decides it in James's favour. He considers the possibility
of there being children born to Seymour and Arabella as a real
danger to the throne.

1616.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 79.
and as late as June 26, 1618,* she was called
up before the Star Chamber for "contempt of
court," in not answering at her former exami
nations the inquiries about Lady Arabella's
" pretended child." She pleaded a vow as her
excuse for not replying, but declared her dis
belief of the child ; and that is all we ever hear
of the subject. No doubt it was a trumped-up
story. Meantime, in 1616, Lady Shrewsbury had
been released from the Tower, and Sir R.
Winwood boasts that he was the chief means
of her delivery at the last. Mr. Craik (see
" Romance of the Peerage," vol. ii. p. 385) quotes
a curious statement, made by Robert Johnstone,
the author of a Latin history of English affairs
between the years 1573 and 1628 (published in
1655), in which "(• "he says that it was Lady
Shrewsbury who, in revenge for the keen part
that the Earls of Suffolk and Northampton
(both Howards) had taken against her in the
business of her niece at the Council Boards (in
* State Papers, James I., Dom., vol.. xciv. p. 126, MS.
t Pages 470 and 506.

80 DESPAIR AND DEATH. [1616.
Scuahi), first set on foot the inquiry into the
murder of Overbury by the Countess of Somer
set (also a Howard), which in the result shook
to its foundation and almost threw to the
ground the house of Howard."
One more of the actors in the drama of
Arabella's history was destined to follow her
out of life while her memory was still green.
Her uncle Gilbert had been gradually suc
cumbing to the agitations he had gone through
during the imprisonment of his wife and niece,
and Mary Talbot was only released from the
Tower in time to be present at his deathbed
(he died May 16, 1616).
We have now pieced together all the facts
we can gather up concerning that persecuted
lady, Arabella Stuart, who, destined by her
birth to play a leading part in the history of
England, and singled out more than once as
worthy to be a queen, either of her own or of
a foreign country, was yet doomed to die an
obscure and lingering death, in striking contrast
to the brilliant promise of her early years.
But since, though we have been able to throw

1616.] DESPAIR AND DEATH. 8 1
fresh light upon some passages in her history,
much is yet wrapped in mystery, to "be un
ravelled, perhaps, some future day by letters
now hidden away in private collections, we
have here confined ourselves strictly to the
authentic facts furnished by State Papers,
original manuscripts, and the researches of
others in the same field. Now, without any
additional conjecture or comment, let us leave a
pure life and tragic fate, to stand for ever at
the judgment-bar of history, as a silent witness
against James Stuart and his servile ministers.

vol. n. 24

PART II.
LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS RELATING
TO LADY ARABELLA STUART.

GENEALOGY OF ARABELLA STUART AND WILLIAM SEYMOUR.
Henry VII. m. Elizabeth of York.

Henry VIII.

m. Katharine m. Anne
of Arragon. Boleyn.
I I
Mary. Elizabeth.

Margaret.

Mary m. Charles Brandon,
Duke of Suffolk.

I

| m. (i) James IV. m. (2) Douglas, E. of Angus. Frances
m. Jane of Scotland. | m. Henry Grey, Marq.
beymour. | Margaret m. Matthew of Dorset, Duke
TT.J ' j „t Ja™esV- Stewart, E. of Lenox. of Suffolk.
Edward VI. I
Mary m. Lord Charles Jane m. Katharine Mary
Q. of Scots Darnley. m. Elizabeth Guildford m. (2) m. Henry
, | Cavendish, 1574. Dudley. Edward Keyes.
James VI. | Seymour,
Arabella, Earl of Hertford.
t>- 1575, |
d. 1615. Edward, Lord Beauchamp.

I
Edward
Seymour,

William Francis
Seymour, Seymour.
b. 1588, d. 1660,
m. Arabella Stuart ;
afterwards
' Earl of Hertford
and Duke of Somerset.

86 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
A.
Portraits.
i. In 1866 Exhibition, No. 42, at South Kensing
ton. In 1888-9 Stuart Exhibition, London, No. 65.
" Small half-length figure of a child dressed in white,
and holding a doll attired in full costume of the
period, including stiff red coat and full-quilted petti
coat." * The hair is fair, the eyes large and blue, gold
chain and locket round the neck. Engraved in Miss
Costello's " Eminent Englishwomen." Owner, Mar
quess of Hartington.
2. In 1857 Manchester Exhibition, No. 37. In
1888-9 Stuart Exhibition, No. 47. Whole-length,
life-size. She is standing near a table, on which the
right hand rests ; a fan hangs from the waist. Dress
of white brocade, puffed sleeves, studded with dark
jewels, and having embroidered sleeves of a dark
colour; her light-brown hair, frizzed in front, is
allowed to fall, maiden fashion, on her shoulders.
Pearl necklace and other ornaments. A little dog
is at her feet. On a cartel is written, "Arbella
Stuarta Comtissa Leoiniae. ./Etatis 13 et -J. Anno
Diii 1589." Pointed out to Granger by H. Walpole,
Owner, Marquess of Hartington.
3. In Manchester Exhibition, 1887, and Stuart
Exhibition, 1888-9, No. 58. Similar to above.
Below the cartel is written, " Granddaughter of Sir
* The Catalogue of the Stuart Exhibition has been used for
the description of this and Nos. 2 and 3.

LIST OF PORTRAITS. 87
William and Elizabeth Hardwicke, by Elizabeth their
second daughter, and her husband Charles Stuart, Earl
of Lenox." In the original carved frame above it
is the Cavendish crest, below the badge of the Garter.
By F. Zucchero. Engraved in Lodge's " Illustrations,"
etc. Owner, Duke of Portland.
4. In Exhibition of 1866. Whole-length figure.
Owner, Duke of Northumberland.
5. Large half-length, taken much later than any of
above. Face plain, hair dragged stiffly back. A thick
rope of pearls, similar to one worn as a necklace in
the prints of Arabella (see later) and in some of
the portraits of her grandmother and aunt, the Coun
tesses of Shrewsbury, so no doubt a family ornament,
hangs across one' shoulder to the waist. By Van
Somers. Owner, Marquess of Bath.
Miniatures by the Olivers.
(The numbers with "S. K." refer to the Catalogue
of the Exhibitions of 1865-6 at South Kensington,)
1. S. K., No. 486. Grey-blue eyes and brown hair.
A black dress studded with jewels, a fan, cambric
ruff edged with deep lace. A jet necklace. Owner,
the Hon. William Ashley.
2. S. K., No. 1580. Grey-blue eyes, with drooping
lids, like those in the Countess of Lenox's miniature
(see next page) ; fair reddish hair, dressed high in
short curls. Black dress, covered with emeralds and
sapphires, yellow brocaded pattern. Pearl necklace,
with a long jewel of emeralds and sapphires, ter
minating in a pear-shaped pearl, attached to it; ear-

88 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
rings of a dark stone. In Stuart Exhibition for
1 888-9. By I. Oliver. Owner, the Earl of Wharncliffe.
3 and 4. S. K., No. 2169. Two exactly alike
(another similar to these was exhibited by the Duke
of Hamilton, at the Archaeological Institute in i860) ;
one of these, which was engraved in Miss Cooper's
" Life of Arabella Stuart," was bought from Straw
berry Hill. Both in Exhibition of 1889, Burlington
Fine Arts Club. Grey-blue eyes; long fair curling hair.
The dress open, as in most of these miniatures, ac
cording to the custom for young unmarried ladies ;
small ruff, no necklace, black silk watch-guard round
the neck ; hands shown only in one of the miniatures.
Bracelets of pearl and emerald, a pearl earring in one
ear, a black anchor in the other. By I. Oliver.
Owner, G. Wingfield Digby.
5. Another, with open neck and brocaded dress,
an ermine-lined mantle over one shoulder; the
costume, even to the different earrings, similar to
that in Nos. 3 and 4. The face is full, with fresh
colour ; the eyes dark grey ; the hair fair, long, and
curling. Exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club,
1889. Owner, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
6. Very similar to Nos. 3 and 4. Blue eyes ; rippled
fair hair turned back, and flowing over her shoulders.
White satin brocaded dress, a lace tucker in front,
and small fan ruff at the back. A black silk watch-
guard the only necklace, as in above; the earrings
black anchors, studded with gold. The owner, in
1866, was Lord Aveland.
7. Long light-brown hair, grey-blue eyes, mouth

/**

LIST OF PORTRAITS. 89
pursed up, resembling that of the Countess of Lenox
in the Duke of Portland's miniature (No. 222, Stuart
Exhibition). Pearl necklace and ornaments. In Stuart
Exhibition, 1888-9, No. 717. I. Oliver. Owner,
Stewart Dawson, Esq.
8. Grey-blue eyes, long frizzed mouse^coloured
hair. Oval shape, with blue background. In Stuart
Exhibition, case 900, No. 12. I. Oliver. Owner,
Earl of Buccleugh.
9. Similar to No. 2, probably also by I. Oliver.
The dress only is different — white instead of black,
and the ornaments diamonds and rubies instead of
pearls. Owner in 1866, Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks,
Esq. 10. Different to any others by the Olivers. Fair
hair, done up high and ornamented with jewels, age
about 17 or 18, face round and smiling, grey-blue
eyes ; she wears a large ruff. Burlington Fine Arts
Exhibition, 1889. I. Oliver. Owner, Major-General
Sotheby. n. Eyes dark-blue or grey; long mouse-coloured
frizzed hair. This was taken to France by James IL,
and placed in the cabinet of Louis XV., but sent
back to England under the Directory. Exhibited in
Stuart Exhibition, No. 230. P. Oliver. Owner, the
Dowager Lady Orde.
12. Similar to above, but brown eyes. Stuart
Exhibition, No. 284. Owner, Henry H. Gibbs, Esq.
13. Very dark-brown eyes, long light-brown curling
hair, round face, no colour. Dress resembles that
in Nos. 3, 4, and 5. Burlington Fine Arts Club,

90 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
1889. P. Oliver. Shaftesbury and Addington Col
lections. 14. Another by P. Oliver was exhibited at South
Kensington, No. 2564, then in the possession of Lady
Sophia Desbceux. Miniatures by N. Hilliard.
Brown eyes, light-brown hair, drawn up high in a
tower, and finished off with stiff little curls, crowned "
with a small coronet, very much like the portraits of
Queen Elizabeth. She wears a white dress made in
plaits and trimmed with gold chains, also a large ruff.
This is probably the one painted to send to the Duke
of Parma. Exhibited at South Kensington, No. 651.
From Strawberry Hill, whence it passed into the pos
session of the late Hollingworth Magniac, Esq.
Another, very faded. Brown eyes, long curling light-
brown hair. The Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1889.
Owner, the Earl of Carlisle.
Another, No. 1009 in South Kensington Exhibi
tion, then in the possession of Mr. Maskell.
Miniatures by J. Hoskins.
Brown eyes, long rippling fair hair. Dress yellow-
and-white plaid, stripes set with jewels and a lace
tucker falling in front. S. K., 1481. Owner, Lord
FitzHardinge. S. K., 2063. Owner, Earl of Shaftesbury.

LIST OF PORTRAITS. 91
Anonymous.
S. K, 1759. Long fair hair ; black-and-gold dress,
pearl necklace and ornaments. Owner, R. G. Clarke,
Esq. S. K, 1700. Owner, Duke of Marlborough.
Stuart Exhibition, No. 283. Fair hair done up and
hidden by the hat, and dark-brown or grey eyes.
Large black hat; a dog at her feet. Aged about
seventeen or eighteen. Owner, Mrs. Hogge. (See
Frontispiece, vol. i.)
The above list does not pretend to be a complete
one, as so numerous are the miniatures of Arabella,
and so scattered in private collections, it is impossible
to say exactly how many exist. It will be noticed
that none of these miniatures represent her after she
was out of her teens, far the greater number having
been painted between the ages of twelve and sixteen,
when she was in favour with Elizabeth, and constant
marriage projects were being made on her behalf.
In the copy of Pennant's " London " (Part ix. Nos.
182 and 183), in the Print-Room at the British
Museum, are two prints of Arabella. One has the
date 1 6 19, and an inscription to "the most noble and
learned lady." Beneath the other, which is evidently
a later copy, a facsimile of her autograph from a Mr.
John Thane's collection has been placed. " Sweet
brother [Francis Seymour, in all probability], every
one forsakes me but those that cannot helpe me, your
most unfortunate sister, Arbella Seymaure." (This

92 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
is given by Mr. Inderwick, in "Side-Lights on the
Stuarts.") In both these prints Arabella wears the
ropes of pearls which are seen in Van Somer's
picture, but were it not for this family ornament it
would be reasonable to doubt the genuineness of
the inscriptions, as the features are almost precisely
similar to those in the picture of Anne of Denmark
in the Stuart Exhibition, and also the date, 1619, was,
of course, four years after Arabella's death. This
vexed question must, however, be left to experts ; it
is enough here to point out the great difference
between these prints and the authentic portraits of
Arabella

B.
The Mystery of 1602-3.
No. 1.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 175. .
(Indorsed, "The Confession* of the Preacher
Starkey, that hanged himself.") Before Feb. 2, 1603.
From whom those false rumours, which were spread
the last year, of the right honourable lady, the Lady
Arbella, did proceed, I could not imagine [andean] pro-
* This document and those that follow have never before
been published in extenso. Words are often interpolated to
make the sense clearer, but always between brackets, and
in italics. The spelling has been modernized throughout the
letters.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 93
test but ill now. Which arose (as I suppose) by reason
of a book with an unfit print upon the cover, which
unadvisedly was given Lady Arbella by me, for which
gross error committed by me, though unwittingly, to
the impairing of her ladyship's fame and good name,
I am so inwardly vexed that if I had a thousand lives
I would willingly spend them all to redeem the least
part of her reputation. Such is her virtuous disposi
tion, and so excellent are those ornaments with which
her honour's mind is adorned, as that they may be
the rather admired than imitated. Most unfortunate,
then, was I in committing such a fault, although I
protest upon my salvation I never intended any such
matter as from this might unjustly be gathered ; the
meanest reason I do think could only imagine that.
This is the cause that her honour in just reading hath
been made an instrument, and [my enemies] gone about
underhand to make the world believe that I was very
desirous and forward to gain her removal from her lady
grandmother ; whereas the truth is that she, seeming
to be, but not being indeed discontent, told me
about Easter last that she thought of all the means
she could to get from home, by reason she was hardly
used (as she said) in despiteful and disgraceful
words, being bold, and her most plagued withal,
which she could not endure; and this seemed not
feigned, for oftentimes, being at her book, she would
break forth into tears. Whereupon I promised that,
if it would please her to use my service, I would deliver
her letters or messages while I stayed in town, and
told her that I was resolved not to stay in the coun-

94 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
try any longer, and acquainted her ladyship with the
cause, for that I was weary of the servitude and hom
age wherein I have lived more than ten years, having
taught one of Mr. William Cavendish's sons six or
seven years without any consideration for my gains,
and being then enjoined to teach another his A B C ;
and, besides, my living, which was given me, being
indirectly detained from me by Mr. Cavendish, who
had kept the same in his hands seven or eight years,
whereas his faithful promise to me was that I should
be restored to it in very short time. Whereas also
the world may intend [understand] some great matter
of the geogra couleur de roi, and of the silver
escutcheon sent for a New Year's gift, the former was
expressed by her own mouth, not set down in her
note, but under the name of some slight colour, and
the silver escutcheon was also expressly named in her
letter. There was nothing [promised] me besides, nor
anything else sent down by me (a few books only
excepted), but I had a note under her hand for the
same, which my lady said were either for herself or
to give away, all which may show my innocency.
[In the margin is written —
My lady's promise emboldened me to gain her further
ance for my preferment, who also told me that if she
were appointed to another place, she would entertain
me as her chaplain ; what may be inferred I know not,
but God knoweth my simplicity [innocency].]
Some also have been suspicious for the letters of
my name, because I appointing the stationer long time

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 95
to set upon a Bible those three letters J. A. S. that
two first letters * [illegible] from John, so mistook the
those for the three letters apart ; whereas (God is my
witness) I intended nothing but my name. The pre
tended journey of Mr. Holford to Newark was to
make men think that some of her ladyship's friends
should aid her in making an escape ; whereas I am
persuaded there was no such matter, and if there had
[been], her ladyship knoweth well that I supported her
rather to endure her grief and discontent patiently,
than by an inconvenient course to prejudice [injure]
herself. For my own part, I was busied about the recovery
of my parsonage, as some civilians can testify who
informed me that a pardon was obtainable, having
incurred the danger of the law,f which [the pardon] also
I laboured for, only to keep my living. My friends and
kinsfolk I protest are blameless and without fault,
being unacquainted with this matter. Henry Travier
now of late told me that there was a book of tithes
published by authority, that so by making inquiry for
that I might be entrapped and brought into farther
danger. The speed with which all these matters do
arise is evident, and though I am able truly to clear my
self, being altogether innocent of any [design] intended
by me, yet by reason of some probable coincidence,
* These were the initials of Starkey's two first names, but the
two last, being also Arabella's, were separated by the gossips,
and interpreted as John Arabella Starkey or Stuart.
f It does not appear how Starkey had "incurred the danger
of the law."

g6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
which by my enemies will be aggravated against me,
I may easily be overthrown and suffer the greatest
infamy, reproach, and shame that may be wherein
such an [indignity] will be greater than many deaths.
He continues in the same strain, asks pardon of
God, and of—
That honourable lady for so great an indignity un
wittingly offered to her, and likewise of all her friends ;
of my dear mother, whose grief for this affair I fear
will be her end, and generally of all the world for
this enormity which I shall commit.
Bowing, therefore, the knee of my body with all
sorrow and compunction, I do pour forth my soul unto
Thee, O Lord, beseeching Thee to supply my soul with
the oil of Thy grace, that I may be truly penitent for
such faults as I have committed or duties that I have
omitted. He ends with a prayer to God to have mercy
upon him, and to receive his "weary soul unto the
ark of Thy holy tabernacles, that so I may receive
the joys which are there unspeakable." He writes at
the beginning of the Confession, " This I thought good
to testify to the world to the disregard of mine own
innocency." Cecil Papers, v. 135, No. 178.
Some further notes in Starkey's handwriting, but
unsigned and undated —

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 97
At my coming away the Lady Arbella told me
she thought her grandmother would stay my book,
and therefore advised me, if I had anything of worth,
to lock it up, and she would be as careful of it as if
it had been her own. . . . Besides, the Lady Arbella
will not deny but that she said her lady grandmother
and her uncle were glad when they could confess her ;
that her grandmother threatened to take away her
money and her jewels, but she had prevented her by
sending them away into Yorkshire, and . . . sent the
key of her coffer by me to search for a pearl of ^20
which she doubted she had lost, but this was only a
device ; and lastly she told me she had good friends,
and more than all the world know of, but I forbear
to set down greater matters which she in her con
science doth know are true, being sorry that such
a one should be made an instrument of the bad
practices of others, whose device was to turn me out
of my living and to deprive me of my life, the Lord
forgive them all. God grant the Queen's Majesty's
most gracious and happy reign long to continue over
this realm.
At the bottom —
My lady of her own motion returned to me ^"220,
but wanted £1 in the payment, and since that time,
by her appointment, I have disbursed ^"79 2s. 2d., as
appeareth by a bill forwhich she is yet indebted ; but
now they have taken from me, first liberty, then my
living, my life, and my good, I trust you will be
satisfied. VOL. II. 25

98 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 2.
Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 107.
Fragment of Arabella's directions to John Dodde-
ridge. Undated.
If they come to me themselves, they shall be shut
out at the gates ; if locked up, my grandmother will
be the first shall advertise and complain to the
queen. If dismissed, they must fully prove them
selves to be no sycophants to me. For the first, let
them make some offer to sell land, and Mr. Hancock
and Mr. Proctor are good patterns to follow, so that
they shall have whom they will to tarry in the house,
and be welcome for a longer time than shall need. I
desire this may be some ancient grave man ; the
younger may come as his son or nephew, and tarry
or go away as we shall then think good. For the
second, I protest your witness, either by word or
writing, shall fully satisfy me. But it will be counted
discretion in you, and confirm their good opinion of
me, if you require them to bring all the testimonies
they can, as some picture or handwriting of the Lady
Jane Grey, whose hand I know, and she sent her
sister a book at her death, which were the very best
they could bring, or of the Lady Katharine, or Queen
Jane Seymour, or any of that family, which we know
they, and none but they, have. And let some of the
company be of my uncle Henry's acquaintance, who
yet must not come to the house because of my aunt
Grace and his servants, but shall meet him at some

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 99
other place. Their care is no more but to come
speedily and secretly to Mansfield, or some place
near and after you, and such intelligence as you
have in the house will provide for . the rest. You
know none can better advise than John Good,* whom
I pray you acquaint with no more, but that it greatly
concerns me, and he will, without any inquisitiveness,
do his best, and perchance take them for northern
rather than western men, and that were their best
way both to him or anybody else. No mention of
the E. of Hertford in any case, nor of that county ;
if they can, Cornish and Devonshire men, and
generally out of all parts of England, referred to Sir
John Biron's, therefore let them be wary, the short
ness of time will help to keep counsel.
(Indorsed, " This is the note which my Lady
Arbella writ and gave me for my instruction to deal
in this business, in witness whereof I have put to my
hand. — John Dodderidge.")

No. 3.
To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.
Holograph. Ibid., v. 135, p. 146.
May it please your most excellent Majesty :
Sir Henry Brounker hath charged me with
many things in your Majesty's [name], the most whereof
I acknowledge to be true, and am heartily sorry that
* Dodderidge took the name of John Good, probably in order
to confuse the authorities.

100 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
I have given your Majesty the least cause of offence.
The particulars and the manner of handling I have,
to avoid your Majesty's trouble, delivered to Sir H.
Brounker. I humbly prostrate myself at your Majesty's
feet, craving pardon for what is past, and of your
princely clemency to signify your Majesty's most
gracious remission to me by your Highness's letter to
my lady my grandmother, whose discomfort I shall
be till then. The Almighty increase and for ever
continue your Majesty's divine virtues and prosperity,
wherewith you blessed, bless us all.
Your Majesty's most humble and dutiful handmaid,
Arbella Stuart.
Undated.

No. 4.
Lady Arbella to the Queen.
144. Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135.
I yield your Majesty most humble .and dutiful
thanks for your Highness's most gracious interpretation
of this accident, most humbly craving the continuance
of your Majesty's good opinion, which ever hath been
my greatest comfort. And after this royal and
singular testimony, [thai] it pleaseth your Majesty,
notwithstanding all presumptions of the contrary, to
esteem me not unworthy of your princely care and
love, [which] I shall never hereafter doubt of, and con
sequently not willingly yield to grief as I have done
heretofore, and that very lately to almost my utter
overthrow both of body and mind. But I see the

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 101
Lord's miraculous goodness shine in your Majesty, His
best resembling image, and admire to see any so near
imitate His infinite goodness, love, and wisdom to all
His creatures, and make that the happy cause of my
never-ending felicity, which, if your Majesty had
censured according to the appearance, might have
made me the most unhappy of all living, by con
tinuing my exile out of your Majesty's presence,
which hath been the only motive both of this and
many other occurrences, which, as hitherto they have
lien rather by me untold, than unknown to your
Majesty, so I have with all sincerity signified unto
your Majesty, by this worthy gentleman, your Majesty's
most welcome messenger. And protest I have not
reverted at all from the plain and direct truth, neither
in one respect or other, as I shall answer it to the
Almighty, when the thoughts of all hearts shall be
revealed. And upon my allegiance to your Majesty,
whose displeasure and not any punishment whatsoever
is the only thing I fear, and the fear of God makes
me most secure and confident that I shall not only
avoid that, but for ever win or rather confirm that
most evident and native affection which your Majesty
hath even from my cradle showed unto me, above
all other of your Highness's most royal lineage. I
have not dealt rashly in so important a matter, but,
taking the advice of all1 the friends I have how I
might attain your Majesty's presence, and trying all
the means I could possibly make or they devise and
none succeeding, I resolved to crave my grandmother's
leave to present my service [and] myself unto your

102 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Majesty, and if I could not obtain that (for even that
small and ordinary liberty I despaired to obtain of
her, otherwise my most kind and natural parent), I
determined that should be the first and, I protest,
last disobedience that I would willingly offend her
with. For though I have done very many things
without her knowledge, yet I call the Judge of all
hearts to witness they have been such as (if she had
not been stricter than any child, how good, discreet,
and dutiful soever, would willingly obey) she should
have had more reason to wink at than to punish so
severely as she hath done. And as I have forborne
till now to impart this much unto your most excellent
Majesty, lest it might diminish your Majesty's good
opinion of me, and increase her severity ; so I have
all the other ways I could devise, not by way of
complaint, but moan, disclosed my most distressed
state to your Majesty, of whom only I have expected,
and with silent and stolen tears implored relief. And
have utterly neglected or rejected all other means,
how well liked of others soever, and whatsoever I
have pretended so may my soul find favour with
the Almighty, and myself with your Majesty, as
this hath been the principal end of all my desires,
without which I can think no state happy, and with
which all adversity will seem small in comparison.
And if it please your Majesty to examine the whole
course of my life, your Majesty shall find God's grace
hath so mightily wrought in me, poor silly infant and
wretch, that howsoever others have taken wiser ways,
I have had as great care and have with more, and in

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 103
truth mere, innocence preserved your Majesty's most
royal lineage from any blot, as any [one] whosoever.
And as I should have adjudged myself unworthy of
life if I had degenerated from the most renowned
stock, whereof it is my greatest honour to be a
branch, so, for truth and not ostentation's sake, I
protest I have endeavoured to contribute my mite to
the treasure of honour long heaped up by the most
worthy, and without comparison of all Europe most
worthy princes, whose great measure of worthiness,
renown, and felicity your Majesty without comparison
exceeds. And that you long and ever may do so is
and at all times hath been my daily and fervent
prayer to the Almighty, and ever shall be to my life's
end. [Unsigned.]
No. 5.
Enclosed by the old countess in a letter to the
queen, February 2, 1603.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 139.
(Indorsed, " The Lady Arbella's first letter sent by
her grandmother.")
To the Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury.
Undated.
I acknowledge myself most bound to her Majesty
for her gracious pardon of my offence, which appeareth
more disgraceful in her Majesty's eyes, your ladyship's,
and those two grave and honourable councillors by

104 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
whose letter it pleaseth her Majesty to reprove my
offence, than it yet doth in the opinion of many others
upon whose opinion I have laid the foundation of all
the rest of my life. Pardon me, therefore, I beseech
your ladyship, if, without those ceremonies which, either
through ignorance or anxiety of a mind yet distracted
between fear and hope [I have omitted], I set down the
true reasons of this my proceeding. To employ any,
much more such base and unworthy persons in such
a matter, had been a blot to my reputation never to be
washed away without floods of repentant tears, if my
intent had not been to have it known to her Majesty
that such a matter was propounded seriously, and by
some desired, by others not misliked, but utterly neg
lected or rejected by myself from the first hour I
heard of it till the last, and not more now than at
first, for all my Lord of Hertford's discourteous dealing
with me, who hath deserved better at his hands. And
therefore, restraining my friends I respected, I sent
such as I thought likeliest to displease his lordship,
though I instructed them not to give his lordship
instant cause of offence, and advertised no more than
I was desirous they should divulge — so it were without
my consent, for in truth I cannot find in my heart to
disclose the counsel of any stranger or enemy, that
either by their consent or chanceably cometh to my
knowledge, if it may be, or I do but doubt it may be,
prejudicial to them. And I thank God it fell out
better than I and my dearest and best-trusted, what
soever he be, could have devised or imagined, though
we have beat our brains about it these three years.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 105
The ridiculous and contemptuous style, I beseech
you excuse with the reasons, which this gentleman who
taught me alleged, before he could persuade me to
play the fool in good earnest. It was convenient her
Majesty should see and believe what busybodies, un
true rumour, unjust practices, colourable and cunning
devices are in remote parts, against those * whom the
world understood to be in a sort exiled her Majesty's
presence undeservedly, though themselves be never so
wary or unwilling any should so much as speak of
them. And as herein your ladyship's wisdom and
fidelity hath been at least comparable with my Lord of
Hertford's, so I have many good witnesses, and more
than for their own sakes I would I had had, that I
have been as precise and circumspect in avoiding all
occasions either of alluring or encouraging any to
reveal their affection, how great soever, how respect
fully soever, how well soever loved or liked by myself.
And whosoever hath made trial what would either
persuade the most virtuous lady, or the greatest lady,
for by their commandment I must needs tell your
ladyship they will needs say and swear I am the one
of their knowledge, and they could wish me in the
highest degree of her Majesty's favour, and put me in
hope, if ever I may attain her Majesty's presence, I
shall receive the like gracious countenance for all this
that I have ever done. They, I say, who have made
most trial what promises, oaths, vows, threatenings,
unkindness, kindness, fair means and foul, neglect of
others, withdrawing of comfort, counsel, hope, or
* Referring to herself.

106 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
redress of anything in the world could constrain or
entice one of my sex, years, and hitherto unhappy
fortune, can bear me witness that 1 am too stout
[proud] to request a favour till I be sure I may com
mand it. And they would take it [the queen's for
giveness of Arabella] as a favour done to them and
not to me — of whom they crave not so much as
thanks, I assure your ladyship, nor anything in the
world but love — in such honourable and Christian sort
as I were to be condemned by your ladyship specially,
if for your ladyship's comfort and my own advance
ment I should still have rejected, or, like a deaf asp,
stopped my ears against his * voice, who never requested
anything but was more for my good and honour than
his own. All the injuries he could he hath done me,
and his credit being, as he right well deserves, great
with her Majesty, and his friends, marry I impute even
all my wrongs to him, and freely forgive them all who
have been his (unwitting, I am sure) perchance un
willing instruments, and if they had known by whom
[unwitting], to what end they were employed, as I
think very few did if any — for secrecy is one of his
virtues, and he hath as many as I believe any subject
or foreign prince in Europe, or more. As the only
request that ever I made to him (many other things
I have in rude and uncivil manner bid him do, and
he can take nothing ill at my hand but one, as he
protesteth, and I am sure as one can be of any mortal
creature that knoweth the nature of an oath, and
* See Arabella's examination (p. 124), in which she says she
refers to the King of Scots.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 107
esteemeth it the pawn of his soul) [was] that he would
procure my remove from out of your ladyship's
custody ; not that I would not think myself most happy
to spend all my life under your ladyship's government,
but that I cannot rule love and ambition in others, as
I thank God I can do both very well in myself, and
in truth am not infected at all with the latter, nor so
apt to believe and suddenly to rejoice in so important
a matter, as I was content it should seem to my Lord
of Hertford of purpose and not of error I protest.
As I may compare the love of this worthy gentleman
(which I have already unreservedly accepted and con
firmed and will never deny, nor repent, whatsoever
befall) to gold which hath been so often purified that
I cannot find one fault to me, jealousy only excepted,
so I have dealt unkindly, shrewedly, proudly with
him, and if any living have cause to think me proud
or " shrowd " [shrewish], it is he, whom I have loved
too well (ever since I could love) to hide any word,
thought, or deed of mine from him, unless it were to
awe him a little when I thought his love converted
into hate — for I did him the wrong to think so a great
while — and to make him weary of his jealousy by
letting him see it was the only way to make me fall
out with him and anger him in the highest degree I
could imagine. With my Lord of Hertford I have
dealt so precisely that it hath neither been in his
power to do me more hurt than reveal all he knew by
me, nor should have cause or colour to take anything
so kindly, and keep my counsel. When I writ I wept,
and I marvel it was not perceived, for I could neither

108 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
forbear weeping at meal-times, nor in truth day or
night till I had performed my promise, and set down
in good and orderly sort some of the several devices
and shifts which more than one had devised or prac
tised without either my knowledge, till it was past, or
allowance either for what was past or to come. And
this party, who trusts me with more than I would have
him, even the secretest thoughts of his heart, hath
not nor ever had so much as a promise that I would
keep his counsel. He taught me by the example of
Samuel that one might plead one errand and deliver
another with a safe conscience. By the example of
Samson that one might and (if they be not too
foolish to live in this world) must speak riddles to
their friends, and try the truth of offered love and un
suspected friends in some matter wherein, if they dealt
unfavourably, it shall but make their ridiculous malice
appear to their own discredit and no manner of hurt
to others. He assured me her Majesty's offence
would be converted into laughter, when her Majesty
should see the honest cunning of the contriver, to
such an end as will be highly to her Majesty's liking,
and to your ladyship's and my good many ways. He
told me he would have me enter into some great
action to win myself reputation, try her Majesty's love
to me, though neither of us doubted of it, try what
my friends would do for me, and how I could employ
my friends and servants, and make strangers to me
effect my desires without being beholden to them.
And, building my hopes upon the rock, let the winds
and billows and tempests show that though my build-

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 109
ing be low, yet it is not builded upon sand, for then I
had been ruined, but like the wise architect who first
draweth his plan, and after maketh an estimate of the
charges, giving some allowance more than he thinks,
and then, finding himself able to go through cheer
fully, setteth his workmen to their several works, so
we first did deliberately consult, and after speedily
execute that which we knew for a short time would
be offensive to her Majesty, your ladyship, the Earl
of Hertford, and divers others, and work an effect
which I am most assured will be most acceptable to
her Majesty, and it is even the best service that ever
lady did her sovereign and mistress.
I am more desirous her Majesty should understand
every part and parcel of the devise, every actor, every
action, every word and syllable of that her Majesty
hath, under my hand or John Good's [alias Dodderidge],
than your ladyship is, because I know more than your
ladyship doth or shall (because it is most for your
ladyship's honour and good it should be so) till her
Majesty be acquainted and fully satisfied that I have
done nothing foolishly, rashly, falsely, or unworthy
of myself. Therefore I humbly thank her Majesty
for that liberty it pleaseth her Highness to allow me,
by the which I may confer with my friends, without
which I could not discover the truth so soon and so
well to her Majesty as I trust to do, if it please her
Majesty to allow me the space of one month to clear
myself in, and liberty to send to any Privy Councillor,
I will be accountable to her Majesty, but not to your
ladyship, for all that ever I did in my life, or ever will

110 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
do. And I will reveal some secrets of love concerning
myself, and some others which will be delightful to
her Majesty to understand. I will send some to com
plain of themselves. I will inform her Majesty of
some matters whereof her Majesty hath yet no manner
of suspicion. I will offend none but my uncle of
Shrewsbury,* my aunt, and my uncle Charles, and them
it will anger as much as ever they angered me, and
make myself as merry at them as the last Lent they
did at their own pleasant device, for so I take it, of
the gentleman with the revenges. And if they will, as
they might in duty, reconcile themselves to your lady
ship, your ladyship shall command me to forget ah
injuries they have done me, one only excepted, and
that is the wrongs they have done this most worthy
gentleman, for whom I have already forsaken parents,
kin, and all the world, her Majesty only excepted.
For I vow, as I shall be saved, he tells me plainly he
will not offend her Majesty for my sake, and will
rather forsake me for ever than incur her Majesty's
displeasure ; though the time be never so short. And
therefore, though I have kept his counsel these many
years, and will do whilst I live, if it may be the least
hurtful to him and any of his (for I never acquainted
any of mine one or other, I take God to witness), so
I think it long till I may let her Majesty know his
* This is evidently to mislead her grandmother with the idea
that she had quarrelled with the three relatives named, who
were on bad terms with the countess. Arabella had just before
this written to ask her aunt Mary to come to her, and in 1604
speaks of the earl's kindness to her in her trouble (see p. 201).

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. Ill
name, who so far exceedeth all the examples of her
Highness's best-favoured [courtiers] that he dare not
see nor but by stealth send to her he loves as well as
ever they did any. And if it please her Majesty so
to accept of him, I shall think myself most happy
if her Majesty will grace him with her favour, and
win his heart from me, if that be possible ; and I will
daily pray for her Majesty and him, that he may daily
deserve her Majesty's favour more and more, as I
know he will endeavour, and if it please her Majesty
to give me but liberty to send to him and hear from
him (which in truth I must do, though it offend your
ladyship, and can do, whosoever oversee us), I will
show your ladyship every letter of his I shall hereafter
receive, and be content your ladyship shall reveal all
that to your ladyship's knowledge passeth betwixt us,
not only to her Majesty, but to all the world. For I
am so far from being ashamed of my choice, that even
for my own honour's sake I could find in my heart to
reveal him, but that in truth I dare not without his
consent, and he dare not till he have his pardon for
himself and his friends signified unto me by her
Majesty's letter, which after I am to send to him and
hear from him again, and then he shall either himself,
by what means it pleaseth him, acquaint her Majesty
with his fearful presumption; or I will tell your ladyship,
upon condition it may please your ladyship to join
with me in begging her Majesty's gracious pardon to
certain offenders, whose penance shall be to make
confession first to her Majesty, and after to your lady
ship, how gladly they would have offended your lady-

112 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
ship, and how far they have offended her Majesty for
my sake.
And if they receive the sentence of death out
of her Majesty's mouth, I dare answer for them
they shall die content ; but I trust her Highness will
with a smile deride their follies, and at one of their
hands accept a poor present I am in hand with for
her Majesty, [and] give another leave to deliver a
letter or message to her sacred Majesty from me, her
then fully absolved handmaid, and give us all leave to
impart our joy of her Majesty's pardon to us all one
to another, and devise the best manner how to repre
sent to her Majesty the joy we conceive thereof. And
make ourselves merry with making ourselves perfect
in our parts, which for want of conference we have
partly forgotten, and partly understand not, and her
Majesty more merry if it please her Highness but to
keep our counsel ; and I will instruct them and send
them to her Majesty one after another, and none
living shall understand my drift but her Majesty, the
noble gentleman whose name I conceal, and whom it
pleaseth them two to acquaint without limitation.
One only suit will I make to her Majesty, wherein I
humbly crave your ladyship to assist and further me,
that is, that it may please her Majesty to suspend her
Highness's judgment of me till her Majesty see the
end, which cannot be so soon as I could wish for ; I
think every minute long, but [it] shall be hastened as
much as may be, I assure your ladyship on my faith ;
and surcease her displeasure to myself and all those
with whom, for my sake I doubt not, her Highness is

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 13
offended ; and suffer none of them whose names her
Majesty hath under my hand to come or send to me
unless I send for them, and whosoever come to me at
my request, or are sent for, either I will acquaint your
ladyship, or send them up first, or cause them to
advertise some Privy Councillor, what they do at my
request and to what end.
I trust I have fully satisfied your ladyship that I am
neither so disobedient nor inconsiderate as your lady
ship might think me, and because I report many
things which, to your ladyship seem impossible, your
ladyship next under her Majesty shall censure all my
proceedings, when your ladyship by her Majesty's
gracious letter or messenger unfoldeth these dark
speeches, which, let others do as it please them, I will
never reveal but to her Majesty ; neither will I pre
sume to present my unworthy service to her Majesty
till it shall please her Highness to commend it, for
some reasons which I will with all speed advertise, her
Majesty, whom the Lord bless and prosper for ever
every way.
Arbella Stuart.

No. 6.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 147.
(Indorsed, "To the Right Honourable Sir John
Stanhope, Knight, Vice-Chamberlain, and Sir Robert
Cecil, Knight, Principal Secretary to her Majesty.")
Feb. 6, 1603.
May it please you, forasmuch as my lady my
vol. 11. 26

1 14 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
grandmother doth interpret the letter which, by her
most excellent Majesty's commandment, her ladyship
received from your honours concerning her Majesty's
gracious acceptance of her ladyship's faithful dis
charging the trust reposed in her by her Highness ;
together with her Majesty's pardon of my offence,
and interpretation of the original grounds thereof, and
direction for my treatment hereafter, in other sense
than I, to whom it was her Majesty's pleasure it
should be imparted, do understand it. And, during
that variety of opinions, her ladyship may suppose
herself charged to look to me with more strictness
than I assure myself it is her Majesty's pleasure I
should be, as heretofore I have found, and with most
dutiful thanks acknowledge. And on the other side,
I, supposing the limits prescribed me larger than
perhaps they are, may unwillingly transgress her
Majesty's commandment, when I mean nothing less.
It may please your honours, for avoiding all errors,
both on the right hand and on the left, to expound
your own meanings in these points which now come
in question, or any other which hereafter may.
Whether it be her Majesty's pleasure I shall have
free choice of my own servants, to take,. keep, and put
away whom I think good, either telling or not telling
the reason? And whether I may send for whom I
think good, or talk with any that shall voluntarily or
upon business come to me, in private if they or I shall
so desire, without yielding account to any but her
Majesty, if her Highness require it ? And whether it
be not her Majesty's pleasure I should as well have

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. US
the company of some young lady or gentleman for my
recreation, and scholars? Music, hunting, hawking,
variety of any lawful disport, I can procure or my
friends will afford me, as well as the attendance of
grave overseers, for which I think myself most bound
to her Majesty, for it is the best way to avoid all
jealousies. Whether if the running on of years be
not discerned in me only, yet it be not her Highness's
pleasure to allow me that liberty (being the 6th of this
February twenty-seven years old), which many infants
have to choose their own guardians, as I desire to do
my place of abode ? Finally, whether it pleaseth her
Majesty I should be bound within straiter bonds than
the duties of a most dutiful subject, and servant, to a
most gracious sovereign and mistress, of an obedient
child, [or] faithful friend, according to the laws of God
and man in the strictest sort, without claiming at all
to infringe or abuse Christian liberty ? And then, if it
please her Majesty to impose an extraordinary yoke
of bondage upon me, I protest it will be more grievous
to me because her Majesty imposeth it, than that I am
not very well able, and enured to endure the heaviest
crosses wherewith God maketh His [chosen] known. But
my humble suit is, it may please her Majesty, for God's
sake, to let me know the true causes whereof; because
the misjudging of them may be very prejudicial to my
self and others. And to set down the time — how long
— and without ambiguity to prescribe me the rules,
whereby it pleaseth her Majesty to try my obedience.
And forasmuch as by my lady my grandmother's
commandment I did set down some things which it

Il6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
seemed good to her ladyship to send to your honours,
before I could either point or correct any eror
therein, great or little; in such slight sort as may
only be a witness how merry secure innocence can
be, even in the presence of a reverenced and yet
unappeased parent; and rather give an inkling that
there is yet some farther matter for which, if I durst
or could tell how, I would humbly crave her Majesty's
pardon, and her ladyship's, and the intercession of
some for their worth gracious in her Majesty's eyes,
than give only certain light of truth given. I humbly
crave of your honours, to whose hands, by God's
direction, the first fruits of my scribbled follies were
presented, that you will vouchsafe to excuse the
errors of youth altogether. And to the end her
Majesty may, with that speed that I desire, be fully
satisfied that this action had no corrupt beginning
(which it is no small grief to me her Majesty should
believe of any action of mine), it may please her
Highness to hasten the conclusion by sending down
some faithful servant of her Majesty's to see whether
it will prove so fond [foolish] as your honours write,
or so ridiculous as by my trifling manner of handling
it yet seems ; or so serious, and many ways acceptable
to her Majesty as I dare (with the adventure of my
life if it otherwise prove), assure her Majesty it will
be. And as at the first I presented an humble suit
to her Majesty's faithful servant, Sir H. Brounker,
which her Highness, most gracious forediviner of the
thoughts of my heart, before I craved it had granted ;
even at that time when her Majesty had reason to

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 17
think I full little deserved that or any other favour.
So I humbly reiterate the same suit to your honours,
that few may be acquainted with this matter till it
be fully determined and judged by her Majesty, who
yet may rather doubt a relapse, or greater faultiness,
than hope of my innocence heretofore, or better
government hereafter.
Therefore my most humble suit to her Majesty is
(and I humbly crave your honours' effectual media
tion therein) that it may please her Majesty once more
to send down that worthy gentleman, Sir H. Brounker,
who, partly (and but partly) understanding the matter
already, will sooner conceive and consequently advertise
the rest ; and will with fidelity deliver the names of the
beloved parties, which, especially my dearest, I dare not
trust paper withal, nor any living but whom it shall
please her Majesty to choose. And bind him — with all
the strictest commandments that may be, whereof any
one were sufficient but that it concerns my soul, and
almost all for whose sake I love my life more than for
my own, and if the least hair of any one of their heads
should perish, or her Majesty's displeasure continue
for my sake, it would ever after be more discomfort-
able to me, than if I endured a great adversity for
theirs — to deliver only to her Majesty whatsoever I
shall deliver to him, without either omitting any part
thereof, how displeasant soever to himself or any
friend of his, or ever revealing it to any without my
consent. And if I might receive her Majesty's pro
mise, under two lines of her Highness's own hand, that
it would please her Majesty to keep my counsel, I

Il8 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
should, with greater alacrity, deliver my mind in what
sort it should please her Majesty to command ; and
think myself happier of those two lines than of a
patent of greater value than ever prince granted under
the Great Seal of England ; and with as great confi
dence venture all I have to adventure, as others would
do a small matter all manner of warranties. How
much I shall think myself bound to them by whom
I shall obtain this high favour or treasure — I know
not what title worthy enough to give it — I hope your
honours see by the inestimable rate wherewith I would
buy it or beg it, and therefore I humbly beseech you
make me for ever bound to you by becoming humble
and importunate suitors to her Majesty in my behalf
to grant me this, the greatest suit I ever made or will
make to her Majesty. And it obtained, vouchsafe,
I beseech you, with all speed to satisfy my expecta
tion, who cannot but assuredly hope of good success,
considering so just a suit is craved of so gracious
a queen, by so worthy intercessors as your honours,
to so good an end as her Majesty's service. And
I beseech you let Sir H. Brounker be the happy and
swift messenger. The Almighty protect and direct
your honours and all your counsels and actions, and
continue to prosper them as He doth, to His own
glory, her Majesty's honour and safety, and conse
quently of the whole Commonwealth. Vouchsafe to
remember her Majesty sometime I beseech you of
Her Majesty's most humble and dutiful handmaid,
Arbella Stuart.
From Hardwick, the 6th of February.
(Indorsed, " The Lady Arbella to Mr. Cecil and me.")

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 1 9

No. 7.
From original Holograph. Ashmolean MSS., v. 1729, f. 82;
copy in Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 170.
(Indorsed, " Lady Arbella to Mr. Edward Talbot.")
Feb. 16, 1603.
Noble Gentleman, — I am as unjustly accused of
contriving a comedy as you (on my Conscience) a
tragedy; councillors are acquainted with both our
bad hands, but, whilst we may wash our hands in
innocency, let the grand accuser and all his ministers
do their worst, God will be on our side, and reveal
the truth to our most gracious sovereign, maugre all
wicked and indirect practices wherewith some seek to
misinform her Majesty. But I thank the Almighty,
it pleaseth her Highness to deal most graciously with
me, and by her Majesty's commandment [/] have
liberty to choose my friends by whom I may better
inform her Majesty of some matters nearly concerning
myself and divers of the very best friends you and I
have. Therefore I request you most earnestly to
deliver a message from me to her most sacred
Majesty, which shall be greatly to her Majesty's con
tentment, your honour's behoof [behalf], and is of great
importance. It requireth great haste, and I have
advertised a most honourable Privy Councillor that I
have sent for you to employ you in her Majesty's
service, so that you may not excuse yourself, or lose
time in your own respect, whom it concerns more
ways than this. And of your own honourable dis-

120 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
position I doubt not but you would bestow a journey
hither, and' so to the court for my sake.
Your father's love, and your faithful friend,
Arbella Stuart.
I pray you in kindest manner commend me to my
Lady Ogle * and sweet Mrs. Talbot, whom I am very
desirous to see ; and entreat her to hasten you hither,
for the sooner you leave the better for us all.

No. 8.
Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 147. Secretary's hand (autograph
signature).
(Indorsed, " The Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury,
to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Cecil, Knight,
Principal Secretary to her Majesty.") Feb. 21, 1602-3.
Sir, — I must beseech you to bear with my often
•troubling you. Since my late letter to you, Arbell
hath been very sick with extreme pain of her side,
which she never had before, so as I was in great fear
of her. She hath had a doctor of physic with her
for a fortnight together, and enforced to take much
physic this unseasonable time, but finds little ease.
I see her mind is the cause of all. She saith that if
she might speak with Sir Henry Brounker or some
other sent from her Majesty, she should be well; for
that she hath a great desire to satisfy her Majesty in
* Wife of Charles Cavendish.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 121
all matters, whose gracious favour and good opinion
she desireth above all earthly things. Good Mr.
Secretary, my most earnest suit is that it will please
you to be a mean to her sacred Majesty for the
speedy sending down of Sir Henry Brounker, or some
other, to whom Arbell is desirous to declare sundry
things which she saith she will utter to none but one
sent from her Majesty. The Almighty ever prosper
her Majesty with the continuance of his great blessing.
And so, desiring you, good Mr. Secretary, to hold me
excused for importuning you in this sort, I will take
my leave, praying God to grant you all honour and
happiness. From Hardwick, this 21st of February, 1602-3.
Your most assured, loving friend,
E. Shrewsbury.
P.S. — Arbell is so wilfully bent that she hath made
a vow not to eat or drink in this house at Hardwick,
or where I am, till she may hear from her Majesty,
so that for preservation of her life I am enforced to
suffer her to go to a house of mine, called Oldcotes,
two miles from here. I am wearied of my life, and
therefore humbly beseech her Majesty to have com
passion on me. And I earnestly pray you to send
Sir Henry Brounker hither.

122 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 9.
Cecil Papers, v. 135, ,f. 151. Secretary's hand.
(Indorsed, "To the Countess of Shrewsbury,
Dowager. From Mr. Vice-Chamberlain* and my
master [Cecil]. By Sir H. Brounker.") Feb. 21, 1603.
Madame, — Her Majesty being pleased to send
down this gentleman, Sir Henry Brounker, to whom
she hath committed the trust and carriage of this
business, which groweth from the last declaration
which the Lady Arbella sent you, seconded with a
letter of her own to us, bearing date the 6th of
February (all which her Majesty hath seen and read),
there remaineth little more for us to say than this
which followeth. First her Majesty reiterateth her
gracious acceptation of your sincere and careful
dealing, wishing still that your usage of the lady may
be accompanied with those circumstances which were
expressed in our late joint letter unto you. For,
although it appears by her last letters that some vain
rumours do possess her mind, who, being young, is
easily misled with false and flattering tongues, yet
her Majesty would have you only to use her accord
ing to our last letter, except when you shall discover
that her actions tend to any dishonourable practices,
lest the world should think she were to be used as
a prisoner. Considering that your ladyship keepeth
a house so full of discreet servants, both men and
women, and having also Mr. William Cavendish, who,
* Stanhope.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 23
being her uncle and a wise gentleman, cannot but
be an excellent companion for her, as well as an
observer when any matter more than ordinary is
travelling in her mind or put in practice. To whom
as well as to your ladyship her Majesty hath com
manded us to deliver thus much ; that — seeing by the
young lady's letters it is almost impossible to make
judgment whom or what she meaneth (so many con
trarieties appearing), and therefore that it will be hard
to resolve precisely what should be done, except we
were upon the place — her Majesty requireth you and
Mr. W. Cavendish both to give credit to this gentle
man, Sir H. Brounker, and — when he shall have
spoken with the young lady and find cause to advise of
a course to be taken until her Majesty be advertised —
that in such case, that she, or any other whom it may
appertain, be conformable to his advice, being that
which we have given him authority to signify, as he
shall find fit for her Majesty's honour in such a case.
And thus having delivered you as much as the present
time requireth, we recommend your ladyship to God's
protection. From the court at Richmond, the 21st of February,
1602-3. Your ladyship's very loving friends, [Unsigned.]

124 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. io.
Cecil Papers, ibid., f. 155 ; copy of same slightly different, 156.
The Examination of the Lady Arbella, the 2nd of
March, 1602-3.
Being demanded why she was distracted between
fear and hope; she answered that she feared her
Majesty's displeasure, by reason of the letters she
received from her ; and by her innocency she hoped
to recover her Highness's favour.
Being examined by whom the practice with the
Earl of Hertford was propounded, desired, and well
liked of; her ladyship said it was propounded by
Mr. Owen, and (to her understanding) desired and
well liked of by my Lord of Hertford.
Being demanded why she restrained her friends
and employed such as were likeliest to offend the
Earl of Hertford; she said because she desired to
bring it to light, and would not use those, that (being
of credit) might have bound her by their act.
Being demanded who persuaded her to play the
fool in earnest ; she said that that was but a poetical
fiction. Being demanded what these untrue rumours, unjust
practices, and colourable devices were, and what is
meant by the remote parts mentioned ; she answered
that the rumours, etc., concerned the report of my
Lord of Hertford's people in the country, and that
she accounted the remote parts to be those which are
far from the court.
Being demanded who the gentleman was that had

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 25
tried her by all means, and knew she was too stout to
request a favour since she might command it; she
said that she meant by that the King of Scots : the
word "command" was an error of the pen for "haste" *
[these words added in Arabella's own hand].
Being demanded who it was against whose love she
had long stopped her ears, though he never requested
anything, but was more for her good and honour than
his own ; she said that it was the King of Scots, whose
messenger, Thomas Nelson [the name inserted in
Arabella's hand], had been shut out of the gates, and
yet was returned again in this time (when all the
world had forsaken her) with a very kind message,
and token to be delivered by Nelson from Roger
Aston, but yet not sent for. This Nelson dwelleth at
Elsor Hall, upon my Lady Arbella's land, and served
some time the King of Scots last dead.
Being demanded what the gentleman was that was
so worthily favoured by her Majesty, and had done
her so much wrong, and wherein ; she answered that
it was the King of Scots, whom her Majesty favoured
so much as for fear of offending him she might not be
allowed the liberty of the law to sue, nor to send into
Scotland to claim an earldom, or the recompense for
them [it].
Being demanded who it was, that was so famous
for his secrecy, and had more virtues than any subject
or foreign prince ; she plainly answered that it was
the King of Scots.
Being demanded who it was that had done many
* Perhaps " have" is meant.

126 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
things at her commandment, and promised to procure
her remove from the Countess of Shrewsbury's custody ;
she answered that Nelson promised, in the King of
Scots' name, to endeavour her remove by her Majesty's
favour. Being demanded who they were that were so unruly
in their love and ambition ; [no answer given ; Ara
bella probably refused from prudential motives, since she
evidently referred to some about the queen, to answer
this question].
Being demanded what this gentleman was with
whom she hath dealt so unkindly, shrewdly, and
proudly, whom she hath tried as gold in the fire,
and hath already accepted him, and confirmed- it, and
will neither repent nor deny him, whatsoever befall
her ; she answered that it was the King of Scots,
with whom, I appeal to Nelson, whether I have dealt
proudly or no.
Being demanded who it was she had loved so well
ever since she could love, as she could never hide any
thought from him, unless it were to awe him a little,
and to make him weary of his jealousy ; she said the
King of Scots.
Being demanded what the noble gentleman was
that taught her to prevent one errand and to deliver
another with a safe confidence [" coincidence '' in 'the
copy], to speak riddles to her friends, and to try the
truth of offered love ; she said that she learned those
•lessons out of the Bible, by the King of Scotland's
example, who proveth all things by Scripture.
Being demanded who assured her that her Majesty's

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 27
offence would be turned into laughter, when she
should see the honest coming of the contriver to such
an end as will please her Majesty, and her grand
mother, and be for her good many ways; she answered
that she must confess that it was one of her sole
conceits. Being demanded who persuaded her to enter into
some great action to win reputation to herself, to try
her Majesty's love, to try her friends, and prove how
she could make strangers effect her desires, and not
be beholden to them ; she said it was the desire of
some in this country to see some of our own family
(by a quite contrary example) recover the reputation
which others had lost by not defending the weere-
men [?] whom themselves set on.
Being demanded what it was that the noble gentle
man and she did first deliberately consult, and after
speedily secrete, which they knew would for a short
time offend her Majesty, the old lady, and the Earl of
Hertford, but in the end will be a most acceptable
service to her Majesty, and the best that ever lady
did to her sovereign and mistress ; she said that this
great matter was John Good's* despatch, which, though
recalled afterwards by myself, took effect, which I
trust in the end will be acceptable to her Majesty.
Being demanded what it is which she so much
desireth that her Majesty be persuaded was not done
foolishly, rashly, falsely, or unworthy herself; f she said
it was this practice of the Earl of Hertford, for which
she perceiveth that her Majesty condemneth her.
* Dodderidge. t See pp. 109, no.

128 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Being demanded what her meaning is by requiring
a month's space to clear herself in ; she answered she
desired that time to inform herself better of that
practice, to the end her Majesty may be better per
suaded of her.
Being demanded what those secrets of love are
which she promiseth to reveal of herself and others,
whom she will send to complain of themselves, and
what the things are whereof she will inform her
Majesty, having already no [copy has " some"] suspicion
of them ; she answered that she cannot perform this
promise till her friends have free access unto her
again, which as yet they dare not take.
Being demanded wherein she can offend my Lord
of Shrewsbury,* my lady, and her uncle Charles ; she
said she could do that by discovering their dishonour
able dealings towards herself many ways.
Being demanded what the injuries were which were
offered to this worthy gentleman by the Earl of
Shrewsbury, my lady, and Sir Charles, and what the
gentleman was ; she said that the party was the King
of Scots, and the wrongs are the contemptuous words
and scorns which they often do utter against him for
whom she hath forsaken all the world, her Majesty
only excepted.
Being demanded who the gentleman is that would
forsake her rather than offend her Majesty never so
little ; she constantly affirmeth that it is the King of
Scots. * Seep, no, note. The Earl of Shrewsbury was not likely
to have perilled his credit with James (see p. 201).

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 29
Being demanded whose counsel she hath kept these
many years, and will do whilst she live, if the disclos
ing thereof will be hurtful to him or his, and what he
is whose name she longeth to discover to her Majesty,
and who dareth not see her nor send but by stealth ;
she saith that it is the King of Scots.
Being demanded who it is that she desireth her
Majesty to grace, and to win his heart from her ; she
saith that it is the King of Scots.
Being demanded who it is that she desireth liberty
to send to, and then she will be content that her
grandmother shall see all his letters, and reveal them
to all the world ; she saith it is the King of Scots.
Being demanded who that gentleman is by whose
love she is so much honoured as she cannot be
ashamed of her choice, nor would stick to reveal him
if she durst without his consent; she saith it is the
King of Scots.
Being demanded whether the King of Scots dare
not give his consent till he have pardon for himself
and his friends ; she answered she thinks not.
Being demanded who those friends are who would
be content to die for her Majesty's sake, after they
have made confession to her Majesty how far they
have offended her ; she saith that many are signified
by one, meaning only her uncle Henry, who, she is
persuaded, being commanded, would think his life
best bestowed in her Majesty's service.
Being demanded whether she thought that her
Highness would smile at these follies, and accept a
present from her, standing in no better terms with
vol. ii. 27

130 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
her ; she saith that she shall never think herself fully
pardoned, till it please her Majesty to accept a present
from her.
Being demanded what those parts are, and who be
the players that must impart their mutual joys, and
make themselves merry with making themselves per
fect in their parts, partly forgotten for lack of con
ference, and partly not understood ; she answered
that those are the innocents who have been abused in
this practice by the Earl of Hertford, as she is.
Being demanded whom she will send to her
Majesty, one after another, without acquainting any
creature living but her Majesty, the noble gentleman,
and whom it pleaseth them two to acquaint ; she
answereth that she cannot determine that till she
speak with her friends.
Being demanded who that noble gentleman is ; she
said the King of Scots.
Being demanded what those dark speeches are
which her Majesty by her letter or messenger must
unfold before she will reveal them ; she answereth all
this above written.
(Signed in her own hand) Arbella Stuart.
The above is taken from the transcript made in
Sir H. Brounker's hand of Arabella's examination
(No. 155), the answers evidently put down from
her mouth, and one or two slight corrections or
additions made by herself. Indorsed, "3rd March.
Sir H. Brounker being sent to learn the particulars
of the enquiry, the which is marked A [Arabella .?],
brought this from her."

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 131
No. 11.
No. 142. Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135.
March 2, 1603.
I take Almighty God to witness, I am free from
promise, contract, marriage, or intention to marry,
and so mean to be whilst I live, and nothing whatso
ever shall make me alter my long-settled determina
tion, but the continuance of these disgraces and
miseries, and the peril of the King of Scots his life,
and if her Majesty continue her hard opinion of me,
and I continue in my lady my grandmother's hands,
then, whatsoever befall, I have determined of a course
which, if it please her Majesty to like of, will be for
her Majesty's honour, and best to my liking. But
yet so far from my liking is it to marry at all, that I
take God to witness I should think myself a great
deal happier of the sentence of death, than of her
Majesty's choice, or allowance of my choice, suppose
I might (as I am far unworthy and am not so un
wise as to think) have my choice of all Europe, and
loved and liked them better than ever I did or shall
do any. The reasons whereof I have delivered to
Sir Henry Brounker. And take it upon .my soul I do
not dissemble at all herein, but speak from the bottom
of my heart, as I shall answer it to God and her
Majesty. I presumed to draw Sir Henry Brounker hither to
an allegory, which I have moralized to him, and how
soever it please her Majesty to interpret it, I protest
I thought the matters I have declared worthy her

132 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Majesty's knowledge, and durst not reveal them in
plainer sort to any but her Majesty, or one whom it
should please her Majesty so strictly to command.
It may be my scrupulous fear made the matters seem
greater to me than to the wiser, and therefore I may be
thought presumptuous in that earnest begging so great
a favour, but, I protest, I yet take them to be so im
portant, that I shall think myself happier, if it please
her Majesty to pardon, and pass them over in silence,
than of anything whatsoever happened or could
happen to me ; and my life shall be discomfortable
to me whilst it lasteth, if either it be revealed to any
but the unnamed party, till I see how it will please
her Majesty to deal with me. And if it please her
Majesty to consider that I am debarred her presence,
nor suffered to confer with my friends, nor advertise
her Majesty, without acquainting my lady my grand
mother, which I neither have [done] nor dare do ; and
that I have reason to doubt all my actions shall receive
the hardest interpretation, especially if I do not with
speed and sincerity deliver them to her Majesty, sure
of whose most gracious goodness, I with most dutiful
thanks acknowledge all the favour I receive in this or
any other matter. And that this is a matter which
heretofore would have been offensive to her Majesty,
and even the greatest and only matter wherein, for
all the space of my life, I have offended her Majesty
voluntarily, and that, being in my opinion forsaken of
all the world, I have resolutely and with a settled
determination grounded all my weak hopes and com
fort upon this, I confess, doubtful foundation, but the

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 133
best I had left, now her Majesty's favour, which — might
wishes and endeavours have prevailed — should have
been my only rock and defence, was won and with
held from me. Which [foundation] shaken, despair
may drive me for mere fear to misliked courses, and
that I am resolved to end my life in tears and solitari
ness, or else to possess her Majesty's gracious opinion
of my innocence and upright dealing as I have de
served, or else to do worse in my own opinion. And
that experience had taught me there was no other
way to draw down a messenger of such worth from
her Majesty, but by incurring some suspicion, and
having no ground whereon to work but this, and this
being love.* And, being bound in duty and conscience
to make all the means I could to defend myself from
perishing, for, if her Majesty's favour be withdrawn, I
contemn death, torment, or whatsoever can be in
flicted upon the most grievous offender, I adventured,
and — oh ! if her Majesty do not more graciously con
ceive of it — have incurred her Highness's indignation.
But yet less grievous shall it be to me now than at
any time of my life heretofore it hath been, because I
could never accuse myself before of giving her Majesty
the least colour of just offence, and I protest my con
science doth not accuse me of any fault herein, but
a small, honest, necessary, and consequently most
pardonable, presumption, for which I doubt not but
to obtain pardon, in regard of the satisfaction and
* This remark, and her offers on the next page, bear out our
supposition that Arabella was misleading the authorities when
she pretends to have a love-affair.

134 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
expiation I offer to make therefore, which I know will
be acceptable to her Majesty, and were sufficient
penance for the greatest offence, as I take [it] is the
smallest that ever was made. First, I will never
trouble her Majesty with any suit hereafter, but forget
my long-desired land, and confine myself to close
prison, or as little liberty as it shall please her Majesty,
in the severest rules of wisdom and policy, to allot
me; and think it the highest favour I can possibly
obtain, for I perceive daily more and more, to my in
creasing grief, I am and ever hereafter shall be more
unfortunate than I lately thought I could possibly have
been. Secondly, I will make a vow, if it shall please
her Highness to command, upon condition I may
reobtain her Majesty's favour, and have my dear and
due liberty, I will never marry whilst I live, nor enter
tain thought, nor conceal any such or other matter
whatsoever from her Majesty, which I shall think
worthy for her Majesty to incline her princely ear
unto. And if this be not sufficient reason to prove
my dealing faultless, or at least pardonable, or this be
not amends sufficient, I must confess myself void of
sense, and careless of anything in this world can
happen to me, for my cause cannot be made worse
any manner of way. In her Majesty's hand it is to
mend it, and make me think myself as happy as I can
be (and will never be absolutely I perceive, such
treacherous dealing have I found in this. matter) and
in God's [time] to end my sorrows with death, which
only can make me absolutely and eternally happy.
(Indorsed, " Arbella's declaration, 2nd March ; "

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 35
and in Arabella's own hand, "This she [her grand
mother] also gave him " — probably Sir H. Brounker.
The letter is very much blotted, as if tears had fallen
as the lady wrote it.)

No. 12.
Cecil Papers, v. 92, f. 1.
The Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury to Sir J.
Stanhope (Vice-Chamberlain) and Sir R. Cecil.
March 3, 1603.
May it please you, Sir H. Brounker will make
relation of all that hath passed here, which may ease
you of reading and keep me from writing of a long
discourse, of that which to my infinite grief I find.
It is not unknown to you what earnest and impor
tunate suit my unfortunate Arbell hath made for Sir
H. Brounker's coming down. I was in hope she
would have discovered somewhat worth his travel,
but now she will neither name the party to whom
she hath showed to be so affectionate, nor declare to
Sir H. Brounker any matter of moment, spending the
time in idle and impertinent discourses. And though
Sir H. Brounker hath left nothing undone that might
bring her to conformity, he could not in any sort
prevail with her, though she put him in hope from
time to time that she would name the party.
If it had lain as well in my power to have made
all things plain as I had a desire to further Sir H.
Brounker's service, it would have been less trouble
to him, and he should not have departed with such

136 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
uncertainties. This is the fruit of them that have
laboured to withdraw her natural affection from me,
and to persuade her to all these vanities. They
little respected her undoing so they might overthrow
me with grief. Soon after Sir H. Brounker's departure
hence, I look she will fall into some such extremity
of making wilful vows [i.e. refusing to eat or drink
or to see her grandmother till she was removed from
Hardwick], as she did lately. She said before Sir
H. Brounker that if she had not been suffered then
to remove hence, she would have performed her vow,
and the like I daily doubt she may do upon any toy
she will take discontentment at. And therefore I
most earnestly beseech you both to be a mean to
her gracious Majesty for her speedy remove ; it may
be the change of place will work some alteration in
her. Sir H. Brounker can testify how careful I am
to keep her quiet till I may understand further her
Majesty's pleasure. She most vainly hath prefixed
a day to Sir H. Brounker for her remove. Both he
and myself advised her not to stand on days or times.
She is so wilfully bent, and there is so little reason
in most of her doings, that I cannot tell what to make
of it. A few more weeks as I have suffered of late
will make an end of me. Notwithstanding, if it might
be for her Majesty's service, I could be content to
spend my life ; but I have had over-great trial, now
that she is brought to this extremity, that her remaining
here is like to breed over-great inconveniences which
will not lie in my power to prevent.
I beseech the Almighty for ever to prosper her

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 37
Highness, and to send you all honour and happiness
and myself quietness in my old days.
From Hardwick, this 3rd of March, 1602-3.
No. 13.
Arabella to Brounker.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 159 ; and copy, f. 160.
(Indorsed, " March 4, 1602-3. This was sent
after Sir H. Brounker had come," in the copy No. 1 60.
Neither the letter nor the copy to Lambeth is signed.)
Sir Henry, — I cannot but wonder at your light
belief when great ones tell you incredible tales, and
incredulity when you have the word and oath of a
Puritan for a certain truth. If your commission be
not to examine such great ones as I presume to accuse
in matters of truth, alas ! what a dwarf am I thought
at court ! If your commission stretch not beyond the
Albian Cliffs and the Cheviot Hills, I would I were
with that most noble gentleman whom I constantly
affirm (but will not swear) to be the King of Scots,
and then we should agree in our tales, and make true
English, whereas now I think even you are doubtful
what will become of us. Truly I can tell, and I will
tell you truly, even as I told you, even as I would
have it. For if I do not, or rather have not since I
saw you, broken some of your good friends of their
will, I am greatly deceived. For whereas if the noble
gentleman you would needs suspect had been trans
ported by some Archimedes * to Newstead, as miracu-
* See Plutarch's "Lives."

138 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
lously, especially to himself, as certain Romans (these
Romans were full of unsuspicious magnanimity) were
hoised [hoisted] over the walls of the besieged Syra
cuse, and drawn by one poor scholar (who lightly are
not the wisest nor strongest faction) through the
town ; which feat I think, unless you will believe for
the author, my disgraced friend Plutarch's sake, you
are like never to see executed by any architect,
mathematician, or engineer living— I will not swear,
but I tell you as I think. Now, suppose he should
land at Bludworth Haven, and come attended with
five hundred, as I think that is the smallest number
he is answerable for, and that dare answer for his
good behaviour even at this present time, I will not,
no, I will be sworn (if you minister the oath) I will
not, if I can choose, see him, nor speak to him I
vow (for I can rule my tongue, howsoever I be over
ruled otherwise) till he have been at court, and upon
his oath and allegiance — and, but that you courtiers
are wonderfully hard-hearted and slow of belief, his
word might be sufficient in a greater matter —
[declared] that he never had such a thought as you —
God forgive you — would impute unto him, so highly
to offend her Majesty for an imaginary device of
them who would shroud their own practice under his
honoured name. This is but the device, I say, of
some great ones who would make you believe miracles
(for if you do not they are half undone), or else of my
little, little love, that you knew not how to understand,
though I think you meditated on my last words all
night till you called me to a rehearsal in the morning,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 139
and I thought [it] scarce worth the little, little labour
of reiterating to your ears, stopped with the enchant
ments of deluders in such a crooked dump (for there
is altum silentium betwixt us) that I would not be
entreated and could not be constrained to speak one
word more than was very necessary till this morning.
And now, because I am accountable for idle words,
which is much, and idle conceits, which is more, and
cannot entreat you to stay so long as to satisfy your
own eyes and ears "with the visible truth which is
most unkindly done of you, I pray you understand
that after my cousin M. and I had spent a little
breath in evaporating certain court smoke, which,
converted into sighs, made some eyes besides ours
run a-water, we walked in the great chamber, for fear
of wearing the mats in the gallery (reserved for you
courtiers), as sullenly as if our hearts had been too
great [full] to give one another a good word, and so
to dinner. After dinner I went in reverent sort to
crave my lady my grandmother's blessing. Which
done, her ladyship proved me a true prophet, and you
either a deceived or deceiving courtier ; for after I
had, with the armour of patience, borne of (sic) a
volley of most bitter and injurious words, at last,
wounded to the heart with false epithets, and an
unlooked-for word, only defending myself with a
negative (which was all the words I said, but not
that I could have said in my defence), I made a
retreat to my chamber, which I hoped by your
charter * should have been a sanctuary, you came
* Brounker had no doubt given Elizabeth's message that
Arabella should be left free.

140 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
with authority, as you said, and I saw it under two
hands [Cecil's and Stanhope's signatures that might
have made any but me believe your word should have
gone as current as the word of a prince, or the Great
Seal of England — by which I might have recovered
a little land which a most noble great-great uncle *
of mine gave his niece when he bestowed her of [on]
a noble exiled gentleman — but I knew by what was
past what would be, and provided thereafter. I
stand greatly upon my reputation, and therefore,
resolutely leaving my weary standing, went away (but
did not run away, nor ever meant it, I assure you)
a good sober pace, and though my ears were battered
on one side with a contemned, and in truth con
temptible storm of threatenings, with which my lady
my grandmother thought to have won my resolved
heart (as my little love hath done), and on the other
[side] summoned to a parley with my uncle William,
I, rather doubting to come to the loss by being under
mined (for the West and Derbyshire and Wales are
full of rich mines, and consequently passing cunning
miners, else why should courtiers take the pains to
oversee them ? and the office of the Stannaries f is both
honourable and profitable) than that, deaf asp as I am,
I feared to be won to my loss to a dishonourable
composition, for I stand upon points of honour, went
* Henry VIII. to Margaret Douglas.
t Stannaries — Tin mines. The Stannaries of Cornwall and
Devon are incorporated in the royal Duchy of Cornwall, and
are under one Duchy officer, called the Lord Warden of the
Stannaries, with a Vice-Warden for each county.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. HI
my way without so much as looking behind me (for
fear of Eurydice's relapse). And, vowing I would
never answer to those names by which I was called
and recalled and cried out upon (for if I should my
love might be ashamed of me, as now he may well
be of himself), I took my way down with a heavy
heart, and, being followed by them, it might better
have become us both I should have followed, I was
fain to set a good face on bad fortune, and there we
had another skirmish, where you and I sat scribbling
till twelve of the clock at night. But I, finding myself
scarce able to stand on my feet, what for my side and
what for my head, yet with a commanding voice, called
a troop of such viragoes,* as Virgil's Camilla [did],
that stood at the receipt in the next chamber, and, never
entreating them to give or take blows for my sake,
was content to send you the first news of this conflict.
But though he were my own man I sent for, yet he
being not so forward as certain voluntaries you know
to go on my errand, I set me down in patience and
fell a-scribbling, my lady my grandmother and my
uncle little knew what or to whom, though they looked
on, till, having written what I thought good, whilst
they talked what they thought good, I was not only
content to let them know it was to you, but to read
it to them; and immediately leaving the disadvan
tageous chamber, where nobody could hear me or
durst come at me, I went down a little lower, not
pressed down with one abject thought of yielding, but
because I thought there to have found some of my
* Her waiting-women.

142 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
regiment. And so I did, for there was Key talking
with a gentlewoman (what they said I never examined),
and there I made a stand, bethinking myself whom
to send, because they receive such rude entertainment
that it were enough to make me destitute of mes
sengers, if it stood upon the loss of my life to send
to my love. But, raising my spirits with the assured
fair words of certain hopeful young men, who do just
as I did therein without other reason or warrant than
my pleasure and service, I went up to the great
chamber, and there I found a troop of, for my sake,
malcontents, taking the advantage of the fire to warm
them by, till the sun shining on our world with hotter
and further distant beams make it needless ; and
amongst them one that I little thought had been
there : who was that, Sir Henry ? My sudden appari
tion coming alone through the hall, and coming in
at that door where they least looked I should, made
a sudden alteration and wonderment amongst them,
for they that stood shrunk back as if they had been
afraid of me, and certain auxiliaries (which I both left
and found walking round with their shrinking fellows),
and with a general putting off of hats, to the end I
should not doubt they would stop their ears against
me, perchance expected I should have yielded them
a reason of my going out at one door and coming in
at another. But I without ceremony, directing my
speech to the unnamed young man,* who stood with
his hat in his hand and my glove in his hat, said, as
this bearer can witness, and so for brevity's sake
* Probably Chaworth (see later).

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 143
leaving that to this bearer's report, my undaunted
and most trusty servant. What happened after were
tedious to write, for you care not what becomes of me,
nor I neither greatly ; for I am resolved, and knowing
my own invincible power of uncorruptible assistance
(even the best of Heaven, lest you should think I have
changed my mind since I told you there was no trust
in man), stand upon my guard, and, setting my heart
at rest and a watch before my lips, have fortified my
weak body as well as I can; and getting all the
munition of comfort and patience that the country
will afford me or my little circuit is capable of, resolve
rather to endure a ten years' siege, and even lose my
Hector, than you shall get my love into your danger
that deal thus with me. Are you not ashamed to see
your word thus broken before you be at your lodging ?
Truly by your letter methinks not, for it seems you
are no sooner gone hence but you forget and mistake
all you hear or see concerning me. But the noble
George, Earl of Shrewsbury, presuming on his god
son's word to him that he would not suffer his word
to be broken, though he had no commission to
promise a rebel pardon, yet, as you did, assured a
sometime noble gentleman and, till he was a traitor,
friend of his, to put his life in his hands, and he did
so, and as it proved with him so may it prove with
my love ; for he is at your discretion, and not mine,
if he have deserved it as I trow not, but I will not
swear for him, but for myself I will 
Here the letter breaks off, with no signature, ending,
or date.

144 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 14.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, ibid., f. 164.
(Indorsed, "March 4, 1602-3. Lady Arbella to
Sir Henry Brounker.") March 4, 1603.
Sir Henry, — This gentleman, Mr. Chaworth can
witness my many, great, and increased wrongs which,
if you will not believe, I cannot help ; if you do, and
help not to redress to your power, I think you do not
discharge the charge imposed on you by her Majesty
to see my treatment according to my condition and
desert, nor the trust I have reposed in your sincerity
and fair promises. Unregarded menaces I assure
you shall neither daunt me, nor the worst that any
mortal creature can do unto another shall not extort
a thought out of my mouth. Fairer means might
have laden you home with that treasure you came
for without a quittance ; but now I have no more to
say to you, but I will say no more, think, say, or do
what you list.
Hardwick, this Friday. Arbella Stuart.
P.S. — I deal better with you than you with me, for
I do not torture you with expectation, nor promise
better than I will perform. Damnata jam luce ferore.
Outside is written, "This was sent after Sir Henry
Brounker came." Addressed to "Sir H. Brounker,
Lambeth Marsh."

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. I45
No. 15.
Same to, the same, also Lambeth Marsh.
Holograph. Ibid., f. 165. March 6, 1603.
Sir Henry, — This day of rest doth not privilege
my travelling mind from employing my restless pen
in performing part of my promise in sending up
certain innocents to play their parts like Adam's
regenerate children. If it please you to examine this
long since offered and newly entertained servant of
mine, what matters of profit and love his young years
have been crossed in, and he make as good a rehearsal
as he did loverlike and gentlemanlike partly deliver,
partly forget, and partly excuse his first employment
hither, it will neither be impertinent nor unpleasant
for you to hear. His errand to you is no more at this
time but to know if you will admit him for an actor ;
his part is in penning, and if it please you to let me
know anything concerning myself, it shall be welcome
whatsoever [it is] coming from you. You shall shortly
have a resident within few miles of you, by whom you
may satisfy your inquisitiveness and still new springing
cavils.* In the mean time, Almighty God be with
you, most worthy knight.
Hardwick, this Sunday. Your poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
* Frivolous objections, sophisms.
VOL. II. 28

146 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 16.
Same to the same, at Lambeth Marsh.
Holograph. Ibid., f. 166. March 7, 1603.
Sir Henry, — I sent my page this afternoon into
my quondam study chamber, which he might not be
suffered to enter, much less I to receive the comfort
and good counsel of my dead counsellors and com
forters. If you think to make me weary of my life
and to conclude it according to Mr. Starkey's tragical
example, you are deceived ; if you mean to shorten
the time for your friends' sake, you are deceived in
that too, for such means prevail not with me. If you
think it her 'Majesty's pleasure her commandment
should either be unjustly pretended or covertly and
cunningly infringed, I hope it is not her Majesty's
meaning nor your delusive dealing, and sure I am
it is neither for her Majesty's honour nor your credit
I should be thus dealt withal. Your will be done.
I recommend my innocent cause and wrongfully
wronged and wronging friend to your consideration
and God's holy protection, to whom only be ascribed
all honour, praise, and glory for now and for ever,
Amen. For all men are liars. There is no trust in
man, whose breath is in his nostrils. And the day
will come when they that judge shall be judged, and
He that now keepeth their counsel and seemeth to
wink at iniquity, and suffer it to prosper like the
green bay tree, will root out deep-rooted pride and
malice, and make his righteousness shine like the

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 147
noonday. I was half a Puritan before, and Mr.
Holford, who is one whatsoever I be, hath shortened
your letter, and will shorten the time more than you
all, as he hath already driven me [from] my lady my
grandmother's presence with laughter, which, upon
just cause, you owe me good witness I cannot forbear.
Farewell, good knight. Your poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
Monday. No. 17.
Lady Arbella to Sir Henry Brounker.
Holograph Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 130.
Probably March 9, 1603.
Sir, — As [when] you were a private person I found
all humanity and courtesy from you, and whilst I live
will thankfully acknowledge it, and with all humility
and duty yield her Majesty more due thanks for first
choosing and after, upon my humble suit, re-employ
ing you, than for any or all the favours I have
received from her Majesty since my birth to this
day, and if they were all set together it far exceedeth
them all.
But your commission was, as it seemed, so strangely
strait that it was not possible her Majesty's expecta
tions should be better satisfied, which, as I know it
proceeded not of her Majesty's gracious disposition,
so was it not altogether 'long of me but others I
dealt as I did, and you perceived some truths which

148 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
I confessed not, as you promised some favours I
found not. When it shall please her Majesty to
afford me those ordinary rights which other subjects
cannot be debarred of justly, I shall endeavour to
receive them as thankfully now as if they had been
in due time offered ; though the best part of my time
be past, wherein (my heart being not so seasoned
with sorrow as it is) comfort should have been wel
come, and better bestowed because my heart was not
then overworn with just unkindness [resentment] and
sorrow, hath been capable of joy, and thankfully glad
of every small kindness or favour. They are dead
whom I loved; they have forsaken me in whom I
trusted ; I am dangerous to my guiltless friends ; in
all respects, if it were not because they are my friends,
as worthy her Highness's favourable countenance, as
their unjustly, to my disgrace and their hurt, favoured
enemies. So that I must conclude, as a private person,
I would trust you as soon as any gentleman I know,
upon so small acquaintance ; but while her Majesty
referreth the managing of every matter to those two
councillors,* her Majesty shall be abused. For I am
able to prove her Majesty is highly abused in this
matter, and I dare say no more than I have, and will
rather lose my life than utter one word more than
I have done. Nay, I will rather dishonour myself so
much [as] to deny what I have affirmed, than commit
my cause to their partial examination and relation.
You delivered me at your first coming a most gracious
message, wherein I apparently discerned the long
* Sir William Cecil and Sir John Stanhope.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 149
diswonted beams of her Majesty's gracious inclination
to me. I sincerely delivered the truth, and was
rewarded with a most hard censure, and frustration
of my most earnest and reasonable suits that I might
attend on her Majesty, or be from my grandmother
at least. But my wooden yoke was made of iron, and
I can bear it as long as I think good to convince
them that impose it of hardness of heart ; and shake
it off when I think good to take my Christian liberty,
which either shall be apparently [openly] denied me,
and the whole world [told] upon what cause or colour
or how justly given or taken, and by whom ; or must
be prevented by a reflux of her Majesty's favour to me
in greater measure than I have hitherto found. Which
[favour] I do not doubt of, if it would please her
Majesty to take that course which her royal inclination
would take to those of her own blood, if it were not,
to my great astonishment, diverted from them to
these two councillors' kindred. They favour their
kindred against her Majesty's; her Majesty defendeth
not her innocent, unstained blood against their malice.
Doth her Majesty favour the Lady Katharine's hus
band * more than the Earl of Essex's friend ? Are
the Stanhopes and Cecils able to hinder or diminish
the good reputation of a Stuart, her Majesty being
judge ? Have I stained her Majesty's blood by un
worthy or doubtful marriage? Have I claimed my
land these eleven years, though I had her Majesty's
promise I should have it? And hath my Lord of
Hertford regarded her Majesty's express command-
* The Earl of Hertford.

ISO LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
ment, and threatened and felt indignation so much ?
Have I forbore so long to send to the King of Scots
to expostulate his unkindness, and declare my mind
to him in many matters, and have no more thanks for
my labour ? Doth it please her Majesty to command
me by her letter, in Mr. Secretary's hand, to my
grandmother, to be suddenly examined for avoiding
excuses, and will it not please her, by a letter of her
own hand, to command that which her Majesty
cannot command as my sovereign, but as my most
honoured, loved, and trusted kinswoman ? Shall I
many weeks expect what I most earnestly begged and
longed for ; and must I reveal the secrets of my heart,
importing my soul, my life, all I hold dear in this
world, in a shorter time than at your now first coming
I told you I could, when it seems her Majesty careth
not for knowing anything concerning me but to break
my just desires ? Shall Mr. Holford be sent for by
commission, and I not [have] commission to send for
whom I will, and I not protest I have hard measure ?
Who can grant out the commission which can even
in good nature, good manners, or equity require such
a confession ? Have I concealed this matter thus
long from friends, servants, kinsfolk — all the world —
to reveal it now ?
John Good* was so extremely, cunningly, and
partially handled, and I so injuriously entreated, that
they, who have either occasioned, executed, furthered,
or suffered such rigour to light on me and so long to
continue, may thank themselves if they have lost all
* Dodderidge.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. ISI
the interest of voluntary obedience they had in me.
Do you think, I say, that I will reveal that to my
servants or friends now, which shall be prejudicial for
them to be suspected to guess at, much more to know,
much more to conceal ? I can assure you all that
are of my counsel are out of all possibility of danger,
and out of your reach. Neither doth her Majesty's
commandment prevail so far, though her fame and
entreaty be everywhere glorious and powerful. And
for myself, I will rather spit my tongue in my ex
aminer or torturer's face, than it shall be said, to the
dishonour of her Majesty's abused authority and blood,
an extorted truth came out of my lips. It would have
been an eternal honour to her Majesty that she, whom
neither the Privy Signet nor the Great Seal of Eng
land had availed in great matters and ordinary courses,
durst trust the two first lines of her sovereign's hand
(after such a retrograde course as hath been held
against me these many years) with that infinitely dear
adventure. If her Majesty hath regarded my con
tentment, or most bitter tears of discontent heretofore,
I may hope her Highness may do so hereafter. And
so her Highness hath, when a noble and unentreated
mediator,* who now holdeth his peace, hath delivered
his opinion of my treatment. But I am grown a
woman, and therefore, by her Majesty's own saying,
am not allowed the liberty of granting lawful favours
to princely suitors. How, then, dare subjects justify
* She probably refers to Lord Burghley, who did his best for
her rights as regarded her Scotch heritage, and was also very
kind to her as a child.

1 52 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
their most justifiable affection? It is a sufficient
reason for a counsellor or judge, in excuse of staying
and crossing the due course of law in suits of great
importance, that the wronged gentleman is my dearest
friend, and I take God to record I have deserved a
great deal more friendship of him than I find. How
dare others visit me in my distress, when the Earl of
Essex, then in highest favour, durst scarcely steal a salu
tation in the privy chamber, where, howsoever it pleased
her Majesty I should be disgraced in the presence
at Greenwich, and discouraged in the lobby at White
hall, it pleased her Majesty to give me leave to gaze
on her, and by trial pronounce me an eaglet of her
own kind, worthy even yet (but for my [obliterated1^
to carry her thunderbolt, and prostrate myself at her
feet (the Earl of Essex's fatal, ill-sought, unobtained
desire) as any Hebe, whose disgraces may be blushingly
concealed but not unseen, or Ganymede, though he
may minister nectar in more acceptable manner?
But whither do my thoughts. transport me now? Let
me live like an owl in the wilderness, since my
Pallas will not protect me with her shield.
You saw what a despair the greatness of my enemies
and the hard measure I have received (and my fortune
is not yet bettered) drove innocent, discreet, learned,
and godly Mr. Starkey into : will you be guilty of more
blood ? You saw what misconceits you bred in him
after twelve years' experience of me in such sort that
he did not believe my true grief, whereof he was an
eye-witness, and suspected me of a monstrous fault,
which by his own testimony he had no reason for,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. I 53
but what somebody told him some untruth of me.
And shall I not think the examined and wrong in
censed nobility * will not impute their wrongs to me,
who am so unjustly under two councillors' hands, by
her Majesty's silent assent, instituted the author of
this action? For the passion of God let me come
to my trial in this my prison instantly, and I doubt
not but my messenger pathetically declared my woeful
plight, which others, without entreaty or commission,
offered and will redress, and yet they know but a
small part of what you know, and yet enough for me,
I thank God, and no more than a hundred more do,
who are like to corrupt (if that be corruption) some
that yet were never corrupted, to some of my idle
conceits. Therefore lay the axe to the root of the
tree in time, and let me lose my head, which for less
cause and upon no ground but my friends' faults, her
Majesty hath threatened to take, as I told you, whilst
nobody will hinder it, and [which penalty] I shall joy
fully and thankfully receive as God receive my soul.
And [/] long to hear you have made that most earnest
and humble suit of mine, but it must be in your own
name, for else it will not be granted ; and if my Lord
of Hertford will lend his helping hand, and the two
councillors (for his sake, or what other private or public
respect soever makes them deal thus sinisterly with
me, who would presume to have and take the upper
hand of the best of them, but for her Majesty's known
pleasure of derogating from my due many ways), [wish]
to write their bloody pleasure in her Majesty's name,
* The Earl of Hertford.

1 54 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
my messenger shall diligently attend, or I doubt not
but they may find enough ready enough to go of their
errand, specially to such an end. Her Majesty I know
would be highly offended to have such a matter effected
without her Highness's liking; but what will not or
cannot one of them do, and gild over with some
colourable rule of policy, or of love and duty in far
more respectful sort than it is performed by them,
who cannot keep their own counsel, how would they
mine if they knew it ? I know her Majesty would be
highly offended at them, and conceive a more gracious
opinion of me, when I have declared and compared
some of their dealing and some of mine, which I will
prepare to send to you by Mr. Chaworth, when he is
able to fetch them ; and what dealing I am like to
receive from you I shall judge by that he bring me
from you, whatsoever it be. Let it not be ambiguous,
and it shall be unfeignedly welcome coming from you,
fully as much as it deserves. You will needs deceive
yourself contrary to your own knowledge : why do you
think I will not grant that in your absence which you
could not obtain whilst you were here ? Admit I had
been in love, and would have declared his name, I
assure you on my faith I would have delivered it you
in writing, and by my good will have seen you no
more after till I had been out of fear of blushing,
which, though I did not, as I think, while you were
here, I should have done, or at least did, within few
days after you were gone. But here was some cause,
though very little, but it was true, and no supposition
or false accusation, which wrought that, with me,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 155
unusual effect ; which I am lother to be accused of,
though it be but a very fallible conjecture even with
me, than by the false tongues of as many as list to
conspire with my enemies in uttering, soothing,*
[or] augmenting their authorized lies.
And therefore, whatsoever another would do, I know
and assure you I would rather write than speak my
mind in a love-matter, especially of my own ; but I
say this to convince your obstinate and I think in
vincible incredulity, who judge of love, charity, words,
oaths, modesty, truth, vows, obedience, patience,
silence, according to certain prodigious examples and
erroneous rules which the prince of darkness sets
more usually and authentically before your eyes,
which I doubt not but grieve your generous heart
to see, and perchance then your crime of silence is
now and then punished with a blush, though you be
not guilty of the offence. But do not deceive your
self so much to think I either have or will confess
my pure and innocent self guilty of love till you
deserve that extraordinary trust (which they who for
the saving of their soul submit themselves to auricular
confession, have all the assurance one mortal man
can give or another possibly require) many ways,
whereby I may both try your love to me, and your
credit with her Majesty, and my credit with you ; for
why should I speak, unless you will believe ? How
shall I believe any good till I see it ? Nay, you are
beholden to me, if your credit and persuasions and
reasons will in seven years make me forget these
* The word means here corroborating, "sooth'' = truth.

156 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
injuries, and believe any word, writing, or assurance
her Majesty can make, so confidently as you, who
never saw them without effect, would have persuaded
me to do, who could have showed you visible signs,
and reasons of my just incredulity and hardness of
heart ; who might be condemned by all the world for
a credulous fool, which were far worse, if I should
yield [to] a power which hath already spent itself
against my unyielding heart, which will rather burst
than utter one thought by constraint of any, and the
greater the threatenings and the more violently it is
assaulted the greater will the victory be.
I have conquered my affection; I have cast away
my hopes ; I have forsaken all comfort ; I have sub
mitted my body and fortune to more subjection than
could be commanded. I have disposed of my liberty.
I have cut off all means of your attaining what you
seek, till you seek it of me by such means as I
tell you. What harm can all the world do me now ?
Even as much as it would do me good to follow your
counsel — that is, none. My servants shall be taken
from me, then shall I be no more troubled with their
troublesome importunity and inquisitiveness. I shall
but hear of my friends' trouble, as Mr. Holford's,
and by comparison of my own think it nothing. But
you will say I occasion it ; but my conscience will not
accuse me, nor they in the end will not think so, but
we shall agree that it is they who abuse her Majesty
and wrong me, whose malice extends so far every way
as their base-bred suspicions can reach for packing
every idle word to every foolish imagination, and

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 57
gathering every unlikely possible conceit to a deal of
trash of their own invention, and lining it with secret
whisperings, and shaping it as best pleaseth their fancy,
who have made you present her Majesty with a mis
shapen, discoloured piece of stuff, fitting none, nor fit
for her Majesty to look upon, which, if either I might
be suffered, or not hindered, I will not say helped —
but why should I not be helped, I pray you, in such
a piece of work ? — should have been presented to her
Majesty in a form well beseeming her Majesty ; whereas
now it is so tossed up and down that it hath almost
lost the gloss, and even by the best slubbered (sic) up
in such haste, that many wrong stitches of unkind
ness must be picked out, which need not have been
so bestowed ; and many wrong-placed conceits ripped
out, whereof some may be cast away, but most being
right placed will do very well. The more you think
to make, the more you mar ; when all is done I must
take it [in] hand, and shape my own coat according
to my cloth, but it shall not be after your opinion of
this world, God willing, but fit for me, and every way
becoming of that virtue in me, whether it be a native
property of that blood I come of, or an infective virtue
of the Earl of Essex ; who could go neither friend nor
foe knew whither, till he arrived amongst his unwit
ting enemies, from whom he ever returned with honour,
and was received home with joy. Till — all ungrateful
not to be bound more strictly by a letter of her
Majesty's hand than all the bonds and command
ments of any or all other mortal creatures — he stole
from his charge as if he had longed for the most

158 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
gracious welcome he received, and was punished for
his unmannerly (but I think in any lover's opinion
pardonable) presumption of kissing that breast in his
offensively wet riding-clothes, with making those mild,
kind words of reprehension the last that ever his ear
received out of his dear mistress's mouth. Of whose
favour (not in respect she was his sovereign, as I pro
test he ever said to me) how greedy he was even in
the Earl of Leicester's time (before he so fully possessed
it by many degrees, as after, to her Majesty's eternal
honour, he did), I, and I doubt not many more better
believed at court, are good witnesses. And how over-
violently hasty (after two years' silent meditation) to
recover it he was this fatal day, Ash Wednesday * and the
new dropping tears of some, might make you remem
ber, if it were possible you could forget. Quis talia
fando temperet a lacrimis ? Myrmidomina Dolopumue
aut duri miles Ulisses 1
And were not I unthankfully forgetful, if I should
not remember my noble friend, who graced me, by
her Majesty's commandment disgraced orphan, un-
found ward, unproved prisoner, undeserved exile, in his
greatest and happy[&tf] fortunes, to the adventure of
eclipsing part of her Majesty's favours from him, which
were so dear, so welcome to him? Shall not I,
I say, now I have lost all I can lose or almost care to
lose, now I am constrained to renew these melancholy
thoughts by the smarting feeling of my great loss ; who
may well say I never had nor never shall have the like
friend, nor the like time to this to need a friend in court,
* The anniversary of Essex's execution.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 159
spend thus much or rather thus little time, ink, and
labour, without incurring the opinion of writing much
to little purpose? I do it not to be requited with
your applause, for then I might utter more welcome
matter in two words, nor that my troubled wits cannot
discern how unlooked for, how subject to interpreta
tion, how offensive almost every word will be even to
you. But for some reasons which I will tell you,
lest you return to that opinion I took so very unkindly
at your hands — that the more I writ to the less
purpose it was.
First, as I voluntarily confine myself to tears,
silence, and solitariness, and submit and desirously
expect some yet more apparent token of her
Majesty's causelessly conceived displeasure towards
me, so I determined to spend this day in sending you
the ill-favoured picture of my grief, who went away
so desirous to see the picture of that most noble
gentleman, the King of Scots. Who[;«] — because
you know not the power of Divine and Christian
love at court so generally well as, for her Majesty's
honour and of the place, I would you did — cannot
believe one can come so near God's precept, who
commandeth us to love our neighbour like our
self, as to love an unkind but otherwise worthy
kinsman, so well as nobody else (it seems to your
knowledge) doth any but their paramours, which, if
you can make him [James] believe, will be an excellent
requital for his unprincely and unchristian giving ear
to the slanderous and unlikely surmise of the Earl
of Essex and me. But he hath studied too much

160 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
divinity to think either the word misapplied, or
the matter impossible to be most true, and lawfully
allowable of any married man, which made you so
captious and inquisitive, because you are more con
versant in court and in the Arcadian phrase, which
need no comment to you, than in the Church, or our
Church's translation of the Testament, which com-
mandeth holy love and holy kisses. I am in good
hope you will take exceptions to St. Paul's words,
now you have them under my hand, and then I have
made you partly amends for the labour you have
bestowed in reading so long and peevishly tedious
a letter. Secondly, being allowed no company to my liking,
and finding this the best excuse to avoid the
tedious conversation I am bound to, I think the time
best spent in tiring you with the idle conceits of my
travelling mind, till it make you ashamed to see into
what a scribbling melancholy (which is a kind of
madness, and there are several kinds of it *) you have
brought me, and leave me, if you leave me till I be
my own woman, and then your trouble and mine too
will cease. Or make you condemned of idleness and
discourtesy, if you requite my long letters with such
short and courtier-like peremptory letters, as all I have
received from you have been. Whereby I perceive
you content yourself with the high, and by you right
well deserved, style of her Majesty's faithful servant,
and forget you profess yourself, both by word and writ-
* This is a good commentary on Arabella's own "madness"
later on.

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. l6l
ing, to be my friend; and now I have it under your hand
that your hand is the pawn of your credit, and you would
have me trust you, before I be sure you will believe
what I say, or have tried, or at least found, your
friendship in some points, before I may in discretion
trust you any further. I pray you just let me know
what you have delivered of me, to whom, [and] how it is
taken or mistaken, with the freedom of a friend's pen,
who have no cause to trust you any more till I see
you dare trust me and my messengers with all you
know in this matter, which must needs be infinitely
more than it hath pleased you yet to deliver. But
hitherto you have dealt like a commissioner, your words
have been questions, and objections, and promises,
and threatenings, but none of your own, and conse
quently neither possible for you to keep, nor me to
trust, how well soever you wish me, or I trust you.
But now I thank God your commission is at an end,
and let me see what you will or can do, either to per
suade me by good and solid reason to alter my mind,
and commit my counsel to some friend's ear, or hand,
to deliver it to her Majesty ; or what you can do for
me by your credit with her Majesty, if I should follow
your counsel, and put my life, my soul, and all that I
hold dear into your hands or her Majesty's, by your
persuasion ? If it would be, as I know it would be,
so much for your satisfaction and credit, to find and
understand this concealed truth, which, seek and
examine and torture whom you list, you shall never
find but in my heart, and oh ! that you would seek it
there, where it is as deeply printed, and in the same
vol. 11. 29

1 62 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
characters of undeserved, redressless unkindness, as
Calais in Queen Mary's. Till your greater and more
regarded employments give you as much time as I
shall require, without limitation (for then I cannot), or
wearisomeness to you (for when I am wearisome my
counsel will be burdensome for you to keep), to con
vert my fear, despair, grief, mistrust, and other deep-
rooted conceits, which long time and woeful experi
ence have grafted in my heart, and I have watered in
tears full oft, and now they bring forth the, to me
bitter, to others misliked, leaves, which hide the
desired fruit of your labour from your knowledge, till
time _have brought it to maturity, and then another
is like to steal the thanks, but not of her Majesty,
which I should have thought myself happy you might
have received of her Highness, by my means. But
I perceive you think it not worth the labour, howsoever
you pretend, for then your own discretion would have
made you believe that which I think I, nor an angel
from heaven I think, cannot make you believe that
is the truth, when I speak it or write it, else you would
have bestowed the labour to come back from Notting
ham, upon the sudden, apparently true, and grievous
accident happened to me, before you were there.
But you were in commission, and had not the Chris
tian liberty to visit me in sorrow, sickness, prison, and
many ways distressed, for which God will call all the
world to account one day, and particularly you, to
whom I [blot], and then misjudge me as you list, the
panic is past already. Will you not use me as well as
traitors are used, who am not guilty of thought, word,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 63
or deed, which, rightly interpreted, can be the least
offensive to her Majesty, and can be racked to no
greater than a service of silence ?
Had the Earl of Essex the favour to die unbound
because he was a prince, and shall my hands be
bound from helping myself in this distress, before I
confess some fault (like the innocent I told you of)
which I never committed, and renew my suit to you
to convert these unwelcome councillors' letters to a
commission to take my head? But remember, if I
endure these grievous wounds without striving or
speaking, it is because I have recommended myself
to the Lord of hosts, whose angels have lifted my
soul from my afflicted body, higher than they are able
to reach that exceed her Majesty's commission, and
torture the condemned to exile with expectation. If
I have deserved the land should spue me out, I will
feed myself with the idle and windy conceits of an
ostracism, and my unregarded poor self shall be all
the riches and company I crave to transport. And
if a prince's word (who, for aught I have heard, never
brake promise) be so much to be relied upon for so*
small a matter as you would have persuaded me in a
greater [would] be sufficient assurance, I assure you, if
you come, and beg the licence of my transportation, it
will requite your, as you count it, lost labour and great
pains (which otherwise I think I must die indebted
to you for, for gold and silver have I none, neither
would you generous and rarely faithful courtiers take it*),
* Old Lady Shrewsbury had pressed a purse into Brounker' s
hand when he left Hardwick.

1 64 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
with profit, which from her Majesty's hand must needs
seem worthy the begging and taking and honour.
It may be this hope may prove vain, so vain is the
trust reposed in man; and I confess I have been
deceived by them I have best trusted, and I would
they had all been foreigners and strangers that have
deceived and wronged me. Then had not I hoped
for land, liberty, and extraordinary favour from her
Majesty, nor looked my parent, kin, and pretended
friends should amend or comfort my bad fortune, but
[lived] as happy as any (by all likelihood) have lived
like myself, with such honourable and princely treat
ment as absolute andgreat princes have thought her
Majesty's kinswoman worthy of, and as desirously as
princes desire anything (or seem to desire) what is in
another's power to grant or deny, have sought at her
Majesty's hands, and perchance may receive, but not
from her Majesty, more than you will believe possible,
and yet no more than is in poor me to grant, in one
word which will make you believe me ever after.
And, if you will needs urge me to it, they will be glad
of it, and yet not be a jot beholden to any that with
hard measure plead for them, whom if they knew, they
would hinder. I speak unbelieved truth, and ill
understood, and worse-constructed riddles, but it is to
you, whom I am bold to trouble, and as, if it please you
to examine me as a friend, I am content as a friend
to answer you, upon such security as friends require
and take one of another in matters of this nature.
If, [so] as one whose commission is expired to
do me good, it is less in your power to help me

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 65
now than when you went, or I last writ to you, and I
have daily (by Mr. Holford's speedy and rough send
ing for) less and less cause to look either for favour
or justice, and consequently to trust or look for any.
But I take God to witness, for my servant Mr. George
Chaworth's sake, I have done (but now it is dashed)
[more] than ever I will do again, for all the command
ments, and threatenings, and wrongs, and torments,
all [thai] the council, rackmasters, and all the ministers
of her Majesty's indignation can pour upon me, or
at his entreaty, or all the world's, till I be used like
myself, with as great honour and respect and kind
ness as is every way due to me, who am not ignorant
either of my birth or descent, nor senseless of wrong,
nor hopeless of redress, which, as it is my duty first to
beg as I have done, and after a while to expect from
her Majesty, so it is my duty to God to procure by all
the lawful means with speed, because my weak body
and travelling mind must be disburdened soon or I
shall offend my God, and I were better offend my
prince, and I shall be guilty of my own misfortune.
Whereas now others are altogether answerable to God
and the world, and the world will give their verdict
when and where they dare, and God His sentence on
my side I doubt not, for such is His promise and
written word, sealed with the blood of His only dear
Son ; confirmed by the manifold testimonies of com
fortably concurring Scriptures and the examples of His
dear saints ; and yet He is content our wavering faith
should receive the further assurance of His sacraments,
and requiteth our imperfect obedience with thanks

\66 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
and honour and an immortal crown of glory. To Him
be glory only and for ever, amen ; and let the elders
and princes say " amen," at least to the " Hosanna ! "
which children and young men so cheerfully and
successfully begin, lest the stones of the trampled
streets condemn those that have tongues, and tread
upon them, of ill employing or, which is worse, not
employing them to His praise. How many vain words
are spoken ! and who dare speak for me ? How many
wanton favours are earnestly and importunately
begged ! and who dare humbly, and even once and
no more, remember her Majesty to cast her gracious
eye upon me, at least with no less favour than I
deserve ? How many inquisitive questions are asked
of me ! and how little inquisitive are my friends and
acquaintance what becomes of me ! What fair words
have I had of courtiers and councillors and so they
are vanished into smoke ! Who is he amongst you
all dare be sworn in his conscience I have wrong ?
and dare tell the Earl of Hertford he hath done it ?
And the two councillors they wrong their estate to
show such respect to ruined greatness and wisdom
and riches to let innocence be thus oppressed, and
truth suppressed. And yet there yet [still] are some
amongst you have pawned their credit and their soul
too to do more for me upon a less occasion unintreated
[and] at their peril. I will pray Almighty God not
to take the forfeit, but I will see them hanged as high
as ever favourite was (and that was according to his,
Hainan's, own ambitious direction, meaning to have
bestowed that high and airy death of [on] an innocent,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 167
that spent his time in giving attendance at the king's
gate, whose queen was his niece, but that was more
than ever the king knew) before I will claim promise,
though promise be debt of the proudest of them. I
will rather break a penal law, and though her Highness's
countenance be withdrawn from me, so that like
Hester [Esther] I cannot hope of pardon, for her
Majesty's golden sceptre is turned to a scourge upon
me. Yet I shall be as well able to pay the uttermost
farthing her Majesty shall impose upon me, as my
Lord of Hertford. Neither will I first fly and then
endure my punishment, but first endure my punish
ment, and then I trust her Majesty will give me leave
to leave all my troubles behind me, and go into a
better place than her Majesty hath provided for me,
these twenty-seven years wherein I have had ex
perience what it would please her Majesty, all my
friends, yea, all England, to do for me, that did
nothing for myself, no, not so much as utter one word
which had been better uttered for me many a year
ago, and shall never be spoken to English man nor
woman, whatsoever it is. For declaring my mind to
her Majesty more than I have done I dare not ; my
words have been already too offensively taken, and
too unjustly wrested by them that had least cause so
to do. I am deaf to commandments, and dumb to
authority. I know her Majesty excelleth her sex and
all God's creatures in many princely virtues, whereof
secresy is one, and in her breast durst I repose my
life and my honour, what not, if I had her favour and
promise. And her Majesty shall see some, resembling

1 68 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
one of my sex, years, and condition very well to all
correspondencies, and without all incongruities, as
plain without ambiguities, as I could, for her Majesty's
honour, wish their words and actions were ; for these
plaits and folds and slight devices do but glitter in
the eye, and their small value is discerned whosoever
make them worn for fashion's sake. Whereas mine
shall be strange and new, and richly worth more than
I am worth, or any lady of a subject in this land ; but
you shall not know the device at court lest you
prevent me, or the foreknowledge take away the
grace of the sudden and gorgeous change of my suit,
which, how little soever my mourning-weed be
respected, will make me envied who am not pitied.
But hard will it be for any of them all to follow me,
it will be so costly, and yet to me so easy, that they
will at least for civility confess themselves less worthy
of that which their betters have had much ado to
persuade me to take in free gift, acknowledging me
(in their partial opinion) worthy of more than they
can give, which is more than incredulous you can
believe should be offered, much more so long un-
received by poor me. And in truth I thank God for
your hardness of heart and wilful blindness, for else
I might relent, if you could see to follow my directions,
who fain would enjoy meaner fortunes at home ; but
God's will be done : only in His power is it to dispose
of all His creatures, without respect of persons.
Now I have spent this day in portraying my melan
choly innocence in the undeceiving black and white
you see, after my rude manner I must tell you true I

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 1 69
think it will not yet be your fortune to understand my
meaning, for it is not my meaning you should ; nor
to pleasure you to confess all you guess, much less all
you believe, though you believe not all you should,
much less as you should, of me, if the pomp of this
world had not bewitched your court-dazzled eyes.
But I have said enough to make you miserable every
way, if you will not or cannot either go the way I tell
you, or let me without your hard, hardly removed
prejudicate* misconceits take my good and godly
course, which howsoever it be to her Majesty, if I be
not made incapable of any comfort, will be highly to
my honour and contentment, and happy shall I be.
And I doubt not but they that now condole my mis
fortunes will fill your ears, when you think all my
words but brags and idle conceits impossible to take
effect, with congratulation and applause of my devoted
and admirable silence. Almighty God be with you.
I will not excuse my prolixity, neither is your wiser
brevity so commended, now you are yourself, and are
so many lines behind mine, who I think must outgo
you all in kindness and desert, and you may do very
well, and yet not come near me in that point. God
forgive my excess and your defects in love and charity.
From Hardwick, this Ash Wednesday.
Your poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
* Prejudged.

170 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 1 8.
Cecil and Stanhope to the Dowager Countess
of Shrewsbury.
Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 169.
(Indorsed, " Minute to my Lady Shrewsbury, by
Mr. Holford, concerning the Lady Arbella.")
(This letter is corrected in another hand, often
destroying the sense, for which reason some of the
crossed-out passages have been retained; interpella
tions and comments are made in almost illegible
writing in the margin.) March 14, 1603.
Madame, — We are very sorry to find, by the
strange style of Lady Arbella's letters, that she hath
her thoughts no better quieted, especially considering
her Majesty's own ready inclination, Notwithstanding
her first error in dealing with my Lord of Hertford, to
have taken no other course with her than was ex
pressed by our first* [from * to* scored underneath,
as if to draw special attention to the queen's leniency] ;
and because we would be very glad even for the sup
pression of vain reports that the bottom of her heart
were known, seeing the bearer hereof is known to be of
good religion, and seemeth to be *much interested in
her* [from * to * crossed out, and something to the
same purpose written in the margin]. We should be
very glad that your ladyship should suffer him to have
access unto her, if it is thought fit, as often as she
shall desire him. And next, whereas your ladyship

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 171
complains that she is not removed from you, we must
reply unto you for the present that her Majesty can
in no sort be brought unto it, but rather wisheth that*
[from * to * in the margin], *seeing she groweth so
troublesome both to herself and to others, that you
will deal as mildly with her in words as you can, how
soever she may offend you in this time of her passion,
because that is the [ground] of her quarrel ; and that,
as much as may be, her sending up and down such
strange letters may be forborne ; in the which we
must tell you truly, and so we pray you to let Mr.
William Cavendish know that her Majesty and my
lord do expect at his hands that he should interpose
himself more decently and [illegible] toward the dis
courtesy of her meaning by these vain [letters] than
he doth, seeing it is her Majesty's pleasure. And so
we do again signify to you that he do ease your lady
ship of that continual care which we see you take,
the same being a great trouble to yourself and more
proper for him, whose company is more agreeable
unto her. These directions we have thought fit to
give forth, first, because the dispersing of her letters
abroad of such strange subjects as she writes is incon
venient in many respects, and in our opinion disgrace
ful to herself, which maketh us the rather wonder that
her uncles there are no more sensible of it, nor do not
by their letters or otherwise open themselves to us
either in their designs and,* — [Breaks off here in the
margin, and the letter continues, the part from * to*
having evidently been added afterwards, as, by leaving
out the crossed words, the sentence reads, " but (her

172 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Majesty) rather wisheth that you will * *, see above."]
*But [her Majesty] hopeth that* you will so [from *
to * crossed out] fashion all things as the young lady
may not mislike her habitation, so as your ladyship
assign Mr. William Cavendish to attend her, who is a
gentleman that can both please her and advise her
in due proportion. . . .
From the Court at Richmond.

No. 19.
Extracts from Examinations held by Sir Henry
Brounker, March 18, 19, in reference to Henry Caven
dish's attempt to carry off Arabella.
Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 171.
Examination of Christopher Chapman, Vicar of
Hucknall, Friday, March 18, 1603.
Chapman confessed that Mr. Henry Cavendish and
Mr. Stapleton came to his house on Thursday was
se'nnight in the morning, about ten of the clock, and
that they said they were desirous to speak with Lady
Arbella for her good, and they desired to have the
key of the steeple, to see if my Lady A. did come to
them. His wife said to them, " If you had been here
on Saturday last you might have seen her, for she was at
the [Church]." Whereupon Mr. Stapleton did rise out
of his saddle, and threw down his hat, and said, " What
[thing] is this ? It was 'long of my wife ; she sent me
word to the contrary ! "... He (Chapman) said he
did hear that there were eight horsemen in Hucknall,

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 173
and some others in other places hereabouts, but how
many he knew not but by common report. ... He
saith that he being at that time at Mansfield,* one
John Chambers, an innkeeper in Mansfield, where
they (Cavendish and Stapleton) were lodged, meeting
him, he (Chapman) drew him aside, and asked him
what he did in Mansfield. He (Chambers) had " guests
at home." Chapman asked who they were. " Why,"
said he, " such as you little hope for," naming Mr. H.
Cavendish and Mr. Stapleton. Chapman asked what
they did there. " Nay," said Chambers, " no matter
what they do, but there they are." When Cavendish
and Stapleton left Chapman's house on the Thursday
morning, they told him Lady Arbella would thank
him for their good entertainment. Ibid., f. 172.
Examination of John and Matthew Stark, March
18, 1603.
John Stark, servant to Mr. Facton, dwelling at
Hucknall, within half a mile of Hardwick, saith that
on Thursday was se'nnight in the morning, he (Stark)
said he saw, beside the aforesaid company, five more
gentlemen amongst the hollies in the Den f called
Hawthorn Den, and in another place near there by
a hedgeside three horsemen more, and in the bushes
near a lane, ... a hundred horsemen in one company,
and three more in another company. He heard his
* Mansfield, a town in Nottinghamshire, four or five miles
from Hardwick.
t "Den "here means "dell."

174 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
master's daughter ask Henry Dove what these men
were here for ; he answered, " They came to take my
Lady Arbella away." " What ! " said she, " being no
more company ? " " Yes," said he, " there are not far off
thirty or forty more." Stark further testified that all
these companies were within half a mile of each other,
and he saw them. One of them had " a little pillion
behind his saddle, which he hid with his cloak," and
another a case of pistols at his saddle-bow. Matthew
testified that John had told him all the above the
same day after the company had left.
About ten of the clock there came to his master's
house at Hucknall Mr. Henry Cavendish, and Mr. Sta
pleton, Henry Dove [in margin, " servant to my Lady
Arbella"], and a hundred serving-men with them.
They bade him walk their horses out of the sight of
Hardwick House, which he did, afterwards putting
them in his master's stable. The gentlemen went and
sat down in Mr. Chapman's, the Rector of Hucknall's
house. Shortly after Mr. Owen (Lady Arbella's page)
and Freak (her imbrederer [= embroiderer^) came
thither with a letter to them. After they had read that
letter, one of the serving-men went and took a horse
out of the stable, and rode to call some more company
that were in the neighbourhood. After they had talked
awhile, Henry Dove said to Mr. Facton's daughter,
" She cannot come out this day." One of the serving-
men said to another, " We cannot now come to our
purpose, but about a fortnight hence we must come
again when these blunders are past, but we must not
come so many so near the house."

THE MYSTERY OF 1602-3. 175
Ibid., f. 173.
Examination of Henry Dove, servant to my Lady
Arbella, March 19, 1603.
Dove confessed that he had been sent to fetch
Cavendish and Stapleton to come to Lady Arbella,
and accompanied them to Hucknall on the Thursday.
They thought she would have come thither walking,
and hoped to meet her there. Arbella had sent word
to Mansfield by her page Owen, the day before, that
she would meet them at Hucknall that day. Only
four came to Hucknall that day, and some more hid
in the hollies in Hawthorn Den. They bade their
horses to be walked out of sight of Hardwick, for fear
of offending my lady. They asked for the key of
the steeple, in order to see if Arbella were coming.
When Mr. Stapleton * heard that Arbella had been
there the Saturday before, he threw down his hat and
said, " This is 'long of my wife." When Mr. Stapleton
went from Mansfield, he had meant to go but a little
way with his wife, and return to Mansfield or some
place near.
* Mr. Stapleton apparently means that, had it not been for
going with his wife, he might have come on the Saturday.

176 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

C.
No. i.
(a) Lady Arabella to Lord Cecil.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 135, f. 176 (3).
June 14, 1603.
My good Lord, — I presume to trouble your lord
ship in renewing that request which, when I last spake
with you, it would not please your lordship to grant ;
or at least to let me know you would make me
bound to you in that kind ; that is, that it will please
your lordship to remind the king's Majesty of my
maintenance, which, if it be not a matter fit for you
(as one which your lordship hath already dealt in),
my uncle of Shrewsbury is greatly deceived or hath
deceived me; but I suppose neither, and therefore
presume so much of your honourable disposition that
you will endeavour to obtain me that which it will be
for his Majesty's honour to grant. And therefore
your lordship in that respect (if there were no other)
I doubt not will perform more than it was your
pleasure to promise me, I think because you would
have the benefit greater coming unpromised. And so
wishing your lordship increase of honour and hap
piness, I cease.
From Sheen, the 14th of June.
Your lordship's poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.

LETTERS TO CECIL, 1603. 177
(b) Same to the same.
Ashmolean MSS., v. 1729, f. 80. June 22, 1603.
My good Lord, — It hath pleased his Majesty to
alter his purpose concerning the pension whereof your
lordship writ to me. It may please you to move his
Majesty that my present want may be supplied by
his Highness with some sum which needeth not be
annual if it so seem good to his Majesty. But I
would rather make hard shift for the present than be
too troublesome to his Highness, who, I doubt not,
will allow me maintenance in such liberal sort as shall
be for his Majesty's honour, and a testimony to the
world no less of his Highness's princely bounty than
natural affection to me. Which good intention of his
Majesty I doubt not but your lordship will further
as you shall see occasion, whereof your lordship shall
make me greatly bounden to you, as I already acknow
ledge myself to be. And so, with humble thanks for
your honourable letter, I recommend your lordship
to the protection of the Almighty, who send you all
honour and contentment.
From Sheen, the 22nd of June, 1603.
Your lordship's poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.

vol. II.

30

178 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
(c) Same to the same.
Ibid., f. 81. June 23, 1603.
My good Lord, — I humbly thank your lordship
that it please you, amongst your great affairs, to re
member my suits to his Majesty. For the alteration
of my pension I hope I shall shortly have the means
to acquaint your lordship with it myself. If I should
name two thousand pounds for my present occasions,
it would not exceed my necessity, but I dare not pre
sume to crave any certain sum, but refer myself
wholly to his Majesty's consideration, and assure myself
I shall find your lordship my honourable good friend,
both in procuring it as soon, and making the sum as
great as may be. So with humble thanks to your
lordship for your continual favours, I recommend
your lordship to the protection of the Almighty.
From Sheen, the 23rd of June, 1603.
Your lordship's poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
These two letters are elaborately written, with
flourishes, and great care taken in the formation of
the letters, but apparently in Arabella's own hand.

LETTERS TO CECIL, 1603. 179
(a) Same to the same.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 100, f. 134.
June 26, 1603.
My good Lord, — I humbly thank your lordship
for procuring and hastening the king's liberality to
wards me. I acknowledge myself greatly bound to
your lordship, and have sent this bearer to attend
your pleasure, whose important affairs I am con
strained to interrupt with this necessary importunity.
From Sheen, the 26th of June.
Arbella Stuart.

(e) Same to the same.
Holograph. Ibid., v. 134, f. 39. June 30, 1603.
My good Lord, — I have received his Majesty's
liberality by your lordship's means, for which I ac
knowledge myself greatly bounden to your lordship
of [on] whose patience I presume in reading these
needless lines, rather than I would by omitting your
due thanks a short time, leave your lordship in the
least suspense of my thankfulness to you whose good
opinion and favour I highly esteem. . . .
From Sheen, the 30th of June, 1603.
Your lordship's assured friend,
Arbella Stuart.

180 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

No. 2.
[The originals of the following letters (pp. 180-207,
and 222, 223) are at Longleat : Dr. Birch's mistakes
in copying them are here rectified.]
(a) Lady A. S. to her Uncle Gilbert, Earl of
Shrewsbury.
Birch. Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 177.Aug. 14, 1603.
I humbly thank you for your letter to my Lord
Chamberlain Sidney in my behalf, which I have not
yet delivered, and for letting me understand your
course, which, though it bend directly northward, will
not hinder you from thinking and looking to the
south, where you leave me to take my fortune in an
unknown climate, without either art or instruction but
what I have from you, whose skilful directions I will
observe as far forth as they are Puritanlike. And
though I be very frail, I must confess, yet I trust you
shall see in me the good effects of your prayer, and
your great glory for reforming my untowardly resolu
tions and mirth (for great shall the melancholy be
that shall appear in my letters to you), which as the
best preservative of health I recommend to you, to
whom I wish long life, honour, and all happiness.
From Famham, the 14th of August, 1603.
Your disciple,
Arbella Stuart.
To my very good uncle, the Earl oi Shrewsbury.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. l8l
(b) To the Countess
Ibid., f. 177. Aug. 23, 1603.
Madame, — I have written to my uncle how the
world goes with me. I beseech you get him to write
to my Lord Cecil on my behalf, and to take notice
of his and my Lord H. Howard's crossing the king's
intention for my allowance of diet. I think that
makes others deny me that the king granted, and
makes even himself think anything enough, when so
wise counsellers think it too much. You know his
inclination to be kind to all his kin, and liberal to
all he loves, and you know his protestations of extra
ordinary affection to me. Therefore I am sure it is
evil counsel that withholds him so long from doing
for me in as liberal sort or more as he hath done
for any. The queen was very desirous to have
accompanied the king. When she speaks of you,
she speaks very kindly and honourably of you. Our
great and gracious ladies leave no gesture nor fault
of the late queen unremembered, as they say who
are partakers of their talk, as, I thank God, I am not.
Mr. Elphinstone * is my very good friend, and your
much devoted. I pray you let me hear of my faults
from you, when you will have me mend them ; for
I am sure you shall hear of them there, and I neither
* Mr. Inderwick says a Mr. Elphinstone wrote to Queen Anne
in 1609, complaining of being ruined in her service, and praying
for relief. Arabella spells it " Elfingston."

1 82 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
those faults which are thought so here, nor those
qualities good that are most gracious here. Now you
are a bystander you may judge and direct better than
ever. I humbly take my leave, praying the Almighty to
send you all happiness.
From Basing, the 23rd of August (1603).
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
I beseech you commend me to my uncle Charles
and my aunt, and all my cousins with you. Sir Wm.
Stuart remembereth his service to you and my uncle.
(c) To the same.
Ibid., f. 178. Sept. 16, 1603.
Madame, — If you receive the letters I write, I am
sure you will see I fail not to write often how the
world goeth here, both in particular with me and
otherwise as far as my intelligence stretcheth. Where
fore I rather interpret your postscript to be a caveat
to me to write no more than [how] I do, and my desire
to understand of your health, that is no more than is
necessary; than a new commandment to do that,
which I akeady do. But lest in pleasing you I offend
my uncle, I have adventured to write to him one
superfluous letter more, and that I may include no
serious matter in his, I send you all I have of that
kind, which is that the king hath under his hand
granted me the aforesaid mess of meat, and ffioo

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 183
per annum; and my Lord Cecil will despatch it, I
trust, with all speed, for so his lordship promiseth.
Your long-expected messenger, by whom I should
have understood your mind, is not yet come, and the
queen is going hence to-morrow; but the change of
place will not cease my expectation, till I understand
from you you have changed your mind in that matter ;
which, if you do, I shall hope it is with a mind to
come up shortly and let me know it yourself, accord
ing to a bruit we have here which I would fain believe.
You shall not fail to receive weekly letters, God
willing, unless lack of health, or means, or some very
great occasion hinder me.
Mr. Elphinstone, who, you may see, is with me late
as well as early, remembers his service to you. And
so I humbly take my leave, praying the Almighty to
send you all honour, happiness, contentment, etc.
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
Oxford, September 16, 1603.
(d) To the same.
Ibid., f. 179. Oct. 6, 1603.
Madame, — According to your commandment, I
send your ladyship a few scribbled lines, though I be
now going in great haste to give my attendance with
some company that is come to fetch me. I am as
diligently expected and as soon missed as they that
perform the most acceptable service. And because I
must return at an appointed time to go to my book

184 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
I must make the more haste thither. So praying for
your happiness, I humbly take my leave.
From Winchester, the 6th of October, 1603.
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
(e) To the Earl.
Ibid., f. 179. Oct. 27, 1603.
I humbly thank your lordship for the (as to me it
seemed, I assure you) short letter of two sheets of
paper which I received from you by this bearer, Mrs.
Nelson. The letters to my Lord Cecil and Sir
Thomas Edmonds were delivered, though not so
soon as I wished, they being both absent from hence,
so that Sir Thomas's was delivered to the door-keeper
of the Council Chamber, and Sir Thomas not coming
hither so soon as was expected, Mr. Hercy thought
good to fetch it from him (the door-keeper) ; and how
he hath since disposed of it I know not, nor doubt
not but he hath done with it as you would have him,
for he seems to me very well instructed in your mind.
My Lord Cecil had his as soon as he came.
My bad eyes crave truce till they may without their
manifest danger write a letter of a larger volume.
And so praying for your lordship's honour and
happiness in the highest degree that ever subject
possessed, I humbly take my leave.
From Fulston, the 27th of October, 1603.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 1 85
(f) To the Countess.
Ibid.,f. 180. Nov. 6, 1603.
Madame, — Because I received a letter from you
by this gentlewoman, I dare not, for incurring her
opinion of my relapse into some unkindness toward
you, but send you a few lines. I will keep a note of
the dates of my letters.
That letter of yours which I received since from
Mr. Hercy I have answered by him.
My eyes are extremely swollen, and yet I have not
spared them when I have had occasion to employ
them for your sake. Therefore now they may boldly
crave a cessation for this' time, only performing their
office whilst I subscribe myself such as I am and ever
will continue, that is,
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
(g) To the same.
Ibid., f. 180. Nov. 4, 1603.
Madame, — I humbly thank you for your good
advice against New Year's-tide. I think there will be
no remedy but I must provide myself from London,
though I be very loth to do so. I understand by Sir
Wm. Stuart how much I am bound to you and my
uncle. I will bethink myself against your long-expected
trusty messenger come, whatsoever he be; and that

1 86 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
expectation shall keep me from troubling you with so
full and tedious a discourse as I could find in my
heart to disburden my mind withal to you.
I humbly thank you for my servant, G. Chaworth.*
And so praying for your happiness I humbly cease.
From Fulston, the 4th of November, 1603.
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
(ti) Two letters to the earl and countess on the
same day, the 28th of November, from Fulston.
Ibid., f. 181.
To the Earl.
I must only return your lordship humble thanks
for the letter I have received from you, and reserve
the answer till I trust a few days will make me able
to write without extreme pain of my head. Mr.
Cooke can tell your lordship all the news that is here.
And so praying for your lordship's happiness, I
humbly take my leave. Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
To the Countess.
Madame, — I humbly thank you for your letters,
pill, and hartshorn. I have taken, continued, and
increased an extreme cold. I mean to sweat to-
* See vol. i. p, 135 for Chaworth, who was Arabella's
messenger to Brounker.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 1 87
day for it. Mr. Cooke can tell you how the world
goes here. And so, praying for your happiness, I
humbly take my leave.
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.

(i) Two letters on the same day, December 8, 1603,
from Fulston, to the earl and countess.
To the Earl.
Add. MSS., v. 22, 563, f. 43 ; and Sloane MSS., v. 4164,
f. 181, 182.
It may please your lordship to pardon me, if writing
now in haste, with a mind distracted with the several
cares of a householder, and those that this remove *
and New Year's-tide add thereto, I omit sometimes
that which were perchance more material to write
than that I write, and forget many things which,
according to the manner of us that have only after-
wits, come not to mind till your letters be gone,
and then are too ancient news to be sent by the next.
I received your lordship's letter safe by Mrs. Nelson,
and that your in my aunt's letter was plural, so that
I meant I had received your lordship's and hers, how
ill soever I expressed it ; I will amend my obscurity,
God willing. Your lordship taxeth my obscurity in
the comment upon a part of some letter of mine you
desired to have explained. But, whatsoever you took
for the explanation of it, I am sure I sent you none,
* To apartments in Whitehall.

1 88 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
for I knew not what it was you desired to have
expounded. I pray you take not that pro concesso in general, which
is only proper to some monsters of our sex. I can
not deny so apparent a truth as that wickedness pre-
vaileth with some of our sex, because I daily see
some, even of the fairest amongst us, misled, and
willingly and wittingly ensnared, by the prince of
darkness. But yet ours [our sex] shall still be the
purer and more innocent kind. There went ten
thousand virgins to heaven in one day. Look but
in the almanac, and you shall find that glorious day.
And if you think there are some, but not many, of us
that may prove saints, I hope you are deceived. But
not many rich, not many noble, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven. So that riches and nobility are
hindrances from heaven, as well as our nature's in
firmity. You would think me very full of divinity, or
desirous to shew that little I have, in both which
you should do me wrong, if you knew what business
I have at court, and yet preach to you. Pardon me,
it is not my function. Now a little more to the
purpose. I have delivered your two patents, signed and
sealed, to Mr. Hercy. If it be not an inexcusable
presumption in me to tell you my mind unasked, as
if I would advise you what to do, pardon me if I tell
you I think your thanks will come very unseasonably so
near New Year's-tide, especially those with which you
send any gratuity. Therefore consider if it were not
better to give your New Year's gift first to the queen,

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 189
and your thanks after, and keep Mr. Fowler's till after
that good time. New Year's-tide will come every
year, and be a yearly tribute to them you begin with.
You may impute the slowness of your thankfulness to
Mr. Hercy, or me that acquainted you no sooner
with your own matter.
The Spanish ambassador invited Mdme. de Beau
mont (the French ambassador's lady) to dinner, re
questing her to bring some English ladies with her.
She brought my Lady Bedford,* Lady Rich,']- Lady
Susan, | and Lady Dorothy with her, and great cheer
they had. A fortnight after he invited the Duke [of
Lenox], the Earl of Mar, and divers of that nation,
requesting them to bring the Scottish ladies, for he
was desirous to see some natural beauties. My Lady
Anne Hay and my cousin Drummond [Lady ffane]
went, and, after the sumptuous dinner, were presented
first with a pair of Spanish gloves apiece, and after
my cousin Drummond had a diamond ring of the value
of two hundred crowns given her, and my Lady Anne
a gold chain of Spanish work near that value. My
Lady Carey went with them, and had gloves there,
and after a gold chain of little links twice about her
neck sent her.
Yesterday the Spanish ambassador, the Florentine,
and Mdme. de Beaumont took their leave of the
* Lucy, Countess of Bedford, daughter of John, Lord
Harington. t Penelope, wife of Robert, Lord Rich, afterwards Earl of
Warwick, and sister to Robert, Earl of Essex.
X Vere, who married Mr. Philip Herbert, afterwards Earl of
Pembroke.

190 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
queen till she come to Hampton Court. There is an
ambassador come from Polonia, and fain would he be
gone again, because of the freezing of their seas, but
he hath not yet had audience. The Venetians lately
sent two ambassadors with letters both to the king
and queen. One of them is returned with a very
honourable despatch; but he, staying but few days,
and the queen not being well, he saw her not. The
other stays here still.
It is said the Turk hath sent a Chahu to the king.
It is said the pope will send a knight to the King in
embassage [she spells it " imbassage " and " imbassa-
dour"]. The Duke of Savoy's embassage is daily
expected. But out of this confusion of embassages will you
know how we spend our time on the queen's side ?
Whilst I was at Winchester, there were certain child-
plays remembered by the fair ladies, viz. " I pray, my
lord, give me a course in your park ; " " Rise, pig, and
go;" "One penny, follow me," etc. And when I
came to court, they were as highly in request as ever
cracking of nuts was. So I was by the mistress of
the revels, not only compelled to play at I knew
not what (for till that day I never heard of a play
called "Fier"), but even persuaded by the princely
example I saw to play the child again. This exercise
is most used from ten of the clock at night till two or
three in the morning, but that day I made one it
began at twilight and ended at supper-time. There
was an interlude, but not so ridiculous (as ridiculous
as it was) as my letter, which here I conclude, with

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 191
many prayers to the Almighty for your happiness, and
so I humbly take my leave.
From Fulston, the 8th of December, 1 603.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
To the Countess.
Ibid., f. 183 ; Add. MSS., v. 22, 563, f. 45.
Dec. 8, 1603.
Madame, — I humbly thank you for your kindness
expressed many ways, and lately in the letter received
from you by my cousin Lacy's man. How defective
soever my memory be in other ways, assure yourself I
cannot forget even small matters concerning that great
party, much less such great ones as, I thank God, I
was [not] acquainted withal. Therefore, when any great
matter comes in question, rest secure, I beseech you,
that I am not interested in it as an actor, howsoever
the vanity of wicked men's vain designs have made
my name pass through a gross, and a subtle lawyer's *
lips of late, to the exercise and increase of my patience,
and not their credit. I trust I have not lost so much
of your good opinion as your pleasant postscript would
make one that were suspicious of their assured friends
(as I never was) believe. For if I should not prefer
the reading of your kind and most welcome letters
before all court delights (admit I delighted as much
in them as others do), it were a sign of extreme folly ;
* Referring to the rumours about her part in the Main Plot,
and Coke's speech at Sir Walter Raleigh's trial (see vol. i. pp.
176-182).

192 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
and liking court sports no better than I do, and than
I think you think I do, I know you cannot think me
so transformed as to esteem anything less than them.
As your love and judgment together makes me hope
you know I can like nor love nothing better than the
love and kindness of so honourable friends as you and
my uncle. Wherefore I beseech you let me hear
often [that T may be sure of] your love by the length
and number of your letters. My own follies, [and]
ignorances will minister you sufficient matter for as
many and as long letters as you please, which, I
beseech you, may be as many and as copious as may
be without your trouble.
I have satisfied the honourable gentlewoman with
out raising any expectation in her to receive letters
from you, which is a favour I desire only may be
reserved still [always] for myself, my good Lord Cecil,
and your best esteemed friends. I asked her advice for
a New Year's gift for the queen, both for myself, who
am altogether unprovided, and a great lady, a friend
of mine, that was in my case for that matter ; and her
answer was, the queen regarded not the value, but the
device. The gentlewoman neither liked gown nor
petticoat so well as some little bunch of rubies to
hang in her ear, or some such daft toy. I mean to
give her Majesty two pair of silk stockings, lined with
plush, and two pair of gloves lined, if London afford
me not some daft toy I like better, whereof I cannot
bethink me. If I knew the value you would bestow,
I think it were no hard matter to get her or Mrs.
Hartshide [lo] understand the queen's mind without

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 193
knowing who asked it. The time is short, and there
fore you had need lose none of it. I am making the
king a purse, and for all the world else I am unpro
vided. This time will manifest my poverty more
than all the rest of the year. But why should I be
ashamed of it when it is others' fault, and not mine ?
My quarter's allowance will not defray this one charge,
I believe. Sir William Stuart continueth his charitable desire,
but he cannot persuade me to lose my labour, how
little soever he esteem his own to so good an end,
which I wish but think not feasible, at least by me.
Thus praying for the increase of your happiness
every way, I humbly take my leave.
From Fulston, the 8th of December, 1603.
Your ladyship's most affectionate niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
(j) To the Earl.
Add. MSS., v. 22, 563, f. 47.
That night the queen came hither, which was on
Friday, the 16th of December, I received your lord
ship's packet to me by one of my Lord Cecil's men.
Mr. Hercy's letter I keep till I see him, which will
be very shortly, as he lately told me. I humbly thank
you for your thanks to my Lord Cecil for me. I am
a witness, not only of the rare gift of speech which
God hath given him, but of his excellent judgment in
choosing most plausible and honourable themes, as
the defending a wronged lady, the clearing of an
vol. 11. 31

194 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
innocent knight, etc. I humbly thank you for your
letter to my Lord Bishop of Winchester, which, if it
be written (as I doubt not but it is) in that sort as
may avail the recommended, is worth ten favours
of greater value that you had been willing to grant ;
but if, as being written invita Minerva, they be unto
him like Uriah's sealed letter. Alas ! what have I
done? Well, I suspect you not, therefore now you may
deceive me ; and you deceive me (who am better
persuaded of your judgment) if you do not perceive
I cast that doubt only to make you merry with look
ing into the infiniteness of suspicion, if one will nourish
it ; not that I have the least doubt of your honourable
dealing with any, and especially myself.
The invitation is very cold if the Christmas guests
you write of accept it not, for they knew their' wel
come and entertainment in a worse place, and yet
were so bold to invite themselves thither. I humbly
thank you that for my sake they shall be the welcomer
to you, who, in regard of their nearness of blood to
yourself and my aunt, must needs be so very welcome
that (if you had not written it) I should not have
thought they could have been more welcome to you
in any respect than that.
Your venison shall be right welcome to Hampton
Court, and merrily eaten.
I dare not write unto you how I do, for if I should
say well, I were greatly to blame ; if ill, I trust you
would not believe me, I am so merry. It is enough
to change Heraclitus into Democritus to live in this

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 195
most ridiculous world, and enough to change Demo-
critus into Heraclitus to live in this most wicked
world. If you will not allow reading of riddles for a
Christmas sport, I know not whether you will take
this philosophical folly of mine in good part this good
time. I writ to your lordship, by a messenger of Mr.
Hercy's, an answer of yours I received by my cousin
Lacy's man, of such news as then were news, as I think
in the North, and now have I none to send but that
the king will be here to-morrow. The Polonian
ambassador shall have audience on Thursday next.
The queen intendeth to rnake a mask this Christmas,
to which end my Lady of Suffolk and my Lady
Walsingham have warrants to take of the late queen's
best apparel out of the Tower at their discretion.
Certain noblemen (whom I may not yet name to
you, because some of them hath made me of their
counsel) intend another ; certain gentlemen of good
sort another. It is said there shall be thirty plays.
The king will feast all the ambassadors this Christ
mas. Sir John Hollis * yesterday convoyed some new-
come ambassador to Richmond, and it was said (but
uncertainly) to be a Muscovian.
I have reserved the best news for the last, and that
is the king's pardon of life to the not-executed traitors.
I dare not begin to tell of the royal and wise manner
of the king's proceeding therein, lest I should find no
end of extolling him for it, till I had written out a
* Created Earl of Clare in 1624; a. favourite of Henry,
Prince of Wales.

ig6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
pair of bad eyes ; and therefore praying for your lord
ship's happiness, I humbly and abruptly take my
leave. From Hampton Court, the 18th of December,
1603. Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
(k) To the Countess.
Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 185. Dec. 22, 1603.
Madame, — I received your ladyship's letter by
your old servant David three days ago, and his desire
being I should speak to some of the Council in his
behalf, and he, knowing he had brought a letter of
recommendation to me, lest he should think me dis
obedient to you, who willed me to do what I could
for him, I offered to speak to the Duke of Lenox in
his behalf, who is the only Councillor, now my uncle
is away, that I will move in any such suit. But I told
him it would be to so little purpose, that, though at
that present he seemed to desire his furtherance,
I have not seen him since, and so, upon better con
sideration, I think he takes the right way, and will
spare that needless labour of mine to speak to one
for him that can do him little good. But whether
I shall see David any more before his return to you
or not, I know not ; and therefore, Mr. Hercy having
left this packet of his with me to be sent by the first
messenger I could hear of, I have rather made bold

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1603. 197
with this bearer, as he can tell you, than either stay it
(for Mr. Hercy saith it requireth haste) or rely on the
uncertainty of your servant.
The Polonian ambassador had audience to-day.
Other news there is none that I know, and therefore
I beseech you make my excuse to my uncle that I
write not to him in this busy time and scarcity of
occurrence. And so praying the Almighty to send
you both all happiness, I humbly take my leave.
From Hampton Court, the 22 nd of December
(1603). Your ladyship's most affectionate niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
P.S. — Mr. Hercy sent a packet by post wherein
I writ to my uncle and you, in answer of those I re
ceived from you by my cousin Lacy's man. I beseech
you let me know if you received them safe. If I had
thought they should have been sent by post, I should
have written more reservedly.
(/) To the Countess.
Ibid., f. 195.
Madame, — This everlasting hunting, the tooth-ache,
and the continual means by my Lord Cecil to send
to you, makes me only write these few lines to show
I am not unmindful of your commandments, and
reserve the rest I have to write, both to you and my
uncle, some few hours longer, till my pain assuage,
and I have given my never-intermitted attendance on
the queen, who daily extendeth her favours more and

198 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
more towards me. The Almighty send you and ray
uncle all prosperity, and keep me still, I beseech you,
in your good opinion, who will ever remain,
Your ladyship's niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
Undated. D.
(a)
To the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 186.
This bearer coming to me in such haste, as he can
tell your lordship, I only observe your commandment
in scribbling never so little, never so ill, and reserve
all I have to write of to your lordship — that is, some
Hardwick news, and such vanities as this place and
holy time afford me till Emery's return, by whom
I have received a large essay of your lordship's good
cheer at Sheffield. I humbly thank you and my aunt
for it. One Mr. Tunsted expecteth letters from your
lordship, and came once himself, and said he would
send to my chamber often, in adventure you should
send them to me. And thus praying to the Almighty
to send your lordship so much increase of honour
and happiness that you may confess yourself to be
the king's happiest subject, I humbly take my leave.
From Hampton Court, the 2nd of January, 1604.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
I beseech you obtain my pardon of my aunt for not
writing to her at this time.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1604. 1 99
(*)
To the same.
Ibid., f. 186 ; and see Add. MSS., v. 22, 563, p. 50.
Jan. 10, 1604.
This bearer having leave for a short time to visit
the north, and not giving me time sufficient to write the
description of the three masques, besides two plays
played before the prince, since my last advertisement
of these serious affairs, I must beseech your lordship
to pardon the shortness of my letter, proceeding —
partly of the short warning I had of his going down,
partly of the shortness of my wit, who at this instant
remember no news but is either too great to be con
tained in my weak paper, or vulgar, or such as without
detriment but of your lordship's expectation may tarry
the next messenger. I have here enclosed sent your
lordship the Bishop * of Winchester's letter in answer
of yours. I beseech you let me know what you writ,
and what he answers concerning the party in whose
favour I craved your letter, that I may let the good
Warden know as soon as may be. My Lady of Wor
cester f commendeth her as kindly to your lordship,,
and not to my aunt, as you did yourself to her in her
ladyship's letter, and is as desirous to raise jealousy
betwixt you two as you are like to do betwixt them.
Thus praying to the Almighty, etc.
From Hampton Court, the 10th of January, 1604.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
* Dr. Thomas Bilson.
t Elizabeth, wife of Edward, Earl of Worcester, and daughter
of Francis, Earl of Huntingdon.

200 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
I had almost tried whether your lordship would
have performed a good office betwixt two friends un-
desired ; for I had forgotten to beseech you to excuse
me to my aunt for not writing to her at this time.
I think I am asked every day of this New Year,
seven times a day at least, when you come up, and I
have nothing to say, but I cannot tell, which it is not
their pleasure to believe, and therefore if you will not
resolve them nor me of the truth, yet teach me what
to answer them. (c)
To the same.
Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 187. Jan. 11, 1604.
My Lord Cecil sent me a fair pair of bracelets this
morning, in requital of a trifle I presented him at New
Year's-tide, which it pleased him to take as I meant
it. I find him my very honourable friend both in
word and deed. I pray you give him such thanks for
me as he many ways deserves, and especially for this
extraordinary and unexpected favour, whereby I per
ceive his lordship reckoneth me in the number of his
friends, for whom only such great persons as he reserve
such favours.
Thus praying for your lordship's happiness, I humbly
take my leave.
From Hampton Court, the nth of January, 1604.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbellla Stuart.*
* Following this letter is a short note, dated Jan. 21, from
Arabella to her aunt, also from Hampton Court.

. LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1604. 201
(d)
To the same.
Ibid., f. 188, 189. Feb. 3, 1604.
Having sent away this bearer with a letter to my
aunt, and not your lordship, with an intention to write
to you at length by Mr. Cooke, I found so good hope
of my grandmother's good inclination to a good and
reasonable reconciliation betwixt herself and her
divided family, that I could not forbear to impart to
your lordship with all speed. Therefore I beseech
you put on such a Christian and honourable mind as
best becometh you to bear to a lady so near to you
and yours as my grandmother is. And think you
cannot devise to do me a greater honour and content
ment than to let me be the only mediator, moderator,
and peacemaker betwixt you and her. You know
I have cause only to be partial on your side, so many
kindnesses and favours have I received from you, and
so many unkindnesses and disgraces have I received
from the other party. Yet will I not be restrained
from chiding you (as great a lord as you are) if I find
you either not willing to harken to this good motion,
or to proceed in it as I shall think reasonable. Con
sider what power you will give me over you in this, and
take as great over me as you give me over you in this in
all matters but one,* and in that your authority and
persuasion shall as far exceed theirs as your kindness f
* Her marriage.
t See pp. no, 128. This remark shows that Arabella was
deceiving her grandmother about her uncle's unkindness to her.

202 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
to me did in my trouble. If you think I have either
discretion or good nature, you may be sure you may
refer much to me. If I be not sufficient for this treaty,
never think me such as can add strength or honour to
your family. But Mr. Cooke persuades me you think
otherwise than so abjectly of me. And so praying the
Almighty you may [take] such a course both in this and
all your other honourable designs as may, with your most
honour and contentment, bring you to those good ends
you wish, whatsoever they be, I humbly take my leave.
From Hampton Court, the 3rd of February, 1604.
[Unsigned.]
P.S. — I beseech you bring my uncle Henry * and
my aunt Grace up with you to London. They shall
not long be troublesome to you, God willing; but
because I know my uncle hath some very great occa
sion to [be] about London for a little while, and is not
well able to bear his own charges, nor I for him, as I
would very willingly if I were able, to so good an
end as I know he comes to now. And therefore I
beseech you take that pains and trouble of bringing
them up, and keeping them awhile with you for my
sake and our families' good. I have here enclosed
sent you a letter to him, which, if you grant him this
favour I require of you, I beseech you send him ; if
you will not, return it to me, and let him not be so
much discomforted to see I am not able to obtain
so much of you for him. In truth, I am ashamed to
* Her old friend, Henry Cavendish, eldest son of the old
Countess of Shrewsbury, and his wife Grace (Talbot), daughter
of the old earl.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1604. 203
trouble you with so many rude and (but for my sake,
as you say) unwelcome requests ; but if you be weary
of me, you may soon * be despatched of me for ever
(as I am told) in more honourable sort than you may
deny this my very earnest request.
(«)
To the same.
Ibid., f. 188-191.
Dated only 1604, probably early in March.
I humbly thank your lordship for sparing me never
so few words in the time of your taking physic, which
I would not should have been more for doing you
harm in holding down your head at such a time ; but
when you are well I hope to receive some Hardwick
news, which, unless your lordship be a great deal
briefer than that plentiful argument requireth, will cost
you a long letter. My aunt findeth fault with my
brevity, as I think by your lordship's commandment ;
for I know she in her wisdom respecteth ceremony so
little that she would not care in time of health for
hearing from me every week that I am well and
nothing else. And I know her likewise too wise to
make that the cause of her offence, suppose in policy
she should think good to seem or to be offended with
me, whom perchance you now think good to shake off
as weary of the alliance. But I conclude your lord
ship hath a quarrel to me, and maketh my aunt take
* She appears to refer to one of the numerous marriage
projects. 

204 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
it upon her, and that is (for other can you justly have
none) that you have never a letter of mine since your
going down, to make you merry at your few spare hours,
which, if it be so, your lordship may command me in
plain terms and deserve it by doing the like, and I
shall as willingly play the fool for your recreation as
ever. I assure myself, my Lord Cecil, my Lord Pem
broke, your honourable new ally, and divers of your
old acquaintance, write your lordship all the news of
[Court] * that is stirring, so that I will only impart
[some] * trifles to your lordship at this time as concern
myself. After I had once carved, the queen never dined
out of her bed-chamber, nor was attended by any but
her chamberers till my Lady of Bedford's return. I
doubted my unhandsome carving had been the cause
thereof, but her Majesty took my endeavour in good
part, and with better words than that beginning
deserved put me out of that error. At length (for
now I am called to the sermon I must hasten to an
end) it fell out that the importunity of certain great
ladies in that or some other suit of the like kind
had done me this disgrace ; and whom should I hear
named for one but my aunt of Shrewsbury, who, they
say, at the same time stood to be the queen's cup
bearer. If I could have been persuaded to believe,
or seem to believe that whereof I knew the contrary, I
might have been threatened down to my face that I was
of her counsel therein, that I deeply dissembled with
my friends when I protested the contrary ; for I was
heard to confer with her, they say, to that purpose.
* Here gaps are left in the Sloane MSS.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1604. 205
But these people do little know how circumspect my
aunt and your lordship are with me. I humbly thank
you for the example.
I hear the marriage betwixt my Lord of Pembroke
and my cousin * is broken, whereat some time I laugh,
otherwhiles am angry ; sometimes answer soberly as
though I thought it possible, according as it is spoken
in simple earnest, scorn, policy, or howsoever at the
least as I conceive it spoken. And your lordship's
secrecy is the cause of this variety (whereby some con
jecture I know something), because I have no certain
direction what to say in that case. I was asked
within these three days whether your lordship would
be here within ten days ; unto which (to me) strange
question I made so strange an answer as I am sure
either your lordship or I are counted great dissem
blers. I am none ; quit yourself as you may. But I
would be very glad you were here, that I need not
chide you by letter, as I must needs do if I be chidden
either for the shortness, rareness, or preciseness of my
letters, which by your former rules I might think a
fault, by your late example a wisdom. I pray you
reconcile your deeds and words together, and I shall
follow that course herein which your lordship best
allows of. In the mean time, I have applied myself to
your lordship's former liking and the plainness of my
own disposition. And so, praying for your lordship's
health, honour, and happiness, I humbly take my leave.
From Whitehall. Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
* Mary Talbot. The marriage took place this year.

206 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Another letter on October 3, 1604, from Lady
Arabella to her aunt, the Countess of Shrewsbury,
contains only thanks for game. (/)
To the Earl.
Ibid., f. 191, 192. Oct. 18, 1604.
I humbly thank your lordship and my aunt for the
six very good red deer pies I have received from your
lordship by Mr. Hercy. My aunt's thanks, which I
received for my plain dealing with Mr. Booth, and
the few lines I received last from you and my aunt
by Mr. Hercy, have relation to certain conditions and
promises as well on your lordship's part as mine, and
therefore your lordship's confidence of my conditional
promise resteth not in me only. I assure myself you
are so honourable, and I so dear unto you, that you
will respect as well what is convenient for me as what
you earnestly desire, especially my estate being so
uncertain and subject to injury as it is. Your lord
ship shall find me constantly persevere in a desire to
do that which may be acceptable to you and my aunt,
not altogether neglecting myself. And so I humbly
take .my leave, praying for your happiness.
From Whitehall, the 18th of October, 1604.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, 1604. 207
(g)
To the same.
Ibid., f. 192. Dec. 24, 1604.
I have sent sooner than I had time to write to your
lordship of anything here, and yet not so soon but I
am sure I am already condemned by your lordship
and my aunt, either for slothful, or proud, or both,
because I writ not by the very first [who] went down
after I received your letters. So have I fully satisfied
neither your lordship nor myself, and yet performed
a due respect to a very honourable friend, whose
honour and happiness I shall ever rejoice at, and
think my own misfortunes the less if I may see my
wishes for your lordship's and my aunt's permanent,
happy, and great fortune take effect. And so I
humbly take my leave.
From Whitehall, the 24th of December, 1604.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.
Though I have written your lordship no news, I
have sent you here enclosed very good store from
Mr. Secretary Fowler. My old good spy, Mr. James
Mourray, desireth his service may be remembered to
your lordship and my aunt; but if I should write
every tenth word of his, wherein he wisheth you more
good than is to be expressed at court on a Christmas
Eve, you would rather think this scribbled paper a
short text with a long comment underwritten, than a
letter with a postscript.

208 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
(h)
Lady Arbella to Prince Henry.
Holograph. Hari. MSS., v. 6986, f. 71.
London, Oct. 1 8, 1605.
Sir, — My intention to attend your Highness to
morrow, God willing, cannot stay me from acknow
ledging, by these few lines, how infinitely I am bound
to your Highness for that your gracious disposition
towards me, which faileth not to show itself upon.
every occasion, whether accidental or begged by me,
as this late high favour and grace it hath pleased your
Highness to do my kinsman at my humble suit.
I trust to-morrow to let your Highness understand
such motives of that my presumption as shall make
it excusable. For your Highness shall perceive I both
understand with what extraordinary respects suits are
to be presented to your Highness, and withal that
your goodness doth so temper your greatness as it
encourageth both me and many others to hope that
we may taste the fruits of the one by means of the
other. The Almighty make your Highness every way
such as I, Mr. Newton, and Sir David Murray (the
only intercessors I have used in 'my suit, or will in
any I shall present to your Highness) wish you, and
then shall you be even such as you are; and your
growth in virtue and grace with God and men shall
be the only alteration we will pray for. And so in all
humility I cease.
Your Highness's most humble and dutiful
Arbella Stuart.

LETTERS FROM AND TO SIR A. SINCLAIR. 20g
E.
Lady Arbella Stuart to Sir Andrew Sinclair.
Draft. Had. MSS., v. 7003, f. 45.
Sir, — You having not only performed the kindness
I required of you, in delivering my letters to their
Majesties, but returned me so great and unexpected a
favour as his Majesty's letters, have doubly bound me
to you, and I yield you therefore many great thanks,
beseeching you to continue in preferring their Majes
ties' favour to me, for which good office I most desire
to become obliged to you, so worthy and reverent a
person. It may please you now with most humble
thanks to present this letter to his Majesty, for whose
prosperity none doth more daily and devoutly pray
than I, and this [work] to the queen's Majesty, which
is so very a trifle as I was ashamed to accompany it
with a letter to her Majesty, and if a piece of work of
my own, which I was preparing, had been ready, I
had prevented his Majesty's gracious and your kind
letter in sending to you, but I was desirous not to
omit her Majesty in the acknowledgment of my duty
to her royal husband, and therefore loth to stay the
finishing of a greater, have sent this little piece of
work, in accepting whereof her Majesty's favour will
be the greater.
Thus am I bold to trouble you even to these
womanish toys, whose serious mind must have some
relaxation, and this may be one to vouchsafe to
vol. n. 32

2IO LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
descend to these petty offices for one that will ever
wish your happiness increase and continuance of
honour.Sir Andrew Sinclair to Lady Arbella Stuart.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 46, copfy. Draft for this slightly
different, unfinished, f. 47. Aug. 26, 1 606.
My humble duty being remembered, most worthy
lady, it hath pleased both their Majesties to com
mand me to write. their Majesties' most gracious re
commendations to your ladyship, and to thank your
ladyship for the honest faith it hath pleased your
ladyship to bestow on both their Majesties. The
queen, in especial, esteems much of that present your
ladyship hath sent her Majesty, and says that her
Majesty will wear it for your ladyship's sake. The
king has commanded me to assure your ladyship
that there is no honour, advancement, nor pleasure
that his Majesty can do your ladyship but he shall
do it, faithfully and willingly, as one of the best
friends your ladyship has in the world. Surely I
must confess with verity I never heard no prince
speak more worthily of a princess than his Majesty
does of your ladyship's good qualities and rare
virtues, while I say no more, but I shall be a faithful
instrument to entertain that holy friendship between
his Majesty and your ladyship. As touching my
Lady Nottingham, the king is now very well content
with her ladyship, because her letter was written of
a little coleric passion founded on a feckless report ;

LETTERS FROM AND TO SIR A. SINCLAIR. 2 1 1
for his Majesty did never think that her ladyship had
offended him, but only those that were the reporters
of such foolish words to her. For so had been that he
did speak some merry words in jesting, it was not the
duty of men of honour (for her ladyship makes men
tion in her letters) to have reported again to her such
things of no effect. And, as for my part, madam,
I protest before the living God I showed not the
king her letter by malice, but by duty towards my
gracious master ; for if I had not shown him the
letter I had been in danger of a perpetual disgrace.
So I pray your ladyship, that if any speak to my
disadvantage in this matter in discharging my obliged
devotion to my master, that your ladyship will answer
for me, as for one that has always dedicated himself
to do your ladyship all the honour and service that
lies in my power, as I confess myself to be perpetually
obliged to your ladyship. So in my inviolable, honest
devotion I take my leave, and commit your ladyship
to the Lord's eternal protection.
From court at Kioffenhafen * the 26th of August,
1606. Your ladyship's obliged friend
to do you tried service,
Andrew Sinclair.
* Copenhagen.

2 1 2 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Lady Arbella Stuart to Sir Andrew Sinclair.*
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 48.
My honourable good Friend, — I yield both their
Majesties most humble thanks for their gracious
favours, and have presumed to do so by letters to
themselves, which I must account one of their special
graces, that it pleaseth them to license me to do so ;
for by the patronage of so worthy a prince, so in
terested in them of whom my fortune depends, and so
graciously affected to me, I cannot doubt but at last
to come to some such story as shall give me perpetual
cause to pray for his Majesty, whose gracious favour,
so many ways expressed, is of itself an especial com
fort and honour to me. And for you, my honourable
friend, by whose good means I enjoy this happiness,
I can but acknowledge myself your debtor till God
make me able better to express my thankfulness, as
I doubt not, by God's grace, but I shall be made by
your good endeavours, and the mediation of your most
gracious Majesty, whose good favour of itself is so
highly and duly esteemed by me that I hold myself so
thoroughly appaied * [rewarded] therewith as I should
desire no more but the preservation of it but that
I perceive, by your letters, virtue is of itself delighted
to do good, and the neglect of offered bounty would
deprive them of the honour and contentment they
receive in well-doing. Therefore, when the first
* There is another letter (f. 42) from Arabella to Sinclair, in
which she says no prince could have left a more honourable
memory behind him than the Danish king has done in London.

LETTER TO THE QUEEN OF DENMARK. 2 1 3
opportunity is offered that I may request your pains
to come hither, accompanied with his Majesty's
gracious letters, upon any good and hopeful occasion
of mine, I will rely so much on your friendship that
you will do so, and till the season serve I will con
sult with my friends of some suits that I have pro
pounded to me, whereof one hath a very good appear
ance. But his Majesty's favour is so precious to me,
and I am so loth to trouble you without almost assur
ance to make you amends by partaking the fruit of
your pains and friendliness, that I will rather lose time
than not be in very assured hope to prevail by those
means, when I employ them. And so requesting you
to present these enclosed to their Majesties, and to
maintain me in their favour, I take my leave.
Enclosed in above.
Lady Arbella Stuart to Anne Catharine,
Queen of Denmark.
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 49.
I yield your Majesty most humble thanks for your
gracious acceptation of that trifle, which, with blush
ing at the unworthiness thereof, I ventured to present
unto your Majesty, only out of the confidence of the
sympathy of your gracious disposition, with that I found
in the most puissant and noble king your husband.
Wherein, as I find myself nothing deceived, having
received so extraordinary a favour from you, so I am
encouraged hereafter to continue the like signification
of my dutiful respect and affection to your Majesty,

214 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
in hope it will please you by wearing my handiwork,
to continue me in your gracious favour and remem
brance. And so praying for your happiness.
A Latin letter from Arabella to Sir Andrew Sinclair.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 52.
Illustrissime Domine, — Humillimas ac debitas
gratias Augustissimo Regi ac Reginae propter im-
mensam eorum erga me benignitatem per has literas
referendas curavi, quas si in regias utriusque manus
tua Excellentia dare yoluerit verbisque suis me devo-
tissimam et observantissimam utriusque Majestatis
profitebitur, pergratum et peramicum mihi officium et
te plane dignum fecerit, dum ea comprobaveris quse
in ore omnium de te feruntur, te summum scilicet
divinum honorum (nostrse autem gentis prascipue)
apud regem fautorem esse. Casterum humanitas tua
erga me singularis qui me tam honorifica salutatione
apud classem condecorasti, quod lubentius et confi-
dentius hoc abs te peterem in causa fuit. Deus Opt.
Max., Excellentiam tuam incolumem servet.
Hamptonias, 24 Oct., 1606.
Tugs Excellentias quas bene precatur,
A. S.
(Indorsed, " Illustrissimo Domino Christiano Prin.
Domino de Borebium, regni Danias Cancellario.")

LETTERS ABOUT CUTTING. 21 5

(a)
Queen Anne to the Lady Arbella Stuart.
Hari. MSS., v. 6986, f. 74. March 9, 1607.
Anne R.
Well-beloved Cousin, — We greet you heartily
well. Udo * Gal, our dear brother's the King of
Denmark's gentleman servant, hath insisted with us
for the licensing your servant, Thomas Cutting, to
depart from you, but not without your permission, to
our brother's service ; and therefore we write these
few lines unto you, being assured you will make no
difficulty to satisfy our pleasure and our dear brother's
desires, and so giving you the assurance of our con
stant favours, with our wishes for the continuance or
convalescence of your health. Expecting your return,
we commit you to the protection of God.
From Whitehall, 9th March, 1607.
(b)
Henry, Prince of Wales, to Lady Arbella Stuart.
Holograph. Hari. MSS., v. 6986, f. 76.
March, 1607.
Madame, — The queen's Majesty hath commanded
me to signify to your ladyship that she would have
Cutting, your ladyship's servant, to send to the King
* Guido.

2l6 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
of Denmark, because he desired the queen that she
would send him one that could play upon the lute.
I pray your ladyship to send him back with an answer
as soon as your ladyship can.
I desire you to commend me to my Lord and my
Lady Shrewsbury ; and also not to think me anything
the worse scrivener that I write so ill, but to suspend
your judgment till you come hither, when you shall
find me as I was ever,
Your ladyship's most loving cousin and assured friend,
Henry.
(Indorsed, " A Madame Arbelle, ma cousine.")

The Lady Arbella Stuart to Queen Anne.
Holograph. Hari. MSS., 6896, f. 78 ; rough draft in v. 7003,
f- 37- Sheffield, March 15, 1607.
May it please your most royal Majesty :
I have received your Majesty's most gracious
and favourable token which you have been pleased to
send me as an assurance both of your Majesty's pardon,
and of my remaining in your gracious good opinion,
the which how great contentment it hath brought unto
me I find no words to express.
And therefore most humbly addressing myself to
the answer of your Majesty's pleasure, signified in
your letter touching my licensing my servant Cutting
to depart from me for the service of his Majesty of
Denmark, I shall beseech of his Majesty to conceive,

LETTER TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. 2\J
that although I know well how far more easy it is for
so great a prince to command the best musicians in
the world than for me to recover one not inferior to
this, yet do I most willingly embrace this occasion
whereby I may in effect give some demonstration of
my unfeigned disposition to apply myself ever unto
- all your royal pleasures. And therefore most willingly
referring my said servant to your Majesty's good
pleasure, and most humbly beseeching that myself
may still remain in your gracious and princely favour
and protection, I will in all humility kiss your Majesty's
royal hand. And ever beseech Almighty God to grant
unto your Majesty all honourable happiness that may
be imagined, etc.
Arbella Stuart.
(d)
The Lady Arbella Stuart to Henry, Prince of
Wales.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 38.
Sheffield, March 15, 1607.
May it please your Highness :
I have received your Highness's letter,
wherein I am let to understand that her royal Majesty-
is pleased to command Cutting, my servant, for the
King of Denmark, concerning the which your High
ness requested my answer to her Majesty, the which
I have accordingly returned by this bearer, referring
him to her Majesty's good pleasure and disposition.
And although I may have seen cause to be sorry to

2l8 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
have lost the contentment of a good lute, yet must
I confess that I am right glad to have found any
occasion whereby to express to her Majesty and your
Highness the humble respect which I owe you, and
the readiness of my disposition to be conformed to
your good pleasures, wherein I have placed a great
part of the satisfaction which my heart can receive.
I have, according to your Highness's direction,
signified unto my uncle and aunt of Shrewsbury
your Highness's gracious vouchsafing to remember
them, who with all duty present their most humble
thanks, and say they will ever pray for your High
ness's most happy prosperity. And yet my uncle
saith he carrieth the same spleen in his heart towards
your Highness that he hath ever done. And so
praying the Almighty for your Highness's felicity,
I humbly cease.
From Sheffield, the 15th of March, 1607.
Your Highness's most humble and dutiful
Arbella Stuart.

(<•)
Lady Arbella Stuart to the King of Denmark.
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 37.* 1607.
Augustissime AC potentissime Rex, — Pauci dies
prasterlapsi sunt, postquam superiores meas ad Augus-
* There is a rough draft of another Latin letter to the King
from Theobalds, dated July, 1607.

LETTER TO THE KING OF DENMARK. 219
tissimam Majestatem vestram dederam, cum celsissimas
ac serenissimas Reginse nostras allatae ad me litteras
sunt, ex quibus intellexi, cupere Majestatem vestram
ut famulus meus Thomas Cotting, qui has nunc (nisi
Deus non vult) perfert, ad earn mitteretur, ut ejus
opera inter pulsandse cytheras peritos vestri uti posset.
Ac profecto quanquam et is mihi gratus inter paucos
illius artis peritos existat, et non nesciam, in fortuna
Regi&, ad quam potissimum omnia exquisitissima
studia, vota, ingenia, et opera turn in hac turn in
casteris artibus expeditissime diriguntur, facilius esse,
eorum qui maxime in quavis arte excellunt, numerum
adhibere, quam modum, tamen cum nihil ipsa dili-
gentius investigaverim, aut ambitiosius, quam earn
occasionem quas mihi experimendi officii mei atque
animi in obsequium vestras Majestatis addictissimi
facultatem suppeditaret, hanc demum, quantulam-
cunque opportune se offerentem, libentissime arripui,
et quem, exquisitissimis magistris traditum, et in meam
gratiam in hac arte instructum, haud cum levi, turn
artis, turn morum ingenuitate, commendative accessi,
hunc eundem haud levius (modo id cum vestrse
Majestatis venia fiat) commendatum vestrse Majestati
mitto, missura (si seque possem) Orpheum aut Apol-
linem. Precor summum Deum ut ad animi sententiam, non
in choro tantum et auli, sed in viti etiam et regno,
omnia Majestati vestras consonent ac conspirent.
[Dat. die 1607.]

220 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
(/)
(Translation of above.)
Most august and potent King, — But few days
had passed after I had despatched my last letter to
your most august Majesty, when I received a letter
from our most high and serene Queen, from which I
learned that your Majesty desired my servant, Thomas
Cotting — who now (God willing) will convey this
letter to you — to be sent to you, that you might employ
him among your harp-players.
There are, indeed, few professors of this art who
please me as he does ; and I am not ignorant that, in
the service of a King (to which most of all, with the
least hindrance, are directed all the best cares and
wishes, the choicest intelligence, and effort, as well in
this as in other arts), the difficulty is not to obtain a
crowd of those who most excel in any art, but to limit
their number.
Yet, notwithstanding this, since I have sought
nothing with more diligence or eagerness than an
occasion of expressing my zeal and devotion to your
Majesty, I have most joyfully seized this, slight as it
is, which at last opportunely offers itself. This man
has been sent to the best masters, and trained in this
art to my pleasure, and came to me with no slight
recommendation for the excellence as well of his
character as of his art. Him I commend no less
(with your Majesty's permission), and send to your
Majesty, to whom I would send, were it as possible,
Orpheus or Apollo. '

LETTER TO SALISBURY. 221
I pray the most high God that all things, not only
among your musicians and in the court, but also in
your life and kingdom, may be in harmony with your
Majesty's desires.

No. i.
Lady Arbella to the Earl of Salisbury.
Holograph. Cecil Papers, v. 134, f. 94.
May 2, 1606.
My good Lord, — I lately moved his Majesty to
grant to me such fees as may arise out of his seal,
which the bishops are by the law to use as I am
informed. I am enforced to make some suit for my
better support and maintenance, as heretofore I have
found you, my good lord, so I must earnestly entreat
your lordship to further this my suit, and therein I
shall rest much bound to you. Sir Walter Cope hath
been requested to recommend this my suit to your
lordship, for that I thought his mediation would be
less troublesome to you than if I solicited your lord
ship myself, or by some other my friends. I pray
God grant your lordship long and happy life.
Your lordship's much bound
Arbella Stuart.

222 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 2.
To the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 193. Dec. 2, 1607.
Good Uncle, — I writ to you within these forty-
eight hours by Mr. Stanley, and am very glad of the
occasion of so good a messenger and so honourable
and kind a letter as I received from your lordship by
Mr. Parker to scribble unto you again, and that a
great deal the rather because this short time and calm
climate affording none, you have given me the best
theme to write of, which is thanks for your not
checking my importunity in begging venison, but
endeavouring to satisfy it in better sort than I pre
sumed of, for the worst hind of many, I am sure,
in any of your grounds should be very welcome
hither ; and then if it be possible to have so good a
one as your lordship wishes, you know what a delicate
it will be to them that shall have it, and how welcome
such a testimony of your love and favour shall be to
me. And beseeching your lordship to remember me
humbly to my aunt for honour and happiness, as for
your lordship I will pray, I take leave.
From Whitehall, the 2nd of December, 1607.
Your lordship's niece,
Arbella Stuart.

LETTERS TO THE SHREWSBURYS, ETC., 1607. 223
No. 3.
To the Countess.
Sloane MSS., v. 4164, f. 194.
Undated ; probably March, 1608.
Madame, — I humbly thank you for your letters. I
deferred to write to you till I had taken my leave
here, and then I intended to have sent one to your
ladyship and my uncle, to deliver my humble thanks
for so many kindnesses and favours as I have re
ceived at this time of my being here from you both,
and to take a more mannerly farewell than I could at
our parting ; but your ladyship hath prevented my
intention in sending this bearer, by whom, in these
few lines, I will perform that duty (not compliment)
of acknowledging myself much bound to you for every
particular kindness and bounty of yours at this time^
which reviveth the memory of many more former ;
and to assure you that none of my cousins, your
daughters, shall be more ready to do you service than
I. The money your ladyship sends my Lady Pem
broke * shall be safely and soon delivered her. And
praying for your ladyship's happiness, honour, and
comfort in as great measure as yourself can wish,
I humbly take my leave.
From Hardwick, this Monday.
Your ladyship's most affectionate niece to command,
Arbella Stuart.
* Mary Talbot, the countess's daughter.

224 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
I pray your ladyship commend me to my uncle
Charles,* my aunt, and my two pretty cousins. I
think I shall many times wish myself set by my cousin
Charles at meals.

No. 4.
Lady Arbella to Charles Gosling.
Catalogue of Stowe MSS., British Museum ; also printed in
Report of Hist. MSS. Commission, 8th Report.
Charles Gosling, — Upon the good conceit I have
of you for a just, well-meaning man and well wishing
to me, I have thought fit to write you this letter,
desiring you to call to remembrance all you can, and
take your son's help wherein he knoweth, or both or
either of you think you can learn out anything of the
contract betwixt my cousin William Candish [Caven
dish, the eldest son of Charles] and Mrs. Margett
Chaterton. That write to me so soon as you can,
and if you can believe I have power to do you or
your son good, expect my remembrance of what you
do herein. And so I commit you to God.
From the court at Whitehall, this 28th of March,
1609. Your loving friend,
Arbella Stuart. f
* Sir Charles Cavendish, the old countess's third son by Sir
William Cavendish, married Catherine, Lady Ogle, and had
three sons by her. The eldest died in infancy. Arabella refers
to the two younger, William and Charles.
t Signature and postscript only in Arabella's hand.

LETTERS TO SALISBURY. 225
Remember the old buck of Sherland, and the
roasted tench I and. other good company eat so
sauorly (sic) at your house, and if thou be still a good
fellow and an honest man, show it now, or be hanged.

No. 5.
To the Earl of Salisbury.
Holograph. State Papers, James I., Dom., v. xlvii. f. 108, MS.
August, 1609.
My honourable good Lord, — I yield to you
humble thanks for the honourable care it hath pleased
you to have of me, both in the election and effecting
of this suit, which shall ever bind me to humble
thankfulness towards your lordship, for whose long
life, honour, and happiness I pray to the Almighty,
and rest,
Your lordship's much bounden and assured friend,
Arbella Stuart.
No. 6.
To the same.
Holograph. State Papers, James L, Dom., v. 1. f. 69, MS.
Dec. 17, 1609.
My honourable good Lord, — I having been a
long suitor, as your lordship knows, whose honourable
favour, I humbly thank you, I have found from time
to time, I am now advised by some friends of mine,
of good judgment and experience, to procure the Great
Seal of England to my book. Both because it will be
vol 11. 33

226 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
a furtherance to a speedier despatch of this suit in
Ireland, and that this business must be done and
executed by deputation, which cannot be done with
out the Great Seal were first obtained, with which also
the book may receive alteration and a check there.
Therefore I humbly beseech your lordship that, by
your favour, on which only I rely, I may obtain the
Great Seal of England to the book herewith presented
to your lordship. For whose honour and happiness
I pray, and so humbly take leave.
From Puddle Wharfe, the 17th of December, 1609.
Your lordship's much bounden poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
No. 7.
To the same.
Holograph. State Papers, James I., Dom., v. 1. f. 69, MS.
Dec, 1609.
Where your lordship willed me to set down a note
of those three things wherein I lately moved you,
they are these : The first, that I am willing to return
back his Majesty's gracious grant to me of the wines
in Ireland, so as your lordship will take order for the
paying of my debts when I shall upon my honour
inform you truly what they are. The next, that his
Majesty will be graciously pleased to augment my
allowance in such sort as I may be able to live in
such honour and countenance hereafter as may stand
with his Majesty's honour and my own comfort. And
lastly, that where his Majesty doth now allow me

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 227
a diet, that he will be pleased, instead thereof, to let
me have one thousand pounds yearly. Some other
things I will presume to entreat your lordship's like
favour in that they may stand me in stead; but, for
that they are such as I trust your lordship will think
his Majesty will easily grant, I will now forbear to set
them down. Your lordship's poor friend,
Arbella Stuart.
No. 8.
Lady Arabella's Progress.*
From "Longleat Papers," No. 5, by the Rev. Canon J. E.
Jackson, F.S.A.
Extracts from Mr. Hugh Crompton's Book of
Accounts. An accompt of all soche monies have bin reed, by me for
my Ladyes use sins the 22th of August.
1609 — • £ s. d.
Sept. 28. From my Lo. Shrousbury, which was
given my La. at Wingfield  100 00 00
Oct. 24. Oute of th'excheqr for one qter due at
Michalms, 1609  400 00 00
Dec. 29. Oute of th'excheqr for a qrter due at
Christmas followinge  400 00 00
1610 —
March 26. Oute of th'excheqr for another qter due
at La. Day followinge  4000000
June 7. Received from Andrew Clayton, woh he
retorned to London, paid heer by one Mr. Allen,
a vinegar-maker ... ... ... ... ... 080 00 00
* The original spelling has here been preserved, in order to
show the manner in which Crompton spelt and kept his accounts.

228 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
1609 — £ s. d.
June 26. Moreover, received oute of th'excheqr
for one qrter due at Mydsomer paste ... ... 400 00 00
July 6. Received from Sr Thomas Reresby in
London for one whole year's rent Issuinge out
of Denaby * due the vith June paste  0600000
July 20. Received from Sr Persivall Willughby
for one year's rent charge Issuinge oute of Wil
lughby upon Woules, due the xxth of July paste 200 00 00
Sept. 29. Received also from Andrew Clayton, w011
was retorned to London, and paid ther by Mr.
Allen aforemencioned ... ... ... ... 120 00 00

.£2160 00 00
Hereafter insueth th' accompt of all soche monies I have
layed forth for my Ladies occasions sins the 22th of August,
1609. From Whitehall.
1609 —
Tuesday, Aug. 22. Imprimis given this daye at the garden gate
at Whitehall to the poore as my Ladie tooke hir coache to
come into country, y. 40L St. Albans.
She supped and slept Soper, £2 8s. 6d. ; breakfast, £2 1 is. lod.
horse mete for 20 horses, £2 2s. 6d. ; hostelers, 2s. od.
musitions, ioj. ; poore at the gates, 10s. ; ringers, iar.
chamblens, 5-r. ; my La. Arrondale's t coatchm., ^1 at. od.
a trompeter, 2s. 6d. ; the poore on the way back to St.
Albans and Toddington, 4J. lid.
Toddington, near Dunstable, co. Beds.
[This house had belonged to Lord Cheney, who died in 1587.
His estate devolved to his wife, a daughter of Thomas, Lord
* Denaby was a manor near Thribergh (between Rotherham
and Doncaster, co. York) which belonged to the Reresby
family (Hunter's " South Yorkshire," vol. ii. p. 41).
t Lady Arundel (see Part I. vol. i. p. 221).

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 229
Wentworth, of Nettlestead, and was inherited by her relatives.
In 1608 Toddington had been visited by King James (Lysons's
"Bedfordshire," p. 143).} At Toddington.
Friday, Aug. 25, 1609. Given among the officers in my Ladie
Cheynee's howse. Imprimis : to the clarke of the Kytchen,
£1 oj. od. ; 2 cooks, £1 os. od. ; 2 boyes in the Kytchen,
$s. ; 2 in the scullery, 5^. ; the butler, ioj. ; his boy, 2s. 6d. ;
the pantler, iar. ; yeoman of the wine-cellar, ior. ; porter,
10s. ; groomes of the great chamber, £1 or. od. ; groomes
man of the chamber, 5.C ; landry woman, ior. ; the baker,
\os. ; to a woman wayted on the chamber, iar. ; groom of the
stable, I or. Northampton.
Sat. 26th. At Northampton. To Sir James Croft's * footman
that came with my Ladie from Toddington to Northampton,
I or. Given to the boy at Northampton that made ye speeche
before the Kinge, 10s.
Prestwould (27 th August).
[Near Loughborough, co. Leicester, then the seat of Sir William
Skipwith.]Monday, 28. Pa Sr Wm.'s coachman for bringing my Ladie to
Nottingham, £1 os. od. Mansfield.
For ale and cakes at the alehouse beyond Nottingham, 4s. od.
To my La. Bowes' cochman for coming to meet my La.
at Mansfield, £1 os. od.
For my Lady Bowes' coachhorses' meat at Mansfield attend
ing my La. coming there, is. ; the schoolmaster at M.
presenting certain verses to my La., 6s. od.
* See p. 12.

230 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Glapwell.
Mending the spring tree of the coach at Glapwell, 6d.
3$ yards of Crimson baize for a petticoat for my La., at
3.J. i,d. a yard, I is. Sd.
Walton Hall, Chesterfield.
[Belonged at this time to the Foljambes, but sold by Sir
Francis F. (created baronet in 1622) in 1633. It was occupied
in 1609 by Lady Bowes — Isabel, daughter of Sir Christopher
Wray, Kt., Lord Chief Justice of England, who married, first,
Godfrey Foljambe ; secondly, Sir William Bowes, of Barnard
Castle, Yorks ; and thirdly, 1617, Lord Darcy. Walton is now
a farmhouse, but .must have been much larger in Arabella's time,
as Mary Queen of Scots and her retinue were lodged there one
night (see Hunter's " South Yorkshire, " vol. ii. p. 59).]
Thurs., Aug. 31, 1609. To the officers sent from the Maior and
Brethren of Chesterfield with a present to my La. to Walton,
£1 os. od.
Paid for hay for the ould coach mare 3 days at Chesterfield,
staying there to be dressed of a foote she was pricked, is. 6d.
Four shoes for " Bay Briton," * do. the spotted nag, do. for
" Bay Fenton," do. the sumpter horse, Is. each.
Delivered to the Lady Bowes' steward to be distributed in
the house at my La. coming thence, £6 13s. qd.
To my Lord of Rutland's musitions, £1 os. od.
To Sheffield.
Sat., Sept. 2. To the poore of Chesterfield as my La. passed
through to Sheffield, £2 os. od.
Sir Peter Fretchvile his keeper for a stag killed in Staly f
Park, sent to my La. at Sheffield, £1 10s. od.
To Mr. Tuke for a sermon he made at Sheffield by my
Ladies comand, £2 os. od.
To Sir Charles Cavendish's musition, £1 os. od.
* No doubt one of these is the bay gelding Arabella gave her
uncle Gilbert after her disgrace (see p. 242).
t Stavley Park, four miles east of Chesterfield.

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 23 1
Given among some poore wymen, my Lady hunting a stag
in Hansworth * Park, is.
To a poore woman bringing my Lady a dish of wardens
[warden pears] from Sheffield, 2s.
To another bringing plums, iar.
Sept. 8. To my La. Pembroke's t bow bearer £1 os. od.
Bawtry.
Sept. 9. Among certen poore at Beautrye that daie my Ladie
dranke at Mr. Richardson's, going into Lincolnshire, 4J.
Stockwith.
[Here she reached the river Trent and the county of Lincoln.]
To 3 men that mended the ways for the coach short of Stock
with half a mile, 2s. 6d.
Melwood Park.
[South of Epworth, in the district known as the Isle of Axholme,
which in 1609 was a large tract of level and nearly black soil,
undrained, but containing fine hunting-ground in the shape of
woods and islands of dryer ground. The owners of the park
under James I. were the Stanhopes of Grimston, Yorks. (Hunter's
" South Yorkshire," vol. ii. pp. 147, 153), but Mr. John Caven
dish had, in the time of Henry VIIL, received the grant at
Melwood of a Carthusian monastery, and made it into a ' ' goodly
manor-house." Arabella's host seems to have been one Sir
George St. Paul.]
Sept. 9. For a boat to pass the stuff [baggage] in the coach
from Beautry to Melwood by water in the night, y. 6d.
Given a man of Mr. Northes came to guide the gentlewymen
and horses that night to Melwood, 2s. 6d.
For a coach horse bought of Sir Gervase Clifton, ^20.
* A house built by the Earl of Shrewsbury on the edge of
Sheffield Park.
t Mary Talbot, daughter of Gilbert and wife of the Earl of
Pembroke (see Part I. vol. i. p. 132, etc.).

232 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Gave Needham my Lo. Shrewsbury's man for a packet of
letters he brought from Welbecke * to Melwood, $s.
Given a keeper brought my La. a stagg from Sr Edward
Swifte t to Melwood, £1 os. od.

The Return Journey.
Sept. 13. To watermen that rowed my La. in a boat from
Melwood to Stockwith, £1 os. od.
To those that mended the highway betwixt Melwood and
Stockwith, ly.
To the poore att Melwood as my La. came away, ly. ^d.
Amongst other poore by my La. comand betwixt Melwood
and Worksoppe, 2s. 2d. Worksop, Notts.
[Worksop Priory granted at the dissolution to Francis, son of
George, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury.]
Sept. 14. Given a mayde brought my La. a present from Sir
Bryan Lassells f to Worsoppe, 16s.
For certen spices bought by my La. comand at Worksoppe,
4r. gd.
Among the servants that wayted at Worksoppe that nighte
my La. lay there, £5 oj. od. Aston.
[A few miles east of Sheffield, then the seat of John, Lord
Darcy, who died 1635. The house was burnt down in the last
century.]Sept. 16. At my Lord Darsey's. The servants, £6 16s. 6d. ;
poore at gate, 6s. 6d.
Given to a footman of the Lord Darsey's came to guide part
of the way that day to Chatsworth, 10s. od.
* Belonging to Arabella's uncle Charles Cavendish.
t Sir E. Swift and Sir Bryan Lascelles had been both knighted
by James I. at Belvoir, 1603.

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 233
To two guides more that same day on the moors to Chats
worth, 6s.
To a farier for bludding and drenching Freake's nagg sicke
of the staggars, y.
For mending the sompter saddle and long rein to lead
him, 2s.
For the sompters and 6 men attending the same from Walton
to Buxtone lying shorte one night. Their charges spent of
themselves and their horses came to qs. 6d.
Chatsworth.
At Chatsworth, Sonday, Sept. 17, 1609. Given to the clerk
of the kytchen, ioj. ; to 3 cookes, £1 10s. od. ; 2 kytchen
boys, 5-r. ; the butler, ioj. ; the usher of the hall, lay. ; Mr.
Dove, ioj. ; the porter, ioj. ; the musitions, ioj. ; 2 groomes
of the greate chamber, £1 os. od. ; to one that attended my
La. chamber, 10s. ; 3 poore folks on the way, u.
Buxton.
For a man of Mr. Cavendish's came to guide us to Buxton, y.
For Mr. Henry Cavendish's 4 coach horses at Buxton from
Sonday till tuesday the 19th. Two nights at 6d. a horse a
nighte, 4J.
For 5 strikes and a. pecke of pease and oats for them at
2s. Sd. a strike, 14s-.
For the coachman and his man's dyett for 4 meales at 6d. a.
peece a meal, 4s.
Sept. 19. The coachman in reward for coming from Chatsworth
to Buxton, ioj.
Paid for ale sent for by my La. comand from Tidswell to
Buxton, 3J.
Paid for the men's dyetts ther that came before with the
sompters a day to Buxton, 5j. 6d.
Gave him that kept the well there, £1 oj. od.
Sept. 20. To his man, 6j. ; to 2 wymen attended my La. at
the well, £1 oj. od.
Given among the poore at Buxton on our coming away,
13J. 4<£

234 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
At Sheffield.
Paid 2 guides sent by my Lo. of Shrewsbury to conduct my La.
on the moors from Buxton to Sheffield, I2J.
To the ringers at Sheffield on passing through, 5j.
To my Lo. of Pembroke's coachman for bringing my La.
part of the way from Buxton to Sheffield, her owne coatche
breaking on the way, ioj.
Paid for a roape the same time to bind the coatche, lod.
Paid for ale when my La. stayed to drinke on the way be
twixt Buxton and Sheffield, Is. id.
Given to certen laborers mended the wayes that day on the
mores, 5j.
Sept. 23. Sente Sr Geo. S' Poll * by his manne Alexander Hay-
ward for a coatche horse he sent my La. to Sheffield, ^20 ; and
to the same manne for his paines in bringinge the horse, £1.
Pa for mending the coatche at Sheffield, ioj.
Alsoe for the harnes, 2j. 6d.
Given in reward to a man of Mrs. Digbie's brought my La.
certen preserves to Sheffield, 2j. 6d.
Sept. 25. Given thelgardiner at Sheffield for certen nosegaies
he gave my La. there, y.
And to a woman wayted on the gentlewymen's chamber
there, 5j.
To a piper there, 5J.
To a poore woman gave my La. a petition in her coatche
the day she came thence to Roughford [Rufford], ioj. od.
Alsoe to a man brought and dela my La. a pair of small
sheeres the same time in her coatche, 5j.
Rufford.^
[Two miles south of Ollerton, co. Notts. This abbey had
been granted to George, Earl of Shrewsbury, and passed by his
marriage with Mary Talbot to Sir George Savile.]
* Sir George St. Paul and Henry Yelverton (see her visit to
the Yelvertons, p. 236) joined Arabella in her successful petition
for the sale of wines and usquebaugh in Ireland, granted March
31, 1610 (Part I. vol. i. p. 236).
f Here Arabella's parents were married.

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 235
Sept. 25. Given among certen poore at Edelstowe [Edwin-
stowe] as my La. came with my La. of Shrewsbury to Rough-
ford, 5j.
Sept. 26. Given amongst Mrs. Markham's * servants at Rough-
ford the night my La. lay there, ,£5 oj. od.
Sept. 28. Given a man of Sir Richard Harpur's + brought my
La. a letter and certen wrytings in a box to Wingfield, ioj. od.
Winfield.%
[Eleven miles from Chesterfield on the road to Derby, one of
the Shrewsbury family seats.]
Sept. 28. To the kytchen amongst the cooks, £% 6s. 8d. ; the
wardrobe, £1 os. od. ; the pantler and butler, £1 oj. od. ;
2 ushers in the hall, £1 os. od. ; the yeomen of the celler, lod. ;
2 groomes of the grete chamber, £1 os. od. ; 2 wayted on my
La. chamber, £1 oj. od. ; the porter, ioj. ; grooms of the
stable, £1 os. od. Through Derby.
Given among the poore of the towne of Derby as my La.
passed that way, £$ os- °d-
To Tayler a caryer met my La. in Derby, and her letters
from London, 2j. od.
Given a poore woman on the waye betweene Derby and
Quarne, oj. 6d.
Quarndon House, near Loughborough.
[At that time and still the seat of the Farnham family. A
Mr. F. of that day was an old gentleman-pensioner of Queen
Elizabeth.] * George Markham, Esquire, father of Sir Thomas Markham,
an officer in the Civil Wars, lived at an old hall, still standing
at Ollerton, two miles north of Rufford.
t One of the Justices of Common Pleas.
J Part I. vol. i. p. 67.

236 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Sept. 29. Att Mr. Farnham's.
Among his servaunts the night my La. laye there, £$ oj. od.
Paid for ale my La. dranke in going to Harborow, is. od.
Paid for my La. and her companies one night at Harborow,
.£5 oj. od. Market Harborough.
Sept. 30. Horsmet ther for 26 horses one night, £2 gj. Jd.
For my Lord of Shrowsburyes lighter [litter] men and their
horses staying by my La. comand 2 nights and I day at
Wellingbrow, 19J. 6d. Easton Manduit.
[Near Wellingborough, the seat at that time of Sir Christopher
Yelverton, Kt., one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench,
who died 161 1.]
Oct. 2, 1609. Att Mr. Justice Yelverton's.
Given to a man of his to guide my La. to my Lord of Kent's *
(at Wrest Park), £0 6j. od.
Among certen poore at Mr. Conquest's Lodge t the day my
La. dyned there, £0 2j. od.
Wrest Park, near Silsoe, Beds.
Oct. 4. Paid the lytter men's charge lying 2 nights at the towne
at Wrest, as may appeare by their bill, 13J. 2d.
The lytter men in reward for their paines in coming along
with my La. from Wingfield to Wrest, £3 os. od.
To the coatchman had his legg broke, £2 os. od.
Toddington.
Oct. 9. Given a footman brought worde to my La. to St.
Alban's that my La. Arrondale was brought bedde of a son,
£0 ioj. od.
* Part I. vol. i. p. 154.
t Houghton Park, alias Dame Ellensbury Park, near Ampthill,
co. Bedford, occupied by Sir Edmund Conquest.

ARABELLA'S PROGRESS, 1609. 237

St. Alban's.
Oct. 9. Soper and dyner at St. Alban's, £8 1 5j. 6d.
Hors met for xxfi0 of my La. and a. of Sir Henry Grays,
£2 9-f- \d.
[The whole expenses of the progress were £323 i8j. od.,
besides a few bills that followed, and interest of money
borrowed for the journey on the security of jewels.]
A careful study of the above paper supplies several fresh
details to the student of Arabella's life and character. Her
kindness to the poor, her love of music, her generosity and
thoughtfulness for her dependents, as is shown by the constant
entries of rewards and tips ; while her popularity in her own
county is attested by the way in which she was everywhere
received — at Sheffield by the ringing of bells, elsewhere by gifts
of flowers and fruit. At the same time, it is easy to imagine how
small her resources were compared to the claims upon them,
when one reads of the incessant demands for gratuities and the
system of tipping the whole household at every place where she
rested.

H.
No. 1.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 59. Feb. 20, 1609-10.
To the Right Honourable my most singular good
Lords, the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable
Privy Council.
May it please your good Lordships :
Since it is your pleasure, which to me shall
always stand for law, that I should truly relate under

238 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
my hand those passages which have been between the
noble Lady Arbella and myself, I do here, in these
rugged lines, truly present the same to your Lordships'
favourable censure, that thereby his most excellent
Majesty may, by your Lordships, be fully satisfied of
my duty and faithful allegiance (which shall ever be a
spur to me to expose my life and all my fortunes to the
extremest dangers for his Highness's service), [and]
that I will never attempt anything which I shall have
certain foreknowledge will be displeasing unto him.
I do therefore humbly confess that when I con
ceived that noble lady might, with his Majesty's good
favour, and no just offence, make her choice of any
subject within this kingdom, which conceit was be
gotten in me upon a general report, after her ladyship
last being called before your Lordships, that it might
be ; myself being a younger brother, and sensible of
mine own good, unknown to the world, of mean estate,
not born to challenge anything by my birthright, and
therefore my fortunes to be raised by mine own
endeavours, and she a lady of great honour and virtue,
and, as I thought, of great means, I did plainly and
honestly endeavour lawfully to gain her in marriage,
which is God's ordinance common to all, assuming
myself, if I could effect the same with his Majesty's
most gracious favour and liking (without which I
resolved never to proceed), that thence would grow
the first beginning of all my happiness ; and therefore
I boldly intruded myself into her ladyship's chamber
in the court on Candlemas Day * last, at what time I
* February 2, the Feast of the Purification,

LETTER TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. 239
imparted my desire unto her ; which was entertained,
but with this caution on either part, that both of us
resolved not to proceed to any final conclusion without
his Majesty's most gracious favour and liking first
obtained ; and this was our first meeting. After that
we had a second meeting at Mr. Buggs his house, in
Fleet Street ; and then a third at Mr. Baynton's ; at
both which we had the like conference and resolution
as before. And the next day save one after the last
meeting, I was convented before your Lordships,
when I did then deliver as much as now I have
written ; both then and now protesting before God,
upon my duty and allegiance to his most excellent
Majesty, and as I desire to be retained in your Lord
ships' good opinions, there is neither promise of
marriage, contract, or any other engagement whatsoever
between her ladyship and myself, nor ever was any
marriage by me or her intended, unless his Majesty's
gracious favour and approbation might have been first
gained therein, which we resolved to obtain before we
would proceed to any final conclusion. Whereof I
humbly beseech your Lordships to inform his Majesty
that by your good means, joined to the clearness of
an unspotted conscience and a loyal heart to his
Highness, I may be acquitted in his just judgment
from all opinion of any disposition in me to attempt
anything distasteful or displeasing to his Majesty, as
one well knowing that the just wrath and disfavour
of my sovereign will be my confuison, whereas his
gracious favour and goodness towards me may be the
advancement of my poor fortunes. And thus, my

240 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Lords, according to your commands I have made a
true relation of what was required, humbly referring
the favourable construction thereof to your Lordships,
having, for the further hastening of the truth, and ever
to bind me thereunto, hereafter subscribed my name
the 20th of February, 1609 [10].
William Seymoure.

No. 2.
Draft. Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 39.
(Indorsed, "Lady Arbella Stuart to the Lords of
the Council.") Early, before her marriage.
May it please your Lordships to give me leave to
be an humble suitor to you that, whereas upon his
Majesty's pleasure I was restrained of my liberty, and
that I have presumed to prefer my most humble
petition to his Majesty to be restored unto his
gracious good favour again, which is my greatest
comfort on earth, your Lordships will be pleased to
prefer my said petition to his most gracious Majesty's
hands. And if your Lordships will also vouchsafe
your favourable intercession of my offence, and be
a means to his Majesty on my behalf, I shall be
infinitely bound to pray for your honour and pros
perity, and remain humbly,
At your Lordships' commandments. [Unsigned.]

WARRANT TO SIR THOMAS PARRY. 24 1
No. 3.
Warrant to Sir Thomas Parry [at Lambeth].
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 111; also copy in Sloane MSS.,
v. 4161, f. 28.
After our very hearty commendations. Whereas it is
thought fit that the Lady Arbella should be restrained
of her liberty, and choice is made of you to receive
her and lodge her in your house ; — These are therefore
to give you notice thereof, and to require you to
provide convenient lodging for her to remain under
your charge and custody, with one or two of her
women to attend her, without access of any other
person unto her until his Majesty's pleasure be further
known. And this shall be unto you a sufficient
warrant From the court at Whitehall, this 9th of July, 1610.
Your very loving friends,
R. Cant. J. Suffolke.
T. Ellesmere. R. Salisbury.
Nottingham. E. Worcester.
(Indorsed, " To our very loving friend, Sir Thomas
Parry, Knt., Chancellor of his Majesty's Duchy of
Lancaster.")

vol. ii. 34

242 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 4-
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 71.
(Indorsed, " My lady's letter to my Lord of
Shrewsbury.") July, 1 610.
If it please your lordship, there are divers of my
servants with whom I thought never to have parted
whilst I lived, and none that I am willing to part with.
But since I am taken from them, and know not how
to maintain either myself or them, being utterly
ignorant how it will please his Majesty to deal with
me, I were better to put them away now than towards
winter. Your lordship knows the greatness of my
debts, and my unableness to do for them either now or
at Michaelmas. I beseech your lordship let me know
what hope you can give me of his Majesty's favour,
without which I and all mine must live in great dis
comfort, and make me so much bound to you, as both
yourself and by means of any that you take to be
my friends or pity me, to labour the reobtaining of his
Majesty's favour to me. So humbly thanking your
lordship for the care it pleaseth you to have of me and
mine, and for your honourable offer, I humbly cease.
From Lambeth, the 16th of July, 16 10.
The poor prisoner, your niece,
Arbella ' Seymaure.
P.S.- — The bay gelding and the rest are at your
lordship's commandment.

ARABELLA'S REQUEST. 243
No. 5.
Arbella's Request to the Earl of Shrewsbury
with Respect to her Servants.
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 74. July, 1610.
I acknowledge myself much bound to your lordship
for your care in disposing of my servants, but I cannot
guess what to do with any of them till I know how
his Majesty is inclined towards me. Therefore I
again very humbly and earnestly beseech your lordship
to move his Majesty on his return to be gracious unto
me. That according to his Majesty's answer and
disposition towards me, I may take order for my
servants or anything else concerning me. So with
humble thanks I take leave.
From Lambeth, the 19th of July.
P.S. — I pray your lordship remember me humbly
to my aunt
No. 6.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 92 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 40.
(Indorsed, " The Lady Arbella her petition to the
Lords for the removal of her servants to some better
air.") August, 1610.
To the Right Honourable the Lords of his Majesty's
most Honourable Privy Council.
Right Honourable and my very good Lords :
I am constrained to trouble you rather than
be guilty of the danger of life wherein Hugh Crompton

244 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
and Edward Reeves, two of my servants, lately com
mitted to the Marshalsea for my cause, remain. I am
informed divers near that prison, and in it, are lately
dead, and divers others sick of contagious and deadly
diseases. Wherefore I humbly beseech your honours
to commiserate their distress, and consider that they
are servants, and accountable for divers debts and
reckonings, which, if they should die, would be a
great prejudice to me and others. And therefore I
humbly beseech you to move unto his Majesty my
most humble suit, and theirs, that it will please his
Majesty they may be removed to some other healthful
air.
Arbella Seymaure.
Millbrook, August io, 1610.
No. 7.
State Papers, James I., Dom., v. ivi., p. 56.
[July, 1 610.]
To the Right Honourable the Lords of his Majesty's
most Honourable Privy Council.
Right Honourable and my very good Lords :
I humbly beseech you give me leave to
become an humble suitor to you to let his Majesty
understand my hearty sorrow for his Majesty's dis
pleasure. And that it will please your Honours to
become intercessors to his Majesty for me, whose
error I assuredly hope his Majesty of his own gracious
disposition will, by your good means, rather pardon
than any further expiate with imprisonment or other

PETITION TO THE PRIVY COUNCIL. 245
affliction. Which and more, if it were to do his
Majesty service or honour, I should endure with
alacrity ; but this is very grievous, especially as a sign
of his Majesty's displeasure, on whose favour all my
worldly joy as well as fortune dependeth. Which if
I may reobtain, all the course of my life hereafter
shall testify my dutiful and humble thankfulness.
Arbella' Seymaure.
(Indorsed, " Lady Arbella to the Lords, that it will
please them to be a means to his Majesty for her.")

No. 8.
Draft* of a Petition from Lady Arbella Sey
maure to the Lords of the Council.
Drafts. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 90, 91 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161,
£38.
I humbly beseech your Lordships, now that by ex
amination of all parties the error for which we suffer
his Majesty's displeasure must needs appear neither
greater nor less than it is, to give me leave to become
an humble suitor to your Lordships with the relation
thereof to testify unto his Majesty my hearty sorrow
for his Majesty's displeasure. Restraint from liberty,
comfort and counsel of friends, and all the effects of
imprisonment, are in themselves very grievous and
* There is a note in one copy : ' ' Petition to the Council
before I writ one to the King." It is possible that these were
only drafts of the one in the State Papers (see p. 244).

246 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
inflicted as due punishments for greater offences than
mine. But that which makes them most heavy to me
is that they proceed from his Majesty's displeasure,
whose favour was not only my stay and hope, but
greatest joy. If our punishment were to do his
Majesty service or honour, I should endure imprison
ment and my affliction with patience and alacrity ;
but being inflicted as a sign of his Majesty's dis
pleasure, it is very grievous for us, whose error we
hope his Majesty, in his own gracious disposition,
will rather pardon than any further expiate with
affliction. And by God's grace the whole course of
our life hereafter shall testify our dutiful and humble
thankfulness.

No. 9.
Lady Arbella to the Queen, with the Petition
to the King's Majesty enclosed.
State Papers, James I., Dom., v. Ivii. p. 118, MS.
October, 16 10.
May it please your most excellent Majesty :
I presume to send herewith a copy of my
humbly petition to the King's Majesty, whereby your
Majesty may perceive (with less trouble than any other
relation of mine, as much (in effect) as I can say of the
condition of my present estate and hard fortune. Now,
to whom may I so fitly address myself with confidence
of help and mediation as to your royal person (the
mirror of our sex), and being for me, your Majesty's

ARABELLA'S PETITIONS TO THE KING. 2\J
humble and devoted servant, and in a cause of this
nature so full of pity and commiseration, I will wholly
rely upon your princely goodness, whom I humbly
beseech to vouchsafe to enter into a gracious considera
tion of the true estate of my case and fortune, and then
I nothing doubt but that in the true nobleness of your
royal mind your Majesty will be pleased to mediate
for me in such sort as in your most princely wisdom
and favour the same shall be moved. And I shall
always pray for the everlasting honour and felicity of
your Majesty with all your royal issue in all things,
and will remain for ever
Your Majesty's most humble and dutiful
subject and servant,
Arbella Seymaure.
On the back of this letter to the queen are three
curious remarks,* probably in Arabella's hand —
The loss of thy late sister hath honoured thee with
the service of my fair flower.
J'ai perdu ta successeur mais non pas tu.
La perte de ta sceur fte portait l'honneur d'etre
serviteur de ma belle fleur [repeated three times
from f].
* First discovered by Mr. Inderwick ; afterwards copied and
corrected by author from the State Papers, with modernized
spelling.

248 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 10.
Petition to the King [probably enclosed in
the Queen's of October, 1610].
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 87.
May it please your most excellent Majesty :
The unfortunate estate whereunto I am fallen
by being deprived of your Majesty's presence (the
greatest comfort to me on earth), together with the
opinion is conceived of your Majesty's displeasure
towards me, hath brought as great affliction to my
mind as can be imagined. Nevertheless, touching the
offence for which I am now punished, I most humbly
beseech your Majesty (in your most princely wisdom
and judgment) to consider in what a miserable state
I had been if I had taken any other course than I
did, for my own conscience witnessing before God that
I was then the wife of him that now I am, I could never
have matched with any other man, but to have lived all
the days of my life as an harlot, which your Majesty
would have abhorred in any, especially in one who
hath the honour (how otherwise unfortunate soever) to
have any drop of your Majesty's blood in them. But
I will trouble your Majesty no longer, but in all humility
attending your Majesty's good pleasure for that liberty
(the want whereof depriveth me of all health and all
other worldly comfort), I will never forget to pray for
your Majesty's most happy prosperity for ever in all
things, and so remain
Your Majesty's most humble and faithful
subject and servant.

ARABELLAS PETITIONS TO THE KING. 249

No. 11.
One of Arabella's Petitions to the King,
probably from lambeth.
Draft in Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 85 ; and copied clearly by Dr.
Birch, Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 35. Undated.
May it please your most excellent Majesty
To regard with the eyes of your royal and
gracious heart the unfortunate estate of me, your
Majesty's handmaid, who, knowing your Majesty's
gracious favour to her to be the greatest honour, com
fort, and felicity that this world can afford, doth now
feel any part of the contrary to be the most grievous
affliction to her that can be imagined. Whereinsoever
your Majesty will say I have offended I will not con
test, but in all humility prostrate myself at your Ma
jesty's feet ; only I do most humbly on my knees
beseech your Majesty to believe that that thought
never yet entered into my heart to do anything that
might justly deserve any part of your indignation. But
if the necessity of my state and fortune, together with
my weakness, have caused me to do somewhat not
pleasing to your Majesty, most gracious Sovereign, let
it be all covered with the shadow of your royal be
nignity, and pardoned in that heroical mind of yours,
which is never closed to those who carry a most loyal
heart to your sovereignty, a most sincere and dutiful
affection to your person, and that prayeth for the most
happy prosperity of your Majesty, our most gracious

250 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
queen, and your Royal issue in all things for ever,
amongst which number Almighty God, who knoweth
the secrets of all hearts, knoweth me to be one who
am also Your Majesty's most humble, faithful
subject and servant.
No. 12.
Lady Arbella Seymour to [Lady Drummond].
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 61; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 47.
Probably from Lambeth.
Good Cousin, — I pray you do me the kindness
to present this letter of mine in all humility to her
Majesty, and with all my most humble and dutiful
thanks for the gracious commiseration it pleaseth her
Majesty to have of me as I hear to my great comfort.
I presume to make suit to her Majesty, because, if it
please her Majesty to intercede for me, I cannot but
hope to be restored to her Majesty's service and his
Majesty's favour, whose just and gracious disposition,
I verily think, would have been moved to compassion
ere this by the consideration both of the cause, in
itself honest and lamentable, and of the honour I have
to be so near his Majesty and his in blood, but that it
is God's will her Majesty should have a hand in so
honourable and charitable a work as to reobtain his
Majesty's favour to one that esteemeth it her greatest
worldly comfort. So, wishing you all honour and
happiness, I take leave, and remain
Your very loving cousin, A. S.

LETTERS TO AND FROM LADY DRUMMOND. 25 1
No. 13.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 64 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 48.
(Indorsed, "The Lady Drummond's letter to my lady.")
Madame, — I received your ladyship's letter, and with
it another paper which has just the same words that
was in the letter, but your ladyship did not command
me to do anything with it, so as I cannot imagine to
what use you sent it, always I shall keep it till I know
your ladyship's pleasure. Yesterday being Sunday, I
could have little time to speak with her Majesty, but
this day her Majesty hath seen your ladyship's letter.
Her Majesty says that when she gave your ladyship's
petition and letter to his Majesty, he did take it well
enough, but gave no answer than that "Ye had eaten
of the forbidden tree.'' This was all her Majesty com
manded me to say to your ladyship in this purpose,
but withal did remember her kindly to your ladyship,
and sent you this little token in notice of the continua
tion of her Majesty's favours to your ladyship. Now,
where your ladyship desires me to deal openly and
freely with you, I protest I can say nothing on know
ledge, for I never spake to any of that purpose but
to the queen ; but the wisdom of this state, with the
example how some of your quality in the like cause
has been used, makes me fear that ye shall not find
so easy end to your troubles as ye expect or I wish.
This is all I can say, and I should think myself happy
if my notions could give better testimony of my truly
being your ladyship's
Affectionate friend to do you service,
Jane Drummond.

252 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

No. 14
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 66 ; copy 68 ; and Sloane MSS.,
v. 4161, f. 49.
(Indorsed, " To my honourable good cousin, Mrs.
Drummond.") Good Cousin, — I pray you present her Majesty
my most humble thanks for the token of the con
tinuance of her Majesty's favour towards me that I
received in your letter, which hath so cheered me as
I hope I shall be the better able to pass over my
sorrow till it please God to move his Majesty's heart
to compassion of me, whilst I may thereby assure
myself I remain in her Majesty's favour, though all
other worldly comforts be withdrawn from me ; and
will not cease to pray to the Almighty to reward her
Majesty for her gracious regard of me in this distress
with all happiness to her royal self and hers. I pray
you likewise present her Majesty this piece of my
work, .which I humbly beseech her Majesty to accept
in remembrance of the poor prisoner, her Majesty's
most humble servant, that wrought them, in hope
those royal hands will vouchsafe to wear them, which
till I have the honour to kiss, I shall live in a great
deal of sorrow. I must also render you my kindest
thanks for your so friendly and freely imparting your
opinion of my suit. But whereas my good friends may
doubt my said suit will be more long and difficult to
obtain than they wish by reason of the wisdom of this
state in dealing with others of my quality in the like
cause, I say that I never heard nor read of anybody's

LETTERS TO AND FROM LAD Y DRUMMOND. 253
case that might be truly and justly compared to this
of mine, which, being truly considered, will be found
so far differing as there can be no true resemblance
made thereof to any others ; and so I am assured that
both their Majesties (when it shall please them duly
to examine it in their princely wisdoms) will easily
discern. And I do earnestly entreat you to move her
Majesty to vouchsafe the continuance of her so gracious
a beginning on my behalf, and to persuade his Majesty
to weigh my cause aright, and then I shall not doubt
but speedily to receive that royal grace and favour
that my own soul witnesseth I have ever deserved at
his hands, and will ever endeavour to deserve of him
and his whilst I have breath. And so, with many
thanks to yourself for your kind offices, I take leave,
and rest Your very loving cousin,
Arbella Seymaure.

No. 15.
To the Lady Drummond [fragment].
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 70 (Draft unsigned and corrected).
Good Cousin, — I think myself as much beholden
to you as if my man had brought me assurance of
his Majesty's favours by her Majesty's means, because
I find your kindness in remembering me and prevent
ing suspicions. But I cannot rest satisfied till I may
know what disaster of mine hindreth his Majesty's

254 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
goodness towards me, having such a mediatrix to
plead so just and honest a cause as mine. Therefore
I pray you with all earnestness let me know freely
what hath been done concerning me. So, wishing
you all honour and happiness, I take leave. Yours.
(Indorsed, " Two letters by Smith now ; " one, no
doubt, is that to her husband, in the text.)

No. 1 6.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 152; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 46.
Probably March, 161 1.
To the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Justice of
England and the Lord Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas.
My Lords, — Whereas I have been long restrained
from my liberty, which is as much to be regarded as
my life, and am appointed, as I understand, to be
removed far from these courts of justice where I
ought to be examined, tried, and then condemned or
cleared, to remote parts, whose courts I hold unfitted
for the trial of my offence : this is to beseech your
Lordships to inquire by an Habeas Corpus or other usual
form of law what is my fault ; and if, upon examina
tion by your Lordships, I shall thereof be justly con
victed, let me endure such punishment by your Lord
ships' sentence as is due to such an offender. And
if your Lordships may not or will not of yourselves
grant unto me the ordinary relief of a distressed sub-

KING JAMES TO BISHOP OF DURHAM, 1611. 255
ject, then I beseech you become humble intercessors
to his Majesty that I may receive such benefit of
justice as both his Majesty by his oath, those of his
blood not excepted, hath promised, and the laws of
this realm afford to all others. And though, unfor
tunate woman (that I am), I should obtain neither, yet
I beseech your Lordships retain me in your good
opinion, and judge charitably till I be proved to have
committed any offence, either against God or his
Majesty, deserving so long restraint or separation from
my lawful husband. So, praying for your Lordships,
I rest Your afflicted poor suppliant, A. S.
No. 17.*
A Royal Warrant to the Bishop of Durham,
committing the lady arbella seymaure to
his Custody.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 94, 96, 97 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 51.
Royston, March 13, 1610-11.
James R.
Right Reverend Father in God, and Trusty
and Well-beloved, — We greet you well. Whereas
our cousin the Lady Arbella hath highly offended us
in seeking to marry herself without our knowledge (to
whom she had the honour to be near in blood), and
in proceeding afterwards to a full conclusion of a
marriage with the selfsame person whom (for many
* Printed in Halliwell's " Letters of the Kings of England."

256 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
just causes) we had expressly forbidden her to marry ;
after he had in our presence, and before our Council,
forsworn all interest as concerning her, either past or
present, with solemn protestations upon his allegiance,
in her hearing, never to renew any such motion again.
Forasmuch as it is more necessary for us to make
some such demonstration now of the just sense and
feeling we have, after so great an indignity offered
unto us, as may make others know by her example
that no respect of personal affection can make us
neglect those considerations wherein both the honour
and order of the state is interested. We have there
fore thought good, out of trust in your fidelity and
discretion, to remit to your care and custody the person
of our said cousin, requiring and authorizing you
hereby to carry her down in your company to any
house of yours as unto you shall seem best and most
convenient, there to remain in such sort as shall be
set down to you by directions from the Council, or
any six of them, to whom we have both declared our
pleasure for the manner of her restraint, and have
also given in charge, upon conference with you, to take
order for all things necessary either for her health or
otherwise. This being, as you see, the difference
between us and her — that whereas she hath abounded
towards us in disobedience and ingratitude, we are (on
the contrary) still apt to temper the severity of our
justice with grace and favour towards her, as may well
appear by the course we have taken to commit her
only to your custody, in whose house she may be so
well assured to receive all good usage, and see more

WARRANT TO PARRY, 1611. 257
fruit and exercise of religion and virtue than in many
other places. For all which this shall be your sufficient
warrant. From Royston, this 13th of March, 1610-n.
No. 18.
Warrant to Sir Thomas Parry, Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster, from the Lords of
the Council, ordering him to deliver Arbella
to the Bishop of Durham.
State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxi. p. 30; Hari. MSS.,
v. 7003, f. 98. March 15, 1610-11.
After our very hearty commendations.
Whereas it hath pleased his Majesty by letters
under his royal signature to give order to the right
reverend father in God, the Bishop of Durham, to
receive into his charge the person of the Lady Arbella
Seymaure, to be carried down and conveyed from
hence in his company to such house of his as shall
seem best and most convenient, there to remain in
such, sort and according to such directions as are
contained in the said letters. Forasmuch as she was
committed to your charge-by his Majesty's command-
' ment, and that it is meet the like order be taken for
your discharge ;
These are therefore to will and require you, accord
ing to his Majesty's good pleasure in that behalf, to
deliver the person of the said lady unto our very good
lord, the Bishop of Durham, to be by him conveyed
as aforesaid, which we require you to perform this
vol. 11. 35

258 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
present Friday. For which this shall be sufficient war
rant. And we bid you heartily farewell.
From Whitehall, the 15th of March, 1610-11.
Your very loving friends,
T. Ellesmere. H. Northampton.
R. Salisbury. Gilb. Shrewsbury.
T. Suffolk. W. Knowles.
E. Worcester. Lenox.
E. Wootton. Jul. Cesar.
No. 19.
Warrant to Sir William Bond.
Had. MSS., v. 7003, f. 102 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 53.
March 15, 161 1.
¦ Forasmuch as there is some occasion to make pro
vision for one night's lodging for the Lady Arbella, in
respect that she cannot conveniently recover Barnet,
some things being wanting for her journey this after
noon, contrary to our expectations, we have thought
good to entreat you not to refuse such a courtesy as
the lending of a couple of chambers for her lady
ship ; because we doubt the inns there are full of
inconveniences. By doing whereof you shall give us
cause to report well of you to his Majesty. And so
we commit you to God.
At Whitehall, the 15 th of March, 16 10.
Your loving friends,
R. Salisbury. H. Northampton.
Nottingham. T. Suffolke.
E. Worcester. Gilb. Shrewsbury.
Jul. Caesar.
To our loving friend, Sir William Bond, Knt., or,
in his absence, to the Lady his wife at High Gate.

MRS.COLLINGWOOD'S LETTER TO ARABELLA. 2$g

No. 20.
State Papers, James I., Dom., v. lxii. f. 88, MS.
March 7, 161 1.
To the most noble and renowned lady, the Lady
Arbella, her grace, humbly this d.d.
Most honourable and beloved Lady, — That
which to the most seems great presumption for me
(though thus dejected) to attempt this kind of enter
prise unto so high a personage, the more noble and
illustrious that you are (most honourable lady), I pre
sume you will the less take notice of my fault, as only
looking to the things wherein your virtues may be
exercised, which is the truest note of that same dis
position, all disposed to virtue holding all things else
impertinent or not imagining that they have any
being. And surely fame hath not been sparing to
make known your honour's worthiness, comprising.
both the virtues of this nature, as it doth most
worthily contain the virtues of the highest qualities..
Whereby resting confident that as charity is not
usually separated from the rest, so I do assure myself
it cannot be the least of them your honour is endowed
with. Which jointly lead me now to offer up my
humble suit unto your honour, an occasion for your
piety and pity to be seen, the one in pardoning my
boldness, the other in relieving my necessity. Unto
both whereof your honour may the rather be induced,
being that as want hath privilege to seek succour
everywhere, so it carrieth reason to be more lamented

260 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
when it is occasioned by adversities, which fareth
now with me whose fortune hath been such an
enemy unto my birth as hath brought my state to
be unequal to my calling, and keeps me from my
lawful husband and all rights by him, which are of
extraordinary value ; wherein, being loth to be offen
sive to your honour by a tedious discourse, I humbly
leave it to your wisdom, which is able to consider
well of such distress. And both I and my poor
children will daily pray for your honour's wished
happiness. Your honour's most humble suppliant at command,
Alice Collingwood.

No. 21.
Lady Chandos to Dr. Moundford.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 109; Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 68.
Good Friday, 161 1.
Doctor Moundford, — I desire the widow's prayer,
with my humble service, may by you be presented to
the Lady Arbella, who I hope God will so fortify her
mind, as she will take this cross with such patience
as may be to His pleasing, who, as this day signifies,
took upon Him a good deal more for us ; and when
He seeth time He will send comfort to the afflicted.
I pray you if you want for the honourable lady what
is in this house, you will send for it ; for most willingly
the master and mistress of the house would have her
ladyship command it. If the drink do like my lady,

SOME UNDATED LETTERS. 26l
spare not to send. The knight and my daughter
remember their kind commendations unto yourself.
So I commit you to God, and rest as
Your friend, Francis Chandos.
(Indorsed, " To my friend, Mr. Dr. Moundford, at
Barnet.") Three undated letters written during Arabella's
imprisonment. No. 22.
Lady Arbella Seymaure to Lord  [probably
Lord Salisbury].
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 104, 107 ; Sloane MSS.,
v. 4161, f. 54.
My Lord, — The nobleness of your nature and the
good opinion it hath pleased your lordship to hold
of me heretofore emboldeneth me to beseech your
lordship to enter into consideration of my distress,
and to be touched with the misery I am in for want
of his Majesty's favour, whose clemency and mercy
is such that, if it would please ye to make my grief
known, and how nearly it toucheth my heart that it
hath been my hard fortune to offend his Majesty, I
cannot doubt but it would gain me both mitigation
of the hard doom and mercy in some measure to
yield comfort to my soul, overwhelmed with the
extremity of grief which hath almost brought me to
the brink of the grave. I beseech your lordship deal
so with me as my prayer may gain you God's reward,

262 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
for His sake, though it be but a cup of cold water.
I mean any small hope of intercession of his Majesty's
displeasure shall be most thankfully received by me.
And I doubt not but, if it please your lordship to try
your excellent gift * of speech, his Majesty will lend
a gracious ear to your lordship, and I shall rest ever
bound to pray for your lordship's happiness, who
now myself rest the most unfortunate and afflicted
creature living.
A. S.
No. 23.
Lady Arbella Seymaure to  .

Cotton MSS., Vesp. F. 3, f. 35-f
(This letter is indorsed, "Arbella Seymaure to  ,
soliciting the person she writes to to use his interest
with Lord Northampton to intercede for her with the
King after her marriage with the Earl of Hertford."
The indorsement is evidently added later, as it
calls Seymour the " Earl of Hertford.")
Sir, — Though you be almost a stranger to me, but
only by sight, yet the good opinion I generally hear
to be held of your worth, together with the great
interest you have in my Lord of Northampton's
favour, makes me thus far presume of your willing
ness to do a poor afflicted gentlewoman a good office
(if in no other respect, yet because I am a Christian)
as to further me with your best endeavours to his
* One draft has "gifts of persuasion. "
t Another copy of this is indorsed, " to Cromwell."

VoliiJ

, f,M'^"» ^ iorne, m ,
fr<rew/-*" vn

IN' AUTOGRAPH 07 ARABELLA STUART.

lancUmjRLcharcL Bentley &. Son, 1869-

SOME UNDATED LETTERS. 263
lordship, that it will please him to help me out of this
great distress and misery, and regain me his Majesty's
favour, which is my chiefest desire. Wherein his
lordship may do a deed acceptable to God and
honourable to himself, and I shall be infinitely bound
to his lordship and beholden to you, who now, till
I receive some comfort from his Majesty, rest the
most sorrowful creature living.
Arbella Seymaure.
No. 24.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 149; and Sloane MSS., v. 4161, f. 65.
My Lord, — My extremity constraining me to
labour to all my friends to become suitors to his
Majesty for his pardon of my fault, and my weakness
not permitting me to write particularly, I have made
choice of your lordship, humbly beseeching you to
move as many as have any compassion of my affliction
to join in humble mediation to his Majesty to forgive
me, the most penitent and sorrowful creature that
breathes. Your distressed cousin,
A. S.
No. 25.
Lady Arbella Seymour to [Viscount Fenton].
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 153; Sloane MSS., v. 4161,
f. 63.
My Lord, — The long acquaintance betwixt us, and
the good experience of your honourable dealing here
tofore, maketh me not only hope but be most assured,

264 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
that if you knew my most discomfortable and dis
tressed estate, you would acquaint his Majesty withal
and consequently procure my relief and redress as
you have done other times. I have been sick even
to the death, from which it hath pleased God miracu
lously to deliver me for this present danger, but find
myself so weak * by reason I have wanted those ordi
nary helps whereby most others in my case, be they
never so poor or unfortunate soever, are preserved alive
at least for charity ; that unless I may be suffered to have
those about me that I may trust, this sentence my
lord treasurer pronounced after his Majesty's refusing
that trifle of my work, by your persuasion, as I take it,
will prove the certain and apparent cause of my death.
Whereof I then thought good to advertise you that
you both may the better be prepared in case you, or
either of you, have possessed the king with such
opinions of me, as thereupon I shall be suspected
and restrained till help come too late, and be assured
that neither physician nor other but whom I think
good shall come about me whilst I live till I have his
Majesty's favour, without which I desire not to live.
And if you remember of old I dare to die so I be not
guilty of my own death, and oppress others with my
ruin too, if there be no other way, as God forbid,
to whom I commit you, and rest assuredly as here
tofore, if you be the same to me,
Your lordship's faithful friend,
A. S.
* The words from " so weak " to the end are crossed out on
f. 153, the rest of the letter on f. 154 being, perhaps, intended to
replace it.

SOME UNDATED LETTERS. 265
I can neither get clothes, nor posset ale, for
example, nor anything but ordinary diet, nor com
plement fit for a sick body in my case when I call
for it, not so much as a glister, saving your reverence.
The above (f. 153) is the corrected draft of a letter
to Viscount Fenton, in which the words from " so
weak " to the end are crossed out, and the following,
given as a fragment only in the Hari. MSS., v. 7003,
f. 154, added, the lady doubtless again changing her
mind, making the fair copy as given above : —
That unless it please his Majesty to show me
mercy, and that I may receive from your lordship
at least some hope of regaining his Majesty's favour
again, it will not be possible for me to undergo the
great burden of his princely displeasure. Good my
lord, consider, the fault cannot be uncommitted,
neither can any more be required of any earthly
creature but confession and most humble submission,
which, if it should please your lordship to present to
his Majesty, I cannot doubt but his Majesty would
be pleased to mitigate his displeasure, and let me
receive comfort. *I wish your lordship would in a
few lines understand my misery, for my weakness is
such that writing is very painful to me, and cannot
be pleasant to any to read.* From your hand, my
lord, I received the first favour, which favour, if I
may obtain from your lordship's hand in my greatest
necessity, I shall ever acknowledge myself bound to
* From * to * crossed out in the fragment, f. 154.

266 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
you for it, and the rest of my life shall show how
highly I esteem his Majesty's favour. The Almighty
send to your lordship health, and make you His good
means to help me out of this great grief.
Your lordship's most distressed friend.
No. 26.
Lady Arbella Seymour to the Queen.
Draft. Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 78 ; Sloane MSS., v. 4161,
f. 32- Probably Christmas, 1611.
May it please your most excellent Majesty to con
sider how long I have lived a spectacle of his Majesty's
displeasure, to my unspeakable grief, and, out of that
gracious disposition which moveth your royal mind to
compassion of the distress, may it please your Majesty
to move his Majesty in my behalf. I have presumed
to present your Majesty herewith the copy of my
humble petition to his Majesty against this time, when
the rather I am sure his Majesty forgiveth greater
offences as freely as he desires to be forgiven by
Him whose sacrament he is to receive, though your
Majesty's intercession at any time, I know, were suffi
cient. Thus hath my long experience of your Majesty's
gracious favour to me and all good causes encouraged
me to presume to address myself unto your Majesty,
and increased the obligation of my duty in praying
continually unto the Almighty for your Majesty's
felicity in all things. And in all humility I remain
Your Majesty's.

ARREST OF ARABELLA AND FRIENDS, 1611. 267
I.
No. 1.
Proclamation for the Arrest of Lady Arbella
and AVilliam Seymore.
Rymer's "Foedera," vol. xvi. p. 710. June 4, 161 1.
Whereas we are given to understand that the Lady
Arbella and William Seymour, second son to the Lord
Beauchamp, being for divers great and heinous
offences committed, the one to our Tower of London,
and the other to a special guard, have found the
means, by the wicked practices of divers lewd persons,
as, namely, Markham, Crompton, Rodney, and others,
to break prison, and make escape on Monday, the
third day of June, with an intent to transport them
selves into foreign parts.
We do hereby straitly charge and command all
persons whatsoever, upon their allegiance and duty,
not only to forbear to receive, harbour, or assist
them in their passage any way, as they will answer it
at their perils ; but, upon the like charge and pain, to
use the best means they can for their apprehension
and keeping them in safe custody, which we will take
as an acceptable service.
Given at Greenwich, the fourth day of June.
per ipsum Regem.

268 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

No. 2.
Persons committed by the Lords on the 4TH
and 5TH of June, 1611, upon Occasion of the
Lady Arbella and Mr. Seymour's Escape.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 140.
The Countess of Shrewsbury, committed to the
Tower.
Sir Jas. Croft, committed to the Fleet.
Dr. Moundford, close prisoner at the Gatehouse.
Adams, the minister's wife, to the Gatehouse.
To be examined —
Bates to the Bailiff of Westminster.
Pigott, sent to the Earl of Shrewsbury, to be forth
coming.
Newgate —
John Baisley, waterman, committed to Davy
Roden, a messenger.
To some other place in the Tower —
Batten, Mr. Seymour's barber, committed to the
dungeon in the Tower, by Mr. Lieutenant.
Released —
Saladin, a Frenchman, committed to the porter's
lodge, in the Tower.
Mr. Seymour's butler, committed to the Tower.
Corv£, the French Skipper, to Newgate.
The Skipper of Ipswich, to the Gatehouse.
Note below — Smith to be examined.

ARREST OF ARABELLA AND FRIENDS, l6n. 269

In the
Tower.

Another Later List after Arabella's Capture.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 143.
(Indorsed, " Persons committed by the Lords.")
The La. Arbella.
The Ctess. Shrewsbury. \
Fleet- Hugh Crompton, gent.
Marsh. —
William Markham, gent.
Gateh.— Edward Reeves.
Mrs. Bradshawe.
Bonds —
Batten, Mr. Seymour's barber.
Mr. Seymour's butler.
Removed —
Sir James Croft, in the Fleet.
Dr. Moundford.
Bonds —
Adams the minister's wife.
Surson, the skipper, of Ipswich.
Loses his place —
Edward Kirton, gent.
Tassin Corve, the French skipper.
To be sent to y° ambassador.
John Baisley, waterman.
To be delivered —
Bates, the Earl of Shrewsbury's man, with the
Bailiff of Westminster.

In the
Gatehouse.

( Newgate.

270 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
No. 3.
Warrant to the Lords of the Council.
State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. lxiv. p. 67, Docquet-Book,
June 30, 161 1.
That they cause all such sums of money as are to
be defrayed by his Majesty for the charges of appre
hension of the Lady Arbella and her company, and
her bringing up, to be paid out of such gold as hath
been found upon her or in her company, or which
hereafter shall be found to have been upon her or in
her company at the time of her escape.
No. 4.
State Papers, James I., Dom., vol. Ixvi. p. 23, Docquet-Book,
Sept. 21, 1611.
A letter to the Lords and others of his Majesty's
Privy Council, requiring them to give order to Sir Wil
liam Bowyer, Knight, and Henry Yelverton,* Esquire,
to cause certain jewels remaining in the hands of the
said Sir Wm. Bowyer, and found upon the Lady Arbella
and her company at her intended departure out of
this reahn, to be valued and sold at the cost price,
and the money thereby made to be paid to such of
her creditors as she shall nominate. And for such
money as was found with her and remaining with
the said Bowyer, his Majesty's pleasure is at his suit,
the same be delivered to the said Yelverton to dis
charge a debt of hers for which he is bound.
* Vol. ii. pp. 234, 236.

SALE OF ARABELLA'S JEWELS, ETC., 1611. 271
No. 5.
Summary of Minute to Sir Wm. Bowyer from
the Council,
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 138.
A certain parcel of gold, ^868, and jewels, had
been seized upon the Lady Arbella's person. It was
to be inventoried and laid up until the king's pleasure
was further known. The care of it to be entrusted to
Bowyer, to the use of the aforesaid Lady Arbella, and
such others as to whom they shall appear to belong.
He is to take them to the Tower, and there, in the com
pany and presence of the lieutenant, " show the said
gold and jewels to the Lady Arbella, and to inform
yourself from her ladyship to whom all the said gold
and jewels belong ; which, if she inform you they are
hers, you are to detain them to her use, issuing and
delivering no part thereof upon any warrant from her
ladyship until you first acquaint the chancellor of the
exchequer ; and if the Lady Arbella says some is not
hers, but belongs to her servants and other persons,
we do require you to deliver them unto these persons,
taking from them a sufficient acquitance for your
discharge." From Whitehall, 27th June, 161 1.
No. 6.
Hari. MSS., v. 7003, f. 141.
A note of such jewels as my Lady Arbella affirmeth to
be wanting, and desireth they may be inquired after.
Item — A poignard diamond ring.

272 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
Item — A flower de luce set with diamonds, which
she thinketh is in a little box of wood, and left amongst
her jewels.
Item — In the same box was a ring wherein was set
a little sea-water green stone called an emeryn [aqua
marine or emerald].
Item — A little jewel like a horn, with a. great yellow
stone called a jacynth, with opals and rubies. This
was also amongst her jewels.
Item — A jewel like a star, set with opals.
Item — A piece of a chain of gold, set with rubies
and pearls.
Item — Some four pearls set upon a cord, with eight
other less pearls.
Item — A watch left in Mistress Bradshaw's trunk
at Barnet.
Item — A little chest with wares (or waters).

J-
No. i.
In the South Kensington Museum is a curious little
book called "Salve Deus," dated 1611, and written
by Mistress Emilia Lanyer, wife to Captain Alfonzo
Lanyer, one of the king's household. The book, which
consists of four parts, is entitled : " 1. The Passion
of Christ. 2. Eve's Apologie in Defence of Women.
3. The Teares of the Daughters of Jerusalem. 4. The
Salutation of the V. Marie, with divers other things
not unfit to be read." The interest of it to readers of
this volume is its connection with Arabella, being not

VERSES WRITTEN TO ARABELLA. 2JI
only dedicated to "The Queen, Lady Elizabeth, to
all vertuous Ladies in generall, to the Lady Arbella,"
but also containing verses in her honour. Curiously
enough, the copy in the South Kensington Museum,
which belonged to Prince Henry, has nine leaves of
the dedication wanting — probably those in which
Arabella is referred to ; and the verses in her honour
had evidently been cut out, as the pages on which
they now stand in this particular copy have been sup
plied from another volume. The year of its publica
tion, 1611, saw Arabella's disgrace, and no doubt
Prince Henry's copy was carefully doctored before
it was presented to him. The authoress must have
composed it in 16 10 or before, during Arabella's
favour at court, since she dares to rank her with the
queen and princess in her dedication. The verses are
worth quoting, merely for their flattering references to
Arabella's reputation as a great and learned lady, and
the authoress's personal acquaintance with her virtue.
' ' Great learned Ladie, whom I long have knowne,
And yet not knowne so much as I desired ;
Rare Phoenix, whose fair feathers are your owne,
With which you flie, and are so much admired ;
True woman, whom trae Fame hath so attired
In glittering raiment, shining much more bright
Than silver starres in the most frosty night ;
"Come, like the morning sunne new out of bed,
And cast your eyes upon this little Booke ;
Although you be so well accompanied
With Pallas and the Muses, spare one looke
Upon this humbled king, who all forsooke,
That in his dying arms he might embrace
Your beauteous soul, and fill it with his grace.''
VOL. II. 36

274 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.

No. 2.
The following epitaph on Arabella was written by
Richard Corbet, Bishop of Norwich, 1615, and may
be found amongst his poems : —
" How do I thank thee, Death, and bless thy power,
That I have passed the guard, and 'scaped the Tower !
And now my pardon is my epitaph,
And a small coffin my poor carcase hath ;
For at thy charge both soul and body were
Enlarg'd at last, secur'd from hope and fear.
That amongst Saints, this amongst Kings is laid,
And what my birth did claim my death hath paid. "
No. 3.
The Order for the Embalmment of Arabella's
Body.
Devon's "Pell Records," p. 179, London: 1836.
By order, dated 12th of October, 1615. To
Duncan Primrose, one of his Majesty's Surgeons, the
sum of Jf6 13.?. qd., {or charges disbursed about the
embalming of the body of the late Lady Arbella,
appearing by his bill of particulars, subscribed and
allowed by us.
By writ, dated 25th of July, 1616.
No. 4.
The following curious ballad (printed both by Miss
Cooper and Lady Theresa Lewis) was published in
the reign of James I., and is interesting, as giving the
popular view of Arabella's case : —

BALLAD: THE TRUE LOVER'S KNOT UNTIED. 2J$
" The True Lover's Knot Untied :
Being the right path whereby to advise Princely Vir
gins how to behave themselves by the example of the
renowned Princess, the Lady Arbella, and the second
son [grandson] of the Lord Seymour, late Earl of
Hertford. To the tune of ' Frogs Galliard,' etc.
" As I to Ireland did pass,
I saw a ship at anchor lay ;
Another ship likewise there was,
Which from fair England took her way.
"This ship that sailed from fair England
Unknown unto our gracious king,
The Lord Chief Justice did command
That they to England should her bring.
" I then drew near, and saw more plain
Lady Arbella in distress ;
She wrung her hands and wept amain,
Bewailing of her heaviness.
"When near fair London Tower she came,
Whereat her landing-place should be,
The King and Queen, with all their train,
Did meet this lady gallantly.
" ' How no w, Arbella ? ' said our King,
Unto this lady straight did say ;
' Who hath first tied ye to this thing,
That you from England took your way ? '
' ' ' None but myself, my gracious Liege.
These ten long years I've been in love
With the Lord Seymour's second son,
[The Earl of Hartford, so we prove].*
* Brackets are placed here, as this probably is a remark of
the ballad-writer, William Seymour no doubt having become
Earl of Hertford at the time the poem was written.

276 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
" ' Though he be not the mightiest man
Of goods and livings in the land,
Yet I have lands us to maintain :
So much your grace doth understand.
" ' My lands and livings, so well known
Unto your books of Majesty,
Amount to twelve score pound a week,
Besides what I do give,' quoth she.
" ' In gallant Darbyshire, likewise,
I nine score beadsmen maintain there,
With hats and gowns and house-rent free,
And every man five marks a year.
" ' I never raised rent,' said she,
' Nor yet oppressed the tenant poor ;
I never took no bribes for fines ;
For why ? I had enough before.
" 'Whom of your nobles will do so
For to maintain the' commonalty,
Such multitudes would never grow,
Nor be such store of poverty.
"'I would I had a milkmaid been,
Or born of some more low degree ;
Then I might have loved where I like,
And no man could have hinder'd me.
" ' Or would I were some yeoman's child,
For to receive my portion now
According unto my degree,
As other virgins whom I know.
' ' ' The highest branch that soars aloft
Needs must beshade the myrtle tree ;
Needs must the shadow of them both
Shadow the third in his degree.

BALLAD: THE TRUE LOVER'S KNOT UNTIED. 277
" ' But when the tree is cut and gone,
And from the ground is borne away ;
The lowest tree that there cloth stand,
In time may grow as high as they.
" ' Once when I thought to have been queen,
But yet that still I do deny ;
I knew your grace had right to the crown
Before Elizabeth did die.
" ' You of the eldest sister came ;
I of the second in degree ;
The Earl of Hartford of the third—
A man of royal blood was he.
' ' ' And so good night, my Sovereign Liege ;
Since in the Tower I must lie,
I hope your Grace will condescend
That I may have my liberty.'
" ' Lady Arbella,' said our King,
' I to your freedom would consent
If you would turn and go to church,
There to receive the Sacrament.
" ' And so good night, Arbella fair,'
The King replied to her again ;
1 1 will take counsel of my nobility,
That you your freedom may obtain. '
" ' Once more to prison must I go ! '
Lady Arbella then did say ;
' To leave my love breeds all my woe,
The which will bring my life's decay.
" ' Love is a knot none can unknit ;
Fancy a liking of the heart.
Him whom I love I cannot forget,
Though from his presence I must part.

278 LIFE OF ARABELLA STUART.
" ' The meanest people enjoy their mates,
But I was born unhappily ;
For, being crost by cruel fates,
I want both love and liberty.
" ' But Death, I hope, will end the strife ;
Farewell, farewell, my love ! ' quoth she ;
' Once I had thought to have been thy wife,
But now am forced to part with thee.'
"At this sad meeting she had cause
In heart and mind to grieve full sore ;
After that time Arbella fair
Did never see young Seymour more. "
A careful perusal of these doggrel verses may serve
to illustrate the incorrectness of popular rumour. Old
Lord Hertford died in 1621; James, in 1625. As
when the ballad was written James was alive, and
Lord Hertford lately dead, not many years had passed
since Arabella's disappearance from the world; yet
at every turn the poem is incorrect. It is enough
to call attention to the remark put in James's mouth,
that, if she would take the Sacrament in the English
Church, she would be pardoned — as if her crime con
sisted in having been a Roman Catholic, though no
doubt she was too much of a Puritan in religion to
suit the King's taste. Besides this, there is a later
ballad first printed in Evans' " Collection of Ballads,"
supposed by Disraeli to be by Mickle ; also a poem
by Mrs. Hemans.

ADDENDA.

The following notes were not brought under the
author's notice till the book was in the press, and
therefore are added at the end of Part II. instead of
in their proper sequence.

Arabella's Claims to the Crown, and Charac
ter, DISCUSSED BY A CONTEMPORARY.
In Sir John Harington's* " Tract on the Succession
to the Crown" (said to be written about 1602, but,
from internal evidence, parts at least must have been
earlier), after a discussion on Dolman's book — Father
Parson's famous tract — Harington refers to Arabella's
claims, but sets them aside in favour of James. He
gives some further details about Arabella.
" My Lady Arbella also now began to be spoken of
and much commended, as she is well worthy for many
noble parts, and the Earl of Essex, in some glancing
speeches, gave occasion to have both himself and her
* Published by the Roxburghe Club, 1880 (see pp. 40-45).

280 ADDENDA.
honourable friends to be suspected of that which I
suppose was no part of their meaning," i.e. to join in
the Spanish Plots to marry Arabella to a Catholic,
and support her title to the crown. Since that " all
is suddenly turned French . . . some wise and honest
men fear there is some strange matter in working. . . .
Besides, some ambiguous words are reported that the
French king should use, namely, that 'a Bastard of
Normandy was fatal to England,'" but even if the
queen listen to these French suggestions out of policy,
" yet in my soul I do not think that ever she will
agree that a goodly young lady, aged about twenty-
four years, should be so disparaged as to be matched
with a Bastard of France under fourteen, and made a
new Helena to burn our Troy dormant, and run away
by the light. And if some great counsellors [Lords
Salisbury and Shrewsbury] do make some shews, and
cast out some words afore fools in favour of Arbella's
title for the purpose aforesaid [for policy], and to
follow the queen's present humour, yet must they not
be so hardly or rashly censured as they are by some
men of shallow insight, but rather praised, or at least
pardoned, if, for some necessary policy of State, they
labour, like to our oars on the Thames, to row one
way and look another. It is not likely that Dolman
knew the purpose of my Lord of Shrewsbury, or of
the countess and her brothers, or of my lord's good
friends. It is less likely that ever they would say
words that might be captious in this time, and odious
in the next. It is least likely that when it comes to
trial they will hazard so great estates, so contented

ADDENDA. 28 1
lives, so gentlemenly pleasures, so sweet duties, to
advance their niece against law, reason, probability,
yea, possibility. I have known them all, and resorted
to them these sixteen years and more."
All had agreed in extolling Arabella : " sometime of
her virtuous disposition, sometime of her choice
education, her rare skill in languages, her good judg
ment and sight in music, and a mind to all these free
from pride, vanity, and affectation, and the greatest
sobriety in her fashion of apparel and behaviour as
may be, of all of which I have been myself an eye
witness, having seen her several times at Hardwick,
at Chelsea, where she made me read the tale of
Drusilla in Orlando unto her, and censured it with a
gravity beyond her years. And first of all at Wing-
field, when, being thirteen years old, she did read
French out of Italian, and English out of both, much
better than I could, or than I expected."
On December 21, 1608, Harington writes to a
friend a fact which would, if true, account for the
absence of any news about Arabella, after her own
letter of November, during the winter of 1608. "I
hear now that my Lady Arbella is fallen sick of the
small-pox, and that my Lady Skinner attendeth her,
and taketh great pains with her." (From manuscript
note of Canon Jackson's.) B.
Vol. i. p. 252. Confession* of William Seymour,
signed in his own handwriting.
* Discovered by Miss Cooper.

282 ADDENDA.
The Examination of Willyam Semar (sic), Esq.,
before the lords of his majesty's privy
Council, the 8th of July, 1610.
Tanner MSS., v. 75, f. 353, Bodl. Library. Printed by Canon
Jackson in the Wilts. Archaeological Magazine, vol. xv. p. 203.
He confesseth that upon Friday was fortnight he was
married unto the Lady Arbella at Greenwich, in the
chamber of the said Lady Arbella there. That there
was present one Blagew, son to the Dean of Rochester,
who was the minister that married them ; there were
also present one Edward Rodne; Crompton, gent.
usher to the Lady Arbella; Edward Kyrton, and
Edward Reve [Reeves]; Mrs. Biron, and Mrs. Brad-
shawe, two servants to the Lady Arbella. The
marriage was on the Friday morning beforesaid,
between four and five of the clock, but without any
license, as he confesseth.
He saith he came to Greenwich on the Thursday
at night, about twelve of the clock, accompanied with
the said Rodne' and Kyrton, and did sit up in the
Lady Arbella her chamber all the night until they
were married. "William Seymaure."

Among the family archives at Bolton Castle is a Mr.
John Taylor's account of the consternation at court
in June, 161 1, about Arabella's escape. The first idea
(before her escape) seems to have been to have com
mitted her to the care of Taylor's master, the Earl

ADDEADA. 283
of Cumberland, at Londesborough ; " a man of less
vigilance could not have been chosen." Taylor writes
to Lord Clifford at Paris, June 12, 161 1 :— "I forbear
to write much of my Lady Arbella and Mr. Seymour's
escape, and her apprehension and imprisonment in
the Tower, because my Lord Cumberland hath advice
thereof. And so of my Lady Shrewsbury's imprison
ment for the same matter. We may thank God and
friends that she was not sent to Londesbro' at first."
(Copied by Canon Jackson from Whitaker's " History
of Craven," p. 282.)
Vol. i. p. 176. The Sir Griffin Markham, who was
concerned in the Bye Plot, was eldest son of Thomas,
called Black Markham, of Kirby Bellers. He was no
doubt acquainted with Arabella, as he lived principally
at Ollerton Hall, near Rufford, where, on her progress
of 1609, she stayed a night with his brother George.
Sir Griffin was banished after the Bye Plot, but is
supposed to have paid many visits to England in dis
guise, and even said to have assisted in Arabella's
escape (" History of the Markham Family," by the late
Canon Markham). This cannot be a fact, as the
Markham who fled with Arabella was a certain William
Markham, "gentleman" (vol. ii. pp. 30, 269). It is
possible, however, that he was William Markham of
Oakley, a younger brother of Thomas, and uncle of
Sir Griffin. D.
The following notes are taken from a manuscript
collection made by the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson at

284 ADDENDA.
Longleat, which the author was allowed to see by his
kind permission.
Correct copies are there given of the original letters
amongst the Talbot MSS. at Longleat relating to
Arabella's affairs.
A few of these are from copies, made in the last
century by a Dr. Nathaniel Johnston, of Talbot MSS.,
of which some of the originals have since disappeared,
or cannot be traced. Dr. Johnston prefaces his
collection of Arabella's letters (the originals of most
of which are at Longleat) by a short account of her
life. He well describes these letters to her uncle and
aunt of Shrewsbury, as " a very well enamelled Picture
of herself, drawn by her own pen, wherein equal com
mendation is to be given to the easiness of her Stile,
and the Quickness of her Invention and Phancy much
outdoing the Ladies of that Age." He had also seen
a Hebrew Bible of hers with an embroidered cover,
which she used at church.
Dr. Birch took his copies (in the Sloane MSS., v.
4164) from Dr. Johnston's MSS. and the originals at
Longleat, in July, 1754, and made many slips and
mistakes, which have been rectified in this volume
from the correct copies lent by Canon Jackson.
The author has dated a letter from Arabella to her
aunt Lady Shrewsbury, 1608 (see vol. i. p. 226, and
vol. ii. p. 223), which Canon Jackson places in 1605
(also conjecturally), when Arabella was at Hardwick
on a visit to her grandmother (see vol. i. p. 212).
Arabella's letters at Longleat are usually sealed
with the Lenox coat of arms, somewhat imperfectly

ADDENDA. 285
given, and half of a motto, or a wolf rampant (see
opposite title-pages, vols. i. and ii.).
Amongst Dr. Johnston's copies of missing Talbot
papers is an undated letter (incorrectly printed by
Miss Cooper, vol. ii. p. 14), in which Earl Gilbert
requests the Justices of the Peace for Notts, to put
one Sherston in the stocks at Mansfield, for uttering
"lewd and slanderous" speeches against Arabella.
Vol. i. p. 201. Canon Jackson believes that Cook's
letter refers to the purchase, from Sir George Hume,
of the manor of Hartington, co. Derby, which had
been promised to the old Earl George of Shrewsbury,
in compensation for the charge of Mary Queen of
Scots, but never granted him. Hume finally consented
to sell it to his son, Earl Gilbert, but at the high price
of ;£i2oo. Referring to Arabella's part as a peace
maker, and her visit to Hardwick in 1605 (March 13,
1604-5), Sir Francis Leek writes to Earl Gilbert, " I
did never hear that the Lady Arbella's coming into
this country was by your lordship's means, neither do
I yet hear any cause of her coming down, but to see
my old lady, her right honourable grandmother. But
to deliver my own opinion, I did in my heart rejoice
at her coming, and trusted the same would have re
dounded to the appearing, or at least entrance to
qualify such controversies and suits as yet depend
unended betwixt your lordship and my old lady"
(Talbot MSS., vol. i. part 2, p. 127).
A letter of March 31, 1604, from Earl Gilbert's
son-in-law, the Earl of Kent, Arabella's host at Wrest
House, speaks of her good affection for him as shown

286 ADDENDA.
in her support of his suit for the estate of Ruthin.
" For the which, as for many her other most honour
able favours, I am and ever will be most thankful
unto her for the same."
Vol. i. p. 213. The Earl of Worcester writes to
Earl Gilbert, April 27, 1605 (1604 in the manuscript
is an impossible date), that the king intended to create
some new peers at " this pretty young lady," Princess
Mary's christening, and had given Arabella a patent
with a blank for the name, at her request, "to be
created either then, or hereafter- to be named and
created at her pleasure " (Talbot MSS., vol. iv. p. 151).
This she used for her uncle William.
Vol. i. p. 226. On February 17, 1608, Salisbury
writes to Earl Gilbert that " my Lady Arbella is gone
towards you,' and on March 7 that he is sorry for her
indisposition (Talbot MSS., vol. iv. pp. 191, 192).
Vol. i. p. 260. Lady Jane Drummond; see an ac
count of her and a facsimile of " Arbella Seymaure's "
signature in Hone's " Every-Day Book," vol. ii. p. 237.
Vol. i. p. 252. In Crompton's account-book, dis
covered at Longleat by Canon Jackson, are many
valuable notes relating to Arabella's movements and
expenditure. The most important are those from
November, 1613, after Crompton's release from prison,
to May 30, 1 6 14. By these notes we see that Arabella
continued to receive her allowance of ^800 and her
rents. So far also was she from being a raving lunatic,
that she directs her expenditure even from the Tower.
Crompton constantly sends money to her, "on a
warrant from my lady," and she continued to purchase

ADDENDA. 287
jewels, clothes, and furniture. In December, 16 13,
she redeems "ten great pearls" which had been
pawned, and purchased some plate and a diamond
ring. An entry of ^20 to a Dr. Palmer evidently is
connected with her attempted escape in 161 3 (vol. ii.
p. 69). Besides her own expenditure, Crompton
enters various sums of money sent to William Seymour
abroad, showing that Arabella desired to help her
absent husband in his money difficulties. For her
own diet in the Tower, ^142 6s. id. for twelve
weeks, from April to June, 16 14, is entered in the
account-book. Canon Jackson also discovered,
amongst the Talbot MSS. at Longleat, an original
discharge of accounts given by Seymour and Arabella
to Crompton, and signed by their names — the only
extant paper in which the husband's and wife's signa
tures appear together. Rodney and Kirton are the
witnesses; Arabella uses one of the Lenox seals (a
wolf rampant), which is to be found on other letters
at Longleat. The date given is March 21, 16 10;
this, however, must be 1611, since in March, 16 10,
the marriage had not taken place. On March 21,
161 1, Arabella was moved from Highgate to Barnet.
Seymour was in the Tower, but apparently they
met clandestinely that day, aided by Rodney and
Kirton, to sign and seal this document. The dis
charge of "all accounts, reckonings, receipts, and
demands whatsoever whereby he may be charged by
us or either of us from the beginning of the world
until the day of the date of this present " is no doubt
in preparation for their escape across the seas, to

288 ADDENDA.
protect Crompton from any liability for Arabella's
debts. Arabella's extreme reluctance to leave High-
gate may have been caused by Seymour's hidden
presence. Vol. ii. p. 86. List of portraits. Canon Jackson
mentions two other portraits of Arabella — one a head
at Longleat; the other a three-quarter length, full face,
in a white, jewelled, and embroidered dress. The
latter was sold at Christie's in 1884 for ,£94 ioj-. It
had formerly hung in the church of Queen Camel,
Somerset, and was long said to represent Queen
Elizabeth. In 1827 a miniature of Arabella, "in the
dress and dishevelled hair she wore when confined
in the Tower," was one of ten Stuart miniatures sold
at Christie's, and bought by the Rev. M. Butt for
Vol. ii. p. 261. Canon Jackson fixes the recipient
of this undated letter as Robert Cecil, Earl of Salis
bury (he died in 161 2; the period when the letter
was written was probably 161 1), as in a previous note
to her uncle Arabella had referred to Cecil's "rare
gift of speech" (p. 193).
In 1677, John Owen dedicated the fourth book of
his epigrams to "the most noble and most learned
heroine, the Lady Arbella Stuart." Three of these
epigrams — the first, second, and last — are written to
her. They are in Latin, but Canon Jackson gives
translations by Thomas Harvey; in one is a play
upon her name (see vol. i. p. 254), Ara-bella— a Fair
Altar.

INDEX OF NAMES.

Adams, Mrs., ii. 31, 36, 268, 269
Allen, Cardinal, i. 88
 , Mr., ii. 227
Angus, Earl of, Archibald Douglas,
i. 16, 87; ii. 85
Anhalt, the Prince, i. 211
Anne Boleyn, i. 4, 16 ; ii. 85
 of Denmark, Queen of James
I., i. II, 58, 59, 90, 166, 167,
173, 174, 185, 186, 187, 189, 192,
193, 197, 206, 219, 224, 252, 253,
259, 261 ; ii. 92, 181, 188, 190,
192, 193, I95, 201, 218, 220, 250,
251, 252, 253, 273; letters from,
ii. 215 ; letters to, ii. 216,246,266
 Catherine, Queen of Den
mark, i. 217; ii. 209, 210; letter
to, 213
Archduke, the, i. 178, 179, 185 ;
ii. 41, 48
Aremberg, the Count, i. 185
Arran, Earl of, i. 82
Arundel, Countess of, Aletheia
(Talbot), i. 222, 223 ; ii. 228, 236
 , Earl of, Thomas Howard, i.
221 VOL. II.

Asheton, Sir Richard, i. 202, 205
Aston (place), ii. 232
Aston, Roger, ii. 125

B

Bacon, Francis, Lord, i. 12, 229
note ; ii. 59, 60, 61
Baisley, John, ii. 268
Barlow, Mr., i. 24
Barnet, ii. 3, 8, 272, 287
 , East, ii. 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 16,
24, 26, 27, 56
Basing(stoke), i. 169, 187
Bates, ii, 268, 269
Batten (barber), ii. 268, 269
Bawtry, ii. 231
Baynton, Mr., i. 245 ; ii. 239
Beauchamp, Lord. See Seymour,
Edward
Beaulieu, letter from, i. 239
Beaumont, De, letters from, i. 125,
155, 156, 158, 159
 , Madame de, i. 191 ; ii. 189
Bedford, Countess of, Lucy Haring
ton, i. 203, 213 ; ii. 189, 204
Bertie, Mr., i. 25 37

290

INDEX OF NAMES.

Berwick, i. 167 ; ii. 34
Birch, Dr., i. 221 ; ii. 284
Biron, Mrs., i. 251 ; ii. 282
 , Sir John, ii. 99
Blackfriars, i. 230, 231
Blackwall, ii. 32, 35, 36
Blagew, a minister, i. 252 ; ii. 282
Bond, Sir William, ii. 2, 258
Bothwell, i. 70
Bouillon, Duke of, ii. 67
Bowes, Lady, ii. 229, 230
Bowyer, Sir William, ii. 55, 56, 65,
270, 271
Bradshaw, i. 119
 , Mrs., i. 119, 251 ; ii. 28, 33,
35> 43. 56 note> 78, 269, 272, 282
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Charles,
i. 25 ; ii. 85
 , Frances, i. 5 ; ii. 85
Bright, John, ii. 34
Brignola, Duke of, i. 87
Broad Street, i. 232, 234
Brooke, George, Lord, i. 176, 178,
179. 181
Brounker, Sir Henry, i. no, 112,
113-115, 117, 119, 127, 129, 130-
135. 138, 139, 146, 147. 151. 153-
156, 158; ii. 99, 116, 117, 118,
120-123, 130, 131, 135, 136, 172;
Arabella's letters to, ii. 137-169
Browne, Dr., i. 72
Bruges, ii. 44
Bulkeley, Sir Richard, i. 115
Bullinger, i. 22
Buggs, Mr., i. 245 ; ii. 239
Burghley, Lord. See Cecil, Wil
liam
Buxton, ii. 233, 234
Bye Plot, i. 176, 177 ; ii. 283

Caithness, Earl of, Robert, i. 45
Calais, ii. 34, 35, 37, 40, 42, 162
Camden (historian), i. 39, 40 ; ii.
76
Carey, Lady, i. 191 ; ii. 189
Carleton, Dudley, i. 161, 177, 179,
253 ; ii. 70
Cavendish, Elizabeth, Countess of
Lenox, i: 25, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34,
35, 37, 44, 45 ; ii. 47, 85 ; letter
from, i. 43 ; death, i. 47~53
 , Charles, i. 34, 54, 62, 124,
201, 202, 203, 222, 227; ii. no,
128, 182, 230, 232 ; letter from,
i. 62
 , family of, i. 24, 55, 60, 71, 72
 , Grace (Talbot), i. 200 ; ii.
202
 , Henry, i. 60, 104, 107, 128,
134, 150-153, 180, 200, 201, 227,
228; ii. 98, 129, 172-175, 202,
233
 , John, ii. 231
 , Sir William, i. 24; ii. 86,
224 note
 . William (Lord), i. 49, 62, 84,
104, 107, 112, 129, 134, 150, 151,
154, 212, 213, 214, 215, 225, 226,
227, 228 ; ii. 94, 122, 123, 140,
171, 172
 , William and Charles, sons of
Charles, ii. 224
Cecil, William, Lord Burghley, i.
20, 21, 38, 63, 66, 69, 70, 71, 82,
141 ; ii. 151 ; letters to, i. 29, 30,
32, 43. 47, 49. 5°. 51, 67 ; death,
i. 91

INDEX OF NAMES.

291

Cecil, Sir Robert, i. 91, no, 123,
157, 158, 159. 163. 164, 165, 169,
171, 174. 177, 179, 198, 206, 216 ;
ii. 150, 181, 183, 184, 192, 193,
197, 200, 204
 . Earl of Salisbury, i. 229 note ;
ii. 38, 40, 41, 48, 241, 258, 280,
288 ; death, ii. 61 ; letters from,
i. 120, 129, 149; ii. 122, 170, 286;
letters to, i. 126, 212, 223, 225,
226, 236 ; ii. 42, 43, 55, 113, 120,
176, 179, 221, 225, 226, 261
Chamberlayne's letters, i. 223, 229,
238 ; ii. 63, 70
Chambers, John, ii. 173
Chandos, Lady, letter from, ii. 3
note, 260
Chapman, Rev. Christopher, ii.
172-174
Charles, Prince, ii. 53
 the Fair, ii. 76
Chateauneuf, Monsieur de, i. 165
 , Madame de, i. 64
Chaterton, Margett, ii. 224
Chatsworth, i. 24, 26, 33, 47, 61,
225, 227 note; ii. 232, 233
Chaworth, George, i. 135,136; ii.
54 note, 142, 144, 145, 154, 165,
186
 , Lady, ii. 54, 55
Chelsea, i. 44 ; ii. 281
Cheney, Lord and Lady, ii. 228,
229
Chesterfield, ii. 230
Christian IV., King of Denmark,
i. 188, 216, 217, 218, 220; ii.
209-217 ; letter to, ii. 218--221
Christopher (priest), i. 176
Clarke (priest), i. 176

Clayton, Andrew, ii. 227
Clifford, Anne, i. 189
Clifton, Sir Gervase, ii. 231
Cobham, Lord, i. 176, 178, 180,
181, 182, 186
Cocket, Griffin (Captain), ii. 43
Coke, Sir Edward, i. 182 ; ii. 191 ;
letter to, i. 87
Collingwood, Alice, letter from, i.
274 ; ii. 259
 , Francis, i. 274
Conquest, Sir Edmund, ii. 236
Constance of Castile, i; 85 note, 87
note
Conyers, Thomas, ii. 11, 30
Cook(e) (steward), i. 201 ; ii. 186,
187, 201, 202 ; letter from, i.
202, 205, 285
Cooper, Miss ("Life of Arabella "),
preface, p. viii. ; ii. 285 ; also notes
to pages i. 23, 33, 70, 93 ; ii. 281
Cope, Sir Walter, i. 216; ii. 221
Copley (conspirator), i. 176
Corve, Tassin, ii. 268, 269
Cotting. See Cutting
Craik, Mr., ii. 79
Croft, Sir James, ii. 12, 16, 17, 18,
45, 47, 229, 268, 269 ; letter
from, ii. 14
Crompton, Hugh, preface, p. viii. ;
i. 230, 252, 254, 255; ii. 27, 31,
33. 34. 35. 43. 58> 69, 7°. 227.
243, 269, 282, 286-288
Crouchback, Edmund, i. 87
Crull's " Guide," ii. 75
Cumberland, Countess of, ii. 73
 , Earl of, ii. 283
Cutting (lute-player), i. 218, 219,
220 ; ii. 215, 216, 217, 219, 220

292

INDEX OF NAMES.

D
Daniel, Samuel (poet), i. 252
Darcy, John, Lord, ii. 230, 232
Darnley, Henry, Lord, i. 17, 18,
19, 22, 32, 40, 41 ; ii. 85
David (servant), ii. 196
Denaby, ii. 228
Denbigh, Baron of, i. 56-58
Derby, ii. 235
 , Earl of, i. 69, 216
Dodderidge, John (Good), i. 103,
no, 113, 114.; ii. 98, 99, 109,
127, 150
Douglas, Archibald. See Angus
 , Margaret. See Lenox
Dove, Henry, ii. 174, 175, 233
Drummond, Lady Jane, i. 191,264;
ii. 189; letter from, i. 260; ii.
251 ; letters to, i. 261 ; ii. 25,0,
252, 253
Dunfermline, Lord, i. 249
Durham, William James, Bishop
of, i. 271 ; ii. I, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14,
19, 23, 257 ; warrant to, ii. 255
Durham (place), ii. 16, 17, 18, 26,
30. 77

Easton Manduit, ii. 236
Edmondes, Sir Thomas, i. 239 ; ii.
184
Edward III., King, i. 75
Edward VI., i. 5
Edwinstowe, ii. 235
Egerton, Mr., i. 69
Elizabeth, Queen, i. 4, 5, 6, 18,

19, 20, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 42,
45, 48, 50-58, 63, 64, 65, 68, 73,
75, 79, 81, 88-93, 96, 99. "2.
115, 121, 124, 126, 127, 129,
138-142, 144, 145, 148, 149, 155,
156, 158, 159, 173, 187, 189,
229, 280; death, i. 160, 161 ; ii.
103 to 172 passim, 181, 195 ;
letters to, i. 119, 120; ii. 99, 100
Elizabeth, Princess, i. 166, 167,
168, 186, 223, 253 ; ii. 64, 66, 273.
Elphinstone, Mr., i. 217 note; ii.
181, 183
Emery, ii. 198
Essex, Earl of, Robert Devereux,
i- 58, 85, 93, 139, I4I-I47. 177,
191 ; ii. 149, 152, 157, 159, 163,
189 note, 179
 , Earl of, ii. 52

Facton, Mr., ii. 173
Farnese, Alexander, Duke of
Parma, i. 59, 74, 86, 87
 , Cardinal, i. 75, 86
 , Rainutio, Duke of Parma, i.
74, 77, 86, 87
Farnham family, ii. 235, 236
Famham (place), i. 168 ; ii. 180
Fenton, Viscount, ii. 21 ; letter
from, ii. 41 note ; letter to, ii.
55. 57. 263-266
Fines, i. 66
Foljambe, Sir Francis, and God
frey, ii. 230
Fowler, Thomas, i. 34, 41, 69, 70,.
174

INDEX OF NAMES.

293

Fowler, William, i. 13, 70, 71, 174,
176, 183, 196, 209, 232 ; ii. 189,
207 ; letters from, i. 175, 210
France, King of, ii. 41. See Henry
IV.
 , Queen-Regent of, ii. 41
Freak (servant), ii. 174
Fretchville, Sir Peter, ii. 230
Fretwell (servant), ii. 54
Fulston (Foulston), i. 182, 190 ; ii.
184, 186, 187, 193

Garnet (Jesuit), i. 215
Glapwell, ii. 230
Good. See Dodderidge
Goodman, Bishop, ii. 76, 77
Gowrie, Earl of, i. 91
Gravesend, ii. 33
Greenwich, i. 215, 230, 251 ; ii.
38, 152, 267, 282
Greville, Sir Fulke, i. 158
Grey, Lord, of Wilton, i. 176, 181 ;
ii. 66, 67
 , Henry, Marquess of Dorset,
i. 5 ; ii. 85
 , Henry, Earl of Kent, i. 154;
ii. 236, 237, 285
 , Lady Jane, i. 5, 107 ; ii. 85, 98
¦  , Katharine, i. 1-6, 99, 107, 139,
155. 265; ii. 52, 60,85, 98, 149
 , Mary, ii. 85 H
Hacker, i. 118, 119
Hackney, i. 23, 34, 35, 39
Hamilton, Claud, Lord, i. 38
II.

Hammond, Dr., ii. 5, 7, 8
Hampton Court, i. 197, 199 ; ii.
196 to 203 passim, 214
Hancock, ii. 98
Hansworth, ii. 231
Hardwick, Bess of, Countess of
Shrewsbury, i. 3, 12, 13, 24-28,
32, 44, 45. 48, 55-57, 60, 61, 71,
72 ; letters from, i. 49-54 ; letters
to, i. 66, 67 ; Countess- Dowager,
i. 103-139, 149, 150-156, 199, 201,
202, 204, 213, 214, 222, 226, 267 ;
ii. 97, 98, 100, 101, 114-116
126, 131, 132, 139-141, 147, 150,
163, 201, 284, 285 ; death, i.
224 ; letters from, i. 82 ; ii. 120,
135 ; letters to, ii. 103, 122, 170
 Hall, i. 83, 107, no, 112, 117,
119, 128, 131, 150, 152, 154, 156,
159, 161, 214, 222, 226 ; ii. 1 18—
121, 136, 137, 144, 145, 169, 173-
175, 198, 223, 281, 284
Harington of Exton, John, Lord
and Lady, i. 168
 , John, Lord, ii. 28 note
 , Sir John, ii. 279-281
Harpur, Sir Richard, ii. 235
Harrison (priest), i. 83
Hartington, Manor of, ii. 285
Hartshide, Mrs., i. 197
Harvey, Thomas, ii. 288
Hay, Lady Anne, i. 191 ; ii. 189
Henry III. of England, i. 87 note
Henry III. of Castile, i. 85 note
Henry IV. of France, i. 89 ; ii. 280
Henry VII. of England, i. 2 ; ii. 85
Henry VIII. of England, i. 4, 6,
16, 54, 55 ; "¦ 85> HO, 231
Henry, Count, ii. 167
37—3

294

INDEX OF NAMES.

Henry, Prince of Wales, i. 167,168,
197, 219, 221, 252 ; ii. 5, 13, 18,
19, 23, 24, 40, 53, 199 ; death,
ii. 75 ; letter from, ii. 215 ;
letters to, ii. 208, 217
Herbert, William. See Pembroke
 , Philip, ii. 189
Hercy (solicitor), i. 196 ; ii. 184,
185, 188, 193, 195, 196, 197, 206
Hertford, Earl of. See Seymour
Highgate, ii. 1, 2, 8, 54, 258, 287
Hilliard, Nicholas (painter), i. 77 ;
ii. 90
Hogge, Mrs. , preface, p. ix. ; i. 9 ;
ii. 91
Holford, Mr., i. 137, 149; ii. 147,
150, 156, 165
Hollis, Sir John, ii. 195
Holstem, Duke of, i. 186, 210, 214
 , Duchess of, i. 187
Hoskins (painter), ii. 90
Howard, family of, i. 177 ; ii. 80.
See also Northampton and Somer
set
 , Thomas, Lord, i. 16, 40
 . Thomas. See Arundel
 , Sir Henry, letter to, i. 193
 , Henry, Lord, i. 169 ; ii. 181
Hucknall, i. 152; ii. 172-175
Huntingdon, i. 30
 , Earl of, i. 34 ; ii. 199 note
Hume, Sir George, i. 202 ; ii. 285

I

Inderwick, Mr., preface, p. ix. ;
i. 65 ; ii. 49, 58 note, 247 note
Infanta of Spain, i. 185
Islington, i. 20, 23.

Jackson, Canon, preface, p. viii. ; i.
233 note, 246, 252 ; ii. 39 note, 283
James IV. of Scotland, ii. 85
James V. of Scotland, i. 5, 22 ; ii.
85. 125
James VI. of Scotland, I. of Eng
land, i. 7, 36-39, 45, 46, 58, 65,
69, 70, 81, 88, 89, 90, 93, 125,
130, 132, 137, 141, 146, 157, 159-
161, 163, 165, 169, 171, 172, 177,
178, 181, 185, 192, 193, 201-205,
211-216, 228, 238, 239, 241-249,
256, 259, 261, 263, 264, 270-273 ;
ii. 4-9, 12, 13, 17-19, 23-26, 30,
38-40, 43-45, 48-51, 53, 60, 61,
67. 69, 76-78, 85, 125, 126, 128-
131, 137, 159, 176-179. 181, 182,
I9°. 193, !95. 221, 226, 232 note,
238-247, 250-255, 257, 258, 261-
267, 270, 271, 274-278 ; letters
from, i. 80, 94, 271 ; ii. 255 ;
letters to, i. 236, 256, 257 ; ii.
10, 20, 58, 68, 248, 249, 279
Jewels, Arabella's, i. 14, 41, 70, 231
note ; ii. 65, 2_7i
John I. of Portugal, 75,85 note, 87 note
John of Gaunt, i. 75, 85, 87 note
Johnston, Dr. Nathaniel, ii. 284
Johnstone, Robert, ii. 79
Jones, Inigo, i. 253
Jonson, Ben, i. 223, 230
K
Katharine, Queen, i. 4 ; ii. 85
 , Countess of Suffolk, i. 25
Key, ii. 142

INDEX OF NAMES.

295

Keyes, Henry, ii. 85
Kildare, Lady, i. 167, 186
Kinloss, Lord, i. 227
Kirton (solicitor), i. 104, 1 14-116
 , Edward, preface, p. viii. ; ii.
269, 282, 287
Knevet, Lady, i. 19
Knollys, Lettice, i. 56, 58
Knyvet, Lord, i. 238
Kynnersley, Nicholas, i. 67

Lacy, ii. 191, 197
Lake, Sir Thomas, ii. 76
Lambeth, i. 135, 250, 253, 256,
258, 265, 266, 270; ii. 1, 9, 144-
146, 241, 242, 249
Lanyer, Alfonzo and Emilia, ii. 272
Lascelles, Sir Bryan, ii. 232
Lea, Sir Henry, i. 185
Lee, ii. 33, 34, 37
Leek, Sir Francis, ii. 285
Leicester, Earl of, Robert Dudley, i.
29, 44, 56-58, 61, 144; ii. 158;
letters to, i. 26, 27, 29, 30, 44, 47
Lenox, earldom and lands, i. 36-
39, 42, 43, 53, 68, 133, 140 ; ii.
125, 149, 151 note
 , Earls of. See Stuart
 , Elizabeth, Countess of. See
Cavendish
 , Margaret, Countess of, i. 5,
8, 15-21, 23-35 5 "¦ 75, 85, 87,
88, 140; death, i. 39-41, 59, 70;
letters from, i. 20, 30, 35, 37
Lewis, Theresa, Lady, i. 269 note ;
ii. 58, 64, 272
Longleat, i. 252 ; ii. 284-288

M
Main Plot, i. 176 ; ii. 191 note
Malliet (reformer), i. 22, 23, 33
Mansfield, i. 153; ii. 99, 173, 175,
229, 285
Mar, Earl of, Regent of Scotland,
i- 36, 37
 , Earl of, i. 167 ; ii. 189
Market Harborough, ii. 236
Markham, George, ii. 235, 283
 , Sir Griffin, i. 176, 181 ; ii.
283
¦  , Sir Thomas, ii. 235
 , Thomas, Black, ii. 283
 , William, ii. 30, 31, 33, 43,
269, 283
Marot, Clement (poet), i. 269
Marshalsea, i. 254, 255 ; ii. 244,
267, 269
Mary, Queen of England, i. 4 ; ii.
85, 162
 , of Scotland, i. 11, 17, 19,
24, 26, 31, 36, 38-42, 47, 64, 70-
72; ii. 26, 75-85, 163, 230,
285 ; letter to, i. 35 ; letter from,
i. 56
 , Princess, i. 213, 214, 215
Matthias, Duke, i. 91
Maurice, Prince, i. 210; ii. 67
Mauvissiere, letter to, i. 56
Melville (Minister), i. 254
Melward, Matthias, ii. 23
Melwood Park, ii. 231
Mildmay, Sir Walter, i. 8, 59
Minors, Sergeant, ii. 12-16
Monson, Sir William, ii. 41-43
Montague. Lord, ii. 28
Moody, i. 78

296

INDEX OF NAMES.

More, Sir John, letter from, ii. 32,
33. 36, 43
Morley (secretary), i. 78, 84
Morton, Lord-Regent of Scotland,
i- 37, 38
Moundford, Dr., ii. 2, 3, 8, 12, 18,
19-21, 45, 74 ; letters from, i. 4,
7 ; letter to, ii. 260
Mountjoy, Lord, i. 158
M(o)urray, James, ii. 207
Murray, Sir David, ii. 208
N
Needham (servant), ii. 232
Nelson, Thomas, ii. 125, 126
 , Mrs., ii. 184, 187
Newton, Mr., ii. 208
Nevers, Duke of, i. 96
North, Thomas, i. 85, 90
 , Mr., ii. 231
Northampton, ii. 229
 , Countess of, i. 165 ; ii. 79
 , Earl of, ii. 25, 26, 69
Northumberland, Countess of, i. 214
 , eighth Earl of, letter to, i. 56
 , ninth Earl of, i. 79
Nottingham, ii. 229
 , Countess of, i. 159
 , Countess of. See Stuart,
Margaret
 , Earl of, i. 12, 180, 186, 218 ;
ii. 40, 41, 42 O
Oates, Dr., ii. 77
Ogle, Katharine, Lady, ii. 120
Oldcotes, i. 129, 131 ; ii. 121

Oliver, Isaac and Peter (painters),
i. 10; ii. 87-90
Ollerton, ii. 235 note ; ii. 283
Ormond, Earl of, i. 216
Ostend, ii. 44
Overbury, Sir Thomas, ii. 73, 80
Owen (page), i. 136; ii. 146, 175
 , Mr., ii. 124
 , John, ii. 288
Oxford, i. 171, 185, 187, 243 ; ii.
183

Paget, Lord, letter to, i. 56
 , Charles, i. 88
Palatine, The Prince, ii. 64, 66
Palmer, Dr., ii. 70, 287
Paris, ii. 48, 49
Parma, Duke of. See Farnese
 Match, i. 59, 77, 86, 157
Parry, Sir Thomas, i. 253, 265,
271 ; warrants to, ii. 241, 257
Parsons, Father, i. 85 ; letters to,
i. 95 ; ii. 279
Felling, ii. 50
Pembroke, Countess of. See Mary
Talbot
 , Earl of, William Herbert, i.
206, 211 ; ii. 204, 205, 231 note.
Pensions to Arabella, i. 45, 49, 51,
54, 165, 166, 172; ii. 176-178
Peter (servant), ii. 54
Pigott, ii. 268
Poland, King of, i. 210, 211
Pope, the, i. 74, 75, 77, 86
Popham, Chief Justice, i. 69
Prestwould, ii. 229
Proctor, Mr., ii. 98

INDEX OF NAMES.

'-97

Quarndon House, ii. 235

R
Raleigh, Sir Walter, i. 63, 176, 177,
179, 180, 181; ii. 65; life of,
i. 100
Reeves, Edward, i. 251, 25,4 ; ii.
33, 35. 43. 7o, 269, 282
Reresby, Sir Thomas, ii. 228
Rich, Penelope, Lady, i. 191 ; ii.
189
Richardson, Mr., ii. 231
Rivers, Father Anthony,letters from,
i- 95-97, 99, 157
Rochester, Lord, ii. 26, 27
Rodney, Edward, i. 248, 250, 251;
ii. 27, 28, 33, 37, 38, 50, 267,
282, 287
Rowlston, i. 77
Royston, i. 193, 194; ii. 5, 12, 23
Rufford, i. 25, 26; ii. 234, 283
Ruthven, Lord, i. 37
 ¦, Mr., ii. 69
Rutland, Earl of, ii. 230

Sackville, Sir Richard and Lady,
i. 18
St. Albans, ii. 228, 237
St. Paul, Sir George, ii. 231, 234
Saintloe, Mistress, i. 3. See Hard
wick, Bess of,
Saladin, ii. 268

Salisbury, Earl of. See Cecil, William
Savile, Sir George, ii. 234
Savoy, Duke of, i. 178, 192 ; ii. 190
Settrington, i. 18, 19
Seymour, Arbella, Lady, daughter
of William, preface, p. viii. ; ii. 52
 , Edward, Earl of Hertford,
i. 2, 3, 98, 99, 103-105, 108, 109,
114, 123-126, 139, 148, 156, 161,
242, 250, 251, 264; ii. 41, 42, 45,
5°. 51, 85, 99, 104, 105, 107, 109,
124, 127, 130, 149, 166, 167, 170
 , Edward, Lord Beauchamp, i.
99, 104, 160, 240, 242, 249 ; ii.
51.85
 , Edward, i. 99, 104, 115, 157,
242 ; ii. 51, 85
— — , Francis, ii. 37, 38, 41, 51, 85
 , Queen Jane, i. 107; ii. 85, 98
 , Jane, Lady, i. 3, 4
 , William, preface, p. viii. ; i.
3. 7, 98, 99. 240-254, 259, 265-
267, 273 ; ii. 27, 32-38, 42-52, 54,
60, 66, 75, 78, 85, 248, 267, 268,
287; marriage, i. 251; confes
sions, ii. 237, 281 ; letter to, i. 268
Sheen, i. 18, 165, 167 ; Arabella's
letters from, ii. 176-178
Sheffield, i. 26, 47, 197, 211, 219,
226, 231 ; ii. 216, 217, 230, 234
Sherland, Bridget, i. 119
Sherston, Nicholas, ii. 285
Shrewsbury, Earls of. See Talbot
 , Elizabeth, Countess of. See
Hardwick
 , Mary, Countess of. See Talbot
Sidney, Lord Chamberlain, ii. 180
Sinclair, Sir Andrew, i. 217, 218 ;
letters to and from, ii. 209-214

298

INDEX OF NAMES.

Skinner, Lady, ii. 281
Skipwith, Sir William, ii. 229
Smallwood, manor of, i. 53, 68, 69,
216
Smith (servant), i. 265, 266 ; ii. 8,
54, 56 note, 268
Somerset, Countess of, ii. 80
 , Earl of, ii. 69
 , Protector, i. 3 ; ii. 52
Spain, King of, i. 59, 85, 88, 90,
157. 178, 179
Spedding, Mr., ii. 60 note, 78 note
Stafford, Lady Dorothy, i. 91, 92 ;
letter from, i. 93
 , Sir Edward, i. 78
Stanhope family, i. 78, 123, 139;
ii. 149, 231
 , Sir John (Vice-Chamberlain),
i. 78 note, 123 ; ii. 103, 166,
etc.; letters to, i. 126; ii. 113,
122, 135 ; letters from, i. 120,
129, 149; ii. 170
Stanley, Sir William, i. 75, 76
 , Mr., ii. 222
Stapleton, Mr., i. 150-153; ii. 172-
175
Stark, John and Matthew, ii. 173,
174
Starkey, John, i. 13, 100-105, 125,
M3. 155 5 "¦ 71. 155; confession,
ii. 92-99
Stavley Park, ii. 230
Stillington, Dr., i. 76
Stockwith, ii. 231, 232
Strickland, Miss, i. 166
Strype, i. 54
Stuart, Arabella. See Contents
— — , Charles, Earl of Lenox, i.
3, 17-25, 27, 33, 34, 37-41, 45,

88 ; ii. 85 ; marriage, 28 ; death,
36
Stuart, Esme, Lord d'Aubigny,
Duke of Lenox, i. 46, 81, 214 ;
ii. 189, 196
 , Lady Margaret, Countess of
Nottingham, i. 186 note, 218 ;
ii. 210
 , Matthew, Earl of Lenox, i. I,
17-20, 36, 42, 45; ii. 85
 , or Stewart, Sir William, i.
169, 170, 201, 202, 209 ; ii. 182,
185, 193
Succession to the Crown, i. 75, 76,
85,86,88, 93,99, 159; "• 279
Suffolk, Duke of. See Brandon,
Charles
 , Earl of, ii. 79
 , house of, i. 171
 , Katharine, Countess-Dowager,
i. 25
 , Countess of, ii. 195
Sully, De Rosny, Due de, i. 89, 185
Swift, Sir Edward, ii. 232
Symple, i. 76, 77

Talbot, Edward, i, 128, 134; letter
to, ii. 1 19
 , family of, i. 60, 71, 72, etc.
 , Francis, ii. 232
¦  , George, fourth Earl of Shrews
bury, i. 24-29, 32, 53, 60-62, 72,
73 ; ii. 143, 234, 285 ; death, i.
71 ; letters from, i. 29, 32, 47, 48
 , Gilbert, fifth Earl of Shrews
bury, i. 13, 34, 54 note, 55, 60,

INDEX OF NAMES.

299

61, 67, 71-73, 78, 124, 154, 157,
158, 165, 168, 197, 199-201,204,
205, 209, 211-213, 222, 224-226,
231. 236, 254-256 ; ii. 45, 54, 62,
70, no, 128, 176, 227, 234, 280,
285, 286 ; death, ii. 80 ; letters
from, i. 68 note, etc. ; ii. 3, 5 ;
letters to, i. 170, 184, 188, 190,
^5. 197. 199, 201, 206, 212, 232,
234, 256 ; ii. 180-207, 222 (see
contents of vol. ii. pp. vi.-viii. ;
see also letters to the Countess,
ii. 181-197, 223)
Talbot, Grace, i. 200 ; ii. 202
 , Mary, Countess of Shrews
bury, i. 13, 34, 60, 61, 67, 72, 73,
78, 92, 95, "8, 119, 124, 165,
168, 170, 175, 200, 207, 209, 212,
222, 225, 267 ; ii. 24-27, 45-47,
58-63, 68, 70-73, 78-80, no,
128, 268, 269, 280, 283, 284 (see
also Arabella's letters to the Earl,
ii. 180-207, 222) ; letters to, i.
169, 171, 182, 196, 226; ii. 181-
197, 223 (see contents of vol. ii.
pp. vi.-viii.)
 , Mary, Countess of Pembroke,
i. 132 ; ii. 139, 205, 223
Taylor, John, ii. 282
Taxis, Spanish Ambassador, i. 190,
191, 224 ; ii. 189
Tempest, Robert, i. 77
Tilbury Fort, ii. 33
Toddington, ii. 229
Tower, i. 2, 16-18, 33, 40, 181, 205,
253, 256 ; ii. 29, 32, 37, 38, 42,
44. 45. 47, 49. 53, 55, 56, 66, 70,
79, 268, 269
Trumbull, i. 239 ; ii. 48 note

Tudor, Margaret, i. 2, 5, 9, 15, 16
87 ; ii. 85
 , Mary, i. 2, 5 ; ii. 85
 , or Tydder, Owen, i. 104-108,
114, 115, 116
Tuke, Mr., ii. 230
Tunsted, Mr., ii. 198
Tyrone, i. 159, 160

U

Udall, i. 39 note

Vaughan, Charles, i. 19
Vere, Lady Susan, ii. 18;

W
Waad, Sir William, ii. 38, 55, 66
Walsingham, Sir Francis, letter to,
i- 48, 49, 5°, 53, 59 ; letter from,
i. 58
 , Lady, ii. 195
Walton Hall, ii. 230
Watson (priest), i. 176
Welbeck, ii. 232
Wellingborough, ii. 236
Wentworth, Thomas, Lord, ii. 229
Westminster Abbey, i. 40, 215 ; ii.
75
Whitehall, i. 163, 205, 230 ; ii. 187
note, 203-207, 215, 222-228
Wilkes, Sir Thomas, i. 88
Willoughby, Sir Percival, ii. 228

300

INDEX OF NAMES.

Winchester, i. 178, 181, 183, 184,
189, 192 ; ii. 183
 , Thomas Bilson, Bishop of, ii.
194, 199
Windsor, i. 166, 167
Win(g)field, i. 67 ; ii. 235, 281
Winwood, Sir Ralph, i. 253 ; ii. 39,
41, 63, 73
Wolton, Lord, i. 58, 187
Woodstock, i. 158, 184, 187
Woolwich, ii. 33
Worcester, Earl of, letters from, i.
194, 209 ; ii. 286

Worcester, Lady, ii. 1 99
Worksop, ii. 232
Wray, Sir Christopher, ii. 230
Wrest House, i. 154, 161, 164 ; ii.
236, 285

Y
Yelverton, Sir Christopher, ii. 236
 , Henry, ii. 54, 234 note, 270
Young James (Jesuit), i. 75, 76

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