The Autobiography Of Edward Lord Herbert Of Cherbury

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

EDWARD, LORD HERBERT
OF CHERBURY

WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, APPENDICES, AND A
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE

B 7

SIDNEY LEE

Second Kditton t Revued

LONDON

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS LIMITED
NEW YORK: E. P. BUTTON & CO

PREFATORY NOTE

Tins edition of Lord Herbert of Chcrbury's autobiography
was prepared by me in 1886, and was published in the same
year. For the purposes of the present re-issue, I have corrected
such errors as have come to my knowledge during the twenty
years interval, and I have introduced a few pieces of informa-
tion which were not accessible to me when the work was
01 igiiially undei taken .

SIDNEY LEE.

PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL ISSUE

(1886)

IT may be of service to the reader to explain the arrangement
of this volume. In the Introduction which precedes the
Autobiography, I have attempted firstly, to describe Lord
Herbert's varied character, as displayed in his own writings
and in historical records ; and secondly, to review his eminent
achievements in literature and philosophy, of which he himself
has given no account. In the essay which succeeds the Auto-
biogiaphy, I have tried to trace his political career in detail
from 1624 the year when his own memoirs abruptly terminate
-to 1648, the date of his death. In an appendix I have
printed several original illustrative documents, many extracts
from Herbert's unpublished correspondence, and some historical
notes on topics to which frequent allusion is made in the
Autobiography on the assumption no longer justifiable
that they are matters of common knowledge. Former editors
have treated the work as a mere curiosity of literature. I
have endeavoured in my notes and elsewhere to prove that it
deserves the serious attention of the student, not only of
English literature, but of Engish social history in the early
seventeenth century.

My text is that of the first printed edition issued from
Horace Walpole's jDrivate press in 1764. I differ from that

vili Preface to the Original Issue (1886)

text alone m my tieatment of pioper names. Soon alter 1 had
yet myself the task of: identifying the persons mentioned by
Lord Hcrbcit, 1 came to the conclusion that the names had
very often been wrongly transcribed, and my notes will, I
trust, justify the changes T have made. Tims, on p. 27, 1
replace TVlesius by Tdesius, on p. 30 Scordus by Cordus, on
p 62 William Crofts by William Cross?, and so forth. I
greatly regret that I have been unable to consult the original
manuscript, but my search for it, as I explain elsewhere, has
proved unavailing.

I have to thank the Eail of Powis, the Rev. T. Haul of
Chiibury, and the Rev. Dr. Sew ell, Wai den of New College,
Oxford, foi the readiness with which they replied to the various
mquiiies I addressed to them while prepaiing the book, L
also clesiie to acknowledge my obligations to M, de Remusat's
admit able little volume, Lord Herbert de Ghwhiny, sa l r ie el At\s
(Euvrcs, and to the \reha v ologk\il Collections published by the
Powysland Club, which axe invaluable to the student of Welsh
history and biography.

CONTENTS

TAGE

INTRODUCTION ... xi

LORD HERBERT'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY ..... i
A CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF LORD HERBERT FROM 1624
TO 1648 . . . . . . . . -135

APPENDIX :

I The Early History of the Herbert Family . 167

Genealogical Table 168-9

II Wales in the Sixteenth Century . . .171

HI Walton'vS and Donne's Accounts of Lord Herbert's

Mother . , . . . . .175

IV Duelling in France and England in the Seventeenth

Century . . . . . . .179

V Lord Herbert's Quarrel with Lord Howard of

Waldcn 182

VI Lord Herbert's Instructions at the French Court 186

VII Lord Herbert's Correspondence . . 188

INDEX ,.....,.. 204

INTRODUCTION

' IT would not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank
God for Ins vanity among the other comforts of life J . Benja-
min Franklin sets these words in the forefront of his autobio-
graphy, and they deserve to be set in the forefront of all
successful works of the kind. A man may think to apply a
record of his own life to various purposes. He may fashion
it as a text-book of conduct for his children, as a history of
his relations with the politics, religion, or literature of his
time, as a generous panegyric of his friends, or as an ill-natured
denunciation of those who have shared his life's successes or
defeats. But from whatever point of view the successful
autobiographer approaches his subject, unconsciously the
same spirit moves him. Ife is convinced not merely that his
life has been worth living, but that he has lived it to eminent
advantage. He is self-centred ; he is self-satisfied ; he loves
himself better than his neighbour ; he weighs others in the
balance, and finds them wanting ; he knows himself to be of
full weight. All professions to the contrary may safely be
ignored. Absolute truthfulness is the last thing we expect
of the successful autobiographer. No man can give an impar-
tial estimate of himself ; failure is only courted by attempting
it, and success in autobiography is not attainable unless this
condition receive practical recognition. But although * vain
opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as
one would, and the like ', are the salt of autobiography, sin-
cerity of a kind we do require of it. The writer must be true
to his own self-conceit. He must have no self-conscious
misgivings about his own real value. The austere may con-
demn his attitude with what warmth they will. The man of
human sympathies will give vanity fair quarter wherever he
meet it, and no better reward for his forbearance can be
promised him than the power of rightly appreciating that

xii Introduction

small cncle of htenituie in which Loid Ilcrbci t's autobiography
holds a eential place

The ngid moidhsi should devote himselt to the 'poor
shrunken things' ot autobiography wheie the tiue autobio-
graphical spnit is held in check, or whence it is altogether
excluded. Let him not at any rate sit m judgment on the
vainglorious pci forma ncc ot F-ord Herbert of Chcibuiy. Mr
Swinburne has claimed for this autobiogiaphy a place among
the hundred best books ot the world On no other woik of
its class has the critic contended similar rank. Questions of
literary pi eccdencc can never hope for final answers, and there
may be points of view from winch this judgment is disputable.
But it is tloubtiul if any other autobiography breathes quite
as freely the writer's overweening conceit of his own woitlu
which is the primary condition of all autobiographical excel-
lence. At evety turn Lord Herbert applauds his own valour,
Ins own beauty, his own gentility of birth. At home and
abroad he ilatters himself that he is the cynosure of neigh-
bouring eyes. ITe, m fact, conforms from end to end to all
the conditions which make autobiography successful, lie is
guilty of many misrepresentations. No defect is more patent
in his memoirs than the total lack of a sense of proportion.
Lord Hei belt's self-satisfaction is built on sand. It is bied
ol the trivialities of fashionable life, of the butterfly triumphs
won in court society. He passes by in contemptuous silence
Ins truly valuable contributions to philosophy, history, and
poetry. But the contrast between the grounds on which he
ptofesscd a desire to be remembered and those on which ho
deserved to be remembered by posterity, gives his book almost
all its value. Men of solid mental ability and achievements
occasionally like to pose in society as gay Lotharios ; it is
rare, however, foi them to endeavour, even as autobiographers,
to convey the impression to all succeeding generations that
they were gay Lothanos and not much else besides. Vet it
is such transparent enors of judgment that givo autobio^iaphv
its finest flavour.

Loicl Herbert professes 'to relate to his posterity those
passages of his life which he conceives may best declare him
and be most useful to them '. He asserts that he writes
* with all truth and since: ity, as scorning to deceive or speak
false to any *. When he took the work iu hand he was more

Introduction xiii

than sixty years old, and it was therefore fitting (he argued)
that he should review his hie so as to reform what was amiss
and comfort himself with those actions ' done according to
the rules of conscience, virtue, and honour J . No worthier
object could he have proposed to himself in his declining
years ; yet so easily are autobiographers diverted from their
avowed purposes, that with the exception of the notices of
his very early life and a digression on education, there is no
passage m the book which could serve any useful end in the
hands of the ' young person '. There is nothing very interest-
ing 111 the record of Lord Herbert's youth l . Born on 3rd
March 1583 twenty-two ycais after Bacon, and nineteen
alter Shakespeare he was brought up in the luxury that
became the eldest son of an old county family. He lost his
father when he was thirteen or fourteen years old ; was
' exceedingly inclined ' to his studies and to music ; and at
the age of fifteen or thereabouts was married, while still at
Oxford, to a wealthy cousin far older than himself, in accord-
ance with an unromantic family arrangement, in which his
own inclinations were not considered. Herbert was not a
very spirited boy ; and his mother, who took great pride in
him, governed him and his wife rigorously during his minority.
When approaching manhood lie avoided ' the evil example '
of other young men, but, in the closing years of Elizabeth's
reign, * curiosity rather than ambition ' brought him to court.
Then temptation spread its net for him for the first time, and
he enjoyed the entanglement. He came to recognize that
he was singularly handsome. Of swarthy complexion, he
was often called the Black Lord Herbert. Queen Elizabeth
suggested that it was a pity he should have married so young,
and twice clapped him gently on the cheek, while he kissed
her aged hands. He was one of a crowd of persons created
Knight of the Bath at James I's coronation. ' I could tell ',
he remarks on this occasion, * how much my person was com-
mended by the lords and ladies that came to see the solemnity
then used ; but I shall flatter myself too much ' a tell-tale
reservation' if I believed it * (p. 44). He affected to take
sci tously the words of the formal oath, which bound him to

i Enthusiastic adnuiei of the book ab was Horace Walpole, lie told Mason that he
had better skip the first fifty pages, and Montagu that the first foity pages would make
him sick (Letters, iv, 156, 2<$2). This is rathci unf.ur to Loid Herbert, but the unique
interest of the book is certainly riot to be found in the early pages

xiv Introduction

dolend all unpiotected iemales, ami lie soon aitei wauls lesoh ed
to adopt the piotession oi kmght-eiiantiy. lie had now, he
boasts, lived with his wife m all conjugal loyalty lor ten yeais,
and had successfully icsistcd all allurements to the contrary.
Ho was twenty-five years old, and deemed it desirable to see
something moie oi the world. He told his wile that it heeame
him to seek adventures * beyond sea '. Mistress llcibert took
another view of the situation, but her husband had his way,
and in the next decade lived a veiy restless life.

He went first to France ; made li lends with the Due de
Montmorcncy, an elderly Fiench beau, and while staying at
his atti active castle of Mcilou tiiccl to find occasion foi his
fust duel in the playJul endeavour of a Fiench chevalier io
take *a knot ot ribbon* from a little gill's head-dress. He
rode the gieat horse, played the lute, and sang with great
applause He visited Henri IV at the Tuilcncs, and the King
' embraced him in his arms, and held him some while theie *.
The divorced Queen Maigaret invited him to her balls, and
gave him a place next her own chair, to the wonder and envy
of the assembled company. He ilirted \\ith the Princess oi
Conti, who had a less than doubtful leputation. The ladies,
however, did not confine their attention to him ; they admiied
another man -one M. Balagm ( who could not be thought
at most but ordinal y handsome } , and the puzzling chcu in-
stance caused Lord ILeibert no little disquietude.

Having tasted of foreign tiavcl, Lord Herbert returned
home, only to set out again on another expedition in Ger-
many, where theie was a prospect ot war. The town o Juhers
was to be besieged by Dutch, Fiench, and English troops.
No command was olfered Herbert, and he performed no seivico
of real importance in the campaign, although he hints at quite
another conclusion. But ho had the satisfaction of meeting
M. JBalagm again. lie dared his gay xival to all manner ot
boyishly foolish escapades, in which he contrived that the
Frenchman should come off second-best. But the exploit
that made him most notorious in this campaign was a quart el
with Lord Howard of Walden. ' There was liberal drink-
ing ' one night m Sir Hoi ace Vere's quarters, and Lord 1 lerbei t
spoke meirily to his companions, so menily that one of them.
Lord Howard, an English officer, took oflcnce, and came
towards him ' in a violent manner *. Some days later 1 ler-

Introduction xv

6crt's sensitive honour was wounded by a Ficiicliman's taunt
that he had not demanded satisfaction ol Lord Howard. He
therefore sent him a challenge, and the duel would have been
lought had not the principals been arrested before they met,
and the childish dispute been stayed by the Lords o the
Council. Such accidents invariably terminated Herbeit's
duels. Men of sense complained that he was choleric and
hasty. He admitted that this, generally speaking, was true,
but with appalling boldness he added, amid all manner of
protestations, that he never had a quarrel with a man for his
own sake ; he often hazarded himself ior his friends, but
when injury was offered him in his own person, he sheathed
his sword, and contented himself with an inward feeling of
icscntmcnt. On his return to England he describes himself
as carrying with him the reputation of a hero : ' And now, if
I may say it without vanity, I was in great esteem both
in court and city, many of the greatest desiring my company '
(p. 68). The public generally had heard ' so many brave
things ' of him that his portrait, which he had had painted
very many times, was in great demand l . Ladies, from the
Queen downwards, placed it m their cabinets or near then-
hearts, and gave occasion ' of more discourse ' than he (modest
man !) could have wished. One lady (Lady Ayres), ' a con-
siderable person ' according to Lord Herbert although history
has neglected her altogether -was discovered by the gallant,
under circumstances reflecting little credit on himself (p. 69),
looking upon his picture ' with more earnestness and passion
than he could have easily believed '. He was the more
surprised at her intense admiration of him, not because Lady
Heibert was occupying any of his attention, but because
at the moment his own af lections were engaged by an anony-
mous beauty, whose attractions caused him. real anxiety.
But Lady Ayres* passion supplied him with congenial food
for reflection until her husband treated him to a very nnconi-

i 1 , 01 d Herbeit describe- i ' i- b r il- >* " . -< r (p. 45) iri the robes of a
Knight of th H >th, by an <- ' i '. , i , - 53 (pp 59-60} mounted

on a i\o ii t( 1 MI i , 3 (pp, on ^) a pieuue pauueu uy * one Lailcm,' of which Lord
H 01 belt mentions seveial copies (of these one in immatuiGwems to be now at Charle-
rote ami anothei is in the National Portrait Gallciv> London), Isaac Oliver is credited
with Uie oiigmal painting of Loul Hejbeit lying on tho gunmd altei a duel, an
en#i axing oi this picture, which ib now at Powis Castle, foimcd tho frontispiece to
Hoja<e Walpolo *s edition of the autobiography in 1764 Theic is at 1'cubhuist
Castle u hlth poitiait ol Ixud lloibeit, attiibutcd to Olivet.

xvl Introduction

piimenlaiy bulietmg in Whitehall. In one place he piolests
befoie (loci that he had at coin t mote ia\oius (appaiently
oi this kind) than ho tiesned, but such, he consoles hnnsell,
are the penal ties attaching to the possession oi rate manly
beauty.

To a volatile nature like Lord Herbert's, stiong passion
was altogether foreign. At the best oi times his wite leecued
Irom him conjugal loyalty , true love did not cntei into their
relations with one anothci ; the lovet's fleeting raptutes \\erc
excited in him by other women's charms. So Jar as ins
autobiogiaphy inioims us, he had no near and dear Jtnends.
Aliabihty he had in plenty, but a liability is not a staple
commodity, and is a poor substitute loi the endming viitnc
oi friendship. Auiehan Townsend, Ins companion on Ins
first joutney, and Ned Sackvillc, whom he tra\ oiled with
later, proved pleasant company lor a while, but he soon
weaned of them and sought new associates. Sir Kobeit
llarley, 'being then my dear fuend ', was once insulted m
his presence, and the insult was piomptly resented by Loid
Heibcrt, who m spite oi weak health drew his swoid upon the
o (lender. But the stoiy in Lord Ilctbert's mouth meiely
becomes a new testimony to his own adventuious disposition.
lie was good~na tmcd in his dealings with his social mfoiiois,
as is usually the case with the vainglorious. Riehaul (Griffiths,
his servant, iouncl him a kindiy master. He geneiously used
his influence with Count Maurice ot Nassau to spate the life
of a soldier who had killed his c ompauion, and he lecounis the
circumstance (or the most pait atti actively ; but he spoils
the eitect of the ruination by finally making the Count address
all the high officers of the camp in the words : ' J)o you see
this cavaliei, with all that courage you know, hath yet that
good-nature to pray lor the hie oi a poof soldier ? ' Lord
llerbeit cleat ly infers that his genciosity, like his amours,
added something to his own reputation. He shows himself
moze disinterested in his aitection for his horses, which he lodo
to advantage ; he lamented their sickness, entrusted them
to cateful keeping in his absence from home, and left pi ox ision
for them m his will.

Lord Herbert found the sowing of the \\ild oats which ho
had neglected to sow in eaily youth a satisiymg pastime in
manhood, and did not lightly relinquish the recreation. In

Introduction xvii

1614 he reappeared in the Low Countries. The Spaniards
under Spinola were in the field against the Dutch. Herbert
and the Duteh commander (Count Maurice of Nassau) were
now the best of ii lends, and when the lighting was interrupted
they played chess with each other, or discussed horses. The
Count cilso made Herbert his companion in his love-making,
and ' yet so that I saw nothing opcn'y (the modest autobio-
graphcr apologizes) more than might argue a civil familiarity '.
On one occasion Herbert wanted to decide the dispute between
the Dutch and the Spaniards by challenging a Spanish cham-
pion in the name ot his mistress to single combat, but this
lomairtic ambition was promptly suppressed by his friends.
Spiiiola's high reputation led Herbert, although associated
with a hostile camp, to seek an introduction to him , Bos well
was not more eager to introduce himself to famous men
Herbert, therefore, walked across to the Spanish quarters,
caught the General at dinner, sat down beside him, and on
taking his leave, offered to fight under him, if he ever led an
army against the infidel Turk. Immediately afterwards
Herbert's military ardour cooled, and he visited the notable
towns of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, paying and receiv-
ing high-flown compliments all along the route. He twice
visited the Elector-Palatine and his wife at Heidelberg. At
Rome the master of the English College received him hospit-
ably, because (Herbert is careful to remind us) he had heard
men oftentimes speak of him * both for learning and courage '.
On the return journey he spent much time in Savoy, where
the Duke and his minister Scarnafissi had also heard that he
was a cavalier of great worth, and treated him accordingly.
He promised to raise a troop of horse in Languedoc in behalf
of the Duke, who was engaged in war with Spain. On the
journey to Languedoc lie went out of his road to see the
daughter of an innkeeper, who (he had been told), was the
handsomest woman in Europe, and the sight was peculiarly
refreshing. Like adventures accompanied him until his
arrival m England in 1618, when the Duke of Buckingham
suddenly chose him to go as English ambassador to France.

The responsibility of office somewhat sobered him, and he
performed his diplomatic duties with energy and discre-
tion. He lived at Paris in great state, as befitted, in his
opinion, the representative of a great nation ; spent far more

xviii Introduction

tlutn his salary or his piivatc icsouiccs justified, and was
jealous oi his pnvilcgcs. By an ccccntiio nise he asserted
his right to have precedence of the Spanish ambassador in
court cetcmonies. It goes without saying that he continued
Ins gallantries at the French couit. He was, in fact, in such
robust health, that he was disposed (he tells us) to some follies
which he aftei wards repented. He comforted his conscience,
however, with the knowledge that he was neither intemperate
nor deceitful in his pleasures, and that he could, an' he would,
extenuate his fault by telling circumstances that would have
operated adversely on the most sober-minded of men. 1 Tis
repartees were of course the delight of French society,
and he was a universal favourite. The only person who did
not make himself agreeable to him was M. cle Luyncs, the
French king's favourite. Luyncs was a man of low breeding,
and was little likely to be influenced by Loid Hcibert's graces
of demeanour. When, therefore, Luyncs supported a policy
of aggression against the French Piotestants, and Ilerbcit,
in accordance with his instructions, rcmonstiated on their
behalf, the two soon came to high words. Luyncs sent a
special messenger to James I to complain of his representa-
tive's misconduct, and Herbert followed to explain matters.
Herbert suggested that he should fight Luyncs, but James I
did not take kindly to the proposal, although he was satisfied
with Heibert's explanations. On Lxvyncs* death in 1621,
Herbert returned to the French couit, and remained there
till the early months of 162.4, when he was suddenly and per-
manently recalled. In, the closing years of his embassy Her-
bci t showed lumsclE to i eal advantage ; he used all his influence
at Paris m behalf of the Protestant Elector- Palatine, the
titular King of Bohemia ; he sought to cement an alliance
between Kngland and France as opposed to Spain, and to
consolidate the union of Kngland and Holland. But with
the bitter disappointment of his recall his autobiography comes
to an abrupt termination.

Lord Herbert's lack of strict veracity, which 1 have already
laid to his charge, is not a defect with which he has been
]">ro\ loudly credited. Horace Walpole judged him to be the
incarnation of truthfulness ; but Walpole applied no tests,
and saved himself trouble by his willingness to be deceived.
Herbert, of course, is no common liar. With plausible ami-

Introduction zix

ability he suppresses Hie truth rather than commits deliberate
perjury. When he is detected his purpose looks so innocent
or so aimless that the lover of autobiography will mercifully
attribute some of his inaccuracies to the failure of a sexagen-
arian's memory. But failuie of memory is not always a
satisfactory theory. The most significant misstatcmcnts in
Herbert's autobiography occur in the early pages. There
Lord Herbert has not only his own but his forefathers' reputa-
tion to maintain, and he sets his shoulder valiantly to the
wheel. There is a picturesque description of the founder of
his own branch of his family, Sir Richard Herbert of Cole-
brook. Sir Richard and his brother (the first of the Herberts
to be created Earl of Pembroke) bore themselves bravely in
Edward IV's behalf at Hcdgcote Field in 1469. Lord Her-
bert's glowing story of their noble deeds passes with startling
abruptness into an account of their tombs. He discreetly
omits to mention that his great-great-grandfather and his
great-great-graiid-uncle were taken prisoners on the battle-
field, and beheaded at Northampton, Their death was not
disgraceful, but a well-developed sense of respectability
apparently forbids the mention of the ghastly detail. Lord
Herbert makes many genealogical errors, and such errors arc
usually excusable whenever and by whomsoever they may be
made. But there is method visible m Herbert's madness on
these points. He overlooks intervening heirs and heiresses,
so that he may show that the cousin who became his wife was
maliciously deprived of much of her inheritance, and that he
had a share of suffering in her wrongs, all of which is purely
imaginary 1 . Of his widowed mother he tells us less than her
maternal care of him deserved. She was living throughout
the years covered by the autobiography, and Herbert ac-
quaints us with some circumstances of her declining days,
but he forgets to notice that she married a second time. It
was a strange marriage, and could not easily have been for-
gotten. She, a thoughtful woman over forty years old, was
wedded to a youth (Sir John Danvers) less than half her age ;
but Donne tells us that the disparity bred no unhappiness
that the union fostered the fullest harmony. Yet Herbert,
the lady's eldest son, leaves all this unsaid ; he declines to
tread on such delicate ground ; and when he has occasion to

i See p. 9.

d

xx Introduction

refer to his stepfather by name, gives no hint of the relation-
ship. Other kindly protectors fare no better at his hands.
Donne, his mother's iiicncl and his own counsellor throughout
his youth, is barely mentioned l . Sir George More oi Losely,
who, as it happens, became mvoluntaiily Donne's father-in-
law, was Herbert's guardian after his father's death. Extant
letters prove Herbert's boyish liking for Sir George 2 ; but
not only is Ms name blotted out of the autobiography- a
circumstantial story is introduced to show that his uncle,
Sir Francis Ncwpoit, was the guardian of his minority, and
poor Sir George's many acts of kindness arc assigned to others.
Ben Jonson and Sclden, both lifelong acquaintances, arc
similarly ignored *. For many years Herbert's right to
Montgomery Castle was successfully disputed by his kinsman,
Shakespeare's William. Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, but here
again all is silence m Herbert's memoirs. If the reader place
by the side of Lord Herbert's account of his ridiculous quarrel
with Lord Howard of Waldcn the correspondence and ac-
count given by Lord Howard's second 4 , he will note very
strange discrepancies. Lord Herbert does not tell us (al-
though his letters prove it) that he was a party to a formal
public reconciliation, and immediately afterwards sent a
private challenge ; neither would it please him did he know

1 Donne had the highest opinion of Herbert, and encouraged him m his studios and
in his love ot books. Cf Donne's Letter No. Ivi to Heibeit sent with a copy of his
Biothanatos, and Donne's poem addressed to Heibeit 'at the siege of Juhers*, first
printed in the 1633 quarto of Donne's poems, pp 82-4 Hcrbeit wiote an elegy on
Donne (d 1631) which appears among his poems

2 Sec Appendix vn

3 The e.'rho-.t proo r o r Selden's intimacy with TIerbeit is a xe~* c - n < 1U note ad-
diessed to IMIU mdei d.ile ad Febiuary 1619-20 (But Mus MS \ : ,-' , .? f 31^) ,
the latest piooi i^ I'm ,ij pearance of Selden's name as an executor m Heineit's will
To Ben foriso Herbeit ('edu.ited his Sttjra ^f^tHrit, arid he eulogized Jonson in some
very ro.upliiiu i t.u hi is p-iixed i<> Joiivui'*) I'.ni-l.mi i> of Hoiare's Arts Potiita,
Ben ii tin ni'd i! < ( ornplni ,iL i. the following .

If men get name for some one virtue, then,
What man ait thou, that art so many men,
All-vntuous Her beit ' on whose every part
Tiuth ini^ht sp< I'd .ill hei \OKC, famo all her art ?
Whetln L Liu le.u uiig tin \ \\ould take or wit,
OL \.ilou , OL ihv j idgmcnt seasoning it,

l 'u si.i idii 1 .,' vpiujlu to thyself, thy ends
Like stiaight, thy piety to God and friends .
Their latter praise would still the greatest be,
And yet they, all together, less than thee

Another of Herbeit's poetic aquairitances was Thom.i^ C IH I \\, who went with him to
Paris (see p 103). On p 106 Thomas C.uew is disgriM d m earlier editions, thiough
mistranscription, as Thomas Caage Ileibert has a rofeiouco to * my witty Carew * in
his elegy on Donne
* See Appendix v.

Introduction xxi

that posterity had convinced itself, in spite of all his protesta-
tions to the contrary, that he never set foot in the place
appointed for the duel In France he would have us infer that
from the first he saw through Luynes' mean character, yet in
his private correspondence, penned during the first years of
their acquaintance, he praises Luynes without reserve. And
in spite of the political foresight on which he plumes himself,
with some justice in the last years of his embassy, he overlooks
the rise of Richelieu, the most notable fact in contemporary
French history l .

The reader will recognize that to attain a complete concep-
tion of Lord Herbert's character he must not solely confine Ins
attention to the autobiography. It deals with a fragment of
Lord Herbert's life, and imperfectly with that fragment. It
offers us testimony that for purposes of serious criticism needs
corroboration and amplification. To arrive at a final estimate
we must probe many topics which are barely alluded to in the
memoirs ; the details of the last years of Lord Herbert's life,
which are untouched by his memoirs, must be consulted ; and
we must appraise the evidence of mental and imaginative
capacity offered us in his philosophical speculations and in his
poetry.

Lord Herbert's public life in the years covered by his auto-
biography was a triumphal progress ; it was almost without
shadow His public life in after years is a dreary series of
disasters. It is indeed regrettable that Lord Herbert should
have lacked the opportunity, or rather (it may be) the dispo-
sition, to pen the record of his misfortunes. The extant
letters and papers written by him in his decline, show that
defeat and disgrace did not destroy his self-conceit. But the
effort to sustain the same self-satisfaction under stress of per-
plexing difficulties as in the face of smiling fortune, must have
exercised all his ingenuity, and would have probably proved
the most heroic instance on record of the sustaining power of
vanity. The facts of his later life, which, in the absence of
any connected presentation of them from his own pen, form
no very pleasing picture, are soon told. He was suddenly dis-
missed from the French embassy ; the abruptness of his dis-

i Minor inaccuracies are illustrated^by"%Herbert's contradictory statements as to
his own age (p 15) He repiesents himself to have bee n two years younger than was
the fact at the date of his marriage.

xxii Introduction

missal ruined his political reputation ; and although he
petitioned James I, and subsequently Charles I, again and
again for compensation, lie found all avenues to dignified
office closed to him *. 'I ever loved my book and a private
life more than any busy preferments ', he writes with curious
inconsistency near the close o his autobiography. He cer-
tainly did not yield to his exclusion from political place with-
out a struggle, in which other men would have been conscious
of painful humiliation. In season and out of season, he pressed
for a hcaimg. In plain, unvarnished terms he pointed out the
besotted blindness of neglecting such political merit as his.
As long as Buckingham lived he clung tenaciously to his
former patron ; he sought Charles's favour as Buckingham's
friend, and, to flatter the king, defended the favourite fiom
unfriendly critics after he was laid in his grave. He was
rewarded for his pains, not with high office, as he desired, but
with the cheapest of all honours of the time an Irish and an
English peerage. Buckingham's murder practically deprived
Herbert of all hold on the court, and with characteristic
versatility he laboured for his end through new channels. He
set himself to write a history of the reign of Henry VIII, in
which Charles I's ancestor was to appear as a man of virtue,
and the Reformation the apotheosis of righteousness. He
really took little interest in cither subject, as he confessed to
the Papal legate, but, time out of mind, he tried to impress the
King with his disinterested enthusiasm in taking up the work.
Doles of money and grants of disused apartments in royal
palaces were occasionally flung to him in answer to the peti-
tions in which ho lauded himself and his achievements past
and to come. But unmistakable marks of royal recognition
never reached him* He certainly deserved these as well as
any diplomatist of the day, but under the Stuarts, within and
without the court, no man got his deserts. At length the
Civil War grew imminent, and Herbert feigned at first the
enthusiasm of a staunch Royalist. He took advantage of a
general invitation to join the King's Council at York in 1640,
and protested against the bare thought of conceding any de-
mand to the enemies of the Crown. But a new generation of
courtiers had arisen since he played a really prominent part in
court society, and none heeded his woids. He retired to
* I have given a. detailed account of Ilei "belt's, latci public life on pp. 135 "-163.

Introduction xxiii

Montgomery Castle in dudgeon, pondered his grievances,
assumed a cynical indifference to the current party divisions,
and resolved to suffer as little personal inconvenience from the
war as possible At the same time as the Parliament gave him
a taste of its growing power, and threatened him with the
confiscation of his property, Rupert, Ins sovereign's nephew,
and the son of that Electress-Palatme to whom he had been in
earlier years chivalrously attached, came to Shrewsbury.
The Prince asked for his aid, and for an interview, and offered
to put his castle in a state of defence. Lord Herbert replied
by letter that he could defend himself ; that he disliked soldiers
about the house ; and that he had just entered on a new course
of physic which would forbid his meeting the Royalist leader.
Soon afterwards the Parliamentary general in the district
invited him to surrender ; he hesitated for a day or two ;
found the prospect of resistance uncongenial, and assented to
the demand. He remained j oint-master of his castle with the
Parliamentarians, and the Royalists straightway laid siege to
it His new friends relieved him, and he put himself wholly in
their hands. He went to London, lived to all outward appear-
ance on the happiest of terms with the Parliament men, re-
ceived a substantial pension from them, pursued his philoso-
phical studies, grew irritable m temper, declined in health,
and died in 1643 at the age of sixty-five. Before his death he
wrote a long series of epitaphs upon himself, in which he
announced his belief in the soul's immortality, and his antici-
pations of a happier life hereafter. His sons and all surviving
relatives remained true to their Royalist colours to the last,
and lost everything in the struggle. Lord Herbert saved his
property at the expense of his honour, and clearly had a poor
opinion of those who reversed the process. He showed some
sense of parental responsibility in making before his death
pecuniary provision for his children. His theoretical devotion
to military pursuits also received illustration in his will, where
he promised a pension in perpetuity to two wounded soldiers,
to be chosen by his younger son a Royalist captain, and
these pensioners were to stand permanently, fully armed, at
the gates of Montgomery Castle He asked the Parliament,
with characteristic complacency, to pay the arrears of his
pension to his elder son and heir, to enable the young man to
discharge the large fine inflicted on him for his consistent

xxiv Introduction

devotion to his sovereign At the date of his death Loicl
Hcrbeit had renounced the political ambitions which had
distracted him for the first fifty years and more of his
life. His political temperament belonged, in fact, to an
cailicr epoch to the reign of Elizabeth, in which politicians
were true to none but themselves ; and such a temperament
was ill adapted for a crisis that involved great political princi-
ples. The vanity and harmless peculiarities of his earlier life
weie nusmtciprctcd by a generation that had not known him
as a yoxing man, and they consequently degenerated into an
absorbing selfishness and confirmed eccentricities of conduct.
Herbcit's old age lacked * honour, love, obedience, troops of
friends ', and m their stead came curses both loud and deep.
It was overlooked that he was a vainglorious man, disappoint-
ed, through little fault of his own, of the worldly successes he
loved, or that outside politics he had laid the foundation of a
real and lasting reputation.

And here let us pait with Lord Hcrbeit in the role of courtier
and politician. Let us glance at him now in his study, when
he has closed the door on the distractions of court or political
life. The change is a striking one Apologetic tones arc no
more needed. The fashionable man of pleasure is one no
longer. The near-sighted politician, whose political horizon
was limited by hopes of his own advancement, becomes a
fai -seeing philosopher. In the solitude of his library the
frivolous worldling faces boldly the problems of human life ;
seeks the final cause of the processes of the human mind, and
brings all religious systems to the test of reason. He accepts
no man's judgment in place of his own ; he passes by all ac-
knowledged contempoiary authorities, and anticipates opin-
ions and methods that arc junior to him by at least two cen-
times. The nature of truth is the central theme of his earliest
speculations, and he is the only Englishman who has devoted
a large treatise to a purely metaphysical treatment of the
topic. The relations of abstract truth with religion next
absorbed his attention, and he was the first to seek a concep-
tion of the essentials of religion by applying the comparative
method to all the systems with which he was able to acquaint
himself. Such arc the labours of the man who pretended that
hih autobiography recorded all the achievements to which
posterity ought to attach a serious value.

Introduction xxv

Lord Herbert gives two or three passing hints in his auto-
biography that he had m his leisure moments dabbled in
philosophy, but it is so difficult and so dangerous to take him
seriously in his memoirs, that the reader who confines himself
to that part of his work alone, will altogether misjudge him on
these points. As soon as he could speak without fear of
imperfection or impertinence in his utterances, he worried
himself and his nurses (he tells us) with speculations as to
how he had come into the world, and how he should go out
of it. In the general digression on education which figures
somewhat inaptly in the early pages of the book, Herbert
contemns the subtleties of logic as being ' only tolerable in a
mercenary lawyer ', and recommends the pupil to devote
himself solely to that part of the science which will enable him
to detect fallacies in ' vicious argumentations '. ' Some good
sum of philosophy . . . which may teach him both the
ground of the Platonic and Aristotelian philosphy ', should
be acquired subsequently ; it will not be amiss to learn the
' Paracelsian principles ', and the arguments controverting
f the ordinary Peripatetic doctrine '. But all this, Lord
Herbert adds, in a characteristically light-hearted vein, e may
be performed in one year ; that term being enough for phil-
osophy, as I conceive, and six months for logic, for I am confi-
dent a man may have quickly more than he needs of these arts \
At the close of the memoirs Herbert shyly confesses to the
reader his love of books and of a private life, and adds with
conscious pride that he was an author himself. He had
begun a book in England, and had continued it in France
in the intervals of flirtation and negotiation. He had shown
his handiwork to two great scholars, Grotras and Tilenus, who,
' after they had perused it, and given it more commendations
than is fit for me to repeat, exhorted me earnestly to print and
publish it '. The title of the book De Veritate prout dis-
tingmtur a Revelat^one veris%mih 9 possMli et a falso alone
raises the suspicion that Lord Herbert is not speaking in his
usual manner, or that the bases of truth had all along divided
his attention with the frivolities of society. But it is neces-
sary to turn to the book itself to realize the significance of these
suggestions.

It is only desirable to point out here the salient features of
Lord Herbert's philosophy to treat it as evidence of his

xxvi Introduction

reflective and dialectical power, and of the note ol seriousness
in his mental constitution. Lord Ilerbeit writes in Latin
' Libcrc philosophcmur . . . Vcntatcm sine dote qiiccra-
mus ', he says 111 an opening address to the reader, and the
appeal chaiactcrizcs the whole work. Loid Herbcit attacks
his subject without delay. He lays down as an axiom that
truth exists, and thence deduces a scries of propositions as to
its permanence, its imivcisality, and the general capacity of
the mind to perceive truth. His theory of perception is very
hazily expressed, and is practically ignored in the latter part
of the treatise ; but the fact that he should have introduced
such a theory at all is proof of the thoi oughness of his method
and the sincerity of his aims. The mind, he says, consists of
an almost infinite number of what he terms ' faculties ', and
each thing has a form corresponding to one of these ' facul-
ties '. Whenever a thing is brought into contact with the
mind, the corresponding faculty becomes active, immediately
conforms to the thing, and the harmonious conforming of the
one with the other (intellect &$ cognoscentis cum re cognitd
congvuentia] establishes a perception of truth. Thus the mind
is no tabula rasa, or blank book, on which objects inscribe
themselves ; it is rather a closed book, only opened on the
presentation of objects. But although the ( faculties ' of the
mind arc as numerous as things, and there is thus a vntual
analogy between the human mind and the world, the mental
* faculties J may be roughly reduced to four great classes, to
which Herbert gives the titles Natural Instinct, Internal
Sense, External Sense, and D^scursus 9 or Reason *. And
here (so far as I understand the system) Lord Herbert
deviates a little from his old path, and makes no attempt to
maintain strictly his original theory of perception. He
discusses at length Natural Instinct, his first class of faculties,
which might more justly be designated Intellectual Instinct :
it closely corresponds to the Aristotelian ;>oOs, the School-
men's Intclligentia, the common sense of other phil-
osophy, and the light of nature of popular parlance. It is
the source of the common notions, primary truths, com-
mon principles (Kov>al cwofau,, notittB communes) 9 which exist
in every human being of sound and entire mind. These

l Sir William Hamilton calls the last head * tho discursive faculty ' , Hallam calh
t * reason ' , M clq R&nusat ' xaibonucmcnt '.

Introduction xxvii

notions are not the product of experience or observation ; they
are intuitions. External objects may excite them in us, but do
not convey them to us : they are implanted in us at our birth ;
they come direct from God ; they are the part of the divine
image and the divine wisdom with which every human being
is impregnated Lord Herbert carefully defines their distin-
guishing qualities ; they have the priority of all other kinds of
notions ; they are established independently of all secondary
considerations supplied by the conscious exercise of reason ;
they invite such universal consent that to deny them is to
abnegate human nature ; they are necessary to the conversa-
tion of mankind. The other three classes of faculties act
under the direction of the natural or intellectual instinct.
The ' internal sense ' distinguishes the agreeable from the
disagreeable, and good from evil ; it is identical with the
conscience. The ' external sense ' is nothing more than
what is commonly known as sensation. The ( discursive
faculty ' determines the relations between the various concep-
tions produced by the other sets of faculties : it deals with
quiddity, quality and quantity, time and space. Herbert
finally insists that man's capacity for religion distinguishes him
from animals rather than reason. x

Herbert's religious views show as striking an originality as
Ins purely philosophical speculations. He develops them in
the concluding sections of the De Ventate as well as in two
treatises Rehgio La^c^ 2 and De Rehgione Genhhum 3 which
practically form appendices to the work on Truth. His doc-
trine, briefly expressed, runs thus : Religion is common

* Two elaborate accounts of Lord Herbert's philosophic system and religions views
have been published on the continent M de JRe'musat gives an admirable sketch of
the subject in his Lord Herbert, so, Vie ctscs (Euvres, Paris, 1874, pp 130-212 A some-
what fuller exposition may be found in hduard Lord Herbert von Cherbury Em knti$cher
B&itrag zur Geschichte des Psychologismus uiid d&r Rehgtons-phtlosophte, von Dr. C. Guttler.
Munich, 1897. Sir William Hamilton has briefly described the characteristic features
of Herbert s philosophy in his No*es on Rwd's Philosophy of Common Sense (Reid's
Works, od Hamilton, n pp 781, 782) Ueberweg touches on it in his H^story of Philo-
sophy, n, 34, 40, and in the Appondi\ to the English translation (n, 354, 355) an elaborate
notice is to be tonne! 1 hough translated into French in 1639, the De Ventate lias never
appeared in English (sec bibliography on p 134)

2 This treatise was published in London for the fust time in 1645, together with an
appendix to the De V&rrtate, entitled De Causes Errorum, an exposition of the logical
fallacies The Refagw Latci, occupies twenty-seven pages at the close of the work, and
is followed by an Appendix Ad Sacerdotcs de Rehgione Laici and three Latin poems,
two of which are reprinted in the autobiography Another edition of the volume was
issued in 1656

3 This work was published posthumously at Amsterdam in 1663 (ad edit 1700},
It was translated into Kngli-. 1 ' 1>\ \\ I ruis in 1700 This is the only English version
of anv of Loid lloiboit's philosophical \\iitings

e

xxviii Introduction

to the human race. Stripped of accidental characteristics,
and reduced to its essential form, it consists of five notita com-
mimes, or innate ideas, which spring from the natural instinct.
The common notions are (i.) That there is a God. (To con-
firm the existence of a God, Herbert relics on the argument of
design in the created world, and ho anticipates Paley in illus-
trating his argument by the example ol a watch) 1 . (2.) That
He ought to be worshipped (3.) That virtue and piety arc
essential to worship. (4.) That man ought to repent of his
sms. (5.) That there are rewards and punishments in a future
life. It is unnecessary and unreasonable to admit any articles
of religion other than those. The dogmas of the Churches,
reputed to embody divine revelations, arc the work of priests,
who have endeavoured to establish their own influence for their
own advantage by shrouding these five ideas in obscurely
worded creeds. To prove the universality of these ideas, Her-
bert submits the religion of the Gentiles to an historical exam-
ination, and adduces the testimony of Seneca and Plato, of
Cicero, Lucretius, and Ovid to show that the religious belief
of the Greeks and Romans, when stripped of sacerdotal super-
stition, is identical with his five articles. Certain of the
articles in fact maintained a purer shape in the ancient than
in the modern world. Death and a future life were more vividly
and profitably realized by the believers in Elysium and Tartarus
than by those who christened the hereafter Heaven and Hell.
Aristotle has defined the common notions of virtues more
effectively than any other wiiter. Thus revealed leligion IB
practically rejected by JLorcl lleibert as the artifice of an hier-
archy. Moreover, no one form of icvealed religion icccivos
universal assent ; every form of it is matter of endless contro-
versy : no one form of it, therefore, can be true, since univer-
sality of assent is one of the axiomatic conditions of truth,
Any theory of revelation which represents God to have re-
peatedly favoured one part of the human race, to the exclusion
of all the rest of it, is demonstrably inconsistent with the notion
of the divine attributes, inculcated by the natural instinct.

1 ' FCt qiuclcm si hoiologium per cltom ct noctom mtcgram hoxn5 signantor inrlirans.
viclcrit timspwm rion men to captiib, J<1 conulio aitcquo siumm factum jucbravciit
non plum dcmcus, qut hone munch nuxchimvm non pci -viglnU gimtuor

,

limtum, sccl noc tot si k oul,i circuit us MIOS obounteiu .inlin.ulxcituil, non id omno sipl-
enti>bimo iituiue poh'ntissunoiiuc nhmi nutori tiilni.it ? '- J>t Ktlmuwt Gent.. r,\p.
xiii. Tho idcM has Ixvn tiaml to Cioiuo, 7V ffatara Drnnun, II, ^. Ji Is to IK* found
in many wiltfis infonuocliato b^twoou 1'aloy and llerboit,

Introduction xxix

But to test reputed revelation we must not rely upon the
faculty of natural instinct, but oil the discursive faculty. We
must examine the character and condition of the person to
whom the revelation is presumably made, and this examination
is to be conducted on such searching lines that no received
revelation answers the test. With some inconsistency Lord
Herbert adds that the only revelation that a man can reason-
ably accept as true is one made immediately to himself, and so
far is he from denying the possibility of this kind of personal
revelation, that he solemnly asserts in his autobiography that
when he was hesitating as to whether he ought to publish his
treatise on Truth, God gave him a direct sign of approval, on
which he acted \ In his Rehgw Laid, and its appendix Ad
Sacerdotes, priesthoods are generally denounced, and Lord Her-
bert explains his attitude towards Christianity. He takes up
the neutral position that it is the best religion because it is
most readily reducible to the five essential articles. He sees in
its rites an endeavour to give prominence to the common
notions of religion, but he renounces its claim to a special reve-
lation and all sympathy with those professors of Christianity
who believe themselves to be in any wise specially favoured by
God f the impious enemies of the universal Divine Provi-
dence '. Lord Herbert insists, that whatever form of religion
a virtuous man adopt, or whatever government he live under,
lie will obtain inward peace now and eternal happiness here-
after.

Ethics do not enter very materially into Lord Herbert's
philosophy, and in his sparse references to the subject, he
inclines, in spite of his eulogies of virtue, to a lax system of
morals. He does not set himself up, he reminds us, as an
apologist for wicked men, but sin (he argues) is very often
attributable to hereditary physical causes, to an inherent and
irresistible propensity to vice, which invites a very mild censure
from rational beings. Lord Herbert holds the sanguine belief
that none are so wicked as to sin purposcdly, and with an high
hand, against the eternal majesty of God 2 . He urges men

i Page i34, r */ra, and see also the account of Lord Herbert's death on p. 161. Her*
bert believed in the efficacy of prayer, and a prayer of his, expressing his gratitude to
God for having given him a knowledge of His greatness, is published in Warner's Episto-
lary Cunostties. Herbert's will opens with a bequest of ' my rational soul, with all
its divine faculties, being, understanding, will, faith, hope, love, and joy to God, my
creator, redeemer, and preserver f .

xxx. Introduction

to pass over injuiics clone to tlicms elves, because a great and
good God will hereafter assign double punishment to those
aggressors who do not suffer for their aggressions in this world l .
But while he treats ethics loosely and unsystcmatically, Her-
bert insists on the high impoitance of education. The only
obviously serious passages in the autobiography arc those
devoted to an exposition of an educational system, which has
much of Milton's loftiness of aim and Locke's sober sense a .
Hereditary disease must be counteracted m infancy ; manners
are as important as learning, ' for among boys all vice is easily
learned ' , Greek should be studied before Latin ; the logic
of the Schools should not occupy much of the pupil's time, nor
should philosophy nor mathematics ; the rudiments of medical
and botanical and ethical science should be at the command
of all men, and athletic exercises must never be neglected.
Botany Herbert especially commends as ' a fine study ' : ' it is
worthy a gentleman to be a good botanic, that so he may know
the nature of all herbs and plants, being our fellow-
creatures and made for the use of man ' 3 . Hcibcrt was not
quite satisfied that he had treated education with adequate
fulness in his autobiography. * I confess ', lie wiitcs there 4 ,
* I have collected many things to this purpose which I forbear
to set down here, because, if God grant me life and health, I
intend to make a little treatise concerning these points '.
This ' little treatise ' was written later, and after remaining long
in an anonymous manuscript, was printed with Lord ilcrbcit's
name in 1768, under the title of A Dialogue between a Tittor and
a PupiL Its authorship is assuredly proved by internal evi-
dence 6 , but its purpose is less practical than might be expected.
After the tutor has appraised the value of various studies, in
which botany holds, as before, a high place, the pupil asks why,
in matters of religion, priests should advise him to rely on faith
rather than on reason ? The tutor replies by pointing out the

l p. 33, infra. 2 pp. 33-43. infm.

'* P 31, %nfr&, Heihctt's medical Knowledge, ot which ho gives sovctal examples
ln']i)\v ([i[i sB io^, is derived from the woiks of J\it,u I'lsus ,uut his tlibtiplos My friend,
Di Mm MI, in Moon., points out to me thai it is oi no stuutifio value whatever, and has
the \u> st dt i < ts oi empiricism.

4 pp 43, mfra

5 See the notes on pp. 27, 31, 39, 43, Abraham Solid presented the MS In 1704
to T>r Wondwaid. It subsequently passed into the hands of Colonel King, Di Wood-
ward's exeetuor, and thence apparently to W. Bathoe, the bookseller! who published
it HI X768 The MS. in now in the Bodleian Library.

Introduction xxxi

evils of an irrational faith, brings the argument round to Lord
Herbert's five points of religion, and corroborates them by an
examination of Christian and heathen theology. This little
treatise ', therefore, though professedly an appendix to Lord
Herbert's educational disquisition m his autobiography, is
virtually a final restatement of his religious position. But
it is of value as positively proving the author's earnest desire to
supplant the received rehgious teaching by free and unrestricted
thought in the minds of young as well as of old men..x

Lord Herbert's treatment of philosophy and cognate thomcs
is not without defect. In his purely metaphysical works his
diction is obscure where precision is least dispensable x ; wire-
drawn distinctions are made between terms and propositions
which are for all practical purposes identical, and the author
excludes all illustration of his meaning from matters of common
knowledge. In the discussion of his five points of religion, he
often falls a victim to the theological bias which he so severely
denounces in others. His deduction of a future life from the
natural instinct which prompts men to imagine its existence,
is only worthy of the professed theologian, and much else of his
reasoning on religious topics is obviously circular. But the
defects arc few compared with the undoubted merits of Lord
Herbert's achievement. He has the greatest virtue of all
speculative writing, the virtue of originality. He had read
such books as were accessible to him on the subjects with which
he dealt. None of them satisfied him, and rejecting all their
conclusions, he worked the questions they professed to answer
out for himself. No authority, he said, deserved a slavish
adherence. A philosopher must think for himself, and have no
personal nor professional ends to serve He must be ingenuus
et sui arbitni a . This m itself was a sure sign that Herbert was
a sincere progressionist. The idol of authority was still wor-
shipped by the mass of his contemporaries, but he resolutely
set his face against it Not the least important part of his
work is his dignified and rational plea for universal toleration
in matters of rehgious belief.

It is somewhat characteristic of his temper that Herbert

i Herbert apologizes for spkalmata a errata at the close of the D* Ventate, and asks
the reader to correct them for himself. HaUam is especially severe on him for his ob-
scurities of terminology.

a De Ventate is dedicated Lectori cuwis tufogrt et tUtbatt judtw.

xxxii Introduction

should have made no mention of Bacon in his philosophical
works, and have regarded himself as the one man of the age who
daiecl to think for himself. In the whole of his writings there
is but a single reference to the greatest of contemporary
thinkers, Herbert confesses that he followed Bacon's example
in turning his attention to the history of Henry VIII ; but
although he admits that his modelBacon's Life of Henry VII
was a performance that did honour to its author, and that
its author was ' a gieat personage ', he affects to be more
depressed by Bacon's disgraceful end than impiessed by his
literary achievements *. Bacon was the friend of George
Herbert the poet 2 , and was in all likelihood personally known
to George's brother. But Herbert's silence is very intelligible.
The two men were in their characters and in the results of
their labours as the poles asunder. Unlike Herbert, Bacon
measured accurately the trivialities of court life : he
plied them for his own advantage, but he fully recognized their
hollowncss ; he knew his own superiority to them and to those
who found plcasuic in them. But as philosophers Herbert
and Bacon chfier more materially than in the conduct of their
lives. The latter sought to extend and systematize knowledge,
to put into man's hand and brain the means of conqucimg
nature by enabling him to interpret it, to enlist nature in the
service of mankind. ' Man, is but what he knoweth ', and
experiment is the only sure road to knowledge All d priori
reasoning is to be icnounced ; induction is the only method
that commands success in the pursuit of knowledge. Elabora-
ting his argument. Bacon surveyed the whole field of human
knowledge, and showed how inductive methods advanced its
limits and how deductive methods narrowed them. Herbert's
scheme was not less ambitious, but did not cover the same
ground. He was content to investigate the mental processes
by which man could acquire any knowledge at all, and hero
he declared experiment to be of no avail. He therefore relied on
deductive argument alone. Bacon has hinted that if he had
attacked this subject he would have applied inductive methods
to it as to all his other speculations. He had no sympathy
with metaphysics? which he defined as a temporary substitute
for physics ; he asserted that when scientific induction had been

Baoott dedicated Ms translation of the Psalms (1625) to George Ilorbcit.

Introduction xxxiii

sufficiently systematized, metaphysics would succumb at its
approach, would (we may take it) form part of psychology, and
be as amenable to practical experiment as any other branch of
science. For the present he deemed it well to let the topic
alone. Religious speculation was in much the same case. He
tacitly assumed a vague relationship between religion and
morality, but he avoided a discussion which could neither
strengthen nor weaken the framework of his scientific system.
He was content to describe religion as it was, and to treat it
as based ' on the word and work of God and upon the light of
nature '. Reason, he said, must not attempt to prove or
examine the mysteries of faith and these mysteries he identi-
fies with the ordinarily accepted teaching of revelation. In
religious debate Herbert was thus logically far in advance of
Bacon, and they had few other topics in common. There
is nothing, therefore, ungenerous in the failure of the younger
writer to make any acknowledgment of the work of the
older a .

In their immediate effect on contemporary opinion, Herbert's
philosophical writings were little better than abortive. Al-
though widely read 2 , their significance was not appreciated.
While the purely speculative part proved unintelligible, the
religious discussions excited nearly universal hostility, beget-
ting hbros non liberos. Of the treatise De Verttate, Sir William
Dugdale writes in 1674 : ' It much passeth my understanding,
being wholly philosophical ' s . Evelyn notes in his Diary that
Herbert's brother, Sir Henry, presented him with a copy 4 ,
but gives no indication that he put himself to the pains of read-
ing it. The only English writer of the time who attempted a
serious discussion of Lord Herbert's philosophy was Nathaniel
Culverwel, a fellow of Emanuel College, Cambridge, whose
Discourse of the Light of Nature was first published in 1652.
Culverwel is as powerful a writer in support of the doctrine of
d priori knowledge as Lord Herbert himself, but he opposes
the theory of innate ideas, and asserts, in contradiction to Lord

1 They are most closely m agreement in their references to Telesms, who had anti-
cipated some of Bacon's arguments in favour of experiment as the only sure load to
knowledge Herbert advises young men to study Telesms's writings, and clearly at-
taches high value to them Bacon similarly applauds them m hib treatise De jProurt/wtt,
and owes more to them, than he acknowledges (See note on p. 27, mira )

2 The first edition of De Venfate (1634) was succeeded by a second in 1633, and a
third in 1645

3 Dugdale's Diary and Correspondence, p 397

4 Evelyn's Diary, ed Bray and Wheatley* 11, 36.

xxxiv Introduction

Herbert, that the suggesting influence of sense and experience
are necessary to the translation of our primary notions into con-
sciousness. But when Culverwcl proceeds to erect a theologi-
cal superstructure upon his speculative theories in close con-
formity with orthodox Christianity, he will have no further
truce with the author of De Veritate. Religion, according to
Culverwcl, ' is built upon a surer and higher rock upon a more
adamantine and precious foundation * than Herbert's * com-
mon notions ', and he finally identifies Herbert with those who
have ' arrived to that full perfection of error . . . that
have a powder-plot against the Gospel , that would very
compendiously behead all Christian religion at one blow a
device which old and ordinary heretics were never acquainted
withal ' l . In this spirit Herbert was criticized by Thomas
Halyburton, a professor of divinity at St. Andrews, who was
especially scandalized by Heibert's identification of the princi-
ples of true religion with notions current in pagan writers. 2
Richard Baxter, in More Reason for the Christian Religion, and
No Reason against it (1672), animadverts in a like temper on
Lord Herbert's arguments, and insists that the Scriptures are
the sole product of the Spirit's inspiration, and contain no word
that is not infallibly true. ' Supernatural evidence ' alone can
produce a satisfactory apprehension of religion ; and thcro is no
supernatural evidence outside the Gospel of Christ. Charles
Blonnt (1654-1693) is the only seventeenth century writer in
Knglancl who proved himself a disciple of Lord Herbert, but he
was no original thinker, but a confirmed plagiarist, and literally
borrowed from his master without always acknowledging his
obligations. He published a Rchgio Laici in 1682, which is a
slavish reproduction of Lord Herbert's volume of tho name,
and this had been preceded in 1680 by Great is Diana of the
Ephesians ; or, the Original of Idolatry, together with the Politick
Institution of the Gentiles' Sacrifices, a feeble reflection of Her-

1 Ciilverwel's *g of .\Viin , i> 326, m the ropnnt published at Edinbi igh m iS ,7
See also pp.^28-134, ami pn 211, aja Tho preface to this edition, by Johu CAUUS
dy Sir William Hamilton, m his edition of Reid's works

M A., is well woithy of , , WWJM>

(p. 783) , justly calls attention to Culvcrwel's learning and intelligence Robert GreviUo
Loid Brooke, ifmaikalric foi hi* enlightened and tolerant views, was author of a work
of n similar kind 7//< Natitn of Truth, 1641 But Lord Brooke confesses that he
had not lead I Mint's De Vmtate veiv recently, and did not remember it (p 40) , ho
.ippin if lies lus sublet fiorn. i piucly dilution point of view, while working out the
riituiiu tlmn % f Hi it till our idir* r" -ri-i*'w^irMi r* a former existence. I>r John
VVallis, tho iii.iflitin,itician v n plu. 1 t >. ' \, i J. ,' Tried, 1643, m which he showed
tho inmiisiBtau \ of uli>ntifx uiji , . \ , i, i . i fa< t wilh implanted ideas
" A'ii/iir/ KiltKitni trnuf/itnnt (1714) is the title of XIcilylnuKui*h woik

Introduction xxxv

bert's De Religione Gentilium 1 . Not until Locke wrote did
Herbert, as a philosopher, receive anything like justice from
his own countrymen. Locke disagrees with him at every turn,
but he honestly explains his position ; and no better introduc-
tion to Herbert's system is at present accessible than the first
book of Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding. Locke
as an empiricist and sensationalist hunts to the death the theory
of innate ideas, but he accepts Herbert's five ' common notions '
of religion as truths of reason, and in his Reasonableness of
Christianity he joins hands with Herbert in denouncing the
irrational dogmas of priests, although he is content to deduce
a definition of faith from an historical examination of Scripture.
At a later date, Dr Leland (16911766) christened Herbert the
father of English Deism , and while examining his doctrine
from an unfriendly point of view, supplies another intelligible
exposition of Herbert's religious writings 2 .

Abroad, at an earlier date than at home, Herbert found the
recognition that was due to him, but there, too, he failed to
make converts or disciples. In 1643 Herbert presented a copy
of the De Veritate to Charles Diodati, Milton's friend, and
Diodati forwarded it to Gassendi, eminent as the champion of
Epicurean atomism, and the reviver of systematic materialism.
In Gassendi's Works 3 is an adequate discussion of Herbert's
system. He agrees in the main with his theory of perception
intellectus cognoscentis cum re cognita congruentia ; but com-
plains very politely, it is true of Herbert's obscurity, objects
that man's reason deals not with the real nature of things, but
with such appearances of them as are known to him through
the senses, and doubts the universality of Herbert's common
notions. Descartes, the most eminent of Herbert's foreign
contemporaries, also spoke of Herbert with respect, and made
a thorough study of his works. But he likewise is not deeply
impressed by their veracity. ' J'y trouve ', he writes of them,
' plusieurs choses fort bonnes, sed non publici saporis ; car il y
a pen de personnes qui soient capables d'entendre la metaphy-

1 Blount claimed to have used some unpublished notes by Lord Herbert in his best-
known work 'The Two First Books of Apollonuis Tyaren*, written on gin nil v in
Greek, with Philological Notes tipon each chapter ' (1680), but ho ipp.ncnllv onlv clio\\
upon Herbert's published hooks See Sir Leslie Stephen's article on Blount in the
Dictionary of National Jiiographv

2 Di John Leland 's View of the Principal Dwtical Writers, i, 134 Charles Blount
is placed second on Iceland's list of English Deists

3 Opera, m, 411.

xxxvi Introduction

sique. Et pour le general clu livre il tient tin chemin fort diff6-
rent dc cclui quo j'ai suivi. . . . Enfin par conclusion, encore
quc jc ne ptussc m'accorclcr en tout aux sentiments clc cot
an tour, jc nc laissc pas clc Tcslimcr bcauconp audessus dcs
csprits ordmaircs.' Neither as philosopher, mathematician,
nor physicist did Descartes accept Herbert's guidance *.

Of the solid seriousness of Lord Herbert's student life ample
proof has already been adduced, but it is only just to him to
supplement the evidence with a few words on his poetry and his
historical work. Little as we might expect it, he was free from
the puniest of all forms of vanity which prompts the would-be
poet to rush into print as soon as his verse is committed to
paper. So far as Lord Herbert himself was concerned, the
world at large might still be without the poems which came
from his pen. They were printed for the first time by his
brother Henry, seventeen years after their author had been
laid in the grave. Yet from youth till he was at least fifty
years old did Herbert solace his leisure with the production of
English and Latin poetry. And with characteristic versatility
he did not restrict his efforts to any one class of composition.
Love and philosophy alternately inspire his muse ; sonnets and
epitaphs, ditties and satires occupy his attention by turns. As
a poet, Herbert proves himself the ablest of all the disciples of
Donne, Like his master, he revels m subtleties of thought and
diction, and very often exhibits so crude a power of expression
as to offend a sensitive reader's ear 2 . No versifier ever lum-
bered more awkwardly through ten pages of print than does
Lord Herbert in his two satires 3 . His fantastic echo-poems
arc too quaint to be pleasing, and far-fetched conceits repel us
in the epitaphs on his fucnds. When at his best, we can never
be certain that the current of his utterances will not be inter-
rupted by some grotesque discord. Nevertheless Lord Herbert
has every right to the title of poet. The author of the Ditty

ici 'tttau tut tnt t / , , * ,

2 JBrn Toiivm told Prummond of H,i\vtlmnulfn m iCny that ' Doiiw said to lain
ho wrote th.U I piUpli on Prince Henry, Look to me, Fatth {1613}, to match Snr Kd.
Horlwut in obscurcness * (Ben Jettison's (.otwerwhons with Orummond, p. 8). Herboit
also wote fin epitaph on Puna 1 Homy in 1613.

3 The hrst is entitled The Vafi* I'HUJUK of fit , and the ^crond, Satwa Secumla of
Tmwllen from /**% i<3 addrossotl to lien Jonson Tho lormcr is d.itccl August 1608,
tho latter Beptembei 1608. I give an extract from the second on p. 48, note.

Introduction xxxvii

in Imitation of the Spanish possessed true lyrical inspiration.

Now that the Apiil of your youth adorns

The garden of your face,
Now that for you each knowing lover mourns,

And all seek to your grace,
Do not repay affection with scorns.

What though you may a matchless beauty vaunt,

And all that hearts can move
By such a power that scemeth to enchant,

Yet, without help of love,
Beauty no pleasure to itself can grant

Then think each minute that you lose a day.

The longest Youth is short,
The shortest Age is long ; Time flies away,

And makes us but his sport,
And that which is not Youth's is Age's prey

Verse like this recalls Hcrrick in his most graceful moods, and
evinces far higher powers of reflection. In his purely con-
templative poems, which chiefly deal with * Platomck Love'
Lord Herbert has reminded a very competent critic of Mr.
Robert Browning's forms of thought and expression ; and a
quaint sonnet addressed to Black Itself is not without resem-
blance to Blanco White's famous sonnet on Night. But Lord
Herbert is brought into closest affinity with modern poetry
by the masterly command he displayed over the metre which
Lord Tennyson has carried to perfection in his In Memonam.
He has anticipated the Laureate in many of the finest effects
of which the latter has proved the metre capable, as the follow-
ing examples prove :

You are the first were ever lov'd,

And who may think this not so true,
So little knows of love or you,

It need not otherwise be prov'd.

Yet, as in our Northern chme

Rare fruits, though late, appear at last ,
As we may see, some years being past,

Our orange trees grow ripe with time ;

xxxvili Introduction

So think not strange, if Love to bicak
His wonted silence now makes bold
Fox [when] a love is seven ycais old,

Is it not time to learn to speak * 1

111 his Latin verso Lord Herbert often expresses hmiseli
clumsily ancl inharmomously, but taken as a whole his Latin
poems ioim a substantial testimony to his scholarship and
general culture.

Hcrbcit's History of Henyy VIII is his most ambitious essay
in English prose The work was undertaken, as I have shown
below, with political objects, and unfortunately exhibits little
of that independent criticism which gives value to Lord Her-
bert's philosophical writings. It is an unmeasured eulogy of
Henry VIII's statesmanship, and a laboured endeavour to con-
done the crimes of his private life 2 . Yet, in apparent contra-
diction of his aims, Herbert acknowledged the obligation which
lies upon the historian to deduce his facts from original research.
How far he personally engaged in the examination of the docu-
ments which are incorporated in the history has been matter
of dispute. He employed many clerks to search the Paper
Olfice at Whitehall, and one of these, Thomas Master, a Fellow
of New College, Oxford, was popularly reputed to have had a
large share in the construction of the published book \ But no

1 These verses arc fioni the Dittv, pp 41-43, in J. Chin ton Collins' edition oi the
poems But An Ode itf>on a quwttnn moved whether lova should continue for ever, pp
<)2-<jiJ, should also be examined, and would deserve quotation if space permitted it
Mr Churton Collins remarks on the affinity of Lord Tennyson's and Herbert's metio
in the ntrodactio i to Hs edition, the whole of which Is well worthy the perusal of the
stud'vt, <>i Loiil Ht'i'Kil s writings. Ilerbeit seems to have suggested another poem
of the Laureate in the lines beginning .

Teais, flow no MVVC*, oi if you needs must flow,
Fall v i MI > i -J m

2 See pp. 142 ct t>eq

3 Wood, m his Athatue Q\,on t ed. Bliss, iii^ says of Mastet . * lie was a drudge to,
and assisted trrith, Fd'w.iKl, T ord 1 Tc'-lwt of Chcrburv, when he was obtaining materials
!oi tar \\utiiif i' -he / in c/ Km; Htnry VIII Lorn thick volumes in folio ol such
materials I have lying by me now, in every one of which I hud his handwriting, either
in mteihmuR, adding, ot collecting, and one of these tour, which is entitled Colled-
amontm hb Set,wulum, is mostly written by lum, collected uom. Parliament^Kolls. tho
Paper OJfico at \\ In LI h 'I 1 , Vir .. -General's Office, books belonging: to^the Clerks o! the
COUIK ilj MSS in toLUi.i's 1 il>iai\, books of Convocations of the Cleigy, etc, punted
antluus, etc And ' i i -ML i, i. 1 i ', i .11 '<' ,\.i 1 1-1 -special hand in composing the
said I tfe of Ktn% If ij I J I ! t \ i ' -, ), t " -i , , < turned mostly into Latin, but
nrvei punted), ;o ' > i i ' 1. 1 M 1 i i- v i -it- I *r-> book, DC Vtntatc, or otheis '
\t\ atlrctionitc I tti.i epitaph on Master, who died m K>n> an d some Latin hexameters,
tMini It'll Mi,i<ni J.'v-na, or a Shovilboard-ralrtt, to Mr Mer\tcr, appeal among HeibortS
poems. Aubrey states that Mastoi hvod with Iteibeit till 1642 The MS. volumes
containing Herbert's materials for his history are now in Jesus College Library The
work was lust publislud m 1649 by a London stationei mimed Whitakor Whi taker
had some litigation m the. House of Loids with Lord Herbeit's grandson Kdwaid as
to his right to punt the book, each litigant affirming that Loid Ilorbeit had given tho
MS. to IIIIBI for his sole use.

Introduction xxxix

solid argument lias been produced to rob Herbert of the sub-
stantial credit ol its authorship, or to prove that his assistants
lent him more than mechanical service. He therefore deserves
recognition as the producer of a standard historical authority,
which is vitiated, but not rendered nugatory, by its frank
acknowledgment of partisanship. The style of Lord Herbert's
history is as unequal as that of the autobiography, and proves
that whether as prose-writer or poet, he did not possess full com-
mand of the instrument of language. He depreciates his style
very frequently in his private letters 1 , and although self-
depreciation from his lips must not be assumed to be sincere,
his remarks about his failings in this respect deserve to be taken
literally. The construction of his sentences is often suspi-
ciously involved. Where concentrated energy of utterance is
necessary to give lull effect to his meaning, he sometimes grows
tediously loquacious. In his philosophical works he acknow-
ledged conciseness and precision to be of prime importance, and
wisely took refuge from himself, not perhaps with complete
success, in the artificial restraints imposed by the Latin lan-
guage But although his English prose lack the niceties of a
great style, his vocabulary is so simple and so copious that he
can rarely be misunderstood. He is perspicuous even when he
is ungrammatical. He is ever pretentious in his choice of
words, and has no mannerisms. His diction is without the
majesty of Milton or of Sir Thomas Browne ; but it has the
historical merit of reflecting the best characteristics of the
everyday speech of its day 2 .

I have endeavoured to place before the reader a just estimate
of Lord Herbert's character in all its contradictory aspects ;
to make manifest that the light-hearted vainglorious man of the
world whose autobiography is printed below was, contrary to
all the expectations which the work excites, a poet and a subtle-
souled psychologist. Inconsistencies are apparent in all Lord
Herbert's actions, and in all his speculations ; and some such

1 Cf pp. 141 and 185

2 Lord Herbert also apparently interested himself in mechanical inventions. He
sent to Windebank in 1635 a series of inventions suggested to him by an anonymous
f enchman, which included improvements in warships, gun-caraages, and a proposal
for the construction of a floating bathing-palace on the Thames, opposite Somerset
House (CaL State Papers, 1635, pp 62, 63) In 1638 he showed much interest in Thomas
Bushnell's survey of North*Wales for the purpose of discovering the presence of silver
ore (Col. State Papers, ard Oct 1638).

xl Introduction

fai -icaching theory, as the poet Browning was wont to
weave lound J anus-like personalities, is necessary to weld Lord
Herbert's inconsistencies m one harmonious whole. It should
be remembered, however, that .Lord Herbert's complicated
character docs not stand alone in his own age, and that Bacon
and Raleigh present as puxzlmg enigmas to the biogiapher.
Probably in the spirit of the time a solution ol such riddles
may be discovei able. That spirit was a strange concoction,
jLoimcd oi simples that could not readily mingle. Ideas that
sprang from modern and from ancient Italy, from classicism and
medievalism, from base and pure forms of Christianity, all
sought at once, in the late sixteenth and the early seventeenth
centuries, to gain the mastery over Englishmen's minds. In
the seething strife high ideals were foimed and translated into
act, but low ideals were also generated, and demanded an equal
share of recognition. Torn, asunder by conflicting ambitions,
men's conduct lacked internal unity. Greatness allied itself
with littleness, virtue with vice. Romanccis have figured men
living two lives, men combining two distinct personalities in <i
single coipoieal iramc. Such freaks of nature arc commonly
believed to find their homes in dieamlaiid ; but they arc confined
to no impalpable realm, the divided aims of Hcibert's, and ot
Bacon's, and of Raleigh's lives prove indubitably that the
romancers do not always romance.

THE history of the publication of the Autobiography deserves attention
In his will Lord Herbert writes ' And whereas I have begun a mani-
fest of my action in these late troubles, but am prevented in the review
thereof, I do hereby leave it to a person, whom I shall by word instruct,
to finish the same, and to publish it to the world by my direction, and
as having the expresse charge layd upon him by me for doing it ' But
the friend's name, if ever spoken, has not reached us. It is not quite
clear whether Lord Herbert's refers to his autobiography in his testa-
mentary reference to the c manifest of my action in these late troubles'
which he had begun, but had left unfinished But the extant autobio-
graphy, which breaks off very abruptly, may well have been a preliminary
chapter of the contemplated * manifest ' Two copies of the MS. of the
autobiography remained after his death in Lord Herbert's family, one,
which is said to be the original draft, with his grandson Edward, and
the other, which is said to have been a copy of the original, with his brother
Sir Henry According to Oldys, the Lady Dowager Herbert, widow of
Henry, the fourth lord of Cherbury, had lent the first copy to the Earl of
Clarendon, on June n, 1696 (Oldys' Diary, p 25) Clarendon returned
it, but it was found many years later m an illegible state at Lady Her-
bert's house, Lymore, Montgomeryshire, and was apparently destroyed
The second copy was sold with SIL Henry's estate at Ribbisford, but the
new owner restored it to the Earl of Powis about 1738- Under date,
aoth December 1763, Walpole refers to this second copy m his correspond-
ence, and it was this MS which he published. He was printing the MS
at his own press at Strawberry Hill during the winter of 1763-4, and
promised Mason an impression ' of the most curious and entertaining
book in the world ... the Life of the famous Lord Herbert of Cherbury
(Walpole's Letters, ed. Cunningham, iv, 156) On i6th July 1764, Wal-
pole writes to George Montagu that the Life is ' the most curious book
that ever set its foot into the world ', and gives the history of the under-
taking ' I found it a year ago at Lady Hertford's, to whom Lady Powis
had lent it. I took it up and soon threw it down again, as the dullest
thing I ever saw. She persuaded me to take it home My Lady Walde-
grave was here m all her grief Gray aud I read it to amuse her We could
not get on for laughing and screaming. I begged to have it m print.
Lord Powis, sensible of the extravagance, refused I insisted he per-
sisted. I told my Lady Hertford it was no matter, I would print it, I
was determined I sat down and wrote a flattering dedication to Lord
Powis, which I knew he would swallow : he did, and gave up his ancestor
(ibtd 25^). On i6th December Walpole writes, that c the thing most in
fashion is my edition of Lord Herbert's Life , people are mad after it , I
believe, because only two hundred were printed ' (&**. 302) It is reason-
able to suppose that the MS, was returned to Lord Powis, but the present
Earl a descendant, through the female line, of Walpole's friend, has in-
formed me that he is ignorant of its present whereabouts Walpole s
edition was reprinted in 17^0, 1809, and m 1826.

xli

THE LIFE

OF

EDWARD, LORD HERBERT

OF CHERBURY

I DO believe that, if all my ancestors had set down their
lives in writing and left them to posterity, many documents
necessary to be known of those who, both participate of l
their natural inclinations and humours, must in all probability
run a not much different course, might have been given for
their instruction ; and certainly it will be found much better
for men to guide themselves by such observations as their
father, grandfather, and great-grandfather might have de-
livered to them, than by those vulgar rules and examples,
which cannot in all points so exactly agree unto them. There-
fore, whether their life were private and contained only
precepts necessary to treat with their children, servants,
tenants, kinsmen, and neighbours, or employed abroad in the
university, or study of the law, or in the court, or in the camp,
their heirs might have benefited themselves more by them
than by any else ; for which reason I have thought fit to relate
to my posterity those passages of my life, which I conceive
may best declare me, and be most useful to them. In the
delivery of which, I profess to write with all truth and sin-
cerity, as scorning ever to deceive or speak false to any ; and
therefore detesting it much more where I am under obligation
of speaking to those so near me : and if this be one reason for
taking my pen in hand at this time, so as my age is now past
threescore 2 , it will be fit to recollect my former actions, and
examine what had been done well or ill, to the intent I may
both reform that which was amiss, and so make my peace

l <?. sharing 2 Lord Herbert was probably writing in 1643.

1 B

2 Life of Lord Herbert

with God, as also comfort myself in those things which,
through God's great grace and favour, have been done accord-
ing to the uiles of conscience, virtue, and honoiu. Betore
yet I bring myself to this account, it will be necessary I say
somewhat concerning my ancestors, as far as the notice of
them is come to me in any credible way l ; of whom yet I
cannot say much, since I was but eight years old when my
grandfather died, and that my father lived but about four
years after ; and that for the rest I have lived for the most
part from home, it is impossible I should have that entire
knOvvleclgc of their actions which might inform me sufficiently ;
I shall only, therefore, relate the more known and undoubted
parts of their lives.

My father was Richard Hcibcrt, Esq , son to Edward
Herbert, Esq., and grandchild to Sir Richard Herbert, Knight,
who %vas a younger son of Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook,
in Monmouthshire, of all whom I shall say a little. And first
of my father, whom I remember to have been black-haired
and bearded, as all my ancestors of his side arc said to have
been, of a manly or somewhat stern look, but withal very
handsome and well compact in his limbs, and of a great conrage,
whereof he gave proof, when he was so barbarously assaulted
by many men in the churchyard at Llanerfyl 2 , at what time
he would have apprehended a man who denied to appear to
justice ; for, defending himself against them all, by the help
only of one John ap Howell Corbet, he chased his adversaries,
until a villain, coming behind him, did, over the shoulders of
others, wound him on the head behind with a forest-bill until
he fell down ; though recovering himself again, notwith-
standing his skull was cut through to the pia mater of the
brain, he saw his adversaries fly away, and after walked home
to his house at Llyssyn \ where, after he was cured, he offered

1 Lord Herbert appaiently powssed a number of family papers Dugdale, in his
account of the family (fiaroiwge, ii, 256), quotes sevei.nl paitit ul us ibout William Her-
bert, the, fiifet Ka.il of I*embioke, fiom * a. certain mamiseupt book in the custody of
Edward, now Lord Hoibert of Cheibury ', and he notes in the margin (%lml., ii. 358),
when speaking of Sir Richaid Herbert, Lord Heibert's great-grandfather * excod MS.
penes Edward D Herbert de Chirbmy * 1 have collected a few additional faets about
Lord Herbert's ancestry in Appendix I Izaak Walton says generally of the Herberts

* A family th.it hath been blessed \vith men of lernarkable wisdom and a willingness
to urve their i*ou it- \ and i-uh ed to do #ood to all mankind, for which they are eminent *
(Life of G. Hubert),

2 In the hundred of Caerehniori, Montgomeryshire.

3 There is still a large farm of tins name in the parish of Llanerfyl. It doubtless
occupies the site of Richard Herbert's house (see p. 14, note 8).

Life of Lord Herbert 3

a single combat to the chief of the family, by whose procure-
ment it was thought the mischief was committed , but he [>.#.
the chief] disclaiming wholly the action as not done by his
consent, which he offered to testify by oath, and the villain
himself flying into Ireland, whence he never returned, my
father desisted from prosecuting the business any farther in
that kind, and attained, notwithstanding the said hurt, that
health and strength, that he returned to his former exercises
in a country life, and became the father of many children.
As for his integrity in his places of deputy lieutenant of the
county, justice of the peace, and custos rotuloruwi^, which he,
as my grandfather before him, held, it is so memorable to this
day, that it was said his enemies appealed to him for justice,
which they also found on all occasions. His learning was not
vulgar, as understanding well the Latin tongue, and being
well versed in history. My grandfather was of a various life ;
beginning first at court, where, after he had spent most part
of his means, he became a soldier, and made his fortune with
his sword at the siege of St. Quentin in France 2 , and other
wars, both in the north, and in the rebellions happening in
the times of King Edward the Sixth, and Queen Mary, with
so good success, that he not only came off still with the better,
but got so much money and wealth, as enabled him to buy
the greatest part of that livelihood which is descended to me ;
although yet I hold some lands which his mother, the Lady
Anne Herbert 3 , purchased, as appears by the deeds made to her
by that name, which I can show ; and might have held more,
which my grandfather sold under foot at an under value in his
youth, and might have been recovered by my father, had my
grandfather suffered him. My grandfather was noted to be
a great enemy to the outlaws and thieves of his time, who
robbed in great numbers in the mountains of Montgomery-
shire, for the suppressing of whom he went often, both day

1 He was Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1576 and 1584, and is probably the Richard
Herbert who sat as M P for Montgomeryshire in the Parliament of 1585-6 He died
in 1596, and was buried in Montgomery Church on isth October of that year (see p.
5, note 7)

2 Edwaid Heibeit, as captain-general over 500 men, under his kinsman, William.
Herbert (created Earl of Pembroke, nth October 1551), joined the Spaniards in the
storming and sacking of St Quentin two days after it had been taken (zoth August
1557) from the French The latter were commanded by Anne, Due de Montmorency,
Constable of France, whose son and grandson are often mentioned by Lord Herbert
below.

3 Anne, daughter of Sir David ap Evan (or Euion) ap Llewellyn Vaughan, Knt ,
and wife of Sir Richard Herbert of Montgomery (see p. 5)

4 Life of Lord Herbert

and night, to the places where they were ; concerning which,
though many particulars have been told me, I shall mention
one only. 1 Sonic outlaws being lodged in an alehouse upon
the hills of Llandmam, my grandfather and a few servants
coming to apprehend them, the principal outlaw shot an
arrow against my grandfather, which stuck in the pummel of
his saddle ; whereupon my grandfather coming up to him
with his sword in his hand, and taking him prisoner, he showed
him the said arrow, bidding him look what he had done ;
whereof the outlaw was no farther sensible, than to say, he was
sorry that he left his better bow at home, which he con-
ceived would have carried his shot to his body ; but the
outlaw, being brought to justice, suffered for it. My grand-
father's power was so great in the country, that divers ances-
tors of the better families now in Montgomeryshire were his
servants, and raised by him 2 . He delighted also much in
hospitality ; as having a very long table twice covered every
meal with the best meats that could be gotten, and a very
great family. It was an ordinary saying in the country at
that time, when they saw any fowl rise, { Fly where thou wilt,
thou wilt light at Blackball ' ; which was a low building, but
of great capacity, my grandfather erected in his age ; 3 his
father and himself, in former times, having lived m Mont-
gomery Castle. Notwithstanding yet these expenses at
home, he brought up his children well, married his daughters
to the better sort of persons near him, 4 and bringing up his
younger sons at the university ; from whence his son Matthew 6
went to the Low Country wars ; and, after some time spent

1 A few notes on the general condition of Wales in Lord Herbert's youth are collected
in Appendix II

2 He was appointed deputy-constable of Aberystwith Castle (i6th March 1543-4),
by his cousin Sir William. Herbert (see extract from Lord Powis* MSS in Powysland
Collection*;, xi, 361) , was Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1537 and 1568 ; was M P.
for the o-> mtv in 1553 and 1556-7 ; was knighted in 1574 (Metcalfc's Kmghts, p 128),
His 1 K. il mlti"nc f i is illustrated by a correspondence with Leicester in November 1580
as to the appointment of a sheriff of the county He successfully insisted on the choice
of Griffith Lloyd and the rejection of John Vaughan (Cal State Papers, 1577-80,
p. 686) He was at one time esquire of the body to Queen Elizabeth.

3 This house, also called Lymore, was standing in the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury Lord Herbert retired to it during the troubles of the civil wars

* He had saven daughters Mary, the eldest, married Thomas Purcell of Nant-
cnbbs, who was Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1597 , Ann, the third daughter, married
Charles Lloyd of Leightori, Sheriff in 1601 , and Jane, the fourth daughter, married
Jenkm Lloyd, Sheriff in 1588. (See Powyiland Club Collections, n, 387 )

& Admitted a student of the Inner Temple, Novcmbci 1582 (Admission Register,
1571-1625, p 41) He married Ann, daughter of Chailcs Fox of Bromfield, and from
him was descended in t 1 ie fourth g^aeration Henry Arthur Herbert, created Earl of
Powis in 1748 (second creation)

Life of Lord Herbert 5

there, came home, and lived in the country at Dolguog, upon a
house and fair living, which my grandfather bestowed upon
him. His son also, Charles Herbert l , after he had passed
some time in the Low Countries, likewise returned home, and
was after married to an inheretrix 2 , whose eldest son, called
Sir Edward Herbert, Knight, is the king's attorney-general 3 .
His son, George, who was of New College, in Oxford 4 , was very
learned, and of a pious life, died in a middle age of a dropsy.
Notwithstanding all which occasions of expense, my grand-
father purchased much lands 5 , without doing anything yet
unjustly or hardly, as may be collected by an offer I have
publicly made divers times, having given my bailiff in charge
to proclaim to the country, that if any lands were gotten by
evil means, or so much as hardly, they should be compounded
for or restored again ; but to this day, never any man yet
complained to me in this kind. He died at the age of four-
score, or thereabouts, and was buried in Montgomery Church 6 ,
without having any monument made for him, which yet for
my father is there set up in a fair manner 7 .

My great-grandfather, Sir Richard Herbert, was steward, in
the time of King Henry the Eighth, of the lordships and
marches of North Wales, East Wales, and Cardiganshire, and
had power, in a martial law, to execute offenders , in the using
thereof he was so just, that he acquired to himself a singular
reputation ; as may appear upon the records of that time,
kept in the Paper-Chamber at Whitehall, some touch whereof

A He is probably the ' Charles Herbert e co Montgom ' who matriculated at Magda-
len College, Oxford, nth May 1582, at the age of fifteen He lived at Aston, and was
Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1608

2 Jane, sole heiress of Hugh ap Owen (Dwnn's Visitations, i, 312). ,

3 Of the Inner Temple Appointed the Queen's Attorney-General. 1635 , bolicitor-
General, 1640 , Attorney-General, sgth January 1640-1 , impeached by the Commons,
8th March 1641-2 ; Charles II's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, 1653 ; died at Paris

* The name of George Herbert does not appear on the books of New College, Oxford,
and I believe this statement to be an error Together with the Charles Herbert men-
tioned above, a George Herbert matriculated at Magdalen College, nth May 1582, at

5 In 1553 Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, granted him the hundred of Cher-
bury and probably the castle of Montgomery On 15 th May 1570, he received a royal
grant of the castle of Lyons, or Holt Castle, with several Shropshire manors

2oth May 1593, according to the parish register His wife, Elizabeth, daughter
of Matthew Price of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, was buried in the same place on 26th

7 y This monument, m the Lyinore Chancel of the church, was erected by Lord Her-
bert's mother in 1600 It is a large alabaster canopied tomb with recumbent figures
of Richard Hcrbeit (in complete armour) and of his wife, while small images of their
seven sons and three daughters stand beside them Drawings of the tomb, which is
still well preserved, appear in the Powysland Collections, vi, 409 , and in Pr Grosart s
edition of George Herbert's Works (vol. 11, frontispiece)

6 Life of Lord Herbert

I have made in my History of Henry the Eighth 1 : of him I
can say little more, than that he likewise was a gicat sup-
pressor of rebels, thieves, and outlaws, and that he was just
and conscionable ; for if a false or cruel person had that power
committed to his hands, he would have raised a great fortune
out of it, whereof he left little, save what his father gave him,
unto posterity. He hcth buried likewise in Montgomery
the upper monument of the two placed in the chancel being
erected for him 2 .

My great [great] grandfather, Sir Richard Herbert of Cole-
brook, was that incomparable hero, who (in the history of Hall
and Grafton, as it appears 3 ) twice passed through a great army
of northern men alone, with his pole-axe in his hand, and
returned without any mortal hurt, which is more than is
famed of Amadis dc Gaul, or the Knight of the Sun*. I
shall, besides this relation of Sir Richard Herbert's prowess in
the battle at Banbury, or Edgccot Hill 5 , being the place where
the late battle was fought 8 , deliver some traditions concerning
him, which I have received from good hands ; one is, that
the said Sir Richard Herbert being employed, together with
his brother William, Earl of Pembroke 7 , to reduce certain
rebels in North Wales, Sir Richard Herbert besieged a principal
person of them at Harlcch Castle m Merionethshire 8 ; the
captain of this place had been a soldier in the wars of France ;

1 Under date i""v, T r--* TTo-l~ort sri - in ^i- TTi-t * * * In the greater part [of Wales]
and pnrticnlarlv tl >-,' l,>, ,. ' i,,o ' IM, V --i, ind North Wales being about this
time adruin^la <xl '* i i ^ v ' i ^ , i ( ,1/1 t > , Ivichaid Herbeit . . such justice
was used as I find him m our records highly commended to the King's Council by Row-
land Lee, now President of Wales '

2 One of two tombs of different dates with recumbent armoured figures on them
m Montgomery Church (on the east side of the monument to Lord Herbert's father) is
locally believed to be the tomb of Su Richard Herbeit Sir Rich<ud\v as alive in IS3 1 ?,
though in ill-health, but the tomb does not appear to be of a date later than Henry VII \
reign

3 1469 ' Sir Richard Herbert so valiauutly aoqmted himselfe that with hib Pollea\e
in his hand (as his enemies did aftciwaid icpoitc) he UVIM by fine force passed tluough
the battail of his adversaries and without any moitall \\oonde returned ' Hall s Union
of the Two Noble Families (1548), fol ccij b , cf Graf ton s> Chronicle (1569), p 676,
This exploit was part of the action described at length below

4 A proverbial reference , cf Oveibury's Characters (1616) . ' It is neither Amadis
de Ganle nor the Knight of the Sunne that is able to resist them '. Shadwell uses the
phrase m his Vtrhtoso (1676).

r> See p 8, note I

fl The battle of Fclgehill (muhvnv between Kincton. Warwickshire, and Banbws).
fought -i S -r'v* =-,1O, +,!, i6j2

7 Of K ; i M- M' -.' . i , * astuct odheier to the House of York in divers bloudy
- t ^ .'i-l the Lancastrians ', cieatecl a baron by Ed ward IV sd Februaiy 1461-2,
<l >d ! .1 I i LVrnbroke 27th May 1468 Dugdale, in his Baronage (11, 255) gives an
extraordinary long 1 h&t of Welsh castles arid offices confericd on him in the early years
of Edward IV's reign

SHarlech in 1468 was held by David ap Jevan ap Einion in behalf of the Lancastrian,

Life of Lor a Jtieroert 7

whereupon he said, he had kept a castle in France so long,
that he made the old women in Wales talk of him ; and that
he would keep the castle so long, that he would make the old
women in France talk of him : and indeed, as the place was
almost impregnable but by famine, Sir Richard Herbert was
constrained to take him in by composition ; he surrendering
himself upon condition that Sir Richard Herbert should do
what he could to save his life : which being accepted, Sir
Richard brought him to King Edward IV, desiring his High-
ness to give him a pardon, since he yielded up a place of
importance, which he might have kept longer upon this hope.
But the king replying to Sir Richard Herbert, that he had no
power by his commission to pardon any, and therefore might,
after the representation hereof to his Majesty, safe deliver him
up to justice ; Sir Richard Herbert answered, he had not yet
done the best he could for him ; and therefore most humbly
desired his Highness to do one of two things either to put
him again in the castle where he was, and command some
other to take him out ; or, if his Highness would not do so,
to take his life for the said captain's, that being the last proof
he could give that he used his uttermost endeavour to save the
said captain's life. The king finding himself urged thus far,
gave Sir Richard Herbert the life of the said captain, but
withal he bestowed no other reward for his service. The other
history is, that Sir Richard Herbert, together with his brother
the Earl of Pembroke, being in Anglesea, apprehending there
seven brothers, which had done many mischiefs and murders ;
in these times the Earl of Pembroke thinking it fit to root out
so wicked a progeny, commanded them all to be hanged ;
whereupon the mother of them coming to the Earl of Pem-
broke, upon her knees desired him to pardon two, or at least-
wise one of her said sons, affirming, that the rest were sufficient
to satisfy justice or example, which request also Sir Richard
Herbert seconded ; but the earl finding them all equally

Jasper Earl of Pembroke The Herberts ravaged all the neighbourhood in the service
of Edward IV, seized the castle, and granted a safe-conduct to the defenders, if they
would parley with them See Wynne's Gwyd^r Family (1878), p. 249. Thomas Church-
yard describes the exploit m his Worthmes of Wales, 1587 Edward IV is speaking :
Our castle then of Hardelach that from our first daies raigne
A refuge for all Rebels did against us still remaine .
A fort of wondrous force besiege about did he,
And tooke it, where in most men's mynds, it could not taken be
He won it, and did make them yeeld, who then theire safetie sought .
And all the countne thereabout to our obedience brought.

8 Life of Lord Herbert

guilty, said, lie could make no distinction betwixt them, and
therefore commanded them to be executed together ; at
which the mother was so aggrieved, that, with a pair of
woollen beads on her arms (for so the relation goeth), she, on
her knees, cursed him, praying God's mischief might fall to him
in the first battle he should make. The earl after this, corning
with his brother to Edgecote Field \ as is before set down, after
he had put his men in order to fight, found his brother, Sir
Richard Herbert, in the head of his men, leaning upon, his
pole-axe in a kind of sad or pensive manner ; whereupon the
earl said, ' What ! doth thy great body (for he was higher by
the head than any one in the army) apprehend anything that
thou art so melancholy, or art thou weary with marching,
that thou doest lean thus upon thy pole-axe ? * Sir Richard
Herbeit replied, that he was neither of both, whereof he should
see the proof presently ; ' only I cannot but apprehend on
your part, lest the curse of the woman with the woollen beads
fall upon you '. This Sir Richard Herbert lieth buried in
Abergavcnny, in a sumptuous monument for those times,
which still remains 2 ; whereas his brother, the Earl of Pcm-

1 In 1469 some northern men led by Robert Hilyard, otherwise Robin of Redesdale,
marched south to attack the Yorki-i , r < \* i MS i v -th the object of restating Henry
VI They were aided by Sir John C i i - , i! I ' t , Latimer and FitzHugh, relatives
of the Earl of Warwick (who was on the point of deserting from Edward IV) The
Herberts, and Humphrey, Lord Stafford (created Earl of DevonsJh o), voro r,r<V c 1
to intercept the rebels. The two Yorkist forces met at Banbury, w 1 o.<> *M IK -<l <iu. , -
relied with the elder Herbert and led his men away. On 26th July i 1 ' \ < Lik .r i, , ^ <1
the Herberts with their six or seven thousand Welsh followers, and gamed a decisive
victory at Edgecote Field near the town Both brothers were taken prisoner and he-
headed at Northampton, 28th July Hall states that the Earl of Warwick, who, doubt-
less, was mainly responsible for the fate of the Herberts, had had a private quarrel with
the elder brother re i ? T >* i ot ir 5f t^p wnrd^ip o* To^d Bonvile's daughter. (See Hall's
Chronicle and "U < IH.A i r*. ( ' r^i n- .L, f iuU k i S >< }, pp. 7, 8, 44, 45).

2 His wife, M ' i>, (i v.,ii 1 j'<L In li 1 - -'cl ' \ c'escnption of the tomb, now in
rums, is given i Cox \ 1 ' us n Mwini ttr >! rt 'T y i x , p 187, cf Churchyard's Wor-
thmes of Wales (1587), p. 53 .

In tombe as trim as that before Here buryed was as I hatie said

Sir Richard Harbert lyes * : In sumptuous Tombe full well t-

He wns at I3mbrie field of yore His wife Dame Margaret by his side %

And through the battaile twise * Lyes there likewise for troth :

He past with Polla^ in his hands, Their armes as yet may be tryed

A manly act m deede (In honor of them both)

To preace among so many bands Stands at their heads, three Lyons white

As you of him may rede He gmes as well as he might

This valiant knight at Colbroko dwelt Three Rauens blackc in shiclde sho guies

Is ore Aborga\ me LOW no As daughter to a knight,

\\ ho \\licu Jus f.xt.ill doatmo H'lt A sheafe of Arrows vnder head

And fortune flong him downe, He hath as due to him

Among his enemies lost his head, Thus there this worthie couple lye

A ruefull tale to tell * In tombe full fine and trim.

* Churchyard's marginal notes are as follows : * Sir Richard Harbert of Colbroke,
Knight '. t ' On the left hand of the tharpell they lye ',

J * She was daughter to Thomas ap Griffith, father to fcir Rice ap 1 heir as, Knight

Life of Lord Herbert 9

broke, being buried in Tintern Abbey, his monument, together
with the church, lie now wholly defaced and ruined 1 . This
Karl of Pembroke had a younger son, which had a daughter
which married the eldest son of the Earl of Worcester 2 , who
carried away the fair castle of Raglan, with many thousand
pounds yearly, from the heir-male of that house, which was
the second son 3 of the said Earl of Pembroke, and ancestor
of the family of St Julians [Monmouthshire], whose daughter
and heir I after married, as shall be told in its place 4 And
here it is very remarkable, that the younger sons of the said
Earl of Pembroke, and Sir R Herbert, left their posterity
after them, who, in the person of myself and my wife,, united
both houses again 5 , which is the more memorable, that
when the said Earl of Pembroke and Sir R Herbert were
taken prisoners in defending the just cause of Edward IV at
the battle above-said, the earl never entreated that his own
life might be saved, but his brother's, as it appears by the
said history 6 . So that joining of both houses together in my
posterity, ought to produce a perpetual obligation of friend-
ship and mutual love in them one to another, since by these
two brothers, so brave an example thereof was given, as
seeming not to live or die but for one another.

My mother was Magdalen Newport, daughter of Sir Rich-
ard Newport 7 and Margaret his wife, daughter and heir of
Sir Thomas Bromley, one of the privy council, and executor
of King Henry the Eighth 8 , who, surviving her husband,

1 According to the Earl's will (27th July 1469), printed m Dugdale (11, 257), he be-
queathed much property to Tmtern Abbey, but desired to be buried at Abergavenny
a direction which was not observed

2 This is a loose statement The reference is to Elizabeth, daughter of William Her-
bert (created Earl of Huntingdon 14.79), sow and hetr, and not younger son, of the Eat I
of Pembroke. She married, about 1490, Charles Somerset, illegitimate son of Henry,
Duke of Somerset Charles became Earl of Worcester, and Lord Herbert of Gowcr
and Chepstow (1514), and held high office under Henry VIII He died in 1525 (See
Lord Herbert's Henry VIII and Dugdale 's Baronage, 11, 258, 292-4 )

* The reference is to Sir Goorge Hcibert of St Julians, the third son; he married
Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Crofts

^ See p 21 5 See the Genealogical Table.

Hall reports the dying speech ' Masters, let me dye, for I am olde, but save my
brother which is yonge, lusty, and hardye, mete and apt to serve the greatest prince
of Christendom ' (f ccuj)

7 Knighted 1566 , buried at Wroxeter, i2th September 1570 His epitaph, and
that of his wife, who was buried with him, are printed in Dr Grosart's edition of George
Herbert's Works, i, 27

8 Bromley was made a judge of the King's Bench in 1544 ; was a member of Edward
VI *s council of regency, was made the Chief- Justice of the Common Pleas by Mary
i n. 1553 , died in 1555, and was buried in Wroxeter He bought Eyton, Lord Herbert's
birthplace, of the crown in 1547, and received a legacy of 300 under Henry VI IPs
will.

io Life of Lord Herbert

gave rare testimonies of an incomparable piety to God, and
love to her children, as being most assiduous and devout in
her daily both private and public prayers, and so carciul to
provide for her posterity, that though it were in her power
to give her estate (which was very great) to whom she would,
yet she continued still unmarried, and so provident for them,
that, after she had bestowed all her daughters, with suffi-
cient portions, upon very good neighbouring families,
she delivered up her estate and care of housekeeping to her
eldest son Francis *, when now she had for many years kept
hospitality with that plenty and order as exceeded all cither
of her country or time , for, besides abundance of provision
and good cheer for guests, which her son Sir Francis New-
port continued, she used ever after dinner to distribute with
her own hands to the poor, who resorted to her in great num-
bers, alms in money, to every one of them more or less, as she
thought they needed it. By these ancestors I am descended of
Talbot, Devereux, Grey, Corbet, and many other noble
families, as may be seen in their matches, extant in the many
fair coats the Ncwports bear. I could say much more of my
ancestors of that side likewise, but that I should exceed my
proposed scope : I shall, therefore, only say somewhat more
of my mother, my brothers, and sisters. And for my mother,
after she lived most virtuously and lovingly with her husband
for many years, she, after his death, erected a fair monument
for him in Montgomery Church 2 , brought up her children
carefully, and put them in good courses for making their for-
tunes, and, briefly, was that woman Dr. Donne hath described
in his funeral sermon of her printed 3 . The names of her
children were Edward, Richard, William, Charles, George,
Henry, Thomas , her daughters were, Elizabeth, Margaret,
Frances ; ,of all whom I will say a little before I begin a nar-

1 Knighted in 1603 , married Beatrice, daughter of Rowland Lacon of Kinlet His
son Richard became first Lord Newport (1642), and his grandson Francis first Earl of
Bradford (1694). Both were prominent royalists.

2 See p. 5, note 7 _ ,

3 She re-marned in 1608, her second husband being Sir John Danvers, third son of
Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, Wilts, and twenty years Lady Herbert's junior She
was buried in Chelsea Church, 8th June 1627 Dr. Donne's funeial sermon "bears the
title A Sermon of Commemoration of the Lady Dauers, late W%je of Sr John Dduers.
Preach'd at Chilsey, where she was lately buned, by lohn Donne, D of St. Paul's London,
I. July 1627 Together with other Commemorations of her, by her sonne, George Herbert.
London, 1627, I2mo Extracts from this volume, and from Walton's account of her
in his Life of George Herbert, are given in Appendix III.

Life of Lord Herbert n

ration of my own life, so I may pursue my intended purpose
the more entirely.

My brother Richard,, after he had been brought up in learn-
ing, went to the Low Countries, where he continued many
years with much reputation, both in the wars and for fight-
ing single duels, which were many , insomuch, that between
both, he carried, as I have been told, the scars of four-and-
twenty wounds upon him to his grave, and heth buried in
Bergen-op-zoom *. My brother William, being brought up
likewise in learning, went afterwards to the wars in Denmark,
where, fighting a single combat, and having his sword broken,
he not only defended himself with that piece which remained,
but, closing with his adversary, threw him down, and so held
him until company came in , and then went to the wars in
the Low Countries, but lived not long after 2 . My brother
Charles 3 was fellow of New College in Oxford, where he died
young, after he had given great hopes of himself every way
My brother George 4 was so excellent a scholar, that he was
made the public orator of the University in Cambridge ; some
of whose English works are extant ; which, though they be
rare in their kind, yet are far short of expressing those per-
fections he had in the Greek and Latin tongue, and all divine
and human literature : his life was most holy and exemplary ;
insomuch, that about Salisbury, where he lived, bencnced
for many years, he was little less than sainted He was not
exempt from passion and choler, being infirmities to which
all our race is subject , but that excepted, without reproach

1 He probably served with his brothers, Edward and Thomas, at Juliers, 1610 , joined
the English contingent in Germany under Sir Horace Vere in 1618, and was with Count
Mansfeldt at the relief of Bergen-op-Zoom in 1622, where he doubtless met his death

2 In 1617 William Herbert raised a troop of horse in Holland for the Duke of Savoy
(see p. 95)

3 Born in 1592, Charles Herbert was admitted to Winchester School in 1603, became
a scholar of New College, Oxford, 4-th June 1611 and fellow, sd June 1613, and died
in 1617 For these dates I am indebted to the Warden of New College, the Rev Dr Sewell
Verses by Charles Herbert appear in Dr Zouch's The Dove, and the lines signed ' C. H '
in the Travels of Sir Thomas Herbert (1634) have been attributed to him, but the dates
make this identification doubtful.

4 Born at Montgomery Castle, sd April 1593 ; educated at Westminster School ;
proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1608 , B A , x6xx , MA, 1615 ; elected
fellow of his College , public orator of the University, 1619-27 , spent some time at
court , ordained aftci 1625 , chaplain to his kinsman, Philip, Earl of Pembroke , rector
of Fugglestorie and Bcmerton, near Salisbury, from 1630 ; buried at Bemerton, 3d
March 1632-3. Two volumes of poems were issued aftci his death , The Temple, m
1633, and The Synagogue, in 1640. Poems tq his mother's memory were published
with Donne's sermon in 1627.

12 Life of Lord Herbert

in his actions. Henry x , after he had been brought up in
learning, as the other brothers were, was sent by his trieiids
into France, where he attained the language of that country
in much perfection 3 after which time he came to court, and
was made gentleman of the king's privy chamber, and master
of the revels , by which means, as also by a good marriage,
he attained to great fortunes, for himself and posterity to
enjoy He also hath given several proofs of his courage in
duels, and otherwise , being no less dexterous in the ways of
the court, as having gotten much by it. My brother Thomas
was a posthumous, as being born some weeks after his father's
death 3 He also, being brought up a while at school, was
sent as a page to Sir Edward Cecil *, lord-general of his Maj-
esty's auxiliary forces to the princes in Germany, and was
particularly at the siege of Juhcrs 4 , AD 1610, where he
showed such forwardness, as no man in that great army be-
fore him was more adventurous on all occasions. Being re-
turned from thence, he went to the East Indies, under the
command of Captain Joseph, who, in his way thither, meet-
ing with a great Spanish ship, was unfortunately killed in
fight with them 5 , whereupon, his men being disheartened,
my brother Thomas encouraged them to revenge the loss,
and renewed the fight in that manner (as Sir John Smyth,
governor of the East India Company 6 , told me at several
times), that they forced the Spanish ship to run aground,

* Born 1595 iat Montgomery , became Master of the Revels about 1621 , was kmglited
by James I, 7th August 1623 , was veiy intimate with Charles I, and was a consistent
loyalist throughout the civil wars He was twice mamed, his second wife being Eliza-
beth, daughter of Sir Robert Offley of Lincolnshire At the Restoration he again be-
came Master of the Revels, and died in 1673 He was a frequent roiiospoMclnii of
his brothers, Edward and George. His invaluable MS Diaiy of plays licensed l>v lura
between 1621 and 1641, is in the possession of the Bail of Powis, and has. *ie\c i j been
fully printed He edited Lord Herbert's poems in 1665

2 The Register of Montgomery Church gives the date I5th May 1597 The father
died m the previous October

3 Thud son of the famous Lord Burghley's elder son Thomas, first Earl of Exeter
After serving in the Low Countries foi ricarlv thirtv-hvo years, he was created Baron
Cecil of Putney (1625), and Viscount Wimbli-don (1626)" He died i6th November
1638

4 Lord Heibert gives an account of this campaign, p 60 et $eq

> In December 1(316, Captain Benjamin Joseph sailed in the* Globe as commander
of the East India Company's fleet IMI!V in the following March th<? fleet was attacked
by a Portuguese canack, and Captain "Joseph, *a man of e-ttraoulmary note and re-
spect ', was killed (See Samsbmy's Calendar of Colonial Papers )

^ Sir Ihamav Smyth, the iirst Governor of the Company, was appointed in 1600,
and was re-elected to the post for every year between 1607 and 1621 lie died to-
wards the end of 1625 Mr W N Samsbury of the Record Office informs me that
Sir John, Sir Thomas Smyth's son, admitted to the freedom of the Company by patn-
mony, 30th June 1619, was never Governoi (Sec Calendar of Colonial Papcn )

Life of Lord Herbert I

where the English shot her through and through so oftci
that she run herself aground, and was left wholly unservia
able After which time, he, with the rest of the fleet, cair
to Surat, and from thence, went with the merchants to tr
Great Mogul 3 where, after he had stayed about a twelv<
month, he returned with the same fleet back again to En^
land * . After this, he went in the navy which King Jamc
sent to Algiers, under the command of Sir Robert Manse
where our men being in great want of money and victual
and many ships scattering themselves to try whether the
could obtain a prize, whereby to relieve the whole fleet 2
it was his hap to meet with a ship, which he took, and in it, 1
the value of eighteen hundred pounds, which, it was though
saved the whole fleet from perishing He conducted, als<
Count Mansfeld to the Low Countries 3 , in one of the king
ships, which, being unfortunately cast away not far from tr
shore, the count, together with his company, saved then
selves in a long-boat, or shallop, the benefit whereof my saa
brother refused to take for the present, as resolving to assii
the master of the ship, who endeavoured by all means to cle?
the ship from the danger ; but finding it impossible, he ws
the last man that saved himself in the long-boat ; the mastc
thereof yet refusing to come away, so that he perished t<
gether with the ship. After this, he commanded one of tr
ships that were sent to bring the prince from Spain ; wher<
upon his return, there being a fight between the Low Com
try-men and the Dunkirkers, the prince, who thought it wz
not for his dignity to suffer them to fight in his preseno
commanded some of his ships to part them ; whereupon m
said brother, with some other ships, got betwixt them o
either side, and shot so long, that both parties were glad 1

1 Sir Thomas Roe, the first accredited envoy to the Great Mogul, notes, in a d
patch dated Mandow, $d November 1617, that ' Mr Herbert, weary of the progre
(% e , with the English merchants to the Great Mogul's court) is bound for England
He apparently returned to Surat at the end of 1617, and sailed in the Globe, the sh
in which he came, very early in the following year (Sec Cat of Colonial Papers, 1617-1!
Caie must be taken to distinguish this Thomas Herbert from his kinsman of the sai
name, who was at Surat ten years later, and then paid a visit to the Great Mogul,
full account of which is given in. his published Travels (1634)

2 Sir Robeit Manbdl arrived with twenty ships in the roads of Algiers, 27th Noveml
1620, to punish the Dey for his piratical attacks on English ships in the Mediterranea
Failure of supplies from home brougV fhf exr" ar1 i fir i to grief, and after much suffen
the fleet was recalled m July 1621 <i,i,vii v i - II i* * . 'f England, iv, 223-5

On his return to Flushing with . 11 Li 4 1 ' 'i ,. m\ m January 1624-5 Gardme
y, v, 285.

14 Life of Lord Herbert

desist After he had brought the prinee safely home, he was
appointed to go with one of the king's ships to the Narrow
Seas 1 He also fought divers times with great courage and
success,, with divers men in single f ght, sometimes hurting
and disarming his adversary, and sometimes driving him
away. After all these proofs given of himself, he expected
some great command , but finding himself, as he thought,
undervalued, he retired to a private and melancholy life, be-
ing much discontented to find others preferred to him ; in
which sullen humour having lived many years, he died and
was buried in London, in St Martin's near Charing Cross 2 ,
so that of all my brothers none survives but Henry.

Elizabeth, my eldest sister 3 , was married to Sir Henry
Jones 4 of Abermarles [Carmarthenshire], who had by her
one son and two daughters , the latter end of her time was
the most sickly and miserable that hath been known in our
times ; while, for the space of about fourteen years, she lan-
guished and pined away to skin and bones, and at last died in
London, and lieth buried in a church called near Cheap-
side, Margaret was married to John Vaughan, son and heir
to Owen Vaughan of Llwydiarth 5 , by which match some
former differences betwixt our house and that were appeased
and reconciled 6 . He had by her three daughters and heirs,
Dorothy 7 , Magdalen, and Kathcrme , of which the two
latter only survive. The estate of the Vaughans yet went to
the heirs -male, although not so clearly but that the entail which
carried the said lands was questioned 8 Frances, my young-

1 1625, September 25, Buckingham, as Admiral of the Narrow Seas, appointed Cap-
tain Thomas Herbert captain of the Dreadnought Cal State Papers, Dom 1625-6,
p. in,

2 Lord Herbert's younger brother apparently died midway between 1626 and 1642
I have had the burial registers of the Church of St Martin Vm~the-Fields searched 111
vain for an entry respecting his death The registers do not seem to have been kept
with \orv o< ~ ri f 1 o ^ CT-C P* "us period

3 >. , i /"d MCI i.ro'is< Church, toth November 1583

* > i ' OL ( , IM i L i" - i ( 1574 and 1584, and for Brecknockshire, 1580 Two
letters of Sir Henry appear in the Stradhng Correspondence, ed Tiaherne, pp 163, 164

r> Entered m the Montgorrvv ^^ch v+n\*++* 3 a November 1606

<* On 7th January 1588-1:,, s -"\>.i" \\.i- much disturbed by a conflict between
the retainers of the Herbert -i r \Vi .. amilies, and those of the Vaughans A
tedious lawsuit between Sir i <. i <l ' \ Powis, third cousin of Lord Herbert's

father, and the Vaughans seems to have involved all the Herbert family. Cf Owen
and Blakeway's Shrewsbury, i, 390, 391

7 Dorothy's will was pioved at Canterbury by her uncle, Geoige Herbert, the poet,
on Qth October 1632

s John Vaughan died bcfoie his wife She died i4th August, 1623, and is buried
in Montgomery Church, inter majores et consanguineos She is described in the parish
register as habitans Llussin in parochia Llan-ervell %n Dw

1582-3] Life of Lord Herbert 15

est sister,, was married to Sir John Brown, Knight, in Lin-
colnshire, who had by her divers children ; the eldest son of
whom, although young, fought divers duels, in one of which
it was his fortune to kill one Lee, of a great family in Lan-
cashire \ I could say many things more concerning all
these, but it is not my purpose to particularise their lives, I
have related only some passages concerning them to the best
of my memory, being assured I have not failed much in my
relation of them. I shall now come to myself.

I was born at Eyton, in Shropshire a [being a house which,
together with fair lands, descended upon the Newports by
my said grandmother], between the hours of twelve and one
of the clock in the morning 3 ; my infancy was very sickly,
my head continually purging itself very much by the ears ;
whereupon also it was so long before I began to speak, that
many thought I should be ever dumb. The very furthest
thing I remember, is, that when I understood what was said
by others, I did yet forbear to speak, lest I should utter
something that were imperfect or impertinent. When I came
to talk, one of the furthest inquiries I made was, how I came
into this world ? I told my nurse, keeper, and others, I found
myself here indeed, but from what cause or beginning, or by
what means, I could not imagine ; but for this, as I was

i Peter Legb, eldest son of Piers Legh of Lyme, Lancashire, by Anne, daughter of
Sir John Savile. was killed in a duel in 1640 Baines' Lancashire, m, 644

^ Owen and Blakeway's History of Shrewsbury, i, 278 * * Eyton [on Severn, near
Wroxeter] was a very ancient possession of the monks of Shrewsbury, granted to them
by their founder, Earl Roger, and it became one of the country seats of the abbot. On
the dissolution it was purchased of the crown by Chief-Justice Bromley, whose only
child conveyed it to her husband. Sir Richard Newport. Sir Richard made this beauti-
ful spot one of his favourite residences After the demolition of Ercall [another seat
of the Newports], in the civil wars, Eyton became their chief seat * Ci Dugdale's
Monastocon (1821), m, 525, 529 5 Eyton 's Shropshire, vm, 36-36. An engraving of
the ruins of the Newport house at Eyton in 1816 appears in the Gentleman's Magazine
for that year, Part I, p 201 All that now remains is a garden wall, running along the
side of a terrace, with a tower at the end.

3 Unfortunately the extant registers at Wroxeter, whence some information rc-
spoctmg Lord Herbert might have been expected, begin m 1613. The Oxford Uni-
versity Register states that Herbert was aged fourteen years in May 1596. He himself
states (p 22) that he was fifteen in 1598-9, and (p. 43) eighteen or nineteen in 1600.
According to his opening remarks he was twelve years old (p. 2) when his father died
(1506) and eight when his grandfather died (1593) These statements are too self-
contradictory to prove anything On the whole, I am inclined to regard ad March
1582-3 as the date of his birth That his birthday was sd March appears from his
own published verses .

In Diem Naiahtwm, vut , 3 Mar.
Vere novo lux usque redit qua nascor, et una

Dum tempus redit, et fit numerosa dies ,

Ver, olim vires renovans roburque recendens,

^E[sjtas fit tandem tristis hyemsque mihi.

1 6 Life of Lord Herbert [1589

laughed at by nurse, and some other women that were then
present, so I was wondered at by others, who said, they never
heard a child biit myself ask that question ; upon which,
when I came to riper years, I made this observation, which
afterwards a little comforted me, that, as I found myself m
possession of this life, without knowing anything of the pangs
and throes my mother suffered, yet, doubtless, they did no
less press and afflict me than her, so I hope my soul shall pass
to a better life than this without being sensible of the an-
guish and pains my body shall feel in death. For as I be-
lieve then I shall be transmitted to a more happy estate by
God's great grace, I am confident I shall no more know how
I came out of this world, than how I came into it ; and be-
cause, since that time, I have made verses to this purpose, I
have thought fit to insert them here as a place proper for
them. The Argument is,

VITA 1

FRIMA fuit quondam gcmtali seminc vita
Procurasse suas dotes, ubi plastica virtus
Gcstut, ct vcgcto molem pcrfunclcrc succo,
Extcrnamque suo formam cohiboro icccssu,
Pum conspirantcs possmt accedere causa?,
Et totum tuto liceat proludcro fcotum.

AUera materno tandem succrcvit an arvo
Exiles spumans ubi spiritus mcluit artus,
Exertusque srniul miro scnsona textu
Cudit, ot hospitium monti non vile paravit,
Quae coclo delapsa suas mox mdc capessat
Partcs, et sortis tanquim procsaga futuras
Comgat ignavum pondus, ncc inutile sistat

Tcrtia nunc agitur, qua 1 sccna rocluditxir inpfons,
Cernitur et festum cccli, tennsque theatrum ,
Congener et species, rorum vanataque forma ,
Et circumfcm, molu propnoque vagan
Contigit, ct leges oatcrnaquc focdera mundi
Viserc, ct assiduo redeuntia sidera cursu.
Undo etiam vitae catisas, nexumque tucn
Fas erat et summum long proasciscerc Numen ,
Dum varios mir6 motus contemperat orbis,

1 This and the following poom ipposirod in Lord Herbert's lifotimc at the closo of
his De Cauits Errorvm (1645), toyrctl'ei \\ith a third Latin poem, Uared et Nepat suts
Pr&cepta, et Auvtha The first poem is much abbreviated here, and has undergone
a few verbal alterations.

Life of Lord Herbert 17

Et Pater, et Doiiimus, Gustos, et conditor idem

Audit ubique Deus ; Quid ni mode Quarta sequatur ?

Sordibus excussis cum mens jam. purior mstat,

Auctaque doctrmis varus, virtuteque pollens

Intendit vires, magis et sublunia spirat,

Et tacitus cordi stimulus suffigitur imo,

Ut velit huic quisquam sorti superesse caducte,

Expetiturque status felicior ambitiosis

Ritibus, et sacns, et cultu religiose,

Et nova succedit melioris conscia fati

Spes superis hasrens, toto perfusaque coelo,

Et sese sancto demittit Numen amon,

Et data celestis non fallax tessera vitas,

Cumque Deo licuit non uno jure pacisci,

Ut mihi seu servo reddatur debit a merces,

Filius aut bona adire paterna petam, mihi sponsor

Sit fidei Numen ; mox hanc sin exuo vitam,

Compos jam fact us melioris, turn simuluti

Jure meo cupiam liber, meque assent inde

Ipse Deus (cujus non terns gratia tantum,

Sed Coelis prostat) quid ni modo quint a sequatur,

Et Sexta, et quicquid tandem spes ipsa requirat ?

DE VITA CELESTI CONJECTURA

TOTO lustratus genio mihi gratulor ipsi,

Fati securus, dum nee terroribus ullis

Dejicior, tacitos condo vel corde dolores,

Sed laitus medus a^rumms transigo vitam,

Invitisque malis (quas terras undique cirgunt)

Ardenti virtute viam super cethera qucerens,

Proxima Coolestis prsocepi prasmia vitse,

Ultima prcetento, divmo nixus amore,

Quo simul exuperans crepcrae ludibria sortis,

Barbara vesani linquo consortia Saoch,

Auras mfernas defflans, splransque supernas,

Dum sanctis memet totum. sic implico flammis,

Hisce ut suffultus penetrem laquearia coeli,

Atq. novi late speculer magnaha Mundi,

Et not as animas, proprio jam lumiae pulchras

Invisam, Superumque chores, mentesque beatas,

Queis aveam miscere ignes, ac vincula sacra,

Atq vice alternst transire in gaudia, Ccelum

Quas dederit cunctis, ipsis aut mdita nobis,

Vel qua) communi voto sancire licebit,

Ut Deus interea cuniulans sua praomia, nostrum

Augeat mde decus, proprioque illustrct amore,

Nee Cqeli Caslis desint, aiternave Vitae

D

1 8 Life of Lord Herbert

Saocula, vcl Sceclis nova gaudia, qualia totum
/Evum nee minuat, nee ternunat Innmtum.
His major desit iiec gratia Numinis alma,
Qua3 toms variata modis ha3C gaudia croscant,
Excipiatque statum quemvis felicior alter ;
Et quse nee sperare datur sint prasstita nobis,
Nee, nisi sola capit 'quaa mens divma, supersmt ,
Quaj licet ex sese sint perfeetissima longe,
Ex nobis saltern mage condccorata videutur
Cum. segues ammas, coolum quas itidit ab oitu,
Exacuat tantum labor ac mdustria nostra ,
Ac demum poliat doctrma, ct monbus ilhs,
Ut redeant pulchra?, dotem cceloque icportent
Quum simul arbitriis usi, mala pelhmus ilia,
Qua? nee vel pepulit coelum, vel pelleret ohm,
Ex nobis ita fit jam gloria Numims mgens,
Auctior in coelos quoqne gloria nostra redunclat,
Et qiias virtuti sint debita prjoima, tandem
Vel Numen solito reddunt felicius ipsum.
Amplior unde simul redhibetur Gratia nobis,
Ut vel pro voto nostro jam smgula cedant
Nam si libertas cara est, per amoona locorum
Conspicua innumens Ccehs discurrere fas est,
Deliciasq loci cujusvis carpere passim
Altior est ammo si contemplatio fixa,
Cuncta adaperta patent nobis jam scnma Cooli,
Arcanasque Dei ration es nosse juvabit
Hujus sin repetat quisquam consortia srecli,
Mox agere in terns, ac procurare licebit
Res heic humanas, et justis legibus uti '
Sin mage cailesti jam delect amur amore,
Solvimur in fiamrnas, quna se lambuntq foventq
Mutud, et implicit! sanctis ardonbus, un^.
Snrgimiis amplexi, copula junctiqne tcnaci,
Paitibus, et toto miscemui ubique vicissim ;
Ardoresque novos aceendit Numims ardor.
Sin laudare Deum lubeat, nos laudat et ipse,
Concmit Angelieusque chorus, modulamine suavi
Personat et ccelum, prostant et pubhca nobis
Gaudia, et eduntur passim spectacula last a ;
Fitque theatrahs quasi Cosh machma tota
Hanc mundi molem sin vis replicavent mgens
Numims, atque novas formas exculpserit mde
Dotibus ornatas alns, magis atque capaces ,
Nostras mox etiam formas renovarc licebit,
Et dotes sensusque alios assutnere, tandem
Consummata magis quo gaudia nostra icsurgant,
IliDC si conjecto mortali corpore fietus
Corpus ut extienm, Quid m majora recludam ?

I 5 8 9 ]

Life of Lord Herbert 19

And certainly since in my mother's womb this plastica, or
formatrix, which formed my eyes, ears, and other senses, did
not intend them for that dark and noisome place, but, as
being conscious of a better life, made them as fitting organs
to apprehend and perceive those things which should occur
in this world : so I believe, since my coming into this world
my soul hath formed or produced certain faculties which are
almost as useless for this life, as the above-named senses where
for the mother's womb ; and these faculties are, hope, faith,
love, and joy, since they never rest or fix upon any transitory
or perishing object in this world, as extending themselves
to something further than can be here given, and indeed
acquiesce only in the perfect, eternal, and infinite : I confess
they are of some use here ; yet I appeal to everybody, whether
any worldly felicity did so satisfy their hope here, that they
did not wish and hope for something more excellent, or whether
they had ever that faith in their own wisdom, or in the help
of man, that they were not constrained to have recourse to
some diviner and superior power, than they could find on
earth, to relieve them in then: danger or necessity ; whether
ever they could place their love on any earthly beauty, that
it did not fade and wither, if not frustrate or deceive them, or
whether ever their joy was so consummate in anything they
delighted in, that they did not want much more than it, or
indeed this world can afford, to make them happy. The
proper objects of these faculties, therefore, though framed, or
at least appearing in this world, is God only, upon whom faith,
hope, and love, were never placed in vain, or remain long un-
requited 1 . But to leave these discourses, and come to my
childhood again.

I remember this defluxion at my ears above-mentioned con-
tinued in that violence, that my friends did not think fit to
teach me so much as my alphabet until I was seven years old,
at which time my defiuxion ceased, and left me free of the
disease my ancestors were subj ect unto, being the epilepsy. My
schoolmaster in the house of my said lady grandmother began
then to teach me the alphabet, and afterwards grammar, and
other books commonly read in schools ; in which I profited
so much, that upon this theme Audaces fortuna juvat, I made
an oration of a sheet of paper, and fifty or sixty verses in the

l See the Introduction for a discussion of Lord Herbert's philosophical system

20 Life of Lord Herbert [1591

space of one day. I remember in that time I was corrected
sometimes for going to cuffs with two schoolfellows being
both elder than myself, but never for telling a he or any other
fault ; my natural disposition and inclination being so con-
trary to all falsehood, that being demanded whether I had
committed any fault whereof I might be justly suspected, I
did use ever to confess it freely, and thereupon choosing rather
to sutler correction than to stain my mind with telling a lie,
which I did judge then, no time could ever deface , and I can
affirm to all the world truly, that, from my first infancy to
this hour, I told not willingly anything that was false, my
soul naturally having an antipathy to lying and deceit. After
I had attained the age of nine, during all which time I lived in
my said lady grandmother's house atEyton, my parents thought
fit to send me to some place where I might learn the Welsh
tongue, as believing it necessary to enable me to treat with
those of my friends and tenants who understood no other
language ; whereupon I was recommended to Mr. Edward
Thelwall, of Plas-y-ward in Denbighshire *. This gentleman
I must remember with honour, as having of himself acquired
the exact knowledge of Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and
Spanish, and all other learning, having for that purpose neither
gone beyond seas, nor so much as had the benefit of any
universities. Besides, he was of that rare temper in governing
his choler, that I never saw him angry during the time of my
stay there, and have heard so much of him for many years be-
fore. When occasion of offence was given him, I have seen
him redden in the face, and after remain for a while silent,
but when he spake, his words were so calm and gentle, that I
found he had digested his choler, though yet I confess I could
never attain that perfection, as being subject over to choler
and passion more than I ought, and generally to speak my
mind freely, and indeed rather to imitate those, who, having
fire within doors, choose rather to give it vent than suffer it
to burn the house I command yet much more the manner of
Mr. Thelwall ; and, certainly, he that can forbear speaking
for some while, will remit much of his passion ; but as I could

i Son and heir of Symond Thelwall, one of the Councillors of the Marches of Wales,
He warned one of his sons Herbert, doubtless after his pupil. He died 20 th July 1610.
His brother Eubule was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, 1621-30 Dwnn's Vistta*
tions, 1566-1613, ed Meynck, 11, 335, 336,

1 592-96] Life of Lord Herbert 21

not learn much of him in this kind, so I did as little profit in
learning the Welsh, or any other of those languages that worthy
gentleman understood, as having a tertian ague for the most
part of nine months, which was all the time I stayed in his
house.

Having recovered my strength again, I was sent, being
about the age of ten, to be taught by one Mr. Newton at Did-
lebury in Shropshire *, where, in the space of less than two
years, I not only recovered all I had lost in my sickness, but
attained to the knowledge of the Greek tongue and logic, in-
somuch, that at twelve years old my parents thought fit to
send me to Oxford to University College 2 , where I remember
to have disputed at my first coming in logic, and to have made
in Greek the exercises required in that college, oftener than in
Latin. I had not been many months in the University, but
news was brought me of my father 's death, his sickness being
a lethargy, caros 3 , or coma v^g^lans f which continued long upon
him ; he seemed at last to die without much pain, though in
his senses 4 . Upon opinion given by physicians that his
disease was mortal, my mother thought fit to send for me home,
and presently, after my father's death, to desire her brother
Sir Francis Newport to haste to London to obtain my wardship
for his and her use jointly, which he obtained 6 . Shortly after
I was sent again to my studies in Oxford, where I had not been
long but that an overture for a match with the daughter and
heir of Sir William Herbert of St Julian's 6 was made, the
occasion whereof was this : Sir William Herbert being heir-
male to the old Earl of Pembroke above-mentioned by a
younger son of his (for the eldest son had a daughter, who car-
ried away those great possessions the Earl of Worcester now

1 Doubtless Thomas Newton, eldest son of Edward Newton, of Barley, Cheshire ;
a graduate of both Cambridge and Oxford, and a well-known classical scholar. He
* taught school ', says Wood, * at Macclesfield, or near it, with good success '. He died
in May 1607 (see Wood's Athenez Oxon , ed Bliss, 11, 5). Didlebury is near Maccles-
field

2 Matriculated as a gentleman-commoner in May 1596, aged fourteen years (Oxford
Umversity Register Oxford Historical Society II, u, 314) , " being put under the tuition
of an eminent tutor '. (Wood's Afhence Oxon, ed Bhss, in, 239 )

3 In old medical books carus or carosis is applied to various kinds of coma.

4 He was buried in Montgomery Church, 15 th October 1596

5 The wardship was not obtained by Newport, but by his kinsman Sir George More,
afterwards Donne's father-in-law. Kempe's Loseley MSS., p. 347. (See Appendix
VI below).

6 Between Caerleon and Newport. Thomas Churchyard, in his Worthmes of Wales

frnfl^t\ caws * <5aif rixrllioTio ia -Poii- "> mica -nrtioi-o <5tT- Wilttonr* WWhAt-t rUnr*Tlec

22 Life of Lord Herbert [1598

holds in Monmouthshire, as I said before), having one only
daughter surviving, made a will, whereby he estated all his
possessions in Monmouthshire and Ireland upon his said
daughter, upon condition she married one of the surname of
Herbert, otherwise the said lands to descend to the heirs-
male of the said Sir William ; and his daughter to have only
a small portion out of the lands he had in Anglesey and Carnar-
vonshire ; his lands being thus settle, Sir William died shortly
afterwards l . He was a man much conversant with books,
and especially given to the study of divinity, insomuch, that
he writ an Exposition upon the Revelations, which is printed * ,
though some thought he was as far from finding the sense
thereof as he was from attaining the philosopher's stone, which
was another part of his study 3 ; howsoever, he was very under-
standing in all others things, he was noted yet to be of a very
high mind ; but I can say little of him, as having never seen
his person, nor otherwise had much information concerning
him. His daughter and heir, called Mary 4 , after her father
died, continued unmarried until she was one-and-twenty ;
none of the Herberts appearing in all that time, who, either
in age or fortune, was fit to match her. About this time I had
attained the age of fifteen 5 , and a match at last being proposed,
yet, notwithstanding the disparity of years betwixt us, upon
the eight-and-twentieth of February 1598 [-9], in the house of

Eyton, where the same man, vicar of , married my

father and mother, christened and married me, I espoused
her. Not long after my marriage I went again to Oxford,

l He died at St Julian's, 4 th March 1592-3, aa* *s buned at Monmouth a week
later* Powystand Coll XL 364.

a ' A Letter -written by a trve Christian Catholike to a Romaine pretended Cathohke
vppon occasion of controuersie touching the Catholike Church the 12, 13, and 14
chapters of the Reuelations are breifly and trulie expounded '. London, John Windet,
1586. Small 4to 86 pp The book is anonymous, but Sir William's arms are at the
back of the title-page A copy is in the British Museum The interpretation is very
quaint and unconvincing Ames refers to the book under the author's name, and cre-
dits him with, another work. Sidney or BanpenOies (1586), a poem on the death of Sir
Philip Sidncv Typograph. Antiquities, ed Herbert, p. 1226 (See also Strype's Parker,
11, 166 , and Wood's Athena, ed Bliss, n, 483 )

3 Sir William was the inornate fnend of Dr. Bee, and took a house at Mortlake in
1581 in order to pursue his studies in astrology and alchemy with the doctor See Dr
Dee's Duay, published by Camden Society, pp 3, 10, etc

* The earliest reference to Lord Herbert's wife is in Dr Dee's Diary, under date 22d
January 1581-2 Arthur Dee (ft igth July 1579) and Mary Herbert, they being but
3 yere old the eldest, did make, as it wer, a shew of childish marriage, of calling each
other husband and wife " (p. 14).

5 See p. i5 note 3. The age is probably seventeen.

J S99] kife ^ kord Herbert 23

together with my wife and mother, who took a house, and
lived for some certain time there *, and now, having a due re-
medy for that lasciviousness to which youth is naturally inclined,
I followed my book more close than ever, in which course I
continued until I attained about the age of eighteen, when my
mother took a house in London, between which place and
Montgomery Castle I passed my time till I came to the age of
one-and-twenty, having in that space divers children, I
having now none remaining but Beatrice, Richard, and Ed-
ward. During this time of living in the University or at
home, I did, without any master or teacher, attain the know-
ledge of the French, Italian, and Spanish languages, by the
help of some books in Latin or English translated into those
idioms, and the dictionaries of those several languages ,- I
attained also to sing my part at first sight in music, and to
play on the lute with very little or almost no teaching ; niy
intention in learning languages being to make myself a citizen
of the world as far as it were possible ; and my learning of music
was for this end, that I might entertain myself at home, and
together refresh my mind after my studies, to which I was
exceedingly inclined, and that I might not need the company
of young men, in whom I obserbed in those times much HI
example and debauchery a .

Being gotten thus far into my age, I shall give some ob-
servations concerning ordinary education, even from the first
infancy till the departure from the University; as being
desirous, together with the narration of my life, to deliver
such rules as I conceive may be useful to my posterity. And
first, I find, that in the infancy those diseases are to be remedied
which may be hereditary unto them on either side ; so that,
if they be subject to the stone or gravel, I do conceive it will
be good for the nurse sometimes to drink posset drinks, in
which are boiled such things as are good to expel gravel and
stone ; the child also himself when he comes to some age

i Walton says Lady Herbert lived for four years at Oxford (See Appendix

"^One is reminded of Sir Philip Sidney's ^^^^S^^Zff^SS^ m
the learning of music Sidney always regretted that totnorifWugaotoA,^
youth * YOU will not believe what a want! find ofit in ^J^"^^^^^ ' St *" -lf

men any excellent musitian * (p. 16).

24 Life of Lord Herbert [ X 599

may use the same posset drinks of herbs, as milmm solis l ,
saxifragia 2 , etc., good for the stone many are reckoned by
the physicians, of which also myself could bring a large cata-
logue, but rather leave it to those who are expert in that art.
The same course is to be taken for the gout ; for which purpose
I do much commend the bathing of children's legs and feet
in the water wherein smiths quench their iron 3 , as also water
wherein alum hath been infused, or boiled, as also the decoc-
tion of juniper berries, bay berries, chamaedrys 4 , chemaepitys 5 ,
which baths also are good for those that are hereditarily sub-
ject to the palsy, for these things do much strengthen the sin-
ews ; as also olium eastern, and sucmi 6 , which are not to be
used without advice. They that are also subject to the spleen
from their ancestors, ought to use those herbs that are splen-
etics : and those that are troubled with the falling sickness,
with cephamques, of which certainly I should have had need
but for the purging of my ears above mentioned. Briefly,
what disease soever it be that is derived from ancestors of
either side, it will be necessary first to give such medicines
to the nurse as may make her milk effectual for those purposes ;
as also afterwards to give unto the child itself such specific
remedies as his age and constitution will bear. I could say
much more upon this point, as having delighted ever in the
knowledge of herbs, plants, and gums, and in few words the
history of nature, insomuch, that coming to apothecaries'
shops, it was my ordinary manner when I looked upon the
bills filed up, containing the physicians' prescriptions, to
tell every man's disease ; howbeit, I shall not presume in
these particulars to prescribe to my posterity, though I believe
I know the best receipts for almost all diseases, but shall leave
them to the expert physician ; only I will recommend again
to my posterity the curing of hereditary diseases in the very
infancy, since, otherwise, without much difficulty, they will
never be cured.

1 ' Gromell [* e Cromwell, or grey millet] is called in shops and among the Italians
tmhum solts '. Gerard's Herbal (1597), p 487

2 Wall spleen wort, or stone-breaker, so named from the belief that it was capable
c* <*iolur3 to-vs '- thr Klr-V-r Go--^, - 8< T

<.i>T\.is< 4 M\i K i,jp,ii> 1 i-> / ; '.- // - -, !(>. i j8, recommends wme in which
<i i el ioi ' 1 i,i']> ( - \ " ri -.! ( ! ', I > ^ mi <i , J ' Many other homely prescrip-
ii> * HIII LJI >i> LIC-I -"ir,T, ^ l(( . iv |, ,ili M i ,11 T with m Markham's book.
i \\,"n iui'< m, PCM fu'.'id.r 2}
1 <i*viml ri'i**, 3i 1 "' n * < ,i .1 1,5
6 Oil of amber.

1599]

Life of Lord Herbert 25

When children go to school, they should have one to attend
them, who may take care of their manners, as well as the school-
master doth of their learning ; for among boys all vice is
easily learned ; and here I could wish it constantly observed,
that neither the master should correct him for faults of his
manners, nor his governor for manners for the faults in his
learning. After the alphabet is taught, I like well the shortest
and clearest grammars, and such books into which all the Greek
and Latin words are severally contribed, in which kind one
Comemus x hath given an example : this being done, it would
be much better to proceed with Greek authors than with
Latin ; for as it is as easy to learn at first the one as the other,
it would be much better to give the first impressions into the
child's memory of those things which are more rare than usual :
therefore I would have them begin at Greek first, and the
rather that there is not that art in the world wherein the Greeks
have not excelled and gone before others ; so that when you
look upon philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, medicine,
and briefly all learning, the Greeks have exceeded all nations 2 .
When he shall be ready to go to the University, it will be fit
also his governor for manners go along with him ; it being
the frail nature of youth, as they grow to ripeness in age, to
be more capable of doing ill, unless their manners be well
guided, and themselves by degrees habituated in virtue, with
which if once they acquaint themselves, they will find more
pleasure in it than ever they can do in vice ; since everybody
loves virtuous persons, whereas the vicious do scarce love one
another. For this purpose, it will be necessary that you keep
the company of grave, learned men, who are of good reputa-
tion, and hear rather what they say, and follow why they do,
than follow the examples of young, wild, and rash persons ;
and certainly of those two parts which are to be acquired in
youth, whereof one is goodness and virtuous manners, the
other learning and knowledge, I shall so much prefer the first

1 In the Janua Ltnguarum (ist ed. 1631) of John Amos Comemus the equivalents
of common phrases in different languages were arranged side by side in parallel columns
The book was frequently published in an English version, known as the Gate of Tongues ,
of which some editions dealt with the Latin, Greek, and English, and others solely with
modern languages

2 Cf. Ascham's Scholemaster, ed Mayor, p 52 * * And trewelie, if there be any good
in them [ e Latin and modern writings], it is either lerned, borowcd, or stolne from
some one of these worthie wittes in Athens * Ascham's maigmal note runs : * Lernyng
chiefly contemed in the Greke, and in no other tong *.

E

26 Life of Lord Herbert [i599

before the second, as I shall ever think virtue, accompanied
with ordinary discretion, will make his way better both to
happiness in this world and the next, than any puffed know-
ledge which would cause him to be insolent and vainglorious,
or minister, as it were, arms and advantages to him for doing
a mischief ; so that it is pity that wicked dispositions should
have knowledge to acuate their ill intentions, or courage to
maintain them , that fortitude which should defend all a
man's virtues, being never well employed to defend his hu-
mours, passions, or vices. I do not approve for elder brothers
that course of study which is ordinary used in the University,
which is, if their parents perchance intend they shall stay there
four or five years, to employ the said time as if they meant
to proceed masters of art and doctors in some science ; for
which purpose, their tutors commonly spend much time in
teaching thsm the subtleties of logic, which, as it is usually
practised *, enables them for little more than to be excellent
wranglers, which art, though it may be tolerable in a mercenary
lawyer, I can by no means commend in a sober and well-
governed gentleman. I approve much those part of logic
which teach men to deduce their proofs from firm and un-
doubted principles, and show men to distinguish betwixt
truth and falsehood, and help them to discover fallacies, soph-
isms, and that which the schoolmen call vicious argumentations,
concerning which I shall not here enter into a long discourse.
So much of logic as may serve for this purpose being acquired,
some good sum of philosophy may be learned, which may
teach him both the ground of the Platonic and Aristotelian
philosophy. After which it will not be amiss to read the Idea
Med^c^n& Ph^losoph^c& s , written by Severmus (Danus), there
being many things considerable concerning the Paracelsian
principles written in that book, which are not to be found in
former writers ; it will not be amiss also to read over Fran-

1 Bacon repeatedly complains that logic and rhetoric, ' arts fitter for graduates than
children and novices , were begun by scholars at the universities at too early an age,
and that, as a consequence, they had degenerated into ' ridiculous affectation' , and their
wisdom become contemptible-, Advancement of Learning, in Spedding's ed , Book

*a P * OI fundamenta continens tonus doctnnaa Paracelsicac, Hippocraticic et Galen-
ic , Basle, 1571, Erfurt, 1616; Hagas Conutis 1660 The author Petci Sevenn,
the most celebrated champion of Paracelsian medicine m the sixteenth century, was
doctor to the King of Denmark, and died in 1602 Cf Bacon's De Augments, Jib m,
in Spedding's edition of the Philosophical Works, i t 564.

1599]

Life of Lord Herbert 27

ciscus Patricms 1 , and Telcsius 2 , who have examined and con-
troverted the ordinary Peripatetic doctrine ; all which may be
performed in one year, that term being enough for philosophy,
as I conceive, and six months for logic, for I am confident a
man may have quickly more than he needs of these two arts.
These being attained, it will be requisite to study geography
with exactness, so much as may teach a man the situation of
all countries in the whole world, together with which, it will,
be fit to learn something concerning the governments, man-
ners, religions, either ancient or new, as also the interests of
states, and relations in amity, or strength in which they stand
to their neighbours ; it will be necessary also, at the same
time, to learn the use of the celestial globe, the studies of both
globes being complicated and joined together. I do not con-
ceive yet the knowledge of judicial astrology so necessary, but
only for general predictions ; particular events being neither
intended by nor collected out of the stars 3 . It will be also fit to
learn arithmetic and geometry in some good measure, but
especially arithmetic, it being most useful for many purposes
and, among the rest, for keeping accounts, whereof here is
much use. As for the knowledge of lines, superficies, and
bodies 4 , though it be a science of much certainty and demon-
stration, it is not much useful for a gentleman, unless it be to
understand fortifications, and knowledge whereof is worthy
of those who intend the wars ; though yet he must remember,

1 Francis Patnzi, ' qm Platomcorum fumos sublimavit ', is well known for his in-
efficient attacks on Aristotle in his Discussiones PenpateHca (1571 and 1581) See
Bacon's De Augmentis, ed Speddmg, i, 564

2 Telesius of Cosenza (b 1509) wrote De Rerum Natura, (1565 and 1586). This work
greatly influenced Bacon, who repeatedly refers to it in his philosophical books In
the De Augment Bacon says of Telesius, ' Parmenidis philosophiam mstaurans arma
Peripateticorum in illos ipsos vertit ', See Bacon's De Pnncipiis atque Ongimbus,
and R L. Ellis's introduction to the treatise in Speddmg's edition, in, 74 et seq

3 Cf Herbert's Rehgto Gentihum (1663), cap vin, p 49 ' Hasce (i e Stellas) consulat
sapiens, non quidem juxta superstitiosas et vulgares astrologorum formulas, sed ex
eventuum observatione, ubi earum motus, conjunctiones, oppositiones, et aspectus
varu inter se comparantur * See also Herbert's Dialogue, p 179 . * When it [t e
psfi-olisrvl i t-ight'v understood and applied, it be not only a lawful, but a most necessary
,' i loi ,i \\\~,(* *n,i i , as long as he takes only general predictions from thence, without
presuming to foretell particular and single events, otherwise then, as they depended
upon the general causes, since they who descend too far into particulars either err or
speak truth by chance '.

* Of mathematics Lord Herbert writes m A Dialogue between a Tutor and a Pupil :
' I told you also the end of this mathematical doctrine was but ignoble in respect of
other [sciences] as tending only to the measuring of heights, depths, and distances,
or the making of some excellent engines and the like ; all which are of so mean con-
sideration that they can be no ways esteemed as objects adequated or proportioned
to the dignity of our souls, whose speculations reach much further ' (p. 2). Lord Her-
bert seems totally ignorant of the higher pure mathematics.

2 8 Life of Lord Herbert [i599

that whatsoever art doth m way of defence, art likewise, in
way of assailing, can destroy. This study hath cost me much
labour, but as yet I could never find how any place could be so
fortified, but that there were means, in certain opposite lines,
to prevent or subvert all that could be done m that kind. It
will become a gentleman to have some knowledge in medicine,
especially the diagnostic part, whereby he may take timely
notice of a disease, and by that moans timely prevent it, as
also the prognostic part, whereby he may judge of the symp-
toms either increasing or decreasing in the disease, as also con-
cerning the crisis or indication thereof. This art will get a
gentleman not only much knowledge, but much credit ; since
seeing any sick body, he will be able to tell, in all human
probability, whether he shall recover, or if he shall die of the
disease, to tell what signs shall go before, and what the
conclusion will be ; it will become him also to know not
only the ingredients, but doses, of certain cathartic or purging,
emetic or vomitive medicines, specific or choleric, melancholic,
or phlegmatic constitutions, phlebotomy being only necessary
for those who abound m blood. Besides, I would have a gen-
tleman know how to make these medicines himself, and after-
wards prepare them with his own hands ; it being the manner
of apothecaries so frequently to put in the succedanea, that no
man is sure to find with them medicines made with the true
drugs which ought to enter into the composition when it is
exotic or rare ; or when they are extant in the shop, no man
can be assured that the said drugs are not rotten, or that they
have not lost their natural force and virtue. I have studied
this art very much also, and have, in case of extremity, min-
istered physic with that success which is strange, whereof I
shall give two or three examples : Richard Griffiths of Sutton,
my servant, being sick of a malignant pestilent fever S and
tried in vain all our country physicians could do, and his water
at last stinking so grievously, which physicians note to be
a sign of extension of naturalheat, and consequently of present a
death, I was entreated to see him, when as yet he had neither
eaten, drank, slept, or known anybody for the space of six
or seven days j whereupon demanding whether the physicians

l A case of typhus fever
Z Immediate.

599]

Life of Lord Herbert 29

had given lum over, and it being answered unto me that they
had, I said it would not be amiss to give him the quantity of an
hazel-nut of a certain rare receipt which I had, assuring that if
anything in the world could recover him, that would of
which I was so confident, that I would come the next day at
four of the clock in the afternoon unto him, and at that time
I doubted not but they should find signs of amendment, pro-
vided they should put the doses I gave them, being about the
bigness of a nut, down his throat ; which being done with
much difficulty,! came the morrow after at the hour appointed,
when, to the wonder of his family, he knew me, and asked for
some broth, and not long after recovered. My cousin, Athelston
Owen, also of Rhiew Saeson, 1 having an hydrocephale also
in that extremity that his eyes began to start out of his head,
and his tongue to come out of his mouth, and his whole head
finally exceeding its natural proportion, insomuch that his
physicians likewise left him ; I prescribed to him the decoction
of two diuretic roots, which after he had drank four or five
days, he urined in that abundance that his head by degrees
returned to its ancient figure, and all other signs of health
appeared ; whereupon also he wrote a letter to me, that
he was so suddenly and perfectly restored to his former
health, that it seemed more like a miracle than a cure ;
for those are the very words in the letter he sent me. I
cured a great lady in London of an issue of blood, when all
the physicians had given her over, with so easy a medicine,
that the lady herself was astonished to find the effects thereof.
I could give more examples in this kind, but these shall suffice ;
I will for the rest deliver a rule I conceive for finding out the
best receipts not only for curing all inward but outward hurts,
such as are ulcers, tumours, contusions, wounds, and the like :
you must look upon all pharmacopeias or antidotaries 2
of several countries, of which sort I have in my library the
Phzrmacopceia Londmensis 3 , Parisiensis 4 , Amstelredamensis 5 ,

1 In the hundred of Cyvciliog, Montgomeryshire Athelston was the son of Maurice
Owen by Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew Heibert of Dolguog, Lord Herbert's uncle.

* Antidotnnes ivere properly collections of antidote-recipes, but the term was often
used synonymously with Dispensary or Dispcnsctionum, 1, e. a general collection of simple
medical prescriptions See Dr. Murray's English Dictionary.

i First edition, called PRIMA, 1618 , second edition, called SECUNDA, 1650.

4 Codev Medtcamerfamts sen Phirmzcoly&a, Pansienws, editore Phil, Hardumo
Pans, 1639.

s 1636.

30 Life of Lord Herbert [ X S99

that of Quercetanus \ Bauderonus 2 , Renodaeus 3 , Valerius Cor-
dus 4 Pharmacopeia Colon^ens^s 5 f Augustana 6 , Venetiana , 7
Vonomensis, Florentma, Romana, Messanesis 8 ; in some of
wliicli are told not only what the receipts here set down
are good for, but the doses of them. The rule I here
give is, that what all the said dispensatories, antido-
taries, or pharmacopaeis prescribe as effectual for over-
coming a disease is certainly good , for as they are set
forth by the authority of the physicians of these several
countries, what they all ordain must necessarily be effectual :
but they who will follow my advice shall find in that
little short antidotary called Amstelodamensis, not long
since put forth, almost all that is necessary to be known for
curing of diseases, wounds, etc. There is a book called Aurora
Medicorum, very fit to be read in this kind 9 . Among writers
of physic, I do especially commend, after Hippocrates and
Galen, Fernelius, 10 , Lud. Mercatus u , and Dan. Sennertus 12 ,
and Heurinius : 13 I could name many more, but I conceive
these may suffice. As for the chemic or spagyric medicines,
I cannot commend them to the use of my posterity ; there
being neither emetic, cathartic, diaphoretic, diuretic medicines
extant among them, which are not much more happily and
safely performed by vegetables ; but hereof enough, since I
pretend no further than to give some few directions to my

1 Josephus Quercetanus or Du Chesne, a voluminous writer, published a Pharma
copoeui Dogtnatocorum Restituta, 1607, 4 to, Paris He was the chief French champion
of Paracelsian medicine

2 Brice Bauderon, Pharmacopoeia et Praxis Medica, 1620, Paris This work was
issued by Philemon Holland, together with J Du Boy's Pharmacopcei Pansiensis Obser-
vationes, in London m 1639.

3 Joannes Renodseus, Dispensatonum Mechcwm et Antidotanum, 1609, 4 to, Pans,
Geneva, 1645. An English translation by Richard Tomlinson was published in London
in 1657

* Valenus Cordus, Dispensatonum Antw 1568 , Leyden, 1637
5 Dispensanum usuale pro Pharmacopceis reipubl Colonise, Cologne, 1565.

Pharmacopoeia $vue Dispensatonum Colomense, Cologne, 1627

t> Pharmacopoeas were issued at Augsburg in 1573, 1597, 1623, 1643

7 Pharmacopc&a a Medicorum Venetorum Collegia Comprobata, Curtio Martmello
autore, Venice, 1617.

8 Antidotanum Specials sacra Domus Magm Hospitahs urbis Messance, by Placidus
Truglio, Venice, 1642

9 Probably Aurora Thesaurusque Philosopborum TJteoph Paracelst, by Paracelbus'
pupil, Gerard Dorn. Basle 1577, and Frankfort 1585

10 Johannes Fernelius (physician to Henry II of France) published Opera Medicinaha
et Universa Medtcina, 1564, 4to, and 1577, fol

11 Ludovicus Mercatus (physician to Philip II and III of Spain) was author of Opera
Medica et Clururgica, fol. Franco. 1620.

12 Daniel Sennert (1572-1637), an eminent German doctor, published Institutionum
Medtana, Lib v, Wittemberg, 1611 and 1628.

praci

is Jan van. Heurn (1543-1601), a well-known Dutch doctor, was the author of many
actacal treatises issued between 1587 and 1609.

15991

Life of Lord Herbert 31

posterity. In the meanwhile, I conceive it is a fine study,
and worthy a gentleman to be a good botanic, that so he
may know the nature of all herbs and plants, being our
fellow-creatures, and made for the use of man l ; for
which purpose it will be fit for him to cull out of some
good herbal all the icones 2 together, with the descrip-
tions of them, and to lay by themselves all such as grow
m England, and afterwards to select again such as usually
grow by the highway-side, in meadows, by rivers, or in
marshes, or in cornfields, or in dry and mountainous places,
or on rocks, walls, or in shady places, such as grow by the sea-
side ; for this being done, and the said icones being ordinarily
carried by themselves, or by their servants, one may presently
find out every herb he meets withal, especially if the said
flowers be truly coloured 3 . Afterwards it will not be amiss to
distinguish by themselves such herbs as are in gardens, and are
exotics, and are transplanted hither. As for those plants
which will not endure our clime, though the knowledge of
them be worthy of a gentleman, and the virtues of them be fit
to be learned, especially if they be brought over to a druggist
as medicinal, yet the icones of them are not so pertinent to
be known as the former, unless it be where there is less danger of
adulterating the said medicaments ; in which case, it is good to
have recourse to not only the botanies, but also to Gesner's
Dispensatory 4 , and to Aurora Medicorum, above mentioned,
being books which make a man distinguish betwixt good and
bad drugs : And this much of medicine may not only be useful
but delectable to a gentleman, since which way soever he pas-
seth, he may find something to entertain him. I must no
less commend the study of anatomy, which whosoever con-
siders, I believe will never be an atheist ; the frame of man's
body and coherence of his parts being so strange and paradoxal,
that I hold it to be the greatest miracle of nature ; though

1 * I could tell you also of many other strange herbs, but had rather you should read
them in herbals, the greatest knowledge of them being a thing I much recommend unto
you ' (Dialogue, p 172).

3 In i63<T&omas e jolinson, the learned editor of Gerard's Herbal, undertook with
companions, the first professedly botanical tour in Wales From Machynlleth the
travellers went through Montgomeryshire, and at Montgomery Castle were hospitably
received and entertained by Lord Herbert In the neighbourhood, inter Dudson
(Dudeston) et Guarthelow ', they gathered SoMUtgmem etwm Saracemcam, one of our
rarest British plants (Powysland, Collections^ xi, 370).

Conrad Gesner's Apparatus et Delectus Simphcium Medicamtntorum, Leyden, 1543.

32 Life of Lord Herbert [ X S99

when all is done, I do not find she hath made it so much as
proof against one disease, lest it should be thought to have made
it no less than a prison to the soul.

Having thus passed over all human literature, it will be fit to
say something of moral virtues and theological learning. As
for the first, since the Christians and the heathens are in a man-
ner agreed concerning the definitions of virtues, it would not
be inconvenient to begin with those definitions which Aristotle
in his Morals hath given, as being confirmed for the most
part by the Platonics, Stoics, and other philsophers, and in
general by the Christian Church, as well as all nations in the
world whatsoever ; they being doctrines imprinted in the
soul in its first original, and containing the principal and
first notices by which man may attain his happiness here
or hereafter ; there being no man that is given to vice
that doth not find much opposition both in his own con-
science, and in the religion and law as taught elsewhere ;
and this I dare say, that a virtuous man may not only
go securely through all the religions 1 , but all the laws
in the world, and whatsoever obstructions he meet, obtain
both an inward peace and outward welcome among all with
whom he shall negotiate or converse ; this virtue, therefore, I
shall recommend to my posterity as the greatest perfection he
can attain unto in this life, and the pledge of eternal happiness
hereafter ; there being none that can justly hope of an union
with the supreme God, that doth not come as near to him
in this life in virtue and goodness as he can ; so that if human
frailty do interrupt this union, by committing faults that
make him incapable of his everlasting happiness it will be fit, by
a serious repentance, to expiate and emaculate those faults, and
for the rest, trust to the mercy of God his Creator, Redeemer,
and Preserver, who being our Father, and knowing well in
what a weak condition through infirmities we are, will, I
doubt not, commiserate those transgressions we commit
when they are done without desire to offend his Divine Majesty,
and together rectify our understanding through his grace ;
since we commonly sin through no other cause, but that we mis-
took a true good for that which was only apparent, and so
were deceived, by making an undue election in the objects

i This is the view so admirably insisted on in Lord Herbert's De Rehgwne GenMwm
See Introduction.

1599] Life of Lord Herbert 33

proposed to us ; wherein, though it will be fit for every man
to confess that he hath offended an infinite Maj esty and Power,
yet, as upon better consideration, he finds he did not mean
infinitely to offend, there will be just reason to believe that
God will not inflict an infinite punishment upon him if he be
truly penitent, so that his justice may be satisfied, if not with
man's repentance, yet at least with some temporal punishment
here or hereafter, such as may be proportionable to the offence ;
though I cannot deny but when man would infinitely offend
God in a despiteful and contemptuous way, it will be but just
that he suffer an infinite punishment ; but as I hope none
are so wicked as to sin purposedly, and with an high hand
against the eternal Majesty of God ; so when they shall commit
any sins out of frailty, I shall believe, either, that unless they
be finally impenitent, and, (as they say, sold ingeniously over
to sin) God's mercy will accept of their endeavours to return into
a right way, and so make their peace with him by all those good
means that are possible. Having thus recommended the
learning of moral philosophy and practice of virtue, as the
most necessary knowledge and useful exercise of man's life,
I shall observe, that even in the employing of our virtues,
discretion is required ; for every virtue is not promiscuously
to be used, but such only as is proper for the present
occasion. Therefore, though a wary and discreet wisdom be
most useful where no imminent danger appears, yet, where
an enemy draweth his sword against you, you shall have most
use of fortitude, prevention being too late, when the danger is
so pressing. On the other side, there is no occasion to use your
fortitude against wrongs done by women or children, or ignor-
ant persons, that I may say nothing of those that are much
your superiors, who are magistrates, etc., since you might
by a discreet wisdom have declined the injury, or when it
were too late to do so, you may with more equal mind support
that which is done, either by authority in the one, or frailty
in the other. And certainly to such kind of person's forgive-
ness will be proper ; in which kind^I am confident no man to
my time hath exceeded me ; for though whensoever my honour
hath been engaged, no man hath ever been more forward to
hazard his life, yet where, with my honour I could forgive,
I never used revenge, as leaving it always to God, who, the
less I punish mine enemies will inflict so much the more pun-

F

34-

Life of Lord Herbert [1599

ishment on them l ; and to this forgiveness of others three con-
siderations have especially invited me

1. That he that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over
which he must pass himself, for every man hath need to be
forgiven.

2. That when a man wants or comes short of an entire and
accomplished virtue, our defects may be supplied this way,
since the forgiving of evil deeds in others amounteth to no less
than virtue in us ; that therefore it may be not unaptly called
the paying our debts with another man's money.

3. That it is the most necessary and proper work of every
man ; for, though when I do not a just thing, or a charitable,
or a wise, another man may do it for me, yet no man can forgive
my enemy but myself. And these have been the chief motives
for which I have been ever inclined to forgiveness ; whereof,
though I have rarely found other effect than that my servants,
tenants, and neighbours have thereupon more frequently
offended me, yet at least I have had within me an inward
peace and comfort thereby ; since I can truly say, nothing ever
gave my mmd more ease than when I had forgiven my enemies,
which freed me from many cares and peturbations, which
otherwise would have molested me.

And this likewise brings in another rule concerning the use
of virtues, which is, that you are not to use justice where
mercy is most proper ; as, on the other side, a foolish pity is
not to be preferred before that which is just and necessary for
good example. So likewise liberality is not to be used where
parsimony or frugality is more requisite; as, on the other
side, it will be but a sordid thing in a gentleman to spare
where expending of money would acquire unto him advantage,
credit, or honour : and this rule in general ought to be prac-
tised, that the virtue requisite to the occasion is ever to be
produced, as the most opportune and necessary. That, there-
fore, wisdom is the soul of all virtues, giving as unto her

i Horace Walpole (Lord Orford) remarks on this passage ' This is a very unchristian
reason for pardoning our enemies, and can by no means be properly called forgiveness.
Is it forgiveness to remit a punishment on the hope of its being doubled ? Bacon,
from an equally utilitarian point of view, puts the case better ' Certainly in taking
revenge a man is but even -with his enemy , but m passing it over he is superior , tor
it is a prince's part to pardon And Solomon, I am sure, saith, It ts the glory of a man
to pass by an offence That which is past is gone and irrevocable and wise men nave
enough to do -with things present and to come A man does wrong m order to profit
himself Therefore why should I be angry with a man for loving himself better than
me ? ' (Essay on Revenge).

1599] Life of Lord Herbert 35

members life and motion, and so necessary in every action,
that whosoever by the benefit of true wisdom makes use of the
right virtue, on all emergent occasions, I dare say would never
be constrained to have recourse to vice, whereby it appears that
every virtue is not to be employed indifferently, but that only
which is proper for the business in question ; among which
yet temperance seems so universally requisite, that some part
of it at least will be a necessary ingredient in all human
actions, since there may be an excess even in religious worship,
at those times when other duties are required at our hands.
After all, moral virtues are learned and directed to the service
and glory of God, as the principal end and use of them.

It would be fit that some time be spent in learning rhetoric
or oratory, to the intent that upon all occasions you may
express yourself with eloquence and grace , for, as it is not
enough for a man to have a diamond unless it is polished and
cut out into its due angles, and a foil be set underneath,
whereby it may the better transmit and vibrate its native
lustre and rays ; so it will not be sufficient for a man to
have a great understanding in all matters, unless the said
understanding be not only polished and clear, but under-
set and holpen a little with those figures, tropes, and colours
which rhetoric affords, where there is use of persuasion. I
can by no means yet commend an affected eloquence, there
being nothing so pedantical, or indeed that would give more
suspicion that the truth is not intended, than to use overmuch
the common forms prescribed in schools. It is well said by
them, that there are two parts of eloquence necessary and recom-
mendable ; one is, to speak hard things plainly, so that when
a knotty or intricate business, having no method or coherence
in its parts, shall be presented, it will be a singular part of
oratory to take those parts asunder, set them together aptly,
and so exhibit them to the understanding. And this part of
rhetoric I much commend to everybody } there being no true
use of speech, but to make things clear, perspicuous, and
manifest, which otherwise would be perplexed, doubtful, and
obscure.

The other part of oratory is to speak common things ingeni-
ously or wittily ; there being no little vigour and force added
to words, when they are delivered in a neat and fine way, and
somewhat out of the ordinary road, common and dull language

36 Life of Lord Herbert [i599

relishing more of the clown than the gentleman. But herein
also affectation must be avoided ; it being better for a man by
a native and clear eloquence to express himself, than by those
words which may smell either of the lamp or inkhorn , so
that, in general, one may observe, that men who fortify and
uphold their speeches with strong and evident reasons, have
ever operated more on the minds of the auditors, than those
who have made rhetorical excursions

It will be better for a man who is doubtful of his pay to take
an ordinary silver piece with its due stamp upon it, than an
extraordinary gilded piece which may perchance contain a
baser metal under it , and prefer a well-favoured wholesome
woman, though with a tawny complexion, before a besmeared
and painted face.

It is a general note, that a man's wit is best showed in his
answer, and his valour in his defence ; that therefore as men
learn in fencing how to ward all blows and thrusts, which are or
can be made against him [* them], so it will be fitting to debate
and resolve beforehand what you are to say or do upon any
affront given you, lest otherwise you should be surprised
Aristotle hath written a book of rhetoric, a work in my opinion
not inferior to his best pieces, whom therefore with Cicero de
Oratore, as also Qumtikan, you may read from your instruction
how to speak , neither of which two yet I can think so exact
in their orations, but that a middle style will be of more effi-
cacy, Cicero in my opinion being too long and tedious, and
Quintihan too short and concise

Having thus by moral philosophy enabled yourself to all
that wisdom and goodness which is requisite to direct you in
all your particular actions, it will be fit now to think how you
are to behave yourself as a public person, or member of the
commonwealth and kingdom wherein you live ; as also to
look into those principles and grounds upon which government
is framed, it being manifest in nature that the wise doth easily
govern the foolish, and the strong master the weak, so that he
that could attain most wisdom and power, would quickly
rule his fellows , for proof whereof, one may observe that a
king is sick during that time the physicians govern him, and
in day of battle an expert general appoints the king a place in
which he shall stand , which was anciently the office of the
constables de France In law also the judge is in a sort super-

1599]

Life of Lord Herbert 37

ior to his king as long as he judgeth betwixt him and his people.
In divinity also, he, to whom, the king commits the charge of
his conscience, is his superior in that particular. All which
instances may sufficiently prove, that in many cases the wiser
governs or commands one less wise than himself, unless a wilful
obstinacy be interposed ; in which case recourse must be had
to strength, where obedience is necessary.

The exercises I chiefly used, and most recommend to my
postenty, were nding the great horse 1 and fencing, in which
arts I had excellent masters, English/ French, and Italian a .
As for dancing, I could never find leisure enough to learn it,
as employing my mind always in acquiring of some art or
science more useful ; howbcit, I shall wish these three exercises
learned in this order 3 .

That dancing may be learnt first, as that which doth fashion
the body, gives one a good presence in and address to all com-
panies, since it disposeth the limbs to a kind of souplesse (as the
Frenchmen call it) and agility, insomuch as they seem to have
the, use of their legs, arms, and bodies, more than any others,
who, standing stiff and stark in their postures, seem, as if they
were taken in their joints, or had not the perfect use of their
members * I speak not this yet as if I would have a youth never

1 This very well-known phrase was first fully explained by Richard Berenger in his
History a.nd Aft of Horsemanship (London. 1771), 1, 169, 170 Great horses, he says,
[called also Dextram (Lat ), Destnere (Ital ), and Destrier 'Fr \ from frxtra, as being
carefully handled, dressed, or managed], are opposed to Pal r - C i o , and Nags,
and are exclusively used in war and for the exercises of ili<> 1 IIVMI " They are
usually of prodigious weight, because their rid"'**' arc rl^fhod ! cirr-*** mnoiir Their
size made it necessary for soldiers to learn th , , i or IM.I> ,i IH il.i .n a 10 M r.im faxed
rules, and hence came the expression to ' ride the great horse '. The passage is quoted
fully by Mr T W Jackson in the Oxford Historical bo'irfy 5 Collectanea, i, 273 Mr
Jackson quotes from the Gentleman's Dictionary (1705), that * a horse for war should
be 1 6 or 18 Hands high '. Reference should be made to MarkhanTs Country Content-
meats (1615), pp 35-86, and CwaUnce (1617), to Sir William Hope's Compleot Horse-
man (17x7). and to the Duke of Newcastle's splendid foliosthe Method* NouveUe de
Dresser des Chtvawe (Antw , 1658), and A New Method . . . to Dress Horses (Loud ,
1667) for fuller information as to seventeenth-century horsemanship

2 French masters were most usually employed. Prince Henry was given by Sully
a French ndmg and a French fencing master References to such foreign teachers are
common in the dramatists . see an interesting note in W. B. Rye's England as Seen

3 Su-^iR^Southwell thus describes the accomplishments of Lord Ossory, son of the
first Duke of Ormonde (about 1650), a perfect specimen of the educated youth of the
seventeenth century * ' He rides the great horse very well , is a good tennis-player,
fencer, and dancer He understands music, and plays on the guitar and lute; speaks
French elegantly reads Italian fluontlv is a good historian, and so well versed in
romances that if a gallery be mil ol pirtiuet or hangings he will tell the stories of
all of them that are described '. Cf Thomas. Ijorkm's letter to Adam Newton, Pnnce
Henry's tutor, respecting the completion of a young gentleman's education at Paris
in 1610. Horse-riding, fencing, and dancing were to be practised at stated hours daily
Elhs's Ong. Letters, second series, m, aao, 221

* Cf Locke On Education, 1693, p 307 Dancing . gives graceful motions all

38 Life of Lord Herbert [ X 599

stand still in company, but only, that when he hath occasion
to stir, his motions may be comely and graceful, that he may
learn to know how to come in and go out of a room where com-
pany is, how to make courtesies handsomely, according to the
several degrees of persons he shall encounter, how to put oft
and hold his hat , all which, and many other things which
become men, are taught by the more accurate dancing-masters
in France.

The next exercise a young man should learn (but not before
he is eleven or twelve years of age) is fencing * ; for the attain-
ing of which the Frenchman's rule is excellent, bon pied bon
ceil, by which to teach men how far they may stretch out their
feet when they would make a thrust against their enemy, lest
either should overstride themselves, or, not striding far enough,
fail to bring the point of their weapon home. The second part
of his direction advise th the scholar to keep a fixed eye upon
the point of his enemy's sword, to the intent he may both put
by or ward the blows and thrusts made against him, and
together direct the point of his sword upon some part of his
enemy that lieth naked and open to him.

The good fencing-masters, in France especially, when they
present a foil or fleuret 2 to their scholars, tell him it hath two
parts, one of which he calleth the fort or strong, and the other
the foyble 3 or weak. With the fort or strong, which extends
from the part of the hilt next the sword about a third part of
the whole length, thereof he teacheth his scholars to defend
themselves, and put by and ward the thrusts and blows of
his enemy, and with the other two-third parts to strike or
thrust as he shall see occasion ; which rule also teacheth how
to strike or thrust high or low as his enemy doth, and briefly
to take his measure and time upon his adversary's motions,
whereby he may both defend himself or offend his adversary,
of which I have had much experiment and use both in the
fleuret, or foil, as also when I fought in good earnest with many
persons at one and the same time, as will appear in the sequel

the life, and above all things manliness and a becoming confidence to young children
Locke warns the pupil, however, against ' apish, affected postures, and only values
the accomplishment ' as it tends to p^^t ^.ir**' 1 *""*,,' 70 '

1 Of fencing Locke says ' it seems t< n , , ^ v v u > the health, but dangerous
to the life, the confidence of their skill being apt to encourage in quarrels those that
think they have learned to use their swords ' which was certainly the case with Lord
Herbert.

2 Mod Fr =foil. 3 te Mod Fr , faible

1599] Life of Lord Herbert 39

of my life. And, indeed, I think I shall not speak vainglori-
ously of myself, if I say, that no man understood the use of his
weapon better than I did, or hath more dexterously prevailed
himself thereof on all occasions ; since I found no man could
be hurt but through some error in fencing.

I spent much time also in learning to ride the great horse,
that creature being made above all others for the service of
man, as giving his rider all the advantages of which he is
capable, while sometimes he gives him strength, sometimes
agility or motion for the overcoming of his enemy, insomuch,
that a good rider on a good horse, is as much above himself and
others, as this world can make him 1 . The rule for graceful riding
is, that a man hold his eyes always betwixt the two ears, and his
rod 2 over the left ear of his horse ; which he is to use for turn-
ing him every way, helping himself with his left foot and rod
upon the left part of his neck, to make his horse turn on the
right hand, and with the right foot and help of his rod also
(if needs be), to turn him on the left hand ; but this is to be
used rather when one would make a horse understand these
motions, than when he is a ready horse, the foot and stirrup
alone applied to either shoulder being sufficient, with the help
of the reins, to make him turn any way. That a rider thus
may have the use of his sword, or when it is requisite only to
make a horse go sidewards, it will be enough to keep the reins
equal in his hand, and with the flat of his leg and foot together,
and a touch upon the shoulder of the horse with the stirrup to
make him go sideward either way, without either advancing
forward, or returning backwards.

The most useful aey 3 , as the Frenchmen term it, is terri-
terr 4 the courbettes, cabrioles, or un pas et un sault 5 , being
fitter for horses of parade and triumph than for soldiers ; yet
I cannot deny but a demivolte 5 with courbettes, so that they

1 Cf Lord Herbert's remarks in the Dialogue, p. 225 * * In which number [i e of
the animals most useful to man] the horse must have the precedence, being the animal
which exalts man so much, that he takes strength, motion, and even comeliness from
a good posture on horseback '.

% t e whip

3 Aer or air, is a word applied generally to the artificial movements of a managed
horse. Dr Murray quotes in his Dictionary from Brooke, Eng, Episc , I, n, 5 (1641) :
' Horses which are designed to a lofty Ayre and generous manege must be of a noble
race ',

* * e terre-a-terre, a forward jump.

5 Technical terms for various leaps, fully described and illustrated by Pluvmel and
Labroue.

40 Life of Lord Herbert [ T 599

be not too high, may be useful in a fight or melie ; for, as
Labroue hath it in his book of horsemanship 1 , Monsieur de
Montmorency having a horse that was excellent in performing
the dermvolte, did with his sword strike down two adversaries
from their horses in a tourney, where divers of the prime gal-
lants of France did meet , for taking his time when the horse
was in the height of his courbette, and discharging a blow,
then his sword fell with such weight and force upon the two
cavaliers one after another, that he struck them from their
horses to the ground 2 .

The manner of fighting a duel on horseback I was taught
thus. We had each of us a reasonable stiff riding-rod in our
hands, about the length of a sword, and so rid one against the
other ; he, as the more expert, sat still to pass me and then to
get behind me, and after to turn with his right hand upon my
left side with his rod, that so he might hit me with the point
thereof in the body ; and he that can do this handsomely, is
sure to overcome his adversary, it being impossible to bring
his sword about enough to defend himself or offend the assail-
ant ; and to got this advantage, which they call in French,
gagner la crouppe, nothing is so useful as to make a horse to go
only sideward until his adversary be past him, since he will by
this means avoid his adversary's blow or thrust, and on a
sudden get on the left hand of his adversary in the manner
I formerly related ; but of this art let Labroue and Pluvincl 3
be read, who are excellent masters in that art, of whom I must
confess I learned much ; though, to speak ingenuously, my
breaking two or three colts, and teaching them afterwards
those aers of which they were most capable, taught me both

1 The first edition is entitled Preceptes pnwxpaux qoe les tons Cawdenses downt
exactemerf observer enlturs Bscoles Composex par Stew de la, Broue La Rochelle,
1593* The second and more elaborate edition bears the title La Cavalance Francois
compose poor Salomon de la 3rooe t Esewyer de escuine du Roy et de Monsngneur Le Due
fEspernon Paris, 1602 A copy presented by the author to James I is m the British
Museum Lord Herberts remarks on equestrian evolutions are summarized extracts
from Labroue's book

2 This story, told by Labroue in his eighteenth chapter of both editions (Passade
a demy atr) relates to Lord Herbert's friend, Henn Due de Montmorency. when he
was known as ' Monseigneur le Mareschal du Dampuille, maintenant Connestablc de
France ' Montmorency is frequently mentioned by Labroue as the best horseman
he had seen, and the second book of the second edition is dedicated to him He is stated
to have twice performed the feat here mentioned, once at Bayonne, and again in pre-
sence of the Court m the Louvre Garden at Pans

3 Antoine de PUivme], Ecuyer to Louis XIII author of Instruction du Rm en Vexerace
de monter achcoal (Paris, 1619), with plates by Crispin Pass, exhibiting the whole system
ox toe manege.

1599] Life of Lord Herbert 41

what I was to do, and made me see mine errors, more than all
their precepts.

To make a horse fit for the wars, and embolden him against
all terrors, these inventions are useful : to beat a drum out of
the stable first, and then give him his provender : then beat
a drum in the stable by degrees, and then give him his proven-
der upon the drum. When he is acquainted herewith suffici-
ently, you must shoot off a pistol out of the stable, before he
hath his provender ; then you may shoot off a pistol in the
stable, and so by degrees bring it as near to him as you can till
he be acquainted with the pistol, likewise remembering still
after every shot to give him more provender. You must also
cause his groom to put on bright armour, and so to rub his
heels and dress him. You must also present a sword before
him in the said armour, and when you have done, give him still
some more provender. Lastly, his rider must bring his horse
forth into the open field, where a bright armour must be fastened
upon a stake, and set forth in the likeness of an armed man as
much as possible ; which being done, the rider must put his
horse on until he make him not only approach the said image,
but thrown it down ; which being done, you must be sure to
give him some provender, that he may be encouraged to do
the like against an adversary in battle. It will be good also
that two men do hold up a cloak betwixt them in the field,
and then the rider to put the horse to it until he leap over,
which cloak also they may raise as they see occasion, when the
horse is able to leap so high. You shall do well also to use
your horse to swimming ; which you may do, either by trail-
ing him after you at the tail of a boat, in a good river, holding
him by the head at the length of the bridle, or by putting a
good swimmer in a linen waistcoat and breeches upon him 1 .

It will be fit for a gentleman also to learn to swim, unless he
be given cramps and convulsions 2 ; howbeit, I must confess,
in my own particular, that I cannot swim ; for, as I was once
in danger of drowning, by learning to swim, my mother, upon
her blessing, charged me never to learn swimming, telling me
further, that she had heard of more drowned than saved by

1 Locke, in opposition to Lord Herbert, warns his pupil against making * a busi-
ness of * learning to ride the great horse, and urges that ' a firm and graceful seat on
horse-back ' is all that is desirable

2 Cf Everard Digby's De Arte Natandi, 1587, the first book on the subject produced
in England The plates are very curious

G

42 Life of Lord Herbert [1599

it , which reason, though it did not prevail with me, yet her
commandment did. It will be good also for a gentleman to
learn to leap, wrestle, and vault on horseback ; they being all
of them qualities of great use. I do much approve likewise of
shooting m the long-bow, as being both an healthful exercise and
useful for the wars, notwithsandmg all that our firemen speak
against it , for, bring an hundred archers against so many
musqueteers, I say if the archer comes within his distance, he
will not only make two shoots, but two hits for one -.

The exercises I do not approve of are riding of running
horses 2 , there being much cheating m that kind ; neither do
I see why a brave man should delight in a creature whose chief
use is to help him to run away. I do not much like of hunting
horses, that exercise taking up more time than can be spared
from a man studious to get knowledge ; it is enough, there-
fore, to know the sport, if there be any m it, without making
it an ordinary practice ; and, indeed, of the two, hawking is
the better, because less time is spent m it 3 . And upon these
terms also I can allow a little bowling ; so that the company
be choice and good.

The exercises I wholly condemn, are dicing and carding,
especially if you play for any great sum of money, or spend any
time m them ; or use to come to meetings in dicmg-houses
where cheaters meet and cozen young gentlemen of all their
money. I could say much more concerning all these
points of education, and particularly concerning the discreet
civility which is to be observed in communication either with
friends or strangers, but this work would grow too big ; and
that many precepts conducing thereunto may be had in Guazzo
de la Civile Conversation 4 , and Galeteus de Monbus 5 .

1 Lord Herbert makes similar remarks m his Henry VIII, when ^peaking of the
statutes for the encouragement of archery (1534 and 1541) He condemns tr-ocaliyer
as more costly than the bow, and more difficult to use Sir John Smythe, in his Dis-
courses of Weapons, 1590, writes cmphaticallv ir> tho samo sense, calling the long-bow
our \?e EngUshmonV] pernhnr a id sitiirul.u xvc.ipon ' IP 2?)

2 i e racing Ncwni.ukoi wns acqiurii c; us hm tame IM the fashionable world while
Lord Herbert was a young man

3 James I, like many other writers on education, takes just the opposite-view m his
Rasihkon Doron, lib 111, p 122 He says that hawking is to be pi.'iv d -p urigl\, be-
cause it is an. extreme stirrer-up of passions, and neither resembles war nor makes a
man hardy as hunting does

* La Cw> Cwerii'-.-'t " del <?""/ -r Stefano Guazzo (Venice, 1575) An English trans-
lation was i i 1 'i- !<! , > o ! . i ' 1586, in four books, the first three being the work
of George Pettie, and the fourth of Bartholomew Young

5 This is an Italian book usually known as II Galatheo, translations exist in Latin
and almost all modern languages The author was Giovanni della Casa (1503-5 6),
Archbishop of Benevento from 1544 till his death The work was written about 1550,

1600] Life of Lord Herbert 43

It would also deserve a particular lecture or recherche, how
one ought to behave himself with children, servants, tenants,
and neighbours ; and I am confident, that precepts in this
point will be found more useful to young gentlemen, than all
the subtleties of schools. I confess I have collected many
things to this purpose, which I forbear to set down here ,-
because, if God grant me life and health, I intend to make a
little treatise concerning these points *. I shall return now to
the narration of mine own history.

When I had attained the age betwixt eighteen or nineteen
years, my mother, together with myself and wife, removed up
to London, where we took house, and kept a greater family than
became cither my mother's widow's estate, or such young
beginners as we were ; especially, since six brothers and three
sisters were to be provided for, my father having either made
no will, or such an imperfect one, that it was not proved. My
mother, although she had all my father's leases and goods,
which were of great value, yet she desired me to undertake
that burden of providing for my brothers and sisters ; which,
to gratify my mother, as well as those so near me, I was volun-
tarily content to provide thus far, as to give my six brothers
thirty pounds apiece yearly, during their lives, and my three
sisters one thousand pounds apiece, which portions married
them to those I have above mentioned. My younger sister,
indeed 2 , might have been married to a far greater fortune,
had not the overthwartness of some neighbours interrupted it.

About the year of our Lord 1600 I came to London, shortly
after which the attempt of the Earl of Essex, related in our
history, f ollowed J ; which I had rather were seen in the
writers of that argument than here. Not long after this,
curiosity, rather than ambition, brought me to court ; and as
it was the manner of those times for all men to kneel down

and first ? h'nVd r.t Mi 1 ^ in 1559 It was long a standard educational work in Italy
Alfien t, o > ! ( (Mi>>l .1 .. oitterly in his autobiography of the pain its perusal caused
him in "i> M> ,- 1 \.i , .1-, from it are given by Mr W M Rossetti in his Essay on
Italian Courtesy Books appended to the English Tracts on Courtesy, edited by Dr. F J.
Furmvall for the Earh English Trxt Society (1879) T>lla Casa wrote another book
on a similar subject, on titled frattalo dtalt Ci/tu Comma tra s>lt 'tnnci Svpenontlnfcnort.
which piobably suggested to HIM licit rhc nc\t p,ir.i|p apli

i See the account given in the introduction of A Dwlogue between ft Tutor and a Pupil,
attributed rightly (as 1 judge) to Lord Herbert, and first published m 1768 A manu-
script copy is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (MS Rawhnson, c 95)

a The wife of Sir John Brown of Lincolnshire (p 15, supra).

3 Essex's fruitless rising in London took place on Sunday. 7th February 1600-1
The Earl was executed aSth February

44 Life of Lord Herbert [1601

before the great Queen Elizabeth, who then reigned, I was
likewise upon my knees m the presence-chamber, when she
passed by to the Chapel at Whitehall. As soon as she saw me,
she stopped, and swearing, her usual oath *, demanded, ' Who
is this > * Everybody there present looked upon me, but no
man knew me, until Sir James Croft, a pensioner a , finding
the Queen stayed, returned back and told who I was, and that I
had married Sir William Herbert of St. Julian's daughter. The
Queen hereupon looked attentively upon me, and swearing
her ordinary oath, said it is pity he was married so young, and
thereupon gave her hand to kiss twice, both times gently clap-
ping me on the cheek. I remember little more of myself, but
that, from that time until King James's coming to the crown, I
had a son which died shortly afterwards, and that I attended
my studies seriously ; the more I learnt out of my books, add-
ing stiU a desire to know more.

King James being now acknowledged King, and coming
towards London, I thought fit to meet his Majesty at Burleigh,
near Stamford s . Shortly after I was made Knight of the
Bath, with the usual ceremonies belonging to that ancient
order *. I could tell how much my person was commended
by the lords and ladies that came to see the solemnity then
used ; but I shall flatter myself too much if I believed it.

I must not forget yet the ancient custom, being that some
principal person was to put on the right spur of those the King
had appointed to receive that dignity 5 . The Earl of Shrews-

1 Naunton gives God's Death as the Queen's ' wonted oath ' Fragment* Regatta

Cl a 4 Thd ?5Sr Yines Croft, of Croft Castle, Herefordshire, the well-known Con-
trailer o* f>p ^VaV-t* '* h -> -VM was knighted 23d July 1603 , took i ; wi-i"- 1
part in'' \i '-,,'. ' .1 >, was alive m 1626 (Retrospective fr . , -c ' 1

ser i - J , ' * ' uag gentlemen of rank and fortune, selected by

Vi i' 'i f" o I - ' > .. J i account of th-ar handsome faces and figures
, u, r, to, and Merry Wives of Windsor, 11, a, 79, and

V/UCULl I l-i I ' "

(cf Mukiunmcr bights Dr*~,,., , *, ~~ r

Osborne's Elizabeth in Court of fames I, i, 55i _. _ . .,

3 James I stayed at Burlei ? h or BurgW House, the progertyof Thomas Cecil the
eldest son and successor of the first Lord Burghley, from Saturday the 2sd till Wed-

n ^ d - a lu?id t ay^he l a4tb [july 1603], was performed the solemnity of Knights of the Bath,
riding honorably from Saint James to the Courte, and made shew with their Squires
and Pfigos about the tilt-yarde, and after went into the Parke of Saint James and ther
lighted all from tioio horses, and went uppe to the King's Majestie's presence in the
y where they received the Order ^ K**AnH * fhe Bathe ' Howes' Chronicle,

Jiery, wjaeic tuey AumiYuu u*c -f*v*<i - i-*--- ----

827 Some ^i\tv persons received i , i '' l

p 827 Some *i\tv persons receive i , i ' i^oru nerocrt

At' pliho'dti^ .ici o nit of the cciornorual observed it the creation of Knights of tne
Bath ia printed it the o.id 01 The Ortur , of the creation of Pnnce Hcnrv, Pnnce

at Wales . Lend 1610 , and is reprinted both in Somers' Tracts and in Nicholls
Progresses of fames I t u, 336-41

1603] Life of Lord Herbert 45

bury, seeing my esquire there with my spur in his hand* volun-
tarily came to me, and said, ' Cousin, I believe you will be a
good knight, and therefore I will put on your spur ' ; where-
upon, after my most humble thanks for so great a favour, I
held up my leg against the wall, and he put on my spur.

There is another custom likewise, that the knights the first
day wear the gown of some religious order, and the night follow-
ing to be bathed ; after which they take an oath never to sit
in place where injustice should be done, but they shall right it
to the uttermost of their power ; and particularly ladies and
gentlewomen that shall be wronged in their honour, if they
demand assistance, and many other points, not unlike the
romances of knight errantry l .

The second day to wear robes of crimson taflety ( in which
habit I am painted in my study), 2 and so to ride from St James's
to Whitehall, with our esquires before us , and the third day
to wear a gown of purple satin, upon the left sleeve whereof is
fastened certain strings weaved of white silk and gold tied in a
knot, and tassels to it of the same, which all the knights are
obliged to wear until they have done something famous in
arms, or until some lady of honour take it off, and fasten it on
her sleeve, saying, I will answer he shall prove a good knight.
I had not long worn this string, but a principal lady of the
court, and, certainly, in most men's opinion, the handsomest 3 ,
took mine off, and said she would pledge her honour for mine.
I do not name this lady, because some passages happened
afterwards which oblige me to silence ; though nothing could
be justly said to her prejudice or wrong.

Shortly after this I intended to go with Charles, Earl of

1 This oath, which. Lord Herbert kept very qaixoticallv was (according to Howes
Chronicle} administered in these words : ' Right dcerc brother . you shall nonoure
God above all thmges ; you shall be stedfast in the faith of Christ, and the same main-
taine, and defend to your power ; you shall love your Soveraigne above all earthly
creatures, and for your Soveraigne's right and dignity live and dye ; you shall defend
widdowes maydens, and orphans in their right ; you shall suffer no extortion as farre
forth as you maye, nor sit in any place where any wrongful judgement shall be given
to your knowledge '. , , ,

2 This picture, by an unknown artist, is now at Powis Castle m the possession of
the Earl of Powis.

bably Mary the daughter of Sir George Cotton, and wife of Henry, sixth Earl of Kent,
about which Herbert is discreetly silent, but the lady may be covertly alluded to here.
' Lady Kent ' says Selden * articled with Sir Edward Herbert that he should come to
her when she sent for him and stay with her as long as she would have him, to which
he set his hand ; then he articled with her, that he should go awav when he pleas d,
and stay away as long as he pleased, to which she set her hand *. TabU-TaW, ed Aroer,
p. 41.

46 Life of Lord Herbert [1605

Nottingham, the Lord Admiral, who went to Spam x to take
the King's oath for confirmation of the articles of peace be-
twixt the two crowns. Howbeit, by the industry of some near
me, who desired to stay me at home, I was hindered ; and,
instead of going that voyage, was made Sheriff of Montgomery-
shire z , concerning which I will say no more, but that I bestowed
the place of under-sheriff, as also other places in my gifts,
freely, without either taking gift or reward ; which custom
also I have observed throughout the whole course of my life ;
insomuch that when I was ambassador in France, and might
have had great presents, which former ambassadors accepted,
for doing lawful courtesies to merchants and others, yet no
gratuity, upon what terms soever, could ever be fastened
upon. me.

This public duty did not hinder me yet to follow my beloved
studies in a country life for the most part ; although some-
times also I resorted to court, without yet that I had any
ambition there, and much less was tainted with those corrupt
delights incident to the times 3 . For, living with my wife in
all conjugal loyalty for the space of about ten years after my
marriage, I wholly declined the allurements and temptations
whatsoever, which might incline me to violate my marriage bed

About the year 1608, my two daughters, called Beatrice 4 ,
and Florence 5 who lived not yet long after, and one son
Richard being born, and come to so much maturity, that,
although in their mere childhood, they gave no little hopes of
themselves for the future time, I called them all before my wife,
demanding, how she liked them, to which she answering

i In Feb 1604-5 (Winwood's Memorials, n, 50)

a In 1605 His *t* t- r- ^d"r-shenff -was Edwarc 1 V ru ^ V-*-, son of William
\VHt A -:rVr- baihf c "!< i < 1590-1, and chief ' \-,i < i 1 owthen to Lord
>' 1 i * .',._ier in -* ~-> I ' >, - - Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire m Powysland Coll ,
v, 479-81

3 Prom 1605 onwards Lord Herbert's name appears on the roll of Montgomeryshire
magistrates, but there is no evidence to show that he spent much time in the country
Powysland Collections, v J7~ S T It is singular that Lord Herbert omits to mention
that on Qth February \< i -/ J - I granted the Castle o f TVTo+< m e'-" *vhi"b ^pd
been in the ~" ,.55' -<"> I- < 'u \ -. family since his v < ( , i ( - *.' c i ""I'l,!
Herbert, a N '. . ' < i another line, who was creat 'i i . M . " \ ,11
May 1605 I T i > < . ) this grant till irth July 161^ i ' ( ~\ ' > c .In 4
hands of the Earl of Montgomery, but at the latei date he restored it to Lord Herbert
m consideration of the payment of 500 The Castle passed out of his possession again
in 1616, but for only a short time Documents establishing these facts are now at
Powis Castle, and are described in the Powysland Collections, x, pp 168 rf seq

4 Born isth August 1604, and baptized at Montgomery, 28th August, Beatrice
survived her father,

5 Born 27th September 1605, and baptized in Montgomery Church i4th October
following.

1608] Life of Lord Herbert 47

' well ' ; I demanded then, whether she was willing to do so
much for them as I would ? whereupon, she replying, demanded
what I meant by that I told her, that, for my part, I was
but young for a man, and she not old for a woman ; that our
lives were in the hands of God ; that, if He pleased to call
either of us away, that party which remained might marry
again, and have children by some other, to which our estates
might be disposed ; for preventing whereof, I thought fit to
motion to her, that if she would assure * upon the son any
quantity of lands from three hundred pounds a year to one
thousand, I would do the like. But my wife not approving
hereof, answered, in these express words, that she would not
draw the cradle upon her head ; whereupon, I desiring her to
advise better upon the business, and to take some few days'
respite for that purpose, she seemed to depart from me not
very well contented About a week or ten days afterwards,
I demanded again what she thought concerning the motion I
made ; to which yet she said no more, but that she thought she
had already answered me sufficiently to the point. I told
her then, that I should make another motion to her ; which
was, that in regard I was too young to go beyond sea before I
married her, she now would give me leave for a while to see
foreign countries ; howbeit, if she would assure her lands as
I would mine, in the manner above-mentioned, I would never
depart from her. She answered, that I knew her mind before
concerning that point, yet that she should be sorry I went
beyond sea ; nevertheless, if I would needs go, she could not
help it. This, whether a license taken or given, served my
turn to prepare without delay for a journey beyond sea, that
so I might satisfy that curiosity I long since had to see foreign
countries. So that I might leave my wife so little discontented
as I could, I left her not only posterity to renew the family of
the Herberts of St. Julian's according to her father's desire to
inherit his lands, but the rents of all the lands she brought with
her ; reserving mine own, partly to pay my brothers' and
sisters' portions, and defraying my charges abroad. Upon
which terms, though I was sorry to leave my wife, as having
lived most honestly with her all this time, I thought it no such
unjust ambition, to attain the knowledge of foreign countries ;

convey by d*ed Cf Lentous xxvii, 19 'He shall add the fifth part of the
, .-and it shall be assured to him '.

money

48 Life of Lord Herbert [1608

especially, since I had in great part already attained the lan-
guages, and that I intended not to spend any long time out of
my country.

Before I departed yet, I left her with child of a son, chris-
tened afterwards by the name of Edward ; and now coming
to court, I obtained a license to go beyond sea, taking with me
for my companion Mr Aurelian Townsend l , a gentleman that
spoke the languages of French, Italian, and Spanish, in great
perfection, and a man to wait m my chamber, who spoke
French, two lacqueys, and three horses. Coming thus to
Dover, and passing the seas thence to Calais, I jounced with-
out any memorable adventure, until I came to Faubourg St.
Germain m Pans, where Sir George Carew, then ambassador
for the King 2 , lived ; I was kindly received by him, and often
invited to his table 3 . Next to his house dwelt the Duke of
Ventadour, who had married a daughter of Monsieur de Mont-
morency, Grand Constable de France. Many visits being
exchanged between that Duchess and the lady of our ambas-
sador, it pleased the Duchess to invite me to her father's house,
at the castle of Merlou, being about twenty-four miles from
Paris 4 ; and here I found much welcome from that brave old
Geneial, who being informed of my name, said he knew well
of what family I was 5 ; telling, the first notice he had of the

1 He was the author of two court masques, both published in 1631 The one is en-
titled Albion's Trvimp^ and was < personated at Court the Sunday after Twelfe
Night 1631 ', the other, named Tempe Restord, was poi formed on Shrove Tuesday
following Townsend was a patron of the poets, and is u traduced by Suckling into
the Sesston of the Poets , ,. ,

2 From 1605 to 1609 (see Bnt Mus MS Addit 20,765, p 143) He afterwards
became Master of the Court of Wards, and died in 1612 He must be distinguished
from the Irish administrator of the same name

3 In a satyra called Travellers from Parus, addressed to Ben Jonson, dated September
1608, Lord Herbert writes thus of his fellow-countrymen m Pans

... all they learn is

Toys and the languages, but to attain this,
You must conceive they're cosen'd, mocked, and come
To Fo" i -br" r '? <; ? St Germans, there tikc a Room
I , ' i" i i,o" r th* Ambassadors, and where
Having no Church, they come Sundays to hear, etc

4 Near Clermont (Oise) The village whence the castle takes its name is now known
as Mello The old forms Mellou and Meslou are known, but not that of Merlou M de
Remusat states that a magnificent castle and park are still in existence there (Lor A
Herbert^ Sa Vie et ses CEuvres, p 30) Several of Lord Herbert's poems are dated from
Merlou, and a sonnet ' made upon the groves near Merlou Castle ' gives vigorous ex-
pression to the rare delight with which the beauty of the place inspired him

5 Henri de Montmorency was second son of the Constable Anne (who, after taking
-,,.+ ,^ +v,a "K^tle of St Quentm, was killed at St Denis in 1567), and brother of Francois,

part in the battle of St Quentm, was killed at St JJenis in 1507;, ana oromer 01 rranyois,
Due de Montmorency, who died in 1579 Henri, born in 1534, was known, in early
life as the Comte de Damville, was present at St Quentm in 1557, and, like his father

1608] Life of Lord Herbert

49

Herberts was at the siege of St Quentin, where my grand-
father, with a command of foot under William Earl of Pem-
broke, was *. Passing two or three days here, it happened
one evening, that a daughter of the Duchess, of about ten
or eleven years of age, going one evening from the castle to
walk in the meadows, myself, with divers French gentlemen,
attended her and some gentlewomen that were with her This
young lady wearing a knot of ribbon on her head, a French
chevalier took it suddenly, and fastened it to his hatband.
The young lady, offended herewith, demands her ribbon, but
he refusing to restore it, the young lady, addressing herself to
me, said, ' Monsieur, I pray get my nbbon from that gentle-
man '. Hereupon, going towards him, I courteously, with
my hat in my hand, desired him to do me the honour, that I
may deliver the lady her ribbon or bouquet again ; but he
roughly answering me, ' Do you think I will give it you, when
I have refused it to her > ' I replied, ' Nay then, sir, I will
make you restore it by force ' ; whereupon also, putting on my
hat and reaching at his, he to save himself ran away, and, after
a long course in the meadow, finding that I had almost over-
took him, he turned short, and running to the young lady, was
about to put the ribbon on her hand, when I, seizing upon his
arm, said to the young lady, ' It was I that gave it '. l Pardon
me % quoth she, ' it is he that gives it me '. I said then,
Madam, I will not contradict you ; but if he dare say that I
did not constrain him to give it, I will fight with him ' The
French gentleman answered nothing thereunto for the present,
and so conducted the young lady again to the castle. The
next day I desired Mr. Aurelian Townsend to tell the French
cavalier, that either he must confess that I constrained him to
restore the ribbon, or fight with me ; but the gentleman seeing
him unwilling to accept of this challenge, went out from the
place, whereupon, I following him, some of the gentlemen that
belonged to the Constable taking notice hereof, acquainted him
therewith, who sending for the French cavalier, checked him
well for his sauciness, in taking the ribbon away from his

was taken prisoner by the Spaniards and the English He fought at the battles of
Dreux and St Denis, but gained his chief fame as Governor of Languedoc from 1563
onwards He ultimately became a supporter of Henri IV, was made by him Constable
of France, and died 2d April 1614 (See B^ograph^e Umversette, s. v. Montmorency)
His second daughter, Marguerite, married, Anne de Levis. Due de Ventadour, to whom
reference is made above
i See p 3, note 2, supra.

H

5 o Life of Lord Herbert [1608

-grandchild, and afterwards bid him depart his house ; and
this was all that I ever heard of the gentleman, with whom
I proceeded in that manner, because I thought myself
obliged thereunto by the oath taken when I was made Knight
of the Bath, as I formerly related upon this occasion l .

I must remember also, that three other times I engaged
myself to challenge men to fight with me, who I conceived had
injured ladies and gentlewomen 2 ; one was in defence of my
cousin, Sir Francis Newport's daughter, who was married to
John Barker of Hamon ; for Walter, the younger brother and
heir, to the said John Barker, had betrayed my cousin, who
thought to use perchance some more liberty than became her
with a servant in the house whom she favoured above the
rest ; Walter Barker, as I was told by another, nourished the
said 'familiarity, and afterwards discovered it to his brother ;
which part of his being treacherous, as I conceived,! thought
fit to send 3 him a challenge, which to this day he never ans-
wered; and would have beaten him afterwards, but that I was
hindered by my uncle Sir Francis Newport.

I had another occasion to challenge one Captain Vaughan,
who I conceived offered some injury to my sister the Lady Jones
of Abermarles. I sent him a challenge, which he accepted,
the place between us being appointed beyond Greenwich, with
seconds on both sides. Hereupon, I coming to the King's
Head in Greenwich, with intention the next morning to be in
the place, I found the house beset with at least an hundred
persons, partly sent by the Lords of the Privy Council, who
gave orders to apprehend me. I hearing thereof, desired my
servant to bring my horses as far as he could from my lodging,
but yet within sight of me ; which being done, and all this com-
pany coming to lay hold on me, I and my second, who was my
cousin, James Price of Hanachly, sallied out of the doors, with
our swords drawn, and, in spite of that multitude, made our
way to our horses, where my servant very honestly opposing

2 |e? Appendix IV, where I have collected some notes on the duelling ^of the period.

3 In all previous editions the sixty-four words between ' younger brother and heir
and ' send him a challenge * were omitted, and blank spaces were commonly left for them.
They are now supplied from a manuscript note made by Horace Walpote on his copy
of the fourth edition of the book. He adds that the words were given him in 1789 by

fi7_ ^V-L-J -A +M Mm +V,a* i* iiroe rnnip-H frnm thft original mailUSCript. which

Powis

of the fourth edition 01 toe DDOK. e aaas mat vie woms were s*v<=" **i in r,
WilUam Seward, who told him that it was copied from the original manuscript,
Walnole never saw. The manuscript copy which was lent Walpole by Lord
omitted L the passage. Cf. Walpole's irftaS ed. Cunningham, vol. iv, p. *7S- .

1608] Life of Lord Herbert 51

himself against those who would have laid hands upon us, while
we got up on horseback, was himself laid hold on by them, and
evil treated ; which I perceiving, rid back again, and with my
sword in my hand rescued him, and afterwards seeing him get
on horseback, charged them to go anywhere rather than to
follow me. Riding afterwards with my second to the place
appointed, I found nobody there ; which, as I heard after-
wards, happened, because the Lords of the Council, taking
notice of this difference, apprehended him, and charged him in
his Majesty's name not to fight with me ; since otherwise I
believed he would not have failed.

The third that I questioned in this kind was a Scotch gentle-
man, who, taking a nbbon m the like manner from Mrs. Middle-
more, a maid of honour, as was done from the young lady
above-mentioned, in a back room behind Queen Anne's lodg-
ings in Greenwich, she likewise desired me to get her the said
ribbon. I repaired, as formerly, to him in a courteous manner
to demand it, but he refusing as the French cavalier did, I
caught him. by the neck, and had almost thrown him down,
when company came in and parted us. I of ered likewise to
fight with this gentleman, and came to the place appointed
by Hyde Park ; but this also was interrupted by order of the
Lords of the Council, and I never heard more of him 1 .

These passages, though different in time, I have related here
together ; both for the similitude of argument, and that it
may appear how strictly I held myself to my oath of knight-
hood ; since, for the rest I can truly say, that, though I have
lived in the armies and courts of the greatest princes in Christen-
dom, yet I never had a quarrel with man for my own sake ;
so that, although m mine own nature I was ever choleric and
hasty, yet I never without occasion quarrelled with anybody,
and as little did anybody attempt to give me offence, as having
as clear a reputation for my courage as whosoever of my time.
For my friends often I have hazarded myself ; but never yet
drew my sword for my own sake singly, as hating ever the
doing of injury, contenting myself only to resent them when

1 Chamberlain describes this affair thus in a letter to Carleton, 2$d January 1609-10
< There was a quarrel hatching at Greenwich 'twixt Sir Edward Herbert and one Boquhan
p Buchan], a Scot gentlemaS, usher to the Queen, about a ribbon or favour taken, as
it were, by force from Mrs Middlemore. But the matter was timely taken up and
compounded by the Council '. Court <w& Tvmes of James I, i, 103 ; CaL State Papers
1603-10, p. 583.

52 Life of Lord Herbert [1608

they were offered me. After this digression I shall return to
my history

That brave Constable in France testifying now more than
formerly his regard of me, at his departure from Merlou to his
fair house at Chantilly, five or six miles distant, said, he left
that castle to be commanded by me, as also his forests and
chases, which were well stored with wild boar and stag ; and
that I might hunt them when I pleased l . He told me also,
that if I would learn to ride the great horse, he had a stable
there of some fifty, the best and choicest as was thought in
France ; and that his escuyer, called Monsieur de Disancourt,
not inferior to Pluvmel or Labroue, should teach me 2 . I did
with great thankfulness accept his offer, as being very much
addicted to the exercise of riding great horses ; and, as for
hunting in his forests, I told him I should use it sparingly, as
being desirous to preserve his game. He commanded also his
escuyer to keep a table for me, and his pages to attend me, the
chief of whom was Monsieur de Mennon 3 , who proving to be
one of the best horsemen in France, keeps now an academy in
Paris ; and here I shall recount a little passage betwixt him
and his master, that the inclination of the French at that time
may appear ; there being scarce any man thought worth the
looking on, that had not killed some other in duel.

Mennon (? Menou) desiring to marry a niece of Monsieur
Disancourt, who it was thought should be his heir, was thus
answered by him. : ' Friend, it is not time yet to marry ; I
will tell you what you must do. If you will be a brave man,
you must first kill in single combat two or three men, then
afterwards marry and engender two or three children, so the

1 In the account of the Constable written by a contemporary, Talleraant des Reaux ,
great itre^ is laid ->n fa* pi'ipstnpn skill and on his passion for hunting * II aimoit
extrer -PI i ' - <_' .>\.i * < cl -> q cheval etoit a 1m, il ne changeoit plus de maitre 5
et, n'e t-jl <j . ' , > M i! '<, > > f mssoit dans une infirmene qui etoit a Chantilly.

. . i, i' : M j|M I t \ ,u w > i 1 1 ' lasse Op^driT 1 1 1 disoit qu'il falloit permettre
a un ^j ,i I'll 1 <L- M.J i -i i\ ' > jibier o i! a Mt i, . lever sur sa propre terre et
qu'en u. c<s i' ', i-v rn ; , <i o i 1 evre i < -o <1 - -.1 salle * Histonettes, torn i,
p 173, ed 1861 As Grand Constable, Montmorency had the general direction of the
eq-uestrian education of the French army

2 Pluvinel had studied horsemanship under Pignatelli at Naples ; was first Master
of the Horse to Henri III, directed Henri IV's famons stables, became sub-governor
to the Dauphin, and even French Ambassador to IlolUind S.ilomon de la Broue was
also Master of the Horse under Henri IV, but ultimately died in poverty Both were
authors of works on horsemanship, which Lord Herbert has already described

3 Probably a misprint for M Rene" de Menou, the friend of Pluvmel and editor of
his book Le Manage Royale. Pluvinel is generally believed to be the founder of riding
schools or academies.

1608] Life of Lord Herbert 53

world will neither have got nor lost by you ' ; of which strange
counsel Disancourt was no otherwise the author than as he
had been an example at least of the former part ; it being his
fortune to have fought three or four brave duels in his
time.

And now, as every morning I mounted the great horse, so in
the afternoon I many times went a-huntmg, the manner of
which was this. The Duke of Montmorency having given
orders to the tenants of the town of Merlou, and some villages
adjoining, to attend me when I went a-huntmg, they, upon
my summons, usually repaired to those woods where I in-
tended to find my game, with drums and muskets, to the
number of sixty or eighty, and sometimes one hundred or
more persons ; they entering the wood on that side with that
noise, discharging their pieces and beating their said drums,
we on the other side of the said wood having placed mastiffs
and greyhounds to the number of twenty or thirty, which
Monsieur de Montmorency kept near his castle, expected
those beasts they should force out of the wood. If stags or
wild boars came forth, we commonly spared them, pursuing
only the wolves, which were there in great number, of which
are found two sorts ; the mastiff wolf, thick and short, though
he could not indeed run fast, yet would fight with our dogs ;
the greyhound wolf, long and swift, who many times escaped
our best dogs, although when he was overtaken, easily killed
by us, without making much resistance. Of both these sorts
I killed divers with my sword, while I stayed there.

One time also it was my fortune to kill a wild boar in this
manner. The boar being roused from his den, fled before our
dogs for a good space ; but finding them press him hard,
turned his head against our dogs, and hurt three or four of
them very dangerously : I came on horseback up to him, and
with my sword thrust him twice or thrice without entering
his skin, the blade being not so stiff as it should be. The boar
hereupon turned upon me, and much endangered my horse ;
which I perceiving, rid a little out of the way, and leaving my
horse with my lacquey, returned with my sword against the
boar, who by this time had hurt more dogs. And here hap-
pened a pretty kind of fight ; for, when I thrust at the boar
sometimes with my sword, which in some places I made enter,
the boar would run at me, whose tusks yet by stepping a little

54 Life of Lord Herbert [1608

out of the way I avoided, but he then turning upon me, the
dogs came in, and drew him off, so that he fell upon them,
which I perceiving, ran at the boar with my sword again, which
made him turn upon me, but then the dogs pulled him from
me again, while so relieving one another by turns, we killed
the boar. At this chase Monsieur Disancourt and Mennon
( ? Menou) were present, as also Mr. Townsend ; yet so as they
did endeavour rather to withdraw me from, than assist me in
the danger. Of which boar, some part being well seasoned and
larded, I presented to my uncle Sir Francis Newport in Shrop-
shire, and found most excellent meat.

Thus having passed a whole summer, partly in these exer-
cises, and partly in visits of the Duke of Montmorency at his
fair house at Chantilly ; which, for its extraordinary fairness
and situation, I shall here describe.

A little river descending from some higher grounds in a
country which was almost all his own, and falling at last upon
a rock in the middle of a valley, which to keep its way for-
wards, it must on one or other side thereof have declined.
Some of the ancestors of the Montmorencies, to ease the river
of this labour, made divers channels through this rock to give
it a free passage, dividing the rock by that means into little
islands, upon which he built a great strong castle, joined to-
gether with bridges, and sumptuously furnished with hangings
of silk and gold, rare pictures, and statues ; all which build-
ings, united as I formerly told, were encompassed about with
water, which was paved with stone (those which were used in
the building of the house were drawn from thence). One
might see the huge carps, pike, and trouts, which were kept in
several divisions, gliding along the waters very easily ; yet
nothing in my opinion added so much to the glory of this castle
as a forest adjoining close to it, and upon a level with the house.
For being of a very large extent, and set thick both with tall
trees and underwood, the whole forest, which was replenished
with wild boar, stag, and roe-deer, was cut out into long walks
every way , so that, although the dogs might follow their
chase through the thickets, the huntsmen might ride along the
said walks, and meet or overtake their game in some one of
them, they being cut with that art, that they led to all the
parts in the said forest ; and here also I have hunted the wild
boar divers times, both then and afterwards, when his son, the

1608] Life of Lord Herbert 55

Duke of Montmorency, succeeded him in the possession of that
incomparable place 1

And there I cannot but remember the direction the old
Constable gave me to return to his castle out of this admirable
labyrinth ; telling me I should look upon what side the trees
were roughest and hardest, which being found, I might be
confident that part stood northward, which being observed,
I might easily find the east, as being on the right hand ; and
so guide my way home.

How much this house, together with the forest, hath been
valued by great princes, may appear by two little narratives I
shall here insert. Charles V, the great Emperor, passing in
the time of Francois I from Spain into the Low Countries, by
the way of France, was entertained for some time in this
house by a Duke of Montmorency, who was likewise Constable
de France ; after he had taken this palace into his consider-
ation, with the forests adjoining, said he would willingly give
one of his provinces in the Low Countries for such a place ,
there being, as he thought, nowhere such a situation.

Henry IV also was desirous of this house, and offered to
exchange any of his houses, with much more lands than his
estate thereabouts was worth ; to which the Duke of Mont-
morency made this wary answer : Sieur, la maison est a
vous, wiais que je sois le concierge ; which in English sounds
thus : ' Sir, the house is yours, but give me leave to keep it for
you '.

When I had been at Merlou about some eight months, and
attained, as was thought, the knowledge of horsemanship, I
came to the Duke of Montmorency at St. Ilee 2 , and,
after due thanks for his favours, took my leave of him to go
to Paris ; whereupon, the good old prince embracing me,
and calling me son, bid me farewell, assuring me nevertheless
he should be glad of any occasion hereafter to testify his love
and esteem for me ; telling me further, he should come to
Paris himself shortly, where he hoped to see me. From hence
I returned to Merlou, where I gave Monsieur Disancourt such
a present as abundantly requited the charges of my diet, and
the pains of his teaching. Being now ready to set forth, a

1 In 1614 (see p 107)

2 Probably a blunder of the transcriber for Chantilly.

56 Life of Lord Herbert [1608

gentleman from the Duke of Montmorency came to me, and
told me his master would not let me go without giving me a
present, which I might keep as an earnest of his affection ;
whereupon also a jennet, for which the Duke had sent expressly
into Spam, and which cost him there five hundred crowns, as I
was told, was brought to me. The greatness of this gift,
together with other courtesies received, did not a little trouble
me, as not knowing then how to requite them. I would have
given my horses I had there, which were of great value to him,
but that I thought them too mean a present : but the Duke
also suspecting that I meant to do so, prevented me ; saying,
that as I loved him, I should think upon no requital, while I
stayed in France, but when I came into England, if I sent him a
mare that ambled naturally, I should much gratify him. I
told the messenger I should strive both that way, and every
way else, to declare my thankfulness, and so dismissed the
messenger with a good reward.

Coming now to Paris, through the recommendation of the
Lord Ambassador, I was received to the house of that incom-
parable scholar Isaac Casaubon, by whose learned conversation
I much benefited myself 1 ; besides, I did apply myself much
to know the use of my arms, and to ride the great horse, play-
ing on the lute, and singing according to the rules of the French
masters.

Sometimes also I went to the court of the French king,
Henry IV, who, upon information of me in the garden at the
Tuillenes, received me with all courtesy, embracing me in his
arms, and holding me some while there. I went sometimes
also to the court of Queen Margaret at the Hostel, called by her
name 2 ; and here I saw many balls or masks, in all which it
pleased that Queen publicly to place me next to her chair, not
without the wonder of some, and the envy of another, who was
wont to have that favour. I shall recount one accident which
happened while I was there.

1 The great scholar lived at Pans from 1600 to 1610 , after which he came to London
(See Mark Partisan's Casaubon )

% ^e Marguerite of VaJois M Tallemant des Re"aux (i, 165} tells some amusing
stones about the ballets given by Oveen Mn 1 -'?"'""* 1 1* n+ her hotel The Queon had been
divorced from Henri IV in 1600, < d u i:, n i i>as not good Loid Heibert

writes of herwith greater justice m his Satyta addresed to Ben Jonson (September 1608)
as

that swol'n vicious Queen Margaret,
Who were a monster ev'n without her sin I

1609]

Life of Lord Herbert 57

All things being ready for the ball, and every one being in
their place, and I myself next to the Queen, expecting when
the dancers would come in, one knocked at the door somewhat
louder than became, as I thought, a very civil person. When
he came in, I remember there was a sudden whisper among the
ladies, saying, C'est Monsieur Balagny, or, It is Monsieur
Balagny * ; whereupon also I saw the ladies and gentlewomen
one after another invite him to sit near them, and, which is
more, when one lady had his company a while, another would
say, You have enjoyed him long enough, I must have him
now ; at which bold civility of theirs, though I were aston-
ished, yet it added unto my wonder, that his person could not
be thought at most but ordinary handsome ; his hair, which
was cut very short, half grey, his doublet but of sackcloth cut
to his shirt, and his breeches only of plain grey cloth. In-
forming myself by some standers-by who he was, I was told
that he was one of the gallantest men in the world, as having
killed eight or nine men in single fight, and that for this reason
the ladies made so much of him, it being the manner of all
Frenchwomen to cherish gallant men, as thinking they could
not make so much of any else with the safety of their honour.
This cavalier, though his head was half grey, he had not yet
attained the age of thirty years, whom I have thought
fit to remember more particularly here, because of some pas-
sages that happened afterwards betwixt him and me, at the
siege of Juliers, as I shall tell in its place.

Having passed thus all the winter, until about the latter end
of January [1609], without any such memorable accident as I
shall think fit to set down particularly, I took my leave of
the French king, Queen Margaret, and the nobles and ladies
in both courts ; at which time the Princess of Conti 2 desired

1 Damien de Montluc, Seigneur de Balagm, was the son of a well-known Marshal
of France, who entered the service of Henri IV in 1593 Through his mother, Rene"e
de Clermont, he was the nephew of Bussy d'Amboise, the hero of Chapman's plays,
whom he appcais to have resembled in character Sir Thomas Edmondes, the English
Ambassador in Pans, reports a duel between M D'Andelot and Balagny on nth January
1611-2, and another in the streets of Pans between M Pinocin and Balagny, 26th March
1612 In the latter quarrel Pinocin was killed on the spot, and Balagny died of his
wounds two days afterwards Winwood's Memorials, ill, 324, 350, 353

2 1574-1631 Daughter of the Due de Guise, and wife of Francois de Bourbon,
Prince de Conti, son of the first Prince de Cond6 She enjoyed a very unenviable repu-
tation at the French court (See Les Amours du grand Alcandre, of which she Is the
heroine, her own romance, Les Adventures d& la cour de Perse, 1629 , Tallemant des
Reaux, Historiettes, i, 54 ; and the notice in the Bw^raphw Umversdle, 1856)

I

5 8 Life of Lord Herbert [1609

me to carry a scarf into England, and present it to Queen Anne
on her part, which being accepted, myself and Sir Thomas
Lucy x (whose second I had "been twice in France, against two
cavaliers of our nation, who yet were hindered to fight with us
m the field, where we attended them), we came on our way as
far as Dieppe in Normandy, and there took ship about the
beginning of February, when so furious a storm arose, that with
very great danger we were at sea all night. The master of our
ship lost both the use of his compass and his reason ; for not
knowing whither he was earned by the tempest, all the help
he had was by the lightnings, which, together with thunder
very frequently that night, terrified him, yet gave the advan-
tage sometimes to discover whether we were upon our coast, to
which he thought by the course of his glasses we were near
approached. And now towards day we found ourselves, by
great providence of God, within view of Dover, to which the
master of our ship did make. The men of Dover rising be-
times in the morning to see whether any ship were coming to-
wards them, were in great numbers upon the shore, as believing
the tempest, which had thrown down barns and trees near the
town, might give them the benefit of some wreck, if perchance
any ship were driven thitherwards. We coming thus in
extreme danger straight upon the pier of Dover, which stands
out in the sea, our ship was unfortunately split against it ; the
master said, Mes amies, nous sommes perdus ; or, My friends,
we arc cast away. Whon myself who heard the ship crack
against the pier, and then found by the master's words it was
time for every one to save themselves, if they could, got out of
my cabin (though very sea-sick), and climbing up the mast a
little way, drew my sword and flourished it ; they at Dover
having this sign given them, adventured in a shallop of six
oars to relieve us, which being come with great danger to the
side of our ship, I got into it first with my sword in my hand,
and called for Sir Thomas Lucy, saying, that if any man

i Of Chartecote, Warwickshire Eldest son (born 1584) of the Sir .Thomas Lucy
with whom Shakespeare is alleged to have come into unpleasant contact , was Knight
of tte s for V^?mckshire i5sU Parliaments between 1621 and 8th December 1640
the date of his death , married Alice, daughter of Thomas Spencer of Qaverdon and
granddaughter of Sn- To^r ipon o* Vt-*-* A verv elaborate monument was
SeSedtohismen i < i I- < ( !i i " ni- *nfe , it bears n Ion? T afn i"^n r -
tion, in which his 1 i"-, ' 1, -^ li i*,ii i' ' ' " learning and j u ."I -in ..K - i-
ally commended. iS, , I) i jl K '- It >t> *.*, wi-r,-, c<l Thomas, i, 506, 5, 5 )

1609] Life of Lord Herbert 59

offered to get in before him, I should resist him with my sword ;
whereupon a faithful servant of his taking Sir Thomas Lucy
out of the cabin, who was half dead of sea-sickness, put him
into my arms, whom after I had received, I bid the shallop
make away for shore, and the rather that I saw another shallop
coming to relieve us ; when a post from France, who earned
letters, finding the ship still rent more and more, adventured to
leap from the top of our ship into the shallop, where falling
fortunately on some of the stronger timber of the boat, and
not on the planks, which he must needs have broken, and so
sunk us, had he fallen upon them, escaped together with us
two, unto the land. I must confess myself, as also the seamen
that were in the shallop, thought once to have killed him for
this desperate attempt ; but finding no harm followed, we
escaped together unto the land, from whence we sent more
shallops, and so made means to save both men and horses
that were in the ship, which yet itself was wholly split and cast
away, insomuch that in pity to the master, Sir Thomas Lucy
and myself gave thirty pounds towards his loss, which yet
was not so great as we thought, since the tide now ebbing, he
recovered the broken parts of his ship.

Corning thus to London, and afterwards to court, I kissed his
Majesty's hand, and acquainted him with some particulars
concerning France. As for the present I had to deliver to her
Majesty from the Princess of Conti, I thought fit rather to send
it by one of the ladies that attended her, than to presume to
demand audience of her in person : but her Majesty not satis-
fied herewith, commanded me to attend her, and demanded
divers questions of me concerning that princess and the courts
in France, saying she would speak more at large with me at
some other time ; for which purpose she commanded me to
wait on her often, wishing me to advise her what present she
might return back again.

Howbeit, not many weeks after, I returned to my wife and
family again, where I passed some time, partly in my studies,
and partly riding the great horse, of which I had a stable well
furnished. No horse yet was so dear to me as the jennet I
brought from France, whose love I had so gotten, that he
would suffer none else to ride him, nor indeed any man to come
near him, when I was upon him, as being in his nature a most
furious horse ; his true picture may be seen in the chapel

60 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

chamber in my house, where I am painted riding him, and
this motto by me ?

Me totum. bonitas bomim sttprema
Reddas , me mtrepidum dabo vel apse 1 .

This horse as soon as ever I came to the stable would neigh,
and when I drew nearer him would lick my hand, and (when I
suffered him) my cheek, but yet would permit nobody to come
near his heels at the same time. Sir Thomas Lucy would
have given me ^200 for this horse, winch, though I would not
accept, yet I left the horse with him when I went to the Low
Countries, who not long after died The occasion of my going
thither was thus : hearing that a war about the title of Cleves,
Juhers, and some other provinces betwixt the Low Countries
and Germany, should be made, by the several pretenders to it,
and that the French king himself would come with a great army
into those parts 2 ; it was now the year of our Lord 1610,
when my Lord Chandos 3 and myself resolved to take shipping
for the Low Countries, and from thence to pass to the city of
Juliers, which the Prince [Philip William] of Orange resolved
to besiege 4 . Making all haste thither, we found the siege
newly begun ; the Low Country army assisted by 4,000 English
under the command of Sir Edward Cecil 5 . We had not been
long there, when the Marshal de la CMtre 6 , instead of Henry

1 A print of this * -* *, c~^^ cd by J Bowen, was published in i?68 The pic-
ture is there stated > I j ai J':m .^ C .istle in, the possession of the Earl of Powis The
present Earl informs me that the picture is not now in has hands, and I have been unable
to discover its whereabouts

2 On 25th March 1610,, Wilham John, Duke of Cleves, died There were many pre-
tenders to his Duchy , and two of them the Elector of Brandenburg and the Palatine
of Neuburg -combined to seize it, at the instance of the Protestant princes of the Em-
pire The Emperor thereupon ordered the Archduke Leopold to occupy the country
in his name, and the Archduke entered Juhers, one of the chief towns of the Duchy,
Henri IV announced that he w -'* * r~> r * the two Protestant claimants by force of
arms Holland and England <.. \'- J i 1 their assistance. In May, Henri, who
intended to head his troops, w - i M IK Ravaillac, but the Queen-Regent and her
advisers subsequently ordered Marshal de la CMtre to proceed against Juliers, where
he arrived on 8th August Already on i7th July, the English (under Sir Edward Cecil)
and the Dutch had begun the siege, and Jukers surrendered on zzd August

3 Grey Brydges, fifth Lord Chandos, a well-known courtier, was born about r579
and was made a K&ight of the Bath in 1604 Unlike Herbert, who was only a volun-
teer, he was one of the officers m command of the presort pvr-^di^i^r (see Newes out
of dleaveland, 1611) Suhsiquenth he suffered much in c " ', < *! uu* 1 at Spa, loth
August 1621- The ho^pitnlitv -which he dispensed at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire,
gained for him the titlo of ' King of the Cotswolds *.

* Subsequently (p 95) TT r--t =-c-\-5 ^ C~ ,*t Maurice of Nassau, the Dutch com-
mander as Prince of Ora g ,\ ink* o v 1 1 n< 4 only succeeded on Ins elder brother's
death in 1618. Their father was William the Silent,

5 See p 12 supra.

Q Marshal of France from 1594 till his death in 1614.

r6io]

Life of Lord Herbert 61

IV, who was killed by that villain Ravaillac 1 , came with a
brave French army thither, in which Monsieur Balagny, I
formerly mentioned, was a colonel.

My Lord Chandos lodged himself in the quarters where Sir
Horace Vere 2 was ; I went and quartered with Sir Edward
Cecil, where I was lodged next to him in a hut I made there,
going yet both by day and night to the trenches ; we making
our approaches to the town on one side, and the French on
the other. Our lines were drawn towards the point of a bul-
wark of the citadel or castle, thought to be one of the best
fortifications in Christendom, and encompassed about with
a deep wet ditch. We lost many men in making these ap-
proaches, the town and castle being very well provided both
with great and small shot, and a garrison in it of about 4,000
men, besides the burghers. Sir Edward Cecil (who was a very
active general) used often, during the siege, to go in person in
the night time, to try whether he could catch any sentinels
perdus ; and for this purpose still desired me to accompany
him ; in performing whereof, both of us did much hazard our
lives, for the first sentinel retiring to the second, and the
second to the third, three shots were commonly made at us,
before we could do anything, though afterwards chasing them
with our swords almost home unto their guards, we had some
sport in the pursuit of them.

One day Sir Edward Cecil and myself coming to the ap-
proaches that Monsieur de Balagny had made towards a bul-
wark or bastion of that city, Monsieur de Balagny, in the
presence of Sir Edward Cecil and divers English and French
captains then present, said, Monsieur* on dit que vous etes un des
plus braves de vdtre nat^on 9 et ye sms Balagny, allons vow qui
fair a le mieux ' They say you are one of the bravest of your
nation, and I am Balagny, let us see who will be best * ; where-
upon leaping suddenly out of the trenches with his sword
drawn, I did in the like manner as suddenly follow him, both of
us in the meanwhile striving who should be foremost, which
being perceived by those of the bulwark and cortine s opposite

1 14th May 1610. , , ...

2 like his elder brother Francis, Sir Horatio Vere acquired a very great military
reputation by his prolonged service m the Low Countries Conway and Monk, subse-
quently Duke of Albemarle, were among his pupils He was created Baron Vere of
Tilbury m 1625, and dying in 1635 was buried m Westminster Abbey,

3 i e, curtainthe name applied in fortification to the portion of a rampart situated
between two bastions and uniting their flanks

62 Life of Lord Herbert

to us, three or four hundred shot at least, great and small, were
made against us. Our running on forwards in emulation of
each other, was the cause that all the shots fell betwixt us and
the trench from which we sallied. When Monsieur Balagny,
finding such a storm of bullets, said, Par D^eu il fait bien ch -iud
* It is very hot here ' ; I answered briefly thus : Vous en ^res
premzev, autrement ye n'iray yamais ' You shall go first, or else
I will never go ' ; hereupon he ran with all speed, and some-
what crouching, towards the trenches. I followed after
leisurely and upright, and yet came within the trenches before
they on the bulwark or cortine could charge again ; which pas-
sage afterwards being related to the Prince of Orange, he said
it was a strange bravado of Balagny, and that we went to an
unavoidable death.

I could relate divers things of note concerning myself, during
the siege ,* but do forbear, lest I should relish too much of
vanity : it shall suffice, that my passing over the ditch unto
the wall, first of all the nations there, is set down by William
Crosse, master of arts, and soldier, who hath written and
printed the history of the Low Countnes 7 .

There happened during this siege a particular quarrel be-
twixt me and the Lord of Walden *, eldest son to the Earl of
Suffolk, Lord Treasurer of England at that time, which I do but
unwillingly relate, in regard of the great esteem I have of that
noble family ; howbeit, to avoid misreports, I have thought fit
to set it down truly 3 . That Lord having been invited to a

1 In all previous editions this name is wrongly punted Crofts , but no person of that
name (so far as I have been able to discover), wrote on the -i--- ^ J.i 1 TTV f,i,i
Crosse, ' Mr " r * f- ' ' - % ,- 1 ' - 1 --- 4 *~ 1627 a second ' ', - , < <; i.* >-'< n"
Generall Hii'* > ' > ' ><.>' n i continuation of the narrative from 1608
the date of i - , i " ^2- t - i writes thus (p 1294), of the fall of Juliers .
' The English sapped or mined first into the wall before Chatitton or Bethun had ad-
vanced so farre , the truth whereof Sir Edward Harbert, now Lord Harbert of Castle
Island, can approoue , who carried himselfe most valiantly in all that Service, and
brought away a mark of Honour, as beemg the first of all the Nations then passed ouer
into the wall This I speake not out of any nationall ^T+ipittiA Truth being neerer
to me than my Coutitrie, but onely that I might quit i . -' ' i ' > that imputation, *
which concealment deserues in an histoncall consistone ana there spcaalh, \V}K\'M-S
our owne, not other men's actions, are interpreted and questionable ' In the margin
Crosse quaintly writes ' Gentle reader, if you chance to see any copie with any other
name than that of Sir F4 wwvpf ^e 1 " <;p*>oi^d krow it was mistaken in the printing,'
There are no other refe ' . v- II " C ' -c - nc ount of the campaign

2 Thcophilus, created Lord Howard of Walden in 1603, was the eldest son of Thomas,
first L,arl of Suffolk He was an officer in the present expedition, was subsequently
Governor of Jersey (1621), succeeded his father as Earl (1626), was made K G (1628),
held the offices of Pnvv Councillor, Constable of Dover Castle, and Captain of the Band
of PiMi-io'ieis, pnd died 30! J uno iCjo Collins' Peerage, ed Brydges, m, 155

<* Pevton, Loid Ho\vard of \\alden 'b second, drew up an, account of this quarrel,
which, I have printed from the Lansdowne MS (XC) in Appendix V Wmwooa writes

1610] Life of Lord Herbert 63

feast in Sir Horace Vere's quarters, where (after the Low
Country manner) there was liberal drinking, returned not
long after to Sir Edward Cecil's quarters, at which time
I speaking merrily to him, upon some slight occasion, he
took that offence at me, which he would not have done at
another time, insomuch that he came towards me in a vio-
lent manner, which I perceiving, did more than halt-way meet
him ; but the company were so vigilant upon us, that before
any blow passed we were separated ; howbeit, because he made
towards me, I thought fit the next day to send him a challenge,
telling him, that if he had anything to say to me, I would meet
him in such a place as no man should interrupt us \ Shortly
after this Sir Thomas Peyton 2 came to me on his part, and
told me my Lord would fight with me on horseback with single
sword ; ' and J , said he, ' I will be his second ; where is yours ? J
I replied, that neither his Lordship nor myself brought over
any great horses with us ; that I knew he might much better
borrow one than myself ; howbeit, as soon as he showed me
the place, he should find me there on horseback or on foot ;
whereupon both of us riding together upon two geldings to the
side of a wood, Peyton said he chose that place, and the time,
break of day the next morning. I told him I would fail neither
place nor time, though I knew not where to get a better horse
than the nag 1 rid on ; e and as for a second, I shall trust to
your nobleness, who, I know, will see fair play betwixt us,
though you come on his side '. But he urging me again to
provide a second, I told him I could promise for none but
myself, and that if I spoke to any of my friends in the army to
this purpose, I doubted lest the business might be discovered
and prevented.

to Salisbury, zzd August 1610 . * Sir Edward Herbert (will they, mil they) hath forced
a quarrel since my coming from the army, first upon my Lord Walden, after -upon Sir
Thomas Somersett [see p 66] Wherein he hath offered an irreparable injune

to my Lord Generall [Sir Edward Cecil] who hath treated him, as he hath done them
all, with an exceeding love and kindness ' Wmwood's Memorials, m, 210.

1 According to Peyton's account (printed in Appendit V), Sir Edward Lecil inter-
vened early in the quarrel, and with the consent of both parties arranged a reconcili-
ation On nth September, however, when the troops were returning home, Herbert
made some vague rumours an excuse for renewing the former challenge His conduct
was censured on all sides , , , ,

2 In the Lansdowne MS (printed below) Peyton's Christian name seems to be Jo ,
% & John Sir Thomas, who was M P for Dunwich in 1587 and Custodian of Plymouth,
had a grandson, John, who settled m Virginia m 1644 Another Thomas Peyton was
the author of a very rare poem, The Glasse of Time (Lond 1620), Sir Thomas fourth
son Sir Henry was the most prominent member of the family at James I s court.

64 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

He was no sooner gone from me, but night drew on, myself
resolving in the meantime to rest under a fair oak all night ;
after this, tying my horse by the bridle unto another tree, I
had not now rested two hours, when I found some fires nearer to
me than I thought was possible in so solitary a place ; where-
upon also having the curiosity to see the reason hereof, I got
on horseback again, and had not rode very far, when by the
talk of the soldiers there, I found I was in the Scotch quarter,
where, finding in a stable a very fair horse of service, I desired
to know whether he might be bought for any reasonable sum of
money ; but a soldier replying it was their captain's, Sir James
Areskm's chief horse 1 9 I demanded for Sir James, but the
soldier answering he was not within the quarter, I demanded
then for his lieutenant, whereupon the soldier courteously
desired him to come to me. This lieutenant was called Mont-
gomery, and had the reputation of a gallant man ; I told him
that I would very fain buy a horse, and, if it were possible, the
horse I saw but a little before ; but he telling me none was to
be sold there, I offered to leave in his hands 100 pieces, if he
would lend me a good horse for a day or two, he to restore me
the money again when I delivered him the horse in good plight,
and did besides bring him some present as a gratuity.

The lieutenant, though he did not know me, suspected I
had some private quarrel, and that I desired this horse to fight
on, and thereupon told me, ' Sir, whosoever you are, you seem
to be a person of worth, and you shall have the best horse in
the stable ; and if you have a quarrel and want a second, I
offer myself to serve you upon another horse, and if you will let
me go along with you upon these terms, I will ask no pawn of
you for the horse '. I told him I would use no second, and I
desired him to accept 100 pieces, which I had there about me,
in pawn for the horse, and he should hear from me shortly
again ; and that though I did not take his noble offer of coming
along with me, I should evermore rest much obliged to him ;
whereupon giving him my purse with the money in it, I got
upon his horse, and left my nag besides with him.

Riding thus away about twelve o'clock at night to the wood
from whence I came, I alighted from my horse and rested there

I Aro^km is prohal.lr a rn^i ending for Ti *1 me T- rvs T -"\ r ~\rsc* ~,t *- -t f ?ovrrn 1
of the naino, \\lioliadacLompanirdhun from Scoll.v <1 II \i , MM i 1 1 -i < '
identify Sir James.

1610] Life of Lord Herbert 65

till morning ; the day now breaking I got on horseback, and
attended the Lord of Walden with his second The first per-
son that appeared was a footman, who I heard afterwards was
sent by the Lady of Walden x , who as soon as he saw me, ran
back again with all speed ; I meant once to pursue him, but
that I thought it better at last to keep my place. About two
hours after Sir William St. Leger, now Lord President of
Munster 2 , came to me, and told me he knew the cause of my
being there, and that the business was discovered by the Lord
Walden's rising so early that morning, and the suspicion that
he meant to fight with me, and had Sir Thomas Peyton with
him, and that he would ride to him, and that there were thirty
or forty sent after us, to hinder us from meeting. Shortly
after many more came to the place where I was, and told me
I must not fight, and that they were sent for the same purpose,
and that it was to no purpose to stay there, and thence rode to
seek the Lord of Walden. I stayed yet two hours longer, but
finding still more company came in, rode back again to the
Scotch quarters, and delivered the horse back again, and
received my money and nag from Lieutenant Montgomery, and
so withdrew myself to the French quarters, till I did find some
convenient time to send again to the Lord Walden

Being among the French, I remembered myself of the
bravado of Monsieur Balagny, and coming to him, told him, I
knew how brave a man he was, and that as he had put me to
one trial of daring, when I was last with him in his trenches, I
would put him to another ; saying I heard he had a fair
mistress, and that the scarf he wore was her gift, and that I
would maintain I had a worthier mistress than he, and that I
would do as much for her sake as he, or any else durst do for
his. Balagny hereupon looking merrily upon me, said, ' If we
shall try who is the abler man to serve his mistress, let both
of us get two wenches, and he that doth his business best, let
him be the braver man * ; and that, for his part, he had no
mind to fight on that quarrel. I, looking hereupon some-
what disdainfully on him, said he spoke more like a paillard 3
than a cavalier ; to which he answering nothing, I rid my
ways, and afterwards went to Monsieur Terant, a French

1 Lady Howard of Walden. was Elizabeth, daughter of George Hume, Earl of Dunbar

2 He held his post throughout the rebellion of 1641

3 * e a dissolute fellow (Mod Fr )

K

66 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

gentleman that belonged to the Duke of Montmorency, for-
merly mentioned , who telling me he had a quarrel with an-
other gentleman, I offered to be his second, but he saying he
was provided already, I rode thence to the English quarters,
attending some fit occasion to send again to the Lord Walden.
I came no sooner thither, but I found Sir Thomas Somerset I
with eleven or twelve more in the head of the English, who were
then drawing forth in a body or squadron, who seeing me on
horseback, with a footman only that attended me, gave me
some affronting words, for my quarrelling with the Lord of
Walden ; whereupon I alighted, and giving my horse to
my lacquey, drew my sword, which he no sooner saw, but he
drew his, and also all the company with him. I running
hereupon amongst them, put by some of their thrusts, and mak-
ing towards him in particular, put by a thrust of his, and had
certainly run him through, but that one Lieutenant Prichard,
at that instant taking me by the shoulder, turned me aside ;
but I, recovering myself again, ran at him a second time, which
he perceiving, retired himself with the company to the tents
which were near, though not so fast but I hurt one Proger,
and some others also that were with him. But they being all
at last got within the tents, I finding now nothing else to be
done, got to my horse again, having received only a slight
hurt on the outside of my ribs, and two thrusts, the one
through the skirts of my doublet, and the other through
my breeches, and about eighteen nicks upon my sword
and hilt, and so rode to the trenches before Juhers, where
our soldiers were.

Not long after this, the town being now surrendered 2 , and
everybody preparing to go their ways, I sent again a gentle-
man to the Lord of Walden to offer him the meeting with my
sword ; but this was avoided not veiy handsomely by him
(contrary to what Sir Henry Rich, now Earl of Holland,
persuaded him).

After having taken leave of his Excellency Sir Edward
Cecil, I thought fit to return on my way homewards as far as
Dusseldorf. I had been scarce two hours in my lodgings

1 Third son of Edward, Earl of Worcester, Lord Privy Seal to Queen Elizabeth and
King James Sir Thomas was Master of the Horse to Queen Anne, was made a Kmght
of the Bath in 1604, and created Viscount Somerset of Cashel m Ireland on 8th De-
cember 1626

ugust 1610.

1610] Life of Lord Herbert 67

when one Lieutenant Hamilton brought a letter from Sir James
Areskin (who was then in town likewise) unto me, the effect
whereof was, that in regard his Lieutenant Montgomery had
told him that I had the said James Areskm's consent for bor-
rowing his horse, he did desire me to do one of two things,
which was, either to disavow the said words, which he thought
m his conscience I never spake, or if I would justify them,
then to appoint time and place to fight with him. Having
considered a while what I was to do in this case, I told Lieuten-
ant Hamilton that I thought myself bound in honour to accept
the more noble part of his proposition, which was to fight with
him, when yet perchance it might be easy enough for me to
say that I had his horse upon other terms than was affirmed ;
whereupon also giving Lieutenant Hamilton the length of my
sword, I told him that as soon as over he had matched it, I
would fight with him, wishing him further to make haste, since
I desired to end the business as speedily as could be. Lieu-
tenant Hamilton hereupon returning back, met in a cross
street (I know not by what miraculous adventure) Lieutenant
Montgomery, conveying divers of the hurt and maimed
soldiers at the siege of Juhers unto that town, to be
lodged and dressed by the charurgeons there ; Hamilton
hereupon calling to Montgomery, told him the effects of his
captain's letter, together with my answer, which Montgomery
no sooner heard, but he replied (as Hamilton told me after-
wards), ' I see that noble gentleman chooseth rather to fight
than to contradict me ; but my telling a he must not be an
occasion why either my captain or he should hazard their lives :
I will alight from my horse, and tell my captain presently how
all that matter passed J ; whereupon also he relating the
business about borrowing the horse, in that manner I formerly
set down, which as soon as Sir James Areskin heard, he sent
Lieutenant Hamilton to me presently again, to tell me he was
satisfied how the business passed, and that he had nothing to
say to me, but that he was my most humble servant, and was
sorry he ever questioned me in that manner.

Some occasions detaining me in Dusseldorf, the next day
Lieutenant Montgomery came to me, and told me he was in
danger of losing his place, and desired me to make means to
his ExceUency the Prince of Orange that he might not be
cashiered, or else that he was undone. I told him that either

68 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

I would keep him in his place, or take him as my companion
and friend, and allow him sufficient means till I could provide
him another as good as it ; which he taking very kindly, but
desiring chiefly he might go with my letter to the Prince of
Orange, I obtained at last he should be restored to his place
again.

And now taking boat, I passed along the river of Rhine to
the Low Countries, where after some stay, I went to Antwerp
and Brussels ; and having passed some time in the court
there, went from thence to Calais, where taking ship I arrived at
Dover, and so went to London. I had scarce been two days
there, when the Lords of the Council sending for me, ended the
difference betwixt the Lord of Walden and myself. And now,
if I may say it without vanity, I was in great esteem both in
court and city ; many of the greatest desiring my company,
though yet before that time I had no acquaintance with them.
Richard, Earl of Dorset *, to whom otherwise I was a stranger,
one day invited me to Dorset House, where bringing me into
his gallery, and showing me many pictures, he at last brought
me to a frame covered with green taffeta, and asked me who I
thought was there , and therewithal presently drawing the
curtain, showed me my own picture ; whereupon demanding
how his Lordship came to have it, he answered, that he had
heard so many brave things of me, that he got a copy of a
picture which one Larkin a painter drew for me, the original
whereof I intended before my departure to the Low Countries
for Sir Thomas Lucy 2 But not only the Earl of Dorset, but a
greater person 3 than I will here nominate, got another copy
from Larkin, and placing it afterwards in her cabinet (without

1 Richard Sackville, third Earl of Dor 5 ' 1 * ir--~c T| =^- of the Treasurer He married
Anne Clifford, daughter of the Earl of C i . . ti His brother Edward succeeded
to the earldom, on his death in 1624

2 Sir Heary Fairfax Lucy of Charlecote Park, Warwickshire, still has in his possession
a portrait of Lord Herbert (painted on copper), which seems to be the one presented
to Sir Thomas Lucy One of the copies of the picture to which the text refers may
perhaps be identified with that in the National Portrait Or 11 v T id~ \\here it is
assigned to Larkin, ? "r^d r^^arr** -o of it forms the M- 10 to l)i Guttler's
Eduard Lord Herbert . n ( -r i it , M . ch, 1897, No a -. ,L "' 1 <i u is men-
tioned in works about English Art But one William Larkin., a picture-maker, was
employed by Francis, Earl of Rutland, at Belvoir Castle in 1617, to d r aw poi traits
of members of his family (see the Duke of Rutland's Manuscripts, iv, pp 511, 515 His-
torical MSS Commission J An artist, Nicholas Lockte, erjoxodsomo roputc as a portrait-
painter in James I's reign and is rnnntiorcd in Mores' J^iiiaai^ I awii 11598), but the
suggestion that ' Larkin ' in Loul Hubert's script \i,>s ,i m-sreadmg for '"Lockie ' does
, + , r ^, n T i v i ( . c - v, , ' , ' - I, . ,' ' *. sf\ \\oii.'im, pp 185 and 865.

1 I 1 i> I' O c i \ ' \ ^ '! n M r,oid JIoibcMts own account, the Queen
ri , o u I 1 , s'i >\\ -\ i M _ i i 1 jji,i i - ' . o i (cf p 69).

1610] Life of Lord Herbert 69

that ever I knew any such things was done) gave occasion to
those that saw it after her death, of more discourse than I
could have wished ; and indeed I may truly say, that taking of
my picture was fatal to me, for more reasons than I shall think
fit to deliver.

There was a lady also, wife to Sir John Ayres, Kmght, who,
finding some means to get a copy of my picture from Larkin,
gave it to Mr. Isaac [Oliver] the painter in Blackfriars x , and
desired him to draw it in little after his manner ; which being
done, she caused it to be set in gold and enamelled, and so
wore it about her neck so low that she hid it under her breasts,
which I conceive coming afterwards to the knowledge of Sir
John Ayres, gave him more cause of jealousy than needed, had
he known how innocent I was from pretending to anything
which might wrong him or his lady ; since I could not so much
as imagine that either she had my picture, or that she bare
more than ordinary affection to me. It is true, that as she had
a place in court, and attended Queen Anne, and was beside of
an excellent wit and discourse, she had made herself a consider-
able person ; howbeit little more than common civility ever
passed betwixt us, though I confess I think no man was wel-
comer to her when I came, for which I shall allege this passage :

Coming one day into her chamber, I saw her through the
curtains lying upon her bed with a wax candle in one hand, and
the picture I formerly mentioned in the other. I coming
thereupon somewhat boldly to her, she blew out the candle, and
hid the picture from me ; myself thereupon being curious to
know what that was she held in her hand, got the candle to be
lighted again, by means whereof I found it was my picture she
looked upon with more earnestness and passion than I could
have easily believed, especially since myself was not engaged
in any affection towards her : I could willingly have omitted
this passage, but that it was the beginning of a bloody history
which followed 2 ; Howsoever, yet I must before the Eternal
God clear her honour. And now in court a great person 3 sent
for me divers times to attend her, which summons though I

1 This famous immature-painter (1555-1617) drew portraits of all the distinguished
men and women of James I's time, many of which are now in the national collections.
He was buried in St. Anne's Church, Blackfriars (see Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting
ed Wornum, i, 176-83)

2 I have not discovered any reference to this story elsewhere.

3 Queen Anne

70 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

obeyed, yet God knoweth I declined coming to her as much
as conveniently I could, without incurring her displeasure ; and
this I did not only for very honest reasons, but, to speak
ingenuously, because that affection passed betwixt me and
another lady (who I believe was the fairest of her time) l as
nothing could divert it. I had not been long in London, when
a violent burning fever seized upon me, which brought me
almost to my death, though at last I did by slow degrees
recover my health ; being thus upon my amendment, the Lord
Lisle a , afterwards Earl of Leicester, sent me word, that Sir
John Ayres intended to kill me in my bed, and wished me to
keep a guard upon my chamber and person ;the same adver-
tisement was confirmed by Lucy Countess of Bedford 3 , and
the Lady Hoby * shortly after. Hereupon I thought fit to
entreat Sir William Herbert, now Lord Powis 5 , to go to Sir
John Ayres, and tell him, that I marvelled much at the infor-
mation given me by these great persons, and that I could not
imagine any sufficient ground hereof , howbeit, if he had any-
thing to say to me in a fair and noble way, I would give him the
meeting as soon as I had got strength enough to stand upon
my legs ; Sir William hereupon brought me so ambiguous and
doubtful an answer from him, that whatsoever he meant, he
would not declare yet his intention, which was really, as I
found afterwards, to kill me any way that he could since,
as he said, though falsely, I had whored his wife. Finding
no means thus to surprise me, he sent me a letter to this effect,
that he desired to meet me somewhere, and that it might so fall
out as I might return quietly again. To this I replied, that if
he desired to fight with me upon equal terms, I should, upon
assurance of the field and fair play, give him meeting when he
did any way specify the cause, and that I did not think fit to
come to him upon any other terms, having been sufficiently
informed of his plots to assassinate me.

After this, finding he could take no advantage against me

1 This is in all prohahihtv the lady mentioned above on p 45 No attempt at identi-
fication seem-, powble

Rc\ - f <*\* o- -<- "1 son of Sir TTcrrv Sidney, and younger brother of Sir Philip,
y.i- < , r , * I .1 *, , ," ir 1603, Vi.i>ini f i-l.' in 1604, and Earl of Liecester in 1618
l!< >1 \\ n -'ii"

3 The wife of Edward Earl of Bedford, the well-known patroness of Ben Jonson
Drayton, and other poets

* Probably Anne, second wife of Sir Edward Hoby, a patron of Camden

8 The eldest son of Sir Edward Herbert, second son of William, Earl of Pembroke
( created 1651) He was created Lord Powis in 1629 He died in 1655

i6io]

Life of Lord Herbert 71

then in a treacherous way he resolved to assassinate me in this
manner ; hearing I was to come to Whitehall on horseback
with two Ictcqueys only, he attended my coming back in a place
called Scotland Yard, at the hither end of Whitehall, as you
come to it from the Strand, hiding himself here with four men
armed on purpose to kill me. I took horse at Whitehall Gate,
and passing by that place, he being armed with a sword and
dagger, without giving me so much as the least warning, ran
at nie furiously, but instead of me wounded my horse in the
brisket, as far as his sword could enter for the bone ; my horse
hereupon starting aside, he ran him again in the shoulder, which
though it made the horse more timorous, yet gave me time to
draw my sword. His men thereupon encompassed me, and
wounded my horse in three places more ; this made my horse
kick and fling in that manner as his men durst not come near
me ; which advantage I took to strike at Sir John Ayres with
all my force, but he warded the blow both with his sword and
dagger ; instead of doing him harm, I broke my sword within
a foot of the hilt. Hereupon some passenger that knew me,
and observing my horse bleeding in so many places, and so
many men assaulting me, and my sword broken, cried to me
several times, ' Ride away, ride away J ; but I, scorning a base
flight upon what terms soever, instead thereof alighted as well
as I could from my horse. I had no sooner put one foot upon
the ground, but Sir John Ayres pursuing me, made at my horse
again, which the horse perceiving, pressed on me on the side I
alighted, in that manner that he threw me down, so that I
remained flat upon the ground, only one foot hanging in the
stirrup, with that piece of a sword in my right hand. Sir John
Ayres hereupon ran about the horse, and was thrusting his
sword into me, when I, finding myself in this danger, did with
both my arms reaching at his legs pull them towards me, till he
fell down backwards on his head ; one of my footmen hereupon,
who was a little Shropshire boy, freed my foot out of the
stirrup, the other, which was a great fellow, having run away
as soon as he saw the first assault. This gave me time to get
upon my legs, and to put myself in the best posture I could
with that poor remnant of a weapon. Sir John Ayres by this
time likewise was got up, standing betwixt me and some part
of Whitehall, with two men on each side of him, and his brother
behind him, with at least twenty or thirty persons of his friends,

7 2 Life of Lord Herbert [1610

or attendants of the Earl of Suffolk '. Observing thus a body
of men standing in opposition against me, though to speak
truly I saw no swords drawn but by Sir John Ayrcs and his men,
I ran violently against Sir John Ayres ; but he, knowing my
sword had no point, held his sword and dagger over his head, as
believing I could strike rather than thrust, which I no sooner
perceived but I put a home thrust to the middle of his breast,
that I threw him down with so much force, that his head fell first
to the ground, and his heels upwards. His men hereupon as-
saulted me, when one Mr. Mansel, a Glamorganshire gentleman,
finding so many set against me alone, closed with one of them , a
Scotch gentleman also closing with another, took him off also
All I could well do to those two which remained was to ward
their thrusts, which I did with that resolution that I got ground
upon them. Sir John Ayres was now got up a third time, when
I making towards him with intention to close, thinking that
there was otherwise no safety for me, put by a thrust of his with
my left hand, and so coming within him, received a stab with
his dagger on my right side, which ran down my ribs as far as my
hip, which I feeling, did with my right elbow force his hand,
together with the hilt of the dagger, so near the upper part of
my right side, that I made him leave hold. The dagger now
sticking in me, Sir Henry Gary, afterwards Lord of Falkland
and Lord Deputy of Ireland a , finding the dagger thus in my
body, snatched it out. This while I, being closed with Sir John
Ayres, hurt him on the head, and threw him down a third time,
when kneeling on the ground and bestriding him, I struck at
him as hard as I could with my piece of a sword, and wounded
him in four several places, and did almost cut off his left hand ;
his two men this while struck at me, but it pleased God even
miraculously to defend me ; for when I lifted up my sword to
strike at Sir John Ayrcs, I bore off their blows half a dozen
times. His friends now finding him in this danger, took him
by his head and shoulders, and drew him from betwixt my legs,
and earned him along with them through Whitehall, at the
stairs whereof he took boat Sir Herbert Croft 3 (as he told

1 Thomas Howard, father of Theophilus, Lord Howard of Walden , with whom
Herbert had lately quarrelled

& From 1622 to 1629 Strafford was his successor in Ireland He was raised to
the Peerage (1623), while Controller of James I's household. His son and heir was Lucius
Gary, second Viscount Falkland

3 Born about 157! , eldest son of Edward, the eldest son of Sir James Croft, well-
known m Elizabeth's reign (see p 44, supra} , Knight of the Shire for Hereford, 1592

1610] Life of Lord Herbert 73

me afterwards) met him upon the water vomiting all the way,
which I believe was caused by the violence of the first thrust
I gave him. His servants, brother, and friends, being now
retired also, I remained master of the place and his weapons ,
having first wrested his dagger from him, and afterwards struck
his sword out of his hand.

This being done, I retired to a friend's house in the Strand,
where I sent for a surgeon, who searching my wound on the
right side, and finding it not to be mortal, cured me in the space
of some ten days, during which time I received many noble
visits and messages from some of the best in the kingdom.
Being now fully recovered of my hurts, I desired Sir Robert
Harley * to go to Sir John Ay res, and tell him, that though I
thought he had not so much honour left in him, that I could be
any way ambitious to get it, yet that I desired to see him in the
field with his sword in his hand : the answer that he sent was,
that I had whored his wife, and that he would kill me with a
musket out of a window.

The Lords of the Privy Council, who had first sent for my
sword, that they might see the little fragment of a weapon with
which I had so behaved myself, as perchance the like had not
been heard in any credible way, did afterwards command both
him and me to appear before them ; but I absenting myself
on purpose, sent one Humphrey Hill with a challenge to him
in an ordinary, which he refusing to receive, Humphrey Hill
put it upon the point of his sword, and so let it fall before him
and the company then present.

The Lords of the Privy Council had now taken order to appre-
hend Sir John Ayres ; when I, finding nothing else to be done,
submitted myself likewise to them. Sir John Ayres had now
published everywhere, that the ground of his jealousy, and
consequently of his assaulting me, was drawn from the con-
fession of his wife the Lady Ayres. She, to vindicate her hon-
our, as well as free me from this accusation, sent a letter to her
aunt the Lady Crook, to this purpose : That her husband Sir
John Ayres did lie falsely, in saying that I ever whored her ;

1 60 1, 1603, 1614 ; knighted 7th May 1603 ; became a Roman Catholic about 1617,
and a monk of Douay, where he died, loth April 1622. Retrospective Rewew, second
set. i, 491-4

1 Master of the Mint from 1626 to 1649 , grandfather of Harley, Earl of Oxford under
Queen Anne His third wife was Lady Brilhana, daughter of Lord Conway, whose
letters (printed by Camden Soc ) are well known.

74

Life of Lord Herbert [1610-11

but most falsely of all did lie when he said he had it
from her confession, for she had never said any such thing.

This letter the Lady Crook presented to me most opportunely
as I was going to the Council table before the Lords, who having
examined Sir John Ayres concerning the cause of his quarrel
against me, found him still persist in his wife's confession of the
fact ; and now he being withdrawn, I was sent for, when the
Duke of Lennox * afterwards of Richmond, telling me that
was the ground of his quarrel, and the only excuse he had for
assaulting me in, that manner \ I desired his Lordship to peruse
the letter, which I told him was given me as I came into the
room This letter being publicly read by a clerk of the Council,
the Duke of Lennox then said, that he thought Sir John Ayres
the most miserable man living ; for his wife had not only given
him the lie, as he found by her letter, but his father had dis-
inherited him for attempting to kill me m that barbarous
fashion, which was most true, as I found afterwards. For the
rest, that I might content myself with what I had done, it being
more almost than could be believed, but that I had so many
witnesses thereof ; for all which reasons, he commanded me,
in the name of his Majesty and all their Lordships, not to send
any more to Sir John Ayres, nor to receive any message from
him, in the way of fighting, which commandment I observed.
Howbeit I must not omit to tell, that some years afterwards,
Sir John Ayres, returning from Ireland by Beaumans, where I
then was, some of my servants and followers broke open the
doors of the house where he was, and would, I believe, have cut
him into pieces, but that I hearing thereof, came suddenly to
the house and recalled them, sending him word also, that I
scorned to give him the usage he gave me, and that I would
set him free out of the town ; which courtesy of mine, as I was
told afterwards, he did thankfully acknowledge.

About a month after that Sir John Ayres attempted to
assassinate me, the news thereof was carried, I know not how,
to the Duke of Montmorency, who presently dispatched a
gentleman with a letter to rne, which I keep, and a kind offer,
that if I would come unto him, I should be used as his own son ;
neither had this gentleman, as I know of, any other business in
England* I was told besides by this gentleman, that the Duke

t Ludovick Stuart, Duke of Lennox, created Earl of (1613) and Duke of Richmond
(1633), was Lord Steward of the Royal Household

i6n]

Life of Lord Herbert 75

heard I had greater and more enemies than did publicly declare
themselves, which indeed was true, and that he doubted I
might have a mischief before I was aware.

My answer hereunto by letter was, That I rendered most
humble thanks for his great favour in sending to me ; that no
enemies, how great or many soever, could force me out of the
kingdom ; but if ever there were occasion to serve him in parti-
cular, I should not fail to come ; for performance whereof,
it happening there were some overtures of a civil war in France
the next year, I sent over a French gentleman who attended
me unto the Duke of Montmorency, expressly to tell him, that
if he had occasion to use my service in the designed war, I
would bring over 100 horse at my own cost and charges to him,
which that good old Duke and Constable took so kindly, that,
as the Duchess of Ventadour his daughter, told me afterwards,
when I was ambassador, there were few days till the last
of his life that he did not speak of me with much affection.

I can say little more memorable concerning myself from the
year 1611, when I was hurt, until the year of our Lord 1614,
than that I past my time sometimes in the court, where (I pro-
test before God) I had more favours than I desired, and some-
times in the country, without any memorable accident ; but
only that it happened one time going from St. Julian's to Aber-
gavenny, in the way to Montgomery Castle, Richard Griffiths *,
a servant of mine, being come near a bridge over Usk, not far
from the town, thought fit to water his horse, but the river
being deep and strong in that place where he entered it, he was
carried down the stream. My servants that were before me
seeing this, cried aloud Dick Griffiths was drowning, which I no
sooner heard, but I put spurs to my horse, and coming up to the
place, where I saw him as high as his middle in water, leapt
into the river a little below him, and swimming up to him, bore
nirn up with one of my hands, and brought him unto the middle
of the river, where (through God's great providence) was a
bank of sand. Coming hither, not without some difficulty,
we rested ourselves, and advised whether it were better to
retxirn back into the side from whence we came, or to go on
forwards ; but Dick Griffiths saying we were sure to swim if we
returned back, and that perchance the river might be shallow
the other way, I followed his counsel, and putting my horse

* See p. 38 supra-

76 Life of Lord Herbert [1611-14

below him, bore him up in the manner I did formerly, and swim-
ming through the river, brought him safe to the other side
The horse I rode upon I remember cost me 40, and was the
same horse winch Sir John Ayres hurt under me, and did swim
excellently well, carrying me and his back above water ;
whereas that little nag upon which Richard Griffiths rid, swam
so low, that he must needs have drowned, if I had not supported
him

I will tell one history more of this horse, which I bought c f
my cousin Fowler of the Grange, because it is memorable. I
was passing over a bridge not far from Colebrook, which had no
barrier on the one side, and a hole in the bridge not far from the
middle , my horse, although lusty, yet being very timorous,
and seeing besides but very little on the right eye, started so
much at the hole, that upon a sudden he had put half his body
lengthways over the side of the bridge, and was ready to fall
into the river, with his fore-foot and hinder-foot on the right
side, when I, foreseeing the danger I was in if I fell down, clapt
my left foot, together with the stirrup and spur, flat-long to
the left side, and so made him leap upon all four into the river,
whence, after some three or four plunges, he brought
me to land.

The year 1614 was now entering, when I undestood that the
Low Country and Spanish army would be in the field that
year * , this made me resolve to offer my service to the Prince
of Orange, who upon my coming did much welcome me, not
suffering me almost to eat anywhere but at his table, and carry-
ing me abroad the afternoon in his coach, to partake of those
entertainments he delighted in when there was no pressing
occasion The Low-Country army being now ready, his
Excellency prepared to go into the field ; in the way to which he
took me in his coach, and sometimes in a waggon after the Low-
Country fashion, to the great envy of the English and French

i The old dispute (see p 60 supra) c-^"o~n*^ deves and Juliers broke out again in
1614. To 1 "- *V -, , 10 V. * '!,",- ic> William, the Palatine of Neuburg,
r nr> * . < '} , ' ! . ' '~ . ' ^ n ^ tv ) A former joined the Emperor,

\ , i t | , j , (_ 1 1 j i , -i _ " ' ,i' s a, with the >iiM>nt 01 thu

v, /L.'/KI ',.., , , - . ,-, ii i , i - . of the Palatine of Neuburg,

i, ,, i , ['<,' i c,it i ' I i -* i, \.' i ''c mtry. The Dutch, alarmed
at the presence of Spmola, <iNo ontoicd th<> cUsputrd duchies and seized Emmerich and
Rees in the duchy of Cleves Count Maurice ot .Nassau, as before, led the Dutch troops,
and with him served Sir Horace Vere, Lord Herbert, and many other English volun-
teers In September 1614, a vain effort was made in England to induce James 1 to send
an army to the aid of the Elector of Brandenburg and Holland

1614] Life of Lord Herbert 77

chief commanders, who expected that honour. Being now
arrived near Emmerich, one with a most humble petition came
from a monastery of nuns, most humbly desiring that the
soldiers might not violate their honour nor their monastery,
whereupon I was a most humble suitor to his Excellency to
spare them, which he granted ; but, said he, we will go and see
them ourselves ; and thus his Excellency, and I and Sir Charles
Morgan I only, not long after going to the monastery, found it
deserted in great part. Having put a guard upon this monas-
tery, his Excellency marched with his army on till we came near
the city of Emmerich, which upon summoning yielded. And
now leaving a garrison here, we resolved to march towards
Rees 2 ; this place having the Spanish army, under the com-
mand of Monsieur Spinola, on the one side, and the Low-
Country army on the other, being able to resist neither, sent
word to both armies, that which soever came first should
have the place. Spinola hereupon sent word to his Excellency,
that if we intended to take Rees, he would give him battle
in a plain near before the town. His Excellency, nothing
astonished hereat, marched on, his pioneers making his way
for the army still, through hedges and ditches, till he came to
that hedge and ditch which was next the plain ; and here
drawing his men into battle, resolved to attend the coming of
Spinola into the field. While his men were putting in order, I
was so desirous to see whether Spinola with his army appeared,
I leapt over a great hedge and ditch, attended only with one
footman, purposing to change a pistol-shot or two with the first
I met. I found thus some single horse in the field, who, per-
ceiving me to come on, rid away as fast as they could, believing
perchance that more would follow me ; having thus past to the
further end of the field, and finding no show of the enemy, I
rsturned back that I might inform his Excellency there was no
hope of fighting as I could perceive. In the meantime, his
Excellency having prepared all things for battle, sent out five
or six scouts to discover whether the enemy were come accord-
ing to promise ; these men finding me now coming towards
them, thought I was one of the enemies, which being perceived

1 Of Herefordshire: knighted at Whitehall, 236. July 1603 (Nichols's Progresses*
i, 215) He was the intimate associate of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and
saw much service as a volunteer in the Thirty Years" War

2 See William Crosse's account of these movements in Grunestone's Histone of the
Netherlands (1627), pp 134 et seq.

78 Life of Lord Herbert

by me, and I as little knowing at that time who they were, rode
tip with my sword in my hand, and pistol, to encounter them ,
and now being come within reasonable distance, one of the
persons there that knew me told his fellows who I was, where-
upon I passed quietly to his Excellency and told him what I
had done, and that I found no appearance of an army : his
Excellency then caused the hedge and ditch before him to be
levelled, and marched in front with his army into the middle
of the field, from whence sending some of his forces to summon
the town, it yielded without resistance.

Our army made that haste to come to the place appointed
for the battle, that all our baggage and provision were left
behind, m so much that I was without any meat, but what
my footman spared me out of his pocket ; and my lodging
that night was no better, for extreme ram falling at that time
in the open field, I had no shelter, but was glad to get on the
top of a waggon which had straw in it, and to cover myself
with my cloak as well as I could, and so endure that stormy
night. Morning being come, and no enemy appearing, I went
to the town of Rees, into which his Excellency having now put
a garrison, marched on with the rest of his army towards
Wezel, before which Spinola with his army lay, and in the way
entrenched himself strongly, and attended Spinola's motions.
For the rest, nothing memorable happened after this, betwixt
those two great generals, for the space of many weeks.

I must yet not omit with thankfulness to remember a favour
his Excellency l did me at this time , for a soldier having
killed his fellow soldier, in the quarter where they were lodged,
which is an unpardonable fault, insomuch that no man would
speak for him ; the poor fellow comes to me, and desires me
to beg his life of his Excellency ; whereupon I demanding
whether he had ever heard of a man pardoned in this kind,
and he saying no, I told him it was in vain then for me to
speak ; when the poor fellow writhing his neck a little, said,
* Sir, but were it not better you shall cast away a few words,
than I lose my life ? J This piece of eloquence moved me so
much, that I went straight to his Excellency, and tolcl him
what the poor fellow had said, desiring him to excuse me, if
upon these terms I took the boldness to speak for him. There

1 Count Maurice of Nassau, the Dutch Commander. See p 60.

1614]

Life of Lord Herbert 79

was present at that time the Earl of Southampton \ as also
Sir Edward Cecil, and Sir Horace Vere, as also Monsieur de
Chatillon, and divers other French commanders ; to whom
his Excellency turning himself said in French, ' Do you see
this cavalier, with all that courage you know, hath yet that
good nature to pray for the life of a poor soldier ? Though I
had never pardoned any before in this kind, yet I will pardon
this at his request ' So commanding him to be brought me,
and disposed of as I thought fit, whom therefore I released and
set free.

It was now so far advanced in autumn, both armies thought
of retiring themselves into their garrisons, when a trumpeter
comes from the Spanish army to ours, with a challenge from
a Spanish cavalier to this effect, That if any cavalier in our
army would fight a single combat for the sake of his mistress,
the said Spaniard would meet him, upon assurance of the camp
in our army. This challenge being brought early in the morn-
ing, was accepted by nobody till about ten or eleven of the
clock, when the report thereof coming to me, I went straight to
his Excellency, and told him I desired to accept the challenge.
His Excellency thereupon looking earnestly upon me, told me
he was an old soldier, and that he had observed two sorts of
men who used to send challenges in this kind ; one was of
those who, having lost perchance some part of their honour
111 the field against the enemy, would recover it again by a
single fight The other was of those who sent it only to dis-
cover whether our army had in it men affected to give trial of
themselves in this kind ; howbeit, if this man was a person,
without exception to be taken against him, he said there was
none he knew, upon whom he would sooner venture the honour
of his army than myself ; and this also he spoke before divers
of the English and French commanders I formerly nominated.
Hereupon, by his Excellency's permission, I sent a trumpet
to the Spanish army with this answer, That if the person who
would be sent were a cavalier without reproach, I would answer
him with such weapons as we should agree upon, in the place
he offered ; but my trumpeter was scarcely arrived, as I

i Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, the friend of Shakespeare, had
been attainted with the Earl of Essex m 1600-1, was restored by King James on his
accession and made Knight of the Garter. He died in 1624. He was captain of the
Isle of Wight

8o Life of Lord Herbert [1614

believe, at the Spanish, army, when another trumpeter came
to ours from Spinola, saying the challenge was made without
his consent, and that therefore he would not permit it. This
message being brought to his Excellency, with whom I then
was, he said to me presently : ' This is strange : they send a
challenge hither, and when they have done, recall it. I should
be glad if I knew the true causes of it '. ' Sir ', said I, * if you
will give me leave, I will go to their army, and make the like
challenge, as they sent hither ; it may be some scruple is made
concerning the place appointed, being in your Excellency's
camp, and therefore I shall offer them the combat in their
own '. His Excellency said, ' I should never have persuaded
you to this course, but since you voluntarily offer it, I must
not deny that which you think to be for your honour '. Here-
upon taking my leave of him, and desiring Sir 1 Humphrey
Tufton, a brave gentleman, to bear me company, thus we two,
attended only with two lackeys, rode straight towards the
Spanish camp before Wezel ; coming thither without any
disturbance by the way, I was demanded by the guard at the
entering into their camp, with whom I would speak ; I told
them with the Duke of Neuburg 2 ; whereupon a soldier was
presently sent with us to conduct us to the Duke of Neuburg's
tent, who remembering me well, since he saw me at the siege
of Juliers, very kindly embraced me, and therewithal demand-
ing the cause of my coming thither ; I told him the effect
thereof in the manner I formerly set down : to which he replied
only, he would acquaint the Marquis Spinola therewith ; who
coming shortly after to the Duke of Neuburg's tent, with a
great train of commanders and captains following him, he no
sooner entered, but he turned to me and said, that he knew
well the cause of my coming, and that the same reasons which
made him forbid the Spanish cavalier to fight a combat in the
Prince of Orange's camp, did make him forbid it in his, and
that [none] should be better welcome to him than I would be,
and thereupon entreated me to come and dine with him ; I
finding nothing else to be done, did kindly accept the offer,
and so attended him to his tent, where a brave dinner being
put upon his table, he placed the Duke of Neuburg uppermost

1 Third son of Sir John Tufton, and brother of Nicholas Earl of Thanet

2 i e the Elector Palatine of Neuburg, to whose conduct I have drawn attention
on p. 76, note

1614]

Life of Lord Herbert 81

at one end of the table, and myself at the other, himself sitting
below us, presenting with his own hand still the best of that
meat his carver offered him ; he demanded of me then in
Italian, ' Di che monva Sigr. Francisco Vere ? ' (Of what died
Sir Francis Vere ?) I told him, ' Per aver mente d fare '
(Because he had nothing to do). Spinola replied, * E basta per
un generate ' (And it is enough to kill a general) ; and indeed
that brave commander, Sir Francis Vere, died not in time of
war but of peace \

Taking my leave now of the Marquis Spinola, I told him that
if ever he did lead an army against the infidels, I should adven-
ture to be the first man that would die in that quarrel, and
together demanded leave of him to see his army, which he
granting, I took leave of him, and did at leisure view it;
observing the difference in the proceedings betwixt the Low-
Country army and fortifications, as well as I could ; and so
returning shortly after to his Excellency, related to him the
success of my journey. It happened about this time that Sir
Henry Wotton mediated a peace by the long's command 2 ,
who coming for that purpose to Wezel, I took occasion to go
along with him into Spinola's army, whence after a night's
stay, I went on an extreme rainy day through the woods to
Kysarswert, to the great wonder of mine host, who said all
men were robbed or killed that went that way. From hence
I went to Cologne, where, among other things, I saw the
monastery of St. Herbert ; from hence I went to Heidelberg,
where I saw the Prince and Princess Palatine, from whom
having received much good usage 3 , I went to Ulm, and so to
Augsbourg, where extraordinary honour was done me ; for
coming into an inn where an ambassador from Brussels lay, the
town sent twenty great flaggons of wine thither, whereof they
gave eleven to the ambassador, and nine to me ; and withal
some such compliments that I found my fame had prevented

^'i/J? 2 , 8t ^ August 1608 Sir Francis, second son of Geoffrey, and grandson of John,
15 th Earl of Oxford, served with the states of Holland against Spain throughout Eliza-
beth's reign. With the peace between Spain and Holland, concluded by James 1 in
1604, Sir Prancis's military service came to an end. He was buned in Westminster
Abbey. Among Herbert's poems is a Latin epitaph on him See William DiUingham's
Commentaries of Sir Francis Vere t 1657, and Fuller's Worthies

a Sir Henry Wotton, English ambassador at Venice, on the part of James I, and
an ambassador from France arranged at Xanten a pacification, ad Nov 1614, between
the two claimants to the disputed duchies (see Dumont Corps Diplomatique, v, pt.
U| 25 5\r ,* n Si ther s P inola nor Maurice would accept it, and the former straightway
seized Wezel The war was continued in the following year

3 See p 94, /** *

M

82 Life of Lord Herbert [1614

my coming thither. From hence I went through Switzerland
to Trent, and from thence to Venice, where I was received by
the English ambassador S Sir Dudley Carleton, with much
honour ; among other favours showed me, I was brought to
see a nun in Murano, who being an admirable beauty, and
together singing extremely well, was thought one of the rarities
not only of that place but of the time ; we came to a room
opposite unto the cloister, whence she coming on the other side
of the grate betwixt us, sung so extremely well, that when she
departed, neither my lord ambassador nor his lady, who were
then present, could find as much as a word of fitting language
to return her, for the extraordinary music she gave us ; when I,
being ashamed that she should go back without some testi-
mony of the sense we had both of the harmony of her beauty
and her voice, said in Italian, ' Mona pur quando vuol, non
fasogna mutar ni voce n% fac^a esser un angelo ' (Die whensoever
you will, you will neither need to change voice, nor face, to be
an angel) : these words it seemed were fatal, for going thence
to Rome, and returning shortly afterwards, I heard she was
dead in the meantime.

From Venice, after some stay, I went to Florence, where I
met the Earl of Oxford a and Sir Benjamin Rudyerd s .
Having seen the rarities of this place likewise, and particularly
that rare chapel made for the house of Medici, beautified on
all the inside with a coarser kind of precious stone, as also that
nail which was at one end iron, and the other gold, made so by
virtue of a tincture into which it was put, I went to Siena, and
from thence, a little before the Christmas holidays, to Rome.
I was no sooner alighted at my inn, but I went straight to the
English College, where demanding for the regent or master
thereof 4 , a grave person not long after appeared at the door,

1 Ambassador to Venice, Savoy, and Holland In 1638 he was appointed Secretary
of State, and cheated Viscount Dorchester He died on i5th Feb 1631-8

2 flea > Vere, ibih Earl of Oxford He died at the Hague in 1625, of a sickness
cont.aofci ,.t the ^^ of Breda. His wife Diana daughter of Wilham Cecil, Earl of
Exeter, was one of the most celebrated beauties of her time Her rare beauty is the

SU s J s2 BeS?a^n^udTCrd, P a^wft and poet, and the intimate friend of William Earl
of Pembroke (with whose poems Sir Benjamin's were printed by the younger Donne
in 1669), was one of the foremost champions of the policy of English interference m
the continental auarrels during James I's reign In Charles I f s reign, as an active
member of Parliament, he sought to hold the balance between the King and Commons
His memoirs were published (1828) ...

4 No mention of Herbert is made in the list of visitors to the English College printed
in Foley's Recta ds S J

1615] Life of Lord Herbert 83

to whom I spake in this manner : ' Sir, I need not tell you my
country when you hear my language ; I come not here to
study controversies, but to see the antiquities of the place ; if
without scandal to the religion in which I was born and bred
up, I may take this liberty, I should be glad to spend some
convenient time here ; if not, my horse is yet unsaddled, and
myself willing to go out of town '. The answer returned by
him to me was, that he never heard anybody before me profess
himself of any other religion than what was used in Rome ; for
his part, he approved much my freedom, as collecting thereby
I was a person of honour ; for the rest, that he could give me
no warrant for my stay there, howbeit that experience did
teach that those men who gave no affronts to the Roman
Catholic religion, received none ; whereupon also he demanded
my name. I telling him I was called Sir Edward Herbert,
he replied, that he had heard men oftentimes speak of me both
for learning and courage, and presently invited me to dinner ;
I told him that I took his courteous offer as an argument of
his affection ; that I desired him to excuse me, if I did not
accept it ; the uttermost liberty I had (as the times then were
in England) being already taken in coming to that city only,
lest they should think me a factious person ; I thought fit to
tell him that I conceived the points agreed upon on both sides
are greater bonds of amity betwixt us, than that the points dis-
agreed on could break them ; that for my part I loved every-
body that was of a pious and virtuous life, and thought the
errors on what side soever, were more worthy pity than hate ;
and having declared myself thus far, I took my leave of him
courteously, and spent about a month's time in seeing the
antiquities of that place, which first found means to establish
so great an empire over the persons of men, and afterwards
over their consciences, the articles of confession and absolving
sinners being a greater arcanum %mperi% for governing the
world, than all the arts invented by statists formerly were.

After I had seen Rome sufficiently, I went to Tivoh, anciently
called Tibur, and saw the fair palace and garden there, as also
Frascati, anciently called Tusculanum. After that I returned to
Rome, and saw the Pope in consistory, which being done, when
the Pope being now ready to give his blessing, I departed thence
suddenly ; which gave such a suspicion of me, that some
were sent to apprehend me, but I going a bye way escaped

84 Life of Lord Herbert [1615

them, and went to my inn to take horse, where I had not been
now half an hour, when the master or regent of the English
College telling me that I was accused in the Inquisition, and
that I could stay no longer with any safety, I took this warn-
ing very kindly ; howbeit I did only for the present change my
lodging, and a day or two afterwards took horse, and went out
of Rome towards Siena, and from thence to Florence. I saw
Sir Robert Dudley 1 , who had the title of Earl or Duke of
Northumberland given him by the Emperor, and handsome
Mrs. Sudel [Southwell], whom he carried with him out of
England, and was there taken for his wife. I was invited by
them to a great feast the night before I went out of town ;
taking my leave of them both, I prepared for my journey the
next morning ; when I was ready to depart, a messenger came
to me, and told me if I would accept the same pension Sir
Robert Dudley had, being two thousand ducats per annum,
the Duke would entertain me for his service in the war against
the Turks. This offer, whether procured by the means of Sir
Robert Dudley, Mrs. Sudel [Southwell], or Sigr. Loty, my
ancient friend, I know not, being thankfully acknowledged as
a great honour, was yet refused by me, my intention being to
serve His Excellency a in the Low-Country war.

After I had stayed a while, from hence I went by Ferrara
and Bologna towards Padua, in which university having spent
some time to hear the learned readers, and particularly Cre-
monini 3 , I left my English horses and Scotch saddles there, for

i Sir Robert was the son of Queen Elizabeth's Earl of Leicester, by a daughter of
William. Lord EflBngham. Leicester thought it politic in his later years to repudiate
this lady, and to deny that he had married her, although there is every reason to believe
that she was his legitimate second wife (Amy Robsart being his first). Sir Robert was
therefore never able to establish his legitimacy, though he inherited much of Leicester's
property. He left England in anger, and retired to Italy : on his refusal to return to
England his estates were seized by the crown. He finally resided in Tuscany and be-
came the intimate friend of the Grand Duke. He was an exceptionally accomplished
man, and his reputation as an artist reached the Emperor Ferdinand II, who created
him (9th March 1620) Duke of Northumberland. Like his father, he brought serious
matrimonial troubles on himself. He seems to have first married a sister of Sir Thomas
Cavendish the navigator, who died young. He abandoned his second wife Alice, daughter
of Sir Thomas Leigh, and took with him to the Continent (in the disguise of a page)
a daughter of Sir Robert Southwell of Wood Rising, Norfolk. Miss Southwell he mar-
ried abroad. Charles I created Sir Robert's discarded wife the Duchess of Dudley

oth May 1644). See Walpole's Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, vol. ii. ; and

Count Maurice of KTassau.
3 Cesare Cremonini (1550-1631) became Professor of Philosophy at Ferrara in 1571
and at Padua in 1590. His fame as a lecturer was wide spread. He was a zealous
and sympathetic interpreter of Aristotle, and published a large number of philosophical
tracts. ,

1615] Life of Lord Herbert 85

on them I rid all the way from the Low Countries, I went by
boat to Venice. The Lord Ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton,
by this time had a command to reside a while in the court of
the Duke of Savoy I > wherewith also his Lordship acquainted
me, demanding whether I would go thither ; this offer was
gladly accepted by me, both as I was desirous to see that court,
and that it was in the way to the Low Country, where I meant
to see the war the summer ensuing.

Coming thus in the coach with my Lord Ambassador to
Milan, the governor thereof invited my Lord Ambassador to
his house, and sometimes feasted him during his stay there.
Here I heard that famous nun singing to the organ m this
manner ; another nun beginning first to sing, performed her
part so well, that we gave her much applause for her excellent
art and voice ; only we thought she did sing somewhat lower
than other women usually did ; hereupon also being ready to
depart, we heard suddenly, for we saw nobody, that nun which
was so famous, sing an eight higher than the other had done :
her voice was the sweetest, strongest, and clearest, that ever I
heard, m the using whereof also she showed that art as ravished
us into admiration.

From Milan we went to Novara, as I remember, where we
were entertained by the governor, being a Spaniard, with one
of the most sumptuous feasts that ever I saw, being but of nine
dishes, m three several services , the first whereof was, three
ollas podridas, consisting of all choice boiled meats, placed in
three large silver chargers, which took up the length of a great
table ; the meat in it being heightened up artificially, pyramid
wise, to a sparrow which was on the top. The second service
was like the former, of roast meat, in which all manner of fowl
from the pheasant and partridge, to other fowl less than them,
were heightened up to a lark. The third was in sweetmeats
dry of all sorts, heightened in like manner to a round comfit.

From hence we went to Vercelh, a town of the Duke of
Savoy's, frontier to the Spaniard, with whom the Duke was then
in war ; from whence, passing by places of least note, we came
to Turin, where the Duke of Savoy's court was. After I had

i Charles Emanuel I. Negotiations were opened early m James Ps reign to marry
Prince Henry and the Princess Elizabeth to a daughter and son of the Duke From
1612-5 the Duke was engaged m a harassing war with his brother-m-law, Phihp 111
of Spain, and in April 1615 James I sent him a present of 15,000 to aid him m its prose
cution

86 Life of Lord Herbert [1615-16

refreshed myself liere some two or three days, I took leave of
my Lord Ambassador with intention to go to the Low Countries,
and was now upon the way thither, as far as the foot of Mount
Cenis, when the Court Scarnanssi came to me from the Duke *,
and brought a letter to this effect : That the Duke had heard I
was a cavalier of great worth, and desirous to see the wars, and
that if I would serve him I should make my own conditions.
Finding so courteous an invitation, I returned back, and was
lodged by the Duke of Savoy m a chamber furnished with
silk and gold hangings, and a very rich bed, and defrayed at
the Duke's charges in the English ambassador's house. The
Duke also confirmed unto me what the Count Scarnafissi had
said, and together bestowed divers compliments on me I told
his Highness, that when I knew in what service he pleased to
employ me, he should find me ready to testify the sense I had
of his princely invitation.

It was now in the time of Carnival, when the Duke, who
loved the company of ladies and dancing as much as any prince
whosoever, made divers masks and balls, in which his own
daughters, among divers other ladies, danced ; and here it was
his manner to place me always with his own hand near some
fair lady, wishing us both to entertain each other with some
discourse, which was a great favour among the Italians. He
did many other ways also declare the great esteem he had of
me without coming to any particular, the time of the year for
going into the field being not yet come , only he exercised his
men often, and made them ready for his occasions in the
spring.

The Duke at last resolving how to use my service, thought
fit to send me to Languedoc in France, to conduct 4,000 men
of the reformed religion, who had promised their assistance in
his war 2 , unto Piedmont. I willingly accepted this offer ; so
taking my leave of the Duke, and bestowing about 70 oiSo
among his officers, for the kind entertainment I had received,
I took my leave also of my Lord Ambassador, and Sir Albertus

i Scarnafissi is best known to English readers by his visit to England in 1616-7* when
he sought James I's aid in behalf of his master, who had just been forced into a new
war with Spain Raleigh, who was preparing for his expedition to Guiana, seemed
anxious to divert his efforts and attack Genoa in support of Savoy, but the negotia-
tions with Scarnafissi were suddenly broken off See Gardiner's History, in, 49-52,

,
2 \*e. with

1616] Life of Lord Herbert 87

Morton \ who was likewise employed there, and prepared lor
my journey, for more expedition of which I was desired to go
post. An old Scotch knight of the Sandilands 2 hearing this,
desired to borrow my horses as far as Heidelberg, which I
granted, on condition that he would use them well by the
way, and give them good keeping in that place afterwards.

The Count Scarnanssi was commanded to bear me company
in this journey, and to carry with him some jewels, which he
was to pawn in Lyons in France, and with the money gotten
for them to pay the soldiers above nominated , for though
the Duke had put extreme taxations on his people, insomuch
that they paid not only a certain sum for every horse, ox, cow,
or sheep that they kept, but afterwards for every chimney ; and,
finally, every single person by the poll, which amounted to a
pistole, or 145. a-head or person, yet he wanted money ; at
which I did not so much wonder as at the patience of his
subjects, of whom I demanded how they could bear their
taxations ? I have heard some of them answer, ' We are not
so much offended with the Duke for what he takes from us, as
thankful for what he leaves us '.

The Count Scarnanssi and I, now setting forth, rid post all
day without eating or drinking by the way, the Count telling
me still we should come to a good inn at night. It was now
twilight when the Count and I came near a solitary inn, on the
top of a mountain ; the hostess hearing the noise of horses,
came out with a child new born on her left arm, and a rush candle
in her hand : she presently knowing the Count de Scarnafissi,
told him, ' Ah, Signor, you are come in a very ill time, the
Duke's soldiers have been here to-day, and have left me no-
thing '. I looked sadly upon the Count, when he coming near
to me whispered me in the ear, and said, 'It may be she
thinks we will use her as the soldiers have done : go you into
the house, and see whether you can find anything ; I will go
round about the house, and perhaps I shall meet with some
duck, hen, or chicken ' ; entering thus into the house, I found

1 Sent to Savoy m May 1614 as assistant to Sir Dudley Carletoa, the English ambas-
sador there Early in 1616 Morton became secretary to the Electress Palatine (Elizabeth)
at Heidelberg (Col State Papers (Dom) 1611-8 ) He was a nephew of Sir Henry
Wotton, and served him as secretary at Venice He died in 1625

2 Sir Tames Sandilands, a Scotch knight, was m 1604 Gentleman Usher of the Privy
Chamber In 1605 the Queen and Prmce Henry stood sponsors at ^the christening
of one of his children He was made maistre d'hosM to the Princess Elizabeth on her
marriage in 1613 He was buried at Greanwich ;th June i6i8._ See Ryes bngland
as wen by Foreigners, pp 255-6

88 Life of Lord Herbert [1616

for all other furniture of it, the end of an old form, upon which
sitting down, the hostess came towards me with a rush candle,
and said, c I protest before God that is true which I told the
Count, here is nothing to eat ; but you are a gentleman, me-
thmks it is pity you should want ; if you please I will give
you some milk out of rny breasts, into a wooden dish I have
here '. This unexpected kindness made that impression on
me ? that I remember I was never so tenderly sensible of
anything. My answer was, ' God forbid I should take away the
milk from the child I see in thy arms ; howbeit, I shall take
it all my life for the greatest piece of charity that ever I heard
of ' ; and therewithal, giving her a pistole, or a piece of gold
of 145., Scarnafissi and I got on horseback again and rid
another post, and came to an inn, where we found very coarse
cheer, yet hunger made us relish it.

In this journey I remember I went over Mount Gabelet by
night, being earned down that precipice in a chair, a guide that
went before bringing a bottle of straw with him, and kindling
pieces of it from time to time, that we might see our way.
Being at the bottom of a hill, I got on horseback and rid to
Burgome, resolving to rest there a while ; and the rather, to
speak truly, that I had heard divers say, and particularly
Sir John Finet I and Sir Richard Newport 2 , that the host's
daughter there was the handsomest woman that ever they
saw in their lives. Coming to the inn, the Count Scarnafissi
wished me to rest two or three hours, and he would go before
to Lyons to prepare business for my journey to Languedoc,
The host's daughter being not within, I told her father and
mother that I desired only to see their daughter, as having
heard her spoken of in England with so much advantage, that
divers told me they thought her the handsomest creature
that ever they saw. They answered she was gone to a mar-
riage, and should be presently sent for, wishing me in the
meanwhile to take some rest upon a bed, for they saw I needed
it. Waking now about two hours afterwards, I found her
sitting by me, attending when I would open mine eyes. I
shall touch a little of her description : her hair being of a

1 Master of the Ceremonies to James I , and author of a curious book on ceremonies
and points of precedence, kno\vii as Fineti Plnloxen** 'er 1 Tnm' 1 ' 1 H r we 1 1 1656) Weldon
states that Fmet was eminent as a composer of 1 ,o * n - v n ' f "lies I delighted
to hear sung after supper See Court of James / ,'IM ^ i \ i<)

2 A first cousm of Lord Herbert's Sec p 10,, n i.

1616] Life of Lord Herbert 89

shining black, was naturally curled in that order that a curious
woman would have dressed it, for one curl rising by degrees
above another, and every bout tied with a small ribbon of a
naccarine 1 , or the colour that the Knights of the Bath wear,
gave a very graceful mixture, while it was bound up in this
manner from the point of her shoulder to the crown of her
head ; her eyes, which were round and black, seemed to be
models of her whole beauty, and in some sort of her air, while
a kind of light or flame came from them not unlike that which
the ribbon which tied up her hair exhibited ; I do not remember
ever to have seen a prettier mouth, or whiter teeth ; briefly,
all her outward parts seemed to become each other, neither
was there anything that could be misliked, unless one should
say her complexion was too brown, which yet from the shadow
was heightened with a good blood in her cheeks. Her gown was
a green Turkey grogram, cut all into panes or slashes, from the
shoulder and sleeves unto the foot, and tied up at the distance
of about a hand's-breadth everywhere with the same ribbon
with which her hair was bound ; so that her attire seemed
as bizare as her person. I am too long in describing an host's
daughter ; howbeit I thought I might better speak of her than
of divers other beauties, held to be the best and fairest of the
time, whom I have often seen. In conclusion, after about an
hour's stay, I departed thence, without offering so much as
the least incivility ; and indeed, after so much weariness, it
was enough that her sight alone did somewhat refresh me.
From hence I went straight to Lyons. Entermg the gate,
the guards there, after their usual manner, demanded of me
who I was, whence I came, and whither I went ? to which,
while I answered, I observed one of them look very attentively
upon me, and then again upon a paper he had in his hand ;
this having been done divers times, bred in me a suspicion that
there was no good meaning in it, and I was not deceived in my
conjecture ; for the Queen-mother of France 2 having newly
made an edict, that no soldiers should be raised in France,
the Marquis de Rambouillet 3 , French ambassador at Turin,

1 From the French ndcre, mother-of-pearl

2 Mane de Medicis

3 Charles d'Angennes, who succeeded his father as Marquis of Rambouillet In i6rr.
His wife was the famous Madame de Rambouillet, who presided over the well-known
assemblies of wits and poets at the Hotel de Rambouillet, in the Rue Saint Thomas
du Louvre a house which she in great part designed Her daughter Julie (born 1607)

N

9 o

Life of Lord Herbert [1616

sent word of my employment to the Marquis de St. Chaumont,
then governor of Lyons, as also a description of my person.
This edict was so severe, as they who raised any men were to
lose then- heads. In this unfortunate conjuncture of affairs,
nothing fell out so well on my part, as that I had not raised as
yet any men; howbeit, the guards requiring me to come
before the governor, I went with them to a church where he
was at vespers ; this while I walked m the lower part of the
church, little imagining what danger I was in had I levied
any men. I had not walked there long, when a single person
came to me, apparelled in a black stuff suit, without any
attendants upon him, when I, supposing this person to be
any man rather than the governor, saluted him without much
ceremony. His first question was, whence I came ? I
answered, from Turin. He demanded then, whither I would
go * I answered, I was not yet resolved. His third question
was, what news at Turin ? to which I answered, that I had no
news to tell, as supposing him to be only some busy or in-
quisitive person. The Marquis hereupon called one of the
guards that conducted me thither, and after he had whispered
something in his ear, wished me to go along with him, which
I did willingly, as believing this man would bring me to the
governor. This man silently leading me out of the church,
brought me to a fair house, into which I was no sooner entered
but he told me I was commanded to prison there by him I
saw in the church, who was the governor ; I replied, I did not
know him to be governor, nor that that was a prison, and that
if I were out of it again, neither the governor nor all the town
could bring me to it alive. The master of the house
hereupon spoke me very fair, and told me he would conduct
me to a better chamber than any I could find in an inn,
and thereupon conducted me to a very handsome lodging
not far from the river. I had not been here half an hour
when Sir Edward Sackville l (now Earl of Dorset) hearing

afterwards (1645) Duchesse de Montausier, was almost as prominent a figure as herself
in pJnsian soJicty Tallemant des Reau'x gives a very amusing account of father,
mother and daughter in his Htstortettes, iu, 204-58

i Second son of Robert, second Earl of Dorset, and grandson of Thomas, first Earl,
author of Gorbodiv and Lord Treasurer of England for many years He is best known
bv his duel with Lord Bruce of Kmloss in 1613 He succeeded to the earldom of Dorset
on hfs eidei^brother's deathin 1624 Ho mnrncd Mnrx, daughter c .f Sir George Cuon
Lord Herbert wrote a very quaint epitaph on Sir Ldwiul Sackville's Erst child, who
died in his birth ',

i6i6]

Life of Lord Herbert 91

only that an Englishman was committed, sent to know
who I was, and why I was imprisoned. The governor not
knowing whether to lay the fault upon my short answers to
him, or my commission to levy men contrary to the Queen's
edict, made him so doubtful an answer, (after he had a little
touched upon both) as he dismissed him unsatisfied.

Sir Edward Sackville hereupon coming to the house where
I was, as soon as ever he saw me embraced me, saying, ' Ned
Herbert, what doest thou here ? * I answered, ' Ned Sackville,
I am glad to see you, but I protest I know not why I am here '
He again said, * Hast thou raised any men yet for the Duke of
Savoy ? ' I replied, ' Not so much as one ' ' Then % said he,
' I will warrant thee, though I must tell thee the governor is
much offended at thy behaviour and language in the church 3
(I replied it was impossible for me to imagine him to be governor
that came without a guard, and in such mean clothes as he
then wore.) I will go to him again, and tell him what you
say, and doubt not but you shall be suddenly freed '. Here-
upon returning to the governor, he told of what family I was,
and of what condition, and that I had raised no men, and that
I knew him not to be governor ; whereupon the Marquis
wished him to go back, that he would come in person to free me
out of the house.

This message being brought me by Sir Edward Sackville, I
returned this answer only : That it was enough if he sent
order to free me. While these messages past, a company of
handsome young men and women, out of I know not what
civility, brought music under the window and danced before
me, looking often up to see me ; but Sir Edward Sackville
being now returned with order to free me, I only gave them
thanks out of the window, and so went along with them to the
governor. Being come into a great hall where his lady was,
and a large tram of gentlewomen and other persons, the
governor, with his hat in his hand, demanded of me whether I
knew him. ? when his noble lady, answering for me, said, how
could he know you, when you were in the church alone, and in
this habit, being for the rest wholly a stranger to you ? which
civility of hers, though I did not presently take notice of it,
I did afterwards most thankfully acknowledge, when I was
ambassador in France. The governor's next questions were
the very same he made when he met me in the church ; to

9 2 Life of Lord Herbert [1616

which I made the very same answers before them all, conclud-
ing that as I did not know him, he could think it no incongruity
if I answered in those terms : the governor yet was not satisfied
herewith, and his noble lady taking my part again, gave him
those reasons for my answering him in that manner, that they
silenced him from speaking any further. The governor turning
back, I likewise, after an humble obeisance made to his lady,
returned with Sir Edward SackviUe to my lodgings.

This night I passed as quietly as I could, but the next morning
advised with him what I was to do ; I told him I had received
a great affront, and that I intended to send him a challenge, in
such courteous language, that he could not refuse it: Sir
Edward SackviUe by all means dissuaded me from it; by
which I perceived I was not to expect his assistance therein,
and indeed the next day he went out of town.

Being alone now, I thought on nothing more than how to
send him a challenge, which at last I penned to this effect :
That whereas he had given me great offence, without a cause,
I thought myself bound as a gentleman to resent it, and there-
fore desired to see him with his sword in his hand in any
place he should appoint ; and hoped he would not interpose
his authority as an excuse for not complying with his honour
on this occasion, and that so I rested his humble servant.

Finding nobody in town for two or three days by whom I
might send this challenge, I resolved for my last means to
deliver it in person, and observe how he took it, intending to
right myself as I could, when I found he stood upon his
authority.

This night it happened that Monsieur Terant, formerly
mentioned, came to the town ; this gentleman knowing me
well, and remembering our acquaintance both at France and
Juliers, wished there were some occasion for him to serve me ;
I presently hereupon, taking the challenge out of my pocket,
told him he would oblige me extremely if he were pleased to
deliver it, and that I hoped he might do it without danger,
since I knew the Ftench to be so brave a nation, that they
would never refuse or dislike anything that was done in an
honourable and worthy way.

Terant took the challenge from me, and after he had read it,
told me that the language was civil and discreet ; neverthe-
less he thought the governor would not return me that answer

1616] Life of Lord Herbert 93

I expected ; howsoever, said he, I will deliver it. Returning
thus to my inn, and intending to sleep quieter that night than
I had done three nights before ; about one of the clock after
midnight, I heard a great noise at my door, which awakened
me, certain persons knocking so hard as if they would break it ,
besides, through the chinks thereof I saw light. This made me
presently rise in my shirt, when, drawing my sword, I went to
the door, and demanded who they were , and together told
them that if they came to make me prisoner, I would rather
die with my sword in my hand ; and therewithal opening the
door, I found upon the stairs half a dozen men armed with
halberts, whom I no sooner prepared to resist, but the chief of them
told me, that they came not to me from the governor, but from
my good friend the Duke of Montmorency 1 , son to the Duke
I formerly mentioned, and that he came to town late that
night, in his way from Languedoc (of which he was governor)
to Paris ; and that he desired me, if I loved him, to rise
presently and come to him, assuring me further that this was
most true ; hereupon wishing them to retire themselves, I
drest myself, and went with them. They conducted me to the
great hall of the governor, where the Duke of Montmorency,
and divers other cavaliers, had been dancing with the ladies ;
I went presently to the Duke of Montmorency, who, taking me
a little aside, told me that he had heard of the passages betwixt
the governor and me, and that I had sent him a challenge ;
howbeit, that he conceived men in his place were not bound to
answer as private persons for those things they did by virtue of
their office ; nevertheless, that I should have satisfaction in
as ample manner as I could reasonably desire. Hereupon,
bringing me with him to the governor, he freely told me that
now he knew who I was, he could do no less than assure me
that he was sorry for what was done, and desired me to take
this for satisfaction ; the Duke of Montmorency hereupon
said presently, C'est assez ; it is enough. I then turning to
him, demanded whether he would have taken this satisfaction
in the like case ? He said, yes. After this, turning to the

1 Henri II, Due de Montmorency, born 1595, the idol of the French court in his youth,
succeeded his father as governor of Languedoc m 1613 and to his father's title at his
death in 1614. He resisted the rising power of Richelieu for many years, but
ultimately found it too strong for him. He therefore entered into what was construed
to be a treasonable conspiracy against the king and Richelieu, was arrested, and was
beheaded at Toulouse, 3oth Oct 1633.

94 Life of Lord Herbert [1616

governor, I demanded the same question, to which he answered,
that he would have taken the same satisfaction, and less too.
I kissing my hand, gave it him, who embraced me, and so this
business ended.

After some compliments past between the Duke of Mont-
morcncy,who remembered the great love his father bore me,
which he desired to continue in his person, and putting me in
mind also of our being educated together for a while, demanded
whether I would go with him to Pans ? I told him that I was
engaged to the Low Countries, but that wheresoever I was I
should be his most humble servant.

My employment with the Duke of Savoy in Laiiguedoc being
thus ended, I went from Lyons to Geneva, where I found also
my fame had prevented * my coming ; for the next morning
after my arrival, the state taking notice of me, sent a messenger
in their name to congratulate my being there, and presented
me with some flaggons of wine, desiring me (if I staid there any
while) to see their fortifications, and give my opinion of them ,
which I did, and told them I thought they were weakest where
they thought themselves the strongest ; which was on the
hilly part, where indeed they had made great fortifications ;
yet as it is a rule in war, that whatsoever may be made by art
may be destroyed by art again, I conceived they had need to
fear the approach of an enemy on that part rather than any
other. They replied, that divers great soldiers had told them
the same ,- and that they would give the best order they could
to serve themselves on that side.

Having rested here some while to take physic (my health
being a little broken with long travel) I departed, after a fort-
night's stay, to Basle, where taking a boat upon the river, I
came at length to Strasbourg, and from thence went to Heidel-
berg, where I was received again by the Prince Elector and
Princess with much kindness, and viewed at leisure the fair
library there, the gardens, and other rarities of that place 2 ;
and here I found my horses I lent to Sandilands in good plight , 3

1 ^ e anticipated

2 See p. 81, supra. Lord Herbert's statement of his intimacy with the Elector
Palatine and his wife, the Princess Elizabeth, is corroborated by the letter from the
Princess to him, which I print below. An interesting relic of the EVctor's librarv here
referred to, is now in the British Museum It i& the Princess s cor\ of Raleigh's Ifa'or"
of the World, 1614. A curious history 01 the book ib given, bv Mi R\c m his Lngland
as seen by Foreigners, p 222-3

3 See note 2 on p. 87,

i6i6]

Life of Lord Herbert 95

which I then bestowed upon some servants of the Prince, in
way of retribution for my welcome thither. From, hence
Sir George Calvert \ and myself went by water, for the most
part, to the Low Countries, where taking leave of each other,
I went straight to his Excellency a , who did extraordinarily
welcome me, insomuch that it was observed that he did never
outwardly make so much of any one as myself

It happened this summer that the Low-Country army was
not drawn into the field, so that the Prince of Orange a past
his time at playing at chess with me after dinner ; or in going
to Ryswick with him to see his great horses ; or in making
love ; in which also he used me as his companion, yet so that
I saw nothing openly, more than might argue a civil familiarity
When I was at any time from him, I did by his good leave
endeavour to raise a troop of horse for the Duke of Savoy's
service, as having obtained a commission to that purpose for
my brother William 4 , then an officer in the Low Country.
Having these men in readiness, I sent word to the Count
Scarnafissi thereof, who was now ambassador in England 5
telling him, that if he would send money, my brother was
ready to go.

Scarnafissi answered me, that he expected money in Eng-
land, and that as soon as he received it, he would send over so
.much as would pay an hundred horse. But a peace betwixt
him and the Spaniard being concluded not long after at Asti a ,
the whole charge of keeping this horse fell upon me, without
ever to this day receiving any recompense.

Winter now approaching, and nothing more to be done for
that year, I went to the Bnll to take shipping for England-

1 Appointed Secretary of State in 1619. He resigned the post on declaring himself
a Catholic m 1625, and was soon afterwards created Lord Baltimore m the Irish peerage.
See Horace Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, vol u

2 Count Maurice of Nassau.

3 This is apparently another reference to Count Maunce of Nassau. See p. 60, note 4.

* See p. ii, supra

5 At the close of 1616

* Lord Herbert clearly acted precipitately The terms of this treaty between Spain
and Savoy were first broached in 1615 Scarnafissi received his final answer Eng-
land's refusal to aid his master in January 1616-17, apparently before Herbert raised
his troops, and the treaty of Asti was permanently determined a few months later.
When Scarnafissi applied for assistance to continue the war, it is probable that both
James I and his minister Somerset anticipated that the peace would be ultimately con-
firmed by the two powers Raleigh's anxiety to divert his expedition to the service
of the Puke of Savoy caused Scarnafissi's demand to be entertained for a few weeks,
but no farsighted politician could have believed that much would come of the nego-
tiation.

96 Life of Lord Herbert [1616

Sir Edward Conway \ who was the governor at that place,
and afterwards Secretary of State, taking notice of my being
there, came to me, and invited me every day to come to him,
while I attended only for a wind ; which serving at last for
my journey, Sir Edward Conway conducted me to the ship,
into which as soon as I was entered he caused six pieces of
ordnance to be discharged for my farewell. I was scarce gone
a league into the sea, when the wind turned contrary, and forced
me back again Returning thus to the Brill, Sir Edward
Conway welcomed me as before ; and now, after some three
or four days, the wind serving, he conducted me again to the
ship, and bestowed six volleys of ordnance upon me I was
now about half way to England, when a most cruel storm arose,
which tore our sails and spent our masts, insomuch that the
master of our ship gave us all for lost, as the wind was extreme
high, and together contrary ; we were carried at last, though
with much difficulty, back again to the Brill, where Sir Edward
Conway did congratulate my escape ; saying, he believed
certainly, that (considering the weather) I must needs be cast
away.

After some stay here with my former welcome, the wind
being now fair, I was conducted again to my ship by Sir
Edward Conway, and the same volleys of shot given me,
and was now scarce out of the haven, when the wind again
turned contrary, and drove me back. This made me resolve
to try my fortune here no longer , hiring a small bark there-
fore, I went to the sluice, and from thence to Ostend, where
finding company, I went to Brussels. In the inn where I
lay, here an ordinary was kept, to which divers noblemen and
principal officers of the Spanish army resorted : sitting among
these at dinner, the next day after my arrival, no man knowing
me, or informing himself who I was, they fell into discourse
of divers matters, in Italian, Spanish, and French , and at
last three of them, one after another, began to speak of King
James, my master, in a very scornful manner ; I thought
with myself then, that if I was a base fellow, I need not take
any notice thereof, since no man knew me to be an Englishman,

3- Knighted by the ill-fated Earl of Essex: at Cadiz in 1596, he afterwards served in
the Low Countries, as governor of the Brill He was made a principal Secretary of
State by James I in 1623 arid created Lord Conway in 1624. He was afterwards Lord-
President of the Council. He died in 1630

1617] Life of Lord Herbert 97

or that I did so much as understand their language ; but my
heart burning within me, I, putting off my hat, arose from the
table, and turning myself to those that sat at the upper end,
who had said nothing to the King my master's prejudice, I
told them in Italian, Son Inglese ; * I am an Englishman ; and
should be unworthy to live if I suffered these words to be spoken
of the King my master ' ; and therewithal turning myself
to those who had injured the King, I said, ' You have spoken
falsely, and I will fight with you all '. Those at the upper end
of the table, finding I had so much reason on my part, did
sharply check those I questioned, and, to be brief, made them
ask the King's forgiveness, wherewith also the King's health
being drank round about the table, I departed thence to Dun-
kirk, and thence to Gravelines, where I saw, though unknown,
an English gentlewoman enter into a nunnery there. I went
thence to Calais ; it was now extreme foul weather, and I
could find no master of a ship willing to adventure to sea ; how-
beit, my impatience was such, that I demanded of a poor
fisherman there whether he would go ? he answered, his ship
was worse than any in the haven, as being open above, and
without any deck, besides, that it was old ; but, saith he,
c I care for my hf e as little as you do, and if you will go, my
boat is at your service f .

I was now scarce out of the haven, when a high grown sea
had almost overwhelmed us, the waves coming in very fast
into our ship, which we laded out again the best we could ; not-
withstanding which, we expected every minute to be cast away;
it pleased God yet before we were gone six leagues into the sea,
to cease the tempest, and give us a fair passage over to the
Downs, where, after giving God thanks for my delivery from
this most needless danger that ever I did run, I went to
London. I had not been here ten days when a quartan ague
seized on me, which held me for a year and a half without
intermission, and a year and a half longer at spring and fall :
the good days I had during all this sickness, I employed in
study, the ill being spent in as sharp and long fits as I think
ever any man endured, which brought me at last to be so
lean and yellow, that scarce any man did know me. It hap-
pened during this sickness, that I walked abroad one day
towards Whitehall, where, meeting with one Emerson, who

98 Life of Lord Herbert [1617

spoke very disgraceful words of Sir Robert Harley > f being
then my dear friend, my weakness could not hinder me to be
sensible of my friend's dishonour ; shaking him therefore by a
long beard he wore, I stept a little aside, and drew my sword in
the street , Captain Thomas Scriven, a fnend of mine, being
not far off on one side, and divers friends of his on the other
side. All that saw me wondered how I could go, being so weak
and consumed as I was, but much more that I would offer to
fight , howsoever, Emerson, instead of drawing his sword, ran
away into Suffolk House, and afterwards informed the Lords of
the Council of what I had done ; who not long after sending for
me, did not so much reprehend my taking part with my friend,
as that I would adventure to fight, being in such a bad con-
dition of health. Before I came wholly out of my sickness, Sir
George Vilhers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham, came mto
the King's favour a ; this cavalier meeting me accidentally at
the Lady Stanhope's 3 house, came to me, and told me he had
heard so much of my worth, as he would think himself happy
if, by his credit with the King, he could do me any service ;
I humbly thanked him, but told him, that for the present I
had need of nothing so much as of health, but that if ever I
had ambition, I should take the boldness to make my address
by him.

I was no sooner perfectly recovered of this long sickness,
but the Earl of Oxford and myself resolved to raise two
regiments for the service of the Venetians *, While we were
making ready for this journey, the King having an occasion to
send an ambassador into France, required Sir George Villiers
to present him with the names of the fittest men for that
employment that he knew, whereupon eighteen names,

ieWliers, for whom the King had manifested a liking on first seeing
made the Kmg' O^P-P- On 23* April 1615 he became a Gentleman
' - - ' * ' Somcf-sct's onomios At co.irt hoped to use
i 1 - -i. vouiite, bin he .n shn wd , noi V h to turn

im as a ec to , , i - -. vouiie, i .

^s^tutuon to his o^n advantage Created Viscount Villiers in 1616 and Earl of

fcSam in tfiT?, has at the time of which Lord Herbert is now writing all power-
nil in the Kini? - C OI!M< il Lord Herbert remained faithful to him to the last

J ( Artiniiie, daiuhiflr ol irancis Lord Hastings, heir of the 4th Earl of Huntingdon,
married in 1603, Philip, created Lord Stanhope in 1616, and Earl of Chesterfield Uth
August '1628} She died a8th August 1636, id from her son, Henry Stanhope, de-

ow of Oxford was at Venice ttioughont , to.

In iM the Venetian ambassador'* London was raising oops ^ aesemoB o f his
republic, and by 3 oth March had hired eight ships, in which Sir Henry ^a^nd
Sir Henry Mainwanng were to have leading commands Neither the Earl of Oxford
nor Lord Herbert appears to have taken an active part in this business.

1618] Life of Lord Herbert 99

among which, mine was, being written in a paper, were presented
to him ; the King presently chose me, yet so as he desired
first to have the approbation of his Privy Council, who, con-
firming his Majesty's choice, sent a messenger to my house
among gardens, near the Old Exchange l , requiring me to
come presently to them. Myself little knowing then the hon-
our intended me, asked the messenger whether I had done any
fault, that the Lords sent for me so suddenly ? wishing him.
to tell the Lords that I was going to dinner, and would after-
wards attend them. I had scarce dined when another messen-
ger was sent ; this made me hasten to Whitehall, where I was
no sooner come, but the Lords saluted me by the name of
Lord Ambassador of France ; I told their Lordships thereupon,
that I was glad it was no worse, and that I doubted, that by
their speedy sending for me, some complaint, though false,
might be made against me.

My first commission was to renew the oath of alliance be-
twixt the two crowns 2 , for which purpose I was Extraordinary
Ambassador, which being done, I was to reside there as or-
dinary. I had received now about six or seven hundred
pounds, towards the charges of my journey, and locked it in
certain coffers in my house ; when the night following, about
one of the clock, I could hear divers men speak and knock at
the door, in that part of the house where none did lie but my-
self, my wife, and her attendants, my servants being lodged
in another house not far off : as soon as I heard the noise, 1
suspected presently they came to rob me of my money ; how-
soever, I thought fit to rise, and go to the window to know who
they were ; the first word I heard was ; * Darest thou come
down, Welshman ? ' which I no sooner heard, but, taking a
sword in one hand, and a little target in the other, I did in
my shirt run down the stairs, open the doors suddenly, and
charged ten or twelve of them with that fury that they ran
away, some throwing away their halberts, others hurting their
fellows to make them go faster in a narrow way they were to

1 ' Old Exchange was ', says Stow, ' a street so called of the King's Exchange there
kept, which was for the receipt of bullion to be coined . . This street begmneth by
West Cheape in the north and runneth down south to Knighiriders Street '. Survey
of London, ed Thorns, p 121

2 Concluded igth August 1610, while Louis XIII was in his minority. Lord Her-
bert's instructions were of a general character, and chiefly dealt with the necessity of
maintaining the existing peaceful relations between the two countries They bear
the date yth May 1619. I have printed them at length in Appendix VI.

loo Life of Lord Herbert

pass ; in which disordered manner I drove them to the middle
of the street by the Exchange, where finding my bare feet hurt
by the stones I trod on, I thought fit to return home, and leave
them to then* flight. My servants, hearing the noise, by this
time were got up, and demanded whether I would have them
pursue those rogues that fled away , but I answering that I
thought they were out of their reach, we returned home
together.

While I was preparing myself for my journey, it happened
that I, passing through the Inner Temple one day, and en-
countering Sir Robert Vaughan in this country 1 , some harsh
words past betwixt us, which occasioned him, at the persua-
sion of others whom I will not nominate, to send me a chal-
lenge , this was brought me at my house in Blackfriars, by
Captain Charles Price, upon a Sunday, about one of the clock
in the afternoon. When I had read it, I told Charles Price that
I did ordinarily bestow this day in devotion, nevertheless that
I would meet Sir Robert Vaughan presently, and gave him
thereupon the length of my sword, demanding whether he
brought any second with him ; to which Charles Price replying
that he would be in the field with him, I told my brother,
Sir Henry Herbert then present, thereof, who readily offering
himself to be my second, nothing was wanting now but the
place to be agreed upon betwixt us, which was not far from the
waterside near Chelsea.

My brother and I taking boat presently, came to the place,
where, after we had staid about two hours in vain, I desired
my brother to go to Sir Robert Vaughan' s lodging, and tell him
that I now attended his coming a great while, and that I de-
sired him to come away speedily ; hereupon my brother went,
and after a while, returning back again, he told me they were
not ready yet ; I attended then about an hour and a half
longer, but as he did not come yet, I sent my brother a second
time to call him away, and to tell him I catched cold, neverthe-
less that I would stay there till sunset : my brother yet could
not bring him along, but returned himself to the place, where
we staid together till half an hour after sunset, and then re-
turned home.

i A member of Pnnce Charles* household (Cal State Papers, 1611-18, p, 443). Ap-
parently a member of the family with whom Lord Herbert's house had had previous
quarrels (See p. 14, supra )

1619]

Life of Lord Herbert 101

The next day the Earl of Worcester l , by the King's
command, forbid me to receive any message or letter
from Sir Robert Vaughan, and advertised me withal, that
the King had given him charge to end the business betwixt
us, for which purpose he desired me to come before him the next
day about two of the clock ; at which time, after the Earl had
told me, that being now made ambassador, and a public person,
I ought not to entertain private quarrels ; after which, without
much ado, he ended the business betwixt Sir Robert Vaughan
and myself : It was thought by some, that this would make
me lose my place, I being under so great an obligation to the
King for my employment in France ; but Sir George Villiers,
afterwards Duke of Buckingham, told me he would warrant
me for this one time, but I must do so no more.

I was now almost ready for my journey, and had received
already as choice a company of gentlemen for my attendants,
as I think ever followed an ambassador ; when some of ray
private friends told me, that I was not to trust so much to my
pay from the Exchequer, but that it was necessary for me to
take letters of credit with me, for as much money as I could
well procure. Informing myself hereupon who had furnished
the last ambassador, I was told Monsieur Savage, a French-
man 2 : coming to his house, I demanded whether he would
help me with moneys in France, as he had done the last ambassa-
dor ; he said he did not know me, but would inform himself
better who I was ; departing thus from him, I went to Sigr.
Burlamacchi, a man of great credit in those times 3 , and
demanded of him the same ; his answer was, that he knew me
to be a man of honour, and I had kept my word with every-
body ; whereupon also going to his study, gave me a letter of
credit to one Monsieur de Langherac, in Paris, for ^2,000 ster_

1 Probably Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, Lord Privy Seal and Knight
of the Garter, who died in 1627. His son Henry, a devoted royalist, created Marquis
of Worcester (ad November 1624), was the father of the second Marquis, the well-known
author of the Century of Inventions Charles Somerset, the founder of the family, who
married Elizabeth Herbert, a very distant relative of Lord Herbert, is referred to
p. 9, n 2

2 Like all the English ambassadors abroad, Herbert found great difficulty in obtain-
ing remittances from home Among Earl de la Warr's MSS are a series of letters from
Herbert to the Earl of Middlesex praying for payment of his salary in 1623, and fre-
quent mention is made there of sums advanced to Herbert by * his merchant Sauvage '.
(Historical MSS Commission, Rep iv, pp. 299, 311)

J Philip Burlamacchi appears to have been the chief foreign banker in London.
Through him all payments to ambassadors abroad were made. Frequent mention
is made of him in the State Papers

102 Life of Lord Herbert

ling : I then demanded what security he expected for this
money ? he said, he would have nothing but my promise ; I
told him he had put a great obligation upon me, and that I
would strive to acquit myself of it the best I could

Having now a good sum of money in my coffers, and this
letter of credit, I made ready for my journey ; the day I went
out of London I remember was the same in which Queen
Ann was carried to burial, which was a sad spectacle to all
that had occasion to honour her 1 . My first night's journey
was to Gravesend, where being at supper in my inn, Monsieur
Savage formerly mentioned came to me, and told me, that
whereas I had spoken to him for a letter of credit, he had
made one which he thought would be to my contentment.
I demanded to whom it was directed ; he said to Monsieur
Tallemant and Rambouillet, in Paris 2 , I asked then what they
were worth ? he said, above one hundred thousand pound
sterling ; I demanded for how much this letter of credit was ?
he said, for as much as I should have need of : I asked what
security he required ? he said, nothing by my word, which
he had heard was inviolable.

From Gravesend, by easy journeys I went to Dover, where
I took shipping, with a tram of an hxmdred and odd persons 3 ,
and arrived shortly after at Calais, where I remember my cheer
was twice as good as at Dover, and my reckoning half as cheap.
From whence I went to Boulogne, Monstreville, Abbeville,
Amiens, and in two days thence, to St. Denis near Paris, where
I was met with a great tram of coaches that were sent to
receive me, as also by the master of the ceremonies, and
Monsieur Mennon 4 my fellow scholar, with Monsieur Disan-
court 5 , who then kept an academy, and brought with him a
brave company of gentlemen on great horses, to attend me into
town.

It was now somewhat late when I entered Paris, upon a
Saturday night ; I was but newly settled in my lodging, when

1 The Queen died i8th March 1618-19 and was buried after many delays on i^th
May Sir Gerard Herbert wrote to Carleton (igth March) . 'Sir Edward Herbert is
going to France and his brother Harry is gone to prepare for him *. (Col. State Papers,
1619-23, p 25.)

2 Frequently mentioned in the letters on money-matters addressed by Herbert to
the Earl of Middlesex (m the Earl of Warr's MSS ) See also Tallemant des Redux*
Htstorwttes

3 Thomas Carew accompanied Lord Herbert as his Secretary

4 Probably Rene de Menou (see p. 52, supra).

5 See p. 52, supra

1619] Life of Lord Herbert 103

a secretary of the Spanish ambassador there told me that his
LorJ desired to have the first audience from me, and therefore
requested he might see me the next morning ; I replied, it was
a day I gave wholly to devotion, and therefore entreated him
to stay till some more convenient time : the secretary replied,
that his master did hold it no less holy ; howbeit, that ins re-
spect to me was such, that he would prefer the desire he had to
serve me before all other considerations ; howsoever I put him
off till Monday following.

Not long after, I took a house in Fauburg St. Germain Rue
Tournon, which cost me ^200 sterling yearly ; having fur-
nished the house richly, and lodged all my train, I prepared for
a journey to Tours and Tourame, where the French court then
was : being come hither in extreme hot weather, I demanded
audience of the King and Queen, which being granted, I did
assure the King of the great affection the King my master
bore him, not only out of the ancient alliance betwixt the two
crowns, but because Henry the Fourth and the King my master
had stipulated with each other, that whensoever any one of
them died, the survivor should take care of the other's child :
I assured him further, that no charge was so much imposed
upon me by my instructions, as that I should do good offices
betwixt both kingdoms ; and therefore that it were a great
fault in me, if I behaved myself otherwise than with all respect
to his Majesty : this being done I presented to the King a
letter of credence from the King niy master : the King as-
sured me of a reciprocal affection to the King my master, and
of my particular welcome to his court : his words were never
many, as being so extreme a stutterer, that he would sometimes
hold his tongue out of his mouth a good while before he could
speak so much as one word ; he had besides a double row of
teeth, and was observed seldom or never to spit or blow his
noise, or to sweat much, though he were very laborious, and
almost indefatigable in his exercises of hunting and hawking,
to which he was much addicted ; neither did it hinder him,
though he was burst in his body, as we call it, or herniosus ;
for he was noted in those sports, though oftentimes on foot,
to tire not only his courtiers, but even his lacqueys, being
equally insensble, as was thought, either of heat or cold : his
understanding and natural parts were as good as could be
expected in one that was brought up in so much ignorance,

104 Life of Lord Herbert

which was on purpose so done that he might be the longer
governed ; howbeit, he acquired in time a great knowledge
in affairs, as conversing for the most part with wise and active
persons* He was noted to have two qualities incident to all
who were ignorantly brought up suspicion and dissimulation ;
for as ignorant persons walk so much in the dark, they cannot
be exempt from fear of stumbling ; and as they are likewise
deprived of, or deficient in those true principles by which
they should govern both public and private actions in a wise,
solid, and demonstrative way, they strive commonly to supply
these imperfections with covert arts, which, though it may be
sometimes excusable in necessitous persons, and be indeed
frequent among those \vho negotiate in small matters, yet
condemnable in princes, who, proceeding upon foundations of
reason and strength, ought not to submit themselves to such
poor helps : howbeit, I must observe, that neither his fears
did take away his courage, when there was occasion to use it,
nor his dissimulation extend itself to the doing of private mis-
chiefs to his subjects, either of one or the other religion ;
his favourite was one Monsieur de Luynes, who in his nonage
gained much upon the King, by making hawks fly at all little
birds in his gardens, and by making some of those little birds
again catch butterflies ; and had the King used him for no
other purpose, he might have been tolerated ; but as, when the
King came to a riper age, the government of public affairs
was drawn chiefly from his counsels, not a few errors were
committed 1 .

The Queen-mother, princes, and nobles of that kingdom,
repined that his advices to the King should be so prevalent,
which also at last caused a civil war in that kingdom 2 . How
unfit this man was for the credit he had with the King may be

1 Charles, Marquis D'Albert and Due de Luynes (1578-1621), attached in his youth
as a page to the household of Henri IV, acqiured so much influence with the \ourig
pnnce who afterwards reigned as Loms XIII, that when Herbert arrived in Pans Lu\rios
was virtual ruler of France He had contrived in 1617 the murder of his chief rival,
Concim, the favourite of Mane de Medicis, and Mane herself was dismissed from court
to pnson at Blois His success as a bird trainer had obtained for him the appoint-
ment of Grand Falconer of France in 1616, and all offices at court were afterwards at
his disposal He became Grand Constable ad April 1621, although it \vas said he had
never handled a sword He recommended the suppression of the Prott-ttants by force
of arms in. 1621 with fatal result to himself Herbert was treated politely by Luynes
in the first year of his embassy (see Appendix VII),

2 In 1619 the supporters of the Queen-mother released her from Blois and secured
some concessions for her by the peace of Angouleme An attempt on the part of the
Qtreen-mother*s adherents to override the treaty was stoutly resisted by an army under
Louis XIII in the following year

1619] Life of Lord Herbert 105

argued by this ; that when there was question made about
some business in Bohemia, he demanded whether it was an
inland country, or lay upon the sea ? * And thus much for the
present of the King and his favourite.

After my audience with the King, I had another from the
Queen, being sister to the King of Spain 2 ; I had little to say
unto her, but some compliments on the King my master's part,
but such compliments as her sex and quality were capable of.
This Queen was exceedingly fair, like those of the house of
Austria, and together of so mild and good a condition, she was
never noted to have done ill offices to any, but to have mediated
as much as was possible for her, in satisfaction of those who
had any suit to the King, as far as their cause would bear.
She had now been married divers years, without having any
children, though so ripe for them, that nothing seemed to be
wanting on her part. I remember her the more particularly,
that she showed publicly at my audiences that favour to me,
as not only my servants, but divers others took notice of it.
After this my first audience, I went to see Monsieur de Luynes,
and the principal ministers of state, as also the princes and
princesses, and ladies then in the court, and particularly the
Princess of Conti, from whom I carried the scarf formerly
mentioned 3 ; and this is as much as I shall declare in this place
concerning my negotiation with the King and state, rny pur-
pose being, if God sends me life, to set them forth apart, as
having the copies of all my despatches in a great trunk, in my
house in London ; and considering that in the time of my stay
there, there were divers civil wars in that country, and that the
prince, now King, passed with my Lord of Buckingham, and
others, through France into Spain ; and the business of the
Elector Palatine in Bohemia, and the battle of Prague *, and
divers other memorable accidents, both of state and war,
happened during the time of my employment ; I conceive a
narration of them may be worth the seeing, to them who have

1 Similarly Shakespeare (it is well known) in Winter's Tale, treated Bohemia as a
maritime country (cf Jon son's Conversations i&ith Drummond, p 16}

2 Anne of Austria, daughter of Phillip III of Spain (d 1621), by Margaret, sister of
the Emperor Ferdinand II. Her brother, Philip IV, married (i) a daughter of Henri
IV of France, and (2) his niece Maria, daughter of his sister Maria by the Emperor Fer-
dinand III (cf p 130).

3 See p 58, supra.

* 29th October 1620, one of the early decisive battles of the Thirty Years* War. Fred-
erick, the Elector Palatine, was disastrously defeated, and his loss of Bohemia final.

P

106 Life of Lord Herbert

it not from a better hand ; I shall only therefore relate here, as
they come into my memory, certain little passages, which may
serve in some part to declare the history of my life.

Coming back from Tours to Paris, I gave the best order I
could concerning the expenses of my house, family, and stable,
that I might settle all things as near as was possible in a certain
course, allowing, according to the manner of France, so many
pounds of beef, mutton, veal, and pork, and so much also m
turkeys, capons, pheasants, partridges, and all other fowls, as
also pies and tarts, after the French manner, and after also this,
a dozen dishes of sweetmeats every meal constantly. The
ordering of these things was the heavier to me, that my wife
flatly refused to come over into France, as being now entered
into a dropsy, which also had kept her without children for
many years : I was constrained therefore to make use of a
steward, who was understanding and diligent, but no very
honest man ; my chief secretary was William Boswell, now the
King's agent in the Low Countries l ; my secretary for the
French tongue was one Monsieur Ozier, who afterwards was the
King's agent in France. The gentleman of my horse was
Monsieur de Meny 2 , who afterwards commanded a thousand
horse, in the wars of Germany, and proved a very gallant
gentleman. Mr. Crofts was one of my principal gentleman,
and afterwards made the King's Cup-bearer a ; and Thomas
Carew, that excellent wit, the King's Carver ; Edmund Taver-
ner, whom I made my under secretary, was afterwards chief
secretary to the Lord Chamberlain; and one Mr. Smith, secretary
to the Earl of Northumberland * ; I nominate these, and could
many more, that came to very good fortunes afterwards,
because I may verify that which I said before concerning the
gentlemen that attended me.

When I came to Pans, the English and French were in very
ill intelligence with each other, insomuch that one Buckly
coming then to me, said he was assaulted and hurt upon Pont-

1 He was afterwards secretary to Sir Dudley Carleton at the Hague, and succeeded
Carleton as ambassador there m 1633 He died in 1649

2 Perhaps Ren6 de Menou, to whom I have already referred on p 52, note 3

3 1 have been unable to identify these persons elsewhere. Mr Crofts was doubtless a
relative of the Sir James and Sir Herbert Croft who have already been mentioned (see
pp. 44 and 72). Master Taverner was a well-known musician of the tune (see
Meres' Pttlladts Tomwt 1598).

* I have printed below a senes of letters written by Lord Herbert during his embassy,
which illustrate most of these incidents.

1619] Life of Lord Herbert 107

neuf, only because he was an Englishman : nevertheless, after
I had been in Paris about a month, all the English were so wel-
come thither, that no other nation was so acceptable amongst
them, insomuch, that my gentlemen having a quarrel with some
debauched French, who in their drunkenness quarrelled with
them, divers principal gentlemen of that nation offered them-
selves to assist my people with then* swords.

It happened one day that my cousin, Oliver Herbert *, and
George Radney, being gentlemen who attended me, and Henry
Whittmgham, my butler, had a quarrel with some French, upon
I know not what frivolous occasion. It happened my cousin,
Oliver Herbert, had for his opposite a fencer, belonging to the
Prince of Conde, who was dangerously hurt by him in divers
places ; but as the house, or hostel, of the Prince of Conde was
not far off, and himself well beloved in those quarters, the
French in great multitudes arising, drove away the three above
mentioned into my house, pursuing them within the gates ; I
perceiving this at a window, ran out with my sword, which the
people no sooner saw, but they fled again as fast as ever they
entered. Howsoever, the Prince of Conde, his fencer, was in
that danger of his life, that Oliver Herb.ert was forced to fly
France, which, that he might do the better, I paid the said
fencer 200 crowns, or 60 sterling, for his hurt and cures.

The plague now being hot in Paris, I desired the Duke of
Montmorency to lend me the castle of Merlou, where I lived
in the time of his most noble father, which he willingly granted *.
Removing thither, I enjoyed that sweet place and country,
wherein I found not a few that welcomed me out of their
ancient acquaintance.

On the one side of me was the Baron de Montaterre of the
reformed religion, and Monsieur de Bouteville on the other,
who, though young at that time, proved afterwards to be that
brave cavalier which all France did so much celebrate 3 . In
both their castles, likewise, were ladies of much beauty and dis-
cretion, and particularly a sister of Bouteville, thought to be
one of the chief perfections of the time, whose company yielded
some divertisement, when my public occasions did suffer it.

1 Apparently grandson of Herbert's grand-uncle, Oliver Herbert of Maehynlleth (see
Genealogical Table) He was with. Herbert during the siege of Montgomery Castle m
October 1644.

2 See pp. 52 et seq. The old Duke died in 1614

3 like Baiagni, Bouteville had the reputation of always killing his man in his duels.

io8 Life of Lord Herbert [1619

Winter being now corne, I returned to my house in Paris,
and prepared for renewing the oath of alliance betwixt the two
crowns, for which, as I said formerly, I had an extraordinary
commission , nevertheless the King put off the business to as
long a time as he well could In the meanwhile Prince Henry
of Nassau, brother to Prince Maurice \ coming to Paris, was
met and much welcomed by me, as being obliged to him no less
than to his brother in the Low Countries 2 . This Prince, and
all his tram, were feasted by me at Paris with one hundred
dishes, costing, as I remember, in all 100.

The French King at last resolving upon a day for performing
the ceremony, betwixt the two crowns above mentioned, my-
self and all my train put ourselves into that sumptuous equip-
age, that I remember it cost me one way or another above
1,000. And truly the magnificence of it was such, as a little
French book was presently printed thereof. This being done,
I resided here in the quality of an ordinary ambassador 3 .

And now I shall mention some particular passages concerning
myself, without entering yet any way into the whole frame
and context of my negotiation, reserving them, as I said before,
to a particular treatise *. I spent my time much in the visits
of the princes, council of state, and great persons of the French
kingdom, who did ever punctually requite my visits. The like
I did also to the chief ambassadors there, among whom the
Venetian, Low Country, Savoy, and the united princes m Ger-
many, ambassadors, did bear me that respect, that they
usually met in my house, to advise together concerning the
great affairs of that time : For as the Spaniard then was so
potent that he seemed to affect an universal monarchy, all the
above-mentioned ambassadors did, in one common interest,
strive to oppose him. All our endeavours yet could not
hinder, but that he both publicly prevailed in his attempts
abroad, and privately did corrupt divers of the principal
ministers of state in this kingdom. I came to discover this by

l Prince Frederick Henry succeeded his brother Maurice as Prince of Orange in 1625

SC ? Herbert announced his appointment in Pans to the Prince of Orange from Tours
i7th June (cf British Museum Addit. MS 7082).

3 Sec Appendix VII I have not found any proof of the existence of a DOOK on the
subject of the ceremonial mentioned above,

4 There is no proof that this was ever written, but his correspondence supplies me
information, which he apologises for passing over here The internal history of the
French court is best studied in the Memoires of Bassompierre and of Brantome, in the
Htsfone&es of Tallemant des R6aux and the early memoirs of Richelieu.

1619] Life of Lord Herbert 109

many ways, but by none more effectually than by the means
of an Italian, who returned over, by letters of exchange, the
moneys the Spanish ambassador received for his occasions
in France ; for I perceived that when the said Italian was to
receive any extraordinary great sum for the Spanish ambassa-
dor's use, the whole face of affairs was presently changed, inso-
much that neither my reasons, nor the ambassadors above
mentioned, how valid soever, could prevail : though yet after-
wards we found means together, to reduce affairs to their for-
mer train ; until some other new great sum coming to the Span-
ish ambassador's hand, and from thence to the aforesaid minis-
ters of state, altered all. Howbeit divers visits passed betwixt
the Spanish ambassador and myself ; in one of which he told
me, that though our interests were diverse, yet we might con-
tinue friendship in our particular persons ; for, said he, it can
be no occasion of offence betwixt us, that each of us strive the
best he can to serve the King his master. I disliked not his
reasons, though yet I could not omit to tell him, that I would
maintain the dignity of the King my master the best I could :
And this I said, because the Spanish ambassador had taken
place of the English, in the time of Henry IV, in this fashion :
They both meeting in an antechamber to the secretary of state,
the Spanish ambassador, leaning to the wall in that posture that
he took the hand of the English ambassador, said publicly, I
hold this place in the right of the King my master ; which
small punctilio being not resented by our ambassador at that
time, gave the Spaniard occasion to brag, that he had taken the
hand from our ambassador. This made me more watchful to
regain the honour which the Spaniard pretended to have gotten
herein ; so that though the ambassador, in his visits, often
repeated the words above mentioned, being in Spanish, Qiw
cada uno hag a lo que pudiere por su amo ; ' Let every man do the
best he can for his master ', I attended the occasion to right my
master. It happened one day, that both of us going to the
French King for our several affairs, the Spanish ambassador,
between Paris and Estampes, being upon his way before me
in his coach, with a train of about sixteen or eighteen persons
on horseback, I following him in my coach, with about ten or
twelve horse, found that either I must go the Spanish pace,
which is slow, or if I hasted to pass him, that I must hazard the
suffering of some affront like unto that our former ambassador

no Life of Lord Herbert [1619

received ; proposing hereupon to my gentlemen the whole
business, I told them that I meant to redeem the honour of
the King my master some way or other, demanding further,
whether they would assist me ? which they promising, I bid
the coachmen drive on. The Spanish ambassador seeing
me approach, and imagining what my intention was, sent a
gentleman to me, to tell me he desired to salute me ; which I
accepting, the gentleman returned to the ambassador, who,
alighting from his coach, attended me in the middle of the
highway , which being perceived by me I alighted also, when,
some extravagant compliments having passed betwixt us, the
Spanish ambassador took his leave of me, went to a dry ditch
not far off, upon pretence of making water, but indeed to hold
the upper hand of me while I passed by in my coach ; which
being observed by me, I left my coach, and getting upon a spare
horse I had there, rode into the said dry ditch, and telling him
aloud, that I knew well why he stood there, bid him afterwards
get to his coach, for I must ride that way : the Spanish am-
bassador, who understood me well, went to his coach grum-
bling and discontented, though yet neither he nor his train
did any more than look one upon another, in a confused
manner ; my coach this while passing by the ambassador on
the same side I was, I shortly after left my horse and got into
it. It happened this while, that one of my coach-horses having
lost a shoe, I thought fit to stay at a smith's forge, about a
quarter of a mile before ; this shoe could not be put on so
soon, but that the Spanish ambassador overtook us, and might
indeed have passed us, but that he thought I would give him
another aifront. Attending, therefore, the smith's leisure, he
staid in the highway, to our no little admiration, until my
horse was shoed We continued our journey to Estampes, the
Spanish ambassador following us still at a good distance.

I should scarce have mentioned this passage, but that the
Spaniards do so much stand upon their pundonores ; for con-
firming whereof I have thought fit to remember the answer a
Spanish ambassador made to Philip II king of Spam, who,
finding fault with him for neglecting a business of great import-
ance in Italy, because he could not agree with the French
ambassador about some such pundonore as this, said to him,
Como a dexado una cosa di vmportancia per una ceremonia f
f How have you left a business of importance for a ceremony 1 *

1619]

Life of Lord Herbert in

The ambassador boldly replied to his master, Como por ana
ceremonial Vuessa Majesta misma no es sino una ceremoma.
1 How, for a ceremony ? your Majesty's self is but a ceremony ' J .
Howsoever, the Spanish ambassador taking no notice publicly
of the advantage I had of him herein, dissembled it, as I heard,
till he could find some fit occasion to resent this passage, which
yet he never did to this day.

Among the visits I rendered to the grandees of France, one
of the principal I made was to that brave general the Duke
of Lesdigueres 2 , who was now grown very old and deaf. His
first words to me were, ' Monsieur, you must do me the honor
to speak high, for I am deaf ' ; my answer to him was, ' You
was born to command and not to obey ; it is enough if others
have ears to hear you J . This compliment took him much, and
indeed I have a manuscript of his military precepts and
observations, which I value at a great price 3 .

I shall relate now some things concerning myself, which
though they may seem scarce credible, yet, before God, are
true : I had been now in France about a year and an half,
when my tailor, Andrew Henly of Basel 4 , who now lives in
Blackfriars, demanded of me half a yard of satin, to make me
a suit, more than I was accustomed to give ; of which I re-
quired a reason, saying I was not fatter now than when I came
to France. He answered, it was true, but you are taller ;
whereunto, when I would give no credit, he brought his old
measures, and made it appear that they did not reach to their

j- Cf. Shakespeare's Henry V, iv i

* And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony ?

2 Francois de Bonne, Due de Lesdigueres (1543-1626), one of the leading French
Protestant commanders throughout the religious wars of the sixteenth, century, bore
the highest mihtarv reputation As a patriotic Frenchman, he never allowed his reli-
gious scruples to prevent his aiding his country against a foreign enemy Under the
influence of a voting wife, whom h<* married in 1617, he practically renounced Protes-
tantism late iri life, and fought \\ith Louis XIII and De Luynes in 1621 against the
Protestants His love of warlare led him to engage in it to the last The Electress
Palatine (Princess Elizabeth) is reported to have said, * SI il y avait en France deux
Lesdigueres, 3 'en demanderais un au roi '. Sir Thomas Overbury refers to Lesdigueres*
great age in his Crumms Fal'n from King fames' Table, ed. 1856, p. 271. See Tallemant
des Reaux, Htstowettes, i 87.

2 Lesdigu&res* Discours de Fart mtMaire, dedicated to Henri IV, was first printed
from a MS. in the Pans Library in 1878 in Ades et Correspondences dw Connetdble de
Lesdngw&res (Grenoble), ii, 541-78

* Foreigners were invariably the fashionable London tailors in James I's reign. In
1616 a petition was presented to the King by native workmen protesting against the
presence of so many foreign handicraftsmen in the metropolis. Special attention is
drawn to the fact mat 148 tailors were in active practice then. (Foreigners Resident
%n England, Camd Soc t p vi )

H2 Life of Lord Herbert

just places. I told him I knew not how this happened ; but
howsoever he should have half a yard more, and that when I
came into England I would clear the doubt , for a little before
my departure thence, I remember William Earl of Pembroke *
and myself did measure heights together at the request of the
Countess of Bedford ~, and he was then higher than I
by about the breadth of my little finger. At my return,
therefore, into England, I measured again with the same Earl,
and, to both our great wonders, found myself taller than he by
the breadth of a little finger : which growth of mine I could attri-
bute to no other cause but to rny quartan ague formerly men-
tioned, which, when it quitted me, left me in a more*perfect
health than I formerly enjoyed, and indeed disposed me
to some follies which I afterwards repented, and do still repent
of ; but as my wife refused to come over, and my temptations
were great, I hope the faults I committed are the more pardon-
able. Howsoever I can say truly, that, whether in France or
England, I was never in a bawdy-house, nor used my pleasures
intemperately, and much less did accompany them with that
dissimulation and falsehood which is commonly found in men
addicted to love women. To conclude this passage, which I
unwillingly mention, I must protest again, before God, that I
never delighted in that or any other sin ; and that if I trans-
gressed sometimes in this kind, it was to avoid a greater ill ;
for certainly if I had been provided with a lawful remedy,
I should have fallen into no extravagancy. I could extenuate
my fault by telling circumstances which would have operated,
I doubt, upon the chastest of mankind ; but I forbear, those
things being not fit to be spoken of ; for though the philosopher
have accounted this act to be "inter honesta factu, where neither
injury nor violence was offered, yet they ever reckoned it
among the turpia dictu* I shall, therefore, only tell some
other things alike strange of myself.

I weighed myself in balances often with men lower than

1 Lord Herbert's kinsman and the friend of Shakespeare (probably the W. H. of the
dedication to the Sonnets) His mother was the far-famed Countess of Pembroke of
JonsoT-'s n-vt-r 1 ! 'Sidney's sister, Herbert's mother * His poems, published m 1666,
attesl I i IT . castes. He was Chamberlain to the Royal Household under James
and C l-.ii -' > o Oxford 'University He died loth April 1630, and was succeeded
in his title by his younger brother Philip, created Larl of Montgomery in 1605 "To
these brothers, it will be remembered, the great folio Shakespeare of 1623 is dedicated
Clarendon's account of them is the most \ i\ id ana interesting (Cf his History of Rebel-
lion 1705, i, 56-61 )

2 See p o, supra.

1619]

Life of Lord Herbert 113

myself by the head, and in their bodies slenderer, and yet
was found lighter than they, as Sir John Davers, knight 1 ,
and Richard Griffiths, now living 2 , can witness, with both
whom I have been weighed. I had also, and have still, a
pulse on the crown of my head. It is well known to those
that wait in my chamber, that the shirts, waistcoats, and
other garments I wear next my body, are sweet, beyond what
either easily can be believed, or hath been observed in any
else, which sweetness also was found to be in my breath above
others, before I used to take tobacco, which, towards my
latter time, I was forced to take against certain rheums and
catarrhs that trouble me, which yet did not taint my breath
for any long time a ; I scarce ever felt cold in my life, though
yet so subject to catarrhs, that I think no man ever was more
obnoxious to it ; all which I do in a familiar way mention
to my posterity, though otherwise they might be thought
scarce worth the writing.

The effect of my being sent into France by the King my
master, being to hold all good intelligence betwixt both crowns,
my employment was both noble and pleasing, and my pains
not great, France having no design at that time upon England,
and King James being that pacific prince all the world knew *.
And thus, besides the times I spent in treaties and negotiations
I had either with the ministers of state in France, or foreign
ambassadors residing in Pans, I had spare time not only for
my book, but for visits to divers grandees, for little more ends
than obtaining some intelligence of the affairs of that kingdom
and civil conversation, for which their free, generous, and
cheerful company was no little motive ; persons of all quality
being so addicted to have mutual entertainment with each
other, that in calm weather one might find all the noble and

i Sir John Davers or Danvers was Lord Herbert's stepfather, having: married Lady
Herbert m 1608. See supra, p. 10, note 3, and Appendix IIL
Lord Herbert's servant, to whom he

, referred more than once.

3 Nothing is more singular than the rapidity with which the habit of tobacco-smoking
spread in England The herb was first brought to this country, according to Camden
In 1585- Camden, writing m the early years of James I's reign, says that Tobacco or"
Nicotianais grown so frequent in use, and of such price that many, nay the most part
with an insatiable desire do take of it, ... soml for wantonness
'

, ...

sake, and athtrs for health's sake, insomuch that tobacco shops are set up in greater number
than either ale-houses or taverns i ' Barnaby Rich, writing m 1614, states that m that
yearthereweTe^^shor^in^donwherotobac^wassayd. (HtiesheoltheAgc.)

4 Sir Anthony Weldon, no fnendly critic, admits of James I that he lived in peace,
died in peace, and left an his kingdoms in a peaceable condition, with his own motto
Btab Pacific* \ Court of James I, u, 13. '

H4 Life of Lord Herbert [1619

good company in Paris, of both sexes, either in the garden of
the Tuileries, or in the park of Bois de Vmcennes ; they think-
ing it almost an incivility to refuse their presence and free
discourse to any who were capable of coming to those places,
either under the recommendation of good parts, or but so
much as handsome clothes, and a good equipage. When
foul weather was, they spent their time in visits at each other's
houses, where they interchanged civil discourses, or heard
music, or fell to dancing, using, according to the manner of
that country, all the reasonable liberties they could with their
honour, while their manner was, either in the garden of the
Tuilenes, or elsewhere, if any one discoursing with a lady did
see some other of good fashion approach to her, he would leave
her and go to some other lady, he who conversed with her at
that tune quitting her also, and going to some other, that so
addresses might be made equal and free to all without scruple
on any part, neither was exception made, or quarrel begun,
upon these terms

It happened one day, that I being ready to return from
the Tuileries, about eight of the clock in the summer, with
intention to write a despatch to the King about some intelli-
gence I had received there, the Queen \ attended with her
principal ladies, without so much as one cavalier, did enter
the garden : I staid on one side of an alley, there to do my
reverence to her and* the rest, and so return to my house,
when the Queen perceiving me, staid a while, as if she expected
I should attend her : but as I stirred not more than to give
her that great respect I owed her, the Princess of Conti, who
was next, called me to her, and said I must go along with
her 3 , but I excusing myself upon occasion of a present despatch
which I was to make unto his Majesty, the Duchess of Anta-
dor , who followed her, came to me, and said I must not
refuse her : whereupon, leading her by her arms, according
to the manner of that country, the Princess of Conti, offended
that I had denied her that civility which I had yielded to
another, took me off, after she had demanded the consent of
the Duchess : but the Queen then also staying, I left the Prin-

l % e Anne of Austria

3 t,e , the f>uchess de Ventadour, sister of the joun Due de Montmorency See
p. 48, s*p>

1620] Life of Lord Herbert 115

cess, and, with all due humility, went to the Queen, and led
her by the arms, walking thus to a place in the garden where
some orange trees grew, and here discoursing with her Majesty
bareheaded, some small shot fell on both our heads. The
occasion whereof was this : the King being m the garden,
and shooting at a bird m the air, which he did with much
perfection, the descent of his shot fell just upon us : the
Queen was much startled herewith, when I, coming nearer to
her, demanded whether she had received any harm : to which
she answering no, and therewith taking two or three small
pellets from her hair, it was thought fit to send a gardener
to the King, to tell him that her Majesty was there, and that
he should shoot no more that way, which was no sooner heard
among the nobles that attended him, but many of them leaving
him, came to the Queen and ladies, among whom was Monsieur
Le Grand J , who, finding the Queen still discoursing with me,
stole behind her, and letting fall gently some comfits he had in
his pocket upon the Queen's hair, gave her occasion to appre-
hend that some shot had fallen on her again r turning here-
upon to Monsieur le Grand, I said that I marvelled that so old
a courtier as he was could find no means to entertain ladies but
by making them afraid ; but the Queen shortly after returning
to her lodging, I took my leave of her, and came home. All
which passage I have thought fit to set down, the accident
above-mentioned being so strange, that it can hardly be
paralleled.

It fell out one day that the Prince of Condd coming to my
house, some speech happened concerning the King my master,
in whom, though he acknowledged much learning, knowledge,
clemency, and divers other virtues, yet he said he had heard
that the King was much given to cursing ; I answered that
it was out of his gentleness ; but the Prince demanding how
cursing could be a gentleness, I replied, ' Yes, for though he
could punish men himself, yet he left them to God to punish * :
which defence of the King my master was afterwards much
celebrated in the French court.

i This was the popular name of Roger de Saint Lary et de Tennes Due de BeHegarde
(1563-16*46), grand ecuyer under Henry III, Governor of Bourgogne under Henn IV,
and created a duke and peer of France by Louis XIII in 1620. He is best known by
his ambitious amours Henn IV exiled him as the lover of Gabnelle d*Estrees, and
later Richelieu banished him from, court as the lover of Anne of Austria

Il6 Life of Lord Herbert [1620

Monsieur de Luynes * continuing still the King's favourite,
advised him to war against his subjects of the reformed reli-
gion in France, saying, he would neither be a great prince as
long as he suffered so puissant a party to remain with in his
dominions, nor could justly style himself the most Christian
king, as long as he permitted such heretics to be in that great
number they were, or to hold those strong places which by
public edict were assigned to them : and therefore that he
should extirpate them as the Spaniards had done the Moors,
who are all banished into other countries, as we may find in
their histories. This counsel, though approved by the young
King, was yet disliked by other grave and wise persons about
him, and particularly by the Chancellor Sillery, and the Pre-
sident Janmn \ who thought, better to have a peace which
had two religions, than a war that had none. Howbeit, the
design of Luynes was applauded, not only by the Jesuit party
in France, but by some princes, and other martial persons 3 ,
insomuch that the Duke of Guise * coming to see me one day,
said, that they should never be happy in France, until those
of the religion were rooted out : I answered, that I wondered
to hear him say so : and the Duke demanding why, I replied,
that whensoever those of the religion were put down, the turn
of the great persons, and governors of provinces of that king-
dom, would be next : and that, though the present King were
a good prince, yet that their successors may be otherwise,

1 See su-pra, p. 104, and extracts from Lord Herbert's correspondence, 1619-21, in
Appendix VII

2 Peter Jeanmn, usually called President Jeannin, was one of the most high-minded
counsellors that Louis XIII had about him He brought the finances into something
like order, but a lack of firmness prevented him giving full effect to his reforms His
valuable political treatise, Negotiations (Pans, 1656), was highly valued by Richelieu
Herbert announces the death of the good President Janmn to Viscount Doncaster,
23d March 1622-3. Lord Herbert's statement that LT-^ * - ^pc 1 f o K-ng into a
war with the Protestants is not confirmed by his own <!> ,, > 7 :> < -" ^ Naunton
(dated soth February 1620-1), in which he states that ( V < p -, i- 'it the sword
was first suggested by Louis XIII himself

3 The Protestants of Bearn had resisted the decree re-establishing the Catholic religion
in their province, issued in 1617 T^ "ft** T^-i^ XI T I r 1 f- %|J *' o ;v"~\i-:> vi* 1 -* n-
army to enforce the edict An .** -n r r ' . -a <v ^ ,n K *' "i i < ', i cl , i" - -i -,
independent of the crown, rai-'d i '" ., - , i " i -^ ! i 1 '-- t > , u uj i * 1) ]
Koh.in 1 he ro^.il troops undo J " ^-.M'dCo r.ibi'lV I -i i\ i i i n - u >- . '
attack O'i MYmtciubari, and the ( '-ivl;- 1 , r ''uOii^Ii i^oi" ''I'.o'v -inn 01 .1 ' %v i
The war continued till October 1622, when a peace was made between the combatants,
practically renewing the Edict o* Nantes in fa\ oui of the Protestants

4 Charles, fourth Due de Guise (is7i--cf>4o), son of the Due de Guise assassinated
at Blois, held office undT ITeuii IV, although at one time the League had put him
forward as a rival claimant to the crown of France He fought against the Rochelle
Protestants in 1622, but as a supporter of Marie de MMicis, Richelieu expelled him
from France, and about 1631 he settled in Florence, Tallemant des Reaux describes
him as a very amiable man, but an inveterate liar.

1621] Life of Lord Herbert 117

and that men did not know how soon princes might prove
tyrants, when they had nothing to fear : which speech of
mine was fatal, since those of the religion were no sooner
reduced into that weak condition in which now they are, but
the governors of provinces were brought lower, and curbed
much in their power and authority, and the Duke of Guise
first of them all : so that I doubt not but my words were well
remembered. Howsoever, the war now went on with much
fervour : neither could I dissuade it, although using, accord-
ing to the instructions I had from the King my master, many
arguments for that purpose. I was told often, that if the
reformation in France had been like that in England, where,
they observed, we retained the hierarchy, together with decent
rites and ceremonies in the church, as also holidays in the
memory of saints, music in churches, and divers other testi-
monies, both of glorifying God, and giving honour and reward
to learning, they could much better have tolerated it ; but
such a rash and violent reformation as theirs was, ought by
no means to be approved ; whereunto I answered, that,
though the causes of departing from the Church of Rome
were taught and delivered by many sober and modest persons,
yet that the reformation in great part was acted by the common
people, whereas ours began at the prince of state, and therefore
was more moderate : which reason I found did not displease
them. I added further then, that the reformed religion in
France would easily enough admit an hierarchy, if they jhad
sufficient means among them to maintain it, and that if their
churches were as fair as those which the Roman Catholics
had, they would use the more decent sorts of ntes and cere-
monies, and together like well of organs and choirs of singers,
rather than make a breach or schism on that occasion. As for
holidays, I doubted not but the principal persons and ministers
of their religion would approve it much better than the common
people, who, being labourers, and artisans for the most part,
had the advantages for many more days than Roman Cathohcs
for getting their living : howsoever, that those of the religion
had been good cautions to make the Roman Catholic priests,
if not better, yet at least more wary in their lives and actions :
it being evident that since the reformation began among
those of the religion, the Roman Catholics had divers ways
reformed themselves, and abated not only much of their

Ii8 Life of Lord Herbert [1621

power they usurped over laics, but were more pious and
continent than formerly. Lastly, that those of the religion
acknowledged solely the King's authority m government of
all affairs : whereas the other side held the regal power, not
only inferior in divers points, but subordinate to the papal.
Nothing of which yet served to divert Monsieur de Luynes,
or the King, from then- resolutions.

The King having now assembled an army, and made some
progress against those of the religion, I had instruction sent me
from the King my master to mediate a peace, and if I could
not prevail therein, to use some such words as may both
argue his Majesty's care of them of the religion, and together,
to let the French King know that he would not permit thejr
total rum and extirpation. The King was now going to lay
siege to St. Jean d'Angely, when myself was newly recovered
of a fever at Paris, in which, besides the help of many able
physicians, I had the comfort of divers visits from many princi-
pal grandees of France, and particularly the Princess of Conti,
who would sit by my bedside two or three hours, and with
cheerful discourse entertain me, though yet I was brought so
low, that I could scarce return anything by way of answer but
thanks. The command yet which I received from the King my
master quickened me, insomuch that, by slow degrees I went
into my coach, together with my train, towards St. Jean
d'Angely. Being arrived within a small distance of that place,
I found by divers circumstances, that the effect of my negotia-
tion had been discovered from England, and that I was not
welcome thither ; howbeit, having obtained an audience from
the King, I exposed what I had in charge to say to him, to
which yet I received no other answer but that I should go to
Monsieur de Luynes, by whom I should know his Majesty's
intention. Kepairmg thus to him, I did find outwardly good
reception, though yet I did not know how cunningly he pro-
ceeded to betray and frustrate my endeavours for those of the
religion , for, hiding a gentleman, called Monsieur Arnaud l ,
behind the hangings in his chamber, who was then of the reli-
gion, but had promised a revolt to the King's side, this gentle-
man, as he himself confessed afterwards to the Earl of Carlisle,

l He was son of Anthome de la Mothe-Arnauld, and although his father was a Pro-
testant, there is no evidence to support Lord Herbert's statement that he himself was

one.

1621] Life of Lord Herbert 119

had m charge to relate unto those of the religion, how little
help they might expect from me, when he should tell them
the answers which Monsieur de Luynes made me. Sitting
thus in a chair before Monsieur de Luynes, he demanded the
effect of my business ; I answered, that the King my master
commanded me to mediate a peace betwixt his Majesty and
his subjects of the religion, and that I desired to do it in all
those fair and equal terms, which might stand with the honour
of France, and the good mtelhgnece betwixt the two king-
doms : to which he returned this rude answer only, ' What
hath the King your master to do with our actions ? why doth
he meddle with our affairs ? ' My reply was, that the King
my master ought not to give an account of the reason which
induced him hereunto, and for me it was enough to obey him ;
howbeit, if he did ask me in more gentle terms, I should do
the best I could to give him satisfaction ; to which, though he
answered no more than the word bien, or well, I, pursuing my
instruction, said that the King my master, according to the
mutual stipulation betwixt Henry the Fourth and himself,
that the survivor of either of them should procure the tran-
quillity and peace of the other's estate, had sent this message ,
and that he had not only testified this his pious inclination
heretofore, in the late civil wars of France, but was desirous
on this occasion also to show how much he stood affected to
the good of the kingdom ; besides, he hoped that when peace
was established here, that the French King might be the
more easily disposed to assist the Palatine, who was an ancient
friend and ally of the French crown. His reply to this was,
' We will have none of your advices ' : whereupon I said,
that I took those words for an answer, and was sorry only
that they did not understand sufficiently the affection and
good will of the King my master; and since they rejected
it upon those terms, I had in charge to tell him, that we knew
very well what we had to do. Luynes seeming offended
herewith, said ' Nous ne vous ercngnons pas ', or, ' We are not
afraid of you '. I replied hereupon, that if you had said you
had not loved us, I should have believed you, but should have
returned you another answer ; in the meanwhile, that I had
no more to say than what I had told him formerly, which was,
that we knew what we had to do. This, though somewhat
less than was in my instructions, so angered him, that in much

I2O Life of Lord Herbert [1621

passion he said, Pay Dieu, si vous n' Sties Monsieur I'Ambas-
sadeur, je vous tratttems d'un* autre sorie 'By God, if you
were not Monsieur Ambassador, I would use you after another
fashion '. My answer was, that as I was an ambassador, so I
was also a gentleman ; and therewithal, laying my hand upon
the hilt of my sword, told him, there was that which should
make him an answer, and so arose from my chair ; to which
Monsieur de Luynes made no reply, but, arising likewise from
his chair, offered civilly to accompany me to the door ; but
I telhng him there was no occasion for him to use ceremony,
after so rude an entertainment, I departed from him. From
thence returning to my lodging, I spent three or four days
afterwards in seeing the manner of the French discipline, in
making approaches to towns ; at what time I remember, that
going in my coach within reach of cannon, those in the town
imagining me to be an enemy, made many shots against me,
which so affrighted my coachman, that he durst drive no
farther ; whereupon alighting, I bid him put the horses out
of danger ; and notwithstanding many more shots made against
me, went on foot to the trenches, where one Seaton, a Scotch-
man, conducting me, showed me their works, in which I found
little differing from the Low Country manner. Having
satisfied myself in this manner, I thought fit to take my leave
of the King, being at Cognac, the city of St. Jean d'Angely
being now surrendered unto him. Coming thus to a village
not far from Cognac, about ten of the clock at night, I found
all the lodgings possessed by soldiers ; so that alighting in
the market-place, I sent my servants to the inns to get some
provision, who bringing me only six rye loaves, which I was
doubtful whether I should bestow on myself and company,
or on my horses, Monsieur de Fonts, a French nobleman of
the religion, attended with a brave train, hearing of my being
there, offered me lodging in his castle near adjoining : I told
him it was a great courtesy at that time, yet I could not with
my honour accept it, since I knew it would endanger him, my
business to those parts being in favour of the religion, and the
chief ministers of state in France being jealous of my holding
intelligence with him ; howbeit, if he would procure me lodg-
ing in the town, I should take it kindly ; whereupon, sending
his servants round about the town, he found at last, in the
house of one of his tenants, a chamber, to which, when he had

1621]

Life of Lord Herbert 12

conducted me, and together gotten some little accommodatic
for myself and horses, I desired him to depart to his lodging
he being then in a place which his enemies, the King's soldiei
had possessed. All which was not so silently carried, bi
that the said nobleman was accused afterwards at the Fren<
court, upon suspicion of holding correspondence with m
whereof it was my fortune to clear him.

Coming next day to Cognac, the Mareschal de St. Geran
my noble friend, privately met me, and said I was not in
place of surety there, as having offended Monsieur de Luync
who was the King's favourite, desiring me withal to advi
what I had to do : I told him I was m a place of surety wher
soever I had my sword by my side, and that I intended
demand audience of the King ; which also being obtained,
found not so cold a reception as I thought to meet with, ins
much that I parted with his Majesty, to all outward appea
ance, in very good terms.

From hence returning to Paris shortly after, I found mys<
welcome to all those ministers of state there, and nobleme
who either envied the greatness, or loved not the insolencies
Monsieur de Luynes ; by whom also I was told, that the sa
Luynes had incensed to send a brother of his into Englai
with an embassy, the effect whereof should be chiefly
complain against m^, and to obtain that I should be repealed
and that he intended to relate the passages betwixt us at 5
Jean d'Angely in a much different manner from that I reportc
and that he would charge me with giving the first offeiic
After thanks for this advertisement, I told them my relati
of the business betwixt us, in the manner I delivered, was tn
and that I "would justify it with my sword ; at which th
being nothing scandalized, -wished me good fortune 3 .
The ambassador into England following shortly after, wi

1 Jean Francois de la Guiche, Comte de la Palisse and Mareschal de Saint Ger
He died in 1632.

2 Lord Herbert is not quite accurate here Luynes* brother was the Marquis
Cadenet He had already visited England in January 1621, some months before I
Herbert's quarrel with Luynes had assumed its final form ; he had soon afterw*
returned to France, and did not repeat his visit to the English court He endeavoi
in vain to secure an English alliance with France, mainly in anticipation of the ri'
of the French Protestants His insolent temper led him into some \try curious quan
not only with the English courtiers, but with the permanent French ambassadoi
London, Cornte de Tilhers. See Gardmei's Hist , m, 389

3 Howell thus mentions the author's recall : * Sir Kdwaicl Tlorboit is returned, ha
had some clashmgs and counterbufls with the favourite Luynes, wherein he rompc
himself gallantly' Familiar Letters, Book i, sect 3, letter v. Ch.milxilam v,
to Carleton under date i4th July 1621 . ' Sir Edward Herbert is recalled then a

R

122

Life of Lord Herbert [1621

a huge train 1 , in a sumptuous manner, and an accusation
framed against me, I was sent for home, of which I was glad, my
payment being so ill, that I was run far into debt with my
merchants, who had assisted me now with /3,ooo or ^4,000
more than I was able at the present to discharge. Coming
thus to court, the Duke of Buckingham, who was then my
noble friend, informed me at large of the objections represented
by the French ambassador ; to which when I had made my
defence in the manner above related, I added, that I was
ready to make good all that I had said with my sword a ; and
shortly after, I did, in the presence of his Majesty and the Duke
of Buckingham, humbly desire leave to send a trumpet to
Monsieur de Luynes, to offer him the combat, upon terms that
past betwixt us ; which was not permitted, otherwise than that
they would take my offer into consideration. Howsoever,
notice being publicly taken of this my desire, much occasion
of speech was given, every man that heard thereof much
favouring me; but the Duke of Luynes' death following
shortly after 3 , the business betwixt us was ended, and I
commanded to return to my former charge in France. I did
not yet presently go, as finding much difficulty to obtain the
moneys due to me from the Exchequer, and therewith, as also
by my own revenues, to satisfy my creditors in France. The
Earl of Carlisle * this while being employed Extraordinary

challenging Luynes the favourite, and Sir Edward Sackyille is to succeed him '. As
a XuSSrS J^ James Hay, Wscoimt Doncaster and Earl of Carlisle, temporarily

o' England to make complaint against Lord Herbert in th*

. the

French Kn^fse^etary of state, a despatch respecting this interview between Lord
Herbert ^nd f James L This despatch, which M. de Remusat has printed in his Lort?
SSbertete Ckerbury, p. 85, is datedaSth September i6. It runs as follows :

^ ce proMs je sms entr5 en celui de M. Herbert, disant que j'avois entendu comme
S WL I'llaitrtci avec toutes sortes de faveurs et de courtoisles, et que m&ne il se pro-

' '

S artc avec u ,

mettait deretouroer en France, que cela etait bien contraire aux discours qu'il m'avait
SSasen i mTdenSere audience e? aux demonstrations, de colere qu'il avait temoignees
cSSre sieur Herbert, et m&ne au d&aveu qu'U avait fait des inconsid&ees paroles
ou'il avaJt dites a S. M. et a M. le conn6table [*.A Luynes], ce que j'avois fait savoir par
&ir quoi il m'a replique qu' etant roi il devoit retenir une oreille pour la justification

* *iw * ___ ,_f\i*. . Va -,, i'^Yr^iev a/^r-ff n TTranrtA Atalt vrai. m^IS one ce rm'il

commei

fitait vral T Inais que depuis, s f en etant voulu
n'allaient pas comme Ton m'en avait instruit,

aaist December 1621, at Monheurt, of a fever contracted while he was leading an
attack on the Protestants of Beam. ...... ,.. ^ ^

* James Hay James I's first favourite at the English court, Viscount Doncaster
and Earl of Carlisle (z^th September 1633), Knight of the Garter and Master of the
Great Wardrobe. He had lived in France in his youth, and had been ambassador there
in 1616. He died asth April 1636. Tillieres specially requested James I to send him
to replace Herbert. Remusat, p. 86.

1621] Life of Lord Herbert 123

Ambassador to France, brought home a confirmation of the
passages betwixt Monsieur do Luynes and myself ; Monsieur
de Arnaud, who stood behind the hangings, as above related,
having verified all I said, insomuch that the King my master
was well satisfied of my truth-

Having by this time cleared all my debts, when demanding
new instructions from the King my master, the Earl of Carlisle
brought me this message, that his Majesty had that experience
of my abilities and fidelity, that he would give mo no instruc-
tions, but leave all things to my discretion, as knowing I would
proceed with that circumspection, as I should be better able to
discern, upon emergent occasions, what was fit to be done,
than that I should need to attend directions from hence,
which besides that they would be slow, might perchance be
not so proper, or correspondent to the conjuncture of the great
affairs then in agitation, both in France and Germany, and
other parts of Christendom, and that these things, therefore,
must bo left to my vigilance, prudence, and fidelity. Where-
upon I told his Lordship, that I took this as a singular expres-
sion of the trust his Majesty reposed m me ; howbeit, that I
desired his Lordship to pardon me, if I said I had herein only
received a greater power and latitude to err, and that I durst
not trust my judgment so far as that I would presume to answer
for all events, in such factious and turbulent times, and there-
fore again did humbly desire new instructions, which I promised
punctually to follow. The Earl of Carlisle returning hereupon
to the King, brought me yet no other answer back than that I
formerly mentioned, and that his Majesty did so much confide
in me, that he would limit me with no other instructions, but
refer all to my discretion, promising together, that if matters
proceeded not as well as might be wished, he would attribute
the default to anything rather than to my not performing my
duty.

Finding his Majesty thus resolved, I humbly took leave of
him and my friends at court, and went to Monsieur Savage l ;
when demanding of him new letters of credit, his answer was,
he could not furnish me as he had before, there being no limited
sum expressed there, but that I should have as much as I

1 Locke writes to Carletou that Herbert was returning to Paris on aad February
1621-2 (Col State Papers).

124 Life of Lord Herbert [1622

needed ; to which, though I answered that I had paid all, yet, as
Monsieur Savage replied, that I had not paid it at the time
agreed on, he said he could furnish me with a letter only for
three thousand pounds, and nevertheless, that he was confident
I should have more if I required it, which I found true, for I
took up afterwards upon my credit there as much more, as
made in the whole five or six thousand pounds.

Coming thus to Paris, I found myself welcomed by all the
principal persons, nobody that I found there being either
offended with the passages betwixt me and Monsieur de Luynes,
or that were sorry for his death, in which number the Queen's
Majesty seemed the most eminent person, as one who long
since had hated him : whereupon also, I cannot but remember
this passage, that in an audience I had one day from the Queen,
I demanded of her how far she would have assisted me with
her good offices against Luynes ? She replied, that what
cause soever she might have to hate him, either by reason or
by force, they would have made her to be of his side ; to which
I answered in Spanish, No ay feurce por las a reynas ' There is
no force for queens '*, at which she smiled.

And now I began to proceed in all public affairs according
to the liberty with which my master was pleased to honour
me, confining myself to no rules but those of my own discretion.
My negotiations in the meanwhile proving so successful, that
during the remainder of my stay there, his Majesty received
much satisfaction concerning my carriage, as finding I had
preserved his honour and interest in all great affairs then
emergent in France, Germany, and other parts of Christendom ;
which work being of great concernment, I found the easier,
that his Majesty's ambassadors and agents everywhere gave
me perfect intelligence of all that happened within their pre-
cincts ; insomuch, that from Sir Henry Wotton, his Majesty's
ambassador at Venice, who was a learned and witty gentleman,
I received all the news of Italy ; as also from Sir Isaac Wake x ,
who did more particularly acquaint me with the business of
Savoy, Valentina \ and Switzerland ; from Sir Francis JSTether-

1 A Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (1598), and Orator of the University (1604).
He was at orie time Sir Dudley Carleton's secretary; in April 1619^ made ambassador-
extraordinary in Savoy and Piedmont, and ordinarv$ambassador in Switzerland and
Italy. He was an accomplished scholar. A manuscript history by him of the Duchies
of Montreux and Montferrat is ia the Bodleian. He died in July 1632.

3 The Valteline.

1622]

Life of Lord Herbert 125

sole *, his Majesty's agent in Germany, and more particularly
with the united princes there, on the behalf of his son-in-law,
the Palatine, or King of Bohemia, I received all the news of
Germany , from Sir Dudley Carleton, his Majesty's ambassador
in the Low Countries, I received intelligence concerning all the
affairs of that state ; and from Mr. William Trumbull, his
Majesty's agent at Brussels, all the affairs on that side 2 ; and
lastly, from Sn* Walter Aston, his Majesty's ambassador in
Spain 3 , and after him, from the Earl of Bristol 4 and Lord Cot-
tington 5 , I had intelligence from the Spanish court : out of all
whose relations being compared together, I found matter
enough to dn-ect my judgment in all public proceedings ;
besides, in Paris, I had the chief intelligence which came to
either Monsieur de Langherac, the Low Country ambassador, or
Monsieur Postek, agent for the united princes in Germany, and
Sigmor Coiitarmi, ambassador for Venice, and Signior Guis-
cardi my particular friend, agent for Mantua, and Monsieur
Guerctm, agent for the Palatine, or King of Bohemia 6 , and
Monsieur Villers, for the Swiss, and Monsieur Ainorant, agent
for Geneva, by whose means, upon the resultance of the several
advertisements given me, I found what I had to do.

The wars in Germany were now hot, when several French
gentlemen came to me for recommendations to the Queen of
Bohemia, whose service they desired to advance, which also I
performed as effectually as I could 7 : howbeit, as after the
battle of Prague, the Imperial side seemed wholly to prevail,
these gentlemen had not the satisfaction expected 8 . About

1 He was succeeded by George Herbert in the public oratorship of Cambridge, i8th
January 1619 -20, and was one of the most chivalrous supporters of the Princess Elizabeth
ol the Palatmatr He repeated!} uiged on James I tho i eecsbity of interfering in the
German war on her behalf

2 In 1620 he was di^^ted to Tvot*" 5 * r 1 "^ *-oven f , as f nr PS he XVPS a*V the invasion
of the Palatinate , ... i ," x -. v. i '-ill*' s .">-, i t H- i ^laLio-i^ , mi was recalled
in 1625.

3 From 1620-5 , but the marriage negotiations were entrusted to John Digby, Earl
of Bristol, in 1622-3 He was created Lord Ashton in the Scottish peerage in 1627 ,
served in Spain again in 1638-9, and died i3th August 1639

4 John Digby, afterwards Earl of Bristol, was thrice appointed ambassador in Spain,
for brief periods between 1611 and 1624 He finally left the Spanish court m January
1623-4, after the marriage negotiation had come to grief Cottington was often agent
at Main:! in Di^by's absence See below.

' Scv j j -S n'te i.

*> I OL i 1 i k the Elector- Palatine

7 Several lett' v -<s r^Tv wi i"cr off^-s o f rnd r^ade to Herbert in behalf of the Elector-
PnlntnepM .'K I 1 t<- - o<A a -_ il> '. i'i" Bnt Mus MS. Addvt , 7082

13 ^ L'M' h<i tie of Prague (7th November 1619), the Elector-Palatine and his wife
\\ ' t> il)-o' (<.'.. ruined A vivid account of their situation is given in their letters to
James I, printed in Ellis' Letters, first ser, ui, 110-4.

126 Life of Lord Herbert [1622

this time, the Duke de Crony, employed from Brussels to the
French court, coming to see me, said, by way of rhodomontade,
as though he would not speak of our isles, yet he saw all the
rest of the world must bow under the Spaniard ; to which I
answered, God be thanked they are not yet come to that pass,
or when they were, they had this yet to comfort them, that at
worst they should be but the same which you are now ; which
speech of mine, being afterwards, I know not how, divulged,
was much applauded by the French, as believing I intended
that other countries should be put under the same severe
government to which the Duke of Crouy, and those within the
Spanish dominions, were subject.

It happened one day that the agent from Brussels, and
ambassador from the Low Countries, came to see me, imme-
diately one after the other, to whom I said familiarly, that I
thought that the inhabitants of the parts of the seventeen
provinces, which were under the Spaniards, might be compared
to horses in a stable, which, as they were finely curried, dressed,
and fed, so they were well ridden also, spurred, and galled ; and
that I thought the Low Country men were like to horses at
grass, which, though they wanted so good keeping as the other
had, yet might leap, kick, and fling, as much as they would ;
which freedom of mine displeased neither: or, if the Low
Country ambassador did think I had spoken a little too sharply,
I pleased him afterwards, when, continuing my discourse, I
told him that the states of the United provinces had within a
narrow room shut up so much warlike provision both by sea
and land, and together demonstrated such courage upon all
occasions, that it seemed they had more need of enemies than
of friends, which compliment I found did please him.

About this time, the French being jealous that the King my
master would match the Prince, his son, with the king of Spain's
sister, and together relinquish his alliance with France, myself,
who did endeavour nothing more than to hold all good intelli-
gence betwixt the two crowns, had enough to do *. The Count
de Gondomar 2 passing now from Spain into England, came

1 Lord Herbert had from, the first encouraged the French court in its hopes of a marriage
between Henrietta Maria and Prince Charles, and viewed with little favour, it would
appear the Spanish proposal of marriage. On i4th August 1620 he had written to
James I that the French marriage would be highly acceptable to the French nation
and that the religious difficulties could be readily surmounted.

2 Diego Sarmiento de Aeuna, Count de Gondomar, was Spanish ambassador in Eng-
land from 1613 to 1618. He arrived in England again about 1619-20, and Herbert

1622] Life of Lord Herbert 127

to see me at Paris about ten of the clock in the morning. When
after some compliments, he told me that he was to go towards
England the next morning, and that he desired my coach to
accompany him out of town ; I told him, after a free and
merry manner, he should not have my coach, and that if he
demanded it, it was not because he needed coaches, the Pope's
nuntio, the Emperor's ambassador, the Duke of Bavaria's
agent, and others, having coaches enough to furnish him, but
because he would put a jealousy betwixt me and the French,
as if I inclined more to the Spanish side than to theirs. Gon-
domar then looking merrily upon me, said, I will dine with you
yet ; I told him, by his good favour, he should not dine with
me at that time, and that when I would entertain the ambassa-
dor of so great a King as his, it should not be upon my ordinary,
but that I would make him a feast worthy of so great a person :
howbeit, that he might see after what manner I lived, I desired
some of my gentlemen to bring his gentlemen into the kitchen,
where, after my usual manner, were three spits full of meat,
divers pots of boiled meat, and an oven, with store of pies in it,
and a dresser board, covered with all manner of good fowl, and
some tarts, pans with tarts in them after the French manner ;
after which, being conducted to another room, they were
showed a dozen or sixteen dishes of sweetmeats, all which was
but the ordinary allowance for my table. The Spaniards return-
ing now to Gondomar told him what good cheer they found,
notwithstanding which, I told Gondomar again that I desired
to be excused if I thought this dinner unworthy of him, and that
when occasion were, I should entertain him after a much
better manner. Gondomar hereupon coming near me, said,
he esteemed me much, and that he meant only to put a trick
upon me, which he found I had discovered, and that he thought
that an Englishman had not known how to avoid handsomely a
trick put upon him under show of civility ; and that I ever
should find him my friend, and would do me all the good
offices he could in England, which also he really performed, as

must have met him at Pans while on the journey He was the chief negotiator of the
Spanish marriage treaty, and left England in 1622 to complete it at the Spanish court
He never retumr-l to t u <? c~ ir*r--, and died in 1625 at Bominel in Flanders. Although
loathed by the I > id- < ',< his gaiety made him popular at court Ho told a
merry tale, read - i - i -, i I vs, bought a first folio, and liked English wmos (See
Howell's Letters, r>/> ' Mi Idleton's Game at Chesse, 162 j. f is a st.ithmg satire
upon him (See M -lul .1 '- H ot, s, ed A H Bullen, vol. vu ) His portrait by Mytens
is at Hampton Court.

128 Life of Lord Herbert [1623

the Duke of Lennox and the Earl of Pembroke confirmed to
me ; Gondomar saying to them, that I was a man fit for employ-
ment, and that he thought Englishmen, though otherwise able
persons, knew not how to make a denial handsomely, which yet
I had done.

This Gondomar being an able person, and dexterous in his
negotiations, had so prevailed with King James, that his
Majesty resolved to pursue his treaty with Spain, and for that
purpose, to send his son Prince Charles in person to conclude
the match, when, after some debate whether he should go in a
public or private Manner, it was at last resolved, that he,
attended with the Marquis of Buckingham, and Sir Francis
Cottington, his secretary I , and Endymion Porter 2 , and Mr.
Grimes, gentleman of the horse to the Marquis, should pass
in a disguised and private manner through France to Madrid ;
these five passing, though not without some difficulty, from
Dover to Boulogne, where taking post horses, they came to
Pans, and lodged at an inn in Rue St. Jacques, where it was
advised amongst them whether they should send for me to
attend them ; after some dispute, it was concluded in the
negative, since, as one there objected, if I came alone in the
quality of a private person, I must go on foot through the
streets ; and because I was a person geneially known, might be
followed by some one or other, who would discover whither my
private visit tended besides, that those in the inn must needs take
notice of my coming in that manner ; on the other side, if I
came publicly with my usual train, the gentlemen with me
must needs take notice of the Prince and Marquis of Bucking-
ham, and consequently might divulge it, which was thought
not to stand with the Prince's safety, who endeavoured to keep
his journey as secret as possible ; howbeit, the Prince spent the
day following his arrival in seeing the French Court, and city
of Pans, without that anybody did know his person, but a
maid that had sold linen heretofore in London, who seeing him
pass by, said, certainly this is the Prince of Wales, but withal

1 He came from Madrid, where he had acted as English agent, to be Charles's secre-
tary, in 1622 He was created a baronet on i6th February 1623 , became Lord Cotting-
ton soon after, being , 1 i i i " i ^ . * " , After fighting for Charles
I, he went into exile i i ( ! . * i J 'i \ , , ,n . i > 1653, when, the peerage
became extinct

2 An intimate 1 friend of Charles I and Buckingham, he was frequently engaged in diplo-
matic negotiations with Spain , but he is best known is a prominent li aclcr of court
society under Charles I, and a patron of literature, in ufurh ho ou I-.IMM ilT\ dabbled
himself

1623] Life of Lord Herbert 129

suffered him to hold his way, and presumed not to follow him :
the next day after, they took post horses, and held their way
towards Bayonne, a city frontier to Spain l .

The first notice that came to me was by one Andrews, a
Scotchman, who, coming late the night preceding their depar-
ture, demanded whether I had seen the Prince ? when I
demanding what Prince ? ' for ', said I, ' the Prince of Conde
is yet in Italy ' ; he told me the Prince of Wales, which yet I
could not believe easily, until with many oaths he affirmed
the Prince was in France, and that he had charge to follow
his Highness, desiring me in the meanwhile, on the part of the
King my master, to serve his passage the best I could.
This made me rise very early the next morning, and go to
Monsieur Puisieux, Principal Secretary of State, to demand
present audience ; Puisieux hereupon entreated me to stay an
hour, since he was in bed, and had some earnest business to
despatch for the King his master, as soon as he was ready ; I
returned answer, that I could not stay a minute, and that I
desired I might come to his bedside ; this made Puisieux rise
and put on his gown only, and so came to the chamber, where
I attended him. His first words to me were, ' I know your
business as well as you ; your Prince is departed this morning
post to Spam ' ; adding further, that I could demand nothing
for the security of his passage, but it should be presently
granted, concluding with these very words ; Vous serez servi
au point nomm$ 9 or ' You shall be served in any particular you
can name '. I told him that his free ofler had prevented the
request I intended to make, and that because he was so princi-
pal a minister of state, I doubted not but what he had so nobly
promised, he would see punctually performed ; as for the
security of his passage, that I did not see what I could demand
more, than that he would suffer him quietly to hold his way,
without sending after, or interrupting him. He replied, that
the Prince should not be interrupted, though yet he could do
no less than send to know what success the Prince had in his
journey. I was no sooner returned out of his chamber, but I
despatch a letter by post to the Prince, to desire him to make
all the haste he could out of France, and not to treat with any

l The best account of this adventurous journey, which took place in February 1622-3,
is given by Sir Henry Wotton, m his Short View of the Life and Death of the Duke of Buck-
ingham, 1642

S

130 Life of Lord Herbert [1623

of the religion in the way, since his being at Paris was known,
and that though the French secretary had promised he should
not be interrupted, yet that they would send after his Highness,
and when he gave any occasion of suspicion, might perchance
detain him. The Prince, after some examination at Bayonne
(which the governor thereof did afterwards particularly relate
to me, confessing that he did not know who the Prince was),
held his way on to Madrid, where he and all his company safely
arrived. Many of the nobility, and others of the English
court, being now desirous to see the Prince, did pass through
France to Spam, taking my house still in their way 1 , by whom
I acquainted his Highness in Spain how much it grieved
me that I had not seen his Highness when he was in Paris,
which occasioned his Highness afterwards to write a letter to
me, wholly with his own hand, and subscribe his name, your
friend Charles, in which he did abundantly satisfy all the
unkindness I might conceive on this occasion.

I shall not enter into a narration of the passages occurring in
the Spanish court, upon his Highness's arrival thither, though
they were well known to me for the most part, by the informa-
tion the French Queen was pleased to give me, who, among
other things, told me that her sister * did wish well unto the
Prince. I had from her also, intelligence of certain messages
sent from Spain to the Pope, and the Pope's messages to them ;
whereof, by her permission, I did afterwards inform his High-
ness. Many judgments were now made concerning the event
which this treaty of marriage was likely to have ; the Duke of
Savoy said that the prince's journey thither was, Un t^ro dt
quelli cavalhen antichi che andavano cosi per tl mondo a d^ffare
h incanti (that it was a trick of those ancient knights errant,
who went up and down the world after that manner to undo
enchantments) : for as that Duke did believe that the Span-
iard did intend finally to bestow her on the Imperial house, he
conceived that he did only entertain the treaty with England,
because he might avert the King my master from treating in

1 Mr Mead writes to Sir Martin Stncville (i4th March 1632-3) that besides the Lords
Carlisle and Mountjoy who went to Paris to excuse to Louis XII I the unceremonious
journey of the Prince of Wales through France, the Prince and his company were fol-
owed to Madrid by the Lords Andover, Vaughan, Kensington, and about two hundred
persons more of nobles, knights, gentlemen, and others. Ellis's Ong Letters t ist ser ,
111, 131*

* Maria, wife of Philip IV of Spain (see p 105, n a).

1624]

Life of Lord Herbert 131

any other place, and particularly in France, howbeit, by the
intelligence I received in Paris, which I am confident was very
good, I am assured the Spaniard meant really at that time,
though how the match was broken, I list not here to relate, it
being a more perplexed and secret business than I am willing
to insert into the narration of my life l .

New propositions being now made, and other counsels
thereupon given, the Prince taking his leave of the Spanish
court, came to St. Andrews m Spam, where, shipping himself,
with his tram, arrived safely at Portsmouth, about the begin-
ning of October 1623 ; the news thereof being shortly brought
into France, the Duke of Guise came to me, and said he found
the Spaniards were not so able men as he thought, since they
had neither married the Prince in their country, nor done any-
thing to break his match elsewhere ; I answered, that the
Prince was more dexterous than that any secret practice of
theirs could be put upon him ; and as for violence, I thought
the Spaniards durst not offer it.

The war against those of the religion continuing in France 2
Pere Seguerend, confessor to the King, made a sermon before
his Majesty upon the text, ' That we should forgive our
enemies J , upon which argument, having said many good things,
he at last distinguished forgiveness, and said, We were indeed
to forgive our enemies, but not the enemies of God ; such as
were heretics, and particularly those of the religion ; and that
his Majesty, as the most Christian King, ought to extirpate
them wheresoever they could be found. This particular being
related to me, I thought fit to go to the Queen-mother without
further ceremony, for she gave me leave to come to her chamber
whensoever I would, without demanding audience, and to tell
her, that though I did not usually intermeddle with matters
handled within their pulpits, yet because Pdre Seguerend, who
had the charge of the King's conscience, had spoken so vio-
lently against those of the religion, that his doctrine was not
limited only to France, but might extend itself in its conse-
quences beyond the seas, even to the dominions of the King
my master ; I could not but think it very unreasonable, and

1 Lord Herbert's report on French public opinion as to the Prince's journey to and
from Spain (dated sist October 1623) is printed below.

2 It is curious that Lord Herbert avoids all mention of Richelieu, who succeeded
to power early in 1624, and at once embarked on his policy of a forcible suppression
of Protestantism.

132 Life of Lord Herbert [1624

the rather, that as her Majesty well knew that a treaty of
marriage betwixt our Prince and the Princess her daughter,
was now begun, for winch reason I could do no less than
humbly desire that such doctrines as these henceforth might
be silenced, by some discreet admonition, she might please to
give to Pere Seguerend, or others that might speak to this
purpose The Queen, though she seemed very willing to hear
me, yet handled the business so, that Pere Seguerend was
together informed who had made this complaint against him,
whereupon also he was so distempered, that by one Monsieur
Gaellac, a Proven9al, his own countryman, he sent me this
message ; that he knew well who had accused him to her
Majesty, and that he was sensible thereof ; that he wished me
to be assured, that wheresoever I was in the world, he would
hinder my fortune. The answer I returned by Monsieur
Gaellac was, That nothing in all France but a friar or a woman
durst have sent me such a message.

Shortly after this, coming again to the Queen-mother, I told
her, that what I said concerning Pdre Seguerend, was spoken
with a good intention, and that my words were now discovered
to him in that manner, that he sent me a very affronting
message, adding, after a merry fashion, these words, that I
thought Seguerend so malicious, that his malice was beyond
the malice of women : the Queen, being a little startled hereat,
said, A moy femme, et parler a^ns^ ? ' To me a woman, and
say so ? ' I replied gently, Je parle a votre tnaje$t comme
reyne, et non pas comme femme ' I speak to your Majesty as a
queen, and not as a woman % and so took my leave of her.
What Pere Seguerend did afterwards, in way of performing his
threat, I know not ; but sure I am, that had I been ambitious
of worldly greatness, I might have often remembered his
words, though, as I ever loved my book, and a private life,
more than any busy preferments, I did frustrate and render
vain his greatest power to hurt me.

My book, De ventate prout distingmtur & revelations vemsimili
possibih, et a falso, having been begun by me in England, and
formed there in all its principal parts, was about this time
finished ; all the spare hours which I could get from my visits
and negotiations, being employed to perfect this work, which
was no sooner done, but that I communicated it to Hugo
Grotius, that great scholar, who having escaped his prison in

1624]

Life of Lord Herbert 133

the Low Countries, came into France \ and was much wel-
comed by me and Monsieur Tielcnus 2 also, one of the greatest
scholars of his time, who, after they had perused it, and given
it more commendations than is fit for me to repeat, exhorted me
earnestly to print and publish it ; howbeit, as the frame of my
whole book was so different from any thing which had been
written heretofore, I found I must cither renounce the author-
ity of all that had written formerly concerning the method of
finding out truth, and consequently insist upon my own way,
or hazard myself to a general censure, concerning the whole
argument of my book ; I must confess it did not a little animate
me, that the two great persons above mentioned did so highly
value it, yet as I knew it would meet with much opposition, I
did consider whether it was not better for me a while to suppress
it. Being thus doubtful in my chamber, one fair day in the
summer, my casement being opened towards the south, the sun
shining clear, and no wind stirring, I took my book, De Ventate,
in my hand, and, kneeling on my knees, devoutly said these
words :

* O thou eternal God, Author of the light which now shines
upon me, and Giver of all inward illuminations, I do beseech
Thee, of Thy infinite goodness, to pardon a greater request than
a sinner ought to make ; I am not satisfied enough whether I
shall publish this Book, De Veritate 3 if it be for Thy glory, I
beseech Thee give me some sign from heaven ; if not, I shall
suppress it *

I had no sooner spoken these words, but a loud though yet

iTV-rrtP tr 1 i --tr o* - rl 1 --vyer and philosopher As a leader of the Armmian
faction .1 ' ! ' ' 15, < \i ' , ' i vas imprisoned in Holland in 1619 Lord Herbert
welcomed him to Paris on his release h oin pi ibon \vulj t'jo lirc^

Carcere dmn career victus, Tenebrisque Tenebras

Vinclis cum demum vincla soluta tibi
Prosihens media tandem de mole, videns

Qmdquid mortale est, deposuisse simul

In the fine English play of Barnaveldt (1619), which Mr A H Bullen recently discovered
and printed for the first time m his Old Plays, vol 11, Grotius is one of the characters.
He had visited TV,-^^ 1T , T fi T ,

2 Born at (.,< < K 4 i * \ -u 1.1 1563, he was for many years Professor of Theology
at Sedan At the request of James I he visited England, but was there suspected of
heresy He abandoned Calvinism for the doctrines of the Remonstrants He was
a voluminous theological write 1 " and the intimate friend of Grotius He died at Pans
in 1633 Amor g JLoul Tlorbcrt b poems is one ' in answer to Tilenus, when I had that
fatal defluxion in my hand :

Qui possim Phoebum successum credere ? Laudes

Quum facit ut scnbas, Docte Tilene, mcas.
Providus atque morum consulto sumpit istam

Ut melius possem nunc superesse tua.

134 Life of Lord Herbert [1624

gentle noise came from the heavens, for it was like nothing on
earth, which did so comfort and cheer me, that I took my
petition as granted, and that I had the sign I demanded, where-
upon also I resolved to print my book. This, how strange
soever it may seem, I protest before the eternal God is true,
neither am I any way superstitiously deceived herein, since I
did not only clearly hear the noise, but in the serenest sky that
ever I saw, being without all cloud, did to my thinking see the
place from whence it came 1 .

And now I sent my book to be printed in Pans, at my own
cost and charges 2 , without suffering it to be divulged to others
than to such as I thought might be worthy readers of it ;
though afterwards reprinting it in England, I not only dis-
persed it among the prime scholars of Europe, but was sent to
not only from the nearest but furthest parts of Christendom,
to desire the sight of my book, for which they promised any thing
I should desire by way of return , but hereof more amply in its
place.

The treaty of a match with France continuing still, it was
thought fit for the concluding thereof, that the Earl of Carlisle
and the Earl of Holland should be sent Extraordinary Ambas-
sadors to France . 3

1 This tcftmon\ to i special divine revelation strangely contrasts with the advanced
views that J oid ITe bui elsewhere advocates respecting the subject of Revelation
See Introduction

2 The first edition in Latin was published at Pans in 1624 A second edition was
issued in Paris in 1636 A French translator , ' ~ J i F" i- 1 i p i~ 'Pv f i~-t
London edition appeared m 1633 , the second f 1 > 4 1 . . l < .\', i. , u c
is among the Sloane MSS (A 3957)

On the first leaf is written in Lord Herbert's autograph JDilectiss . Fratri Ge.
Herbert Lectiss Armco Gul Boswell Hunc .Librum suum commendatum voluit
Ed Herbert ea tege V* : ""id -- *iv 1" i - - " < ", vel quod Fidei vere Cathol adversetus
expungant, Quo pact > \ s < .' i < jum luce potitus Han c lucem Saltern,
violent iste Liber [This last line has been altered by the author's own hand to Luce
sua saltern gaudeat iste Liber ] E H isth December 1622 On the top of f 2 is
written, also in Herbert's hand De Ventate pr^" f fiKs+ir.w^nr ? -.pxr f vi p t, ri r, e P ven .
simile po^ihih ft a falso , Ant Ed Herbert, 'i . ' < < ,,<.,.', < . , \
<luk f s hand of fie pt'i icxl and is corrected thrc * ' ' e ," ' . ' i '. L < L
at the end, fims'ing with the words "Suorura sustmendam sufficiat " at p 205 of the
London Edition of 1633. (Dr Edward Scott, formerly Keeper of MSS at the British
Museum, in The Athen&um, $oth April 1898)

3 In May 1624, Tr~^= TTr- T 1 ** Cr-'i^le, ard TTcr' r y Rich (created Lord Kensington
in 1632, but not c i b , I ,. 1 o Ho., i ^ r. 1 2<ti **-*-^r T* 2 < N p-^i-od m Pans
to negotiate the French marriage i " i il. -r ,i M , i, i j' i C -. Herbert
returned to F*" r1 - ri d rt - 2|t\ T IT * 1624, ard 'hopes ', avs Chamberlain, writing to
CarJeton, *t> 1 k \u-t , il -,i '. Sir Albciius MOILOIL succeeded him at Pans
as ordinary ambassador. Herbert's letter oi rec.ill, da tod i4th April 1624, is printed
below

A CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE

OF

EDWARD, LORD HERBERT

OF CHERBURY

FROM 1624 TO 1648

IN spite of his avowed indulgence in all the frivolous pleasures
of the French capital, Herbert served his sovereign and his
country faithfully during the five years that he was English
Ambassador at Louis XIII 's Court \ His correspondence
bears ample testimony to his self-denying industry. He set
himself to estimate the political and social forces that domin-
ated France during the period, and the record of his observa-
tions proves for the most part his energy and his discrimina-
tion 2 . And Herbert had every reason to believe that his
services were highly valued at home. James I was a punctili-
ous master, but in spite of an occasional misunderstanding,
which was removed as soon as it was expressed, James had
treated his minister with real consideration. The curt letter
of recall which reached Herbert in April 1624 was the first
sign that he had fallen into disfavour. James I had found it
good (so the note ran) to dismiss his Minister, and had directed
the Earl of Carlisle and Lord Kensington to take his place 3 .

1 I give here a detailed statement of the facts of Herbert's later life. More general
comment is made in the Introduction

2 See Appendix vn

3 The letter, dated i4th April, ran thus : * JAMES R Trustie and well-beloved we
grete you well We having upon further deliberation found good to call you from that
service you are now in, we have signified so much by our letters to that King, which
we send you herewith to bee delivered unto him, for as we having employed thither
with our commission our right trustie and well-beloved cousin and councellor the Earle
of Carlisle, and our right trustie and well-beloved the Lord Kensington, we doe require
you to present them to that King at their first audience, and so to take your leave and
return unto us with what convenient speed you may". Powysl&nd Club Collection^
vi, 420

135

136 A Continuation of the

The rest was silence, and Herbert subsequently professed him-
self unable to discover the cause that prompted the King to
cast so marked a slur on his reputaion. But the clue is really
not far to seek.

It was not to obtain a suitable partner in marriage for his son
Charles that James I had made his fruitless advances to
Spain mi 623, and was about to make similar advances to France
in 1624. The matrimonial alliance was a mere accident in the
policy that he was in both cases pursuing His foremost
anxiety was, without engaging England m a Continental war,
to protect his daughter Elizabeth and her husband, the Elector-
Palatine, from the overwhelming onslaught of the Catholic
princes of Germany. James was a passionate lover of peace ;
but if peace became impossible, he wished his battles fought by
anybody rather than himself. And another sentiment now
combined with his love of peace-at-any-pnce to force him into
a crooked course of action. James I knew well enough that a
straightforward war needed money, and that money implied
an appeal to Parliament and a discussion of popular griev-
ances. Such a prospect always alarmed him, and it was mainly
to avert its realization that he flung himself upon the barren
hope of transferring to the shoulders of another nation his own
responsibility in the German strife. He believed it practicable
to introduce into a marriage treaty with a great Continental
power (be it Spain or France) a clause pledging tus new ally to
intervene in behalf of his son-in-law, and of his son-in-law's
allies the Protestant princes of Germany. When, therefore,
Spam rejected the proposal, he coolly handed it on to France.

Herbert, his representative in Pans, saw at once the fatuity
of the scheme, and he spoke out. Four years before, it is true,
he had hinted that a marriage of the Princess Henrietta with
the Prince of Wales might be acceptable to the French nation,
and that the religious obstacles were not insuperable. The
suggestion had then taken James I by surprise, and no one had
paid much attention to it. But the situation m 1624 differed
materially from that in 1620. Then Herbert was instructed
to do all in his power to cement an alliance between the two
countries, which offered equal advantages to each contracting
party. Now England looked for a union in which her neigh-
bour was to be saddled with whatever sacrifice the connection
involved. French politicians, with all of whom Herbert was

1624] Life of Lord Herbert 137

living on terms of intimacy, had not watched the tedious
negotiation of Spam with England in the previous year with-
out realizing this, and although the proposals were unattractive,
French amour propre was not conciliated by the bestowal on
France's rival, Spain, of the first opportunity of rejecting
them. When, therefore, directed to open the discussion of
terms with the French King, Herbert plainly told James that
it would be necessary to bring Louis to some real and infallible
proofs of his intention to aid in the recovery of the Elector-
Palatine's territory before placing the matrimonial offer beyond
recall. Herbert was not talking at random ; he was merely
interpreting one of many important pieces of information
which had just reached him. Louis XIII was actually making
proffers of friendship to the Elector's worst enemy, the Duke
of Bavaria. But the English Ministers failed to recognize the
significance of this fact, and Herbert resolved on his own
account to give the opening discussion the advantage of frank-
ness. He told the French statesmen that the negotiation with
Bavaria must provoke a breach with England. The French-
men were annoyed by Herbert's freedom of speech; they
addressed a remonstrance to the English sovereign ; and
James accepted the remonstrance in the spirit in which it was
offered him. He had no taste for plain dealing ; he had
always placed his confidence in the most tortuous forms of
diplomacy. The conduct of his Minister was as repugnant to
him as to his enemies, and he dismissed him without delay x .
Thus Herbert suffered for doing no more than his duty for
showing a little more resolution and fixity of principle than
was habitual either to him or to his contemporaries. Did he
cherish any ill-will against James, the final result of the negoti-
ation gave him ample satisfaction. Prince Charles and Princess
Henrietta Mana were duly married, but France stirred neither
hand nor foot to retrieve the cause of the Elector and the
Princess Elizabeth.

Herbert was neanng middle age when he had first entered
on a political career, but he had no wish to retire from it at
the early age of forty-two. He would probably have lived a
happier life had it been otherwise. He had native capacity
that was fitted for higher purposes than contemporary diplom-

1 Gardiner's History of England, v, arS.

138 A Continuation of the [1624-6

acy, and his memory would deserve greater honour had he
yielded readily to the pressure of circumstance, and forsworn
politics when the inducement to exert his abilities in their
service was first removed. But he never looked very far
ahead. He knew that at the moment the student's habits
were not wholly to his liking ; he preferred to find his recreation
in literature and philosophy, and to make the handling of
affairs the real business of life. Compromising imputations
had been cast upon his name by his sudden recall, and these
he was anxious to remove. His pecuniary resources had been,
moreover, severely taxed ; he was deep in debt to French
merchants, who were importunate for payment ; much of his
salary remained unpaid, and he knew that, in spite of his
numerous acquaintances at court, he needed the influence
attaching to official position to press his claims on the attention
of the Government And there was certainly every reason for
liim to believe that his ambition in this direction would be
gratified. Buckingham, the Prince of Wales, and other men
of influence were his friends ; from an early age he had been
accustomed to receive marks of favour from the Crown itself.
On his return home in July 1624, he therefore confidently
awaited the offer of further political employment. But for
six months he received only the vaguest promises. At length,
on 3 oth December 1624, came a barren mark of royal approval,
which gave its recipient very slender satisfaction. Herbert's
wife had inherited the Irish estate of Castle-Island, Kerry, and
in this fact James found a shadowy justification for creating
Herbert, in reward of his five years' foreign service, my Lord
of Castle-Island in the peerage of Ireland. Buckingham hmtcd
that he might be able later to transform the peerage into an
English honour, and on this assurance Herbert accepted it.
With the cheap distinction went a grant of supporters to the
ancient shield of his family, viz., a lion arg. powdered with
roses of England, and a lion az powdered with fleurs-de-hs of
France '. * James I gave Herbert no other reward.

The accession of Charles I inspired Lord Castle-Island with
new hope, and as soon as the King was firmly seated on the
throne he adressed himself to him m fairly outspoken lan-
guage. Hisjetter ran as follows :

1 Powysland Collection, v, 165

1626]

Life of Lord Herbert 139

* MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MOST EXCELLENT MAjESiiE, Havmge given
my most faithfull attendance to your Majesties father of blessed memorie
from the bcgmnmgc of his reigne to the latter ende, and in all that time
havmge neyther demanded suite nor had any, your Majestic will easily
knowe how small advantage I made of his service ; yet, I must confesse,
I was chosen Ambassador when I least thought of it But as I lived in a
moie chargeable fashion than any before mee, and notwithstanding saved
his Majestic a iooo l1 yearly w dl others spent him, and havmge withall
done all marchant's business freely, wch never any other did in my place,
I spent not only all the means I had from his Majestic, together w th
my owiie annual! rents, but somethmge above, so that still your Majestie
may be pleas'd to consider mec as a looser But yf the losse had beene
only to my purse I could better have endured it, but it was (though w u 'out
rny fault) in my name and estimation too, for when after the reconcihage
of the distracted affections of this and that other people where I served,
I hoped in this later treaty of marriage to bee admitted to the same honor
w (h was granted to S 1 Thomas Edmonds m the former, I was not only
excluded, but repeald, w ch was the most publique disgrace that ever
minister in my place did suffer ; neyther have I anythmge to comfort
nice, but your Majesties many gracious promises, both in your blessed
father's tune and sithence, the effect of w ch I cannot doubt of, not only
in regard of my many services and suffrmgs, but that no man in the memory
of man ever return' d from the charge I had in that cuntrey that had
not some place of honor and preferment given him. In the meane while
I shall crave leave to present these my most humble suites i. That
whereas his late Majestic made mee a Baron in Ireland, as in the way
of bemge made a Baron of Englande (w ch my L Duke of Buckingham
I assure myself well remembers), your Majestie would be gratiously pleas'd
to make good that promise 2 Whereas all his late Majesties Ambassadors
in France have at their returnc beene sworne of the Privy Counseile,
your good Majestic may be gratiously pleas'd not to thmke mee lesse
worthy that honor 3 Whereas I am so farre from bemge payd that
w (<l1 was promised by my privy seale, that I am not a saver yet by 3000,'*
your good Majestie some way or other would recompense mee ; and
for the present to continue mee in your Counseile of Warre, both that I
am the sole elder brother of my estate, who have beene on all occasions
of that kind, since my minority untill my imployment in France (where
I saw the seige of S* Jean d'Angely and other memorable services) , and
also that I have done nothing in the warres for w el1 1 have received publiq
praise and thankes at the Counseile table here I could adde other services,
and doubt not but your Majestie may bee pleas'd to thmke on some,
but howsoever shall submit t all to your Majestie, as my good kinge and
master, who at length may be pleas'd to give a gracious conclusion to
all my troubles, which I shall strive to approve myselfe, ever, and to
all tryalles, your most excellent Majesties most obedient, most faithful],
and most affectionate subject and servant,

'May 8 1626' E. HERBERT 1 .

1 This letter, discovered bv Mr E P Shtrl^v amonsf the papers of the Baroness North
at Croxton, Oxfordshire, was hrst punteJ. in \"j-'tf 5 ind, Queries, 4th ser ics, vol x, p. 222.

140 A Continuation of the [1627-9

Although Charles showed little more anxiety than his father
to acknowledge Herbert's claim, and Buckingham was not in a
position to enforce it, Herbert was not altogether overlooked.
His anxiety to serve on the Council of War was a modest am-
bition, and with some modification it was satisfied. On 1 2th
December 1 626 he joined his kinsman the Earl of Pembroke,
his friend Viscount Wimbledon, who, as Sir Edward Cecil,
had been his commander in the Low Countries, and many other
courtiers, on a commission to inquire into abuses in the state of
the navy. But he still lacked more substantial satisfaction.
Unfortunately, in March 1627 the French merchants to whom
Herbert was in debt grew more importunate than before, and
appealed to the English Treasury to force Herbert to pay them
;2 y ooo. Three months later (2ist July 1627) he received very
slight compensation for yielding to this demand in the joint
grant of the manor of Ribbesford and other land in Worces-
tershire, to himself, his brother George, and another , but he
did not long retain his share in the property, which ultimately
passed to his brother Henry. The succeeding twenty months
saw Herbert waiting helplessly for a more decided change of
fortune. He was not invited to take part in the expedition
to the Isle of Rhe in 1627, although many of his friends accom-
panied Buckingham in that unlucky enterprise ; and the
murder of the favourite in the following year (23d August 1628)
further depressed his prospects. Meanwhile pcrfcrmcnts were
lavished on Herbert's relatives and friends with no sparing
hand, and he began to realize that he was playing a losing game.
A cousin William was elevated to the English peerage as
Baron Powis of Powis Castle, Montgomeryshire, on 2nd April
1629. The news was not very welcome to him. ' Lord Castle-
Island ', wrote one Philip Mamwarmg of the effect the an-
nouncement produced upon him, ' has run into a nutshell, and
will never appear again '. None the less m 1629 Charles gave
effect to Buckingham's former assurance that Herbert's ad-
mission to the Irish peerage was only the prelude to his admis-
sion to the English peerage , and on 7th May in that year Baron
Castle-Island became Baron Herbert of Cherbury. Three
years later (27 th June 1632) he took his long-sough t-f or place
on the Council of War, and helped to draw up ' fit instructions
for persons in command of garrisons and forts/ He was rein-
stated in this position on 29th May 1637 , but this petty

1630]

Life of Lord Herbert 141

employment practically brought Herbert's official life to a
close y 1 .

Humiliating to his self-esteem as was his inability to obtain
a responsible political office by ordinary agencies and by ap-
peals to Ins former official work, Herbert had too versatile a
capacity to submit quietly to the failure of ordinary efforts.
If success were attainable by less dignified methods than those
he had already tried and tried in vam, he claimed no superior
political virtue over his contemporaries, and was ready to give
the less dignified methods a trial. He argued, with Bacon, that
the architect of his own fortunes must make his * mind pliant
and obedient to occasion '.

Buckingham, on his return from the Isle of Rhe in 1627,
had drawn up * certain commentaries (hastily written ) ' con-
cerning his conduct of the expedition. His enemies had
charged him with gross mismanagement throughout his
command, and with personal cowardice. A vindication was
necessary, and he handed his notes over to Lord Herbert, who
was importunate for the honour of retrieving his patron's
reputation, and saw in the endeavour a means of increasing
his own influence at Court. But the task proved a difficult
one, and the Duke died * his nefarious death by the hand of an
assassin ' before it was little more than begun. Buckingham's
death, however, was the signal for some attacks of exceptional
ferocity upon his life and character in both France and England.
A Frenchman named Isnard and a Jesuit named Monat both
published detailed accounts of his conduct 2 at Rochelle, and
their libels led Herbert to abandon a momentary intention of
sacrificing Buckingham's notes to ' privacy and silence'.
At Montgomery Castle, on loth August 1630, he completed
the defence of his friend, and he dedicated the manuscript to
Charles I. Herbert approached his sovereign deferentially : he
applauded his ( innate and implanted gentleness/ and he
apologized for his own incapacity as a writer. ' It is not,
indeed, as I could wish, polished and set foorth : the rough

1 The authority for the statements made in this paragraph is the Calendar of Stats
Papers for the yearb 1626-37 The exact dates, given in each case, will indicate the
volumes whence they are derived

2 The works which (Herbert asserts) called for refutation are (i) Arcts Sammart%an&
Obsidis et Fuga Anglorum a Rea, Insula Scnpta Jacobo Isnard, Pans, 1629 ; (2) Trezeisme
Tome dv Mercvre Francois, Paris, 1637-28 , and (3) Capta, Rupecula Gracima Servata
auspicus ac ductu . Ludovici XIII descnpta utraque ab P Philiberto Monato de
Societatc Jesu J Ledffen, 1630.

142 A Continuation of the [1632-3

and unmusical kind of stile admits not the ornaments of words '.
It must, m all fairness, be confessed that the vindication is a
lame affair. On the last page Herbert arrives at a very halting
conclusion : ' If it be granted that the French did triumph
over the vanquished, it must not be denied but the English
triumphed even over the victory itself, which, consequently, if
they did not make use of and pursue according to the time and
occasion, that the night coming on, and defect of horse were the
only obstacles '. Sir Henry Wotton professed to admire the
book a , but Charles showed a shrewder judgment in declining
to flatter either it or its author. Herbert apparently expected
a fee for the performance, but the fee never came, and the
writer was vainly reminding Secretary Windebank of the
charges to which he had been put by the composition of the
pamphlet eight years later. Herbert had it translated into
Latin by a lawyer named Timothy Baldwin, but wisely took
no steps to put either the English or the Latin version into
print a .

This failure, however, did not daunt Lord Herbert. If he
could not gain royal recognition as the historian of the present,
he would command it as the historian of the past. As early
as 1632 he was engaged on his elaborate history of the reign
of Henry VIII , in February 1639 he stated that he had
already spent seven years in the undertaking. On nth
November 1633 he reminded Charles through Secretary Winde-
bank that he had now served in Court ' without that ever he
asked or got anything of benefit or value for above thirty
years ', a statement which seems somewhat open to exception.
He therefore prayed, m the first place, that further official
powers over the manor of Cherbury, which ' he conceived to
be his right ', might be acknowledged by the Crown, and he
made a second unspecified request, admitted to be ' wholly
in His Majesty's good pleasure'. This request is proved

J Cf Rch<jiu<e WaMomuuue, 1685, p 226 ' This action, as I hear, hath been delivered
bv noble gentleman of much learning ?nd ?ctr* *)i-+s b*m>lf +^e fitter to do it right
which in truth it qrcatlv wanted, hav j i, i UK , t - 101 i, ' > censure, even from
some of the frrencn \\nfo'-s than it had generally amongst ourselves at home Now
because the said book is not yet flowing into the light, I will but sweep the way with a
lew notes

2 The Lpti- *--.',*, l-h- 1 -, * by Baldwin in 1658 after Herbert's death The
nglish " i ir M ic i . .1 j i M-s , , iQ* r v'V" *i * - *-*+ p - *^ b- t u * F-rl r* P-VMS
for the Philobiblon Society. Ih,.- in <<P,,>,nii' ,! v i\ .jiv.i .'->i M. !*,->
only m the Latin version, whic I 1 di!" ^\\ -i\ti, -ju. t M |,i niV--. i' in u-i ^'iqu.il

1634-5] Life of Lord Herbert 143

by other evidence to have been an appeal for pecuniary assist-
ance in preparing his great historical treatise 1 . In a later
petition (loth January 1634-5) he sought payment of 600,
a fraction of his arrears of salary as French Ambassador,
m the interests of the same work. His earlier request, he stated,
had been answered by the grant of apartments in the royal palace
at Richmond, but he found the situation inconvenient, and he
now begged permission to remove to Whitehall, or rather to St
James's, 'whereby he might have access to the paper chamber of
the one, and the library of the other house '.

But Herbert still stood in need of something more. His
craving for an unequivocal public testimony of the King's
favour had not been satisfied, and the mental distraction which
his new labours brought him had not abated its intensity. In
applying himself to historical investigations he allowed that
he was following the example of two distinguished statesmen,
and the result could bring no loss of honour. Sir Thomas
More was the author of a life of Richard III, and Bacon the
author of a life of Henry VII ; but although both were ' great
personages ', he desired to be distinguished 'from those who
before had taken pains in this kind '. More and Bacon
wrote their histories, he reminded Charles, ' in the time of
their disgrace, and when otherwise they were disabled to
appear.' Herbert was differently situated ; and it was, he
urged, the King's business to avert any popular misconception
on the subject 2 .

Charles was deaf to these new entreaties. But Herbert
energetically continued the campaign. On i4th May of the
same year (1635) he drew up a paper of observations on the
royal supremacy in the Church. He discussed Old Testament
history, and showed the inconveniences and unscriptural char-
acter of a supremacy f invested m a far remote and obnoxious
prelate, who may sometimes want the power, and sometimes
the means of giving that order which is requisite 3 . He there-
fore argued that a powerful king should alone be head of the
Church. Herbert did not merit any advantage from this very
imperfect and servile version of his own theological opinions,

1 Calendar of State Papers , nth November 1633.

2 Calendar of State Papers, i7th January 1634-5.

3 Two copies of this tract remain m manuscript one in the State Paper Office (Cal
Stale Papers, i4th May 1635), and the other in the Library of Queen's College, Oxford
(civil, 158-79).

144 A Continuation of the [i 63 8-9

and the King did him a deservedly ill service by forwarding it
some months later to Archbishop Laud, with whom the writer
had previously maintained a formal intimacy 1 . A month
or two later, Herbert, who still hung about Court, discussed the
same subject with another authority, Panzam, the Papal
Envoy, and took up a very different line of argument. His
fellow courtiers were showing Panzam much attention at the
time, and Herbert deemed it prudent to conciliate the men of
influence with a courteous bearing towards their protege.
He was, of course, full of his history of Henry VIII, and he
told the Catholic priest that the hero of his book really deserved
to have little that was good written of him, and that, so far
from upholding the rights of a secular ruler over a church, he
intended to show as much favour as was possible to the theories
of the Papacy. Anxious to obtain recognition as an author in
any quarter, he went so far as to offer to submit his philoso-
phical treatise De Ventate to the Pope's criticism 2 . Vain
yearning for applause doubtless moved him to make the offer ;
he did not intend his behaviour to cloak any very subtle design
But Panzam thought Herbert's remarks of sufficient signifi-
cance to transmit them to the Holy See,

Uiibafned still, Herbert returned to the direct attack on
the Crown on gfh February 1638-9. The scandalous delay of
the Treasury in paying him his arrears of salary was growing
more and more embarrassing. His son Edward had lived
riotously and was heavily in debt, and he had impoverished
himself in compounding with the young man's creditors.
Moreover, Herbert was sparing himself no expense in collecting
materials for his history a work which he honestly deemed, in
spite of ulterior personal aims, to be of royal, if not national
interest And the time seemed to him more opportune than
ever for pressing Ms demand for recompense and recognition.
Charles was in the presence of a difficult crisis. No one pro-
bably saw distinctly the road that events were taking, but the
existing troubles with Scotland, which proved the prelude to

1 In Laud's correspondence with Strafforr 1 i +t ~~ J - 1 1- *-nr -%-ss--- ' Another suit
I am to make unto you at the request of Mr ' ! i . i . . i Sir Edward
Herbert, the lawyer) A ^c" *^ - y~'~i- - T \ '1 R , j TT . i,
eldest son of the Lord C . , i > p i, -i Jn , i d, o i i Is
the possessions of the i .. ''>-.,, M - i : i i \ <* ui ( i ie
over to you at spring 1 , v i ' ' c oi him, and let him know I have desired so
much (Laud's Works, vn, 214)

2 Gardiner's History, ix, 137-8.

1639] Life of Lord Herbert 145

the civil war in England, impressed Charles and his advisers
with the necessity of closing up their own ranks, of conciliating
their own supporters, and of presenting a compact front to their
enemies, on whatever side they might threaten attack. He
had taken the first step in this policy by levying troops for a
military demonstration in Scotland, and by accusing the
Scotch in a royal proclamation of attempting the overthrow
of the monarchy under colour of a religious agitation. To lend
support to the cause of monarchy, Charles summoned Herbert
with his fellow-peers to York. It was therefore only just,
Herbert argued, that the Crown, before throwing upon him
new expenses, should cease to be his debtor, and he wrote to
Wmdebank m a very sanguine strain on the subject :

'Having (he says) attended, since my jeturn in 1624, some recom"
pensc through his Majesty's goodness for extraordinary expenses of about
5300 upon occasion of my embassage there, 2500 whereof rest due
to me upon my privy seal (as I made it appear to the late Lord Treasurer
and am ready to show to this), you may easily collect how much I have
suffered these many years without presuming to trouble his Majesty
with any large complaint, as hoping indeed his Majesty would before
this time have bestowed on me such honourable place as my predecessors
in that employment have enjoyed, as I desire to be represented to his
Majesty, not forgetting to inform him how much this reflects upon- my
reputation Besides which, my charges for writing the expedition to
the Isle of Rhe in Latin and English, as also my keeping scholars and
clerks for copying records and making transcripts of the history of Henry
VIII , having caused for these last seven years divers new expenses,
and having paid the debts of an unthrifty son, you see how many ways
I am disabled from bringing the equipage I desire to the rendezvous at
York '.

Herbert proceeds to express the hope that he may advance
his Majesty's cause by taking a command ' convenable to my
experience, former charge, and present quality % in the Scotch
war, but he reminds Charles that he is prosecuting lawstnts in
both Ireland and England, and that his absence may cost
him dear. He therefore urgues in conclusion that, should he
not put in an immediate appearance at York, his delay must
not be misconstrued *.

The terms of this appeal were not likely to give it signal
success, and probably did not secure its writer a very warm
welcome when he joined his sovereign in the North It "proved

1 Calendar of State Papers, gih February 1638-9

U

146 A Continuation of the [1640

that Herbert had lived too long on. the outskirts of the political
world to command much political foresight. He failed to see
that Charles's difficulties were increasing with such velocity
that merely personal grievances were incapable of redress m a
crisis like the present. We do not know the duties assigned
Herbert in the fruitless expedition of 1639, which never reached
actual hostilities. The only trace of the episode left on his
writings is a characteristically abstract poem entitled The Idea
mate of Alnwich ^n his \i e. the author's] Expedition to Scotland
with the army, 1639 l . The strains are too thoughtful to suggest
that Herbert was in a mood to lend much effective military aid
to the royal forces.

In 1640 the relations between King and Commons entered
a far more critical stage. The short Parliament was hastily
dissolved (5th May), and Charles summoned a council of peers
at York to discuss the situation For the moment Herbert
forgot his grievances, for a second time joined the King in the
North, and took his place in the Council (24th September).
The immediate question under debate was whether or no an
armistice should be arranged with the Scotch, who had now
invaded the northern counties. Herbert argued (6th October
1640) in the negative. In spite of his years and his long lack of
active service, in theory his martial ardour had not cooled, and
he advised Charles to continue the war at all hazards a . The
Scots demanded the payment of 40,000 as the first step towards
a treaty of peace. ' Treaties ', said Lord Herbert, ' are thin
airy things ', and could never be worth so large a sum of money.
No prince ' had overbought a treaty of his subjects at so dear
a rate ', and it ' would reflect upon the honour of his Majesty
abroad when foreign nations should hear of such an affront
given to his Majesty and his kingdom '. But Herbert's advice
was rejected and the temporary treaty of Ripon signed.
Thereupon Herbert took what proved to be his last f irewell
of his sovereign, and at once withdrew to Montgomery. He
was not over-pleased with the result of this new excursion into
politics. He recognized that younger men were the prime
movers in contemporary affairs, and that his name was
practically unknown amonj them. The friends of his

1 Poems, edited by J Churton Collins, pp 109-13

2 Gardiner's History, ix, 212 Rushworth reports the speech in his Historical Collec-
tions, 11, 1293.

1642] Life of Lord Herbert 147

youth wore no longer in the King's council. His kins-
man, William Herbert, the well-known Earl of Pembroke,
had died in 1630, Lord Wimbledon in 1638, and Sir Thomas
Lticy in 1640. His health, moreover, was beginning
to break, and his physicians recommended unexciting
pursuits. Through 1641 and a great part of 1642 Herbert
therefore passed his time with his books, began continuations
of his philosophical treatise De Ventate and planned his
autobiography and a work on education. He was clearly
hesitating even then as to the role he should play in the coming
struggle. His hopes that the King would redress his personal
grievance were growing fainter and fainter.

The desperate aspect of affairs in May 1642 recalled him to
London to study the situation from, the nearest points of view*
He attended the sittings of the House of Lords. When, on
2oth May, the Commons resolved that the King transgressed his
oath if he made war, Herbert spoke with cautious hesitation,
and thought to sail with the wind. He promised to vote
for the resolution if he could assure himself that the King
made war ' without cause '. This qualification was ill inter-
preted by the Commons : he was committed by them for a
few days to the Tower, and was only released on making a very
handsome apology. The experience was not a satisfactory
one \ and Herbert appears to have contemplated retiring to
the Continent. He, however, withdrew once more to Mont-
gomery, which he doubtless deemed a safe distance from
which to watch events.

It goes without saying that Herbert had mental resources
outside politics which ought to have enabled him to take his
political disappointments platomcally, but until very late in
life he would never allow himself to recognize the fact distinctly.
Readers of other portions of this work will find illustration of
his devotion at this and all other tames to science, mechanical
inventions and the culture of horses, to history, philosophy,
and poetry. But whenever he allowed his mind to dwell upon
the habitual neglect to which the politicians subjected him, he

1 Si c T ords' Tom ', v p 77 and Historical MSS. Commtssw* Report, v, 34. Accord-
ing tDtheCdminon.*'/o',n, j -5 4, Herbert was ready to advance money to th Parlia-
mtnt (of Hist MSS Com, Rep , v. 21). It IS very necessary, and very ' ditoM -, *J
distinguish in the various records of the civil war the various Herberts who took part
m it. Lord Herbert of Cherbury has often been mistaken for Lord Herbert, the eldest
son of the Earl of Worcester, who led the Royalists in South Wales.

148 A Continuation of the [1642

was tormented by consciousness of failure. And besides failing
health and loss of friends, he had domestic troubles to harass
him. His wife died on 29th October 1634, and was laid to
rest in Montgomery Church on the following day 1 . One of
his sons was a spendthrift. All his brothers were dead before
1640, except Sir Henry, to whom he pathetically wrote in 1643,
' And here I must remember that of all of us there remains
but I and you to brother it '. Everything contributed to
benumb his political enthusiasm. Montgomery Castle seems
alone to have preserved its attractions for him ; there he was
forced back on the happier memories of his early life, and his
neighbours treated him with respect a . Since political honour
was denied him, he set a higher value than of old on his personal
comfort, and he soon resolved to make that the chief plank in
his political platform.

The outbreak of the civil war in 1642 evidently perplexed
him. He prayed for ' a good and speedy end to all these
troubles '. He tried for a while to close his eyes to their serious
import. Although he was not inclined to countenance a revolu-
tion, his loyalty (it was clear) would ill bear the severe strain
of repeated menaces of his personal security. His sufferings
at the hands of the Crown had weakened his regard for its
present possessor. The warfare of political parties had never
been any concern of his. AH that he immediately aimed at
now, therefore, was a pacific independence. He resolved, as
long as it was practicable, to observe a strict neutrality in the
coming struggle, and to wait on the result. He cared no longer
for his country but for himself.

The presence of Charles and his nephew Prince Rupert in
Chester and Shrewsbury in 1642 feverishly moved the people
of North Wales, and did much to strengthen their Royalist
predilections. Lord Herbert's eldest son, Richard, at once
raised a troop of horse and a regiment of foot at his own
expense, arid joined the Royal forces at Shrewsbury.
Throughout the war he fought valiantly against the Parlia-
ment, together with his brother Edward, and Edward his eldest
son. But Lord Herbert held aloof from the popular excite-

1 The entries are in the Montgomery parish register.

* We obtain a glimpse of Lord Herbert, or Lord Castle-Island (as he was often called
after his accession to an English peerage), in the Chamberlain's accounts of the corpora-
tion of Shrewsbury: in 1636. He visited the town and was feasted by the civic magis-
trates : ' 1636, November 2, spent on my Lord Castell Islande, four pottles claret,
53. 4-d. Two ditto sack, 45. Two dozen fine cakes/

1643] Life of Lord Herbert 149

merit, although it combined with his other anxieties to cause
him exceptional depression of spirits. ' I am thinking ', he
wrote to his brother Henry on i4th June 1643, ' of the
journey to the Spa, but I doubt how I shall be able to go, my
body being more infirm than to endure any labour. And let
me assure you I find myself grown older in this one year than in
fifty-nine years before , which, as it is true, I should be glad
were known among the best of those to whom you go '.

Ten days later Herbert wrote again in a like strain to his
brother. A slight dispute had arisen between them. Sir
Henry apparently desired Lord Herbert to take charge of his
horses and put them out to grass in Montgomery, while the
midland counties, where his estates lay, continued in then-
disturbed state. Lord Herbert declined to accede to the
request. The letter is of value as an indication of his growing
depression, of his fretfulness, and of his resolute endeavours
to blind himself to the strife that was now approaching Mont-
gomery Castle very closely. It begins :

* SIR HENRY, For the good offices you ever done me, I thank you
But why thereupon you should fall upon your old whetting, I marvel.
I had lather for my part foiget all unkind passages than remember them,
so as to send you a forgiveness for them x .

* Good bi other, use no more close repetitions ; and now I grow old
and infirm, do not add affliction and discomforts to your faithful loving
brother,

* J HERBERT '

Two months later (25th August 1643) Lord Herbert began to
feel personally the inconveniences of a civil war ; but he con-
fessed to no sentiment except one of resentment at the interfer-
ence with his comfort. Sir William Brereton was pushing his
Parliamentary successes in Cheshire to the Welsh border, and
on nth June 1643 Sir Thomas Middleton, of Chirk Castle,
Denbighshire, was appointed by the Parliament Sergeant-
Major-General of the six counties of North Wales. At first
Middleton joined Brereton in consolidating his conquests in
Shropshire and Cheshire, and they interrupted all communica-
tion between Montgomery Castle and Shrewsbury.

1 The intervening passages run . * If Richard v ru it*i t ~:- l v"n a Tt you word (as he told
mee) of the condition of the two parkes, you wo *u M u 1 i ' il i. ; unkindly, especially
when I wished him. to tell you that if you sent a gelding uutner, he should be welcome.
But here you may remember the old answer If vou will not take it unkindly that I
denied you a courtesy, I will not take it unkindly that you asked it '

ij;o A Continuation of the

8 SIR HENRY ' (Lord Herbert writes) . ' though the messenger biought
no letter from you to my self, yet because hee tould me you were well,
the welcome news thereof in these troublesome times invites me to con-
gratulate it with you l .

1 We are here almost in as great straits as if the warre were amongst
us Shrewsbury, which is our ordinary magazine, being exhausted of
wine, vinegar, hops, paper, and pepper at four shillings the pound , and
shortly a want of all commodities, that are not natives with us, will follow,
the intercourse between us and London being interdicted*

* My dear and only brother, I wish you all health and happiness, and
so rest, though much broken in my health.

' E HERBERT '.

Lord Herbert sends in a postscript his ' kind remembrance
to your lady and children ' a .

Early in 16.14 Charles had recourse to the feeble expedient
of summoning what he termed a Parliament to Oxford. The
meeting was scantily attended, and mainly resulted in the
dispatch of a letter to the Earl of Essex, the Parliamentary
general, asking him to persuade ' those whose confidence he
possessed ' to treat of peace. All present signed the letter,
but although the name of Richard Herbert, Lord Herbert's
son and heir, appears there, his own is absent. Lord Herbert
had declined to make the journey to Oxford on the ground of
ill-health, and his excuse had been accepted by the King. Up
to this time the public had not suspected Herbert's loyalty.
His name had Royalist associations, and the Parliament, which
resented the contemptuous references made to it by the Royalist
assembly at Oxford, identified him with his relatives. On pth
February 1643-4 a Parliamentary order was issued for the
confiscation and sale of Herbert's property in London and
elsewhere. Directions were not given, however, for the immed-
iate execution of this order, and Lord Herbert made good use
of the delay. The order opened his eyes to his personal inse-
curity, and the growing necessity of caution.

In February 1643-4 Prince Rupert, whose mother's mis-
fortunes had in earlier years excited in Lord Herbert a chivalric
devotion, visited Shrewsbury with a view to protecting North
Wales from the attacks of Middleton, who had made a very

l The next sentence concerns the quarrel about the horses It runs as follows . ' If
it had pleased R Wittingham to have tould you that I had stone horses in my lowei
parke, and no grass in my upper parke (as he tould me he would), there had been no
occasion for you to demand that I could not conveniently do , but if you send a gelding
or two untill Michaelmas, they shall be received '.

3 These letters to Six Henry are printed in all the previous editions of the Autobiography.

1644]

Life of Lord Herbert 151

formidable demonstration there a few months before. Lord
Herbert was invited to lay suggestions before the Prince, but he
was clear-sighted enough to see the danger of openly associating
himself with the Royalist leader , he declined the offer, and
demanded to be left at peace in his castle. He was well able,
he said, to defend himself and his property with the help of his
son, and he resented the proposal to introduce a Royalist garri-
son.

' May it please your Highnes % he wrote (27th February 1643)
' having now continued for the space of above two yeares m soe bad a
condition of health, that I have not beene able to attend his Majesty in
peison, or otheiwise to endure much labour, I shall most humbly desire
to bee excused to y r Highnos if I attend not y r Highnes m person at this
tyrno : I have taken the boldn.es further to acquaint your Highnes that
Mr Sheriffe of this county hath sent mee word that y r Highnes intends
to send a garrison for defence of this castle , but because diverse of my
sonnes souldicrs are inquartered in ye townc, and that for the rest, betweene
my servants and neighbours I am always able to put a sufficient garrison
in this place, I shall humbly desire y r Highnes either to leave mee to the
defence of my owne house, or if y r Highnes will have a garrison here,
that they may bee inquartered in the towne of Montgomery wherein
my castle stands (some few only excepted) which may be lodged m my
outworks made to y e castle Of all which I humbly desire I may have the
command, together with the nomination of such officers as are usuall
for fifty or threescore men, who (with the helpe of my neighbours) will
bee able to make good this place, and that good order may be taken not
only for providing the souldiers with all necessaries, but for their constant
pay , though yet by your Highnes good leave I conceive there will bee
noe necde of a garrison as long as my sonnes souldiers remayne in this
towne, soe that at least I hope y r Highnes ncede not hasten the sending
a garrison hither ' J .

Prince Rupert quitted Shrewsbury for a fortnight in March
1644, and returned after relieving Newark. That victory
gave the neighbouring Royalists new hopes, and the absence
of Middleton in London relieved them of their worst fears.
But Rupert was not very successful in his collection of men or
money from North Wales, and on pth April 1644 he forwarded
a threatening letter to the gentlemen of Montgomeryshire 2 .

1 This letter is printed (I believe) for the first time from, the British Museum MS ,
Addit,, 1 8, 981, f 67,

2 The following papers are printed in the Powysland Collections, vol x, p 138, with
the prefatory remark .

' The following letter and document are in the collection of the Rev Dr. Raffles, now
possessed by his son, Mr T. Stamford Raffles of Liverpool They show that the loyalty
of Montgomeryshire, as well as other pails of Wales, was waning, and that it required
the military rigour of the Prince to enforce the contributions '. -** 4

* GENTLEMEN, I have thought fitt hereby to give you notice, since I finde the country

152 A Continuation of the [^44

In the following month the Parliamentary Colonel Mitton
successfully attacked Oswestry, and in June Prince Rupert
removed to York. These diversions destroyed the Royalists*
rising hopes, and their situation obviously grew more and more
hazardous. Rupert's disastrous defeat at Marston Moor
(2nd July) drove him back once again to the Welsh border to
recruit his depleted force. He was closely watched by Brereton
and Middleton, but he managed to reach either Chester or
Shrewsbury in safety. Thence he reissued urgent appeals to
all the gentry of North Wales, including Lord Herbert, but
Lord Herbert still refused to bestir himself On 23rd August
1644 he forwarded from his castle the following quaint epistle :

* May it please your most Excellent Highnes, I shall humbly crave
leave to tell your Highnes that though I have the ambition to kisse your
most valorous and princely hands, yet because I am newly entered into
a course of phvsiq I do humbly desire to be excused for the present e,
beseechmge your Highnes nevertheless to hold mee in your foimer good
opinion and favor l

But an attitude of neutrality in a civil war must always
prove impracticable at one period or another, and the time
was fast approaching when Lord Herbert had to definitely
choose a side. About the first day of September 1644, Sir
Thomas Middleton, who was with Colonel Mitton at Oswestry ,
received orders from the Parliament to advance on Mont-
gomeryshire. Although there is little to confirm the conjecture,
the county was regarded in London as a stronghold of the
Royalists, and it was deemed wise to intercept within it a
Royalist convoy of powder which was passing from Bristol on

so defici t ir fV f^ ~~ n /-- o f those condicions concerning the ccmtribuciouns of
and by V- i ' , , soe willmglie offered and agreed upon in their behalfe

with mj i -- i - , i being there with you at Welsh Poole, con CGI mug that

affaire, I am now resolued to raise and collect the'contnbutions of that countrye after
the same manner that I doe the contnbr* n~ r e c~i~-. > ' ^i- 1S Dv an mnpos'cion of
sixpence m the pound by the moneth out . i which i \cic- ^.u\ bo no

particularity or excuse. And for your arrears of the contributions formeily granted,
I shall vono speedihe ^onrl nmo troopes of horse to quarter upon that countue till they
are fullie p?;d and =i.iLLs,\ixl, whi'" 1 - - T "1 *"" r ^ " that I intended not, had not the
country forced me theretoe by a \ -, i I .on their parts Thus, I rest, your
friend, RUPERT.

' Showsburve this nmeth day of April 1644 '

' 6 Mav 1611 Warrant of Sheriff and Magistrates to the High Constables of the
hunch eds o f the said county, touching the assessment of 1,500 to be levied therein for
the King's service The assessors are to appear at 10 a m , on Friday the tenth inst ,
at the house of Richard Price of Glan Waren '

i This letter, which has frequently been printed, has been transcribed from tho Bnhsli
Museum MS } Addit , 18, 981, f 229

1644]

Life of Lord Herbert 153

its way to Chester and Liverpool. On 3rd September Middle-
ton and his troops left Oswestry by night. They marched
until morning continuously, and then having seized Newtown,
advanced to Montgomery, 'though with much difficulty on
account of the foulness of the roads and the breaking of the
bridges by the enemy ' J . The town made no resistance, but
the castle was strongly fortified, and was expected to show
fight ; Lord Herbert and his daughter Beatrice were, however,
the only members of the family in residence there, and they
were in no fighting humour. Middleton summoned Lord
Herbert to surrender, and he showed at first a respectable
hesitation in replying to the demand. A few days were given
him in which to make his final decision. There were many
inducements for him to adopt a conciliatory tone. He knew
that all his property, would be confiscated, both in Mont-
gomery and London, if he resolved on refusal. News had
reached him that his books, which were his most valued posses-
sions, were to be sold forthwith under an order of the Commons
dated soth August, and the proceeds handed to Lord Fairfax's
army 3 . But he had doubtless also learnt that a few days
later the Parliamentary authorities had ' forborne the disposing
of my lord's goods for one week longer till they heard of his
behaviour touching the surrender of his castle '. This forbear-
ance weighed with Lord Herbert, and after some parleying he
determined to save his property at the expense of his honour "*.
Before 7th September he signed an agreement with Middleton's
lieutenant, James Till, according to which he, his daughter,
and his attendants, were to remain in safety in the castle as
long as they pleased ; his property was to remain untouched,
and was to be re-delivered to him absolutely in time of peace.
It was not very agreeable to Lord Herbert to consent to the
provision that Sir Thomas Middlcton with twenty soldiers
should take up his residence there. But by a special stipula-
tion none of the new residents were to enter Lord Herbert's

l Full particulars of these military movements are given in J. R Phillipp's Cwil
War wale?, i, pp 247-8 Sir Thomas Middleton's letter to John Glyn detailing his
action is printed in H%st. MSS Report, vi, and in Archaolosta Cambrensis Uth series),
xii, 395

a commons' Journal, in, 612

3 Under date 5th September Middleton wrote to the House of Commons ' I have
sent to my Lord of Cherbury about the surrendering of the castle of Mountgomery unto
use for the Parliament's service . it is a place of great strength and importance and
have received a very good and satisfactory answer from him. the particulais whereof
I shall make bold to ccrtifie you of 'A Perfect Dturnatt, No 39, p 469.

154 A Continuation of the

library or the two rooms adjoining it, and the owner of the
castle was to be permitted to quit it at his pleasure x . A few
days later Lord Herbert sent a servant, James Heath, to London
to draw the attention of the Parliament to his alleged patriotic

l The text is given in the Hist. MSS. Report, vi, 28. The date must have been earlier
than that stated. The document runs as follows :

' 1644, Sept. 24 The Coppie of the Articles of Agreem't betweene the Lord Cherbury
and Seriant Maior Generall S'r Tho Myddleton touchinge the surrend'r uppe of Mont-
gomery Castle.

4 1 Tames Till, Gent, as Lieutenant Collonell of horse, do hereby, in the name of Sir
Thomas Middleton, Knight, promise and undertake that noe violence shal bee offred
to the p'son or goods of Edward Lord Herbert, or any p'son or p'sons within his castle
of Montgomery ; and that they shall haue free liberty to goe out of the said castle, and
carry away their goods and money whensoever they will ; and that a good convoy shall

bee graunted for the safe doeing t 1 * * " * - ~ J ! --'-*--

given to the officers there for the :

London, if it bee required ; and that .,

all the household stuffe vsed in the said castle, and of all the bookeSjtrunkes^and wrytings
in the said castle, and that all the horses and cattel in and about the said castle, and
all p'visions of victualls, bread, wine, and bieare, shall be imployed for the use of the
said Edward Lord Herbert and his family, and that noe money, silver, gould. or plate
shal bee taken from the said Edward Lord Herbert or any of his family ; and that the
said castle, with all the goods, bookes, and armes of the said Edward Lord Herbert, shal
bee restored and redelyvered to the said Edward Lord Herbert, if it please God to send
peace, or the Parliament order it so to bee done. And that in the meane while the said
Edward Lord Herbert, with his daughter and family, shall continue in or returns to
the said castle as formerly they did, if they soe please ; and that they shall carry into
the said castle all provisions necessary for cloathing and diett. And it is further agreed
that Sir Thomas Middleton shall signe and seale this accord or agreement, if the said
Edward Lord Herbert shall require it ; and shall also further and assist the bailiffs of
the said Edward Lord Herbert in the leavying of his rents, and also p'serve his woods
and deere. Dated halfe an houre past twelue of the clocke at midnight on Thursday
the fifth day of September, Anno D'ni 1644.

* And it is further agreed that as longe as the said Lord Herbert or his daughter con-
tinue in the said castle, there shall not exceede the number of twenty p'sons or souldiers,
vnlesse some iminent danger appeares ; and that noe trunkes or doores under locks
and keyes shal bee broken open. And that if it happen that the said Lord Herbert
at any time doe remove from the said castle, that the said Lord Herbert shall haue halfe
a dozen men servants w'thin the said castle to doe the business of the said Lord Herbert,
and three or foure maides to attend his said daughter. And that if any thinge may be
required for the further satisfaction and contentment of the said Edward Lord Herbert,
it shall bee lawfull hereafter to explaine and add the some. JAMES TILL.

' Witnesses .- - '

* Hugh Pryce. Oliver Herbert.

Samuel More, Rowland Evans.

Edward Price. Daniel Edwards.

* Whereas there is a doubt that goods should be removed or carried away out of the
Castle of Montgomery by Edward Lord Herbert. It is agreed that there shal bee left
w'thin the said castle six beds for souldiers, one suite of hangings in the dyneing roome
of the new castle, as also one suite of hangings and furniture for a chamber w'thin the
said castle, wherein S'r Tho. Middleton shall please to lodge, and one bed with furniture
for a captaine. And it is further agreed that there shall be noe person or persons enter
into the library or study of the said Edward Lord Herbert, or the two next roomes or
chambers adjbyning to the said study or library, during the time of the absence of the
said Edward Lord Herbert, or at any time other time. It is further agreed that the
said Edward Lord Herbert shall remove and carry all his^oods out of the said castle,
except the beds and furniture before mentioned, when the said Edward Lord Herbert
shall tbinke fitt.

4 1 am content to stand to all the above sped ed agreements in every point.

' EDWARD HERBERT '.

1644] Life of Lord Herbert 155

action, and to secure his London property indubitably. * His
master ', the servant said, ' went, with the leave of the House,
to his castle of Montgomery for his health's sake, and there
remained, rejecting all offers from Prince Rupert and others
to join them in the execution of the array ; and he has since
preserved the peace in those parts, and assisted the well-
affected from time to time ; but was prevented by sickness
from coming to London or disposing ol his castle, which is of
very great consequence and the key of Wales, and is now deliv-
ered up to the Parliament, as the accompanying papers will
show ' *. Heath therefore prayed that the sale of his Lord-
ship's goods 111 his town-house, and of a number of books which
were in the petitioner's custody, might be stayed by order of
the House. This request was not granted immediately, and
some persons claimed leave to seize the goods. Lord Herbert
therefore sent other representatives to protest that though his
name might be ' faulty ' (so many of his relatives held high rank
among the Royalists), his person was not, and he requested
that an inventory should be taken of his London property,
which should be left in his house, upon security to be forth-
coming if required. On 2jrd September the threatened
sequestration was ' discharged and taken off ' 2 after Brereton's
account of Herbert's conduct had been read to both Houses.
Upon such terms Lord Herbert vainly imagined perfect peace
was possible.

Having thus arrived at a settlement with those who had
deemed themselves his enemies, he had now to reckon
with those who had deemed themselves his friends. Lord
Herbert had not only broken ties of long standing : he
had dealt his Royalist neighbours a well-nigh deadly blow.
He had put into Middleton's hands a fortress that was,
as he himself rightly termed it, the key to North
Wales. Sir Michael Ernely, the Royalist commander
at Shrewsbury, perceived that no time must be lost if the
position bartered away by ' the treacherous Lord Herbert '
was to be retrieved. He at once collected a considerable force

1 This and the other documents refeired to aie printed in the Archaologia Cambrensis
(4th series), xu, 324 et seq They are there abstracted fioin the Historical M$S Report
vi, 27. The dates seem somewhat erratic, and it is clear that they are often made late
than other facts warrant

2 Lords* Journal, vi, 7isa , Commons' Journal, ui, 636.

156 A Continuation of the [1644

of horse and foot, and marched upon Montgomery. Middlcton
anticipated some such manoeuvre, and hastened to the neigh-
bouring towns and villages for provisions to enable his men m
the castle and town to stand, if need were, a long siege. But
Six Michael's movements were too rapid for the Parliamentary
general. The Royalists fell upon his force while near the town
and utterly routed it Middleton retired with his horse to
Oswestry, and made his way to Cheshire and Lancashire to
procure relief. His foot-soldiers under Colonel Mitton managed
to re-enter Montgomery Castle Ernely straightway laid siege
to the town and castle , earthworks were hastily thrown up
and trenches dug all round them. For ten days Lord Herbert
and his neighbours suffered terrible distress, and their peril
grew with every hour. Happily Middleton foresaw their
critical situation and wasted no time. He urged Sir William
Brereton in Cheshire and Sir John Meldrum m Lancashire to
hurry with him to their rescue. Sir William Fairfax, coming
from Yorkshire, was also ready to offer some assistance, and
thus four detachments of troops, numbering about three
thousand men in all, arrived before Montgomery on the i/th
September Meanwhile Sir Michael Erncly's force had been
supplemented by one small army from Chester under Lord
Byron, and another from. Ludlow under Colonel Wodehouse,
and the Royalists had acquired a large numerical superiority
over their opponents. Both sides acknowledged the high
importance of the issue of the impending conflict and carefully
laid their plans for an engagement. At a council of the Parlia-
mentary leaders held on the night of the i/th September, it
was resolved to revictual the town and castle before taking the
offensive. Next morning, therefore, a third part of the Parlia-
mentary forces was told off to bring in provisions and forage.
Lord Byron had, however, taken up a strong position on the
mountain overlooking the castle ; he perceived the foraging
party leave the enemy's camp, and, with his customary pre-
cipitancy, resolved to open attack on the stationary force.
His sudden onslaught met at first with complete success, but
this success was not sustained. After a desperate hand-to-hand
conflict, the Parliamentary generals gained a signal victory
before nightfall. Lord Byron fled to Chester and Ernely to
Shrewsbury. The victors 1 loss included Sir William Fairfax,
who was fatally wounded, but it was slight compared with that

1644^5] Life of Lord Herbert 157

of the enemy, and the prisoners taken by the Parliamentary
forces were very rmiiicious l .

Lord Herbert and his companions, who had anxiously
watched the conflict from the castle, were thus relieved. The
next step that it was to his worldly advantage to take was
obvious. He had to make an unmistakable profession of
allegiance to the Parliament. Now that his own safety was
assured, he willingly left his castle at the mercy of Middleton,
and accompanied Sir William Brereton to Oswestry. The
occupation of his castle and its neighbourhood by a military
force had, in spite of the terms he had previously made with
Micldlcton, deprived him of his means of livelihood, and it was
a thankless business to play proprietor any longer. On 27 th
September 1644 The Co urtMer curie, a Parliamentary newspaper,,
announced : * The Lord of Cherbury, late Govcrnour of Mont-
gomery Castle, with Sir John Price, who came in to Sir Thomas
Middlcton, arc come as farr as Coventry, and intend for London
and to offer their persons to the Parliament '. Well-nigh
destitute, he made his way to London, and addressed (2nd
November 1644) to the Parliament a petition for relief which
closely resembles Ins former appeals to Charles 1 2 . He asserted
that he had sustained his losses in the service of the Parliament ;
and he received a more consoling reply than that with which
his sovereign had been wont to favour him On ipth Decem-
ber the House of Commons instructed a committee to consider
' some way for his present maintenance and subsistence ' 3 .
Twenty pounds a week was assigned him on February 25,
1644-5, an d no restrictions were set upon his liberty 4 .

From this time he made his London house, which was
situated 111 Queen Street, near St. Giles', his only home 5 .
Parted from almost all his old friends, he concentrated himself

1 For a full account of the battle see Philhpp's Ctml War in Wales, i, 248-9, and 11,
201-0. A very valuable collect' T " x < J -=-vitrV=; h- t 1 ^- r-pr anders on both sides is
given under the latter entry. 'J I .-'! \- .'- .11 i r-' c" n with intense interest ,
and, according to the London Post for ist October 16-1 p^t 1 " 1 t 1 ariksgiving foi the
victory was held on the part of the Parliament in the < i., < Is. 'li

2 See Hist MSS Com Report, vi, 34 and 48, and Lords' Journal, vu, 241.

3 Commons' Journal, m, 727 4 Commons' Journal, iv, 62.

5 J ord Herbert froquwitlv moved his London house In his autobiography he speaks
of living iie.u tho Old r\(haii!?<> at OTIC time, and at another m Blackfnars On nth
November 1633 he d.itc-* i pan ion fiom his house in St. Bartholomew's On i6th
Jamuu > rfirj7-8 he \\ )s living at I slirifftoii (see Col State Papers under date) He dated
his List petition to Ch.ulcs. 1 in 1030 iioiu ' my house at Hackney * (see Cat State Papers,
nth 1 c'bui.n\ z'Mh-cj ) In tin 4 ic'p-<'M<'s to his London house in the Parliamentary
journals during the Civil War the building is entitled Camden House,

158 A Continuation of the

upon literary work. He had not apparently the heart to take
up again his autobiography at the point at which the clash
of arms had interrupted it: it was left unfinished in 1644.
But in 1645 he issued the elaborate appendix on fallacies to
his treatise De Ventate, and published his work De Rehgtone
Gentohwn. He gave the finishing touches to his History, and
wrote a bombastic dedication addressed to the King whom he
had deserted ; but though he made all preparations for its
publication, he was fortunate enough to die before giving to
the world this final testimony to his insincerity. At the same
time he corresponded with foreign scholars, among whom he
still could claim the unblemished reputation of a philosopher,
and in September 1647 went for a few weeks to Pans on a visit
to Gassendi, the famous French philosopher, who had always
appreciated his writings a . But those final years of his life
must have proved dark and dreary even to one of his sanguine
temperament. However he may have accounted to himself
for his recent actions, he must have learnt that he was com-
monly called by both friend and foe ' the treacherous Lord
Herbert * ; nor could he have wholly freed himself of an inward
suspicion that he had renounced from sordid motives the
chivalrous ideals of his youth. His sons, grandson, and brother
had all suffered deeply in their sovereign's cause : they had
refused to qualify themselves for a Parliamentary pension ;
heavy fines and sequestrations of property were their only
rewards of loyalty ; the terrible contrast between his condition
and theirs must at times have disturbed even his portentous
self-composure.

But to the end Herbert gave no outward sign of remorse.
He had become a Parliament man in all outward show, and
was contemplating taking office under the kingdom's new
rulers. On 26th October 1646 an ordinance was issued appoint-
ing him steward of the duchy of Cornwall and warden of the
Stannaries 2 . But Herbert does not appear to have taken
advantage of the appointment. On 25th March 1647 he pointed
out to the House of Commons that he was excluded from.
Montgomery Castle, and petitioned for permission to appoint a

1 In 1635 Herbert had sent a copy of his De Ventate to Gassendi through Diodati
In Gassendi's correspondence (Opera Omnta, ui, 411) occurs the passage that establishes
the fact of Lord Herbert's visit to Pans ' Cum me mvisisset ulustrissunus Baro pos-
tridie kalendas Septemb 1647, et redditas sibi non fuisse meas htteras contestaretur '.

2 Commons' Journal, iv, 704

1648] Life of Lord Herbert

governor of his own choosing. He promised to be respons
for the maintenance of the fortress in the Parliamentary ca
and his request was granted, although he does not appear
have put in a personal appearance at Montgomery x . A
weeks later (i2th May) Herbert was called upon by the He
of Lords to account for an assault made on the castle
a Royalist band of soldiers from Welsh/pool, to which
governor offered no resistance 2 . After his return from Fra
in October, he was fined (Qth November 1647) for absenl
himself from the House of Lords, but the fine was remitted
next day on the ground of ill-health 3 . His last appeara
in the historical arena was in his accustomed character
petitioner for money. On 4th May 1648 he reminded
patrons ' that much of this money (i e. his pension) is no^
arrear '. If it was not to be continued throughout his hfetn
its payment ought, he urged, to be prolonged ' until he
satisfied for the losses he sustained for two years and tr
months, during which time he kept his castle until he submit
it unto the Parliament, which losses appear by good certific
to amount to divers thousand pounds J 4 .

His death was now close at hand. On ist August 1648
deemed it prudent to make his will 5 , and he there shows hi
self to unexpected advantage. He bore his two sons no ill^
for adhering to the faith which it did not become him to lea
and made generous provision for both of them , but he specie
favoured his grandson Edward, the son of Richard, the 1
to all the entailed estates in Wales. To young Edward
left all the household stuff, books, arms, and ammunition
Montgomery Castle, ' charging him upon my blessing neit
to sell nor give away, nor so much as lend any of my s
books and furniture % and only to allow his father the use
them, ' he putting in good surety to my executors for the us
of them, with good husbandry and without spoil, and
returning of them . . . with safety and without diminutio
Bags of money kept by Lord Herbert in a trunk in his chamt
together with the plate of his London house, were appoin

1 Commons' Journal, v, 125, 171, 564.

2 Lords' Journal, ix, 186

3 Ibid ix. 515, 516,

4 Lords journal, x 213 , 4 rch&ologi i Cinrtrensis (4-th sar ), xui, 265

5 This interesting document is \oiy long It opens with a statement of hisrelij
belief I have made a transcript of it from the copy in Somerset House, where
numbered * Essex 138 '.

160 A Continuation of the [1648

for Edward's ' education in some one of the universities, or in
travel beyond the seas '. To his daughter Beatrice he left
the plate remaining In Montgomery, and his clothes and
furniture in Queen Street were to be sold for her benefit : to
his granddaughters, Frances and Florence, young Edward's
sisters, he bequeathed a diamond hatband to be converted
into ' wearing jewels ', and two bags of old gold To his younger
son, Captain Edward, the manor of Llyssm was left for hie,
with remainder to Edward the younger, besides sums of ready
money in the hands of foreign merchants ; but a quaint con-
dition was annexed to this bequest. The legatee was to pay
to 'two maimed soldiers that have done something that is
famous in the service of the kingdom or of any confederate
thereof in the wars, the sum of ten pounds a year yearly ', and
these men were to f attend and wait with halberts in their right
hands at the gate of my castle of Montgomery '. His Latin
and Greek books which were with him in Queen Street were to
pass to Jesus College, Oxford, ' for the inception of a library
there ' J . Directions were given to his grandson to carry all
his manuscripts and English books from London to Montgomery
Castle. His autobiography was to be completed and published
by ' a person whom I shall by word entreat '. Richard, Ihe
elder son, received his father's horses, with a special injunction
* to make much of the white hoise ', and the viols and lutes
went to Richard's wife, Mary, daughter of John, Earl of
Bndgwater. The final article in the document breathes a
very quixotic generosity. ' Near the sum ', says Herbert,
of 2,000 is due to me from the Houses of Parliament as an
arrears of 20 settled to be paid unto me weekly. And whereas
by my capitulation with Sir Thomas Middlcton, my losses and
other damages ,12,000 and more were all to be made good

1 The original catalogue of this collection, consisting of twenty closely wiitten folios,
s still in the possession ~>f t r ^o rollrT Ti^ books seem, to have been in the keeping
of Su Henry Herbert at 1 1 * il.iii" o, IP-, lnoUuM - death, and Selilon, one of the executors
of the will, had some difficulty in proem ing their transference to the college The fol-
lowing letter was sent by Selden to Sir Henry on the subject

' NOBLE SIR, This gentleman, Mr Williams, comes from Dr Mnunsell, hoad of Jesus
College, m CKford, about the legacy of books made to them by my Lord Iferbcnt of
Chubury I presume he will take just eare * - ' >. " h- i' shall leeeive
them from your hand, which I desire ho may, Logetnei vviin ine catalogue, to taKe a
copy of it, and return it again Sir, I ever am,

' Your most affectionate and humble servant,

' J Si i or N

' November i, 1648, White Friars
' The Hon. Sir HENRV HERBERT, Knight '

1648] Life of Lord Herbert 161

unto me, I do hereby totally remit the same, desiring the said
honourable Houses that, in leu thereof, and for my sake, that
they will please to remit unto my said son, Colonel Richard
Herbert, the sum of ^2,500 imposed upon him as a fine for his
delinquency by the committee sitting at Goldsmith's Hall*.
Herbert concludes by entreating his three executors his
grandson Edward, and his friends John Selden and Evan
Thomas of Bishop's Castle, Shropshire to present a petition
on this subject to Parliament in behalf of his son, ' whose
great debts and numerous issue are a burthen greater than my
weak state can well bear ' l .

On 20th August 1648 Lord Herbert died at his house in Queen
Street, nineteen days after his will was drafted. On his death-
bed he sent for Usher, the Primate of Ireland, with whom he
had previously lived on terms of intimacy. He asked to
receive the sacrament at Usher's hand. It might do Mm some
good, he added, and would do "him no h?-rm- But on such an
understanding the Archbishop declined to comply with the
dying man's request. Turning on his side, Lord Herbert
solemnly announced that in an hour from that moment he
should quit this world ; and these, his last words, proved
true 2 . By his will he directed that ' his earthly parts ' should
be committed to the earth at ' twelve of the clock at night in
the parish church where I shall die, without pomp or other
ceremony than is usual '. He forbade ' all mourning- or shew
of mourning, . . . desiring my friends nevertheless to love
my memory*. These orders were faithfully fulfilled, and
Lord Herbert's body was buried in the Church of St. Giles-in-
the-Fields, beneath a stone bearing the inscription, believed
to be from the pen of his friend Lord Stanhope : ' Hie tnhuma-
tur corpus Edvardi Herbert equitis Balnei 9 baronis de Cherbury
et Castle-Island, auctoris hbri, ow, titulus est " De Veritate."
Redder ut herba ; * / vicesimo die Augusti anno Domini 1648 '.

l The secondJLord Herbert had four sons Edward, John (died young), Henry
Thomas ; and four daughters Frances. Florence, Arabella, and Alicia.

a Aubrey's Lives, u, 387. Aubrey also writes that Lord Herbert * had constantly
prayers twice a day in his house, and on Sundays would have his chaplain read one of
Smyth's sermons. ... I have seen him several tunes -with Sir John Danvers : he
was a black man '.

3 Reddor * herbat was Herbert's own anagram on his surname and Christian name.
Among his poems is the following Epttaphwm tn anagramma nomtms sut :

Quas turgens flos mane decet, quas armt omn.es
Una. dies, quas morte ata, nova vita sequetur.
Non unquam montura famfn sic Rcddof ut HtrbaF*

1 62 A Continuation of the [1648

But this was not the only memorial which Lord Herbert
desired. He had Hamlet's horror of a "bad epitaph, and made
every kind of provision to secure at any rate a^ neutral one.
One Mr. Stone of Long Acre had received instructions from him
in his lifetime to set up a monument either in Montgomery or
Cherbury church, ' with a strong grate of iron . , . eight feet
high, before it every way ' and * on the pedestal of the pillar
which is to stand in the middle of the said monument ' the
following words were to be placed ' Quid aspectas, lector ?
non iacet ulbbt Edwardus Baro Herbert de Cherbury et CasM
InsuleB de Kerry sed meliori sui parte in beatorum sedes abtjt
seram posteritatem testatus mfal tia relictum msi quod secum
abducere nolw,t ! Vale, lector, et stude etermtati ' . If leave were
obtained, Herbert did not object (he said in his will) to the
erection to his memory of a little chapel at Montgomery
' adjacent to that . . . where my ancestors lie buried '.
Among Herbert's poems appears one other epitaph for himself,
and this one is written in his own language. It runs :

' READER,
* The Monument which them beholdest here

Presents Edward, Lord Herbert, to thy sight ,
A man, who was so free from either hope or fear,

To have or lose this ordinary light,
That when to elements his body turned were,

He knew that as those elements would fight,
So his immortal Soul should find above

With his Creator, Peace, Joy, Faith, and Love I * 2

But if Lord Herbert had little political influence in his own
times, his name had less in the years that immediately followed
his death And the march of events deprived his sons and
executors of all opportunity of carrying out his will ; no monu-
ment was set up in Montgomery Church, as he had directed, nor
was his landed property there distributed as he desired. Mont-

i Lloyd in his Memoirs (u, 340) gives the following account of this monument : * He
had designed a fair monument of his own invention, to be set up for lam m the church
of Montgomery, according to the model following Upon the ground a bath-piece of
14. foot square, on the middest of which is placed a Pone column, with its tight of ped-
estal basis, and capitals of 15 foot in height , on'the capital of the column is mounted
an urn with a heart flamboul, supported by two angels The foot of this column is
attended with four angels, placed on pedestals at each corner of the said bath-pace,
two having torches reverst, extinguishing the motto of mortality ; the other two holding
up palms, the emblems of victory ' The details which I quote are from Lord Herbert's
will*

a Poems, ed J Churton Collins, p 8t

1655] Life of Lord Herbert 163

gomery Castle had not passed through the late civil conflict
without blemish ; like all fortresses in private hands, it had
been an object of suspicion to the new rulers of the country,
and when it passed into the possession of an avowed Royalist
like Lord Herbert's heir, it was doomed to immediate destruc-
tion. Its end came peacefully. Richard Herbert, who suc-
ceeded his father in his titles, was allowed to compound for his
estates, but under a Parliamentary order dated i6th June
1649 was forced to consent to the demolition of Montgomery
Castle *. In the following months the ancient structure was
levelled to the ground, and the owner was granted the barren
privilege of employing his own wreckers, and of selling the
scattered stones for his own profit. He gained, it is said, not a
penny by the tantalizing transaction. He apparently retired
to London, and there he died on isth May 1655, while his
enemies were still in power. But his friends were able to secure
burial for him with his ancestors in Montgomery church. The
old Lord Herbert's favourite grandchild, Edward, became the
third Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and he lived to witness the
restoration of the monarchy, in behalf of which he had loyally
fought with his father throughout the civil war. He appears
to have reciprocated his grandfather's affection. To him his
grand-uncle, Sir Henry, dedicated the first Lord Herbert's
poems when he printed them for the first time in 1665. Though
twice married first to a daughter of the very Sir Thomas
Middleton who had caused his grandfather so much distress of
mind and estate, and secondly to a granddaughter of his grand-
father's early friend Lord Chandos he had no children, and
on his death on pth December 1678 the title passed to his
brother Henry. With the death (without issue) of Henry, the
fourth Lord, on 2ist April 1691, the united baronies of Herbert
of Cherbury and of Castle-Island of Kerry became extinct \

1 Commons' Journal, vi, 228

2 Burke's Extmct Peerages, s v. ' Herbert of Cherbury '. Three years later (28th
April 1694) the single barony Of Herbert of Cherbury was revived in favour of another
Henry Herbert, the only son of Sir Henry Herbert who survived his eldest brother five
and twenty years. But this was a transient re\ival The first Lord Herbert of Cherbury
of this new creation died in 1709, and his only son, the second lord, left no issue on his
death m 1738 to inherit the barony. When the earldom of Powis was created in 1748,
and restored m 1804, the barony of Herbert of Cherbury gave its name to one of the
minor titles,

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

The early History of the Herbert Family

The Herbert family has a well-ascertained genealogy, but Lord
Herbert has not exhausted the subject, nor is his account at all
points to be relied on. 1 .

Dugdale, as I have noted above 2 , received assistance in his
treatment of the history of the Herberts in his Baronage from Lord
Herbert himself, and, like Lord Herbert, makes no real endeavour
to trace the pedigree beyond the William Herbert who was created
Earl of Pembroke in 1468. In his corrections of the Baronage
(printed m Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, i, 219 et seq.) f
Dugdale threw out the conjecture that ' the common ancestor ' of
the family was chamberlain to King Stephen. But reference to
the Domesday Survey (p. 48b.) really gives far more precise infor-
mation. There we find that Herbertus Camerarius one of the
Conqueror's companions held from the King two Hampshire
manors, and that the Camerarius had a son, Henry Thesaurarws
who held the office of royal treasurer, not only under William I,
but under his two successors, and was, like his father, a Hampshire
tenant in capite (Domesday 49b) It has been frequently stated
that Henry the Treasurer was a natural son of Henry 1 3 , but his
appearance in Domesday proves the absurdity of the statement.
He was as old, if not older than Henry I. His father was alive as
late as 1 101 4 , and he himself died at a great age in Stephen's reign.
Herbert Fitz-Herbert, his son, and therefore a grandson of William
I's companion, held the office of chamberlain through Stephen's
and Henry I's reign, and he, or his immediate successors, added

i The subject has long formed an attractive field of labour for Welsh antiquaries,
and they have denved no little satisfaction from the fact that they have been able to
supplement and correct the usually accurate results of Dugdale.

3 In 1462, when the first Earl of Pembroke was created a Knight of the Garter, the
oldest heralds and bards of South Wales were directed to ' certify the lineage and stock
of the said Earl '. and m their anxiety to connect the family with the ' Royal blood of
the Crown of England % they made the founder of the family ' son natural of King
Henry the First '. See Dugdale, u, 256.

* Eyton's Shropshire, i, 344

16*

GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF

Sir WILLIAM: HERBERT ol Raglan - Caatlc, - called William ap'Thomas, and~injWelsb.
Margoah GJlas or Gumrlu, made Knt. Banneret in 1415 (twelfth in descent from
Herbert, the Chamberlain mentioned in Domesday Book : see App. i)

THE HERBERT FAMILY

Sir William H.,"cr. EARL ofssAnn, dau, of Sir Walter
.PEMBROKE, 1468 ; d. 1469 I; Devereux, Knt.

William, cr. Earl of Walter
Huntingdon, 1479 ;
d. 1491

Illegitimate Iranch

Sir George of =Jano, dau. of Sir
St. Julian's I Ilichard Croft

Sir Richard
of Ewyas

Sir George of Swansea,
founder of the Swan-
sea family of Herbert

Elizabeth=aCharlcs Somerset (nat. son
of Henry Beaufort, 3rd
Duke of Somerset), cr.
Earl of Worcester, 1514

Sir William, cr. I

. EARL
of PEMBROKE, 1551

Sir Walter=Dau. of Sir Will.
Morgan of Pen-
coyd

HENRY, the ancestor of the EARLS and
MARQTTISBS (cr. 1642) of WORCESTER,
and DUKES of BEAUFORT (cr. 1682)

Sir HEimY,=Mary, dau. of
2nd EARL i Sir Henry
Sidney

WILLIAM
H., 3rd
EARL,
A. s. p.
1630

PHILIP, cr.
EARL of
MONT-

OOMKRY,

1605. 4th
EARL, d.
1650

u. of Edward
Griffith of
Penryn

PHILIP, 5th Earl, d.
1669, the ancestor
ofthepresent(13th)
EARL OF PEM-
BROKE. (Henry,
son of William H.,
5th son of Thomas,
8th Earl, was
created EARL of
CARNARVON-, 1793)

Williiam, cr.
BARON Powis,
1629, whose
heir and grand-
son William
was cr. EARL
(1674) and
M A Q TJis
(1682). These
honours were
extinct early in
the 18th cen-
tury, when
BAR B ARA,
niece and
heiress of the
last Marquis
married Henry
Arthur Herbert

Sir WiLLUMssFlorentia, dau. of
William Morgan
of Clantarnan

Sir Francis
Newport

MAGDALEN,;

'd, Matthew of
d. 1596 Dolguog

Gladys, dau. and heiress of Sir David
Gamin, Knt., and widow of Sir
Robert Vaughan, Knt.

Six daughters

Sir Richard oj CoIebrook,aMargarct, dau. of Thomas
d, 1469 I ap Griffith

Sir William of

Sir Richard of=
Montgomery

=(D

s(3) Anne, dau. of Sir

i

Anne

Ilichard ap Evan

Margaret Edward^Elizabcth, dan. of

Jolm

William

Oliver of Machynlleth,

Three

d. 1593

Matthew 1'rico doubtless ancestor daughters

of Newtowii of Lord Herbert's

cousin Oliver men-

1

tioned in p. 198

| Sir Rlchard=MarKaret, dau.

< Newport

of Sir Thomas

i
t

Bromley

i

Anno, dau. of Charles Jane, dau. George Catherine= Ed. Mary=Thomas Ann Bridget Margaret Susan Joyce
diaries Fox I of Hugh Prycc Purcell

of BrornlieM I ap Oweix

MARY, =Edward, K.B., Richard

d, 1634

1603; BARON

,

1624; BARON
HERBERT of

OHBRBtTRY,

1629; tf.1648

William Charles, GEORGE, Sir HKNRY,=- (2) Elizabeth
!.1G17 the poet, d. 1673 I Offley
4.1633

HENRY, cr. Baron
Herbert of Cher*
bury, 1694; d.
1709 I

Thomas. Elizabeth'
d. 1630 f

'Sir Henry
Jones of
Aber-
marlca

Margaret"* John Frances=Sir John Sir Matthew, Francia

Vaughau Brown of cr. Bart.

Lincoln- 1660 ; d.s.p.
shire

Sir Edward=Margaret,

Herbert,

Attorney-
General,
1640-1, d.
1657

dau. of Sir

Thomas

Smith

Richard, 2nd =Mary, dau. of Sir EDWARD BEATRICE

Lord Herbert
of Cherbury,
d. 1655

John Egerton,
Earl of Bridge-
water

Florence
(died young)

One Two

son daughters

Dorothy,
d. 1633

HENRY, 2nd Baron
Herbert of Cher-
bury, dU.p. 1738

Edward, 3rd Lord =(l)Ann, dau. of Sir Henry, T4th LordCatherine, dau. of
Herbert of Cher- Thomas Middleton Herbert of (Jhor- Francis Newport,

bury, O..S.P. 1678 of Chirk Castle bury, d.s.p. 1691 1st Earl of Brad-

=(2) Elizabeth, dau. of ford

George Lord
Chandos

Arthur, cr. EARL of

TORRINQTON, 1689,

d.s.p. 1716

Henry Arthur, ^BARBARA, niece of last
cr. Barl of I MARQUIS of Powia
Fowls, 1748

George, 2nd Earl,

Henrietta-AntoniaEd\vurd, Lord Olive, cr.

This table has been constructed from : '.,.'"

1. Lewis Dwnn's Vitttattong of Wales, ed. Meyriok, 1, 312

2. Portland Club Collections, v, 158-9

3. The ten tables prefixed to the Earl of Powis' edition of Lord Herbert's L'xpcdUion lothc Islcof JRM (I860)

4. The notices of Lord Herbert's family given la his Autobiography

5. Xmto'sJSxtinet Peerage, m-Q

168

Edward, 2nd EARL

dwatd Jai

Edwatd James, 3rd and present
B.V&II of Powts

1 70 Appendix

estates in Yorkshire and Gloucestershire to the ancestral property
in Hampshire. Herbert Fitz- Herbert's grandson, Peter, appears
to have been the first of the family to secure land in Wales. When
William de Braose was attainted in 1210, John granted to him the
lordships of Blaenllyfni and Talgarth, together with the honour and
castle of Dmas, Brecknockshire, and his successors were summoned
to Parliament as lords of Blaenllyfni. Peter-Fitz-Reginald, the
younger of two grandsons of Peter the first Welsh settler, identified
himself with Wales. He died in 1323, having married Alice, heiress
of the lord of Llanowell, Monmouthshire. Their son Herbert suc-
ceeded to this lordship, and married Margaret, heiress of the lord-
ship of Llandwenm and Llandough ; and Adam, this Herbert's
son, married Christina, the heiress of a third great landowner of
Monmouthshire (Gwilhm Ddu of Wernddu). In the next three
generations the chief representatives of the family pursued their
ancestor's domestic policy, and by persistently marrying neigh-
bouring heiresses, consolidated their territorial supremacy in south-
east Wales. Beneath the Welsh nomenclature, which they gradu-
ally assumed, they concealed their English origin. Maud, the daughter
and heiress of Sir John Morley, married Thomas ap Gwilhm ap Jenldn
(who died in 1438), a great grandson of Adam Fitz- Herbert. She
brought Raglan into the hands of the family, and was the grand-
mother of the two Herberts (the Earl of Pembroke and his brother
Richard) whom Lord Herbert of Cherbury regarded as the founders
of his family 1 . These men of the thirteenth generation in descent
from Henry, the Conqueror's treasurer appear to have been the
first of the family to acquire reputation for anything beyond great
wealth and territorial influence.

I have given sufficient information in my notes as to the genealogy
of the succeeding generations of the younger branch of the family
to which Lord Herbert belonged ; the accompanying table will
help the reader to realize the relations of the elder to the younger
branch. It is well to bear in mind that of the two Herberts who
fell at Hedgecote Field in 1469, the elder, William Earl of Pem-
broke, is the common ancestor (i) (by the marriage of his grand-
daughter Elizabeth) of the Earls and Marquises of Worcester of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose heirs bore the
courtesy title of Lord Herbert 2 ; (2) (through an ilhgitimate son)

1 It is seldom that a fntnilv pedigree is so clearly traceable as ia the present instance.
The subject has bcca trc\itod in a very scholarly fashion by Mr Joseph Morris m the
Afchtsologia Cawforensis, 3rd scries, vol iv, pp 16-30 A very deliberate attempt has
been made to connect tin* founder of the family in England the companion of
William I with Charlemagne, but the links await verification. The first of the Ten
Tables prefixed by Lord Powis to his edition of Lord Herbert's Expedition to the Isle
of Rh6 professes to supply this pedigree.

2 Henry, third Marquis of Worcester, was created in 1682 Duke of Beaufort, and he
is the ancestor of the eighth and present Duke.

The Condition of Wales 171

of the Earls of Pembroke (by a second creation) of the sixteenth
and succeeding centuries l ; and (3) of the extinct Herbert family
of St. Julian's, into which Lord Herbert of Cherbury married. (The
modern earldom of Carnarvon was conferred on a son of the fifth
son of the eighth Earl of Pembroke in 1793.) Richard Herbert,
the younger brother of the fifteenth-century Earl of Pembroke,
is the common ancestor of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury and
his successors, and of the Earls of Powis of the latest creation
(now represented by the fourth Earl). Thus three English earl-
doms (Pembroke, Carnarvon, and Powis) still remain in the family.

II
Wales in the Sixteenth Century

Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centunes England was
occupied in denationalizing Wales. Owen Glendower (Glyndwr)
had made a desperate struggle to recover his country's indepen-
dence in the early years of Henry IV's reign. His failure had been
followed by a series of penal enactments which deprived Welshmen
of all political or civic rights. Welsh customs were suppressed by
law, and intermarriage of the Welsh and English was made a capital
offence. But though the government of the country was nomin-
ally divided between the stewards of the royal demesnes under
the Prince of Wales and the feudal landowners known as the Lord
Marchers, it was practically in the latter's hands. The absence
of a strong executive government combined with the new vex-
atious legislation to excite the people against their rulers more
effectually than before ; and the rudimentary condition of Welsh
society at the time intensified the evils of divided authority in the
executive government. The patriarchal theories of life still regu-
lated social institutions, and the right of a man to rob his neighbour
of his property, were he strong enough to do so, was generally
recognized. Every family was thus united through all its branches
into a band of brigands, who marched at frequent intervals from
their mountain homes to make raids upon the border-chieftains.
Occasionally they made war upon each other, but their native
turbulence of spirit was for many years kept in check at home by
the strong bond of hatred of their common oppressors. In 1478
an attempt was made to meet the difficulties of the situation by
organizing a Council of Lords Marchers a Welsh Star Chamber
with summary jurisdiction over the disturbers of the public peace.
Its headquarters were fixed at Ludlow Castle, but the arrange-

i The present Earl of Pembroke is the thirteenth in succession from the first Earl of
the second creation (1551).

172 Appendix

ment did not answer the expectations formed of it. The accession,
with the assistance of many Welsh followers, of Henry VII, the
grandson of a Welsh squire, to the English throne in 1485, led to
the first improvement in the sentimental relations between the
two peoples. But neither the political nor the social condition of
Wales was thereby materially improved. As Lord Herbert points
out in his History of Henry VIII, during the first years of the reign,
' in about some 141 Lordships marchers . . , many strange and
discrepant customs ' were still practised ; and although he insists
that his great-grandfather, Sir Richard Herbert 1 , was a forcible
administrator in a part of the Principality, he admits that ' the
lords marchers (who conquered at their own cost) ruled yet by their
own laws and customs, and substituted officers at their pleasure,
who again committed such rapines as nothing about was safe or
quiet '. And the national antipathy had not yet exhausted itself.
The Minister Cromwell believed that * in the trouble caused by
the divorce ' the Welsh were an element of weakness to England,
and to illustrate England's power, he put to death Sir Rice ap
Griffith in 1531, on the specious ground that he had countenanced
a scheme for an invasion from Scotland in behalf of Queen Catherine,
in which the Welsh were to support the invaders z . In 1536 Par-
liament took the matter in hand. It was pointed out that ' mani-
fold robberies, murders, and other malefacts ' were daily practised
throughout Wales and the Welsh marches, and that justice was not
administered there as in other parts of the realm. It was therefore
enacted, (i) that Wales should be incorporated with England by
act of union ; (2) that all Welshmen should enjoy the privileges
of Englishmen ; (3) that all English laws were to be observed in
Wales ; (4) that the English language was to be alone recognized
as the official language of the people ; (5) that the Welsh national
customs still adhered to outside North Wales were to be examined
into by a special commission with a view to their extirpation. Thus
the independent jurisdiction of the lords marchers was annulled :
the Council was not abolished, but its functions were more distinctly
defined, and it was given the new title of the Court of the Council
of Wales (1543) 3 . Steps were taken to form the territories of the
marchers into counties. Monmouth became a new English shire,
while Radnor, Brecknock, Montgomery, and Denbigh were formed
into new Welsh shires. Justices of assize and sheriffs were nomin-
ated for the whole Principality, and it was expected that Welsh
turbulence would straightway subside. But there were two serious
defects in this legislation. The statute affecting the Welsh lan-

1 See p 5 and p. 6 note r, supra.

2 Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, v, 289

3 This court was suspended by the Long Parliament m 1641, re-established at the
Restoration, and finally abolished in 1689.

The Condition of Wales 173

guage excluded Welsh-speaking persons from political office, and
the Court of Wales adopted arbitrary modes of judicial procedure
which did httle to conciliate a people which set a high value on
individual liberty. Roland Lee, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield
and Coventry, entered on a vigorous administration of the office
of President at this moment, and he resolved on forcible suppres-
sion of all lawless outrage ' All the thieves in Wales ', he wrote
to Cromwell, ' quake for fear ', and ' although ', he said in another
letter, ' the thieves hanged are by imagination, yet I trust to be
even with them shortly in very deed ' J . Lee forbade the use of
long strings of patronymics connected by the syllable ap in personal
nomenclature, and bade Welshmen take a single surname. But
the temper of the people was not, and could not be, hastily changed.
The brigands were now outlawed, and ran risk of severe punish-
ment. The national feeling tolerated them, domestic ties protected
them, and the geographical features of the country made their
capture difficult. Lord Herbert's grandfather and his father both
suffered, as he tells us, from bands of robbers, but their theories
of government were little in advance of those of their neighbours.
To protect themselves, they did not appeal to the judges or to
Ludlow Castle ; they were content to summon their relatives and
retainers, to take the law into then- own hands, and to avenge
themselves upon the families of those who had offended them 2 .
In 1557 Sir George Herbert of Swansea marched upon the castle
of Oxwich in the absence of its owner, Sir Rice Hansel, and in the
fight an aged relation of the owner was killed. In the streets of
Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, a veritable battle took place in 1576
between the supporters of the Bassetts of Beaupre 1 and those of
the Turbervilles of Penlhne. In both cases the combatants were
led by members of the lords marchers 1 families, who were infected
by their neighbours' turbulent spirit. In 1580, Sir Henry Sidney,
the President of the Council, intervened in a serious contention
* betwixt the surnamed Thomases and Joneses ', which threatened
to involve all Wales s .

As late as 1607, a President of the Council of the Marches writes
of such methods of procedure, that any man who is believed to
have done his neighbour a wrong ' shall hardly escape a cruel
revenge, even unto death ', and that the governors are powerless,
because where private feuds were concerned, all men of influence
combined to suppress evidence*. Lord Herbert himself never
extricated his mind from a patnarchial belief in the right of every

1 EUis's Letters, 3 rd ser , li, 364, 37o.

2 Sco pp 2 and 4 supru

3 Cf. fee Siradhng Correspondence, cd. Xrahenie, ppIxs-17.
* History of Ludlow, pp. 356-69

174 Appendix

injured man to take personal vengeance with the aid of his family
on his enemies and their families. The traditional wrongs whch
his relatives had suffered at the hands of the Vaughans he never
forgot, and a Montague never regarded a Capulet with greater
detestation than Herbert regarded any person bearing the hated
name ofVaughan. The intermarriage of his sister with aVaughan
was vainly imagined by the more peaceful members of either family
to be an effective treaty of peace x ; but readers of the autobiography
will remark that the old spirit manifested itself m full intensity
when Herbert met a few years later Sir Robert Vaughan a . Valiant
as the Welshmen were admitted on all hands to be, their choleric
temperament, the result of baffled national hopes, made them
objects of ridicule among Englishmen till the dose of the seven-
teenth century. Intercourse between the two peoples had by that
time familiarized the one with some real knowledge of the good as
well as of the bad qualities of the other. But Shakespeare's Fluellen
(a satirical phonetic spelling of the Welsh Llewelyn) indicates the
highest esteem in which an Englishman held his Welsh fellow-
subjects. Less thoughtful writers concentrated their attention
on * the rebellious attempts, the proud stomachs, the presump-
tuous star, trouble, and rebellion of the fierce, unquiet, fickle, and
necessitous Welshmen 8 .

The social condition of Wales owed its lasting reform to strong
administrators of the stamp of Roland Lee, and to the growth of
such civilizing influences as commerce and education. Sir Henry
Sidney, the father of Sir Philip Sidney, who was President of Wales
from 1559 to 1586, did all that in him lay to suppress ' brawls and
contentions *, both by persuasion and coercion, and affairs so im-
proved under his regime that he could assert, with some obvious
touches of exaggeration, in a letter to Sir Francis Walsmgham in
1583, that ' his great and high office in Wales ' was ' a happy place
of government, for a better people to govern or better subjects
Europe holdeth not *. But successful as Sidney's rule undoubtedly
was, it is to the translation of the Bible unto Welsh in 1567, to
the establishment of free grammar schools like those of Carmarthan
(1576), of Ruthm (IS9S). of Beaumans (1603), of Hawarden (1609),
and to the opening up of the metal and coal mines that the country
chiefly owed its future peace and prosperity 4 .

i See p 14, supra

* See p 100 t& seq , supra

3 Dedication of Powel's Htsfone of Cambna (1584) to Sir Philip Sidney

4 The general authorities for this chapter are Miss Jane Williams' History of Wales
Documents Connected unth the History of Ludlow, 1841 , the first chapter of Mr T R
Phillip's Cm/ War *n Wales, and Lord fiatetVftAvy ofHeZy VIII, sub aSu> 1636
Churchyard, in his Worthies of Wales, 1589, patriotically insisted on tne love of peace

nherent among the Welsh, but his poetical picture is dearly overdrawn m ordYr to

efute the contrary opinion current among Englishmen.

Lord Herbert's Mother 175

in

Walton's and Donne's accounts of Lord Herbert's Mother

The following extract from Walton's Life of George Herbert, the
poet (Lord Herbert's brother), throws additional light on Lord
Herbert's relations with his mother while a student at the univer-
sity : he does her fuller justice than Lord Herbert does her himself
(see p 9 et seq. supra). Walton's description of Lady Herbert's
relations with Donne is one of the most beautiful passages in seven-
teenth century prose literature.

' In the time of her widowhood, she being desirous to give Edward,
her eldest son, such advantages of learning and other education
as might suit his birth and fortune, and thereby make him more
fit for the service of his country, did, at his being of a fit age, remove
from Montgomery Castle with him and some of her younger sons
to Oxford ; and having entered Edward into Queen's College *
and provided him a fit tutor, she commended him to his care ;
yet she continued there with him, and still kept him in a moderate
awe of herself, and so much under her own eye as to see and con-
verse with him daily ; but she managed this power over him with-
out any such rigid sourness as might make her company a torment
to her child, but with such a sweetness and compliance with the
recreations and pleasures of youth, as did incline him willingly to
spend much of his time in the company of his dear and careful
mother ; which was to her great content ; for she would often say,
" That as our bodies take a nourishment suitable to the meat on
which we feed, so our souls do as insensibly take in vice by the
example or conversation with wicked company " ; and would there-
fore often say, "That ignorance of vice was the best preservation
of virtue ; and that the very knowledge of wickedness was as tinder
to inflame and kindle sin, and keep it burning". For these reasons
she endeared him to her own company, and continued with him in
Oxford for four years ; in which time her great and harmless wit,
her cheerful gravity, and her obliging behaviour gained her an
acquaintance and friendship with most of any eminent worth or
learning that were at that time in or near that University ; and par-
ticularly with Mr. John Donne, who then came accidentally to that
place, in this time of her being there. It was that John Donne
who was after Dr. Donne and Dean of St. Paul's, London ; and he,
at his leaving Oxford, writ and left there, in verse, a character of
the beauties of her body and mind. Of the first he says,

No Spring nor Summer beauty has such grace,
As I have seen in an Autumnal face.

1 This is an error. See p. ai, supra. Herbert was entered at University College.

176 Appendix

Of the latter he says,

In all her words, to every hearer fit,
You may at revels or at council sit.

The rest of her character may be read in his printed poems, in that
elegy which bears the name of The Autumnal Beauty ; for both he
and she were then past the meridian of man's life.

' This amity, begun at this time and place, was not an amity that
polluted then- souls, but an amity made up of a chain of suitable
inclinations and virtues , an amity like that of St. Chrysostom's
to his dear and virtuous Olympias, whom in his letters he calls his
Saint ; or an amity, indeed, more like that of St. Hierome to his
Paula, whose affection to her was such, that he turned poet in his
old age, and then made her epitaph, wishing all his body were
turned into tongues, that he might declare her just praises to pos-
terity. And this amity betwixt her and Mr. Donne was begun in
a happy time for him, he being then near to the fortieth year of his
age which was some years before he entered into Sacred Orders *
a time when his necessities needed a daily supply for the support
of his wife, seven children, and a family. And in this time she
proved one of his most bountiful benefactors, and he as grateful an
acknowledger of it. You may take one testimony for what I have
said of these two worthy persons from this following letter and
sonnet

' " MADAM, Your favours to me are everywhere * I use them
and have them. I enjoy them at London, and leave them there ;
and yet find them at Mitcharn. Such riddles as these become things
inexpressible ; and such is your goodness I was almost sorry to
find your servant here this day, because I was loath to have any
witness of my not coming home last night and indeed of my com-
ing this morning. But my not coming was excusable, because
earnest business detained me ; and my coming this day is by the
example of your St. Mary Magdalen, who rose early upon Sunday
to seek that which she loved most ; so did I* And from her and
myself I return such thanks as are due to one to whom we owe all
the good opinion that they whom we need must have of us. By
this messenger and on this good day I commit the enclosed Holy
Hymns and Sonnets which for the matter, not the workmanship,
have yet escaped the fire to your judgment, and to your protec-
tion too, if you think them worthy of it ; and I have appointed this
enclosed Sonnet to usher them to your happy hand. Your unwor-
thiest servant, unless your accepting him to be so have mended him,

Jo. DONNE.

" MITCHAM, July n, 1607.

Lord Herbert's Mother 177

To the Lady Magdalen Herbert, of St. JMary Magdalen

* Her of your name, whose fair inheritance

Bethina was, and jointure Magdalo,
An active faith so highly did advance,

That she once knew more than the Church did know,
The Resurrection r so much good there is

Delivered of her, that some Fathers be
Loth to believe one woman could do this,

But think these Magdalens were two or three.
Increase their number, Lady, and their fame

To their devotion add your innocence
Take so much of th* example, as of the name ,

The latter half ; and in some recompense
That they did harbour Christ himself, a guest,
Harbour these Hymns, to his dear name addrest. J D'.

These Hymns are now lost to us , but doubtless they were such as
they two now smg in heaven.

' There might be more demonstrations of the friendship and the
many sacred endearments betwixt these two excellent persons,
for I have many of then- letters in my hand, and much more
might be said of her great prudence and piety ; but my design "was
not to write hers, but the life of her son ; and therefore I shall only
tell my reader that about that very day twenty years that this letter
was dated and sent her, I saw and heard this Mr. John Donne
who was then Dean of St Paul's weep, and preach her funeral
sermon in the parish church of Chelsea, near London *, where she
now rests in her quiet grave , and where we must now leave her,
and return to her son George, whom we left m his study at Cam-
bridge '.

Dr. Donne's sermon gives similar testimony to Lady Herbert's
sweetness of temper, and does not, with both Herbert and Walton,
overlook the fact of her second marriage to Sir John Danvers. The
following passages towards the close of the sermon are of special
interest :

* From that worthy family from which she had her original extrac-
tion and birth 2 , she sucked that love of hospitality (hospitality
which hath celebrated that family for many generations succes-
sively) which dwelt in her to her end. But in that ground, her father's
family, she grew not many years. Transplanted young from thence
by marriage into another family of honour, as a flower that doubles
and multiplies by transplantation, she multiplied into ten children,
Job's number and Job's distribution (as she would often remem-
ber), seven sons and three daughters. And in this ground she grew

J On ist July, 1627. See p 10 a 3, supra.
3 The Newports.

A A

178 Appendix

not many more years than were necessary for the providing of so
many plants. And being then left to choose her own ground m
her widowhood, having at home established and increased the estate
with a fair and noble addition, proposing to herself, as her principal
care, the education of her children , to advance that she came with
them and dwelt with them in the university, and recompensed them
the loss of a father in giving them two mothers her own personal
care and the advantage of that place, where she contracted a friend-
ship with divers reverend persons of eminency and estimation there,
which continued to their ends. And as this was her greatest business,
so she made this state a large period, for in this state of widowhood
she continued twelve years. And then returning to a second mar-
riage, that second marriage turns us to the consideration of another
personal circumstance, that is, the natural endowments of her per-
son, which were such as that her personal and natural endowments
had their part in drawing and fixing the affections of such a person/
as by his birth and youth, and interest in great favours at court,
and legal proximity to great possessions in the world, might justly
have promised him acceptance m what family soever or upon what
person soever lie had directed and placed his affections. He placed
them here, neither diverted thence nor repented since. For as the
well tuning of an instrument makes higher and lower strings of one
sound, so the inequality of their years was thus reduced to an even-
ness that she had a cheerfulness agreeable to his youth, and he had
a sober staidness conformable to her more advanced years. So that
I would not consider her at so much more than forty, nor him at
so much less than thirty, at that time ; but as their persons were
made one, and their fortunes made one by marriage, so I would
put their years into one number, and finding a sixty between them
think them thirty apiece , for as twins of one hour they lived. . . .
God gave her such a comeliness as, though she were not proud of it,
yet she was so content with it as not to go about to mend it by any
art. And for her attire (which is another personal circumstance),
it was never sumptuous, never sordid, but always agreeable to her
quality and agreeable to her company , such as she might, and such
as others such as she was did wear *. . . . Respecting her charitable-
ness Donne says ' She gave not at some great days or at some
solemn goings abroad, but as God's true almoners, the sun. and moon,
that pass on in a continual doing of good, as she received her daily
bread from God, so daily she distributed and imparted it to others.
In which office though she never turned her face from those who, in
a strict inquisition, might be called idle and vagrant beggars, yet
she ever looked first upon them who laboured, whose labours could
not overcome the difficulties nor bring in the necessities of this life,

1 Sir John Danvers.

Lord Herbert's Mother 179

and to the sweat of their brows she contributed even her wine and
her oil, and anything that was, and anything that might be, if it
were not prepared for her own table. And as her house was a court,
with conversation of the best, and an almshouse in feeding the poor,
so was it also an hospital in ministering relief to the sick. And
truly, the love of doing good in this kind, of ministering to the sick,
was the honey that spread over all her bread ; the air the perfume
that breathed over all her house. ... As the rule of all her civil
actions was religion, so the rule of her religion was the Scripture ;
and her rule for her particular understanding of the Scripture was
the Church. ... In the doctrine and discipline of that Church in
which God sealed her to Himself in baptism she brought up her
children, she assisted her family, she dedicated her soul to God in
her life, and surrendered it to Him in her death ; and in that form
of common prayer which is ordained by that Church and to which
she had accustomed herself with her family twice every day, she
joined that company which was about her death-bed in answering
to every part thereof which the congregation is directed to answer
to, with a clear understanding, with a constant memory, with a dis-
tinct voice, not two hours before she died. According to this pro-
mise, that is, the will of God manifested in the Scriptures, she
expected this that she hath received, God's physic and God's music
a christianly death ' l .

IV

Duelling in France and England in the early years of the Seventeenth

Century

Duelling holds no more prominent place in Lord Herbert's auto-
biography than it deserves to hold in any full social history of
James I's reign. The practice, although long discredited by men
of sense, sprang into new life in England in the early years of the
seventeenth century. The cause of the revival is probably to be
found in the intimate relations existing between men of fashion in
England and France. To impetuous Frenchmen like Balagny 2
the duello was indispensable, and when Englishmen imitated French
social customs, they adopted unconsciously the most characteristic
feature of French social life that sensitive regard for what French-
men called their honour. Henri IV perceived the disadvantage of
the practice of duelling, and in stern edicts denounced it as a capital
offence. But the edicts were systematically disobeyed, and the

1 See Alford's edition of Donne's Works, vi, 271 et seq, t or the original duodecimo
edition of the sermon (1627), pp. 137 et seq

2 See p. 57, supra.

180 Appendix

King had not resolution enough to refuse a pardon to those who
infringed them. He entreated his generals to discountenance the
practice, but was himself unwilling to employ coercion in the matter.
Between 1589 and 1607, it has been estimated that 4,000 Frenchmen
met their death in duels. Montaigne, illustrating the bellicose
spirit of his fellow-countrymen, humorously states that if three
Frenchmen met together in the Libyan deseit, they would demand
satisfaction of each other at the sword's point. It was left to
Richelieu to inaugurate a determined policy of repression x .

In England matters were little better. Every family of dis-
tinction lost some promising cadet in the early years of the century
by duelling, and the foreign wars in which Englishmen were in the
habit of engaging as free and independent volunteers encouraged
in them a spirit of aggression without accustoming them to stnct
military discipline. The war in Cleves and Juhers was fertile in
duels among Englishmen, in spite of the precautions taken both
by Sir Edward Cecil and Count Maurice, and the quarrels, although
invariably based on very flimsy pretexts, resulted in very many
fatalities. In 1609 Sir Hatton Cheek kdled Sir Thomas Dalton
in a duel fought on the Calais sands, in which both combatants were
armed, according to the French rules, with rapier as well as dagger 2 .
Herbert's disputes with Lord Howard of Walden and Sir Thomas
Somerset came happily to a spiritless and bloodless conclusion ;
but a similar encounter between Edward, Lord Bruce of Kinloss,
and Sir Edward Sackville was pursued in deadly earnest The
quarrel arose out of a love-suit, and after several abortive meetings
in Holland and England, the two men fought on September 1613
under the walls of Antwerp, where Bruce was killed and Sackville
severely wounded 3 . Steele has given a faithful account of this
long and sanguinary conflict m Nos. 129 and 133 of the Guardian,
from Sackville' s manuscript narrative. Nicholas Charles, Lan-
caster Herald, writing to Sir Robert Cotton of the termination of
this meeting, declares (loth September 1613) the world of London
to be full of rumours of duels to be fought abroad. ' A gentleman
of [Lord Harrington] ' , he says, ' [was] very treacherously killed
by the means of Sir Andrew Keith master of the horse to the Lady
Elizabeth 4 . But Keith is m hold to be sent over into England.
There is also a quarrel between my Lord of Essex and Mr. Harry
Howard 5 , and one of them is gotten over, but there were letters

1 Brantdme's Memoirs give the best account of duelling in France under Henry TV

a These weapons were to be used m Herbert's duel with Loid How aid It \wib usual
in France for the seconds to fight as well as the principals

3 Clarendon's History, i, 60 ; Wmwood's Memorials, 111, 422, 454, 476.

* The Electress-Palatine Further particulars of this quarrel are given in a letter
printed in Court and Times of James I, i, 265. Sir Andrew Keith was guilty of a mur-
derous assault on a gentleman named Bashall, which closely resembles Ayres* attack
on Herbert at Whitehall

6 Brother of Lord Howard of Walden.

Duelling 181

sent to the Archduke and the French King to prevent their desper-
ate proceedings. There is also talk of a quarrel between my Lord
of Rutland and my Lord Danvers, as also of other noble and gentle-
men of good quality ' *, Chamberlain, the well-known gossip, gave
even more alarming proofs of the prevalence of duels at this moment.
'Though there yet be ', he writes (gth September 1613), 'in shew
a settled peace in these parts of the world, yet the many private
quarrels are very great, and prognostic troubled humours, which
may breed dangerous diseases, if they be not purged and prevented,
I doubt not but you have heard the success of the combat between
Edward Sackville and Lord Bruce of Kinlos . . Here is speech
likewise that the Lord Norris and Sir Peregrine Willoughby are gone
forth for the same purpose, and that the Lord Chandos and Lord
Hay are upon the same terms : there was a quarrel kindling betwixt
the Earls of Rutland and Montgomery, but it was quickly quenched
by the King, being begun and ended in his presence. But there
is more danger betwixt the Earl of Rutland and the Lord Danvers,
though I heard yesterday it was already or upon the point of com-
pounding. But that which most now listen after is what will fall
out betwixt the Earl of Essex and Mr. Henry Howard, who is chal-
lenged and called to account by the Earl for certain disgraceful
speeches of him. They are both gotten over, the Earl from Milford
Haven, the other from Harwich, with each of them two seconds.
The Earl has his base brother and one Captain Ouseley, or rather,
as most affirm, Sir Thomas Beaumont, as one interested in the
quarrel '. In a later letter Chamberlain describes the action of the
Council taken in this business 2

These practices ill assorted with James I's pacific temperament,
and he took vigorous steps to suppress them He directed his
Ministers to collect information as to the mode of dealing with such
breaches of the peace on the Continent, and then issued a proclama-
tion, penned with his own hand, calling on his peaceable subjects
to support his repressive policy 3 . The Star Chamber was directed
to take the matter in hand, and, to make a preliminary example,
two ' base mechanical persons ', named Priest and Wright, were
charged by the Crown, the one with sending a challenge, and the
other with accepting it. Sir Francis Bacon, the new Attorney-
General, conducted the prosecution, and in a speech full of common
sense and high principle illustrated the evils of the practice. ' It
is a miserable effect ', he said in one of the finest passages, ' when

1 Ellis's Original Letters, 2d ser , in, 234.

2 Court and Tvmes of James /, i, 272, 276.

3 In a MS volume in the Cottonian Library in the British Museum are many docu-
ments relating to the history of duelling in England at the time In Ellis's Letters,
ist ser , in, 107-10, is printed from the volume Sir Francis Cottmgton's account of the
treatment of duellists in Spain Sir John Fmet, writing from Paris, i9th February
1609-10, is the author of another account there, treating of the duels in France.

1 82 Appendix

young men full of towardness and hope, such as the poets call
auror<z fihi, sons of the morning, in whom the expectation and
comfort of their friends consisteth, shall be cast away and destroyed
in such a vain manner , but much more it is to be deplored when
so much noble and gentle blood shall be spilt upon such follies,
as if it were adventured in the field in the service of the king and
the realm, were able to make the fortune of a day and to change
the future of a kingdom.' Coke delivered judgment against the
prisoners Priest was ordered to pay 300, and Wright 500 marks,
and both had to do penance at the next Surrey assizes, and to
remain in Fleet prison for some months. The Star Chamber decree
and Coke's judgment were printed and widely circulated 1 . But
the reader will remember that these preceedings had little effect
on Herbert, who, until he was well past middle life, was always
anxious to find opportunity for a duel. Massmger and Chapman,
with other Jacobean dramatists, continued to make duelling an
important feature in their portraits of contemporary society. That
the practice died hard in England, and temporarily revived when-
ever the morality of the upper classes suffered serious deteriora-
tion, students of the reign of Charles II and of the Regency well
know. But when the thinness of the arguments in its favour was
once thoroughly exposed by Bacon and Coke, and re-exposed by
vigorous writers like Jeremy Collier and Steels, it was virtually
abandoned to the thoughtless and the idle 2 .

V

Lord Herbert's qiiarrel with Lord Howard of Warden

In the MS. Lansdowne in the British Museum (xcix. art. 99) is a
copy of some of the correspondence that passed between Sir Edward
Herbert and Lord Howard of Walden relative to their quarrel,
together with an account of the curious incident by Peyton, Lord
Howard's second. The document runs thus 3 :

S r E[dward] Herbert], h^s first letter.

MY LORD, Though for the matter in question between us I do not
hold myself bound to seek you, yet, since I have withdrawn myself, I

1 Spedding's Life and Letters of Bacon, iv, 395-416

2 In Hearne's Curious Discourses (1771), n, 225 et seq , is a singular paper signed
' Edward Cook % entitled Duello Foiled. It purports to be a paper prepared before
1604 for a meeting of the ancient Society of Antiquaries, originally formed by Arch-
bishop Parker in 1572, and recounts the device successfully adopted by the friends of the
two would-be duellists to prevent a meeting. The correspondence that passed between
the disputants is given at length Jeremy Collier's Dialogue of Duelling, in his Essays
upon Several Moral Subjects (1698), i, 113 et seq t is an amusing and vigorous piece of
reasoning.

3 I have modernized the spelling

Lord Herbert and Lord Howard 183

have thought fit to acquaint yourself that I will wait your leisure any
time before your going into England, to give that honest account that I
promised and shall ever maintain.

E[DWARD] H[ERBERT]

The answer.

S K ED HERBERT, I have not withdrawn myself from the place you
left me in if you have anything to say to me, you may easily find me
before my going into England

T[HEOPHILUSj H[OWARD].

The second letter.

MY LORD, Since I perceive your Lordship satisfied so far that you
have not any meaning to call me in question, which by your Lordship's
offer to draw your sword I might have conjectured, and that neither by
it nor any way else I find not myself to have received the least hurt from
you, I shall no longer trouble myself to satisfy your Lordship, unless
you deny this in any particular.

E[DWARD] H[ERBERT].

Answer.

S R ED. HERBERT, I am so well satisfied with my own actions that I
will trouble myself no further.

T[HEOPHILUS] HfOWARD].

' Upon this passed by me x from Sir Ed. Herbert to my Lord a
courteous message, and afterwards a reconcilement between them
made by my Lord General 2 . Some four or five days after Sir
Herbert wrote a challenge in these words 3 :

MY LORD, Having lately understood that a report of your Lordship's
striking me is gone so far as to M Betune and M de Chatillon 4 , and that,
for anything I know, it may be so related in England, and that the authors
of this report may be lackeys or people unworthy my revenge, to the
end I may put my honour out of dispute, I have thought fit to require
your Lordship so to cleai this that I may be declared as free from any
touch from your Lordship as I know myself to be, or that you would
think of some time and place in your return to do me reason, protesting
that upon whether of these your Lordship shall resolve, that neither
malice nor desire to win upon your Lordship's honour causeth this,
but only a necessity so to right myself, so that I may be held worthy
in honest reputation. So attending your Lordship's answer at Dusseldorf,
which, in regard of our reconcilement, I must make any way questionable,
I rest your Lordship's humble servant,

E[DWARD] H[ERBERT]

This nth of September 1610

1 The writer is Peyton, Lord Howard's second

2 Sir Edward Cecil

3 Herbert, on pp. 623 supra, overlooks this correspondence, and admits no pre-
liminary settlement of the dispute

* Two French generals, see page 62, note i.

184 Appendix

' This was sent by one Mr. Turner of my Lord Governor's com-
pany after Sir Edward Herbert had taken his leave of my Lord
General and his Excellency l and withdrawn himself into the
woods. My Lord would take no hold of the former reconciliation,
as he might well have done, to refuse him, but, as soon as I could
be called to him from his Excellency his quarter, returned this
answer .

The answer.

S* ED. HERBERT, I thought you had been satisfied of the things
passed betwixt us , but since I find by your letter that it is not so, I
will answer you at the tune and place so appointed, as this bearer shall
acquaint you with.

T[HEOPHILUS] H[OWARD].

' I found him by the woodside near his Excellency his quarter ,
he withdrew himself with me from the company he had, being
Captain Herbert 2 and a servant or two, and received the answer
with much contentment at my Lord's honourable proceeding.
Demanding of me the circumstances left to my relation, I first
required to know his second, since my Lord had chosen me. He
would fain have had none, but since my Lord's pleasure was such,
he chose his own brother, which I accepted of, and told him my
Lord would meet him the next morning on horseback with a single
rapier I had not the length of it with me, but desired that he would
send his second to my quarter about dinner-time and he should
see it all which he accepted of, and desired me to tell my Lord that
he would come up to him bravely without malice, to fight for his
own honour and the honour of his nation, and desired me to be
secret I answered he needed not to doubt my secrecy, nor to be
met with like resolution as he spake of. About dinner-time himself
instead of his second came near our quarter, and sent in a gentleman,
his servant, named Omerfielde ('), who told me his master desired
to speak with me. I went to him , he asked me the length of my
Lord's sword. I told him I did expect his brother to fetch it, because
he had so appointed. Nevertheless, if he would stay there, he should
have it : he desired that that servant of his might bring it him.
I said it had been more proper for his brother, yet I would not be
therein curious so we both together measured the sword, and I
gave him the length of it. I told him the place should be on the
farther side of that wood where I found him in the morning. He
uttered some discontentment at his want of horses, yet said he
would come on any he could get, how unfit soever, or on foot, and

1 Count Maurice

a Either \\illiam or Thomas Herbert. See pp. 11-2, supra.

Lord Herbert and Lord Howard 185

let my Lord use the advantage. I answered my Lord sought 110
advantage, but he knew how my Lord would come provided . that
if he had challenged at the first, he might have had more time, but
now my Lord being upon the point of departure, he had no reason
to delay his own affairs for his satisfaction. He said he was sorry
that his inquiry for horses might give suspicion of what was intended.
About four of the clock in the afternoon the same Omerfielde came
to me with a sword that was a thought longer than my Lord's,
protesting that he could find no cutler in all the army, it being
Sunday, but that he would use all diligence to make it even. I
told him I did expect no less, and desired that Mr. Herbert might
come to me . he said he should, and so afterwards he did, and we
had a slight view of one another's weapons.

' Sir Edward Herbert guessed rightly that his inquiry for horses
would spread the business. For he souglit in likely places to be
well furnished, [but would not have been discovered] if he had not
been refused first of Sir Charles Morgan, to whom he was free of the
end, and desired him to be his second, but was refused of both 1 ,
then to Count Henry 2 , and then M de Chatillon and divers others
to borrow horses. M Chatillon sent for Sir Charles Morgan, and
told him that he saw Mr. Herbert take leave of his Excellency,
and now that he came to borrow great horses , laying these things
together, he could guess it was to fight with my Lord of Walden . . .
[ ?], and that he being an officer in chief of the army, held himself
bound to impart his suspicion, to his Excellency. In the evening
these bruits and others spread, I know not how, even unto the par-
ticularities of weapon (so that nothing but the time and place were
secret), moved my Lord to leave the General's quarter and me to
meet his Lordship, but I should have been stopped in our own
quarter We spent the most part of the night in Sir John Rat-
clife's quarter, holding as good watches as we could to prevent a
surprise of any guard that his Excellency might have sent, and
about three or four of the clock we went to the woodside appointed,
where they were to fight by seven. We walked twice the whole
length of the woodside and saw nobody, then withdrew ourselves
into the covert of the wood, lest some horsemen might discover and
take us. When it grew lightsome, my lackey told us he saw two
men walking by the woodside on whitish horses : my Lord, after a
small pause, bade me look out to see if it were Sir Edward Herbert,
and, if it were, to let him know he may hear from him. I walked
out so far as I might discern the whole side of the wood, but [saw]
no two horsemen , yet thinking they might be covered for the
same purpose that we were, I walked there a pretty while that they

* ^ e both request for horses and second
2 Brother of Count Maurice.

B B

1 86 Appendix

might discern me. But seeing nobody show out of the wood, and
considering it was yet before the hour, I returned to my Lord.
About a quarter of an hour after, his Lordship bade me look out
again, and then I was quickly driven back by the sight of a horse-
man, who passing by and keeping his course, I went out and saw
another galloping towards, which I hoped to have been Mr Herbert,
but when he came near enough for me to discern my error, I returned
to our covert.

' Then I sent out my lackey to discover the worst, who told me
very soon that all the woodside was laid with horsemen f and we
might see them scour up and down, but kept ourselves as close as
we could. About half an hour after this, being near the hour
appointed, Mr. Selinger came directly to us, and told my Lord that
he attended to no purpose, for my Lord General had taken Sir
Edward Herbert long since in the middle of the wood, not far from
the place where he seemed to have lodged that night , that he was
mounted upon a great horse of Sir James Erskin's, who being at
Aix, his lieutenant had furnished Sir Edward Herbert [with horses]
either voluntarily or receiving a letter from his Captain : further,
that he had with him a Scotsman, and not his brother (who was
intercepted in Reymester), that this Scotsman had a case of pistols,
all which seemed very strange to us, that expected him with a
second armed as I was, with rapier and dagger, and two lackeys
without weapons. The colour of this Scotsman's horse being bay,
it seemed to us that the two horsemen which my servant had seen
'were not these, and consequently that Sir Edward Herbert had not
been on the very place appointed at all but in truth, the wood
was so laid before the time assigned, that it had been to no purpose,
since they could not fight in the woods, and any ground chosen
without must have offered them to the full power of all the horse-
men Thus prevented by the care of his Excellency and my Lord
General, and being entreated by a messenger from him to go home,
we left the wood and came to our quarters.

J PEYTON l '

VI

The following were the instructions given to Herbert by James
the First on his first mission to France The original is preserved
at Powis Castle a .

1 The indistinct signature may be T Peyton, but another copy of Peyton's account,
described by Mr. J. C. Teaffreson in the Hist MSS Com Fifth Rep , has the signature

LSee p 63, supra The paper is labelled, ' Challenge betwixt my Lord Walden and
Edward Herbert September 1610 '

2 Powysland Collections, vi, 417 See p 102, supra.

Lord Herbert's Instructions 187

JAMES R.

Instruc'cons for our trustie and well beloved servant Sir Edwar Herbert,
Knight, our Ambassador with the French King.

Having occasion at this present to employ some person of specialle
quality, judgement, discretion and trust to reside as our ambassador with
our good brother the French king, we have out of our princely favour been
pleased to make choice of you as of one whom we hold in all respects suffi-
cient and capable of such an employment, and of whose fidelity and zealous
affection to our service we have ever entertayned a gratious opinion

There be not many particulars that we have to give you in charge
by way of mstrucc'n, nor shall it be greatly needfull if you observe but
this one generall end, and thereunto apply you endevors, which is, to
give that king the best assurance you may from time to time of our brotherly
friendship and affecc'on towards him, letting him know that to this purpose
principally we have sent you as our ambassador to reside near his person ;
and you may tell him further that howsoever by the meanes of all in-
struments and mmist'rs there hath been of late some misunderstanding
between us, yet nevertheless there should never enter into our heart the
least sparke of ill affecc'on towards him, as on the other side this last
honour and courtisy that he hath done us by sending hither a gentleman
so qualified and every way accomplished as is the Marquis of Tresnel,
and so timely to declare his condolence with us for the death of our late
dearest wife the queen, hath imprinted in us that certame perswasion
and assurance of his reciprocall friendship towards us ; we thereupon
being very unwilling to be prevented in courtisy or in doing that honour
which we desired, have made all the hast that possibly we might to dis-
patch you away unto him before any ordinary embassador should come
from thence unto us

And because the meaning is not to be wanting in any good office which
may testify the reality of our professions unto him, you shall let him
know that we, understanding of the troubles in governing his kingdom
is at this present embroyled, have given the order, as well out of our
singular love unto him, as also in regard of the promise wee made to the
king his father of happy memory, to offer him in our name the best assis-
tance that we can afford him, either by our faithful advice or otherwise,
whensoever he shall have at any time occation or use of our help, and
shall think fit to signify so much unto us.

Next you shall take notice of the great obligation we have unto him,
and gave him thanks accordingly for the true sense he hath of our present
griefe and affliction by reason of the queen's death, our dearest wife, as
ms ambassador (the Marquis of Tresnel) hath expressed the same unto
us, assuring him that, for our part, we cannot be less sensible of anything
that may befall him, but must be equally affected, either with joy or
sorrow, as the subject shall give cause , neither may you omitt to per-
form the like ceremony unto the queen.

And hereupon you may take a fitt occasion to congratulate him in our
name for the marriage of his sister, Madame Chrestienne, with the Prince
of Piemont, to which alliance we wish all honour and happiness, as well
for the interest which the king hath therein of himself, as also in respect
of the singular affecc'on we bear unto the House of Savoy, and the strict
amity which js betwixt us and that duke at this present.

1 88 Appendix

Lastly, whereas it was agreed and concluded by a treaty dated the
igth of August m the year 1610, betwixt certain commissioners appointed
on our part, and Le Sieur de la Boderie, then ambassador from the French
king, residing here with us, on behalf of the king his master, that forasmuch
as the sayed king was at that time in his minority, he should therefore
afterwards, when he came to be major, take a solemn oath for the obser-
vation of all things conteyned in the said treaty, being thereunto duly
required by a ambassador sufficiently authorised for such a purpose
We have to that end enabled you, by a commission under our greate
scale of England in his name, to require and to take* the sayd oath, hereby
willing and commanding you to see the same effected according to your
commission m such due manner and form as is usual in like cases

GEO. CALVERT.

?th May 1619

VII
Lord Herbert's Correspondence

The earliest extant letters with winch I have met are four
addressed by Herbert to his guardian Sir George More of Loseley
in 1602-1603. They have been already printed in Kempe's Loseley
MSS , pp. 143-146. In August 1602 Herbert was in his twentieth
year 1 .

Lord Herbert to Ms Father-in -wardship, Sir George More.

Worthy Father, if I were persuaded that you did amare ex ^udicio, and
not indicare ex amore, your good opinion of me would make me show more
to deserve the continuance of it, than the greatest discouragement of
my little abilities could prevail to the breaking of my weak beginnings.
Lest you should think this country ruder than it is, I have seat you
some of our bread, which I am sure will be dainty, howsoever it be not
pleasing ; it is a kind of cake which our country people use, and made
in no place in England, but in Shrewsbury if you vouchsafe the taste
of them, you enworthy the country and sender Measure not my love
by substance of it, which is brittle , but by the form of it, which is circular,
and circulus you know is capacissima figura, to which that mind ought
to be like, that can most worthily love you Yet I would not have you
to understand form so as though it were hereby formal , but, as forma
dat esse, so my love and observance to be essential; and so wishing it
worthy your acceptance, I rest -Your son that knoweth your worth,

HERBERT.
Scribbled rapti-m as you see, and hope will pardon.

EYTON, this ijth of August 1602.
To the right worthy and his honourable
friend Sir George More, Knight, his
beloved father, etc

l I have not printed the letters at full length, but given only the most important
passages.

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 189

Noble Knight, I perceive your love placed in this our family to be as
faithful m continuance, as it hath been excessive in greatness, when
you will send to find us out in a corner among the toto dwisos orbe Bntannos ;
such a love in these days wants an example, and is not like to be paterned ;
only to us it is a comfort, that desire at least to be thankful, that seeing
it was begun without our desert, we need not stand doubtful of ourselves,
as knowing that his worthy disposition that began it of himself, will
continue it as undeservedly as he did unmatchably enter into it This
small testimony doth your many kindnesses challenge at my hands, who
doth more honour your virtues than the pied outside of an hereditary
nobility

I hear of your indeed royal entertainment of the King ; a happiness
able to make you forget yourself, much more your remote friends, were
it not you

I am very sorry to hear of the increase of the plague, which besides
many inconveniences, will hinder our meeting this many a day, I fear.
I pray God to stay His heavy hand, in whom I wish both our preservations,
as The son that lives more than half in his loving father,

HERBERT.
MONTGOMERY CASTLE, this z8th of August 1603.

I pray you present my due salutations to your lady, and Sir Robert
Moore and his lady, not forgetting good Mr Foisted.

To that worthy knight, Sir George More,
at his house, Loseley, in Surrey, etc.

If absence (noble knight) could afford friends a better testimony of
love than remembrance, or remembrance express itself in a better fashion
than in letters, to you especially, to your nought-needing self (if either
invention or example would have yielded me a newer means), my engaged
love would not have omitted the execution of it to your worthy self,
unto whom the greatest service I can profess is too little to be performed ;
but where means scant the manifestation of more, let your acceptance
make that good, which my ability could make no better. I pray you
think not that, because my letter contains not any essential business,
that therefore it is merely formal, but rather that my thankfulness would
disclose itself in any shape sooner than forego the least occasion to show
how many ways he is Yours,

HERBERT.

MONTGOMERY CASTLE, this i2th of October 1603

To my much honoured father, Sir George
More, Loseley, in Surrey

Your continual remembrance of us (noble knight), though it cannot
add to the opinion of your worthy love (only in respect of yourself worthy) ;
yet it may confirm it, if there can be a confirmation of that which is held
most assured.

The barrenness of this country, as in all other things, is dilated into
the scarcity of any occurrence fit your entertaining, much unlike your
part, where all good varieties warring among themselves distract the
mind in their choice, of some of which as you have made me partakei

190 Appendix

so the most acceptable beyond comparison was to hear of your health.

If there be a Parliament shortly, if I can, I will be one of the number,
a burgesse or something, rather than get out, for I think I shall give away
my interest in this shire to another , not making doubt to meet you there,
though once in my hearing you seemed to be weary of your being of the
House

So with the protestation of an unfeigned affection to do you any accept-
able service, I rest Your adopted son in name, but natural all other ways,

HERBERT.

MONTGOMERY CASTLE, this 4th of December, 1603.

I must give my lady great thanks (for in my letter I have testified of
you) for my little brother.

Mr. Henry Mornce remembers his love to you, with many thanks for
your kind entertainment of him when he was with you

To his most honoured father, Sir George
More, Knight, at Loseley, give these

In the British Museum is a valuable volume in manuscript con-
taining Herbert's correspondence during his embassy in France for
the years 1619 and 1620. It is among the Additional MSS , and is
numbered 7082. I have had the whole of it copied, and give below
some extracts likely to prove of interest to the reader of Herbert's
life. The volume opens with a series of letters addressed by Her-
bert to the Prince of Orange and other English and foreign friends,
announcing the writer's appointment to the French embassy. In
the first letter addressed to the King (fol. 8) Herbert writes (under
date 29th May 1619, stilo Anghco) that the distracting quarrel
between Louis XIII and his mother Marie de Medicis had been com-
pounded and the former released from her imprisonment at Blois 1 .
Herbert concludes thus :

I cannot omit to tell your Majesty of a circumstance which had almost
broken this peace about the time that it was most treated of by the Com-
missioners. . . . For whilst these did negotiate there was discovered
a design to give fire to the powder m the castle, the ruins whereof were
likely to fall upon the Queen's lodgings, that were not far off. They lay
the fault upon the Comte de Schomberg, but he excuseth himself. In the
meantime the Queen made a long complaint thereof unto the King. It is
much desired by the Prince of Piedmont, son of the Duke of Savoy, that
the King and Queen-mother should meet . but some dislike it, as fearing
natural affection should bring them too near others dislike it, lest repe-
tition of unkmdness should put them further assunder they therefore
who labour this prescribe the words and behaviour on both sides This
is the substance of all I can learn as yet worthy your Majesty's knowledge.

Another letter (fol. 13) of the same date to the King begins with
a characteristic apology for the writer's style :

1 See^p, 104, supra.

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 191

I must humbly desire m all my letters to be thus understood, that if the
second do not contradict the first, your Majesty would be pleased to take
it as a confirmation For my last I find nothing in it to reform, if your
Majesty be pleased to pardon the rudeness and ignorance of my style,
which I therefore humbly submit unto your Majesty's good acceptation.

The settlement between the Queen-mother and the French King
was menaced by the rude behaviour of the Queen's messenger to
Luynes, the Kmg*s favourite, who had really instigated Louis XIII
to attack his mother, and whose true character Herbert soon came
to know and detest. But at first he had only good words for Luynes.

The Comte de Bresne . . being sent unto the French king on a message
from her, did not only omit to salute Mons. de Luynes, having first saluted
all the rest, but braved him in such a fashion that it was interpreted by
some as a slighting of the favour the French King hath showed him, which
I hear the King took very ill, and therefore dismissed him without answer.
This hath made P Benille travail again, and the labour is now to bring
the Queen and Mons. de Luynes to accord . I find Mons. de Luynes
much envied, but cannot learn wherein his greatest enemies can justly
tax * him ; for they avow his intentions are good that so at most they
can find no fault with him but that he cannot help, wherein they conclude
him better than themselves.

. . . For myself, I am invited by the French King to come to him :
for which purpose Mons. de Pmsieux (secretaire des commandements du
Roy) writ me a letter as in his Majesty's name This makes me prepare
to find him at Tours, though I have somewhat deferred it, in hope of your
Majesty's further commandments But on Monday, God willing, shall
go, if I hear nothing to the contrary , for so was your Majesty's pleasure
at my departure. . . .

Herbert finally reports a rumour that the Prince of Piedmont is
a candidate for the throne of the Empire which has just become
vacant, and expresses a hope that the rumour is true.

* But ', he adds, * we must not prevent 2 your Majesty's judgment and
wisdom with our inconsiderations '.

With this letter Herbert sends another note (fol 15), stating
that a man named James Haig had discovered to him a Jesuit
plot against James's life.

Writing to the Secretary Naunton (fol. 26) on - July 1619, Her-
bert refers to Count Henry of Nassau's visit to France 3 , and to the
French jealousy of the Dutch. He points out in vigorous terms
the advantage of a permanent alliance between Holland and England
and first notifies the approach of the plague to Paris :

l * e. censure. 2 lfC anticipate. 3 See p. 108, supra.

192 Appendix

The estate of these parts is still alike full of change and uncertainty
and for those that look on of entertainment . . . Comte Henry * going
to see the King at Tours on his way to Orange, was invited nowhere but
to the council table ; where after a chair presented him to sit down, he was
expostulated about the death of Barnaveldt, and told in these express
words the act was unjust and barbarous withal I hear since (by the Hol-
land Ambassador) there is a command given to seize on all the Dutch
ships in French ports, and that the French take it very ill our new league
with the Hollander, wherein they understand we have excluded the French
from the East-Indies, which has made them to vaunt as to talk of sending
out a fleet to right themselves All I will infer out of this, is to beseech
your Honour (as a true and noble English heart) to take this occasion to
dispose the King and state to enter into a straight league with the Hollan-
der, who alone on earth can either hurt or do us good

I have not written at all unto his Majesty at this time, because I know
not what news you may have of the plague here there are but some
twenty-four or twenty-five houses infected in all the town , besides it is
not very infectious nor mortal, for the one half escape, and I see no body
dislodge , yet the Parliament speaks of retiring, which if it much increase
I will follow.

On 1 4th July 1619 Herbert informs (fol. 28) Sir Robert Naunton
that he has

sent to Mons de Luynes, to let him know his Majesty doth understand,
and will accept of his services. All this I have chosen to do by letter,
that I might not put his Majesty to unnecessary charges yet if your
honour think fit I should go, I doubt not to overtake any inconvenience
the business may suffer by my absence.

On 23rd July Herbert sent a French letter to Luynes, expressing
James I's high esteem of his proffer of friendship to England (fol
30). Luynes replied on 2/th July (fol 32) and paid Herbert many
high-flown compliments.

Herbert, on stgth July, found it necessary (fol. 34) to urge Naun-
ton to hand over to the French government a French malefactor
who had fled to England and been taken into Buckingham's favour.
He argues that it is a mere act of international courtesy :

I come to the latter part of your letter, which is concerning Gautier,
who for having killed a brave French gentleman and of a noble house in a
most base fashion fled to England, where for his excelling' on the lute he
was received into the favour of my Lord the Marquis of Buckingham.
I therefore thought fit first to acquaint his Lordship (who I assure myself
never understood his fault) what this King demands concerning him :
but having received no answer as yet, I humbly beseech your Honour
to represent unto his Lordship, that whereas the English could not lately
walk the street without affront and injuries [in Pans], they are now restored
to all the favours and good opinion they can desire . besides, since they
have accorded all my requests both for our state and particular persons,

i See p. 108.

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 193

that Ins Loidship would be pleased to think at least of some indifferent
way foi their satisfaction in this. In the mean I do not so much as incline
>our Honour any way, having no other design but, together with my due
respects to my Lord the Marquis Buckingham, to acquit myself of my
obligation to this place. But your Honour shall understand more at
large of all these particulars by the Comte de Tillicres *, who set forth
on Monday the 2d of August (Anghco stilo], and intends to be at Calais
on the 6th following, and so to pass with the first commodity. I humbly
beseech your Honour to give order for his good reception, and that all
those courtesies I have received here may be returned on him, which will
assuredly entertain all good correspondence Your Honour will find
him a discreet gentleman if I be not deceived, having no other acquaintance
but a visit he gave me this day.

Herbert send a postcrrpt about the plague

The plague doth increase, but not much ; of 67,000 tecta or covered
houses esteemed to be in this town, they account 300 only to be infected,
which is but little in. proportion , yet because I have a great family,
and that if (which God forbid) the plague should seize on any of them it
would be too late to dislodge, I think fit to take the commodity of a fair
house offered me in the country not far off.

24th. -

In sending , . - to Naunton a report of the likelihood of
2d August

further warfare between the supporters of the Queen-mother and
Louis XIII (fol. 33), Herbert returns to the plague, which clearly
caused him some anxiety :

The plague does increase here, but not much yet the academies are
dislodged, whose example I think to follow, unless it decreaseth or be in
statu

Herbert withdrew immediately to Montmorency's palace at Mer-
lou, and thence reports to Naunton (fol. 35) the settlement of the
civil disturbances in France- (23d August)

There follow several letters of no great importance touching a
misunderstanding which arose between Herbert and Sir Theodore
de Mayerne, the well-known physician, (fol. 36-40) Mayerne had
been engaged in some secret diplomacy in France in 1618, and had
managed to offend the French King. He therefore asked Herbert
to adjust their differences. But Herbert, taking the matter seri-
ously, set inquiries on foot in both France and England as to what
the nature of his offence had been ; and Mayerne complained to
James I that Herbert had insulted him by taking for granted that he
was in the wrong. Herbert declared (Sept ) to Naunton (fol. 41 )>
that Mayerne had misunderstood him, and that he had secured full
satisfaction for him at the French court. Mayerne was attending

i The French ambassador in London.

C C

194 Appendix

at the time Herbert's sister, probably Lady Jane of Abemarles,
and Herbert wished ' to comfort him to look to my bick sister, who
hath long been his patient ', and ' to oblige him the moie to procure
her health ', At the same time Herbert was much harassed by
the French demand for the extradition of Gautier and was anxious
to learn ' whether his Majesty, on the example of Tyrone and Both-
well (whom France had refused to surrender) was being inclined
to keep him in England still'. He asked for the removal of all
ambiguity on this point (fol. 41). On 4th October 1619 he wrote a
French note to M de Puisieux, pointing out that James had never
insisted on the extradition of Tyrone or Bothwell; and that he
wished to know whether a reciproca lagreement were possible by
which malefactors of the one country, who had taken refuge in the
other, should be handed over to their own government (fol. 51).
Finally, on 25 October (fol. 64), Herbert informed Naunton that
the suit was relinquished by the French ministers.

Another matter treated at length in Herbert's correspondence at
this time (fol 46-51), concerns one Pierre Hugon, who was believed
-to have stolen two coffers of jewels, belonging to the late Queen
Anne, and to have entrusted them to the keeping of some French
nobles. Hugon was in prison in England. At length Herbert
obtained permission to break open the two trunks of Pierre Hugon
' remaining in the Hotel des Onsons at Pans, in the custody of
Pans, servant to the Marquis de Trenelle '. He forwarded the
inventory of their contents to Naunton (fol 52-55) through his
brother Henry, in October, and among the items were some of the
missing jewels (fol 64)

Herbert was an enthusiastic supporter of his friend the Elector-
Palatine, and was very anxious that he should accept the perilous
offer of the throne of Bohemia On 9th September 1916 he wrote
(fol 47) that ' whether the Palatine will accept the offer ', was the
chief subject of discussion at the French court .

But God forbid he should refuse it, being the apparent way His Provi-
dence hath opened to the ruin of the Papacy. I hope therefore his Majesty
will assist m this great work, having by the means of winter approaching
time enough to resolve, and prepare by treaties and other ways against
the next summer For my r*""* T""t faithfully and willingly I offer
both life and fortunes to serve iO1, ,(-,.} this or any way I may be of use.

On 29th September Herbert recurs to the subject (fol 55)

For the business of Bohemia I understand this King hath written to the
King my Master and to the Palatine to dissuade the acceptance of that
crown, at which some of this court take occasion to laugh In the mean-
while his Majesty and the Palatine's Highness may be assured they have
here a great party, and which if this King be indifferent will be certainly

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 195

much the stronger side. ... I cannot believe a state so unsettled and
tott eiing [as this] is ready yet to declare itself on either side besides,
it is extreme needy at this present, the King having stayed his journey
to Chartres from Ambois a great while for want of money.

The Elector desired to maintain his friendship with. Lord Herbert
and on 2ist October (fol. 64), the latter writes to Naunton :

I must acquaint your Honour that during my stay at Compiegne \ I
received a letter from the Palatine's Highness, wherein his Highness was
pleased to advertise me that the Elector of Treves (or Trier) would shortly
come m person to this King that his business was to accuse the Palatine's
Highness for taking arms and disturbing the public peace ; to which his
Highness desiies me to answer That (when there was on other considera-
tion) he and the princes of the union were obliged to it for the defence
of their countries, being so near unto Bohemia that the ecclesiastics
could not allege any such reason , that, therefore, in them it was unjust
to take arms, but in himself and the rest necessary so that in general
his Highness wishes me to do him all good offices in this court, and par-
ticularly to present the many helps and courtesies this King's father
received from his Highness's predecessors upon all occasions, assuring
me in conclusion that his Majesty would approve well any service I could
do his Highness in this kind That which first occurred upon reading
this letter, that I wanted instructions from his Majesty to treat in this
business, yet when I considered, what and for whom. I should speak, I
recollected myself, and went immediately unto the King's principal
ministers, the Chancellor, Monsieur le Guardesteau, and President Jannin,
where, after I had protested that what I had to say was only in the name
of the Palgrave's Highness, without that I had any such command from
the King my master, I repeated his Highness's letter in substance, as I
related that now but found them wholly inclined to believe that his
Highness had some further intention, and that the raising of those forces
was to make himself King of Bohemia, insomuch that admitting the
kingdom to be elective, which indeed they granted, they would needs argue
by what right the Bohemians could depose Ferdinand. To which I
answered that I had no commission to treat so far, yet that I had seen
diverse copies of their motives : that, among many others, Ferdinand
had treated with the King of Spam to make that kingdom hereditary
to the House of Austria ; that, besides, he was never lawfully elected.
In conclusion, after a long debate, I brought them to this, that they prom-
ised to advise with the King my master before they resolved on anything
in the business, which was all I could expect to have obtained by the
conference. Howsoever, at worst I hope his Majesty will find this state
so unaffected and neutral, that if not their resolution, yet at least their
irresolution, will keep them indifferent : and that is enough, since when-
soever his Majesty shall resolve to comfort the Palatine's Highness to the
acceptation of this offered crown, his Majesty may be assured of many
servant^ and honourers in this country that will voluntarily offer their
lives in the quarrel.

l He had visited the court there

196 Appendix

On 3ist October 1619, Herbert sends in a bill ' for secret services '
including * intelligences, and conveyance of letters ', to the amount
of 340 (fol. 66) ; and on 5th November a bill for lias ' late travelling
between Merlon, Compiegne, and Champagne ' amounting to ^400
(fol. 69). On 4th November he implores James I to send instruc-
tions concerning his behaviour towards the embassy coming to
Pans from Treves and from the Emperor to complain of the Elector
Palatine. He declares that 'his heart is as much affected to the
advancement of his Highness's cause as any whosoever ' (fol. 68).
On 24th November he writes that the Protestants are growing rebel-
lious m Beam, and that France is not likely to interfere in German
affairs. But he adds, ' the French do all their business in compli-
ment, the outward sense and meaning being only the cipher and
dead letter of their intentions '.

For my part, I have many reasons to induce me to believe they will be
neutral wherein I may come from words to more evident testimonies
I find this state first too poor, and then too unsettled to stir. Thejr
poverty appears in that they have taken up three-fourths of a year's rent
beforehand , that they lay new impositions upon the people, that faint
under the old , that they expect from the Parisians a great sum of money
(they say 300,000 crowns) as the price of the court's removing to this
place (* e. Paris), though the contagion (God be thanked for it) seems to
be in a manner extinguished And for their unsettledness, it is such as,
when the King would send an army, I think they know not whom to
trust.

On 23rd November (fol. 73) Herbert sent an enthusiastic letter
in French to the new King of Bohemia (fol. 73), expressing his own
sympathy with him, and his belief that France would not join the
Emperor against him. On 3rd December he told Naunton (fol. 74)
that he was forming a strong party in the Elector's behalf among
the French nobihty, and that if the French King remained neutral
the German Protestants might count on many ardent volunteers
from France But complaints were being made that the Roman
Catholics ' were worse used than ever ' in both England and Ger-
many. On the -i December (fol 77) Herbert states that this
24

King hath at last appointed the of January for the solemnity

of the oath of alliance betwixt the two crowns ' a ceremony which
had been repeatedly postponed, but to take part in which Herbert
had originally been sent from England. Monsieur Puisieux said
that ' it was expected I should put myself into an extraordinary
equipage for the great solemnity*. The French still hesitated
with regard to Bohemia, and Herbert asked for fuller instructions.

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 197

On 3oth December Herbert described (fol 83) some hot disputes
current at the French court and the rising discontent of the French
Protestants ; but the approaching ceremony chiefly occupied his
mind, and he was anxious to be treated with extraordinary honour.

The oath of alliance is to be solemnised the 2oth of this month (new style),
for which day, unless your Honour allow me the title of an Extraordinary
Ambassador, they will dimmish the outward ceremony of respect they
gave in their last. I have therefore, by that extraordinary commission
I had for that purpose, suffered them for that only day to receive me in
the quality of an Extraordinary Ambassador, and in truth have already
put myself into an equipage altogether extraordinary. I send your
Honour the oath ; if your Honour dislike anything, I beseech your Honour
to advertise me I will hope to prolong the solemnity to three or four
days further, winch will be a sufficient time, if your Honour please to
send me word, which I beseech your Honour not to fail ; for I am un-
willing to proceed m anything for which I have not good warrant. But
I think there will be no difficulty to suffer them to give me the respect of an
Extraordinary Ambassador for one day If I hear not from your Honour
m a reasonable time I will proceed, for now they call on rne. So hoping
your Honour will not omit to let me hear from your Honour in this business
with all possible speed.

On 3 ist December Herbert reviewed the attitude of France as to
foreign affairs in a long and able letter to James I (fol. 85-8). He
urged Naunton at the same time (fol. 89) to lead the King to announce
his own policy as one interested in the cause of the newly
elected King of Bohemia. The French ministers refused to tell him
the result of their negotiations with Furstemburg, the special
ambassador from the Emperor, on the ground that the King of
Kngland made no communication of his intentions to their master
Herbert, however, saw that Louis was inclining to the side of the
Catholics, and that the German dispute was coming to be regarded
as a great religious quarrel (fol. 89). The arrangements for the
solemn signature of the treaty of alliance were proceeding apace,
and he was sparing no expense to array himself to best advantage
(fol 91). He writes to Naunton, 8th January 1619-20

Our ceremony goes on, and it is now too late at this present to recall
my disbursements, having already (indiscreetly enough) put myself so far
into the equipage of an Ambassador Extraordinary that your Honour I
think wiE hear no man was ever beyond me But I confess I found it
necessary at this time to oblige the people even by extraordinary shows
to the solemnity, and due respect of this great alliance betwixt the two
crowns, besides that I was in plain terms told that unless the same pomp
were observed on our side we must not expect it on theirs Wherein they
did insinuate that it was a favour, that from an ambassador ordinary they
did accept me m the quality of an extraordinary (even for one day) though
at last they concluded my commission apart did oblige them to it. These

198 Appendix

considerations made me enter into great expense , arid howsoever I shall
never repent to have become my place in the best fashion I could For
the rest, I believe that if his Majesty be pleased to consider what an Em-
bassador Extraordinary would have cost by itself, my reckoning will be
thought very easy

On January 1619-20 Herbert reported Jihat military prepara-
tions were being made, whether or no to assist the Emperor he did
not know, but the Due de Guise had said to him that if the King of
Bohemia's cause was a good one, James I would have publicly
declared for it The formal ceremony was deferred till 2nd February
(new style) ' for (it was stated) the more solemnity ' (fol. 93) , but
public policy in France was clearly very vacillating (fol. 95) On
2/th January Herbert describes the performance of a preliminary
part of the solemnity with much self-satisfaction (foL 97)

The oath of alliance betwixt the two crowns was performed on Sunday
last, m the Church of the Feuillans, with all solemnity. They would have
much diminished the ceremony, as doubting whether I was honoured
with such an extraordinary commission as was capable of it But upon
better perusal of rny commission they thought good to make it public in
the church, as when rny Lord Wotton was here, and this being the reallest
I thought I need not insist upon some less essential forms. In the fashion
I appeared in, the opinion is, no man exceeded me of the most extraordinary
that have been here , which I did the rather to meet with their objections.
I shall take the boldness to write to his Majesty concerning the same
business whereof my last advertised his Majesty, but have not herein
desired his gracious pleasure, so that I will beseech your Honour to obtain
it, which I do I protest for no other end but that the honour may remain
to my posterity of serving his Majesty though but for one day, in the
quality of an Ambassador Extraordinary If your honour be pleased
to use my most noble Lord the Marquis of Buckingham herein, I am sure
his Lordship will be pleased to remember the honour his Majesty did me
on this occasion.

On January 1619-20 Herbert sends to the King a copy of a

letter from Louis to the Emperor, to which he had secretly obtained
access. He points out that the French King is not sending "succours
to the German Catholics, but merely desires ' to weigh the Emperor's
propositions l '.

On 3rd February 1619-20 Herbert returns to the question of his
status (foL i oo).

And now for my quality during the ceremony, I hope your Honour
knows how far I was from persuming, though it were the subject for which
I was once designed extraordinary, and which (since they had no other

1 A copy of this letter is also in MS. Harl , 1581, f 13

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 199

allegation why they should dimmish that ceremony) I hoped I might most
humbly desire his Majesty to confirm as a favour heretofore conferred
upon me, in which since I beseech your Honour most particularly that
his Majesty may understand me.

On 1 8 th February 1619-20, Herbert renews his desire for precise
instructions with regard to Bphemian affairs, complains that James I
had, without considering his dignity, been answering the current
charges brought against him by continental politicians of having
instigated his son-in-law to act 011 the offensive, and that popular
feeling in France was inclining against the Elector- Palatine ;
although Herbert's own affection for him was unchanged (fol. 100).
On 2 ist February 1619-20, he writes that the relations between
Louis XIII and his Protestant subjects were very critical, and that
Gondomar had arrived in Paris in the hope of preserving peace in
Europe (fol. 100) On 25th February he perceives that the Bohem-
ian cause is in jeopardy. * All I have to comfort me, next God's
providences ', Herbert writes, * is his Majesty's wisdom, which. I
assure myself will temper all for the best '.

With these words the letter-book comes to an end The only
other letter of this period with which I have met is one in MS., Harl.
1581, fol. u, addressed by Herbert to Buckingham from Merlou,
ist October 1609, in which, he first broaches a marriage between
Henrietta Maria and Prince Charles.

Since my writing this other, I understood the King passed near this
place, on his way to Compiegne in Picardy. They made me repair to
court, where I visited only M. de Luynes, who, among other speeches,
told me they had given instructions to their ambassador in England,
that if there were any overture made of a match for our Prince with
Madame Hennette the king's sister, that it should be received with all
honour and affection ; and (if I be not mistaken in the meaning of his
words) said, so much was already insinuated by their said ambassador.

I answered them as civilly as I could, having no instructions to speak
of any such thing, and came to the business of Bohemia, wherein I desired
to know how his master stood affected He told me that he had not yet
leisure to consider the consequences, and that he first desired to hear how
the King my master did declare himself. I told him his Majesty did advise
what was to be done, that in the meanwhile he did protest that when
he sent his ambassador to compose the differences of the empire, that he
knew nothing of the Palatine's election to the kingdom of Bohemia, or
that there was any such design. That besides his Majesty's protestation,
which was an argument above all that could he made to the contrary,
there were many reasons to persuade that even the Palatine's Highness
himself knew nothing of any such intention , as, first, the unanimity of
consent in the Bohemians, which argues there was no faction or labouring
of voices , secondly, the necessity, since they could not tell where else
to put themselves under protection ; thirdly, that if it had been the

2OO Appendix

Palatine's Highness's desire, that certainly he would have used both that
and other means to prevent the election of King Ferdinand to the Empire
This was the effect of the reasons I gave, to which I added that, howsoever
the King my master did resolve, I hoped at least his master would be
indifferent that they had no greatness to fear but that of the House of
Austria ; that they might take the time to recover the countries detained
from them ; that lastly, there was no other way, as matters now stand,
to establish the peace of Christendom, since he might be sure the untamed
Germans would never submit themselves to others. He, which seemed
to hearken more to my reasons than to answer them, told me all these
matters should be referred to the King's being at Compiegne, whither he
desired me to come, which I promised ; as having the business of the
King's renewing his oath, to require. I have written these particularities
to Mr. Secretary Naunton, and attend your Lordship's further command-
ments.

The postscript runs

M. de Luynes doth much desire to hold correspondence with your Lord-
ship, and desired me to tell your Lordship so much. I should be glad to
have leave to use a little compliment to him on your Lordship's part

14
On August 1620, Herbert returns to the theme in a letter to

the King (MSS Harl. f 15) .

Le Buisson is returned, and, as Monsieur Le Prince did tell me, hath
matl^ a v- ^'t r^ *-> ~ur sacred Majesty concerning a marriage betwixt
his 1 lii' 1 i *- i'v M,>i .1 ' ' Henriette, to which, he said, your sacred Majesty
did answer, that your sacred Majesty did desire it too, but that your sacred
Majesty was so far engaged with Spam that your sacred Majesty could
not treat thereof This Monsieur Le Prince told me, and I thought it my
duty to let your sacred Majesty know the report , on which occasion, I
cannot omit to tell your sacred Majesty that the match is generally desired
by this nation, and particularly by Madame herself, who hath not only cast
out many words to this purpose, but, when there hath been question of
diversity of religions, hath said, that a wife ought to have no will but
that of her husband's , which words I confess have incited me to do her
this good office In the rest, being <to far from having a voice that I will
not so much as have a thought \\luch is not warranted by your sacied
Majesty's authority, which I hold in that infinite reverence that I am
sorry I can say no more than that I will live and die your sacred Majesty's
most obedient, most loyal, and most affectionate subject and servant,

HERBERT.

On 15th. February 1620-1 Herbert described In a letter to the
King the coming war with the French Protestants, and the plan
of attack adopted by the King in council. Luynes, he stated, was
ra favour of peace, and his ' averseness from, entering into any war
at home ' would probably delay its outbreak. Herbert suggested

Lord Herbert's Correspondence 201

that Luynes foresaw * that his enemies who dare not show them-
selves in time of peace will not fear to declare themselves m time
oi war '

Among the Egerton MSS. No 2598, are a few letters addressed
by Herbert to Lord Doncaster, Earl of Carlisle In the first (fol.
173), dated 24th July 1620, Herbert describes the French people
thus :

This is a nation tied by no rules, and therefore there is nothing else can be
affirmed of them , yet, in this irregularity, they will want neither example
or excuse. If we compare them to those things which corrupt, wanting
motion ; in the perpetual inconstancy and unqmetness whereof they
have left it more doubtful whether they will make either war or peace, at
this present.

On October 1620 Herbert describes to Doncaster (fol. 254)

the visit of Louis XIII to Beam, and his cold reception there by
the disaffected Protestants

During his temporary withdrawal in 1621 Doncaster took Her-
bert's place at Paris. When Herbert was returning in 1622 to the
French court, he writes to Doncaster to thank him for having
smoothed the way for him :

It is not a work of Fortune that I am put into your Lordship's hands.
For, to have put me into your Lordship's hands, were to have put me out
of her own. It is therefore a higher Providence, which, forseemg the
disposition I have ever had to honour and serve your Lordship, would as
well give me all just occasion for it ; On these terms I can nothing doubt
of the success of mine or any affair, while, for being undertaken by these
hands, I can do no less, than most humbly desire, as soon as possibly, to
kiss them 1 .

After Herbert's return to Paris in December 1621, little of his
correspondence is extant. On hearing that Doncaster was coming
to Paris to excuse Prince Charles's and Buckingham's hasty passage
through France on their way to Spam, Herbert wrote (Egerton
MS. 2574, fol. 165) .

Meeting so fit an opportunity, I would not fail to put your Lordship in
mind with how much and true devotion I accompany your Lordship's
journey, and withal give your Lordship notice that the Marquis Spmola
is departed from Bruxelles, his cannon marching towards the Palatmat ,
whither it is certainly believed he will lead his forces.

The letter is dated from Paris, 2Oth August 1622.
When Doncaster had left Paris to follow the Prince into Spain,
Herbert writes (Egerton MS. 2595, fol. 181) (23rd March 1622-3) :

From London, and not Paris, this ~ April 1622.
26

D D

2O2 Appendix

Your Lordship's letters of exchange I delivered Mr. Langherac, who
hath sent them after your Lordship, to Bordeaux , your Lordship's present
hath been delivered to the King, who seemed much to esteem it Your
Lordship must have heard before now of the death of the good President
J anmn.

The postscript runs

I desire infinitely to hear the success of his Highness' journey, whom
God bless, but know not how far I may presume of your Lordship's leisure.

The last extant letter written during his embassy was addressed
by Herbert to the King, and discussed the opinions held in France
of the Spanish marriage treaty after the failure of the negotiations :

MY MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN, Now that I thank God for it, his
Highness, according to my continual prayers, hath made a safe and happy
return unto your sacred Majesty's presence, I think myself bound, by way
of complete obedience to those commandments I received from your
sacred Majesty, both by Mr. Secretary Calvert and my brother Henry, to
give your sacred Majesty an account of that sense which the general sort
of people doth entertain here, concerning the whole frame and context
of his Highness' voyage It is agreed on all parts that his Highness must
have received much contentment in seeing two great kingdoms, and con-
sequently m enjoying that satisfaction which princes but rarely, and not
without great peril obtain His Highness' discretion, diligence, and
princely behaviour everywhere, likewise is much praised Lastly, since
his Highness' journey hath fallen out so well, that his Highness is come
back without any prejudice to his person or dignity they say the success
hath sufficiently commended the council This is the most common
censure (even of the bigot party, as I am informed) which I approve in all
but in the last point, m the delivery whereof I find something to dislike,
and therefore tell them, that things are not to be judged alone by the
success, and that when they would not look so high as God's providence,
without which no place is secure, they might find even in reason of state
so much as might sufficiently warrant his Highness' person, and liberty
to return

I will come from the ordinary voice, to the selecter judgment of the
ministers of state, and more intelligent people in this kingdom, who,
though they nothing vary from the above-recited opinion, yet as more
profoundly looking into the state of this long-treatcd-of alliance betwixt
your sacred Maj'esty and Spain in the persons of his Highness and the
Infanta, they comprehend their sentence thereof (as I am informed) m
three prepositions

First, That the protestation, which the King of Spain made to his
Highness upon his departure, whereby he promised to chase away, and
disfavour all those who should oppose this marriage, doth extend no further,
than to the said king's servants, or at furthest, not beyond the temporal
princes his neghbours, so that the Pope, being not included herein, it is
thought his consent must be yet obtained, and consequently that the
business is in little more forwardness than when it first began.

Secondly, That the Pope will never yield his consent, unless your sacred

Lord Herbert's Corr spondence 203

Majesty grant some notable privileges and advantage to the Roman Catholic
religion in your sacred Majesty's kingdoms.

Thirdly, That the said King of Spam would never insist upon obtaining
those privileges, but that he more desires to form a party in your sacred
Majesty's kingdoms, which he may keep always obsequious to his will,
than to maintain a friendly correspondence betwixt your sacred Majesty
and himself. I must not, in the last place, omit to acquaint your sacred
Majesty very particularly with the sense which was expressed by the
bon$ Frangois and body of those of the Religion, who heartily wish that
the same greatness which the King of Spam doth so affect over all the
world, and still maintains even in this country, which is to be protector
of the Jesuited and bigot party, your sacred Majesty would embrace
being Defender of our Faith. The direct answer to which though I evade,
and therefore reply little more than that this council was much fitter when
the Union in Germany did subsist than at this time , yet do I think myself
obliged to represent the affection they bear unto your sacred Majesty.
This is as much as is come to my notice, concerning that point your sacred
Majesty gave me in charge, which therefore I have plainly laid open before
your sacred Majesty's eyes, as understanding well, that princes never
receive greater wrong than when the ministers they put in trust do palliate
and disguise those things which it concerns them to know. For the
avoiding whereof, let me take the boldness to assure your sacred Majesty
that those of this King's Council here will use all means they can, both
to the King of Spam, and to the Pope (in whom they pretend to have very
particular interest) not only to interrupt but if it be possible to break off
your sacred Majesty's alliance with Spain. For which purpose the Count
do Tilheres hath strict command to give either all punctual advice, that
accordingly they may proceed. It rests that I most humbly beseech your
Sacred Majesty to take my free relation of these particulars m good part,
since I am of no faction, nor have any passion or interest, but faithfully
to perform that service and duty which I owe to your sacred Majesty, for
whose perfect health and happiness I pray, with the devotion of your
sacred majesty's Most obedient, most loyal, and most affectionate subject
and servant,

HERBERT l .

From MERLQT; CASTLE, the 3ist of October 1623. SM, No.

The Princess Elizabeth's gratitude to Herbert for his devotion to her
cause is shown in the following undated letter which she addressed to
him from the Hague ' I pray be assured that my being in childbed hath
hindered me all this while from thanking you for your letter, and no
forgetfulness of mine to you to whom I have ever had obligations from
your love, which I will ever acknowledge and seek to requite in what I
can.' Warner's Epistolary Curiosities.

1 Printed in The Cabala, p. 231, and Ellis's Ongwal Letters, ist ser , m, 1636

INDEX

ABBEVILLE, 102

Abemarlos, Lady Jane of, 194

Abergavenny, 8 and 11,, 75

Aberystwith, Castle of, 4 11.

Aer, 39 and n

Amorarit, Monsieur, 125

Albemarle, Duke of See Monk.

Alneri, 43 n.

Algiers, 13 and n.

Alice of Llanowell, 170

Alnwick, 146

Amadis de Gaul, 6 and n.

Ambois, 195

Amiens, 102

Amsterdam, Pharmacopoeia of, 29

and n.

Andrews, 129
Angles ea 7, 22
Anne of Austria, 105 and n , 114,

115, 124
Anne, Queen of Denmark, 68 and

n , 69 and n , 102
Antwerp, 68
Areskin or Erskine, Sir James, 64

and n , 67, 186
Aristotle, xxv , 32
Arnauld, Antoine de la Mothe, 118

n., 123

Ascham, Roger, quoted, 25 n.
Asti, treaty of, 95 n.
Aston, 5 n.

Aston, Sir Walter, 125 and n.
Astrology, 27 and n.
Athletics, 37-42
Aubrey, John, quoted, 161 n
Augsbourg, 8 r

Aurora Me&worum, 30 and n*, 31
Ayres, Lady, xv , 73
Ayres, Sir John, 69-74, 76

BACON, FRANCIS, 26 n., 27 n , 141,181
Balagm, Count, xiv , 57 and a.

61-2, 65, 107
Baldwin, Timothy, 142 and n.

Baltimore, Lord. See Calvert, Sir

George

B anbury, battle near, 6, 8 n.
Barker, John, of Harnoii, 50
Basle, 94

Basset"-- "f rJoni^ro 173
Bath, K u ii >(! "[the, 44 andn.,

45 and 11

Bauderon, Brice, 30 and n.
Bavaria, Duke of, 137
Baxter, Richard, on Herbert's philo-
sophy, xxxiv
Bayonne, 129
Beaumaris, 74
Beaumont, Sir Thomas, 181
Bedford, Earl of, 70 n.
Bedford, Lucy, Countess of, 70 and

n , 112 and n.
Bemerton, n n.
Bemlle, P , 191
Berenger, Richard, quoted on

horses, 37 n.

Bergen-op-Zoom, n and n.
Betune, M., 183
Blackball, 4
Blaenllyfm, 170

Blount, Charles, the Deist, xxxiv
Bohemia, an inland or maritime

country ? 105 and n
Bohemia, King of See Frederick,

Elec tor- Palatine
Bohemia, Queen of. See Elizabeth,

Electr ess-Palatine.
Bologna, 84
Bonvile, Lord, 8 n.
Boswell, William, 106 n.
Both well, 194
Boulogne, 128
Bourbon, Francois de, 57 n
Bouteville, Monsieur de, 107
Brandenburg, Elector of, 76 n
Braose, William de, 170
Brereton, Sir William, 149, 152,

155, 156, 157
Bresne, Comte de, 191

204

Index

205

Bndgewater, Earl of, 160

Brill, the, 96 and n ,

Bristol, John Digby, Earl of, 125

and n.
Bromley, Sir Thomas, 9 and n ,

15 11.
Brooke, Lord (Robert Greville), a

philosopher, xxxiv. n.
Brown, Sir John (husband of Lord

Herbert's sister Frances), 15, 43 n
Bruce, Loid, of Kinloss, 90 11 ,

1 80, 181

Brussels, 68, 8r, 96, 125, 126
Buckingham, Duke of. See Villiers
Buddy, 1 06
Burgome, 88

Bmiamacchi, Philip, 101 and n.
Burleigh House, near Stamford, 44

and n

Bussy d'Amboise, 57 n.
Byron, John, first Lord, 289.

CAAGE, THOMAS, probably a wrong
transcription for Carew, Thomas
(qv)

Cabriolet, 39 and n

Cadenet, Marquis de, 121 n.

Caireimion, 2 n.

Calais, 48, 68, 97, 102

Calvert, Sir George, 95 and n , 188,
202

Cambria* Powell's Ht,$tone of, 174 n.

Carew, Sir George, 48 and n.

Carew, Thomas, xx. n , 102 n.

Carleton, Sir Dudley, 82, 85, 87 n ,
124 n , 125

Carlisle, Earl of See Hay, James.

Caros, 21 and n.

Cary, Sir Henry, first Viscount
Falkland, 72 and n.

Cary, Lucius, second Viscount Falk-
land, 72 n.

Casaubon, Isaac, 56 and n.

Castle-Island (Kerry), barony of,
conferred on Herbert, 138, 140

Catherine, Queen of Aragon, 172

Cecil,, Lady Diana, 82 n.

Cecil, <Sir Edward, 12, 61, 63 and n.
66, '79, 140, 183 and n.

Cenis, Mont, 86

Chamosdfys t 24 and n.

Chamwpitv*, 24 and n

Chamberlain, quoted, 51 n, 181

Chandos, Lord, 60 and 11 , 61, 163,
181

Chantilly, 52, 54

Chapman, George, 182

Charlecote (Warwickshire), 58 n.
Charles I , xxn., 138, 140, 141, 142-

147, 148, 150, 157, 199, 202
Charles, Prince of Wales, 126, 128-

130, 131, 132, 136, 137* 201
Charles V., 55
Chartres, 195
Chatillon, Monsieur de, 62 n , 79

185

Chatre, Marshal de la, 60 and n.
Cheek, Sir Hatton, 180
Chelsea, 10 n.
Cherbury, 5 n , 142, 162
Chester, 148, 152, 156
Chirbury See Cherbury
Chirk Castle, 149
Chrestienne, Madame, 187
Christianity, Lord Herbert's view

of, xxvii -xxix
Churchyard, Thomas, quoted, 7 n.,

21 n.

Cicero, De Orator e, 36
Cleves, 60, 76 n , 180
Cleves, Duke of, 60 n.
Clifford, Anne, 68 n.
Cognac, 1 20, 121
Coke, Sir Edward, 182
Colebrook, 6, 76
Collier, Jeremy, 182 and n.
Cologne, 8 1

Comenius, John Amos, 25 and n
Compiegne, 195, 199, 200
Conde", Prince of, 107, H5 129
Con ers, Sir John, 8 n
Contarim, Signior, 125
Contt, Princess of, xiv., 57 and n ,

59, 105, 114, 118

Conway, Sir Edward, 96 and n
Corbet, family of (Ancestors of Lord

Herbert), 10
Corbet, John, 2
Cordus, Valerius, 30 and n.
Cortme, 61 and n
Cottington, Francis, Lord, 125, 128

and n , 181 n.
Cotton, Sir George, 45 n.
Cotton, Mary (Lady Kent), 45 n.
Cotton, Sir Robert, 180
CourbeUes, 39 and n.
Coventry, 157
Cowbndge, 173
Cremomni, Cesare, 84 and n.
Croft, Sir Edward, 72 n.
Croft, Sir Herbert, 72 and n.
Croft, Sir James, 44 and n. 72 n.
Crofts, Jane, 9 n.
Crofts, Mr,, 106
Crofts, Sir Richard, 9 n.

2C>6

Index

Cromwell, Thomas, 172, 173

Crook, Lady, 73

Crosse, William, 62 arid n , 77 n

Crouy, Duke of, 126

Culverwel, Nathaniel, xxxm , xxxiv.

Cumberland, Earl of, 68 n.

Curzon, Sir George, 90 n.

Curzon, Mary, 90 n

D ALTON, Sir Thomas, 180

Dancing, 37

Danvers, Sir John of Dauntsey, 10

n
Danvers, Sir John, xix , 10 n , 113

and n , 161 n

D avers, Sir John See Danvers
De Causis Errorum, xxvn n.
De Rehgione Gentilium, xxvn.

and n , quoted, xxvm n , 27 n >

158
De Ventate? xxv , 133, 134 and n ,

144 and n , 147, 158, 161
Dee, Dr John, 22 n.
Delia Casa, 42 n.
Denmark, n

Descartes' opinion of Herbert's phi-
losophy, xxxv
Devereux, family of (ancestors of

Lord Herbert), 10
Didlebury, in Shropshire, 21 n.
Dieppe, 58

Digby, Everard, quoted, 41 n
Dinas, castle of, 170
Diodati, xxxv., 158 n
Disancourt, Monsieur de, 52, 54,

55, 102

Dispensatory, by Gesner, 31 and n
Dolguog, 5, 29 n
Doncaster, Viscount. See Hay,

James.
Donne, Dr John, xix , xx. n ,

10 and n , ii n , 21 n , 175-178,

178-9
Dorset, fourth Earl of (Edward Sack-

ville), xvi., 68 n , 90 and n , 91-2,

180
Dorset, tmrd Earl of (Richard), 68

and n
Dorset, first Earl of (Thomas Sack-

ville), 90 n.
Dorset House, 68
Dover, 48, 68, 102, 128
Dreux, battle of, 49 n
Dudley, Sir Robert, 84 and n
Dudson, 31 n
Duels and duelling, 40, 62-67, 179-

182

Dugdale, Sir William, xxxm , 6 n ,

9 n , 167 n

Dumoulm, Sieur, 122 and n
Dunkirk, 97
Dusseldorf, 66, 67

EDMONDES, Sir Thomas, 57 n ,

139

Edward IV , xix , 6 n , 7 n.
Edward VI , 3
Edgecote, 8 and n
Edgehill, battle of, 6 and n.
Education, Lord Herbert's views

on, xxx, 23-43
Emion, David, 6 n
Elector- Palatine. Sec Frederick,

Elector- Pal atme

Elizabeth, Princess (Electress- Pala-
tine), xvii , xxm., 87 n , 94, 125 n.,

136, 137, 180 and n , 203
Elizabeth, Queen, xm., xxiv., 44
Emerson, 97, 98
Emmerich, 77

Ercall (seat of Newports), 15 n
Ernely, Sir Michael, 155, 156
Erskine, Sir James. See Areskm
Essex, Robert Devereux, second

Earl of, 43 and n., 96 n
Essex, Robert Devereux, third Earl

of (the Parliamentary general),

150, 181
Estampes, no
Exeter, Thomas Cecil, first Earl of

12 n.
Exeter, William Cecil, second Earl

of, 82 11
Eyton, 15 and n , 20, 22

FAIRFAX, Sir William, 156
Fairfax, Lord, 153 and n
Falkland, Lord. See Gary
Fencing, 38 and n
Ferdinand II., 84 n , 200
Fernelius Johannes, 30 and n.
Ferrara, 84
Finet or Fmnet, Sir John, 88 and n ,

181 n

Fitz- Herbert, Herbert, 167
FitzHugh, Lord, 8 n
Florence, 82

Fowler of the Giange, 76
Fox, Ann, 4 n

Fox, Charles, of Bromfield, 4 n.
Francis I , 55

Franklin, Benjamin, quoted, xi.
Frascati, 83

Index

207

Frederick, Elector Palatine and
King of Bohemia, xvii , xvin , 81,
I3 6 I 37, 194-197, 199-200

Fugglestonc, ii 11

Furstenberg, Count, 197

GABELET, MOUNT, 88

Gaellac, Monsieur, 132

Galatheo de Moribus, 42 and n.

Galen, 30

Gambling, 42

Gassendi, xxxv ,158 and n

Gautier, 194

Geneva, 94, 125

Genoa, 86 n.

Gesner, Conrad, 31 and n.

Glendower, Owen, 171

Gondomar, Count de, 126-128, 199

Grafton, the chronicler, 6 and n

Gravelines, 97

Gravesend, 102

Greek, study of, 25

Greenwich, 50, 51

Grey, family of (ancestors of Lord
Herbert), 10

Griffith, Margaret, wife of Sir
Richard Herbert of Colebrook, 8 n.

Gnfhth, Sir Rice, 8 n , 172

Gniiith, Thomas, 8 n

Griffiths, Richard, of Sutton, xvi.,
28, 75-6, 113

Grimes, Mr , 128

Grotius, Hugo, xxv., 132, 133 n

Guardestean, Monsieur le, 195

Guarthelow, 31 n

Guazzo, Stefano, La Civil Conversa-
tion, 42 and n

Gueretm, Monsieur, 125

Guiana, 86 n.

Guiscardi, Sigmor, 125

Guise, Duke of, 57 n , 116 and n.,
I3* 198

Guttler, Dr. C., xxvii. n.

HAIG, James, 191

Halyburton, Thomas, xxxiv.

Hall, Edward, the chronicler, 6 and

n., 8 n.

Hamilton, Lieut., 67
Hamilton, Sir William, xxvi n ,

xxvii. n.

Harduin, Phil., 29 n
Harloch, Castle of, 6 and n., 7 n
Harley, Sir Robert, xvi , 73 and n.,

98
Hastings, Lord Francis, 98 n.

Hay, James, Viscount, Doncaster
and Earl of Carlisle, 122 and n ,
123, 130 n , 134 and n , 135 and
n , 181, 200-202

Hearne, quoted, 182 n

Heath, James, 154

Hedgecote Field, 170

Heidelberg, 81, 87

Henly, Andrew, of Basel, in and
n.

Henrietta Maria, 126 and n , 132,
134 n , 136, 137, 199

Henri IV of France, xiv.,49 n , 56
and n , 57 n , 60 and n , 103-104
and n , 105 and n , 108, 109, 118-
121, 171, 179

Henry I , 167

Henry VI., 8 n.

Henry VII , 6 n , 143, 172

Henry VIII , 6, 9 n., 142, 145, 172

Henry, Prince of Wales, poems on,
xxxvi n.

Herbert, early history of family of,
after Lord Herbert's death, 163

Herbert, family of (St Julian's), 47,
171

Herbert of Gower and Chepstow,
Charles Somerset, Lord, 9 n.

Herbert, Adam, 170

Herbert, Alicia (Lord Herbert's
granddaughter), 161 n.

Herbert, Ann (aunt of Lord Her-
bert), 4 n.

Herbert, Lady Anne, 3 and n

Herbert, Arabella (Lord Herbert's
granddaughter), 161 n.

Herbert, Beatrice (Lord Herbert's
daughter), 23, 46 and n., 153, 160

Herbertus, Camerarms, 167

Herbert, Charles (uncle of Lord
Herbert), 5 and n

Herbert, Charles (brother of Lord
Herbert), 10, n and n

Herbert, Christina, 170

Herbert, Edward (Lord Herbert's
grandfather), 2, 3 and n , 4 and n.,
5 and n , 15 n., 173

Herbert, Edward, first Lord Her-
bert of Cherbury his vanity, xi ,
his avowed object in writing
his life, xu , his career at
court, xm. ; his lack of veracity,
xviu. ; his later life, xxiu.-xxiv ,
his political temperament, xxiv ,
his philosophy, xxv -xxvn ,
his theory of truth, xxvi. , his
religious opinions, xxvii xxix ,
his critics, xxxui.-xxxvi. , his

208

Index

poetry, xxxvi -xxxvm ; his
History of Henry VIII , xxxviu.-
xxxix , his prose style, xxxix ,
his ancestry , 1-9, 167-171 his
mother, brothers, and sisters, 9-
15 , born at Eyton, 15 , his,
infancy, 15 ; his first education,
19-21 f goes to Oxford, 21; marries
his cousin, 22-23 , his notions on
education, 23-43 his knowledge
of medicine, 28-32 , his love of
botany, 31 , his horsemanship,
39-41 , removes to London, 43 ,
is presented to Queen Elizabeth,
44 , is made Knight of the Bath,
44 , his children, 46 , goes to
Paris, 48 , visits Montmorency
at Merlou, 48 , offers to fight his
first duel, 49 , his challenges,
50-52 ; hunts at Merlou, 53 , visits
Chantilly, 54 , sees Casaubon at
Paris, 56 , goes to the Tiulenes,
56 , meets M. de Balagni, 57
61-62 ; is nearly shipwrecked
off Dover, 58 ; has his portrait
painted, xv. and n , 60 and n. ,
68 and n. , goes to the Low Coun-
tries, 60 , acts bravely at the
siege of Juliers, 61-62 ; quarrels
with Lord Howard of Walden, 62,
66, 182-186 , visits the Earl of
Dorset, 68, ; is favoured by Queen
Anne, 68, 69 , his liaison with
Lady Ayres, 69-70 ; is assaulted
by Sir J ohn Ayres, 70-75 J saves
Richard Griffiths' life, 75-6,
returns to the Low Countries, 76 ,
challenges the Spaniards, 80 ;
interviews Spinola, 81 , goes to
Cologne, 8 1 j to Switzerland, 82 ,
to Italy, 82-85 , visits the Duke
of Savoy, 86 ; is kindly received
by an innkeeper's wife, 87-8 ;
visits an innkeeper's beautiful
daughter, 88-9 , reaches Lyons,
89 , is arrested, 90 , is released
by the aid of Sir Edward Sack-
ville, 91-2 ; challenges the
governor of Lyons, 92-94 , meets
the Duke of Montmorency, 93 ,
visits Geneva, 94 ; goes to the
Low Countries, 95 ; returns
to England, 95-98 , is appointed
ambassador at Paris, 99 ; is
insulted, 99-100 , encounters Sir
Robert Vaughan, 100-101 , leaves
England, 102 ; settles m Paris,
103 ; presents himself to Louis

XIII at Tours, 103 , and to the
Queen, 105 , flies from the plague
at Paris to Meilou, 107 quatrrls
with ^V ^p.v^i I'.ib i->b t idoL
aboii c- i< i i no ; gets
the hi , i , * .<> visits Les-
digueres, in , grows taller, m-
2 ; his mode of life, ir2 , has a
pulse in his head, 113 , his sweet-
ness of body, 113 ; amuses him-
self in Pans, 113-115 , defends
James I 's character, 115 , talks
with the Due de Guise, 116 , seeks
to prevent war being made on
the French Protestants, 118-9
quarrels with M. de Luynes, 119 ;
visits the scene of battle, 120 ,
returns to England, 122 , is
justified by J arn.es I. 123 ; goes
to Paris again, 123 and n , is
welcomed, 124 , his intercourse
with his fellow-ambassadors, 124-5;
insists on the justice of the
Elector-Palatine's cause, 126 ;
meets Gondomar, 127 ; hears of
Prince Charles's visit to Spain,
128-130 ; discusses the attack
on the French Protestants with
Pere Sguerend, 131-2 , contem-
plates publishing his De Ventate,
132-3 ; prays for a sign from
heaven, 1-53 pr^ts the book,
134; is ,iC<t!'(CL I'.oiii Pans, 135
and n , is averse to the Spanish
marriage, 136 , seeks office, 138 ,
is made Lord Castle-Island, 138 ,

Petitions Charles I , 139, 145 ; is
arassed by creditors, 140, is
made Lord Herbert of Cherbury,
140 ; joins the Council of War,
140 , defends Buckingham in his
Expedition of the Isle of Rlie",
141-2 ; writes on supremacy in
the Church, 143 ; begins his
Henry VIII , 143 ; discusses the
matter with Panzani, 144 ;
appeals to Charles I. for aid, 145 ,
goes to York, 145-6 ; hesitates
as to his part in the civil war,
147 , lives at Montgomery Castle,
148 , corresponds with his
brother Henry, 148-150 ; is
threatened by the Long Parlia-
ment, 150 , declines to help
Prince Rupert in Wales, 1512 ;
surrenders Montgomery Castle
to the Parliamentary army under
Middleton, 153-155 ; is besieged

Index

209

there by Royalists, 156 ; goes to
London, 157 ; is pensioned by
the Parliament, 157 ; revisits
Pans, 158 ; makes his will, 159-
161 ; dies, 161 , his epitaphs on
himself, 161-2 ; his successors
and descendants, 165 ; his in-
structions at the French court,
186-188 ; his correspondence
with Sir George More, 188-190 ;
his correspondence as French
ambassador, 190201

Herbert, Sir Edward, the lawyer,
5 and n., 14 n.

Herbert, Edward (Lord Herbert's
son), 23, 48, 144, 148, 160

Herbert, Edward (Lord Herbert's
grandson), third Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, 148, 159-161 n., 163

Herbert, Elizabeth, 9 n.

Herbert, Elizabeth (sister of Lord
Herbert), 10, 14 and n.

Herbert, Elizabeth (Lord Herbert's
cousin), 29 n.

Herbert, Florence (Lord Herbert's
daughter), 46 and n.

Herbert, Florence (Lord Herbert's
granddaughter), 160, 161 n

Herbert, Frances (sister of Lord
Herbert), 10, 15-6

Herbert, Frances (Lord Herbert's
granddaughter), 160, 161 n

Herbert, George (uncle of Lord
Herbert), 5 and n

Herbert, Sir George, of St. Julian's,
9 and n.

Herbert, George, the poet (brother
of Lord Herbert), 5 n , 10, n and
n., 14 n., 140, 175

Herbcrt,Sir George,of Swansea, 173

Herbert, Sir Gerard, 102 n.

Herbert, Sir Henry (brother of Lord
Herbert), 10, 12 and n , 100, 140,
148-150, 160 n., 163, 194

Herbert, Henry (Lord Herbert's
grandson), 161

Herbert, Henry Arthur, created
Earl Powis, 4 n.

Herbert, Jane (married Jenkin
Lloyd), aunt of Lord Herbert's,
4 n.

Herbert, John (Lord Herbert's
grandson), 161 n.

Herbert, Magdalen (Lord Herbert's
mother), 9-10, 21, 23, 43 *75~
179

Herbert, Margaret (sister of Lord
Herbert), 10, 14 and n.

Herbert, Mary (Lord Herbert's

wife), xirt., xiv , 22 and n., 23, 44;

dies, 148
Herbert, Mary (Richard Herbert's

wife), 1 60
Herbert, Mary (married T Purcell),

aunt of Lord Herbert's, 4 n.
Herbert, Matthew (uncle to Lord

Herbert), 4 and n , 29 n
Herbert, Oliver (cousin to Lord

Herbert), 107, 154 n.
Herbert, Philip, Earl of Mont-
gomery and Pembroke, 112 n.,

181
Herbert, Sir Richard (of Colebrook),

xix., 2
Herbert, Sir Richard (Herberts'

great-grandfather), 2, 5 and n ,

6-8 and n
Herbert, Richard (Lord Herbert's

father), 2-3 and n., 15 n, 21,

173

Herbert, Richard (brother of Lord
Herbert), 10, n and n.

Herbert, Richard (Lord Herbert's
son), second Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, 23, 46, 148, 150, 160,
161

Herbert, Thomas (brother of Lord
Herbert), 10, n n , 12-14 ;
appointed Captain of Dreadnought*
14 n.

Herbert, Sir Thomas, travels of,
ii n.

Herbert, Thomas (Lord Herbert's
grandson), 161 n.

Herbert, William, Earl of Pem-
broke (died, 1469), 2 n , 6 and n ,
7, 9, 22

Herbert, Sir William, of St. Julian's,
21 and n., 22 and n.

Herbert, William (first Earl of Pem-
broke, 1551^3 n., 4 n., 5 n-> 49
167, 170

Herbert, William (brother of Lord
Herbert), 10, 11 and n , 95

Herbert, William (created Baron
Powis, 1629), 70 and n , 140

Herbert, William, third Earl of Pem-
broke (died, 1630), 77 n , 82 n ,
112 and n , 140, 147

Heurn, Jan van, 30 and n.

Hill, Humphrey, 73

Hilyard, Robert (Robin of Redes-
dale), 8 n.

Hippocrates, 30

History of henry VIII, by Lord
Herbert, xxxvm , 142
E E

210

Index

Hoby, Sir Edmund, 70 n.

Hoby, Lady, 70 and n.

Holland, Earl of. See Rich.

Horsemanship, 37 and n.

Howard, Mr. Harry, 180

Howard, Theophilus, Lord, of Wai-
den, xiv. xv., xx , 62 and n 66,
68, 180, 182-186

Howard, Lady, of Walden, 65 and n.

Howard, Lord Thomas, 72 n.

Howell, quoted, 121-2 n

Hugon, Pierre, 194.

Humphrey, Lord Stafford (Earl of
Devonshire), 8 n.

Hunting, 53

Idea, Medicine PhilosopJncce, 26

and n.
Ireland, 72
Isnard, 141

JAMES I , xiii , xvni., xxii., 13,
42 n , 44, 59 74, 96-7, 101, 103,
113, 114, 115, 117, 118-9, 123,

179, 186-188, 190-192, 194, 195,

197-8

J annui, President, 1 1 6 and n., 195,202
Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, 6-7 n.
Jenkm, Thomas, 170
Jennet (horse), 59-60 and n.
Jesus College, Oxford, 160 and n.
Johnson, Thomas, 31 n.
Jones, Lady, of Abermarles, 50
Jones, Sir Henry, of Abermarles, 14

and n

Jonson, Ben, xx. and n., xxxvi. n.
Joseph, Captain, 12 and n
Juhers, xiv., 12 andn., 57, 60-62, 66,

76 n., 180

KEITH, Sir Andrew, 180 and n.

Kempe, 188

Kensington, Lord, 134 n.

Kent, Earl of, 45 n.

Kerry, 138

Kysarswert, 81

LABROUE, Salomon, 40 and n., 52

and n.

Lacon, Beatrice, 10 n.
Lacon, Rowland, of Kinlet, 10 n.
Langherac, Monsieur de, 101, 125,

202
Languedoc, xvii., 86, 88, 93, 94

Larkin, xv. n., 68

Latimer, Lord, 8 n.

Latin verse by Herbert, xxxvm., 16
and n. 19

Laud, Archbishop, 144 and n.

Lee of Lancashire, 15 and n.

Lee, Roland, 6 n., 173

Le Grand, Monsieur, 115 and n.

Leicester, Earl of, 4 n , 84 n.

Leigh, Alice, 84 n

Leigh, Sir Thomas, 84 n

Leland, Dr. John, xxxv.

Lennox, Duke of, 74 and n., 128

Lesdigueres, Duke of, in n.

Library, Lord Herbert's, 160 and n..

Lichfteld, Bishop of. See Lee,Roland

Lisle, Lord (Earl of Leicester), 70
and n.

Llandmam, hills of, 4

Llanaerfyl, 2 and n.

Llanowthen, 46 n

Lloyd, Charles, 4 n.

Lloyd, Griffith, 4 n.

Lloyd, Jenkin, 4 n.

Lloyd's Memoirs, quoted, 162 n.

Llyssyn, 2 and n., 160

Locke, John, his attack on Lord
Herbert's philosophy, xxxv. , on
education, quoted, 37 n. , on fen-
cing, 38 n ; on riding, 41 n.

Lockie, Nicholas, 68 n

Lorkin, Thomas, letter of, 37 n.

Loty, Sigmor, 84

Louis XIIL, 99jn., 135, 137, 190-198,
199, 201

Lucy, Sir Thomas, 58 and n., 59,
60, 68 and n., 147

Ludlow, castle of, 171, 173

Ludlow, 156

Luynes, Monsieur de, xvni, xxi ,
104 and n., 105, 116 and n , 118
120, 121 and n., 122 and n., 124,
191, 199, 200

Lymore, 4 n., 5 n.

Lyons, castle of (Holt Castle) 5 n.

Lyons, 87, 88, 89, 94

MACHYNIXETH, 31 n.
Madrid, 128, 130
Mamwarmg, Sir Henry, 98 n.
Mainwanng, Philip, 140
Mansel, Sir Rice, 173
Mansel, Sir Robert, 13
Mansel, Mr., 72
Mansfeld, Count, 13 and n.
Mantua, 125
Margaret of Llandwenin, 170

Index

211

Margaret, Queen, of Valois, 56 and

n, 57

Maria, Empress, 130 and n.
Marie de Medicis, Queen, 89 and

n , 104 and n , 190-1, 193
Markham, Gervase, quoted, 24 n
Marston Moor, 152
Mary, Queen, 3
Massmger, Philip, 182
Master, Thomas, xxviii. and n.
Mathematics, 27 and n.
Maunsell, Dr., 160 n.
Mayerne, Sir Theodore de, 193
Mead, Mr., quoted, 130 n.
Medicine, 2832
Medici, house of, 82
Meldrurn, Sir John, 156
Mennon, Monsieur de ( ~ Menou,

Ren6 de), 52 and n., 54, 102 and

n., 106 and n.

Mercatus, Ludovicus, 30 and n
Merlou, castle of, 48 and n., 52, 55,

203

Merlou, town of, 53
Middlemore, Mrs., 51 n.
Middlesex, Earl of, 101 n.
Middleton, Sir Thomas, 149, 150,

152-153 and n , 154 n , 155-157,

160, 163
Milan, 85

Mifhum solis, 24 and n.
Mitton, Colonel, 152, 156
Mogul, the Great, 13 and n
Monat, 141

Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 61 n.
Monmouthshire, 22
Monstreville, 102
Montaigne, quoted, 180
Montaterre, Baron de, 107
Montausier, Duchess de, go n.
Montgomery, 12 n., 46 n., 148 n.,

149, 151, 153, 156, 157 n., 159,

160
Montgomery, castle of, xx., 4, 5 n ,

ii n., 23, 31 n., 46 n., 75, 141, 148,

149, 156, 158, I59 *6o, 175
Montgomery, church of, 3 n., 5, 6

and n., 10, 12 n., 14 n., 46 n., 148

and n.

Montgomery, Lieut , 64, 65, 67
Montgomery, Earl of. See Herbert,

Philip
Montmorency, Henri I., Due de,

xiv., 40 audn., 48, 53, 54, 55, 66,

74 75
Montmorency, Henri II., Due de,

93 and n*, 94, 107, 193
Moore, Sir Robert, 189

More, Sir George, xx., 21 n,, 188-190

More, Sir Thomas, 143

Morgan, Sir Charles, 77 and n., 185

Morley, Sir John, 170

Morley, Maud, 170

Morrice, Mr. Henry, 190

Mortlake, 22 n

Morton, Sir Albertus,87 and n.,134 n.

Mountjoy, Lord, 130 n.

Murano, 82

NACCARINE, 89 and n.

Nassau, Prince Henry of, 108 and

n , 191, 193

Nassau, Count Maurice of, xvi , xvii.
Naunton, Sir Robert, 193-197
Nethersole, Sir Francis, 122, 123 n.
Neuburg, Elector of, 76 n , 80
Newark, 151
New College, Oxford, n
Newmarket, 42 n.
Newport, Francis, Earl of Bradford,

10 n.
Newport, Sir Francis, xx., 10 and n ,

21, 50, 54
Newport, Magdalen. See Herbert,

Magdalen.
Newport, Margaret (Lord Herbert's

grandmother), 9-10, 15 n , 20
Newport, Sir Richard, 9 and n., 15

n., 88 and n.

Newport, Richard, Lord, 10 n.
Newton, Adam, 37 n.
Newton, Edward, of Barley, Che-
shire, 21 n.
Newtown, 5 n., 153
Northampton, 8 n.
Northumberland, Earl of, 106
Nottingham, Earl of, 46 and n.
Novara, 85

OFFLEY, Elizabeth, 12 n

Offley, Sir Robert, of Lincolnshire,

12 n.

Old Exchange, 99 and n.
Ohum Castorn, 24
Omerfielde, 184, 185
Orange, Prince of, 60 and n., 62,

95 and n.

Ossory, Lord, 37 n.
Ostend, 96

Oswestry, 152, 153, 156, 157
Ousely, Captain, 181
Overbury's Characters, 6 n.
Owen, Atheist on, 29 and ru
Owen, Jane, 5 n.

F F

212

Index

Owen, Maurice, 29 n

Oxfoid, 150

Oxford, Earl of, Si n , 82, 98 and 11

O \wich, castle of, 173

0/ier, Monsieur, 106

PADUA, 84
Pailhard, 65 and n
Panzam, 144

Paracclsian principles, 26
Paris, 48, 102, 106, 107, 108, 114.
125, 127, 128, 130, 131, 134, 193,

201

Paiker, Archbishop, 182 n.
Patncms, Franciscus, 27 and n
Pembroke, Earls of. See Herbert,

William

Peter Fi*7 Rr-x-^V 170
Peyton ^ II. i y, 98 n.
Peyton, John, 63 n
Peyton, Sir Thomas, 62 n., 63 and

n., 65, 183 n.
Peyton, Thomas, 63
Pharmacopoeias, 29 andn s 30 aad n
Philip II , no

Piedmont, Prince of, 187, 190, 191
Piedmont, 86
Pignatelli, 52 n,
Pmocin, M., 57 n.
Pluvmel, 40 n, 52 aad n.
Pols ted, Mr , 189
Ponts, Monsieur de, 120
Pope, the, 83, 130, 144 andn., 202
Porter, Endymion, 128 and n
Portsmouth, 131
Postek, Monsieur, 125
Powis Castle, 45 n, 46 n, 140
Powis, fourth and present Earl of,

12 n , 45 n., iji

Powis, Baroa See Herbert, William.
Prague, battle of, 105 and n , 125

and n,

Price, Captain Charles, too
Price, Elizabeth, 5 n
Price, James, of Hanachly, 50
Price, Sir John, 157
Price, Matthew, 5 n.
Pnchard, Lieut , 66
Priest, duellist, 181, 182
Proger, 66

Puisieux, Monsieur, 129, 191, 194,196
Purcell, Thomas, 4 n
Puttenham, quoted, 23 n.

RACING, 42 andu.
Radaey, George, 107

Raglan, 6 n , 170
Raglan, castle of, 9
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 86 n
Rdnibouillet, Madame de, 89 n.
Rambouillet, Marquis de, 89 and

n , T 02 and n.
Ratchrfe, Sir John, 185
Ravaillac, 61 and n.
Rees, 76 n , 77, 78
Religio Laici, xxix
Renoda)us, Joannes, 30 and n.
Rh% Isle of, 140, 141
Rhiew Saeson, 29 and n.
Ribbesford, 140
Rich, Sir Henry, 66, 134 n
Richard III , 143
Richelieu, xxi , 131 n., 180
Richmond, 143
Riding, 39-40
Rip on, Treaty of, 146
Robsart, Amy, 84 n.
Rochelle, 141
Roe, Sir Thomas, 13 n.
Roger, Earl, 15 n
Rome, 82, 83

Rudyerd, Sir Benjamin, 82 and n
Rupert Prince, xx.ni , 148, 150, 151,

I5s> 155

Rushworth, quoted, 146 n.
Rutland, Earl of, 181
Ryswick, 95

SACKVILLE, Earls of Sec Dorset
St Andrews, 131
St Chaumont, Marquis de, 90
St. Don is, battle of, 49 n , 102
St. Geran, Mareschal de, 121 and n.
St Giles-in-the-Fields, church of,

161

St. Herbert, monastery of, 81
St I lee, 55 and n
St Jean d'Angely, 118, 120, 121,

139

St. Julian's, 21 and n., 75
St. Julian's, the Herbert family of, 9
St. Leger, Sir William, 65 and n.
St Quentin, 3 and n., 48 n., 49
Salisbury, n and n.
Sandilands, Sir James, 87 aad n. 94
Savage, Monsieur, 101 and n , 102,

124

Savile, Anne, 15 n.
Savile, Sir John, 15 n.
Savoy, Duke of, 85 and n., 86,

9i, 94, 95, 130, 190
Savoy, 124
Saxrfra-gta, 24 and n.

Index

213

Scarnanssi, Count, xvii , 85 and n.,

87, 87-8, 95 and n
Scuven, Captain Thomas, 98
Seaton, 120

Scguerend, Pcre, 131-2
Seldcn, John, xx and n., quoted

45 n., 1*0 n , 161
Sehnger, Mrs 186
Senner, Daniel, 30 and n
Sevennus, Pctrus (Danus) 26 and n.
Shadwcll, 6 n
Shrewsbury, Earl of, 44
Shrewsbury, 148, 149, 150, 151, I55>

156

Shr-op'slrro manors of, 5 n.
^i<l.,i\, Sii Henry, 70 n, 173, 174
><! , \ ^n Philip, 22 n , 23 n., 174
^,<> i, *", 34
Siller y, Chancellor, 116
Smith, Mr , 106
Smyth, Sir John, 12 and n.
Smy the, Sir J ohn, 42 n.
Somerset, Edward See Worcester
Somerset, Henry, Duke of, 9 n.
Somerset, Sir Thomas, 66 andn., 180
Southampton, Henry Wnothesley,

Kail < f , 79 and n
Southwell, Mrs , 84
Southwell, Sir Robert, quoted, 37

n , 84 n
Spa, 149

Spam, 13, 105, 126, 129-131, 136* 137
Spam, King of. See Philip II.
Spinola, General, xvn., 77 78, 80,

81, 201

Stananes, 158 and n.
Stanhope, Henry, 98 n.
Stanhope, Lady, 98 and n.
Stephen, King of England, 170
Stone, Mr , 162
Strafiord, Earl of, 72 n.
Stucville, Sir Martin, 130 n.
Sucim ohum, 24 and n
Sudely, castle of, 60 n.
Suffolk, Earl of (Lord Thomas

Howard), 62, 72 and n.
Surat, 13 and n.
Swimming, 41
Switzerland, 124

TALBOT, family of (ancestors of

Lord Herbert), 10
Talgarth, 170
TaUemant des R6aux, Memowes,

quoted, 52 n, 102 and n.
Taverner, Edmund, 106
Telesius, xxxru, a., 27 and n.

Terant, Monsieur, 65, 92

Thanet, Nicholas, Earl of, 80 n.

Thelwall, Edward, of Plas-y-ward,

20 and n., 21
Thelwall, Eubule, 20 n.
Thelwall, Symond, 20 n.
Theology, 32-35
Thesaurarius, Henry, 16^
Thomas, Evan, 161
Tilenus, Monsieur, xxv , 133 and ri.
Till, James, 154 n.
Tilliers, Comte de, 122 n., 193 andn.,

203

Tintern, Abbey of, 9 and n.
Tivoli, 83

Tobacco, 1x3 and n.
Tomlmson, Richard, 30 n.
Tourame, 103 *
Tours, 103, 106, 191, 192
Townsend, Aurehan, xvi., 48 and n.,

49, 54

Trenelles Marquis de See Tresnel
Trent, 82

Tresnel, Marquis de, 187, 194
Treves, Elector of, 195
Trumbull, William, 125 and n.
Tufton, Sir Humphrey, 80 arid n.
Tuft on, Sir John, So n.
Tuilenes, garden of, 114
Turbervilles of Penlline, 173
Turin, 85, 90
Turner, Mr , 184
Tusculanum, 83
Tyrone, Earl of, 194

ULM, 8 1

Usher, Archbishop, 161

VALENTINA, 124 and n.

Vaughan, Captain, 50

Vaughan, Sir David, 3 n

Vaughan, Dorothy (Lord Herbert's
niece), 14 and n.

Vaughan, John (husband of Lord
Herbert's sister Margaret), 14
and n

Vaughan, Kathenne (Lord Her-
bert's niece), 14

Vaughan, Magdalen (Lord Her-
bert's niece), 14

Vaughan, Owen, of Llwydiarth, 14

Vaughan, Sir Robert, 100 and n.,
101, 174

Venice, 82, 85, 125

Ventadour, Due de, 48

Ventadour, Duchesse de, 4 8 75. i*4
and n.

214

Index

VercclH, 85

Vere, Sir Francis, 61 n.

Vere, Sir Horace, xiv., n n., 61
and n , 63, 79

Villers, Monsieur, 125 .,

Vilbers, Sir George (Duke of Buck-
ingham), xvu , xxii , 14 n ,
98 andn., 101, 105, 122, 128, 138,
139, 140, 141, 192, i99 2QI

WAKE, Sir Isaac, 124 and n.
Wales, condition of, in sixteenth

century, 171-* 74
Wales, East, 5, 6 n
Wales, North, 5, 6 and n., 148, 149,

150-152, 155
Wales, West, 6 n
Walpole, Horace, quoted, xm. n ,

xvin., xli , 34 n
Walsmgham, Sir Francis, 174
Walton, Isaak, quoted, 2 n., 10 n ,

23 n, 175-177
Warwick, Earl of, 8 n.
Weldon, Sir Anthony, quoted, 113 n
Welshpool, 159
Wezel, 78, 81,
Whitehall, 7*, 72
Whitehall, paper chamber at, 5

chapel at, 44

Whittingham, Edward, 46 n.
Whi tting ham, Henry, 107
WhiUnmliam, William, 46 n.
William I., 167
Williams, Mr., 160 n
Willoughby, Sir Perc^n-ne i8r
Wimbledon, \V<vu-i- ^ec Cecil,

Sir Edward.
Wmdebank, secretary of state, 142,

145

Wittmgham, R., 149 n.
Wodehouse, Colonel, 156
Wolfgang, William. See Ncuburg,

Elector of

Worcester, Earl of (Charles Somer-
set), 9 n., 22, 101 n
Worcester, Edward, Earl of, 101

and n.
Worcester, Henry, Earl of, 101 11 ,

170 and n
Wotton, Sir Henry, 81 andn., 124,

142 and n.

Wright, duellist, 181, 182
Wroxeter, 9 n., 15 n

YORK, house of, 6 n.
ZOUCH, Dr., ii n.