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les aultres dames de la court estoint contreintes d'en user, et qu'en son dernier voyage vers vous, elle et la feu comtesse de Lenox parlant a vous n'osoient s'entreregarder l'une et l'autre de peur de s'eclater de rire des cassades quelle vous donnoint, me priant a son retour de tancer sa fille qu'elle n'avoyt jamays sceu persuader de fayre le mesme; et quant a sa fille Talbot elle s'assuroit qu'elle ne fauldroit jamays de vous rire au nez; la dicte dame Talbot lors quelle vous alla fayre la reverence et donne le serment comme l'une de voz servantes, a son retour imediatement, me le comtant comme une chose fayte en moquerie, me pria de l'accepter pareill, may plus ressent et entier vers moy, du quel je feiz long tems refus; mays a la fin a force de larmes je la laissay faire, disant quelle ne vouldroit pour chose du monde estre en vostre service pres de vostre personne, d'autant quelle auroit peur que quand seriez en cholere ne luy fissies comme a sa cousine Skedmur, a qui vous auviez rompu un doibt, faciant a croire a ceulx de la court, que cestoit un chandelier qui estoit tombe dessubz ; et qu'a une aultre vos servant a talle auviez donne un grand coup de cousteau sur la mayn: et en un mot pour ces derniers pointz et communs petitz raportz, croyez que vous estiez jouee et contrefaicte par elles comme en commedie entre mes fammes mesmes; ce qu'apercevant, je vous jure que je deffendis a mes fammes ne ce plus mesler. Davantasge, la dicte Comtesse ma autrefoys advertie que voulliez appointer Rolson pour me fayre l'amour et essayer me de me deshonorer, soyt en effect on par mauvais bruit, de quoy il avoyt instructions de vostre bousche propre que Ruxby veint ici, il i a environ viij ans, pour attempter a ma vie, ayant parle a vous mesmes, qui luy auviez dit quil fit ce a que Walsingham luy commenderoit et dirigeroit. Quant le dicte Comtesse poursuivoit le mariage de son filz Charles auveques une des niepeces du milord Paget, et que d'aultre part vous voulliez lavoir par pure et absolue aucthorite pour un des Knoles, pour ce qu'il estoit vostre parent; elle crioit fort contre vous, et disoit que cestoit une vraye tirannie, voulant a vostre fantasie enlever toutes les heritieres du pays, et que vous aviez indignement use le dit Paget par parolles injurieuses; mays qu'enfin la noblesse de ce royaume ne le vous soufrisoit pas mesmement, si vous adressiez a telz aultres quelle connoissoit bien. Il y a environ quatre ou sing ans que vous estant malade et moy aussi au mesme temps, elle me dit, que vostre mal provenoit de la closture d'une fistulle que vous aviez dans une jambe; et que sans doubte venant a perdre voz moys, vous mourriez bien tost, s'en resjouissant sur une vayne imagination qu'elle a eue de long temps par les predictions, d'un nomme Jon Lenton, et d'un vieulx liuvre qui prediroit vostre mort par violence, et la succession d'une aultre royne, qu'elle interpretoit estre moy, regretant seullement que par le dit liuvre il estoit predit que la royne qui vous deubroit succeder ne regneroit que trois ans, et mouroit comme vous, par violance, ce qui estoit represente mesme en peinture dans le dit liuvre auquel il y avoyt un dernier feuillet, le contenu duquell elle ne ma jamais voulu dire. Elle scait elle mesme que jay tous jours pris cela pour une pure follie, mays elle fesoit bien son compte destre la premiere aupres de moy, et mesmement que mon filz epouseroit ma niepce Arbela. Pour la fin je vous jure encores

un coup sur ma foy et honneur qui ce que desubz est tres veritable; et que de ce qui conserne vostre honneur, il me m'est jamays tombe en l'entendement de vous fayre tort par le reveller; et qu'il ne ce scaura jamays par moy, le tenant pour tres faulx. Si je puis avoir cest heur de parler a vous, je vous diray plus particulierement les noms, tems, lieux, et aultres sirconstances pour vous fayre congnoistre la verite et de cessi et d'aultres choses que je reserve, quant je seray tout a fayct asseuree de vostre amitié la quelle comme je desire plus que jamays, aussi si je la puis ceste foys obtenir, vous n'eustes jamays parente, amy, ny mesmes subject, plus fidelle et affectionnee que je vous seray Pour Dieu asseurez vous de celle qui vous veult et peult servir De mon lit forcant mon bras et mes douleurs pour vous satisfayre et obeir.

MARIE R." 1

Hume disbelieves that the Countess of Shrewsbury ever used such expressions, and he thus attempts to explain the motive which induced Mary to attribute them to her: "Mary's extreme animosity against Elizabeth may easily be conceived, and it broke out about this time [1586] in an incident which may appear curious. While the former queen was kept in custody by the Earl of Shrewsbury, she lived during a long time in great intimacy with the Countess; but that lady entertaining a jealousy of an amour between her and the Earl, their friendship was converted into enmity, and Mary took a method of revenge which at once gratified her spite against the Countess, and against Elizabeth." Although it is scarcely credible that the Countess should have risked her own existence by slandering her sovereign to one who detested the object of her accusations, Hume's explanation is unsatisfactory, even if the jealousy of which he speaks ever existed. In Carte the following passage occurs on this, and some similar letters of which nothing is known:

"The Lord Treasurer Burleigh took care to keep these letters from coming to Elizabeth's hands; but preserved them, and they were afterwards buried two feet under ground, in his son the Earl of Salisbury's house at Hatfield, in Hertfordshire. They were there found a few years ago3 in a stone chest, rolled up in woollen, and were shown by the publisher of Burghley's papers to the late Master of the Rolls, at his seat of Belbar, in that neighbourhood, and to another venerable gentleman still living."-Vol. iii. p. 828.

But Murdin, alluding to this statement, says,

"The concealment and discovery, as there represented, is entirely unsupported from [by] any evidence that is come to my knowledge.

1 Pp. 558-560. From the original.

* Ed. 1786, vol. v. p. 506.

3 The preface to the volume whence this extract is taken is dated in February, 1752.

The letter itself, in the original, I found open amongst the other papers of the Earl of Salisbury's library, without any appearance of design to have it secreted. And the manner in which it was discovered, as Mr. Carte affirms upon the testimonies by him referred to, is a circumstance absolutely unknown to any one person in my Lord Salisbury's family, as far as I can learn from the strictest inquiry I have made concerning it."-P. 560.

Carte wrote in 1752, and Murdin in 1759; but the discovery in question must, from the allusion to the publisher of Burghley's papers which appeared in 1740, have taken place many years before Mr. Murdin commenced his labours. The strongest fact against Carte's story is, that the same individual was Earl of Salisbury from 1728 to 1780, and became of age six years before the first collection of his ancestor's papers were printed. Hence it is equally unlikely that he should have been ignorant of the circumstance, or that, knowing it, he should not have communicated it to Murdin.

Sir Christopher Hatton was appointed Lord Chancellor on the 29th April, 1587, and the next day Robert Cecill, Lord Burghley's son, having called upon him, he informed his father of the particulars of the interview: whence it would appear that Hatton thought himself indebted to the treasurer for the situation; for he loaded Cecill with the most extravagant praises of his father, and with assurances of his gratitude. The writer added:

"He hath left his hat and feather; and now wears a flat velvet cap, not different from your lordship's."-P. 588.

Of the voyage of the King of Scotland, afterwards James the First, to Denmark after his bride, in October, 1589, an amusing account is given in a letter from Mr. Fowler to Lord Burghley, dated at Edinburgh on the 20th of that month, but from which we have room for only one extract, and which reminds us of the anecdote of a Spanish grandee, who, being too feeble to walk, was scorched to death, because the person who, according to etiquette, ought to have removed him from the chimney was not at hand.

"Steven Beale, a Dane, brought letters from the young Queen and from such counsellors, and great men about her, and they were all indeed tragicall discourses, pittifull, for the said Queen was in extream danger of drowning: in her own ship a cannon brak and slue eight men afore her, and shook the ship that hardly they could keep her above water but with extream labour; and being in ten huge ships, they were all brosed and wether-beaten, that they having a sound in Norway twenty miles within the land they abode there, and dare not stur; because such is the preciseness of the Danish Commissioners, determined in councell, that they dare not bring the young

Queen hither, what wind soever they have, with fewer ships then they brought out."-P. 637.

Yet the poor Queen lay "in a miserable place for vytall, or any good thing, and they have been seven weeks at sea."

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It was these letters, which James perused "with many sighs,' that determined him to proceed in search of his bride; nor did the difficulties he encountered in collecting and preparing the fleet, nor the intention which, Fowler says, the Earls of Morton, Angus, Glamis, and others entertained, "to watch upon his going and stay him by force," prevent the accomplishment of his chivalrous expedition.

Sir Walter Raleigh's letter to Sir Robert Cecill in 1592, when Elizabeth was about sixty years old, in which he says, "his heart was never broken until now that he hears the queen goes away so far off," and speaks of her as

"riding like Alexander, hunting like Diana, walking like Venus, the gentle wind blowing her fair hair about her pure cheeks like a nymph, sometime siting in the shade like a goddess, sometime singing like an angell, sometime playing like Orpheus."-P. 657,

is too familiar to the readers of Hume to require to be inserted; and though the same objection applies to a letter from Sir Henry Unton, yet as it contains an account of the fair Gabrielle, mistress of Henry the Fourth of France, which that writer has omitted to extract, our readers will be glad to peruse the whole passage. Speaking, in a letter to Elizabeth, dated at Concy, 3rd February, 1595-6, of an audience, which Unton had been granted of the French monarch, he says,

"After he had thus ended he sent for Madam de Monceaux, telling me that he would no more estrange himself now from me, then in former tymes; and used many affectionate wordes in her commendation, among others, that she never intermeddled with his affayres and had a tractable spyrite whearin he spake not amiss; for she is heald to be incapable of affaires, and verie simple. At her cominge he drew near to her, with great reverence, houlding his hat at the first in his hande; then he declared unto her that I was so well known unto them both, as he doubted not but she would welcombe me; which she did, unmaskinge her self and gracinge me with her best favors; whearin I toke no great pleasure nor heald it any grace at all. She was attyred in a playne sattayne gowne with a velvet hood all over her head (to keape away the weather from her) which became her verie ill; and in my opinion, she is altered verie much for the worse in her complection and favor; yeat verie grossely painted. I am loath to mingle toyes with serious matters, yeat are such circumstances sometymes not impertinent; and for myne I humbly crave pardon, being willing rather to offend in surplusage then defect.

"The King, after these ceremonies passed, toke her on his lefte hand and me on his right hande and made us both partakers of his

speache unto us both, which was but ordinarye (and not worthy your Majesty's knowledge). Thus we continewed almost an houre walking together in the parke; at the last the weather forced her to retourne, and the king stayed to shew me his horses. Afterwardes he also withdrew himself requiring me to follow him into his chamber, wher in a private place between his bed and the wall, he aske me how I liked his mistress, and whether I found her anye thing changed. I answered sparingly in her praise, and tould him, that if without offence I might speake it, that I had the picture of a farr more excellent mistress, and yet did her picture come farr short of her perfection of beauty. As you love me (sayd he) shew it me, if you have it about you. I made some difficulties; yett, uppon his importunity offred it unto his viewe verie secretly, houlding it still in my hande: he beheald it with passion and admiration saying, that I had reason, Je me rends, protesting that he never had seene the like; so, with great reverence, he kissed it twice or thrice, I detaying it still in my hand. In the ende with some kind of contention he toke it from me, vowing that I might take my leave of it for he would not forgoe it for any treasure; and that, to possesse the favor of the livelye picture, he would forsake all the world, and hould himself most happie, with many other most passionate wordes. Then he did blame me (by whom, he sayd, he had written many passionate letters, and to whom he had with such earnestness recommended his affection making me his Messiah) in not retourninge him any reciproke favor from your Majesty, and did complayne of your Highness neglect, and disdayne of him, which was not the least cause of his discomfort. Whearuppon I replyed as fitt an answer as I could, and as I found his humour more or less apt of apprehension. But I found that the dombe picture did drawe on more speache and affection from him then all my best argumentes and eloquence."Pp. 718-9.

At the end of the volume Mr. Murdin has introduced a copy of Lord Burghley's Diary from July, 1553, to January, 1596-7. These very interesting memoranda are remarkable for the notices which they contain of the most important and the most insignificant transactions, and for the mixture of occurrences of a mere personal or domestic nature with the public affairs of the kingdom: for he records with equal gravity the hurting of his foot in paring his toe-nail, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada; a proposition to cure him of the gout, or a declaration of war; the accession of a monarch, or a treaty of peace. Of the most entertaining of these entries we shall copy a sufficient number to enable our readers to judge of his lordship's journal, and we do not doubt that they will deem them worthy of perusal.

1560, July 28.—Sir William Cecill came to Greenwich from Scotland, so as he was absent sixty three dayes, having had 41. per diem in tota 2527. and for postage with twenty two horses from London to Edinburgh and from thence back to London 1177. -P. 751.

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