of. The marchant aunswered that he wolde receve it heare, and cause it to be payed imediatly there: but that colde not be, but to be conveyed as it was sealed up. The marchant, marveling at the earnestnes of Hicforde, and after he was gonne, feling the waight of the bagge, being very hevy, brooke the seales and opened the bagge, and found the l'res and the golde, wheare w' being very muche a fearde, came to the court and showed the bagge and the l'res: wheare upon my cosin Skipwithe was sent to the Duke that no man sholde talk w' him, but in his hearing, and Hicforde his secretary was sent to the tower on Saterday at the night; and on Sonday in the moring was examined by S Thomas Smythe and Mr. Doctor Wilson, and his examinations sent to the court; and there upon S Raufe Sadler was sent to the Duke, and cam thither by 1x of the clocke in the morning and discharged his howseholde, and continued wt him till he went to the tower; and imediately after S' Raufe's coming, according to Hicford's confession, thei did searche for their sifer; and he did appointe a wronge place and [they] found it not; but there thei found the Scotishe Quenes l're, wheare upon the Duke was had to the tower. And Hicforde came from the tower to the charter howse, and founde the sifer in the rowfe amongest the tyle stones, which discov'ed the hole matter. The laste weeke the Duke sent to the Quene, that if her Matie wolde sende to him my Lord of Burley, he wolde declare the hole matter: and whan he came he wolde nauther say nor writte, but denyed probable thinges. And the same day came into the tower Banister his man, and there was examined, and stowtely denyed matters layed to his charge; in so muche as Hicforde's examinations was sent to the Duke, and Hicforde was broughte face to face before Banister, who was racked on Twysday last; and Barker was going to the racke, and upon his confession was stayed. Yesterday St Thomas Wrothe, Mr. Osburne and others was sent to the charter howse to take an inventory of all his goodes; and the saing is that the Duke took up on interest xx Li, but thei cañot fynde wheare above vis L. hathe bine bestowed of it. His doing is so evident and playne to undermyne of moost soverayne lady, that if he scape deathe, yet never imprisonment as longe as she lyvethe: but suerly he will hardly escape that is to be layed to [his] charge. "Thei say the Quene wilbe at my Lorde of Burlye's howse besides Waltam on Sondaye nexte, weare my Lord of Oxford shall marry Mrs Anne Sicelle his doughter. Chippine Vitellers is come in to Flanders agayne out of the Spanishe court: and hathe given him the contie of Holstroughte in the Lowe contryes: and the Duke de Medena Seli is coming by sea w' a xxx sale, whereof is VIII men of warre. "Thei say the Turke dothe muche harme bothe by sea and land: and good newes of good conclusion is looked for out of Fraunce by the nexte messenger of the consumation of the mariages: but there is nothing spoken of the Quenes maties mariage. "He that murdered the Earle of Linaux and he that let th’ennemyes in at the posterne gate be both executed. "And thus leaving all my matters to determyne of the Almightie God that seethe the wronges that is donne me, who w' his mightie power will revenge my cause whan it shall please him, I moost humbly take my leave of yo' honorable good L., wishing my Lord and you all helthe w' th'encrease of honor to Godes pleasure. Scribled at London the xX1th of September 1571. I cañot lerne Banister's confession upon the racke as yet; but he was put to the racke for the denying of moost manifest trothes at the first. "Your honorable good L. ever to comand, during lyfe, In another letter, written in 1570, this valuable correspondent mentions a rumour respecting King James VI. which we do not remember to have seen noticed elsewhere. " The Earle of Linaux hathe writen to his wyfe that the King his son [query grandson] hath the printe of a lion on his syde." The letters of Gilbert Lord Talbot, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, who was an indefatigable writer, are among the most entertaining in this collection. The longest exhibits him in no very amiable light. He had married one of the daughters of his mother in law, the Countess of Shrewsbury, and he appears to have intrigued with her against the peace of the old Earl. But the principal value of this letter arises from its throwing a strong light upon the state of the Shrewsbury family, which was at that time distracted by various contending interests; and we are persuaded that the history of the imprisonment of the Scottish Queen can never be properly understood except there is previously an acquaintance with the state of the family under whose surveillance she was placed. That most extraordinary letter published by Murdin', by far the most remarkable document respecting the later years of her imprisonment, can only be understood, and the great question of its genuineness determined, by an attentive study of the domestic relations of the Talbot family. The friendship between the Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Shrewsbury appears never to have been interrupted. One of the letters printed by Mr. Hunter is remarkable for the strain of piety, real or affected, which runs through it, and for his insisting on the relationship in which the Dudleys stood to the house of Talbot. Allusions to the same circumstance are found in other letters in this collection, and also in a letter from the Earl published by Mr. Lodge; and yet it must have been necessary to go back to the reign of Henry VI. for a common ancestor, and even from him the Earls had only a demi-sang descent. We have no room for the letter which contains so curious an account of the assassination of Henry the Third of France, nor, indeed, for more which belong to the reign of Elizabeth. We extract, however, with a pleasure proportionate to its rarity, a passage from one of them, in which the Queen appears acting 'See "Retrospective Review," N. S. Vol. I. pp. 424, 5, 6. an amiable part. During a very severe and dangerous illness of the Countess of Pembroke, who was a Talbot in 1575, the Queen visited her twice in person; and the family attributed her recovery to her joy at being so honoured by the Queen. "The Quynes May hath ben here with her twyss; very latt both tymes. The last tyme y' was x of the cloke at nyght or ever her May whentte hensse, being so great a myste as ther were dyveres of the barges and boottes that wayted of her loste ther wayes, and landed in wrong plases." A letter relating to a very interesting female of those times, the Lady Arabella Stuart, possesses strong claims to attention. This lady was a granddaughter of the Countess of Shrewsbury; and it is far from improbable that her mother, the young Countess of Lenox, was a victim to the tyrannical disposition of Elizabeth. She seems, however, from this letter, to have been favourably disposed towards Arabella. "Righte honorable and my verie good Ladie, I have, according to the purporte of yo' honoble letters p'nted yo' Lap's newe yere's gifte, togeather wh my Ladie Arbella's, to the Queene's Matie; whoe hathe verie graciously accepted thereof, and taken an especiall likeing to that of my La. Arbella's. It pleased her Male to tell me that whereas in certaine former letters of yo' Lap', yo' desire was that her Mate would have that respecte of my La. Arbella that, she might be carefullie bestowed to her Matie's good likeing, that according to the contents of those letters, her male tould mee that shee would be carefull of her, and wall hathe retorned a token to my La. Arbella; wh is not so good as I could wish it, nor so good as her LaP deserveth, in respecte of the rarenes of that wahe she sente unto her Matie. But I beseeche you, good Maddam, seing it pleased her Matie to saie so much unto mee touching her care of my La. Arbella, that yo' Lap will vouchsafe mee so muche favo' as to keepe it to yo' selfe, not makeing anie other acquainted with it, but rather repose the truste in mee, for to take my opportunitie for the putting her Malie in mynde thereof, wch I will doe as carefullie as I can. And thus being alwaies bownd to yo' La for yo honoble kindeness toward mee, I humbly comett yo' Lap to the safe protection of Almightie God. From Westminstre this XIIIth of Januarie 1600. "Yo' Laps moste bownden "DOROTHIE STAFFORD. "To the right honorable my verie good Ladie the Countesse of Shrewsburie, Dowager." The letters of the reign of James the First begin with one in which a circumstance is mentioned of which no other notice has presented itself to us, but which we regard as only a rumour of the time. The passage is nevertheless worthy some attention, as a hint for future inquiry. "Sir Thom Halles [Holles] cam post from London uppon Tuesday last, and yesterday went towards Barwike, wher he doth heare be on of the Kinge's chamber that his Mate woll be on Satterday nexeste, and ther stay until he hath settled the parts ther aboutes. Also he sayeth that al thinges in the southeren partes procede peaceably; only my Lord Beauchamp is sayd to make some assemblyes, which he hopeth will soddenly dissholfe in to smoke, his forse beyng feble to make hede agenst so grayt an unyon." The pretensions which Lady Jane Grey possessed to the crown were inherited by Lord Beauchamp, a Seymour, and the representative of Lady Katherine Grey, her sister. His son afterwards married the Lady Arabella Stuart. The northern nobility seem to have been all on the qui vive when James was making his progress from Edinburgh to London. The Earl of Cumberland was so troubled with preparing for the King's visit to his "ruinated" castle of Skipton, that he had no leisure to write a short letter, though a projected marriage of his daughter, afterwards the celebrated Anne Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery, was the subject on which he was required to put pen to paper. The Earl of Shrewsbury writes in great haste to Sir John Harper, to warn the gentlemen of Derbyshire to be ready to meet the King; and in a postscript gives what may be considered a pretty broad hint. I will not refuse anie fatt capons and hennes, partridges, or the lyke, yf the Kinge come to me. The King did on this occasion visit the Earl at Worksop. We know not whether we are to attribute it to royal sensibilities, that the Earl did not entertain the new King at his chief house at Sheffield, as curiosity might have prompted him to see the apartments which his mother had so long inhabited. We have several useful and agreeable notices of occurrences in the early years of the new reign; but it is necessary to bring this article to a conclusion, which we do with two letters, one of Dr. James Montague, afterwards a bishop, relating to the proceedings against the gunpowder conspirators, and the other a deeply affecting letter of Lady Arabella, written after her marriage. "My most honorable good La.This bearer, my uncle Lassels, hath promised me to deliver this lettre unto your honor. I think my Lo. Candish acquaynteth you with all the parlament newes. It is a very joyfull matter to see how well the Kinge, his Lords and Commons, doe agree togeether in one this parlament: and all agaynst the papistes. The Kinge offered his meditations to the house, as his Mae called them: the Lords they drue a bill, and the Commons ane other; and these 3 bills wer all on in effect, to have some severe execution uppon the preests and recusants. For the late executions of the traytors I am suer your honor hath hard how they died. Ther was but 2 of the 8 that would freely confesse ther fact to be a sinne agaynst God. It is thought that the Lords shall not be arrayned, but only brought into the Starre-chamber. Ther are diverse Jesuites and preests lately taken: on specialle man that is the Provinciall of the Jesuites, and hath his hand farre in this action, which they call Garnet or Walley. The Kinge is very glad of his apprehension, for he is the most dangerous man to this state that liveth. His Matie goeth comonly to Hampton Court at the beginninge of the weeke, and tarrieth ther till the latter end of the weeke. I am alwayes with his Made in these iurneys, which maketh mee that I can not write so often to your honor as I would. "Thus, with my humble duty to your honor, I take my leave. Court, this 20th of February, 1605. "Your honor's most faythfull frend, "To the most honorable La. the Countesse of Shrewsbury, dowager, these." "S', "JAMES MOUNTAGU. "Though you be almost a stranger to me, but onely by sight, yet the good opinion I generally heare to be held of your worth, together w the great interest you have in my Lo. of Northampton's favour, makes me thus farre presume of your willingnesse to do a poore afflicted gentlewoman that good office (if in no other respect, yet because I am a Christian) as to further me w' your best indevors to his Lo. that it will please him to helpe me out of this great distresse and misery, and regaine me his ma" favour, which is my chiefest desire. Whearin his Lo. may do a deede acceptable to God, and honorable to himselfe; and I shall be infinitely bound to his Lo. and beholden to you, who now, till I receve some comfort from his Ma, rest, "the most sorrowful creature living, "ARABELLA SEYMAURE." The Life and Adventures of Matthew Bishop, of Deddington, in Oxfordshire, containing an Account of several Actions by Sea, Battles and Sieges by Land, in which he was present, from 1701 to 1711, interspersed with many curious Incidents, entertaining Conversations, and judicious Reflections: written by himself. London: Printed for J. Brindley, in New Bond Street; G. Hawkins, in Fleet Street; R. Dodsley, in Pall Mall; and J. Millan, opposite to the Admiralty Office-1744. THIS book is a discovery to us, for we had not previously heard of its existence, neither did we know before we read it that autobiography had descended so low as a common sailor, until the spread of literature had in modern times embraced all ranks. But it appears, however, in the reign of Queen Anne, 1 A serjeant, however, wrote an account of the campaigns of Marlborough, at which he was present. |